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A Life Stilled. In Transit - Isobel , 1999. acrylic on masonite . 106.7 x 48.2 cm. Project Plan. Select an individual or social issue that means a great deal to you: Relative, Friend, World Leader Poverty, Health, Violence, Environment, etc
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A Life Stilled In Transit - Isobel, 1999. acrylic on masonite. 106.7 x 48.2 cm
Project Plan • Select an individual or social issue that means a great deal to you: • Relative, Friend, World Leader • Poverty, Health, Violence, Environment, etc • Gather items that represent that person/issue • The physical items are preferable over a photo or internet image • Create a still-life that captures that person’s character, moment in their life, or message of social importance
History • Still-life painting as an independent genre first flourished in the Netherlands during the early 1600s • The rise of still-life painting in the Northern and Spanish Netherlands reflects the increasing urbanization of Dutch and Flemish society • Response: Why would increased urbanization result in a rise in still-life? • Citation: The Metropolis Museum of Art • Liedtke, Walter. "Still-Life Painting in Northern Europe, 1600–1800 ". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/nstl/hd_nstl.htm (October 2003)
Example: Dutch Still-life • One of the earliest dated still lifes by Claesz. • A Haarlem painter who gave extraordinary presence to familiar things. • “Here a skull, an overturned glass roemer, an expired lamp, and the attributes of a writer, suggest that worldly efforts are ultimately in vain.” • Response: What about these details “suggest that worldly efforts are ultimately in vain”? • Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill, 1628Pieter Claesz (Dutch)Oil on wood; 24.1 x 35.9 cmRogers Fund, 1949
Example: Post-Impressionist Still-life • Cézanne‘s unique methods influenced the art of Cubists, Fauvists, and successive generations of avant-garde artists. • Instead of light and shadow, he experimented with subtly gradated colour variations to create dimension in his objects. • Ignores the laws of classical perspective, allowing each object to be independent within the space of a picture • The Metropolis Museum of Art • Voorhies, James. "Paul Cézanne (1839–1906)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pcez/hd_pcez.htm (October 2004) • Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses, 1890. Paul Cézanne (French,)Oil on canvas; 73 x 92.4 cm. Bequest of Sam A. Lewisohn, 1951
Inspiration: E. Nancy Stevens • “IN TRANSIT is my autobiography. The paintings and drawings, ideas and images, are an exploration of the nature of experience and the unknowables of existence.” • From “Description of Exhibit” http://www.enancystevens.ca • In Transit – Edith, 1999, acrylic on masonite, 106.7 x 48.2cm
E. Nancy Stevens • Nancy Stevens switches between realism and abstraction, but all her work is about ordering experience. • Her father died during the Second World War. “A lot of things happened in my early life, so order is how I coped” • http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1162697-at-the-galleries-order-imagination-unite-in-stevens-artwork
Education/Training • Studied with Alex Colville at Mount Allison University (1953-56). Mary Pratt was a fellow student and friend. • Year of study in Montreal with Arthur Lismerof the Group of Seven • Worked as a graphic artist doing illustrative promotions at the CBC • Taught at NSCAD from 1990-97 STFX from 1996- recent retirement Arthur Lismer, “Bright Lands”, 1938 Alex Colville, “Horse and Train”, 1954 Mary Pratt, “Bowl’dBanana “, 1981
Iconography in “William” • Book: Canadians in Khaki = he fought in the Boer War • Railway watch = his work for CNR • Spoon = souvenir from his travels as a youth • Apple = wisdom, knowledge, goodness • Citation: McElroy, Gil. “Falling From Grace” Nancy Stevens: In-Transit. Charlottetown: Confederation Centre Art Gallery & Museum, 2001, p.13 • In Transit – William, 1999, acrylic on masonite, 106.7 x 48.2cm
Iconography in “An Apple A Day” • Apple = Christian and educational values • Chocolate = wealth, gluttony, corruption of the healthy apple • Apple sticker = number of dead in the earthquake. Our consumption of this tragedy. • Copper fork = Chile’s main export • Glass objects = a glass wall through which the apples view the Chilean earthquake; the voyeuristic distance. • Knife = violence aimed towards the “outside world” • Newspaper = sensationalization of world events • Ryan Josey. An Apple a Day, 2010, oil on canvas. ~16x20 • http://www.ednet.ns.ca/pdfdocs/curriculum/Artists_in_Schools_2011-12-Broch.pdf