H/w Goya

Francisco Goya

As part of our Printmaking Homework I was asked to look at the prints of the artist Goya.

 The prints of the plates that are displayed below were published in 1864 (first publishment) and are part of the collection of Museo Nacional del Prado museum of the .....Los disparates (The Follies) collection.  These were the prints I decided to view.

 El caballo raptor (Kidnapping horse) 

  This is a great example of tone. Look at the way the light is reflected in the background and foreground.  The detail is impressive and I never knew as much detail could be achieved in an etching.  Looking at the contouring of the horse and fabric of the man you can see a understanding of form. What does work I think is the way he over exaggerates the angles of the bodies. (horses neck etc)   I actually feel like saying I Love It. If you close your eyes the light area really do jump out for you. This creates an expressive sense and adds to the dark reality of the overall scene.
 
Νο. 10: El caballo raptor (Kidnapping horse), 24,4 x 35,3 cm. (platemark)/33,7 x 50,2 cm. (sheet)

Νο. 2: Disparate de miedo (Fearful folly), 24,4 x 35,3 cm. (platemark)/33,7 x 50,2 cm. (sheet)

 Disparate de miedo (Fearful folly)

Again another scene that provokes fear and drama (A dream like state almost surrealism style). To think these scenes were a dig at the political world of what was happening in Spain at the time makes you question WHAT DID PEOPLE BELIEVE OR FEAR AT THE TIME? You can feel it......Near the tree in the middle section adds another image that could go unnoticed....alot happening here! Different scratching techniques used or overlaying adding depth and shade

Νο. 4: Bobalicón (Simpleton's folly), 24,3 x 35,2 cm. (platemark)/33,7 x 50,2 cm. (sheet)

Bobalicón (Simpleton's folly)

This one makes me smile a little at the word simpleton!  Can you even use this word to describe someone nowadays? It expresses the simple look (mental health) in the giants face and the unknown fear of the situation in the man cowering behind the cloak......The figure behind adds a different sense of ghostly fear.. again the mark making is in-creditable and the tonal value.   I do wonder if the scenes are suppose to be night-time scenes of it this was the only way of working at this time? Or to achieve a dark, gloomy effect!

Νο. 9: Disparate general (General folly), 24,1 x 35,1 cm. (platemark)/33,7 x 50,2 cm. (sheet)

Νο. 11: Disparate pobre (Poor folly), 24,4 x 35,2 cm. (platemark)/33,7 x 50,2 cm. (sheet)

The works seem to me 'slightly schizophrenic' or some kind of mental health confusion among them.

merry folly

Look at the detail in the hind-leg of the bull.  The merry dancers on the above print. The tones and the way the dark background makes the images jump out almost dancing around the the print. The light reflecting is bold and exaggerated again. The build up and processes must of taken a lot of time and planning. I'm sure a lot of experimenting must of taken place in the years before Goya finished these works. I'm jealous of the dedication artist's seem to have in any work.


Some facts I looked at to get a better understanding of some of the terminology of the printing processes. I will try and create some examples of these in my workbook..... like wax etching or lino cutting... printing on the press or mark marking with different tools and mediums....  

This artist reminded me of the etching Picasso had produced years later and that I had looked at last year. The surrealist style. In all the similarities of the power being produced from having no colour. Just line tone and form.

Picasso - Miotaur etching

Engraving 

In engraving, the grooves which will hold the ink are cut into the copper or steel plate with a burin, a sharp-pointed steel rod set into a handle. The burin cuts a triangular furrow in the plate, cleanly removing a thin strip of metal. The engraver holds the steel rod between thumb and forefinger, pushing the burin with the heel of the hand and altering the direction of the lines by manipulating the plate with the other hand
Considerable effort is required to drive the burin through the metal, and this physical force is reflected in the lines of the engraving, which can be made to swell or taper by varying the pressure on the burin. In addition to the varying strength of the lines, intricate systems of cross-hatching are used for modeling and shading. The engraver may also use the burin to achieve a variety of textures through combinations of dots, tapering cuts, and the like, but the effect is characteristically one of precision and organization rather than spontaneity. The crisp elegance and clarity of the orderly lines are among the particular beauties of engraving.


Dry-point

The soft, feathery lines of drypoint lend themselves to playful illustrations or expressive sketches, which can then produce an edition of prints. Traditionally dry-point is done on copper plates with a diamond- or carbide-tipped needle. It is then inked (as in all intaglio methods) and cleaned, leaving ink only in the crevices. The force of the printing press then squeezes out the remaining ink and the image is transferred onto the paper – this requires tremendous pressure that cannot be applied by hand (hence the necessity of a press).

Etching 

In etching, the grooves which will hold the ink are bitten with acid, rather than cut with a tool. The etcher warms a clean, highly polished metal plate [usually copper or zinc] and covers it thinly with an acid-resistant "ground" [composed of asphalt, resins, and wax] using a roller or dabber. The artist draws in the waxy ground with a smooth point or needle that scratches it away, exposing bare metal. When the plate is submerged in a pan of dilute acid, the acid bites into the exposed areas, forming U-shaped grooves.

Several methods exist to create lines of varying strengths. The breadth of the point of the etching needle affects the width of the line, as does the biting time. Perhaps the most common method of controlling the strength of the lines is by "stopping out." The whole composition is drawn at once. The plate is bitten for a certain period of time, then varnish is painted over the lines which are to be light, to stop further biting, and the plate is returned to the acid. Successive biting and stopping out continue until the lines which are to be darkest are bitten to the desired depth.

Aquatint 

Aguatint was first widely used in the eighteenth century to imitate drawings done with brush and wash. The technique enables the artist to achieve areas of graduated tones, broader and more even than is possible with etched or engraved cross-hatching.

Traditionally, a powdered resin is dusted onto a clean plate and made to adhere by heating the plate, so that the tiny droplets of melted resin form a permeable coating. In another method, the plate is coated with resin dissolved in alcohol, which evaporates, leaving the resin grains evenly distributed on the plate

Impressionism

 

Impressed you should be......

Renoir

A 19th century art movement that came about in Paris between 1870's - 1880's. First of all the term impressionist was used as a insult to the artists who first exhibited they work. This was rejected by the art establishment. The paintings were considered among the first works of art in the modern era, due to the rough painting style and absence of idealism in the figures.  Impressionism painters such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Manet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir were said to be some of the first style of impressionist painters.

  How  they work could be rejected is beyond me, but I guess the bold colours and fast brush strokes were a little different for the time and theme of the old style renaissance paintings.

Renoir

Monet the water lily pond

Seeing some of these artist's work in a modern day museum you can't believe a world could exist without such wonders and I guess that why they came under negative scrutiny.  

I remember viewing a Monet and being left emotional for no other reason than the colours made such an impact on something inside me. Maybe the way the light gave way in its changing qualities....even thinking of the way it made me feel brings tears to my eye this very day. It left an impression I guess you could say.....

Modern Life

The artist's also began to focus on the everyday people or as called in the day folks. Scenes of the working middle classes and peasants were a interesting subject to the impressionists.

Renoir, At the Theatre (La Première Sortie)

Monet the Bathers

The way the mind can make a image of what they think they see in a couple of strokes played an interest and part of this style. To stand back and look!  The colour wheel started to play out also... Colours that when next to each other could intensify one other. Complementary pairs for painters are red/green, yellow/violet, and blue/orange.  This started to change the way of painting forever.

The people (middle classes/working folk) became the tragic, and occasionally heroic, focus of serious literary works. Novelists took as much pleasure in describing the cafés, bars and theaters of Paris as the artists did in painting them. More descriptive..... they’re concerned with the “emotional landscape” of the setting.  They’re interested in the ways the setting evokes certain emotional responses from both the characters and the reader. 

Most famous author being Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, and Henry James.

  

 Employing details in such a way that it’s sometimes difficult to see a clear picture of events if you focus on the details too closely.  Much like an impressionistic painting, it’s only possible to get a full picture once you stand back from the novel and view it in its entirety.

this I liked  and i still sense not that much has changed

      

Another factor which changed how artists painted was the innovation of ready-made paint in tubes. Grinding pigments in order to make up oil paint had been a laborious and untidy process. The availability of a wide range of ready-made colours meant that artists could work outdoors, rather than in a studio. They could also work at much greater speed, at moments applying the paint straight from the tube without even using a brush.

Lets go outside......

Mary Morrison

Edinburgh uni/college of art joint degree

Student exchange France 1989 

Edinburgh College of Art post grad Diploma

Mary Morrison who is now based in the Scottish Borders grew up in the Western Isles (Isle of Harris) She works mostly oil on canvas and her theme includes the landscape, location, mapping, grid references, tide tables, music and poetry. Her works are mainly referencing the western isles and her intention is to explore the light and space reflected in the islands.

She is inspired by  artists/poets like Kenneth White (rumi), Iain Cricton Smith (lewis), John Cage, Anish Kapoor, Mark Rothko, Shirazeh Horushiary and Anges Martin.

Shirazeh

Anges martin

     

example of morrisons work

While Morrison has another job and only does art part-time she did stress that the WASPS workshop she rents for studio space had a massive push, motivation and inspiration on her creative mind set. Being close to other artists was of great benefit for her.

She tends to work on a flat as the mediums she mixes can be messy and need time to dry and blend. Her works can be added to or reworked. She did take references from the Gaelic language ad talked about some of the poetry and the words she had liked and used.... FONN- meaning land music and state of mind.

We talked about the internet and how modern times have made life easier for buyers and sellers to notice your work. She had told us that its not always at an exhibition people tend to buy works, but sometimes after the exhibition itself. 

Not everyone can connect to a work but I feel learning the reasoing behind a work gave it more understanding or meaning.

Overall her talk was a very interesting way of hearing an artist's connection with her work. The work itself is kind of abstract and has interesting mixes, some opaque and some translucent..... Her gribs and barcoding and tide tables add another interest point next to the colour palette. 

    

 

WASPS = Workshop, Artist, Studio, Provisions Scotland.

wasps work area

mary morrison

Biography and personal note

 I am an artist based in the Scottish Borders. I share a studio in an old textile mill with 12 other artists. I also work part time for Live Borders managing the Creative Arts Business Network (CABN) which supports professional creatives and organisations in the region. We provide advice and support, run events and develop opportunities for artists of all artforms including local and international residencies and creative labs.

Romanticism

Romanticism (1700-1860)

Romanticism was more about how one feels about a state or observation. It became a way of expressing distaste of the political world, church or of the powerful.This occurred mainly after the French Revolution and also the period known as enlightenment. It didn't really take off however, till the early 1800's -1850's. While the ‘Romantics’ would not have used the term themselves: the label was applied from around the middle of the 19th century.

The biggest association to the movement I've found seems to be poetry. Some big names like William Wordsworth, Rosseau and William Blake for instance.

George Gordon Byron was born on January 22nd 1788. Lord Byron was an English poet who was a leading figure in the Romantic Movement.











“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods;          
There is a rapture on the lonely shore;
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roars:
I love not man the less, but Nature more…”




In 1762 Jean-Jacques Rousseau declared in The Social Contract: ‘Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.’

William Wordsworth's As I wander is a good example of the dreamy and descriptive way the romantics used words


 I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The words invite images in your mind and gave way to a new way of thinking and viewing. In truth the romanticism felt they could heal and regenerate mankind spiritually.

Romantics had a strong belief in the senses and emotions, rather than reason and intellect.

English Romantic landscape painting emerged in the works of J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. These artists emphasized transient and dramatic effects of light, atmosphere, and colour to portray a dynamic natural world capable of evoking awe and grandeur.

Snow Storm—Steam-Boat off a Harbour’s Mouth, oil on canvas by J.M.W. Turner, 1842

Théodore Géricault was a painter who exerted a seminal influence on the development of Romantic art in France.

Here in the shipwreck painting he makes a point of bringing up the political implications of home and how the captain got his job so to speak because of the connections he held. The ranks of importance and emerged the overall distaste of this I guess.

The Raft of the Medusa, oil on canvas by Théodore Géricault, c. 1819; in the Louvre, Paris. 491 × 716 cm.

The psychiatric studies, and the view on the good vs bad was also up for debate and many used the romantic period as I way of challenging the system. 

These are a set of painting by Géricault, who did a commission for a psychiatrist who wanted to bring to light the fact he believed the insane could not be held responsible for their actions and felt that there should be a ban on executing the mentally ill, supporting instead the idea that they should be confined to an asylum.  Usually an object of ridicule, the images of gericault's portraits invite quiet contemplation, treating their subjects as afflicted with a real illness.

a kleptomaniac

man suffering from delusions of military command

a child snatcher

woman suffering from obsessive jealousy

So we have a thief, jealous women and a guy with PTSD and they'd declared them insane. I wonder what they could make of our society now!

So romanticism included and affected such things as poems, plays. art and nature.