This is based on an earlier post but with additional favorites:

I am a huge art fanatic, dedicating as much time to it as writing and music. These aren’t new artists. They are the masters from the past who I’ve admired for years and years. My all-time favorites.

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Name: Henri Matisse

Country: France

Style: Fauvism, Modernism

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Name: Salvador Dali

Country: Spain

Style: Dadaism, Surrealism

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Name: Hieronymus Bosch

Country: Netherlands

Style: Renaissance

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Name: Rene Magritte

Country: Belgium

Style: Surrealism

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Name: Giorgio De Chirico

Country: Greek, Italy

Style: Surrealism

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Name: Diego Rivera

Country: Mexico

Style: Mexican Muralist, Social Realism

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Name: Paul Klee

Country: Germany, Swiss

Style: Expressionism, Surrealism

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Name: Edvard Munch

Country: Norway

Style: Expressionism

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Name: Pablo Picasso

Country: Spain

Style: Cubism

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Name: Rufino Tamayo

Country: Mexico

Style: Muralist, Mixografia

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Name: Wasily Kandinsky

Country: Russia

Style: Expressionism, Bauhaus

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Name: Franz Marc

Country: Germany

Style: Expressionism

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Name: Eugene Delacroix

Country: France

Style: Romanticism

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Name: David Alfaro Siqueiros

Country: Mexico

Style: Mexican Muralist, Social Realism

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Name: Marcel Duchamp

Country: France, U.S.

Style: Dadaism, Surrealism

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Name: Francisco Goya

Country: Mexico

Style: Romanticism

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Name: Juan Gris

Country: Spanish

Style: Cubism

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Name: Willem de Kooning

Country: Netherlands

Style: Abstract Expressionism

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Name: George Grosz

Country: Germany

Style: Dadaism, New Objectivity

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Name: Joan Miro

Country: Spain

Style: Dadaism, Surrealism

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Name: Paul Signac

Country: France

Style: Pointilism, Neo-Impressionism

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Name: Georges Rouault

Country: France

Style: Fauvism, Expressionism

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Name: Wilfredo Lam

Country: Cuba

Style: Modernism, Cubism, Surrealism

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Name: Vincent Van Gogh

Country: Netherlands

Style: Post-Impressionism

I was originally going to chat about Johannes Itten and my personal fascination with him, his personality, microbiotic eating habit, and his Bauhaus effect.  However in looking through some old papers, I stumbled across a picture of Paul Klee’s Red Baloon, 1922 and felt compelled to write about it. 

Paul Klee was asked to join the Bauhaus in 1920 by Walter Gropius and he would remain there for 10 years and produce over 10,000 works during his tenure as a professor.  Earlier than that he had become friends with Wassily Kandinsky and the two of them would remain as such for the remainder of their lives.  Klee was known for his impish sense of humor as well as his fascination for producing art which entailed a child-like simplistic quality.  However his work should never be construed simple or as child-like as it is completed with much forethought and with painstakingly accurate use of materials.  One child-like quality of Paul Klee was his inquisitive mind to seek out and experiment with new styles of execution for his artwork.  This inquisitiveness carried through in the various materials and techniques that would in turn drive his work.  He was a colleague of Johannes Itten who was fascinated with color and its relationships with other colors.  I believe this influenced Paul Klee and sparked Klee’s further interest in colors while he experimented with surfaces and material application techniques.  I cannot help but also feel that Klee’s friendship with Wassily Kandinsky was instrumental in the above work that I am writing about, Red Balloon from 1922.  I believe the people that he was surrounded with were very important during his creation of his painting Red Balloon which was done during the time he was teaching at Bauhaus with Itten and Kandinsky.

Paul Klee could be considered “avant garde” by today’s standards as he showed artistic evolution as well as inventiveness with his materials, often leaving the edges of his canvas and paper raw and unpainted which allowed him to add a title line as well as an inventory tracking number.  Most other artists didn’t do that at the time and were treating their works with more formality in structure.  Klee’s inventiveness would carry over to his studio space at Bauhaus which was said to resemble a kitchen, one that might belong to some alchemist.  The studio contained various bottles, paint powders, oils, easels, and one chair.  Klee often worked on many pieces at a time, explaining the numerous easels yet only one chair.  Paul Klee created works that contained multiple layers of materials and textures.  This is well observed in the painting Red Balloon where Klee actually manipulates the muslin the work is painted on. 

Previously working in the creation of lithographs Paul Klee discovered a technique to create that same type of line that he was able to achieve in lithography but instead create it with paint. This technique can be seen in his Red Balloon painting to create outlines.  To fulfill this vision of painted atmospheric lines Klee uncovers a technique called “oil transfer”.   This manual process entails painting with oil paint, which has been thinned, onto one side of a piece of paper.  Using a technique similar to tracing, he treated the prepared painted paper as if it were carbon paper.  Klee draws on the backside of the painted sheet which transfers the dark lines onto the muslin.  In some of the other pieces of work he made, you can actually see darkened areas where Klee’s hands rested on the paper while he was drawing with a stylus or perhaps a pen.  This technique creates a broken up almost chalk like line but with the medium of oil paint.  Klee would not only employ this technique with oil painting during his Bauhaus years, but would use it again in his watercolors.

Paul Klee, along with being so experimental, was very aware of the impact and significance of each mark or gesture in his work from a grain of sand added to paint, to a scratch in a paint surface, and to the gesso leeching through gauze material.  The Guggenheim, in an exhibition writing, refers to Paul Klee as a “technical innovator” with regards to his work and I wholeheartedly agree.  This innovation is what also solidifies his status of being the “avant garde” artist that I mentioned earlier.

While painting Red Balloon Klee utilized his long history of material manipulations and technique processes.  One of my favorite of Klee’s techniques is his ability to create a luminous, almost airy, quality to his work.  For this effect he chooses to use muslin on which to apply paint.  The open and fine weave of the muslin becomes easily wavy and distorted when placed onto a panel. The panel is used to provide additional durability and strength to the otherwise frail muslin fabric.  This combination of open weaved fabric and playful paint application provides Klee with the atmospheric texture that he achieved in his lithographs, but in an oil painting.  The relationship between the wavy muslin fabric weave and the straight, almost graphically designed, lines is a sophisticated yet child-like playful contrast.

The paint application is light handed but precise in placement.  This style creates an airy feeling in his work that I personally respect and enjoy.  Very often oil paint can emulate a heavier feeling because of the properties of the materials, however Klee’s light paint application on the muslin allows you to readily see the texture of the fabric and the open air holes in between the weave of the fabric, thus resulting in that feeling of atmosphere.  This visual openness of the weave is instrumental to the sense of light, almost as if the work has an aura around it and coming through it.  Compositionally the work remains playful, especially with the red balloon being placed at the top center of the picture, commanding attention to what it is proposing within the picture.  I believe the splatters of red throughout the composition lead the viewer’s eye back and forth around the picture which provides an additional sense of movement to the painting.

To the viewer the picture Red Balloon is easily interpreted, but I don’t believe it was meant not to be.  The vision of the red balloon provides me a sense of wonderment and adventure.  I do believe the picture was created to provide that sense of journey and if looked at during the period it was created, perhaps this was to be a journey out of Germany in 1922.  Since Germany was going through such awful financial hardship financing the debt for WWI, it would seem appropriate for a painting to be completed that shows an escape from all that hardship to a land that was unseen but had to be better than this one.  That type of thinking would also fall in line with that playful child-like thought behavior that Klee possessed.

I admire Paul Klee’s playful banter involved in this painting between figuration and abstraction.  I also enjoy seeing his Bauhaus influences as well, such as the graphic styling and colors from Itten and Kandinsky.  The primary goal of my artwork revolves around the exploration of materials and application techniques which has given me great appreciation for Paul Klee’s self-evolvement within his art practice.  I have not yet begun to work with lighter fabrics such as gauze or muslin as he did, but I look forward to working with them after seeing their potential effects while learning more about Paul Klee.  My previous artwork usually involved the fabric weave to be in uniform direction; however I will instead use the weave of the fabric within my work and not so much as just a structure to place it on.  I have always been conscious of adding light and airiness into my oil painting work and that was the reason why I chose to write about the painting Red Balloon because I respect what he was able to achieve with this piece.  My thoughts of contrast making a painting interesting are somewhat simpatico to Klee especially when it involves painting style with strong linear aspects.

I am looking forward to what influence Paul Klee will have on my work. With this essay he has given me many ideas surrounding material manipulation that I am eager to start on.  I believe his work resembles much of the philosophy of what the Bauhaus presented to the rest of the world.  With respect to the sensitive color usage, strong graphical linear characteristics, and the circle in contrast to the square it is not surprising that this work was created during Paul Klee’s Bauhaus years.  This is further cemented when research is done on Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky whereas you cannot deny how much they all influenced each other during that time. Paul Klee may have been trying to emulate how a child creates art, but his techniques and materials are anything but child-like or naïve, which I believe adds depth and interest to this painting as well.

For more information on Paul Klee try the following references:

From Picasso to Pollock: Classics of Modern Art. Guggenheim Museum. http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/picasso_to_pollock/klee.html

Hall, Douglas. Klee.  London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1998

Merrell Publishers (Edited by Stefan Frey and Josef Helfenstein). Paul Klee Rediscovered: Works from the Burgi Collection. London: Merell Publishers Limited, 2000.

Le perle sono tratte dalla riproduzione de I Maestri del colore dell’acquarello su tela di Paul Klee (Münchenbuchsee 1879 – Muralto, 1940) del 1932 (qui sullo sfondo), conservato allo Kunstmuseum (Klee-Stiftung) di Berna. Ecco le mostre in programma:  Paul Klee’s Graphic Work. Eberhard W. Kornfeld’s Passion (fino al 21 febbraio 2010),  Paul Klee. Life, Work and Responses (fino al 24 maggio 2010), Paul Klee. Rare Fruits (dal 13 febbraio 2010) e Klee meets Picasso (inaugurazione 6 giugno 2010)

“L’arte non riproduce il visibile, ma rende visibile” P. Klee

Lunghezza collana 84 cm
Pietre in bronzite,  turchese, agata striata; semi di buri, cocco e pali

Lunghezza orecchini 8 cm

… otherwise known as ‘my husband’s cocktail bar’

My fave French Fusion cuisine chef, not that I know of many, likes Klee. Woohoo.

My default drink at Klee would be the Old-fashioned siew dai (less sugar) and Vivan always does it perfectly. My hubby being the purist, would pooh-pooh my request and flat refuse to siew dai it for me. The quotient of sweetness I can take is inversely related to my age, I can’t help it! ahah

I have to second Yong Bing Ngen’s choice of Martini Bar. I loved their Marmalade Martini with a hint of marmaladey bitterness, that doesn’t feature on their regular menu anymore, but I’m sure the bartenders there can whip up a mean one for me anytime.

While unsuccessfully trying to dig up information on the artists whose work I saw in Peru, I ran across these two artists that vindicated all the Net surfing time: Isadore Michas and Pamela Cisneros.

Both are different in the sense that Pamela captures the colorful whimsy of Miro and Klee, and Isadore employs his eclectic background to create wonderful geometric designs. But the imagination of both is breath-taking.

…

: : : : : : : : : : :

Was für eine Enttäuschung. “Unverwundbar” war ganz nett und mit “Jelängerjelieber” haben sie mich gekriegt. Aber schon bei “Zwischen Himmel und Erde” hätten ich wissen müssen, wohin die Reise geht, denn das aktuelle Album “Berge versetzen” setzt den Abwärtstrend für mich fort. Also nicht falsch verstehen, die Musik ist gut gemacht, die Texte für deutsche Texte sehr gut, aber teilweise habe ich mich beim Hören doch dabei erwischt, wie ich die Skip-Taste gedrückt habe oder (noch schlimmer) ich an Rosenstolz denken musste.

Dabei sind sogar zwei, drei Perlen darunter. Der Anfang des Albums beginnt recht vielversprechend mit “Zwischen Glauben und Vertrauen” und “Zwei Herzen”, fällt dann aber ziemlich schnell ab und ich war schon drauf und dran das Album komplett zu skipen, als “Die Königin” erklingt. Tolle Uptempo-Synthi-Nummer.

Das Album ist großartig für Leute die auf weichen (fast schon zarten) DeutschPop mit intelligenten Texten über die Liebe und den Alltag stehen. Also hauptsächlich für Frauen zwischen 25 und 35, die in einer Krise sind oder vor kurzem waren. Da das alles nicht auf mich zu trifft, muss ich mich leider von Klee verabscheiden. Hoffentlich nicht für immer. Vielleicht kommt doch nochmal ein “Gold” oder “2 Fragen”?

Tracklist:

1. Zwischen Glauben Und Vertrauen
2. Zwei Herzen
3. Wie Weit
4. Weil Es Liebe Ist
5. Weine Nicht
6. Du Und Ich
7. 7 Schritte
8. Ich Lass Ein Licht An Für Dich
9. Die Königin
10. Offene Wunden
11. Mein Vertrauen
12. Berge Versetzen
13. Wie Das Wetter

“¿Se vuelve uno más sabio con la edad? ¿Y si la edad y una salud precaria no dan lugar a la serenidad de la madurez?”. Estas preguntas se las hace el gran crítico literario Edward W. Said, nacido en Jerusalén en 1935 y muerto hace seis años. En su obra póstuma “Sobre el estilo tardío” (Debate), Said alude a tres edades del artista: una primera edad, que es la de un proyecto de creación o de descubrimiento de un mundo nuevo; un segundo momento, que significa la continuidad en la obra; y un momento tercero, que es en el que Said se detiene más: el último periodo de la vida o decadencia del cuerpo:”el deterioro de la salud – dice - u otros factores que, incluso en el caso de una persona joven, dejan entrever la posibilidad de un final prematuro“. El gran ensayista palestino analiza de forma más detallada este momento ya que es el que más le afectaba personalmente, aquejado como estaba de una grave enfermedad que le llevó a su final. Es esa edad tercera en la  que Said ve luces y  sombras ante lo que se ha dado en llamar el ”estilo tardío“. Las últimas obras de Ibsen, por ejemplo, recuerda Said, no transmiten precisamente serenidad; dejan entrever la imagen de un artista furioso y trastornado, provocando más ansiedad, dejando al público más perplejo y descolocado de lo que estaba antes.

Sobre la enfermedad y el arte ya escribí en Mi Siglo:  Klee y Matisse, entre tantos otros. También sobre los cuadros últimos que muchas veces resumen una vida colmada. Pero aquí Edward Said evoca nombres variados: un “Edipo en Colono” de Sófocles, por ejemplo, en donde el retrato que se hace del héroe anciano es el de un hombre que ha conseguido una santidad extraordinaria; un “Otelo” o un “Falstaff” de Verdi, obras de sus últimos años, que no rezuman un espíritu de sabia resignación, sino ” una energía renovada y casi juvenil, una apoteosis de fuerza y creatividad artística”. Por su parte, Rembrandt, Bach, Wagner, coronan en sus obras tardías una vida entera de esfuerzo, y en cambio -comenta Said - en lo que se ha llamado “el tercer período de Beethoven (las cinco últimas sonatas para piano, la Novena Sinfonía, la “Missa solemnis“, los seis útimos cuartetos para cuerda, las diecisiete bagatelas para piano), se percibe el momento en que el artista, a pesar de ser dueño absoluto de su medio, abandona la comunicación con el orden social establecido y alcanza una relación contradictoria y alienada con él”.

“El arte de Beethoven, y de las templadas regiones de la tradición – se lee en el “Doktor Faustus” de Thomas Mann -se elevó, ante los ojos asustados de sus contemporáneos, a esferas que son del exclusivo dominio de la Personalidad, de un yo aislado dolorosamente, aislado incluso del mundo sensorial por la pérdida del oído, príncipe solitario de un reino espiritual, libre de extraños testigos, incluso los más benévolamente dispuestos, cuyos pavorosos mensajes sólo por excepción y en contados momentos eran comprendidos“.

Cuando se llega a esa edad tercera, que a veces coincide con la sabiduría primera, puede alcanzarse también lo que Said comentó de Brahms en otro libro suyo, “Elaboraciones musicales“: a esa edad – dijo – “siguen existiendo el placer y la intimidad y puede lograrse, como consiguió Brahms, “la música de su música“, la música íntima que perdura cuando se han hecho todas las concesiones a la política y la economía de cualquier arte mundano“. 

A esa edad igualmente el rostro del artista se atreve a acercarse ante el espejo y el espejo le transmite en pintura lo que él no quiere ver de su rostro. El 30 de junio de 1972 Picasso pintó lo que podría considerarse su último autorretrato. El célebre ojo de Picasso permanece aquí fijo, taladrando el fin de una vida. No es una creación casual, y así lo ha reconocido Valeriano Bozal en un extraordinario ensayo, “Picasso clásico. La pintura del viejo” (“El realismo“) (Fundación Mafre). Reonocemos la consistente bóveda craneana  de Picasso, sus ojos poderosos, su nariz, los labios y el mentón, y todo ello impresiona por su “deformidad”. “El tiempo, como decrepitud física, se impone aquí en todos los ámbitos que a él pretendían escapar – dice Bozal – y que durante tantos años parecían haber escapado (…) Revela ahora lo que guardaba en su interior: pudo expulsarlo todo menos la temporalidad que en él anidaba“.

Sabiduría y edad. Seguramente lo más difícil sea ajustar en cada momento la sabiduría a la edad y ,sobre todo, aprender bien pronto en qué consiste la sabiduría.

(Imágenes:.-1.-Marcel van Eeden.-2009.-Galerie Michael Zink.-artnet/.-Giuseppe Verdi.- wfc.no.-/ 3.-Thomas Mann.-libraires. uc.edu/ Picasso.-autorretrato del 30-6-72.- Fuji Television Gallery.-Tokio)

Attraversando mondi, si fanno curiosi incontri. Sul margine di un foglio appartenente ad un manoscritto degli anni trenta del Cinquecento, tanto bello da essere attribuito per molto tempo a Baldassarre Peruzzi o a Perino del Vaga, e conservato in quel parco dei divertimenti per invasati dei disegni dall’Antico che è la biblioteca Comunale di Siena, si trova questo disegnetto, forse una variante del tema delle tre età, tradotto da Tiziano a modo suo (e scusate se è poco). Il fatto è che le faccette sembrano tutte della stessa età e hanno il carattere enigmatico dei ritratti di Klee o dei disegni di Schlemmer.

Puro visibilismo, tutta la vita.

A long time ago I decided to build this puzzle, in real size is about 40cm each side, based on Paul Klee’s art.

… I had pictures taken for Harper’s at Klee.

In my excitement (or anxiety), I had totally, totally forgotten to take fuzzy pics to remember the day by.

So I took some shots in retrospect. On another humid afternoon.

Love the last lights of the setting sun.

The shot was taken outside; Ken (the photog, not my husband) and Windy (stylist, an absolute sweetheart) had moved the couch outside. Those who know me would understand that I detest the heat and humidity, and sure enough, I was sweating buckets in no time. I really feel sorry for Jon (hair and make-up artist, fun and handsome one!) who had to so very often dab my face off.

So yes, watch out for Harper’s September issue and come to Klee (but not before making reservations, Tel: 6479 3997)

Schmetterling Tagpfauenauge Inachis io

Ein Schmetterling-Gedicht

Klee’s Schmetterling
© Manfred Schröder

Ein Falter,
ganz ohne Farbenpracht,
hat einen Tag
bei Klee verbracht.
Und mit Pinsel,
Farbe, Fantasie
der schönste Schmetterling
gedieh!

***

Die Kurzgeschichte “Tuomas” von Manfred Schröder findet sich in dem Buch
Der Mann, der vergewaltigt wurde
und andere Geschichten

und lustige Limericks von Manfred Schröder finden sich in dem Buch
Hundert haarige Limericks

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Tagpfauenauge (Inachis io).
Das Foto entstand am 20. Juli 2009 in der Sulzbachtalaue in Dudweiler.

Mein Beitrag zu Kerkis ABC-Projekt.

Unsere Aufgabe ist es mindestens ein Foto zu zeigen, das mit dem jeweiligen “Buchstaben der Woche” verknüpft ist. Auf welche Art darf man/frau/blogger dabei selbst bestimmen. In dieser Woche ist es der Buchstabe K, den wir bebildern sollen.

K wie Kirschblüten. In Japan Sakura genannt. Dort hat das Anschauen der Blüten (hanami) im Frühjahr Kultcharakter. Die japanischen Kirschbäume tragen aber keine Früchte. Vermutlich würde das Land sonst weltweit die Exportstatistik für Kirschprodukte anführen.

Unsere Kirschbäume hingegen erfreuen uns im Sommer wahlweise mit Süß- oder Sauerkirschen. Da gibt es neben all der Blütenpracht auch noch etwas Bissfestes

Und auch der Klee macht unserer Herzen weit. Insbesondere, wenn er vierblättrig ist und damit Glück verheißt oder aber wenn wir über den grünen Klee gelobt werden

Ein Fotoshooting ganz in der Nähe gab Gelegenheit einen Samstag nachmittag alleine dort im Wald zu verbringen…es war soviel weiter als ich dachte, und vom letzten Spaziergang in Erinnerung hatte. An dem Tag wurde ich von einem Anruf geweckt der mir nur 10 m Minuten Zeit gab, loszufahren.

Träume, die in deinen Tiefen wallen,
aus dem Dunkel lass sie alle los.
Wie Fontänen sind sie, und sie fallen
lichter und in Liederintervallen
ihren Schalen wieder in den Schoß.

Und ich weiß jetzt: wie die Kinder werde.
Alle Angst ist nur ein Anbeginn;
aber ohne Ende ist die Erde,
und das Bangen ist nur die Gebärde,
und die Sehnsucht ist ihr Sinn -

R.M. Rilke, Aus: Frühe Gedichte

Der Geruch von Waldtieren verfolgte mich 3 Tage und versteckte sich eine Woche in der Autolüftung…am Anfang hab ich noch überall nach einem Hund gesucht, der so stark nach Fell und Wald riecht, aber da war nie einer

immer wenn ich dort bin, bin ich geschwächt, kann grad mein Stativ hinstellen und geniesse kaum die Natur, zu konzentriert bin ich auf die Aufnahmen.  Da merkt man, das richtiger Urlaub fehlt..Der Bach führte weniger Wasser als im Frühjahr und alles war wie immer.

HDR Versuch mit Natur
(der erste und letzte mit einem Landschaftsmotiv)

Farne gehören zu meinen Lieblingspflanzen

Langzeiotbelichtung mit Graufilter nach Gefühl ohne Synchro mit Bulb

Makros sind schwerer zu fotografieren als man ahnt

After the debacle of yesterday’s visit to the ‘open house’ degree show at the Weissensee Kunsthochschule (I will never look at a tabby cat the same way), I decided to check out two of my local galleries just up the road from where I live and across the street from the Schloss Charlottenburg. The first, the Museum Berggruen, houses the Berggruen private collection which includes a wide range of classical modernist works from Matisse to Klee. Over 100 works from Picasso are at the heart of the collection and provide an impressive overview of the artist’s evolving practice. I’ve been to the Museum many times and there are always a few new revelations. This time it was a touching painting from 1942 by Picasso entitled Schlafender while some of the later Klee works evinced a deceptive simplicity that I missed on previous visits. 

The Museum across the street housed the Egyptian collection of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin until 2005. After a significant refit, the former royal stables which date back to the 1850s are now home to the Schaf-Gerstenberg Collection which focuses on 20th Surrealist work (Bellmer, Dalí, Ernst, Masson, Tanguy, Wols) but also places it within a wider context that includes work dating back to the 18th century and other important 20th century artists such as Dubuffet and Klee. The inclusion of earlier works by artists as different as Goya, Piranesi and Odilon Redon offers a clever backdrop to the advent of self-professed Surrealist practice in the 1920s. The collection also makes a very strong case for the salience of drawing within the wide range of working methods adopted by the Surrealists. Again, it was some of the late Klee works – themselves not especially wedded to Surrealist practice – that stood out. The simplicity of the 1931 image, flucht vor sich, was quietly heartbreaking as was a later 1940 painting completed just before the artist’s death. Wolfgang Paalen’s 1937 untitled work was similarly affecting and it was hard not to think about the nails hammered into the wooden frame of the picture without imaging the kind of violence that would soon come to engulf Europe and which had such a significant impact on the city of Berlin.