Category Archives: Influences

Influences – (Cezanne and Matisse on Diebenkorn)

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Richard Diebenkorn - Nude on Blue Ground - 1966 - 206 x 150 cm - oil on canvas

This painting is a great example of a great painter permitting another to influence his work.   In the Matisse painting below (posted on Oct. 19, 2011), we see how he brought the background, or a spatial plane, in front of the figure’s right shoulder.

Diebenkorn used shadows to achieve the same result.  The shadow below her chin seems to be part of the background as well, and I feel the sharp right angle is the key.  You can also feel the sense of a spatial plane below her left breast and another beautifully considered right angle on her right arm which relates to the angle under her chin.  (Blurring your vision may help)

This sophisticated consideration provides the feeling the figures occupying space.

I must also point out Diebenkorn’s superb integration of the figure’s right arm with the line leading to the bottom of the painting and how this supports her.  I also love how her face comes forward, very impressive.

Being aware of these influences can be very beneficial for developing artist’s.  Joining with this great tradition is a great way to develop as long as you understand the difference between being influenced and copying.  You need to connect to the thought process and knowledge of the artists you choose.

 

Mondrian – (Spatial Planes)

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Piet Mondrian - Apple Tree in Flower - 1912 - 78 x 106 cm - oil on canvas

In this third version of the tree, Mondrian has brought spatial planes to the forefront.  This is about painting space and occupying space, and he has accomplished the challenge impressively.

Reducing the tree to a rhythm of loops, conveying it’s presence and movement is fantastic.  Mondrian then used vertical and horizontal lines, which we read as planes in space.  I feel this is a great achievement.  He has shown us how to convey a very complex consideration with just a few markings, avoiding substance.  Brilliant!   I hope you can feel the energy and space.

A great deal of consideration went into this series of paintings from 1904 to 1912 and Mondrian has taken cubism to new heights and he will continue to lead the way towards abstraction along with a few other notable artists.

Inviting the masters to influence is important to all artists.  And we see this with Mondrian taking Cezanne’s spatial planes and Cubism to a new level.

Mondrian – (Spatial Planes and Rhythm)

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Piet Mondrian - Tree - 1912 - 65 x 81 cm - oil on canvas

Eight years later Mondrian is refining the challenge of spatial planes.  And he has accomplished the feeling of the tree being in space magnificently.  The was quite an accomplishment in 1912, and shows us how cubist considerations will lead Mondrian towards abstraction.

The tree is now a wonderful rhythm of curved lines and shapes or what I like to term “loops”.  Can you feel the energy and movement, not only in the tree but the surrounding space as well?

This is truly elegant, especially when we see how successfully he combined the loops with a loose or open grid, conveying the sense of the space in front of, as well as within, and behind the tree.

The grid reads as planes and Mondrian has shown how sophisticated and important spacial planes are in painting.

I’m sure he was very grateful to Cezanne

Influences – (Cezanne on Gorky)

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Arshile Gorky - Portrait of Master Bill - 1937 - 132 x 102 cm - 52 x 40 in -oil on canvas

Cezanne had a major influence on Gorky’s development as we see with the consideration of spatial planes in this painting.  Gorky is not emulating Cezanne, he is applying his consideration of planes in space, as we saw in the post of Matisse’s painting The Italian Woman.

Here we can see the consideration at the figure`s left shoulder.  Note how the background feels like it is cutting into the shoulder.  Or a better way to put it is the figure is in the space.  We can see it in the other arm as well .  The lower arm feels to be in front of the figure.  The background coloured shape between the forearm and the shoulder reads as the space.  Do you feel it?

There is a grey rectangle in front of the chair.  What is it?  It is not an identifiable thing, rather it is a plane in front, which is far better than showing the back leg of the chair.  That evidence of perspective would be in conflict.  Very impressive.

 

 

Joan Miro – (Integration and Spatial Planes)

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Joan Miro - Still Life with Coffee Mill - 1918 - 63 x 75 cm - 23 x 29 in - oil on canvas

Many considerations are evident in this wonderful still life.  Miro has shown us his awareness of the picture plane, which was quite recent at the time, as well as spatial planes (cubism).

Miro is absorbing and refining these considerations with his own approach and sense of lyrical structure.  This is the difference between mimicking and permitting yourself to be influenced.

He has a superb feeling for space as we see in the rhythmic triangles, particularly in the area above the tablecloth. Can you feel them in front of the background?  We first sense the items, then the triangles and then background.  In fact do you feel the triangles throughout the painting.

Let me take you to the bottom left of the table where Miro has provided a shape which appears to project forward.  This is directly from Cezanne!

I’m very impressed with how he provided rhythmic lines below the pipe and fruit, providing them with energy.  A very sophisticated way of integrating.

Now to the advertisement card.  He has raised it to the picture plane as Braque and Picasso were experimenting with through using collage.  Another influence Miro has permitted to show in his work.

Influences (Cezanne on Morandi)

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Georgio Morandi - Landscape - 1940 - 48 x 53 cm - 19 x 21 in - oil on canvas

This is a great example of how a notable painter permits himself to absorb the considerations of other artists without loosing his own unique approach.   We can feel the influence of Cezanne but this painting is a Morandi.

The sense of volume and space is wonderful.   He achieves this with shapes and values, as well as colour.  I will focus on shapes and integration.

The painting is held together by a large shape in the central area, which integrates the buildings and the foliage beautifully.  (It may help if you blur your vision slightly.)

The roof line of the building at the left defines the top of the shape.  It’s right edge runs down through the other building, continuing to it’s bottom edge, which parallels the top of the shape.  Remember the shapes are not meant to be obvious.

Morandi also has provided a wonderful spatial plane at the bottom right.  This is created by the vertical trunk of a tree and a dark horizontal line to the right.  Can you see the rectangle?  The rectangle not only provides structure but is also a plane which seems to come forth.

I also would like to point out the two parallel branches on the tree.  They parallel the roof line above.  Superb parallel rhythm and structure!

Morandi understood Cezanne.

 

Influences (Matisse on Diebenkorn)

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Richard Diebenkorn - Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad - 1965 - 183 x 214 cm - 72 x 84 in - oil on canvas

A great example of a notable artist permitting influence in their work.  One could say this is a homage to Matisse.

The influence is obvious, but the painting is a Diebenkorn.  Showing the feel of another artist’s considerations and not losing yourself is very important.

The composition has strong shapes and flatness, which he did so well.  Yet the painting has depth without using perspective.  All that is needed are a couple of obliques which  accomplish this nicely.

Diebenkorn’s superb use of shapes permits colour to come forth and dance!

I must mention the rhythm of blacks taking you across the painting.  They are wonderful notes relieving the strong verticals in the painting.

Henri Matisse - Interior with Eggplants - 1911 - 212 x 246 cm - 84 x 97 in - distemper on canvas

 

 

Influences (Giacometti)

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Don Farrell - Direction III - 2007 - 53 x 73 cm - 21 x 29 in - mixed media on paper

I was working on a series based on the origins of architecture when another interesting consideration came to me.

As those who actually work on the structures, we all have a deeply felt need to leave our mark, no matter how slight.

That is the reason for the “organic” feel of the structural element in this painting.

When I introduced direction into the opening, Giacometti’s sculpture, (Woman Walking between Two Houses)  came to mind.

This is a good thing, because the more we study, the greater the chances of recognizing the considerations of notable artists in our work.

Alberto Giacometti - Woman Walking between Two Houses - 1950 - 30 x 54 x 10 cm - 12 x 21 x 4 in

 

 

 

Influences (Cezanne on Matisse)

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Henri Matisse - Apples on a table against a Green Background - 1916 - 115 x 90 cm - 42 x 35 in

 

In this wonderful tribute to Cezanne.  Matisse shows us what appears to be simple is actually very sophisticated.

There is a great deal going on in this painting , but I will limit my comments to Cezanne’s revolutionary consideration of including time in painting.  He was addressing the problems with perspective and may not be actually thinking in terms of including time, but his solution of allowing the viewer to move is precisely that, as the following generations of artists certainly have embraced.

Now to the painting.  Note how he painted the pedestal as if you are at it’s level.  Now look at the table top, you are now looking down at the fruit.  This would not be possible, unless you move, as we do in our reality, in other words the painting has time!

The viewer is invited to move!

You may also ask yourself is the background a wall or the floor, or both?  Why the vertical lines through the fruit?  Matisse leaves questions open for the viewer’s interpretation, as a master should.

I know, I went beyond limiting my comments to time.

Influences (Giacometti)

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Don Farrell - Creases - 27 x 31 cm - 10 1/2 x 12 1/4 in - mixed water soluble media on paper

I feel Giacometti was a master of composition. The more I peruse his work the more I have come to appreciate the thoroughness of his considerations. My painting “Creases” is an example of permitting Giacometti to influence my work.

By permitting myself to be influenced has nothing to do with emulating. It is appreciating, as in his painting “Still Life with an Apple”, the level of his compositional sophistication and trying to reach his thoroughness.

I will limit comparisons to a couple areas – integration and parallels.

In my painting note how the seam in the pot is in line with a line in the drawer below. Giacometti did a similar integration with lines which run from the bottom of the painting up through the apple to dark horizontals which will eventually return you back to the bottom and back to the apple. I used the creases in the white cloth and stronger values to bring you to the pot. I also used the drawer handle as a visual pull for the pot as Giacometti did for a pull from the apple.

Giacometti masterfully limited his use of perspective, in fact he disrupted perspective with a masterful use of cubism, I could go on and on. I decided to provide the illusion of depth by using the parallels of the creases and the shadows of the pot and two parallel cast shadows with no vanishing point.

I could write at length on this wonderful painting by Giacometti, I think I may one day…

Alberto Giacometti - Still Life with an Apple - 1937 - 72 x 75 cm - 28 x 29 in - oil on canvas