Once upon a time...

Macke, Street's view, 1914, watercolor

three friendly painters decided to look for light and color in Tunisia. Their names were Paul Klee, August Macke and Louis Moilliet.

The bond among the three was Moilliet. Klee had met him during school and never lost contact ever after. Macke’s wife had been Moilliet’s mother’s assistant and, in occasion of their honeymoon, the just married couple visits them, introducing the both painters to each other. Klee meets Macke in Moilliet’s house.

A pathological liar and a desperate father (2nd part)

The biggest fraud in Art History 

(If you couldn't read the 1st part, click here) 

Myatt/Braque (fake)
(Image: museum-security.org)

In 1986, Myatt’s wife abandons him for another man and leaves him alone with 2 babys. He had studied art, he was skilled, but his style was not pretty much appreciated. He had won a good amount of money with a single he composed (You can hear it here), but he was getting as desperate as short of money. He would give drawing classes at a school twice weekly, but it was not enough. He decided to start doing small copies of XIX and XX century paintings and offered them to a magazine called Privat Eye as “genuine fakes”. Artists, we tend to copy the masters, and it’s not a crime… as long as you clarify it’s a copy.

One day, Prof. Drewe phones him to ask him for “a nice Matisse”.[1] Afterwards he orders one in a Klee-style... and he soon turns out to be Myatt’s best client. He would even take him to eat to exquisite venues, they would have art talks: Myatt found himself with a way to escape from his routine, he felt important. He was taken aback for the number of commissions, but he thought Drewe gave them away or used them to decorate his house. 

Holidays!!!!!!

Sorolla, La siesta, 1912

This is how we would like to be… 

Are you on holidays? Have you gone on a trip?

Our blog is resting, but not us: we are preparing some new surprises for next year…

So that you don’t miss us, here’s our Summer proposal: (or Winter, if you are in Southern Hemisphere)

Do you know which posts were the least read ones? If you missed them or want to read them once again, here’s our ranking!

5- We talked about how a color is not a color… while were on holidays! Who does even talk about such a thing with all the heat?

4- There was few interest in “Raphsody in Blue”… don’t you like the color blue? 

3- Our analysis of Le Moulin de la Galette wasn’t popular either: was it maybe because it was our first article and you didn’t know us?

2- Monet’s weakness wasn’t succesful either… maybe because of our technical issues.

1- And the poor least read article was “Fire red, passion red”… but I guess it was too hot to talk about red, right?

Today’s game: Do you recognise what painting is this image taken from? Be cautious because it’s tricky… it’s not a Picasso!

Share your answer on the comment section or send me an email… Correct answer will be revealed next Thursday!

Last week’s Solution: Lichtenstein’s “Oh, Jeff”. 

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The kingdom of darkness, evil and nothingness

Johns, Black numbers, 1958

Black isn’t a color either, but a valeur  and the proof is that it emits no light waves: it absorbs them all. Along with white and red, it’s one of the first colors humans used to paint: soot, coal, ivory and squid ink were easy to get from nature. They were still used until XIX c. when black was first produced in laboratory with aniline.

Since it absorbs all light waves, it makes rooms seem tinier. It’s the favorite color in design and technology, since it doesn’t distract us from the object’s functionality. It’s also used in luxurious articles as sign of elegance, since it refuses any coloring. The first car was black: Ford T.

Human being has always feared the night, the darkness, and that gives black a lot of meanings: it’s the color of evil, of nothingness, of denial, of the illegal, of tragedies and of bad luck. We constantly refer to it everyday. If somebody is the black sheep of the family, it’s because they are part of a black list. The crack of 1929 is also known as Black Tuesday: ¿was it caused by the black economy? And be sure you don’t come across with a black cat. Do you laugh with black humour? And we could go on for a long time…

Braque, Black Birds, 1956

It’s also part of the kingdom of death and evil. To Christianism, mourning is followed in black as an expression without vibrant colors of earthly death. A black flag and a skull are typical pirate symbols. And bats are sent by the devil, while witches also dress in black.

During XIV c., the Black Death (bubonic plague) killed a third of the European population, it was considered a punishment by God and for which it was needed to do penance. Society then changed: colors disappeared. The colors in clothes were a sign of wealth and power, but then people started dressing in black.

Sánchez Coello, Philip II
1580

As easy as it was to find pigments to paint in black, it was really hard to dye clothes black. When the Turks defeated Constantinople in 1453, all the secret of the dyers masters were revealed and the prices got much lower: by then everybody would dress in vibrant colors. In order to differentiate from the rest, nobility and bourgeoisie started to dress in black: just like in the Spanish Empire.

Beckmann, Black
Irises, 1928

The curious thing is how, despite the Protestant Reformation, everybody dressed that way. Luther claimed it alluded to individual responsibility, to perserverance and discipline. When Holland gets to be a world power, black would still be trendy. Rulers and teachers would use this color as sign of authority: and some judges still wear like that.

Until 1900 brides would dress in black, and only the veil was white. It was impossible by then to have a single dress for one night, when people used to be able to afford just 2 or 3. That same black dress was also used in funerals or to go to Mass on Sundays.

And bikers, punks and rockers? They also use black since it also represents the illegality and transgression. Apart from this definite case, black is considered one of the most elegant outfits. It’s impossible to fail: it suits everybody, it’s easy to combine with other colors and it enhances our personality. Coco Chanel promoted her LBD (Little Black Dress) in 1930. Fracs and smokings are always black. Black is timeless, it’s never out of fashion.

Derain, Stil life with black background, 1945

Welsch, N.-Liebmann, C.Chr. Farben. München, Elsevier V., 2004;

Heller, E. Wie Farben auf Gefühl und Verstand wirken. München, Droemer V., 2000;

personal notes.

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What is a collage?

Braque, Ace of Hearts, 1914

It’s not exactly a painting technique, since it’s not necessarily done with a paintbrush and painture. But it’s considered part of the History of Paintng because several painters have done collage works and because, even though not always, it is two-dimensional.

Arcimboldo, Summer,
1573

Then, what’s a ‘collage’? In French, it refers to a bunch of objects glued together, not necessarily pieces of paper. For example: a totem would be a collage too, or any painting by Arcimboldo. If it’s actually a bunch of piece of papers glued, it’s also called ‘papiers collés’ (as Picasso and Braque wouldname it, it stands for glued papers in French)

Its origins are quite distant: there are examples of it found in the Ancient Japan, in Persia, in Byzantium. In XVII century these artworks were done with pieces of butterfly wings. Around the middle of XVIII century, when celebrating Valentine’s Day got popular, the greeting cards sent were accompanied by laces glued. In 1840, German pedagogue Friedich Froebel incluided this technique in a Kindergarten’s activities in order to impulse the children’s creativity. Which other celebrities not involved in the world of painting tried doing some collage works? Víctor Hugo, Hans Christan Andersen, between others. 

The cubists didn’t invent anything new, they just revived it. Picasso and Braque found themselves in front of a dilemma: their constant researches about shape got them to destroy the figures, getting to the point where they aren’t even recognisable. Both used the glued papers to add some reality to the nonsense, just a reference that could make the painting intelligible. The piece of paper would give the painting some sense and also add, in most of the cases, relief, making the painting three-dimensional.

Carrà, Manifestazione
interventista, 1914

From then on, collage, or better said ‘glued papers’, will mature. We could name hundred of artists that tried this kind of art. The Italian futurists, like Boccioni, Carrà or Severini, discover in Paris what their cubist workmates are doing and decide to experiment themselves, not only on paintings, but also on sculptures (something that Picasso, by the way, had already done). The constant relationship between Moscow and Paris attracted Malevich and El Lissitzky. Almost at same time: dadaists, with Duchamp leading them, with Schwitters or Ernst in Germany. Collage will be key to the surrealists in their will to drown in the irrational. For example, Tanguy, Dali or Miró.

Matisse, 2 Dancers,
1948

Matisse started using this technique in 1941, when on a wheelchair after an operation due to a cancerous tumor. He painted with gouache the papers he was going to use and made huge figures. According to him, it was like painting with scissors.

After the World War II, the collage was mainly used in graphic design and advertisements. Pop art would revive it too: we have already talked onceabout Hamilton, Warhol and Rauscheberg. Motherwell and Pollock would also glue papers to their canvas, and many other objects: there is no way back.

Pollock, Collage and oil,
1951

Sources: Mayer, R. The artist’s handbook of materials & techniques. Londres, Faber& Faber, 1991;

Wolfram, E. History of Collage. Londres, Mc Millan, 1975

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Chez Carmen

Chez Carmen

My friend Carmen is keen on philosophy and is always looking forward to learning and understanding. Since it’s never enough with reading books, she tends to get some expert to talk to her about a definite interesting topic. She’d also invite some friends who share that interest with her and offering also a delicious dinner as icing on the cake.

I attended one of these some days ago, which was hosted by Asunción Domeño, who would talk about Picasso.

Picasso, The accordionist, 1911

It seems impossible to reduce Picasso’s whole career in 400 words, but I’ll try.

Asun focused on Picasso’s evolution towards cubism, or , in other words, how he started from a traditional style and ended up destroying the academical painting’s fundaments and refounded it through cubism: from the whole shape to tearing it apart in a thousand facets and presenting in a two-dimensional planes, through simultaneous perspectives or multiperspectivism, four whole dimensions: width, height, depth and temporal course of the painting’s contemplation.

He wasn’t the first one chasing this, actually Cézanne was the one… And Picasso’s fascination for  Iberic and African sculptures shouldn’t be forgotten: there are references of them in every other of his paintings (for example: "Les demoiselles d'Avignon")

Neither should be his interest in bullfighting… Nor his epoque in Barcelona where he was quite influenced by modernism. Nor his early days in the “Bateau-Lavoir” nor his friendship with Matisse…

Picasso, Au bon marché, 1913

He and Braque invented a new way of painting: both of them started doing research on their own, but always keeping hold of each other through correspondence. The more the shape was broken, the less recognisable the object was, but it wasn’t their intention to leave reality aside or reach a kind of abstraction. That’s why they both start trying with pieces of that elusive reality: the “papier collés” or collages.

“Guernica” is his masterpiece: it was commissioned by the republican Goverment for the Spanish contribution for the Universal Exhibition in Paris (1937). He painted in 3 months (not such an easy task regarding the dimensions: 7’77 x 3’5 meters),in grisaille way, with no color and using around 45 previous sketches.

Picasso, Las Meninas, 1957

In his last years, his will to experiment led him close to surrealism, where figures are recognisable and volumes are found. He also starts remaking emblematic paintings like Velázquez’ ”Las Meninas”.

And to conclude, his last painting, his self-portrait: this how he looked like being 92 years old.

Picasso, Self-portrait, 1972

 And to our dear teacher, thanks for your exposition! Also to Carmen for having an actually cosy home, and for always treating us with lots of love. And of course, Resu’s work deserves to be remarked, for such a great dinner!

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Composition in red, yellow and blue, Piet Mondrian

Mondrian considered stained glass windows the perfect bond between light, spirit and art. That led him to surround pure colors with black lines, like they were the joints in stained glass windows found in ancient cathedrals.

Check out what's behind this painting.

If you want to know what the Golden Section is, read this article.

If you are using a smartphone or tablet, you can click here to check the alternative youtube version of the post.

cristinadelrosso.com // cristinadelrosso.artproject@gmail.com

Sources: Deicher, S. Mondrian, Köln, Taschen, 2010;

Dittmann, Farbgestaltung und Farbtheorie in der abendländischen Malerei, Darmstadt, WBG, 1987;

personal notes

Design and translation: Lorenzo Vigo

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