Art and the Occult

This is a fantastic book about the meaning of Art. We've all heard it said many times that no-one knows what art is and therefore it cannot be defined but Art and the Occult considers the qualities that are inherent in great art. For Schwartz the spiritual/occult presence within art is what causes it to be of lasting value, mainly because those same qualities are within human beings. 

I was particularly interested in his discussion about El Greco, Goya, Rembrandt and Ingres. For Schwartz, El Greco reigns supreme because his work is pure spirit in contrast to Goya and Rembrandt whose work is almost on that level but not quite. His 'grading' of Ingres to a much lower level is because he painted primarily the physical body and although it's a living body, the body is the main focus of the work rather than the spirit that animates it. 

He also discusses the Tarrot and other mystical practices but these don't interest me at all. His emphasis is on Art and how artists shaped the history of Art because of their ability to express the spiritual light- energy that animates the world we live in. 

It's an absorbing discussion, whether you agree with Schwartz or not, but much of what he writes makes sense and the way he locates the spiritual behind the medium in art is a very interesting read.

Thunderclap

 

One of the best books on art I've ever read! The title is a reference to the Delft munitions explosion in 1654 that wiped out a significant portion of Delft. One of the victims of the explosion was the artist Carel Fabrituis, the painter of the famous Goldfinch that is hanging in the Maurithuis in the Hague.

The author of the book, Laura Cumming, not only looks at the art of Fabrituis but other artists' works of that time too and offers snippets into their difficult lives as painters.  Her Father and Mother were artists so she grew up in a cultured environment and her writing skills and appreciation of art lead her to the position of art critic for The Observer. But environment doesn't automatically mean art appreciation is a given and it's her innate insights into the paintings she discusses that lights up the text.

I hope she writes another book about those times as it's one of my favourite periods in Art history. 

Self Portrait in a Black Shirt

 

Self Portrait in a Black Shirt, 2024, oil on canvas, 51 x 40.75 cm

This is my latest self portrait which was painted over a number of sittings throughout 2023 and completed early this year. I think it's finished but so often I've got my paintings documented as finished paintings and then I fiddle with them a little more and have to get them photographed again. This portrait was documented a second time because the background was a little too blank and appeared to be static so I added more subtle coloured greenish tones. Hopefully the background has a sufficient, but still subtle, variation to make it interesting and not distract from the face.  

One of the trickiest things about portrait painting is that the human face is not symmetrical so to create a balanced face from asymmetrical parts is a difficult problem. Not many people give this much thought, and why should they anyway, but people are often surprised to learn that one eye is higher than the other. One eyebrow is higher than the other. One eye is more rounded than the other eye which is more egg shaped. One nostril is higher than the other, one side of the mouth is higher than the other. One side of the mouth is wider than the other. One side of the face is wider than the other, and etc. 

The fashion industry knows this truth but it thinks symmetry is the more beautiful, so fashion photographers slice a face vertically and then copy and paste one side as a mirror image of itself to create a perfectly symmetrical human being. Sounds just like the salon painters of the later part of the 19th Century who thought the ideal more beautiful than reality!

Animals in My Art

When I was much younger I always drew horses, mainly racehorses, so perhaps it makes sense that I occasionally paint other animals. One of my favourite paintings of animals is Carel Fabrituis' The Goldfinch (below) which inspired my canary images. As the paintings show, I felt inclined at the time to do a variation on the same animal. Sometimes, one just isn't enough. 

One of the challenges in painting animals is to give them a personality since all animals have their own individuality, which is especially obvious if you have a pet or spend some time around an animal. 

All the paintings were done from actual specimens except the horse, which is based on a photograph. The drypoint was done from the top painting 6 years later.

The Goldfinch, 1654, oil on panel, 33.5 x 22.8 cm

Yellow Canary, 2012, oil on linen, 36 x 36 cm

The Canary, 2012, oil on panel, 17 x 18 cm

Canary 2012, oil on panel, 25 x 30 cm

Canary, 2018, drypoint, 19.5 x 13.25 cm

The Still of the Night, 2016, oil on linen, 35.5 x 41 cm

Night Glow, 2017, oil on panel, 50 x 50 cm

Alice, 2018, drypoint, 19.5 x 11.25 cm

Bird Skull, 2012, oil on panel, 21.75 x 41 cm

Seahorse, 2006, etching, 15 x 8.5 cm