Essay Archives
Welcome to our archives. As you can see below, the first entry was in Ocotber of 2000. I never wrote an introductory chapter as the challenge of getting this page up to an internet novice like me was enough at the time. Instead I used an explicative involving two pieces in the gallery which I thought had lasting significance as the first month's essay. It is my sincere hope that in some way the things that I write might have someting in their wording or thought that in some way will clarify the wonder and craft of Fine Art. You may select any of the essays by clicking on them above or scroll and read them chronologically.
Steve B. Lance
REFERENCE PAINTINGS NUMBERS FOUR AND EIGHT
I purchased the these paintings together from a dealer, and I believe they were probably part of the same estate originally purchased commercially in the 20s as part of a decorative scheme. One can only guess as as to the reasons such paintings should exist, unsigned, in such original frames. My guess asks us to consider that these paintings were made around 1920, evidenced by oxidation levels, cracking and other signs of age, of the frames and canvases themselves. The Art Deco nature of the lady with the birds is apparent, her costume and hair, the geometry of the composition and classical references contained within it were all part of that movement which borrowed from it's predecessor Art Nouveau. Stylistically, though it's pallette is more pastel, the painting shows Victorian, even Pre-Raphaelite influence. Her frame is more heavily Nouveau influenced. The other piece is revival of the Barbizon Style .
The 20s were not referred to as "roaring" for nothing. I think the politics
and economics of the time may have had a direct part in the creation of
these paintings. It was boom times, opulent, with an infant upper middle
class flexing its economic muscle and wanting high - end decorative items.
This was concurrent with a new type of worker coming available for the
first time to the labor market--educated women. And in what were these
daughters of the newly rich educated? Quite often, it was Fine Arts, with
the intent surely in many cases of doing nothing more than adding to their
culture and refinement. But when these young ladies came upon the labor
market, they naturally sought work first of all in that which they were
trained. It was surely, with a few possible exceptions, of course, difficult
for these women to earn any recognition as an independent studio artist.
Unfairly it has always been so for women. I've seen many old paintings
signed with the first initial or last name only, when they were done by
female and less often so when done by a male. In the 20s large, colorful,
professional-looking Art pieces were not easily produced by printing or
photographic means [not that they are so now]. Therefore, commercial studios
that employed artists making decorative pieces--paintings, sculptures,
fine pottery--could probably sell all they could produce, and gladly welcomed
these educated women into the fold. There are other reasons to believe
these pieces were done by such artists and not by their male co-workers.
They are remarkably sensitive paintings, very mature as well. Most believe
sensitivity comes more naturally to women, something male artists constantly
strive to elevate, all that right brain stuff. Furthermore, I believe
they're both so good that even under commercial circumstances, had they
been executed by a man, it would've been a selling point, and they would
have been signed. I can make no better conjectures. Obviously a lot of
educated care went into the production and presentation of these pieces.
I praise their makers.
Steve B. Lance
Political Art is a theme that has varied through time in sync with political history. The great recent, dawn of 20th-century, rift between what has been called classical and modern Art was started by the social changes brought about by political revolutions in 18th-century Western society. Art had to economically evolve from something only affordable by royalty and the church into a product for its new patrons the middle class, and in doing so change its style and subject. In came Romanticism, Impressionism, Minimalism, ism, ism... Isn't it time for modern Neoclassicism? Art can be purely indirectly political, even "fine" Art. Consider the drawings of Daumier or Goya's work involving the Spanish revolution. Go back further to Gothic times and Art was nothing but the politics of the church. Much modern visual Art expresses the dense flux, confusion, frustration, violence and despair reflective of politics throughout the world today. At the risk of burying my head in the sand, my personal taste leans toward positive statements. The daily news is reminder enough of the world's troubles. Art can be like the "anti -- news"... the good news you never see on TV... "There are indeed some trees still standing and they are beautiful.", for instance. So, either in an indirect or direct way, Art has always been a political instrument perhaps the most clarifying and worthwhile of political instruments.
Steve Lance
The year is coming to an end. Each year at this time I feel exactly like Santa Claus. In this business the holidays always bring special commissions with deadlines before the celebrations begin. That plus bouts of painting fever have delayed this month's essay. My wife and I returned from Italy and France a little more than a month ago now and the trip has inspired a number of paintings from my easel and given me one major piece to restore. You may see it in the gallery before long. Not that that has anything to do with this month's essay which concerns the seasonal custom of exchanging precious gifts, actually the concept of being precious. Being precious has quite a lot to do with Art, and even more to do with collecting. Nearly like defining a currency, each of us must define what to us is precious. There are certain commonly understood values that we all hold dear, family, health, faith, freedom, noble ideals. Yet many objects we esteem as precious also. We place value upon them for a number of reasons: because others openly value them and accept them in trade (currency), because of sentimentality, because they are rare or beautiful, because they defy duplication, because we sacrifice much to get them, because we identify with them, because they are enduring. If you consider these definitions I think you will agree that they do fairly well described by thosethose things we most seek. Infact, one would be hard pressed to consider anything precious without it meeting most of those criteria. Likewise Paintings and other objects of Art are fine; if they are educated and thoughtful, if they elicit sentiment, if they are rare and beautiful, if they defy duplication, and if we identify with them and they are enduring. Usually, therefore, you have to sacrifice a bit to get them. This of course is not always true. A good part, perhaps one of the best parts, of collecting is the potential for undiscovered treasure. However, works of Art, are in a big way one step above other precious objects in that they can and quite often do illuminate that which we admire most in these things. So, unlike the piece of gold which can be only gold, or the gem limited to being a stone, or even a child confined inside a single body, Art can show us the beauty and value in all things. Truly good Art is rare, certainly more rare than gold , which you see everyday. This rairity coupled with those qualities which make it good to begin with, beauty (design), durability, sensitivity, and defying duplication, is why we admire, preserve, and collect it . It's value in the long run never fails, age only adding to its importance.
Steve B. Lance
I have been painting, I confess, and if this writing were any later this essay would have been February's. I thought of not writing it, taking the month off. It was my birthday. The holidays were too much. But, last month's essay, beginning "the year is nearly over" or something like that has to go. It's 2001. I remember an Industrial Design class at Purdue. My professor was talking about a friend of his who was a designer on the set of the movie, which was just about to open. He said it would be like nothing we had ever seen. Actually, its depiction of how things would be in 2001 was completely believable and, the monolith aside, practically expected. It's not quite the same now that we are here. We haven't advanced technologically quite as far as was predicted. Hal doesn't quite exist. However, I am talking into this machine that is typing this before my eyes. I have always prayed for the day this machine would be available. I'm now praying that it will indeed, as its inventors say, get smarter and smarter, and microphones get better and more selective. My fondest actions " kill two birds with one stone". Nothing would be better than the ability to prattle into space while working and have every word captured flawlessly, perhaps even edited. Did you know Napoleon is reported to have had 14 secretaries and the ability to dictate to them all simultaneously? Not being Napoleon, I confess the realization that this program existed gave me the confidence to take on this web page. The thought, when considered in totality, of these writings on a monthly basis is challenging, to say the least. I thought of ways to organize it. How do you organize a lifetime's work? Chronologically? Technically? I'm afraid it's going to be" ad hoc". To this I would like to address the following point. The discussion of Art requires a certain vocabulary without it things can become vague and We shall discuss this vocabulary here to begin with, though not in this essay. I think you'll find especially when we discuss the elements of composition that your ability to judge what makes a piece of visual art good will be enhanced. The Gladstone Eyre painting I referred to in last month's essay as one I had recently acquired for restoration is nearly ready for presentation. We look forward to putting it and several other wonderful pieces in the gallery when we get the next part of this Dreamweaver program under our belt. We solicit your patience, and look forward to making this site more dynamic through this coming year.
In my last essay as I recall I set myself the monumental task of defining Art's vocabulary and in doing so also defining what makes Art work. To do this we must consider the ELEMENTS OF DESIGN and the RULES OF COMPOSITION. These are quite simply the tools artists' minds have to work with while their hands manipulate the tools we more often think of , brushes, pens, chisels, instruments. By way of introducing the ELEMENTS OF DESIGN I suppose I should just name them. They are:
UNITY
HUE
VALUE
TEXTURE
FORM
RHYTHM
FOCAL POINT
LINE
EDGE
CONTRAST
I hope I didn't forget anyone.
The rules of composition vary from culture to culture, though it seems everyone works with the elements listed above. In Western Art [ no not Art of the American West] the rules vary from Eastern Art, duh, for instance. For these discussions we shall be referring almost always to composition in Western Art. It seems in some vague and general way that the rules of composition are almost infinite in number. However, there are some biggies that one should be aware of. Keep in mind that the reason these rules exist is for the purpose of keeping the eye in painting, the ear in music and poetry, and the mind in all forms of Art moving through the piece, captured and directed by the composition. Paintings are read from left to right. A good composition has a strong introduction leading the eye into the painting from the left (when speaking of the sides of a painting, right and left refer to that of the viewer). This often occurs with an accented horizon line in landscapes. I'll choose this as the first rule of composition I will introduce. Look at your pieces and see what kind of introduction they have.
It would be good to introduce one of the above listed elements in this essay I suppose. So, let's consider UNITY. Ha, yes let's consider unity. Perhaps the most or least easily defined of these concepts. Simply stated it means that the entire piece must look like one expression rather than diverse, unrelated thoughts and techniques. In painting this involves use of all the other elements listed below UNITY in the above list, in concert, to form a composition that involves the eye without confusing it.
So, in case you have not been exposed to them before, this introduces you to one RULE OF COMPOSITION involving introductions and one ELEMENT OF DESIGN, UNITY. As far as the rest goes, there is much to write, there is much to know.
The last essay discussed the elements of design and the rules of composition, or at least began to. If you have read it you may remember the list of the elements of composition. If you do not remember or did not read it you may refer to the "archives" selection at the bottom of the previous page. When talking about Art, Visual Art, one of the most common expressions one hears it is reference to a piece's "colors". You'll notice that in the list there is no "color". Color is actually a combination of three items on the list, Hue, Value, and Contrast.
Hue is what one would first think of as color. Hues are three primaries, Red, Yellow, and Blue, or mixtures of these. Green, for instance, is yellow with blue. But, all greens are not alike. That's when value and contrast come into play. By adding varying amounts of white or black one can tint a mixture of green up lighter or tone it down with black to produce an infinite variety of greens with one mixture of blue and yellow. There is much also about color that is perceptual. A given green will look different against a purple as opposed to an orange.In setting colors in close proximity to one another we use the element of Contrast.
That's three new elements of composition, Hue (red, yellow, or blue or any mixture there-of), value (light or dark), and contrast (the visual effect produced when different visual elements are placed in immediate proximity). Contrast certainly then involves more than contrasting colors. Values can contrast as well. Light set against dark can build drama in a painting. Little color may be involved. In even more subtle ways, Forms, Textures, and Lines; I suppose even Edges can Contrast when played against each other.
A rule of composition? Good compositions engage all edges of their periphery however they take care not to draw the eye into the corners. Corners have enough visual weight of their own. See if there are any lines leading directly into or visual magnets drawing your eye into the corners of your pieces.
July 23rd, 2001
Form, Texture and Rhythm
Going through the list of elements of Design, the three mentioned above are next.
Form can also be said "shape". It's good to think of it using that word, because, other than describing the way form is being used here, it also is easier to relate to a common concept when working with Form, that is, the notion of positive and negative shape. All forms have their positive and negative shapes, the shape they are and the shape they make of the background behind them. A good artist uses both these types of shapes consciously when making a successful composition. Positive and negative spaces are often formed by the use of contrast, light against dark or color against color (remember color is not a single thing but a combination of elements).
Texture is the sculptural aspect of painting and the painterly aspect of sculpture, or at least one can think of it that way. Texture in a painting is most useful in producing depth. The relief (high and low areas) of heavy application of paint (called " impasto") can be very effective in making an area come forward in a painting. The actual texture as well as color of items can be also duplicated in their painting. A sculpture's surface can be textured and in this can allow the piece to say more than just its Form can say alone. Texture in this case is a relatively two-dimensional effect compared to the overall three dimensionality of the total sculpture making it a bit painterly in nature.
Ah, Rhythm. It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. All elements of a painting, as said before, are tools the artist has to use in order to capture your interest and keep it moving through the composition. This movement is more exciting if Rhythm is involved. Rhythm can be boring and repetitious if not altered. One of my professors was fond of repeating the phrase "repetition with variation". Successful rhythms are most often just that, little things that one finds happening in a piece over and over, but with pleasing changes and variations. These rhythms, such as the patterns that leaves (in their positive and negative shapes) make on the sky, can set the theme of a work, or be it entirely, as Jackson Pollock taught us
This month's essay must by necessity of spirit concern the recent world tragedy that we all have witnessed and by which we have all been victimized. This victimization even extends most likely, as this is the way things go in such matters, to the people whom the perpetrators of these deeds sought to help. For, unless human understanding takes some giant leap forward rather quickly, the events of the past week will not promote empathy with the causes that precipitated them. Desperation drives humans to take their lives along with others in what must be recognized a last resort effort to communicate. A secondary school student interviewed on television the day after the tragedy had these words of wisdom from the "mouth of a babe": "The United States has to reevaluate its position as the economic leader of the world." For the last week or so I have read many well-written essays from different points of view. All of them had good points and certainly expressed the genuine feelings of many many people. I enclose the following, hoping I suppose, that in spite of history this logic will be the one that prevails:
We All Live in a Succah
"In 1984, when the nuclear arms race was in speed-up mode, The Shalom Center built a sukkah between the White House and the Soviet Embassy in Washington. We focused on the line from the evening prayers -- "Ufros alenu sukkat shlomekha" -- "Spread over all of us Your sukkah of shalom." And we asked, "Why a sukkah?" -- Why does the prayer plead to God for a "sukkah of shalom" rather than God's "tent" or "house" or "palace" of peace?
Because the sukkah is just a hut, the most vulnerable of houses. Vulnerable in time, where it lasts for only a week each year. Vulnerable in space, where its roof must be not only leafy but leaky -- letting in the starlight, and gusts of wind and rain. For much of our lives we try to achieve peace and safety by building with steel and concrete and toughness. Pyramids, air raid shelters, Pentagons, World Trade Centers. Hardening what might be targets and, like Pharaoh, hardening our hearts against what is foreign to us. But the sukkah comes to remind us: We are in truth all vulnerable. If "a hard rain gonna fall," it will fall on all of us.
Americans have felt invulnerable. The oceans, our wealth, our military power have made up what seemed an invulnerable shield. We may have begun feeling uncomfortable in the nuclear age, but no harm came to us. Yet yesterday the ancient truth came home: We all live in a sukkah. Not only the targets of attack but also the instruments of attack were among our proudest possessions: the sleek transcontinental airliners. They availed us nothing. Worse than nothing. Even the greatest oceans do not shield us; even the mightiest buildings do not shield us; even the wealthiest balance sheets and the most powerful weapons do not shield us. There are only wispy walls and leaky roofs between us. The planet is in fact one interwoven web of life.
I MUST love my neighbor as I do myself, because my neighbor and myself are inter- woven. If I hate my neighbor, the hatred will recoil upon me. What is the lesson, when we learn that we -- all of us -- live in a sukkah? How do we make such a vulnerable house into a place of shalom, of peace and security and harmony and wholeness? The lesson is that only a world where we all recognize our vulnerability can become a world where all communities feel responsible to all other communities. And only such a world can prevent such acts of rage and murder. If I treat my neighbor's pain and grief as foreign, I will end up suffering when my neighbor's pain and grief curdle into rage. But if I realize that in simple fact the walls between us are full of holes, I can reach through them in compassion and connection. Suspicion about the perpetrators of this act of infamy has fallen upon some groups that espouse a tortured version of Islam. Whether or not this turns out to be so, America must open its heart and mind to the pain and grief of those in the Arab and Muslim worlds who feel excluded, denied, unheard, disempowered, defeated.
This does not mean ignoring or forgiving whoever wrought such bloodiness. Their violence must be halted, their rage must be calmed -- and the pain behind them must be heard and addressed. Instead of entering upon a 'war of civilizations,' we must pursue a planetary peace."
Shalom, Arthur Rabbi Arthur Waskow Director, The Shalom Center <www.shalomctr.org
I shouldn't think that, now that the bar has been raised to this height, any armed person will ever be able to attempt to takeover an airliner again without suffering being mobbed. I pray people will with their livesnever again be as complacent, willing and seeking to accept ease as their standard, ignoring the needs of their neighbors and the world. Incomplacency is a place where war veterans live after their wars. We are now all becoming veterans of this war waged in the Modern World. Hopefully someday soon by doing so, we shall all live there , veterans of war past
It is a little over a month since our return from Italy and France. It's taken almost that long to catchup up with old business and to make a start on the work picked up over there. Paris was it's usual wonderful self. Before going to Paris the first time I admittedly had no fascination for the city. I know it's the "city of lights" and the historiclal center of much of European culture, but I thouht of it as too big , too intimidating. True, it is a Megalopolis, but I find Paris to be like the type of fruit that has a thick shell of industrial and commercial pith around the olutside but a good good good center. You can walk along the Seine River from the East end of it, the Isle de Cite, past the Louvre, Musee Dorsay, etc. to the more modern West end, the Arc de Triompe. I did most of this walk this trip loaded with my easel and painting gear, and did underpaintings of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower along the way, a painters dream. There is for the less ambulatory a great Metro system which covers the entire city, subways and busses and an old city East-West line that runs below the Left ( South) Bank of the Seine. Across the river from Notre Dame on the Left Bank is the Latin Quarter where the most wonderful food in the world is displayed in the storefront windows of restaurants that often have barkers in front of them urging passers-by to come in and enjoy. The French seem to have a particular talent with eggs and an omlette at a sidewalk cafe in Paris is to die for. It has never for me appeared alone and forlorn on a plate as Rick Steves laments in his book, but is usually served with bread and a bit of salad. Those who prefer their eggs vulcanized like rubber may be disappointed however. For the collector there are numerous galleries and shops along the Siene and down any side street on which you might venture. Right across the street from the Louvre, however, is a collectors heaven called the Louvre Antiquaire. It is a large Antique mall of Museum quality Antiques and Art . Prices I have found there are reasonable, no higher than other shops in Europe, and quite often less than one would pay for the same item, were it available, in the U.S. The weather in Florence was warm, almost hot. Sweat broke many times carrying my gear around. Again, it was heaven doing what every painter would love to do. It was also most fortunate to be guided by my friend Signore Marco Ceri and wonderful man from an old Florentine family who owns a great shop on the south bank of the Arno. He and his British wife, Elizabeth, live in a 15th century mill in the hills south of Florence that they also operate as an Inn. Elizabeth is one of the best cooks ever and studys Renaissance cooking. Staying with them is an experience never forgotten. Contact us should you wish to do so. When you're in Florence you notice skullers (you know the guys who row those long skinny boats ). I have photographed them many times and often wondered from where they came. Marco and his son (Marco was in Mexico City rowing for the Italian Olympic team back then and his son Daniello is three-time world single champion rower.) are members of the Florence Rowing Club. They are headquartered under the Uffizi in what used to be the old Medici riding stables. It was great fortune to be taken by Marco down to the rowing club and set up beside the Arno to paint a coveted view of the Ponte Vecchio. When you're in Florence stop by Harry's Bar on the north bank of the Arno and say hello to my friends there. Particularly Signore Rillo Cosimo. Working all day across the street from them by the wall banking the Arno, I got to know them. The food there is excellent, the Tuscan bean soup with shrimp was the best. You might even see a Lance original there on their wall. Getting to Antique Art, let us for the moment bypass the Louvre in Paris. Someday we'll do the Louvre. Let's consider Florence's museums. Florence, even more so than Paris, in the heart of it is small and pedestrian. The streets are alive at night with pedestrians and street artists. There are more things to be seen than the senses can digest. European travelers often refer to "torture by culture". In Florence many attractions are crowded and have long lines. It is best to inform your hotel when you make reservations of the museums to you would like to visit. It takes them three to five days notice to get tickets for some venues, particularly the Uffizi, and the Academia to see Michelangelo's David. The Uffizi is big, like the Louvre (well maybe not quite as big as the Louvre), the Met, Chicago Art Institute... my choice for the "best" Museum in Florence is the Bargello. The Bargello is the old jail and quite a remarkable building itself. The walls of its open courtyard, four or five stories high, are covered with the carved family crests of its former wardens. There are a lot of them. There is also the best collection of Art, that includes Michelangelo's Bacchus and Donatello's David, and artifacts representing the culture and history of Florence and Italy that I have seen in one place. It is small and easily consumed. The greatest single smallest place to see in Florence hardly anyone knows of. When I was there with my wife during the middle of a busy tourist day we were the only ones there. In 1975 workers maintaining the structure that houses the Medici Chapel behind the Palazzo di San Lorenzo broke through a sealed up doorway and discovered a room (approximately 12 feet by 20 feet) with a whitewashed barrel ceiling that Michelangelo had used for refuge during an uprising against his patrons the Medici's when, fearing for his life, he had to stay in hiding for some period of time. To pass the time he drew on the walls. They are covered with his images of human figures and faces. You have to ask at the ticket booth when entering the Medici Chapel to see the room below the sacristy. If you don't ask no one volunteers the fact that it's even there.
THE NATURE OF DAMAGE AND RESTORATION IN ART RELATIVE TO VALUE
One can hardly collect or deal in any way with antique Art, or any Art for that matter, without confronting damage. Often Art objects are by their nature fragile. Many having survived centuries, have been maintained, repaired and/or restored. The effect such work has upon the value of the piece has corollaries in other fields of antique collecting. However, there are distinct differences.
In an almost Buddhist way a natural degeneration of materials ages and patinates the surfaces of old objects giving authentication to their past. Often this authentication is the only acceptable objective standard. The relative age of a piece is always pertinent when determining its authorship. Age is reflected in oxidation levels, "craquelure" , and other signs of wear a that can validate or invalidate claims made about many objects. An 18th-century French trunk, for instance, is no less valuable with a split top as it is to be expected. Certain old and collectible objects should indeed not be refinished or necessarily even repaired in order to preserve as much of this historical aging evidence as possible, i.e. the worn seats of Colonial chairs should not be replaced, the slightly crackled finish on 200-year-old tables should be preserved and not replaced if at all possible, the old aged glass of a period mirror can be responsible for half its value.
Unfortunately, the Colonial chair will never be sat in again. However, the table can be eaten off of, the mirror still looked into. This raises a Zen and existential point, should not the Colonial chair be allowed to fulfill its will and purpose as a chair, assuming its wood to be still strong? As a chair, of course it should, but such chairs have been raised to the level of "Objet d'Art", eye candy, and as such have a new destiny to fulfill. In this role such wear is not disturbing to the eye, but expected. Restoration of such an object therefore devalues it within those parameters.
Certain collectibles such as ceramics, mostly manufactured ceramics, are extremely devalued by the slightest chip or crack. There are, after all, others around in a less damaged state. A rare handmade piece, on the other hand, if it is extremely old is expected to have some damage and, if it is unique, whatever restoration is necessary to maintain its integrity is acceptable if done minimally and well. This is true throughout collectibles. The value of industrially reproduced objects is directly affected by their condition. In sculpture for instance, a Frederick Remington undamaged from the same series as a damaged one is more valuable. However, the value of Michelangelo's David is certainly not less because one of his arms was broken off and reattached. Nor has the value of Venus D'Milo suffered for all her flaws. So, it seems the amount of damage and/or restoration acceptable on a piece is determined by a number of variables. I believe the most important of these is that one which defines the nature of the object at hand. How has this alteration from an object's original state affected its current role?
A friend recently bought a little painting at a flea market from just after the turn of the 20th century. A little fantasy scene painted in 19th-century romantic style. Signed by an artist unlisted, in a good Louis 14th repro frame from the same period as the painting. The painting was slightly burned, but the resulting craquelure actually enhanced the look of the piece, which might have been a little artificially sweet, saccharin, otherwise. What then of an original work by a listed artist that has been damaged? The answer is twofold. How much, and how well was it restored? How much is quantitative except that damage in a critical area of the painting, for instance in the face of a portrait. is of course more devaluing than the same amount of damage in a dark background. In general less than 5 percent of the total area of the painting affected in non crucial areas and restored well can be expected and accepted without devaluing the piece in an old painting. Usually, and hopefully, a paintngs value in the long run depends upon its quality. A truly powerful painting is a rare thing and rises above such criticisms as might affect a piece of Wedgwood. Does a tear where little paint is lost in an Delacroix expertly restored affect its value? I think not. A painting whose beauty and originality is not affected by a repair that cannot be seen except by concentrated or artificial means is devalued little. After all the true measure of such paintings in the end is supposed to be only their beauty and originality.
