Art Blog - Art In History

In my last post I explored the conquest of the description of solid form and deep space in European painting. That was a glorious ride of 400 years in Western art, and is still a major option and a powerful tool in art up to the present. However, one of the most significant shifts in the 19th century, leading to what we think of as modern art, was away from the use of the surface as a window into an illusionistc space, back to the recognition of its intrinsic aesthetic values. This was a return to what had been the norm in two-dimensional art in all cultures before the great discoveries of the Renaissance… Continue reading… 2 comments

It is not a new idea that nature herself is a rich source of abstract pattern and design. Examples of pattern are all around us, in the forms of flowers, the lacework of branches against the sky, and the geological expressions in rock. In the last hundred years, we have been able to see the patterns of nature at the macro and micro scale as well: The fabulous swirling forms of nebulae, and the intricate ordered patterns of crystals. I have always had a powerful response to these natural patterns, while never having a strong urge to work abstractly. My compulsion in art is to record what excites me in the outside world. In the last eighteen months, that has often been rocks and rockfaces. Most recently, I have found myself responding to the most abstract examples I see… Continue reading… 9 comments

Perhaps the greatest single contribtion made by Leonardo da Vinci to Italian Renaissance painting was the simple pyramidal composition he developed in his seminal "Madonna and Child with Ste. Anne". This compositional idea was later perfected by Raphael in his many Madonnas, and became virtually a trademark of Italian painting for a century. We see a variation of it in the "Resurrection" by Piero della Francesca. The effect of the pyramidal composition is that of the pyramids themselves: stable, massive and timeless. Piero della Francesca uses the pyramid shape to give a feeling total permanance and significance to his subject. Christ is the top of a pyramid of figures, perfectly erect and frontal, looking directly at the viewer… Continue reading… 0 comments