The Easel

30th June 2020

Walking a tightrope

Beckmann came out of WW1 in bad shape. Thereafter, he portrayed city life and modernity in grim, often obscure ways. How do we interpret his acclaimed self-portrait, done at a time of career success? Is it a self-celebration, or does the figure’s inaccessibility denote some unease? Beckmann often juxtaposed conflicting imagery in a work. And, he admitted, “I can see neither all in black nor all in white.”

Cosmopolitan Craftsman

New silver mines in mid-19th century America made silver affordable to the middle class. Tiffany, then a fledgling, was transformed by the opportunity. Its “genius” designer Edward Moore drew inspiration from ancient works and, notably, Japanese lacquerware and metalwork. His works displayed “phenomenal artistry” and defined a design aesthetic that made Tiffany a powerhouse in the decorative arts.

Milton Glaser: graphic designer who created the look of the Sixties

Glaser felt design differed from art, but with some overlap – both involve “a passing on of gifts”. He took ideas widely, from Renaissance art through to Bauhaus modernism (without its “puritanism”). Glaser’s work is influential and renowned, like the logo for New York City. Except, he said, “it wasn’t a logo. It was a cry for acknowledgement”. It certainly met Glaser’s aspiration for all his designs – to “open the heart “. An excellent interview is here.

Gazing at the Moon

A scholar ponders a late Renaissance work – “why make a vast male arse the focal point of a major religious painting?” Bared buttocks in antiquity were meant to insult, but during the Renaissance, acquired multiple meanings. Sometimes a shapely posterior alluded to the homoerotic. More often, the male nude conveyed “physical power and divinely inspired grace.” Says the writer, a “wonderful topic we are yet to completely get to the bottom of”.

Experiencing the shock of the old, fiber artists rediscover shows like MOMA’s pivotal 1969 “Wall Hangings”

An advocacy of textiles, or now, fibre art. One myth overdue for deletion is that the loom is essential. Off-loom techniques – “knotting, wrapping, and plaiting” – have an ancient lineage. They allow a more varied material palette that greatly expands the genre’s vocabulary. Colour can take a secondary role while previously mute attributes now speak forcefully – “structure, mass … tactile nuance”.

He Made Stone Speak

At 71, Michelangelo took on the build of St Peter’s Basilica and its problematic dome. “[It] presented the elderly artist with challenges on every conceivable front, from the declining powers of his own body to the demands of spiritual aesthetics to the physics of construction.” Michelangelo gave this task fully a quarter of his career, well aware he would never see its completion: “God had called him, and he had answered”.

A Space Where the Soul Could Go to Rest

After WW1 what mattered to chic Parisiens was “being modern”. It was the perfect milieu for Frank. Appalled by cluttered, bombastic furniture, he helped pioneer a minimalist aesthetic in interior design. Individual pieces of his furniture could be “severely modern”, yet as elements of a room design, they contributed to his signature look – “classical curves and symmetry, a becalmed air, and a sense of past and future seamlessly merging.”

23rd June 2020

Statue wars

The Confederacy statue debate has gone global. Retaining these symbols is variously defended in terms of protecting free speech or being truthful about history. True enough for some statues, but not all. A good many celebrate white supremacist values. So, which should come down? Slave traders? The slave-owning George Washington? History abounds with imperfect characters. Expect more debate.

Delacroix

Amidst lockdown, a writer reminisces about Delacroix’s The Abduction of Rebecca. At the center of the swirling action is an unconscious Rebecca in the hands of Muslim abductors. Her plight, and her “eroticized female flesh” grabs the viewer’s attention. Here is Delacroix deploying the key elements of his wild Romanticism – “unparalleled physicality, presence, and emotion.”

How the coronavirus will reshape architecture

Modern home design, embodying our “ideal of domesticity”, emphasizes white sleek functionality. Lockdown has shown that this minimalism is not “enriching” and we now seek “textured hideaways”. Offices will need to become less dense. Cities will likely prioritise pedestrians and the “local” experience. Greater diversity in urban environments will “positively influence the global experience when we get back out there again”.

The greats outdoors: Emily Carr’s modernist landscapes

British Columbia, circa 1910, was isolated and tough. Carr, an aspiring painter, wasn’t deterred. After studying in Paris, she adopted the “colour heavy” style of the Fauvres. Modernist painting was hardly sympatico with the West Coast vernacular, but it brought a dynamism to Carr’s work that now underpins her reputation. A century later, her interest in the environment and indigenous culture puts her, finally, in step with the times.

When Crime Photography Started to See Colour

Park’s lofty reputation grew out of his assignments in the American south for Life magazine. Around the same time, he completed an assignment on urban crime, accompanying police in their day to day tasks. The images were a revelation. Not only were they in colour, “cinematic, intense, and exquisitely composed”, they also conveyed empathy and nuance. More images are here.

This Atlas of Art and Memory Is a Wonder of the Modern World

Warburg’s Mnemosyne Atlas is “an anatomy of human gesture”. Warburg wanted to show that images are “viral”, unable to be contained within their historical moment. Instead, they transmit ideas across time. With images as various as ancient art, Renaissance frescoes, photos of zeppelins and astrological diagrams the Atlas is about how memory functions across the millennia of human civilization.

The Original Ballad

The fêted Ballad of Sexual Dependency chronicles a New York subculture. Its potency comes from its “incredible picture maker” (Nan Goldin) as well as the universality of its topic – relationships. “Who are these people? What’s happening to them? There’s the lush color. People have called [it] “operatic”. People’s Instagram feeds are their versions of The Ballad.”