Photo By Gail
Swiss artist Miriam Cahn’s enigmatic painting The Beautiful Blue (Das Schone Blau, 2008 – 17) depicts two figures sinking underwater. The figures are painted loosely, blending with the tones of the water and evoking the vulnerability of the body.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Miriam Cahn, The Beautiful Blue
Photo By Gail
The abstract paintings of artist Albert Gleizes (1881 – 1953) often keep strong links with subject matter that inspired them. In Tableau (1921) the image may be based on a female head, possibly that of his wife. Gleizes was a pacifist, but was conscripted into the French army in the First World War. Deeply affected by this experience, he became gravely concerned with the future of society. He thought that artists could help create a better world, not just by making beautiful things, but by offering new ways of seeing.
Photographed in the Tate Modern Museum in London.
Photo By Gail
Hervé Télémaque (1937 – 2022), moved from Haiti to the US in 1957 to work as an artist. He described his time there as a struggle against the dominance of both abstract expressionist painting and racism in wider society. After moving to Paris in 1961 Télémaque curated the Mythologies Quotidiennes exhibition. He also cofounded the narrative figuration movement, which incorporated elements of pop art and surrealism. La Girouette (The Weathervane, 1969) is typical of this approach – Télémaque ‘narrates’ the painting with objects and imagery from his personal life. Everyday items like a clothes hanger and beach chair are combined in surprising and ambiguous ways.
Photographed in the Tate Modern Museum in London.
Photo By Gail
Speaking about Evolution (1911), Piet Mondrian wrote, “it’s not so bad, but I’m not there yet.” The three figures here represent the stages of evolution from the physical to the spiritual realm, as promoted in Theosophy. The triangular-shaped nipples and navels of the women, which point upwards and downwards, symbolize their spiritual and earthly orientation. The central figure embodies the fulfillment of the evolutionary process, to the spiritual realm. The flowers on the left panel are symbols of purity, while those on the right symbolize tragic suffering.
Photographed in the Tate Modern Museum in London.
Photo By Gail
War (2003) by artist Paula Rego (1935 — 2022) is based on a newspaper photograph of Iraqi civilians in the aftermath of a bomb explosion during the Iraq war. Rego was shaken by the image of a mother carrying a baby, seemingly frozen in fear, and a girl screaming standing next to them.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: War By Paula Rego