Matisse (and friends) in Martigny

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Robin

Martigny. Gateway to the Swiss alps. It’s a rainy day and so a great day to visit the current exhibition at the imposing Pierre Gianadda Foundation. Posters advertise “Matisse in his time.” This must-see ambitious exhibition is a sumptuous banquet of beautiful stuff. Some surprising dishes await you!

“Pont Saint-Michel, effet de neige” Henri Matisse 1907

Early days! Henry Matisse (1869 – 1954) painted this wintery view from the studio of Gustave Moreau in Paris in 1907.

“Pont Saint-Michel et le quai des Grands Augustins” Albert Marquet 1912

His friend, Albert Marquet, studied at the same studio.

Throughout his long and lauded career, Matisse led, rejected and experimented with a variety of “isms” including fauvism and cubism. The team at the Gianadda Foundation have picked out different phases of his remarkable curriculum vitae by the clever juxtaposition of his paintings with those of contemporaries.

“L’Algérienne” Henri Matisse 1909

“Chanteuse de cabaret” Kees van Dongen 1906

Along with his friends – and Picasso, his life-long rival whom he first met in 1906 – Matisse worked the theme of the reclining female nude. Most of his output in the 1920s turned around the “Odalisques” of the Middle-East.

“Odalisque à la culotte rouge” Henri Matisse 1921

The details on the screens and on the red pantaloons resonate. This painting is much more than a sad-sensuous semi-nude. It is a herald of what Matisse was to develop twenty years later.

“Femme couchée sur un divan bleue” Pablo Picasso 1960

I overhear another visitor stating that an artist – even Picasso – shouldn’t portray women in such an undignified pose! The anatomist in me has some sympathy for this view. However, I am sure good old Pablo was aiming to provoke just such a reaction and, right now, is still laughing at us.

To entrench the exhibition’s theme of rivalry between these two creative giants of the twentieth century, two large canvases are placed next to each other.

“Grand intérieur rouge” Henri Matisse 1948

“L’Atelier” Pablo Picasso 1955

I “like” both. (Neither bowl me over!) I am left with a feeling that a comparison is invited when a comparison is inadvisable if not impossible.

An annex houses one of the exhibition’s delightful surprises. It is a collection of photo-portraits of famous artists by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Portrait of Henri Matisse. Henri Cartier-Bresson 1943

I adore this photograph. It speaks volumes. It was taken when Matisse began to develop his final, jubilatory gouache “découpages.” The man holds a dove in his left hand whilst drawing with his right. But the hands are thin. There is an air of infirmity despite the ornate surroundings. The photograph was taken not long after Matisse went through major abdominal surgery.

The other delightful surprise is a large series of prints from Matisse’s découpages. These works introduced a previously unseen interaction of line and colour. They were born of time and creative genius. They must be among the most important twentieth century influences on not only other painters and designers but also on what is generally perceived as “beautiful.” Up until this point such an image of a funeral hearse was unimaginable!

“Série Jazz – L’enterrement de Pierrot” Henri Matisse 1947

I doff my hat to the Gianadda Foundation for how they recount the wonderful narrative of the work of Henri Matisse (and friends.) It really is worth the trip to Martigny.

Talking Beautiful Stuff thanks the Fondation Pierre Gianadda for permission to take the photographs shown here. Beautiful Stuff!

What is “Western Art”?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Garth

When I set off on a nine week, ten and a half thousand mile road trip across the American West in March this year I knew of the works of Frederic Remington, Charles Marion Russell and NC Wyeth. They painted and sculpted in bronze the exciting people and times of the American frontier around the end of the 19th century. Also, I thought that ‘Western Art’ only referred to the art of western Europe. In conversations with other Europeans it seems that ‘Western Art’, of which Remington and Russell were the progenitors, is barely appreciated if even recognised in Europe. If you are not familiar with it then may I present it to you?

NC Wyeth – one of the biggest names associated with “Western Art.”

Whilst in Santa Fe, New Mexico I recognised that North American ‘Western Art’ is a distinct art genre. Over the rest of my trip I sought out and found a huge amount of it. It astounded me with the technical skills exhibited by its practitioners; skills that, for me, border on the superhuman. It has other qualities too: its sheer beauty, its link to and perpetuation of the culture of The West and the staggering amount of creative people involved. Magazines, galleries and museums are dedicated to it. It is now my favourite art genre; particularly as I have a deep interest in its subject matter and admire realistic paintings of animals.

Robert Bateman – High realism, light, mist and dust adds extra dimensions to Bateman’s paintings.

As I became more familiar with ‘Western Art’ I attempted to define the genre. I discussed my definition with museum staff and gallery directors whom I met. Maybe this one sentence is satisfactory? ‘Western Art’ is the portrayal, in two or three dimensions, of the history, people, landscape and wildlife of the area confined to the western regions of North America, in a highly realistic or realistic impressionist style and is inextricably linked to the culture of the American West.

Carl Rungius – Specialising in portraying the big game mammals of North America, Rungius is one of the greatest names in Western Art.

In terms of that culture I particularly liked the way that ‘Western Art’ bronzes were displayed in public places. There was no obvious concern that they might be stolen and were remarkably undamaged. Best of all, they informed the viewer exactly where he or she was both in place and culture – the Great American West!

Georgia Bunn – This guy was leaning there, across the street from my motel. Just wonderful!

One gallery director I spoke with said that he first found the genre ‘corny’ until he understood the skill and research put into the works. I felt the same about Country & Western music until I saw and heard it played on its own territory and realised how important it is to the westerner’s sense of identity. ‘Western Art’ proclaims to the world a pride in the American pioneer spirit, an understanding of and sorrow for the wrongs committed against the Native Americans, a deep respect for the wildlife of the region and a confident expression of the fact that there are no landscapes on Earth to surpass that of The West. It is also one of the few serious art genres that entertains an almost comic book style of action with dynamic perspectives as men fight, hooves kick up dust and wild animals butt, gouge, bite and kill.

Roadside Bronze, Santa Fe – I did not discover the artist for this portrait of Native Americans.

I am sure that one can find this wonderful art all across America but my own limited experience of venues allows me only to recommend the galleries of Santa Fe, New Mexico and Jackson, Wyoming. In addition, for allowing me to take photographs shown here, I am indebted to the superb Buffalo Bill Center of The West in Cody and The National Museum of Wildlife Art of The United States in Jackson.

Buffalo Bill Center of The West – 5 museums in one. For me, possibly the best museum I’ve ever visited.

National Museum of Wildlife Art – Based on a Scottish castle it is built into the mountainside.

I can but mention a few others whose works left me breathless and added a superb and unexpected dimension to my road trip. Thank you Charles Schreyvogel, Al Agnew, Daniel Smith, Mian Situ, James Bama, Ken Carlson, John Fawcett, Chris Owen, Z S Liang, Martin Grelle and Bonnie Marris.

Richard Loffler – This lifesize herd of bronze Bison roams wild outside the National Museum of Wildlife Art.

One of the greatest characteristics of ‘Western Art’ is that it polices its own quality. In other words, it has managed to create and maintain the highest, most exacting standards, equal to any found anywhere or at any time in history. It also speaks of the best in the spirit of the American people and is a wonderful and truly American phenomenon.

#alyaakamel

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Robin

I open my Facebook homepage. I see a bundle of red wool pulled into a heart shape. Amid the thousands of photos that I come across each day via the internet, this stands out. It has a simple and naïve charm. It is posted by Alyaa Kamel, the queen of that corner of cyberspace where “art” and social media blur into one. The text of the post reads: #Iloveme #love #heart #loveisnow #lovingmyself #process #evolution #respect #act #say #talk #think #arttherapy #life #world #humanity #contemporaryart #design #myart #wool #paper #alyaakamel (Interesting!)

I head into Geneva’s old town and visit this striking and versatile painter in her studio. I am immediately captivated by an inky dervish-like figure, beautifully proportioned, poised and slightly stooped as if resting between manic whirls. However, my objective today is neither to admire nor to buy. I am after a behind-the-scenes-and-screens glimpse of Alyaa’s virtual gallery. We chat. I ask her about her unrelenting Facebook activity that could stretch to ten posts per day. She’s a little elusive. She says it’s about promoting and selling her work. I am not totally convinced. It is the “why” of so much activity that fascinates and that I really want to explore. There must be other incentives and impulses at play. I struggle to pitch the right question.

Of all the images that Alyaa posts, her people fascinate the most. Who they are is unclear. They are frequently hooded or veiled. They are oppressed people; people in ruins; displaced people; poor people; crowded people; and people in distress. They are, in brief, a kind of faceless generic for those people about whom every day world news is made. She just feels for people caught up in events over which they have no control and she pours it all out on Facebook.

Alyaa travels far and wide often in the company of Martin La Roche. Their clothes, their parties, their dinners and hotel rooms are all posted on their profile pages. Amid all this, she also executes and posts exquisite little sketches. Leafing through her (paper) sketchbook is a pleasure and a privilege. Take a look at this hotel in Stockholm!

The most intriguing theme that Alyaa Kamel posts by the day – and the most revealing – is Little Alyaa. This pre-adolescent feminine persona expresses any and every little girl thought or emotion that might flit through the mind of an adult in a moment of regression. A cloth version travels in Alyaa’s handbag and does cameo photo-calls wherever her creater takes her. Little Alyaa rattles my sense of macho. I feel manipulated and irritated by her. I wish I could say I had absolutely no interest in her o-so-cute-girlie-on-valentine-card-addressed-to-self sentiments. But I can’t resist the pull of her charm, the more so with following her on Facebook. I come to realise that Little Alyaa is a very articulate little miss. She is brilliantly characterised and presented. She has, inevitably, a huge, and not entirely female, following. Just as Alyaa Kamel’s people speak of world events, Little Alyaa speaks to Big Alyaa’s friends and admirers. And just to tighten the saccharine screws, Little Alyaa sometimes shares a Facebook post with a teddy bear. The text is more revealing still….. ‪#‎givemebackmylife‬ ‪#‎life‬ ‪#‎teddyismine‬ ‪#‎teddybear‬ ‪#‎IamwhoIam‬ ‪#‎identity‬ ‪#‎innocence‬ ‪#‎childhood‬ ‪#‎mylife‬ ‪#‎live‬ ‪#‎alive‬ ‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎alyaakamel‬ ‪#‎contemporaryart‬ ‪#‎design‬ ‪#‎decoration‬ ‪#‎illustration‬ ‪#‎drawing‬ ‪#‎fineart‬

I admire Alyaa’s eclectic work and enjoy her unrelenting use of Facebook. However, her hashtag word clouds represent much more than a strategy of promotion and sales. They serve to bare her soul and simultaneously act as gaping virtual look-at-me dragnets that communicate with and capture a wide variety of other emotional and creative fish. But the question of “why” remains. A generous answer is that this behaviour signals a talented painter of the twenty-first century using social media unashamedly to promote her work by expressing her fears, hopes, longings and aspirations to as wide an audience as possible. A less generous answer is that she has a compulsion to put herself “out there” on social media. Perhaps the real answer lies somewhere in between. My attempt at analysis of Alyaa Kamel’s Facebook activity stops here. I just love it. #hugrobin #robinneedsabeer

Talking Beautiful Stuff

All around us, people create beautiful stuff. Let's talk about it!

Category Archives: Paintings

Matisse (and friends) in Martigny

What is “Western Art”?

#alyaakamel