Jock Macdonald at the Vancouver Art Gallery
While recently in Vancouver I did what I try to do every time that I make it to that city – visit the Vancouver Art Gallery and very specifically to visit their collection of Emily Carr paintings. The Vancouver Art Gallery occupies a wonderful old building in downtown Vancouver with the top floor gallery devoted to Emily Carr. There are however 3 other floors, exhibiting other shows and what ever I can see there is just a bonus for me. See my previous post about what I saw on the Emily Carr floor on this visit.
Perhaps the highlight for me on this visit was the exhibition “Jock Macdonald: Evolving Forms“.
I must admit that before I got there, I’d heard there was an exhibit of work by the Canadian painter J. MacDonald and I just assumed it was J.E.H MacDonald, one of my favorite painters from the Group of Seven.
But wrong I was. It was a different Macdonald and while I guess I’d heard the of Jock Macdonald but never really seen his work – I got a good education!
Jock (more formally James William Galloway) Macdonald was a leading Canadian modernist painter of the 20th Century. He was born (1897) and raised in Scotland before coming to Canada in the 1920’s. He first settled in Vancouver but would live in a number of places in Canada before passing away in 1960 in Toronto after over a decade there.
His early training was as a designer and some of his early work bears the influence of commercial design. In Canada he worked with Fred Varley of the Group of Seven and produced some fine landscape canvases that fit right in with the work of the Group.
But most significantly (and enlightening for me) was his development as a leading modernist abstract painter. In fact he was an important member of the Canadian Painters Eleven group.
Accompanying the exhibit is a fine catalog (printed by black dog publishing), that I just had to bring home with me as a reminder and reference, after seeing the exhibition.
Jock Macdonald: Evolving Forms runs at the Vancouver Art Gallery until 2015 January 4th.
[link to Jock Macdonald at the National Gallery of Canada website]
Gerhard Richter, A Life in Painting – a book review
I recently finished reading Gerhard Richter, A Life in Painting by Dietmar Elger (English translation by Elizabeth M. Solaro). I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the insights it provided into the life and works of Richter. I must confess that before reading this book I knew very little about this iconic German painter. The book describes his life growing up in Dresden, first under Nazi rule and then as part of communist East Germany. He became a painter under the soviet society but escaped to the West in 1961, shortly before the infamous Berlin wall was built.
The book describes Richter’s life in West Germany – his friends and associates, the galleries where he showed his work. At the time Richter was noted for his paintings that looked like black and white (and later color) photographs. He often used newspaper photographs as the reference source for these paintings. In the late sixties he was inspired to do something different and that was to paint elaborate “color charts”. At another phase of his career he painted landscapes in a most serene, classical sense. Richter continued to change and explore different forms of expression including what might be called pure abstract paintings, “photo” paintings of politically charged images from the terrorist activities in Germany in the 1980’s, some interesting works with glass and mirrors and some huge commissions including a stained glass window for the Cologne Cathedral and a huge installation in the Reichstag in Berlin. The book is illustrated with lots of examples (78 plates) of Richter’s work through the years so one gets a good feel for each of these phases in his career.
If you know nothing about Gerhard Richter, this book would be a good place to start and if you want to retain a reference of his life and work this would be a good one to have in your library. The book was written in 2002 and translated in 2009. An excerpt from the book may be read here.
The Triumph of American Painting – a book review
A few month’s back, in my quest to learn more about the Abstract Expressionist movement, I purchased a recent book by Irving Sandler. The description of that book intrigued me in that Sandler would be taking a second look at the movement – having written a definitive account of the history of the Abstract Expressionists, back in 1970. I thought it would be best to first read his first account before learning how his interpretation might have changed with 4o years of thought and observation. As luck would have it, that latest book sat on my “to read” pile and in the meantime I found a copy of his first book at a library.
So having now read that first book, The Triumph of American Painting, A History of Abstract Expressionism, I will tell you what I found. 
I enjoyed this book. It was generally accessible and definitely educational. I have read a few biographies of key Abstract Expressionists and have become familiar with the painting style of maybe half a dozen of these artists but I never felt that I had the big picture. I had questions like: where and why did this movement come into being?, what were the influences (from without and within)? and what was the common thread that brought a number of artists with quite diverse approaches to their art, to be lumped into this movement called abstract expressionism? Having read The Triumph of American Painting, I feel that I got answers to those questions.
The 300 page book is divided into 20 chapters and includes a comprehensive bibliography and a section with short biographies of fifteen of the painters. Just over half of the chapters are devoted to individual artists, while the remaining chapters are of a more general nature, with titles such as The Great Depression, The Gesture Painters, The Color Field Painters, The Abstract Expressionist Scene, 1950-52: Success and Dissolution. The artists to whom individual chapters are devoted are:
- Arshile Gorky
- William Baziotes
- Jackson Pollock
- Willem de Kooning
- Hans Hoffmann
- Clyfford Still
- Mark Rothko
- Barnett Newman
- Adolph Gottlieb
- Robert Motherwell, and
- Ad Reinhardt
The book contains many images, photos of paintings, but unfortunately they are all in black and white. It would have been nice to see these works in full color but surprisingly, these monotone images do still convey a strong sense of the energy and style of the paintings. The only little gripe I had with this book and specifically the images, is a lack of indication of the size of each work – especially given how important this element was to a number of the abstract expressionists.
Through the course of the book Sandler describes the origins of the movement from the politics and philosophies of the time, through the drive to create art that would be distinct from the European traditions and particularly the influence of Paris. I learned how abstract expressionism grew out of cubism and surrealism and strove to be something distinct from these movements and how abstract expressionism could be broken down into two main branches: gesture and color field. The final part of the book describes the eventual recognition of the movement in the 1950’s, after a long struggle for acceptance.
As mentioned the author, Sandler revisited the movement in his 2009 book, Abstract Expressionism and the American Experience: a Reevaluation. I am looking forward to reading that book and when I do, I will pass along my thoughts.
The Judgement of Paris – a talk at the AGA
Ross King
Yesterday, Sunday October 23rd 2011, I attended a talk by author Ross King at the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) – very enjoyable!
Ross King is the author of a number of art history (and fiction) books, two of which I have in my collection. This talk based on King’s 2006 book “The Judgement of Paris”, coincides with current exhibitions at the AGA – A Passion for Nature: Landscape Painting from 19th Century France and 19th Century French Photographs.
The approach of King’s book and this talk was to compare two French painters in the mid-19th century, the time in which Impressionism was born. King presented a picture of the era, the time of Emperor Napoleon III. It was a a time of change, of modernization but also a time of tradition and a longing for the simplicity and stability of earlier times. The leading French painter of the time was the traditional painter Ernest Meissonier, a painter noted for his highly detailed depictions of battle scenes, a painter who was commanding the highest prices ever at the time! Ironically, his name is pretty much forgotten today while the artists and movement that were developing (and ridiculed) at the same time, are now the most broadly known of all time. I am speaking of Impressionism. King chose to contrast Meissonier with the generation younger Edouard Manet, who would become the supportive father figure to all of the famous names associated with French Impressionism.
The talk was just over an hour long (with a good question session), so King couldn’t go very deep or dig into all of the nuances of the time and these two artists. Still the talk was very interesting and inspiring – I will have to re-read Judgement of Paris some time soon.
Ross King’s other most notable book (for my tastes and interests) was his 2010 publication, Defiant Spirits, The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven which talks about the Canadian Group of Seven and significantly its ties to the French Impressionism. I reviewed that book in this earlier blog post.
Tonalism – a Book Preview
Yesterday, I received an art book that I an quite excited about. It will take me a good while to work through this tome, so this is just a quick preview about the book and the subject.
A History of American Tonalism: 1880-1920
The book is A History of American Tonalism: 1880-1920 by David A Cleveland. It is a very large and heavy book (610 pages, 22.5 x 30 cm) – substantial physically and in content and meaning.
Because I am not an art historian, nor a formal student, the term “tonalism” is one of the “-isms” I had not really heard of, although I could imagine what it was about. Here is part of the Amazon product description that caught my attention:
“The first definitive overview of the Tonalist movement-the crucial but long-misunderstood missing link in the evolution of American art … details the development and importance of Tonalism, starting with La Farge, Whistler, and Inness in the late 1800s, through its influence on the development of modernism in the Stieglitz Circle, on to Milton Avery, the Abstract Expressionism of Rothko, Gottlieb and Newman, and finally, postmodern Tonalists like Wolf Kahn … this tome argues Tonalism is the driving force in the development of a distinctly American vision, reflecting abstract and spiritual impulses that remain a force in American art today…” [my addition of bold font]
This aspect of a missing link between of nineteenth century landscape painting which I’ve had an interest in, with “modern” art which I have a growing fascination with, immediately caught my interest. I have been learning a lot about the abstract expressionist movement and am a major fan of Wolf Kahn’s work. That these could all be connected, was a concept I just have to explore – to help me understand the common thread in what inspires my work. As you would get from the title, the focus of the book is on the 40-year period between the 19th and 20th centuries but I like that it does reach forward to other artists and movements in the 1900’s.
So at first glance, this book looks good, but it will not be an easy read. There are lots of photos of paintings although few are full page images. This is not a picture book; it is a book with lots of text – reading and thinking will be required. I am looking forward to spending a good part of my upcoming summer doing just that. Once I have done so, I will follow up with a proper book review
Night Studio – a book review
NIGHT STUDIO , A Memoir of Philip Guston by Musa Mayer
After reading (and greatly enjoying) de Koonig, an American Master the biography of Abstract Expressionist painter Willem de Koonig, I was keen to learn more about the movement and other key players. Searching around for other books, one which seemed highly recommended was NIGHT STUDIO, A memoir of Philip Guston by Musa Meyer. I ordered a copy and started reading.
The first thing I discovered was that the author Meyer is Guston’s daughter. Her relation to the painter gave a fascinating layer to this work. Not only do we learn about Guston the painter but we get to know what life was like for his family – his wife and daughter.
At first, the fact that the author was the painter’s daughter and the book was not just a non-subjective biography turned me off. I was expecting to hear just about this great artist: his life, how he thought, his creative process. In retrospect I realize I was hoping for a continuation of the style of the de Kooning biography. An example of what I wasn’t expecting were passages such as this (in chapter 3):
“My daily life was dull by comparison. Third and fourth grades, I went to the West Hurley Elementary School, a white frame schoolhouse about two miles from the Maverick Road. First through fourth grades were in one classroom, fifth through eighth grades in the other. My entire fourth-grade class was left handed– all four of us.”
As I say this wasn’t what I expected to read and my loss of enthusiasm slowed down my progress through the book. I did however persevere and was very glad I did. All these bits of observation and the feelings of the daughter certainly helped paint a true picture of the successful and driven painter.
The book certainly does the job as a biography. We learn that Philip Guston was born Phillip Goldstein, in Montreal in 1913. The family moved to Los Angeles six years later where he grew up. We learn about his upbringing, art education and his decision to change his name. As one of Abstract Expressionist’s, Guston counted as his friend others of the movement such as Pollock, de Kooning and Rothko, so these names and anecdotes about them do appear in this book. Another prime character in this story is Guston’s wife, Musa McKim (a writer and one time painter herself) and Meyer relates a fair bit about the sacrifices that McKim made for her husband’s art career.
The book includes 81 black and white photos plus a drawing at the start of each chapter. The photos include a lot of pictures of Guston and his family and some of his art. The book was written in 1988, 8 years after the painters death so it also describes the interesting challenges of managing the painter’s estate and body of work.
Again the daughter’s perspective in the telling of this story provided a unique and often touching perspective – such as this passage near the end:
“My mother knelt and, after a long time, set my father’s ashes inside the deep hole. With them we put brushes and paint, tubes of cadmium red, mars black, titanium white. His colors. I knelt beside my mother and we refilled the grave together”
Night Studio is a very good book – I do not hesitate to recommend it.
“Portrait of an Artist” – audiobook review
I recently finished listening to the audio version of Portrait of an Artist: A Biography of Georgia O’Keeffe by Laurie Lisle. What did I think of it? In two words: Very Good.
I must confess I knew very little about Georgia O’Keeffe before this book. I knew she was an American painter – one of the giants of the 20th century. I was vaguely familiar with with her large flower paintings and works depicting bones. I also knew of her connection to New Mexico – that was about it. For some reason, these iconic images never clicked with me, never drove me to learn more about O’Keeffe.
Portrait of an Artist is a comprehensive biography laying out the story of Georgia’s parents before she was born and continuing right through O’Keeffe’s long life to the age of 98. From her childhood , through her schooling to her time as a teacher, the story is told and provides an understanding of this unique, strong, independent character. As is appropriate, large part of the story focuses upon her professional painting years and her time and relationship with photographer, promoter and husband, Alfred Steiglitz.
It is a fascinating story and Lisle tells it in an entertaining way. The book was published in 1980 and the audio version released in 1995 but it is timeless. The book’s narrator Grace Conlin does a very good job of reading the story so as to hold the listener’s attention. There were a few minor errors that I noticed in the reading but in a 13 hour and 42 minute book, they were really inconsequential.
This was one of those books that made me sad when it came to the end, but my education about O’Keeffe has only begun. My appetite has been whetted and now I must see images of the works which the biography talked about. In fact, I have ordered and I am anxiously awaiting the delivery of a printed book that will have images of many of O’Keeffe’s paintings. I am especially looking forward to studying her landscape work.
In summary – a very good book and audio version. I highly recommend it.
Diebenkorn in New Mexico – a Book Review
I fell in love with the art of Richard Diebenkorn first when I saw some of his pieces in San Francisco at the Museum of Modern Art, then when I read “The Art of Richard Diebenkorn” by Jane Livingston (See my earlier blog post). I was hungry to learn more about him and to see more of his work.
This book, Richard Diebenkorn in New Mexico, satisfied my hunger. It focuses on Diebenkorn’s time in Albuquerque while he was doing a Masters degree at the University of New Mexico. He was there from 1950 to 1952 and produced some 200 works (paintings mainly but also some prints and sculpture). I like how the paintings occasionally hint at the colors and forms of the New Mexico landscape.
Richard Diebenkorn in New Mexico, the 2007 book was published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same name. It features 83 full page color plates and many other photos of his work amongst the text. The text is made up of an introduction by Charles M. Lovell and 3 essays – by Charles Strong and Gerald Nordland and Mark Lavatelli. These three takes on Diebenkorn’s time in the region have some overlap but are nonetheless each interesting.
Charles Strong is a curator and artist who studied with Diebenkorn for a short time in San Francisco. Strong’s two page “The Sky is the Ocean” serves as an overview to Diebenkorn’s life and work.
Gerald Nordland is the author of the book Richard Diebenkorn: Revised and Expanded and a recognized authority on Diebenkorn. His substantial section of this book entitled “Richard Diebenkorn: Routes to New Mexico” sets the stage for the Albuquerque period describing Diebenkorn’s life from his childhood to his life as a student in New Mexico (and a little beyond)
The Mark Lavatelli short, 5 page essay, “Diebenkorn’s Albuquerque Years” focuses on just that. He talks about the paintings from that time as well as the influences and how the period shaped Diebenkorn’s style. Lavatelli too know the work of Diebenkorn well, having done his MFA on Diebenkorn’s paintings from the New Mexico period.
All in all, this is a good book. I’d loved to have seen the exhibition which this volume accompanied but since I didn’t, this book will have to do. I know I will be coming back to the images in this book regularly in the future, as I enjoy and try to understand, the works of this wonderful painter: Richard Diebenkorn.
For more, read the New York Times review of the book.
Northern Light – a book review
NORTHERN LIGHT, The enduring mystery of Tom Thomson and the woman who loved him is an interesting and tragic book. I won’t spoil the mystery by revealing the author’s conclusions but I will say it was a good, entertaining read. MacGregor wraps up years of investigation (his own and others) to lay out all of the theories and suspects around the death of legendary Canadian painter Tom Thomson back in 1917.
Northern Light by Roy MacGregor
Aside from addressing the Thompson mystery, there is another major theme to this book. Northern Light devotes significant pages to the sad story of Winnie Trainor, who was reported to be engaged to Thomson and just perhaps… After Thomson’s death she lead a rather solitary and sometimes mysterious life.
Much of the story takes place in and around Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park in Northern Ontario. This area was the base for many of Thomson’s sketching and outdoors adventures and also the location of the lakeside cabin of the Trainor family. Through the book we are introduced to an intriguing cast of characters and their white lies, second hand stories and faded memories. No doubt it is very challenging to piece together a story, to solve a mystery, without a lot of documentary evidence but MacGregor does a very admirable job. A number of times while reading I thought “Okay, now I know what the author is thinking” only to realize that there was still a good portion of the book to go. Sure enough, as the remaining pages unfolded more twists and evidence were revealed, contributing to the entertaining read.
Northern Light was published by Random House in the October of 2010. The 357 page book includes a couple of simple but welcome maps of Northern Ontario around Algonquin Park and the Canoe Lake areas. Also useful are the many black and white photos reproduced through the pages. It’s great to look through books rich with big color images of Tom Thomson paintings. This book doesn’t have any of those painting reproductions but still is a worthwhile read that I recommend to fans of Canadian painting and to those just interested in a good real-life mystery story.
Defiant Spirits – a book review
I have just finished reading DEFIANT SPIRITS, The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven by Ross King. It was a very enjoyable and informative read. King traces the formation of the great, now quintessential Canadian art movement, tying together the characters and the history of the time.
Defiant Spirits by Ross King
Although I was generally familiar with the Group of Seven, there were two fundamental lessons that had never really clicked into place for me before reading this book. The first was the influence of the First World War and secondly the struggle by the Group for acceptance of their art by critics and the public.
The First World War (The Great War) was very important to Canada’s development as an independent and influential nation on the world stage. I had heard this fact before but King makes it all so clear from the pressure at home to enlist, to the adventures and horrors experienced by members of the future group who fought in the trenches and served as war artists. A significant part of the book is set in Britain providing interesting insights into not only to the Group of Seven and painting, but also to the war effort and military structure.
It seems so hard for me to believe that the style of the Group of Seven met with such resistance in their time. Their art was decried by many critics and the public as radical, revolutionary and just poor art. The artists felt strong in their commitment to develop a distinctive, modern Canadian style of painting. They benefited from limited but critical support from two people. First was Dr. MacCallum who provided financial support that allowed key members to concentrate on their art and importantly to stay in Canada, so that their collective influences could ignite the movement. Second was the support of the National Gallery and particularly director Eric Brown and Sir Edmund Walker under whose guidance paintings of the group were purchased (not without criticism and controversy). The strong moral support (and of course the money) from this national institution obviously gave the Group members confidence to carry on with their struggle.
Another aspect of this book (in fact the one that first piqued my interest) was regarding the possible influences of the European art movements of the time upon the Group of Seven members. I have been a long time fan of the the Impressionist and Post-impressionist movements in France and curious if there were any connections with the Canadian landscape painting school. In Defiant Spirits, King does explain a number of connecting threads, such as which of the Canadians studied in Europe or otherwise came into contact with European art movements of the time.
The book also paints a clear picture of the relation between Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. I have long believed the supposition that Thomson, had he not died, would surely had been a member of the group, once if formally formed. This book presents so many examples of Thomson interactions with and influence upon the future members of the group (for example sharing studios and travels) that there can be no doubt.
Defiant Spirits is divided into three “books” and each book has a section with color plates of some of the paintings that are discussed. The book also features numerous black and white photos, particularly of the characters. The book seems to be very well researched (with an extensive bibliography) and definitely is well presented. It is a great story. I don’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Group of Seven and this period of Canadian history.
“Defiant Spirits” – a book preview
Although I am developing quite a stack of art-related books to read, my most recent acquisition has jumped to front of the queue!
I am now through the first four chapters of “Defiant Spirits, the Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven” by Ross King – and I am loving this book. I have been eagerly anticipating this book since I first heard (last winter) that it was coming . As soon as I saw orders were being taken, I put mine in. So why my interest?
Firstly I am a big fan of the quintessential Canadian art movement, the Group of Seven (and of course Tom Thomson) and that is who this books is about. I am eager to understand all I can about how these painters came to see and paint the Canadian landscape the way they did and this book is certainly aiming to do that. The other great personal influence for my painting was the impressionist and post-impressionists movements. This book attempts to explain ties between the European and Canadian movements, looking at the history of each of the members of the group, their European influences and their interactions with each other. Much has been written (and much I have read) before about the Group of Seven but I am learning new things with each page of this book.
I also didn’t hesitate to purchase this book, given that it was authored by Ross King. I thoroughly enjoyed his award-winning previous book “The Judgment of Paris”. This Saskatchewan native now based out of England has also written a number of other books that I will have to get around to reading someday – but for now – it’s back to Defiant Spirits
da Vinci, Kandinsky and Josef Albers
I have received another three art books that I think should be enlightening and useful. I haven’t read these yet but I wanted to share what attracted me to each of these books
Leonardo da Vinci’s A Treatise on Painting.
Not that I want to paint in da Vinci’s style but I will be fascinated to read about the approach and vision of one of the greatest minds of all time. I was quite surprised to discover that a book written by hi would even be available since da Vinci lived from 1452-1519. This book is a reprint of the 1877 English translation.
Wassily Kandinsky’s Concerning the Spiritual in Art.
This book was mentioned by Norwegian painter David Sandum as an influential favorite book of his, and based on that I am intrigued. It is a slim book of only 57 pages but I expect it will be a gem.
Josef Albers’ Interaction of Color.
I love color and am always interested in learning more about color perceptions and how that might be used in art. This is a recent revised and expanded version of the original 1963 publication.
I look forward to reading these but unfortunately I am getting quite a stack of books to read and I am not sure when I will get to these. When I do though, I will be sharing some of the key things that I learn.
Two New Books for My Studio Library
I love books and I am passionate about art so it should be no surprise that I have a weakness for art books. I am excited by the recent arrival of two new books in the mail.
The first book is “Night Studio, A Memoir of Philip Guston” by Musa Mayer. This book was recommended to me by a blog commenter after I expressed my delight in having read the biography of de Kooning.
"Night Studio, A Memoir of Philip Guston" by Musa Mayer
Guston was a painter who lived from 1913-1980, during the golden age of Abstract Expressionism. He counted among his friends de Kooning, Rothko and Pollock. Having read the stories of some of these contemporaries I am looking forward to learning how Guston saw the scene and fits into the puzzle.
The second new arrival is the 2007 book “Marsden Hartley and the West, The Search for American Modernism” by Heather Hole.
"Marsden Hartley and the West" by Heather Hole
I became aware of Marsden through my interest in the Canadian “Group of Seven” painters. I have long wondered about American connections and parallels to this quintessential Canadian painting movement. Somewhere I read the reference to Marsden Hartley and a little Google and Amazon searching lead me to this book. I like what I see in terms of Hartley’s painting style and will be interested to learn if this book makes reference to any Canadian connections. Hartley lived between 1877 and 1943 and this book focuses on his period in New Mexico between 1918 and 1924.
I certainly expect to report more on each of these books once I have had an opportunity to read them.
Book Review: de Kooning, An American Master
On New Year’s Eve 2009 I finally finished reading De Kooning, An American Master by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan. I highly recommend this 2004 biography of Willem de Kooning, one of the giants of Abstract Expressionism.
Before reading this book I knew little about de Kooning or abstract expressionism. I recognized some of the names and styles but honestly I didn’t really get it. I still don’t know if I “get” it in totality but I have much more admiration and fascination for the movement. This book gives a good perspective of the entire movement in addition to an in-depth description of the life of de Kooning. I won’t provide details that could spoil the story for those who don’t yet know the details de Kooning’s life, but his story starts with growing up in Holland them emigrating to the U.S. then continues with the development of his art in New York and finally his long, brave decline. He was a complex and often troubled individual but I am left with a very strong admiration of his vision and his lifelong dedication to his art. This book has whetted my appetite to learn more – both about de Kooning’s work but also about that of his contemporaries. Again, I highly recommend reading this book.
Here is a link to another review of this book:
http://contemporarylit.about.com/od/thearts/fr/deKooning.htm
Book Review: “Landscape Painting” by Birge Harrison
I am intrigued by this book by American landscape painter Birge Harrison. This book was originally published 100 years ago – in 1910 (and re-published as a reproduction by BiblioLife in 2009) . In saying it is a reproduction I believe it looks exactly like the original (except perhaps the cover), as if it has been photocopied page for page- original typeface, original language, original illustrations. Unlike a modern landscape instruction book you will not find colorful illustrations. Except for a few small black and white reproduction of paintings, text is the sole means of conveying the author’s message.
I find it so interesting to hear what direction was given to landscape painters at that time. I expect some timeless, unchanging advice and perhaps some really dated tidbits. I’ll share a bit of what I discovered.
Among the first things of interest was the reference to the French Impressionists as “luminarists”. (not a common term to me). There is an interesting discussion of light – the physics of it and the physiology of human interpretation of light and color.
What do you think about this statement:
“There would seem to be only two rules that can not be broken: first the undertone must be warmer than the overtone, and second it must never be brown…out-of-door nature abhors brown, and never uses it” (p. 42)
Overall, this is a good book and I would recommend it too landscape painters looking to understand a bit of the historical perspective of their subject.
Randall Talbot - Artist 