I am reading about painters from the Victorian era lately. Almost completely written off by the art establishment as overly sentimental and dismissed by the modern art movement these artists are being recognized and appreciated by serious representational painters today. (by representational art I mean paintings of recognizable things as opposed to abstraction, minimalism, colour field painting or installations.)
What impresses me about these artists beyond their obvious skill in all aspects of painting is an appreciation and execution of an element that is missing in most contemporary painting.
RESTRAINT.
We really don't see much restraint in painting today. With a few exceptions when you enter a commercial gallery these days you are bombarded with bombastic, intensely high-chroma, almost electric paintings. As a painter there seems to be an impulse to scream for attention within a choir of visual psychopaths .
This painting by William Bougoureau, "Just a Taste" is an example of what I'm on about. There are strong values, great composition and palpable emotion. This isn't about photo-realism as when it is viewed closely the paintings brushwork is readily apparent. It is about pulling the viewer into a mood or idea with sensitivity and some grace. You need to spend time with this art in order to see the nuances and beauty. The artist is not bombarding our senses with unrelenting colour and textural trickery.
Think about another artistic discipline, music. We'd be bored and dissappointed if the artist cranked his amp to the max and screamed full force for an entire concert. Even metal bands use variety and space to bridge between or build up to their climatic bits. For some reason visual artists, myself included and the public have been convinced that painting must be loud to be heard.
As an example I'll humbly present my recent painting, "Okanagan Tranquility". Even though I am trying to work with a more sophisticated and controlled palatte you can see I have a long way to go.
Colour excites the eyes but is a short-lived pleasure I think. I will try to gain a little control over my palatte in future work.
Until next time.
This is a great post! I'm very attracted to turn of the century art for all the reasons you point out. I think the fast paced gimmicks of today are possibly attention getters, but viewers will tire of them quickly. A well done painting has so much depth to it, that every time you look at it, you find more. I work in this direction, but like you I have a long way to go to match up to the quality of yesteryear paintings.
ReplyDeleteNice chatting today - I too am trying to tone the palette down for the same reasons but I have to say your work is stunning and I hope you don't abandon this style!
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