Van Gogh in Ottawa V - 1

Vincent moved to Auvers-sur-Oise in May 1890.  The close proximity to Paris brought the influence of the avant-garde into focus.  This spurred him on to create even more distinctive works of his own.  His colour and brushwork were further developed.  He painted more extreme close ups and extraordinary viewpoints.  He used the double square canvas size more frequently.  He was well aware of how crucial his deliberate and thoughtful orchestration of colour and brushwork were for the ultimate effect of these compositions.  The result he could not achieve in drawing.  In the Salon des Independents in March Gaugin exclaimed "you're the only one there who thinks".

Van Gogh's work became even more decorative in the sense of using local tone and pattern.  Very modern.

Village with Figures

Farmhouse

Ears of Wheat 

This is an extreme close up.  It is a flattened image like a tapestry.

Field with Poppies

Monet painted fields with poppies in his earlier work.  It was a significantly different approach even though both artists played with tilting and flattening and colour and brush work.

Going Wide

Undergrowth with Two Figures 1890

Using tree trunks, brush strokes, cloisonism, tilted planes.  Note the position of the foremost tree trunk.

Wheat Fields Near Auvers  1890

Close up detail, tilted plane, flattened decorative sky.

Wheat Stacks

Village

Vines 1890

Wheat Fields with Crows 1890

For more insight read Van Goghs Letters alongside the corresponding paintings.

Van Gogh in Ottawa IV

The up close view that Vincent enjoyed from early in his painting career continued as part of still life studies, portraits, and cropped landscapes, and as part of his more integrated pieces.  In 1889 Van Gogh moved into the asylum at St. Remy just north of Arles.  Once settled he was very prolific.  The quiet allowed him the peace to focus.  Along with his compositional directions he worked on his brush strokes and his unique place amongst avant-garde artists of the time.

Iris, 1889, St. Remy

A garden close up with no horizon.  Note the black outlines and the vigorous brush work.  Mostly mid values.

Butterflys and Poppies

This up close garden scene feels very Japanese.

From the Window at St. Remy

Here we see the high horizon and the directional brush stroke alongside up close detail.  Balancing the up close with the distant is tricky and creates tension in this flattened scene.  The tilting of the planes is vigorous and multidirectional as a Cezanne.  More interest (maybe) and more tension.

Cypruses

This Cyprus portrait demonstrates organic brush strokes.  Here the sky competes with the foreground in the flattened, local tone painting.  Patterns on shapes.

Front and Back

Notice the value of the sky in this front and back image.

Trunks and Ivey

The Japanese print influence is apparent here as Van Gogh applied the cropped tree trunk as a veil.  There is a hint of a horizon in the upper tenth of this painting that is otherwise a tapestry of colour, brush strokes, and texture.

Cropped Tree Trunks

Trees and Dandelions

The use of cropped and exaggerated tree trunks became more prevalent along with the vigorous brushing and colour in a short picture box.

Van Gogh in Ottawa III

After almost 2 years in paris Vincent headed south at then end of February 1888.  He ended up in Arles.  Province.  There he found the light bright, intense, and clear.  Perfect for continuing his explorations begun in Paris.  And a chance to get away from the action and the influence of so many avant-garde artists.  Yet he stayed in touch to keep abreast of the latest trends and find his own niche by comparison.  Unique.  His admiration for things Japanese continued and he emphasized its modern quality along with his Impressionist influences and his own drive to be unique.

Amongst the most obvious devices he used were a high horizon, focus in both the detailed foreground and the distance, tilted planes for flattening the perspective and bring the foreground into focus, the use of tree trunks to both flatten and provide up close vs far away tension.  Then there was his brushwork and the basic lack of shadow.  These made the works more decorative in nature.  Today the approach is know as local tone painting.

Irises Front, Arles Back

The detail in the front carefully balanced with the town in back creating tension.  Notice the diagonals used to infer depth in the flattened image.  Such detail was the result of studies of simple motifs such as a clump of grass.

Clump of Grass

And from still life work.

Light on Light

Cropped and up close compared to standard still life of the era.

Very Japanese wood block like

Wheat Fields with Diagonal

The Sower

Wheat Field with Sheave of Wheat

Arles Hospital 1889

Here tree trunks are used.  Still most of the tree is shown.  Seems like two views at once, on from high above and one from lower down.

Notice the continuous development of his use of colour and his brush stroke.

Van Gogh Up Close II

Van Gogh was in Paris for almost 2 years from 1886 to 1888 (February).  The Impressionists influenced him to lighten his palette.  Vincent responded to their colour and paint application techniques by practicing with still life paintings.  Japanese wood block prints were very popular at the time and they had an influence on the Impressionists and Post Impressionists.  Van Gogh collected them and had more than 400 (But he was supposed to be destitute?  Maybe his brother Theo helped out).  He studied these prints.  After all, Vincent was quite educated and had an interesting intellect.

 Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige)

Japanese Flowering Plum (after Hiroshige)

From these studies Vincent began to employ a high (tilted) horizon along with foreground detail.  This seemed to suit his fascination with simple subject matter and its detail.  He often referred to such subject matter as "a dusty blade of grass".  Indeed he did paint clumps of grass alone, and tangles of vegetation as detailed foreground matter.  These ideas led to flattened picture planes.  Many of the Impressionists were also flattening the picture plane.  Perhaps the most notable were Cezanne and Gaugin.

Near vs Far

Here the foreground arrests the viewer's eye, then releases it into the background.  Notice that the sky, usually the source of light (therefore the lightest mass), is about the same value as the meadow.  This keeps the eye in the picture rather than falling out of the scene.

Near Undergrowth

In this painting the surface almost became an abstract tapestry wall just hinting at a horizon.  In other images he left the horizon out altogether.  Vincent continued to develop his expressive brush stroke while employing near pointalism and broken colour.  He was concerned about being unique and worked at it.

Quinces and Pears

In this still life the ground is tilted and activated.  The horizon is gone, the diagonal is employed and the brush work is alive.  Lots of tension.

His letters indicate that Vincent was continually invited to paint and discuss art with most of the avant-garde artists of the day.

In February of 1888 Vincent move to Arles in the south of France.  Apparently he desired a quieter environment to continue his studies and development.

Van Gogh in Ottawa I

We took a break from the construction project and headed to the National Gallery to see the Van Gogh Exhibition "Van Gogh Up Close".

Interesting.  I mean it, very interesting.  This exhibit and its education aspect was quite new to me.  The paintings were from the Paris (1886) through the Auvers-Sur-Oise (1890) period.  The focus was on the major influences on Van Gogh during the final years of his life and how he internalized them.  None of the common masterpieces such as Starry Night were shown.

Starry Night

What was shown were the paintings resulting from the influences in his life as he was exposed to the Impressionists (Monet, Pissaro, Renoir etc.) and post Impressionists (Cezanne, Gaugin, Seurat, Signac, Toulouse -Lautrec, Bernard etc.) in Paris.  He was astonished by their use of colour.  He lightened his palette.  He was influenced by the application of paint.  He worked on still lives to try out these ideas and develop his application of paint to be more unique.  He was concerned about being a significant artist.

Zinnias

Here Van Gogh worked on colour.

Fritillary

He lightened his palette and experimented with the application of paint.  Seurat's pointillism is evidenced in the background as short strokes of paint are used to provide broken colour and vibration (complements).  Notice how the table on the left side disappears into the background.  A modern approach.

Vase with Flowers

More stroke development.  No shadows.  The idea of local tone painting and decoration.  Post Impressionist idea.

If you look back into Van Gogh's earlier art you will pick up on his fascination with close up views of simple things such as books and shoes.  He took this tendency in addition to the colour and paint application experiments to images such as the following.

Apples an Basket

Here we see more exaggerated brush strokes and the elimination of the traditional background with attention to close details.  When you see this simple composition in real life the brush strokes are electrifying.  The painting jumps at you, yet displays a certain calm.

Finally, note the tilt on the basket giving it life as opposed to the static traditional image of a basket of fruit on a flat level surface.  Some Cezanne here.

Some of these influences came from other sources.  Next time I'll address some of these.

Lila Lewis Irving

I first saw a Lila painting in the '90s called "I Thought I'd Paint The Electric Bill".  An oil portrait.  From that I figured she must be an interesting lady.  She is.  I painted under her direction at the Haliburton School of Fine Art.  Abstract.  What a week!  Energy, intuition, and scads of paint.

Lila has her first retrospective "Appassionata" at the Art Gallery of Mississauga.  It runs through April 29 2012.  See it if you can.  It covers her most recent work with a smattering of the wood cuts, oil portraits, seascapes, and prints.  Quite the journey.  "I can never ever, ever, ever, ever master this one."

"Good starts are easy, good finishings are hard."  Lila

Calligraphy 280

"The subject does not pre exist.  It emerges out of the interaction between the artist and the medium."  Robert Motherwell

Canvas

"Everything should have one controlling gesture."  Robert Henri

Song of the Moon II

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift."  Albert Einstein

Thumbs

After the walk and talk I chatted with Lila.  She was quick to remind me that "you don't just start painting the abstract.  You have to know shape, value, colour, edges, and texture.  I have many years of that background and it remains a kernel in the back of my mind when I paint without thinking."

Some More Hensche

For those of you on the path of learning about art and developing your work, you may find some insights in the sayings by Henry Hensche.  

He apparently was an excellent teacher - if you really wanted to learn.  Not so much if you were looking for the secret.  His painting was considered superior to Hawthorne's, and he also surpassed his mentor in teaching methodologies.  His teaching of the awareness of colour has been dying out since his death in 1992.  I suspect this is partly a result of our instant gratification society.  This approach takes constant practice and dedication.

A student's growth in painting ability is directly connected to his ability to see.

You don't ever do a painting for money.  If you paint to sell you stop developing.  Selling is a by product.

If you are looking for painting techniques (or formulas) you will not get them from me.  Techniques give you a predetermined solution to your problem.  Without visual analysis you will experience no growth.  You will return to pat solutions your teacher gave you.

Paint the large masses true to their colour relationships in the light key in which they are seen.  When this is done well you divide the masses into the divisions of the variations of colour seen in those masses.  When you no longer see any variations, stop.

It does your painting no good to add all kinds of detail if you miss the main point.  Get the right light key and the details will take care of themselves.  Otherwise your paintings will look like craft paintings.

You cannot fully develop your vision by painting in a studio.  You must get outside to learn to paint correctly.

Change your colours directly on your canvas, not on your palette.

And a host of others.

Monet

Hensche Study

Some references follow;

Hensche on Painting by John Robichaux

Hawthorne on Painting by Mrs. Charles Hawthorne

These books are available for less than $10.

You can download a Henry Hensche Colour Study pdf (approx. 190 pages) from   blueridgeartist.com/media/pdfs/Henry_Hensche_Colour_Study.pdf

By Extension - Monet, Merritt, Hawthorne, Hensche Connection

The dominant teaching process today is based in tonalism.  A value based underpainting or drawing with colour added on top.  These people did not go this way.  As he developed, Monet became able to see and show the light effects on shapes.  So he started directly with the colours he saw.  His successors spent life times trying to understand and pass on this approach.

Henry Hensche was a student of Hawthorne.  He became Hawthorne's assistant.  Eventually, Henry developed more effective teaching approaches that demonstrated Hawthorne's ideas.  Just as Hawthorne developed figure and portrait studies based on the mud heads painted from life out of doors, Hensche developed block studies also done out of doors.  The beauty of the block studies is that they demonstrate the light effect on the simplest planes available.  One starts off doing these in sun light because the colours are easiest to see.  Then one will be able to do grey day studies in the overcast even though the colours are more difficult to see and the values are close together.  Eventually one will be able to differentiate sun in the morning, mid day, late day etc, and the same for grey days.

Block Study under Gallery Light - Multiple Sources

This study was done under the warm light in doors.  There were three iterations or adjustments made here.  The blocks were set up on a bench.  The shapes were stated with the colour closest to what is seen.  One at a time.  As the canvas is filled up one begins to see other colours that were not visible at first glance.  So each shape is adjusted compared to each other.  As the adjustments are made, more colour is seen.  This exercise shows you that the local colour is obliterated by the light.  It shows you the there is a different colour for each plane change.  It shows you that there are colour gradations on each plane.  Monet's approach of showing modelling by colour change is explained (as opposed to value change).  In the landscape Monet used this to show depth.  It explains the use of a series to study different light effects.  Hensche and Hawthorne showed that the application of spots of colour developed what others would attempt by drawing.

After studying the blocks in varying conditions student were progressed to studying items in still life.  This complicated the exercise because the number of planes increased substantially from the blocks.  Think of what the portrait would do, indeed the landscape.

More on the Monet Hawthorne Connection

Hawthorne became a renowned teacher.  He searched for teaching approaches all his life.  The approach came from the study of Monet who said that the subject is the light.  He taught both beginners and professionals at his Cape Cod Art School.  Here are some Hawthorne comments.

We must teach ourselves to see the beauty of the ugly.  It is greater to make much out of little that to make little out of much.

It is beautifully simple, all we have to do is get our colour notes in their proper relation.

Everyone knows what a man looks like, or a tree or a house, it is our job to tell the world something about these things that was not known before, an impression of what we alone have received.

The only way to learn to paint is by painting.  It is work that counts, experience in seeing colour.

Don't try to be an artist all at once, be very much a student.  Be always searching, never settle to do something you've done before.  Every successful canvas has been painted from the point of view of a student, for a great painter is always a student.

Remember, no amount of good drawing will pull you out if your colours are not true.  Get them right and you will be surprised how little else you need.

Have the courage to set down the colours you see - overstate the colours rather than be weak.  See the colour, then paint it a little more brilliant than you see it.

Working out of doors your eye will be brought up to colour - it has the effect of shaking off the shackles of your mind.  It is the most direct way of learning to see colour.

Woman With Hat

Girl in Yellow

Hawthorne from Monet and Post Impressionists

Charles W. Hawthorne was an artist and teacher.  His mentor was William Merritt Chase who was influenced by Monet's paintings of light and colour.  Charles became Chase's assistant, then went to Holland to study art.  Hawthorne set up his own art school in Provincetown in New England - the Cape Cod School of Art.  The year was 1899.

He presented problems to students in an inescapably direct way.  These lessons were posed and students were coached to concentrate on putting one spot of colour next to another - as the fundamental thing.  Paintings were done exclusively from life.  Models on the beach, still live in the studio, and finally the landscape.  During this study process students were encouraged to make many starts as opposed to finishing.  Notable students include Norman Rockwell, Henry Hensche, and Hans Hofman.


Hawthorne’s reputation as a great painter and educator attracted such scores of artists and writers to Provincetown, that it quickly became the largest art colony in the world. His unconventional approach to learning color theory became legendary. Students painted models posing in glaring sun on the beach, using only a 2 inch putty knife. The clumsy tool forced them to apply large dollops of paint, making it impossible to render the model’s features. The objective of these “mud-heads" as they came to be known, was to capture the effects of sunlight on the figure using large simple masses of colour without detail.

Mudhead with Braids

Mudhead Boy in Blue

Mudhead Girl on Green Box

Mudhead Girl with Pink Bonnet

From these images you can immediately see the influence of Monet.  The feel is there, not the detail.