Percy Kelly

Moresby Church and Lowther Pit, Cumbria - Mixed Media

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/feb/24/percy-kelly-painter-hidden-talent

Back in February this year I had the good fortune to discover by chance, an article about Percy Kelly in a Gaurdian review by Blake Morrison.  Even before reading a word about him, the drama of this painting held huge appeal for me.  I was also to discover the allure of many of his other works on browsing through it online. 

The scene – set in a coastal village, comes across to me as a wild unstable environment in the way the subject has been handled

A preponderance of free loose brush strokes of dark paint over a light background is accompanied by liberal drips, splatters and dabs. This gives rise to a feeling of flux, as though just before the onset of a storm.  It is an exciting electrically charged atmosphere.

A dark tower standing on a dark hilltop or cliff is silhouetted against a glowing patch of sky. This foreboding presence is a strong focal point very close to the top left edge of the picture. Though relatively small, it is a powerful placement in the picture space as my eyes are naturally drawn first to this upper left portion. Moving diagonally, slightly lower down and over to the right is the church, whose brightly lit surfaces contrast strongly with its thick dark outlines shrouded in deep green and white under a heavy dark threatening sky. Being surrounded by contrasting darker areas  lends visual weight. I would regard this focal area as secondary to the tower as the church has slightly less emphasis.

On reading about Percy Kelly’s personality in the review – in a strange way, being difficult and reclusive only seems to add to his fascination. I can certainly relate to the fact that he was a late starter. He reportedly found it easy to continue painting or sketching nearly every day, despite the roller coaster nature of his life and suffering from depression. It seems remarkable to be able to say (and believe) “Drawing is as natural as walking” and “A piece of charcoal or chalk is as natural as my forefinger”. Judging by his output, I certainly believe it. As someone whose motivation can be erratic it strikes a chord with me, as I would love to be able to feel this way every day.

Exhibition Freedom Within

Venue - The Vision Centre, Cork

An exhibition of paintings, drawings and ceramic sculptures produced by inmates in the Education Unit of Cork Prison.

Many of the works displayed were about life on ‘the inside’. I chose to concentrate on two of these – a painting and a ceramic sculpture.

1. SMcN said he found painting to be a way of expressing his feelings while in prison.

This particular one shows a tiny central figure, which instantly suggests to me a person in in a very oppressive environment. The figure is silhouetted against the red and black floor of a long corridor receding sharply into the far distance. At the end of the corridor there is white light shining through an arched window, throwing a long shaft of light forward again along its length  towards the tiny figure and beyond into the foreground. The effect of this light seemingly throws a long cast shadow of the figure towards the foreground, as far as the lower edge of the painting’s surface. Only the figure’s head and shoulders are cut off here – could this be some sort of subliminal message?

To each side of the figure are six others figures, (three to either side) standing in the shadows, looking gigantic by comparison – they loom over as if motioning towards the ‘prisoner’.

The whole demeanour of these enormous wiry giants, from their dark finish, contours catching whatever small amount of light there is, and white glow in the dark eyes combine to give them a primitive but menacing and possibly, automaton look. The floor beneath them is two tone red and black and behind them a background of two tone blue and black walls darkening towards the top. The two nearest to the centre, especially, are leaning, even walking towards the ‘prisoner’ holding their arms forward in a determined fashion. The stance could be ready to guide the prisoner in some direction – it’s hard to say which. A (remote) possibility is into the distance towards what I interpret as freedom, or, as is perhaps more likely just the opposite, as they appear to be using threats of some kind. There is, I would say, a limited choice as to who or what they symbolize, but certainly in my view, the prisoner here plays the role of victim.   

The whole scenario appears to be a reflection of the behavioural traits of certain individuals both inside and outside prison. It also indicates the effects of spending time in an institution of this type, with its unmistakable atmosphere of bullying and intimidation.

2. Climbing figures by MO'C

Approx 30cm high

Several ceramic figures, dark brown and red with transparent amber heads.

They communicate efforts to escape the cycle of recidivism.

Climbing figures

Starting with the largest figure at the base, with a few more additions they eventually pile up into a heap, forming a kind of human ladder, gradually reducing in size and moving further away, the higher they climb. What struck me about them was, as they become higher and smaller, from the largest figure at the bottom, bent over almost double, to the smallest climbing onto the remote top as if conquering the summit of a mountain, the more determined looking the posture. In a symbolic gesture, the amber heads would be suggestive of beacons of hope. The reducing size of the figures would indicate that the higher they climb the lighter they feel, so are better able to cope with the situation.

This very meaningful work must no doubt be an invaluable tool in helping these prisoner's rehabilitation and in their understanding of themselves.

Drawing Workshop

workshop 1
Some fruit, avocado, pear
etc and a candlestick

This is the second drawing workshop I have attended with this tutor Gillian Cussen. Her enthusiasm was infectious and created an atmosphere with strong sense of motivation. We did many rapid sketches of plants and flowers, plus a few ordinary everyday objects. The emphasis initially  was to do huge areas of mark making with various materials - ink, charcoal, pencil using toothbrushes, sponges, fingers etc. - rather similar to the mark-making exercises
on a large format in Part 1.Then, with more directed guidance, rapid drawings of objects while trying to feel the gesture within them, in an attempt to feel the object's dynamic presence. The purpose was to really see what is there and ways of interpreting what you see, definitely not about producing a pretty picture. I think I got more out of doing these than most other workshops I have attended - either drawing or painting and I intend to return again for more of these and similar workshops in the future with this tutor if I feel in need of them. 

workshop 2
Plant and poultry

workshop 1
Driftwood, corkscrew and apple

Above and right comprise of mostly rapid sketches of a selection of subjects, including poultry, in charcoal and pencil, from both workshops 1 and 2. The plant detail (above left) was of the longest duration. Although most of them may look like virtual scribbles, I got a great sense of achievement and possibilities out of it.
http://gilliancussenartist.com/
Taking a quick peep at the artists website it is so apparent how  very free and expressive her own work is - something I aspire to and will have to keep working on....

Georges Seurat Charcoal and Conte Drawings

The apparent simplicity of many of Seurat’s monochromatic drawings is intriguing. To begin, he would cover the paper in charcoal or conte crayon giving an atmospheric effect. Then continue by building repeated layers, modelling dense forms without line, usually with conte crayon, obtaining dramatic tonal nuances. I was to discover later in a tonal study  portrait in Part 5 and Assignment 5 how much I enjoy using this technique.

He had the ability to give drama to apparently simple views inhabited with relatively few shapes. What made them so impressive was the power injected by the way that he drew, rather than the views themselves, strengthening angles with contrasting light or dark passages - certainly a master of chiaroscuro.

Seurat's use of varied mark making is particularly noticeable in my favourite - Drawbridge. He has used delicate lively scribbly marks over comparatively light expanses, injecting an electrically charged energy. In contrast, by exerting heavy pressure to produce the dark somberness of the open drawbridge, causes it to appear almost sinister against the bright sky.

 Drawbridge, 1882-83, Conté crayon and white chalk

  I found a few figure drawings treated in a similar way, with varying degrees of dramatic effect. One those with the most drama was - Maurice Appert, in which there appears to be a boy kneeling on a stool sillhoetted against a surrounding light behind. Below this is a brighter light emanating from underneath a straight horizontal dark band which gradually merges into the more subtle light surrounding the figure. Maybe it's light shining from under a door.  The paper must be untouched here and possibly a slightly whiter paper was used.
link to image http://www.georgesseurat.org/Maurice-Appert.html

Exhibition - Place Space

Saturday 26 November, PLACE SPACE, Wandesford Quay Gallery
Group exhibition of the Backwater Artists Group - professional artists based in studios situated in the Wandesford Quay complex. It is a large old stone building and was formerly a warehouse operating in the Port of Cork.
The gallery is a long room with low ceilings. Lots of natural light floods in from several long windows, plus artificial lighting from directional ceiling mounted spotlights. There are also a couple of small enclosed cell like side galleries with no natural light. Two large paintings (by Angie Shanahan) situated in this area were the docklands paintings (below) displayed as a diptych, amid very few other much smaller paintings. These large paintings made a significant impact on the enclosed; cave like space.

The medium was oils, from what I can recall. The brushstrokes were almost invisible - the smooth finish again adding to their impact.

I noticed a real sense of intense directional pull within these paintings. This in part being due to the angular perspective lines receding into the distance. One of very few exceptions, but a very dominant, yet only slightly curving line is the lower edge of the overhang on the building on the right of the central building, which has a strong angle towards the corner. There are many strong contrasts of light and shade in this composition, particularly around this location, the ground directly below and around the broken part of the roof in the left hand painting.

All these factors seem to do much to enhance the appearance of solid mass in the buildings.  A dominant angularity alleviates the very presence of only a few curving lines. The few large light and dark plain areas appear to be balanced nicely by textured areas.  Although the palette used is minimal (only four colours that I can detect) the inclusion of red as reflected light  appears to add a glow and lift, giving an intriguingly mysterious air.

According to the artist’s statement, buildings, often derelict such as these, have been a focus of her curiosity for a number of years.  To me these otherwise forgotten buildings certainly resonate with a sense of isolation, combined with subtle hints of human company or influence.

Docklands

Docklands 2

Using colour 2

2. Standing pose.

Another version of
a sketch for the
standing pose

I wanted to change the orientation this time for the second drawing of Using Colour.
Again I used the same model as previously. It was taken from a previous 10 minute sketch of a standing pose at my life drawing group. Surely, when I compare with my other figure sketches, this must  be one of the better 10 minute sketches.  I did find however, that copying this sketch for the drawing, a little more challenging than the initial sketch for some reason. 





The surface is cream Ingres paper and the background was covered with leftover acrylic and gesso, applied quite dry. For the outlines of the figure I used dark red marker pen. Immediately afterwards I regretted using this method as it seemed to look too hard and uniform against the background,  I think because of the background's haziness which seems to move in and out from the surface. 

Sketch for
standing pose

At this point I thought about a drawing I had been impressed by in a book of mine called Drawing Projects. It hasn’t been in my possession long and so far I’ve only tried a couple of exercises. The projects are intriguingly experimental and  unconventional. I thought I would take a risk and try out a technique which was totally new to me, but looked quite fun to do.  So I had a go with it, over the top of my existing drawing - after all this part of the course is called Draw and Experiment. I was very hesitant about using this technique at first – afraid to completely ruin it, but what the heck, it’s important to take a risk now and again... otherwise I'm not going to learn much at all.

RB Kitaj Ashmolean drawing - pencil

As with Louis Freund's drawing 'La Pieta', (Research Point, Part 5) the process entailed building up a mass of lines in a multitude of directions. In the drawing by RB Kitaj (right) the lines aren't so densely compacted as to completely obscure the light  or white surface beneath, leaving I think, the right balance between heavy and light.  It seemed to take ages to build up what I considered to be a sufficient density of lines, using the pencil and slashing marks of the eraser. At one point I must have become carried away - applying too much pressure on the surface  with the side of the pencil point (6B pure graphite pencil), as the density of shading in most areas around the figure was such that it obscured much of the light painted surface underneath. The figure's contours on the right were also more obvious looking. These were not effects I wanted. To remedy this I applied further firm rapid long  slashing marks with the corner of the eraser over the background area, frequently continuing over the edges of the figure's contours, until eventually the density appeared adequately broken up. At least I didn't need to fear damaging the paper, as the surface was very tough, having previously been coated with acrylic paint and gesso. The sheen on the paper's surface caused by repeated application of  graphite however,looks at odds with the areas without graphite. Proportion is another area I'm not completely happy about: the model's right arm looks a bit too short. I wonder though if this is partly due to the end of the hand being barely visible. The buttock, although in actuality was rather flat looking, exaggerating its shape would have perhaps helped , as it looks shapeless. 

finished version

This  figure's pose is quite static - various energetic marks applied over and around the subject, have the effect of promoting a feeling of turbulence and energy, in a similar way I think to many of Giacometti's paintings and drawings, whose subjects often also appear haunted or disturbed . Unlike Giacometti though, the surroundings here appear to conflict with  the subject who, rather than appearing haunted or disturbed, looks quite  unperturbed, calm and confident amid the turmoil, in spite of the energy flowing through and around her body. I think there is more similarity in this respect with RB Kitaj's drawing, yet my model  looks less troubled even than the figure there. This is a technique I think  would complement well a figure in a more active pose, if I was to try it out again as I intend. 

Research Point - David, Ingres, Degas, Picasso, Giacometti, Hockney

Jacques Louis David (1748-1825)

Studies after Michaelangelo

David filled his sketchbooks after antique and baroque art but

rejected the rococo tradition. He described contours meticulously.

‘Marie Antoinette on Her Way to the Guillotine’ 16 Oct 1793, pen and ink.

‘Studies after Pietro da Cortona’
black chalk. This is from a fresco
 ‘The Assumption of the Virgin’. 

As an official artist of the French Revolution he sketched victims on their way to the guillotine. This is a very simple looking line sketch, almost a caricature, of Marie Antoinette on her way to the guillotine showing economical and deft use of lines. It encapsulates very well the broken yet dignified expression on her face.

Ingres

Ingres style was Neoclassicism (classical antiquity) and he was the last of the neoclassicist painters – a master of realism.

He was a pupil of David’s.

Ingres lines are very smooth and pure giving his figures a look of flowing elegance. He paid a lot of attention to detail. Infact the stress on line was an important part of his style – delicate but firm.

Portrait of Charles Francois Mallet. Front lighting used here (as in most of Ingres’ drawings) emphasizes the edges. In doing this he followed very much Raphael’s example. In places he has used minimal of broken line to show the saturation of light and bolder on the other side to show the form turned away.

Link to Ingres Miraculous Lines – describes in fascinating detail Ingres career, inspiration and techniques.

Edgar Degas

Woman drying herself after bathing, pastel

Degas was a great admirer of Ingres, whose masterful draughtsmanship was passed on through Degas’ tutor, who was a pupil of Ingres. Yet he also admired the turbulent style of Delacroix. He used a quite linear style in many of his drawings and often reasserted the outlines. The lines of the faces are usually quite controlled, yet the arms or legs for instance, are done in a quick sketchy looking way with numerous restatements. He often used scribbly lines for backgrounds but more controlled parallel hatching strokes for the forms and surface planes of his figures.

One of Degas main concerns was how to convey movement – drawing his subjects from unexpected and unusual angles. This link describes in detail his pre-occupation with movement, particularly in relation to dancers in the ballet.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso

La Sieste (Les Moissoneurs)

La Sieste (Les Moissoneurs), 1919, pencil

Here very fluid curving lines have been used, with little variation in weight, delicately reasserted here and there. This and the soft, voluptuous lines of the contours give form to the two figures.

In contrast Louis Freund’s drawing Pieta, 1960, oil on board,  the lines are wild and frenzied. The contours come and go and singular lines move from one end of the composition to the other in a vigorous exploration.

Louis Freund - Pieta

In Desuudo de espaldas, 1958 (right) Picasso has created a wonderfully expressive drawing with just a few lines.

                                     Alberto Giacometti

Many of Giacometti’s drawings are made up of a mass of often entangled lines, like lengths of wire. This was how he brought about the sitter’s likeness and presence. The turmoil in these  lines appears to give his figures a look of ghostly vulnerability.

David Hockney

Two Dogs – these are two contented looking daschund dogs, delicately rounded and plump. Hockney uses a balance of thin and thicker lines, suggesting just a slight amount of subtle shadow. This seems to anchor them very comfortably in the chair.

Celia Sleeping 1972 – just a minimal amount well placed lines here, which appear to capture the scene perfectly.

In ‘Portrait of Dwight’1979, pen and black ink, Hockney uses multiple short singular and v-shaped directional lines and marks to describe texture in the hair. Loose minimal slightly curving parallel lines describe the ribbing on the sleeve at lower left. There is just an 

Celia sleeping

indication of texture in the closer fibres on the front of the t-shirt
 where the marks are denser and more random.

Exhibition - Post War American Art: The Novak/O'Doherty Collection

LOCATION: Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork - a contemporary building set in the gardens of the University College.

Post War American Art: The Novak/ O’Doherty Collection

I almost missed this exhibition and it was well worth a visit, so I feel fortunate that I was able to  just catch it before it ended in early July. 

BACKGROUND: Part of the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s National Programme featuring a rich collection of 76 artworks - paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures and prints from the New York art scene of the 1950s and 60s. 

Brian O’Doherty, Irish artist and author and Barbara Novak, American art historian built up the collection, acquired through friendships with American artists of the 1960s and 70s and bequeathed it to the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It is a story originating with O’Doherty’s frustration at the lack of access to new trends in art, for art students and the general public in 1940s and 50s Ireland, triggering his re-location from Dublin to New York.

SPACE  The exhibition was divided between two separate areas of the building. This section contained, amongst others, the first artwork (below). This was displayed in a windowless enclosed space in the centre of the building. The only natural light to enter the room was from the entrance door. The room was illuminated by low background and brighter directional lighting. To me this combination had the effect of setting up an ambience of being present in some inner sanctuary.

Jasper Johns - Hatteras

Jasper Johns Hatteras, 1963 

Lithograph 104 x 75 cm

The Novak/O’Doherty Collection

Loan, The American Ireland Fund, 2008

I focused in on a monochromatic lithographic print by Jasper Johns named Hatteras (1963) . A prominent feature of this is a semi-circular arc taking up  a large part of the left side of the picture. Its white background looks dazzling against its surrounding hazy border. The words red, yellow and blue are stenciled horizontally, on three deep horizontal bands and are partially hidden by the large arc. An imprint of a hand and a forearm – very like an x-ray image, sweep across the arc horizontally from the left side and there is a mark at the top like a long blob containing a shape, suggestive to me of another arm imprint. On the lower right hand side is a dark dense tangle of frenzied random lines, looser around the periphery where it encroaches onto the edge of the arc. Another darker limb like shape appears from the lower side of the arc into the tangle of lines. These marks contrast with the relative bright white plainness and transparency of the central area of the large background – this is where my attention is drawn to most. Johns produced a series of variations on a target theme – the target being the semi circle (also changing in design from one piece to the other) was employed frequently in his work.  


 Wolf Kahn - Sea Blue
SPACE: This strikes me as a bright airy space. It is a long curving l-shaped room with high ceilings and plain white walls.  A combination of recessed striplights and spotlights were focused on the artworks. Large floor length windows divide the display spaces giving pleasant elevated views of the trees and parkland outside. The natural theme of the painting appeared to be well suited to the setting.

wolf kahn Sea Blue, 2000

Pastel on paper 33.7 x 43.8 cm

The Novak/O’Doherty Collection

Loan, The American Ireland Fund, 2010

The first thing to catch my attention about this seascape was how isolated and anonymous it looks and could pass for many different coastal locations.

I find it quite ambiguous, in the sense that I can't make out a natural correlation between the grey overcast sky and the large section of intense blue of the sea; in a real landscape I would expect a blue sky with a bright blue sea such as this, or, with a grey sky, the sea to be much less intense in hue. There’s even what appears to be an atmospheric mist hanging over the distant bay, is it low cloud rolling in or is it reflected light from the sky? 
From the corner of  the lower left side are what could be dark shadows, carried over onto the headland.  To me these effects blend the sea, sky and land effectively, helping to draw my attention to those areas, in particular the area bordering onto the mist (or reflections) over the upper part of the sea.

The close study of this landscape has led me to ascertain that it is less about realism and more to do with an experience of colour and light. On reading a couple of articles about the artist's work, my theory perhaps isn't too unlikely.

Research Point - Self Portraits

Graham Sutherland,  (1903-80)

When I was visiting London earlier in the summer I called into the National Portrait Gallery, where I spotted this self portrait in oil on canvas. Graham Sutherland was a big landscape painter and a war artist, but he also did quite a number of portraits of famous people such as Somerset Maughan and Winston Churchill. As I was scanning each portrait along the walls in the gallery,  this one immediately caught my attention. 

Painted in 1977, during his final years, the expression looks contented, yet I can see a hint of dark underlying sternness on the right side of the face and the intense concentration is evident. The other side of the face is lit up with a lovely reflective quality and light appears to be shimmering out from around the head. I also notice a curious thing about the face - sometimes I find it looks serious and at other times grinning, rather like Leonardo's famous Mona Lisa.  All brushwork looks free and loose, especially in the background. 

I think the domination of the colour and shade of green also help to exude an air of quiet calmness. In effect, every part of the painting seems to be bathed in the green atmosphere. 

Vincent Van Gogh

This was painted shortly after the death of his beloved brother Theo – his last self portrait. The eyes appear to say it all, a look of utter devastation and despair and the background of swirling lines seem to pulsate with the turmoil probably going through his mind.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt is thought to have depicted himself in paintings, etchings and drawings a record number of times. 

Another final self portrait - this has misty atmosphere around the face, through it he stares out with a piercing yet contemplating look. Amongst the washes applied on his clothes, I think great tonal depth has been achieved, furthered by fine hatching, although it still retains a soft and flowing appearance. 

Self Portrait 1956

Ink on paper 12.5 x 7.5 cm

William Utermohlen

Through a series of self portraits William Utermohlen recorded a very poignant portrayal of his decline into dementia. Archives http://www.nowpublic.com/health/william-utermohlen-s-self-portraits-chronicling-descent-alzheimer-s#ixzz1YJZ7LRAA

This is a self portrait of him as a young man. Minimal lines very adequately describe the ruffled hair . The vertical hatched lines on the face appear to be rapidly drawn and decisive, echoing his determined expression peering out under the spectacles.

David Hockney

This is another drawing where the treatment is sparse but very effective and there is no doubt about it being a true likeness! A piercing stare again - I guess this is only natural when studying intently one's own reflection. 

Kathe Kollwitz

The last great German expressionist and outstanding artist of social protest.

The portrait emits a darkly sad expression enhanced by deep shadow in the lower half of the face, particularly around the eyes, and the supporting hand on the forehead. The dense mesh of linear hatching spirals outwards from the centre around the eyes, is carried through onto the hand, and becomes gradually bolder and looser towards the outer areas. This dark, quite disturbing mood, emitted (as with so much of her work) is perhaps a reflection of the misery and hardship she witnessed and endured during her lifetime.

Bruno Schulz

Right is a self portrait by Bruno Schulz. He was a well known writer, said to be comparable 
to Franz Kafka, and an artist up to 1942, when he was shot in Poland by the Nazis. I wasn't able to find when he did this portrait. It has a very direct appearance, reflected in the type of marks used, while deep and esoteric.
There is also a serious and wary look about the eyes - hardly suprising.

The Longer Pose

The longer Pose 

I found that a mechanical pencil was a good medium for this pose as it is fine enough for detailed areas like the facial features and fingers and dark enough to give a pronounced positive confident line and feint line with lighter pressure. In a pastel drawing of a nude bather by Degas  I noticed that he used many repeating line lines in the contours, but here they don’t appear to detract from the drawing at all. Perhaps also,  because of the way he has handled the medium, the repeating lines are quite soft and used only in places requiring more emphasis.

Edgar Degas - Nude Bather

1. Have you managed to make a complete statement this time? What were your main problems?  I think there is enough detail in the pose to communicate what the model is doing. I could have added more shading but I don’t think it was necessary on this occasion. There are too many repeating lines along many outlines which I think look a bit confusing and clumsy. I should have looked for the edges in light and used a more delicate line. This might have assisted the look of form.

2. How well have you captured the characteristics of pose?    The model appears to be reclining comfortably in the chair rather than perched unnaturally on top of it. Indicating the chair and footrest contribute towards the illusion. The left foot looks a bit wooden and the toe shape of the right foot also looks distorted. I don’t think the model’s socks helped me here. The neck area (rear) looks like a dark jungle. Although area was covered in whiskers and in deep shade it still looks like overkill to me. I later erased a small area between the chair and neck in an attempt to give the illusion of light in the space and some suggestion of the curve of the back of the neck to help it appear to be resting naturally on the headrest. However, the result doesn’t look convincing.

3. Do the proportions look right? If not how will you try to improve this? The feet were initially too short when checked against the length of the head, causing the head to look too large in comparison, so I lengthened them slightly.– another thing I had trouble with was the chin which was moved to in to the left slightly, so I lightly erased the original chin. The top of the head was tricky to position until I aligned it with the top of the knees. I put so much concentration in getting the location and details of the hands correct before the model moved them – they couldn’t keep them still for long, that I soon realized something didn’t look right about their positioning – they appeared too far away from where I had marked in the head. The upper arm looks slightly too long. It was tricky to determine exactly where the shoulder was on this pose, as it was obscured by the model’s clothes, but as far as I could      estimate when measured against the distance from the elbow to the fingertips it should be around the same. Because the forearm is foreshortened on this pose I think comparison with the length of the upper arm would have been pointless, so I tried to estimate if the hand was in the right position by checking that it was in a horizontal line with the chin. I think the whole drawing would have been easier if I had made certain that the head had the right proportions and position by checking its relationship to the chair.

  

Exhibition - Out of Australia

Out of Australia

Prints and Drawings from Sidney Nolan to Rover Thomas – II visited this large exhibition when it was showing at the British Museum in June. It is part of a series of exhibitions and events at the British Museum’s Australian Summer Season of Celebration of Australian Culture.

I find the background to this exhibition so absorbing that I felt compelled to include a few facts about it. The British Museum claims to hold the most significant public collection of modern Australian graphic art outside Australia – more than 880 prints and drawings. It is the largest of its kind to be held outside Australia. The exhibition features 126 works by 60 artists from 1940 to the present day and indigenous Australian printmakers.

An important factor around that time in shaping the careers of many non-indigenous artists was travel to the northern hemisphere – the main centres of attraction after World War 2 were London, Paris and New York. They wanted to retain ties with Australia, yet be recognized by the wider world.

The Angry Penguins were a group of artists, poets and writers becoming increasingly frustrated with entrenched conservatism in official Australian culture. They were associated with an avant garde publication of the same name – a focus for helping them to play a major part in outlining a distinctive Australian modernism in the 1940s.

A major exhibition in 1939 of British and French contemporary paintings from post-impressionism to Surrealism had a profound impact on three artists who later broke new ground – Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker and Arthur Boyd. As access to the new art movements was so restricted in Australia they had to develop their awareness of the new movements from reproductions in publications. The three artists drew their sources of inspiration from both Surrealism and Expressionism. Contact with the few European refugee painters also helped to add to the strong expressionist influence.

Many of them went to Europe after the war and stayed away for prolonged periods of time as the journey there by ship was so long, some never returning to live in Australia.

Apart from the art scene having transformed in the last two decades, the role of Aboriginal Art over this time has taken on great significance and become far more appreciated by the public - the Australian bicentenary in 1988 being a catalyst. The events surrounding this event sparked much more awareness of the suffering of Indigenous people since the European invasion. Rover Thomas and Trevor Nickolls were the first Aboriginal artists to represent Australia in the Venice Biennale, printmaking being a prominent area.  

Surroundings

The room allowed in no natural light. Although each artwork was well lit by directional lighting. All lighting was composed of artificial uplighters, downlighters and general background lighting was quite low and subdued in comparison. The room was was large and self contained. All drawings, paintings and prints were housed in continuous glass cases running along the length of the room. This promoted a look of continuity to the contents and although enclosed, contributed to a feeling of spaciousness.  Recessed areas created a more intimate relationship with the work on display and of being in a more personal space. Other works displayed in cabinets running parallel to the floor even gave me the sensation of being pulled into the space contained within.

Figure 1948

Forms

Albert Tucker – Antipodean Head

I chose to write about this painting particularly because it didn’t interest me at first glance. Infact I was more drawn to Tucker’s other works, but now I think it is a very apt description, encapsulating so well what he was trying to say. When I viewed it against the background of earlier works (Forms (1957), Man with Flower (1950) and Figure (1948)) it really takes on its own significance and I find myself fascinated by his use of inventive techniques to achieve the effects.

It is a painting of a monochromatic brown head in profile on a white background. It looks craggy, cratered and worn and reflects the colour of baked earth. The edges of the head and the shape look deliberately rough, again to echo the landscape. There is a look of solidity and toughness in the head, yet to me it also appears unhappy, miserable, sunken and tearful. However the media was applied it has produced a very rough, broken texture. Some of the paint looks spattered on, especially noticeable around the edges. Perhaps a resist technique was also used and watery paint applied over, then more concentrated liquid paint added and allowed to run in some areas. Perhaps sand or grit was applied to the surface before any paint or resist media – that's if it was used.

Tucker first started using  acrylic paint as he was thought to have been attracted to its tactile permanence and because it enabled him to emulate a dried out appearance, describing the Australian interior and, in this case, the tough resilience and endurance of the Australian stereotype.

Antipodean Head - acrylic

Man with Flower

It is interesting to see from these drawings/paintings the way Tucker's work developed over time and how clearly other artists such as Picasso and Jean Dubuffet influenced him. Looking back over earlier works (Man with Flower 1950 was identified as its forerunner) certain elements have evolved and are echoed in this painting.