Art Lovers discussion
Questions from the Met
>
Visually and Emotionally Powerful Art
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Heather
(new)
Jul 17, 2019 09:59AM
Do you find that works of art that have been reduced to basic forms and lines are more powerful, visually and emotionally?
reply
|
flag
I'm not really sure how to start this one and I'm hoping someone will be able to take off with this. I'm going to post some paintings that have some basic forms and lines that I think may be powerful, I will contemplate them and maybe write what I feel or think about them...Give me a little bit...
You are welcome to comment on any that I have posted or find some of your own that you appreciate and would like to comment on.
Gray Tree
Piet Mondrain
1912
I don't know if this is necessarily the basic forms and lines that it is talking about as this kind of has a form...a tree. But it does have 'lines' creating the tree. I really like this one. It is one of my favorites by Mondrain. I love the colors (if you can call those colors), I like the mixture of the grays and black, the different angles they are painted, and the branches. I would definitely want this as the focal point in my living room! I could stare at this one for hours, I think it is mesmerizing.
Composition VI
Wassily Kandinsky
1913
This is my kind of art!
Two favorite "simple" artists: Rothko and Pollock.
I noticed in some of your own work, Chris, that they resembled Rothko and Pollock. They reminded me of those two. I wondered if you got your inspiration from them.
I was thinking of posting some more samples of some simple, basic, abstract art for us to ponder this question then I realized that the theme of this month that Dirk has been posting exactly corresponds with the question at hand! So if you’re interested in commenting on this question, you can refer to any of his posts in the Picture of the Day folder and let us know what you think about those works...whether they seem to you to be more powerful, visually and emotionally, or less as they are more basic.
What is your opinion and preference? How do those make you feel?
I made this comment in the Picture of the Day thread, that this was one of the monthly threads I have liked the most out of the ones he’s created thus far. That kind of abstract art is my kind of art!I enjoy looking at realistic paintings and we did have a question similar to this one, I enjoy looking at ‘pretty pictures’ and the grace and elegance they bring to a room, but to me
some of them don’t give me a lot to ponder. I don’t particularly like all purely (I’m sorry, I forgot the term that Ruth defined meaning having absolutely no form or likeness to anything whatsoever).
As I posted above, I enjoy Kandinsky, some Mondrain, some Rothko, a few early Pollock, Braque, I don’t care for Duchamp but I like Nude Descending a Staircase... that’s all I can think of right now...Just to get started.
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/2808 Agnes Martin, Fiesta - 1985
When I looked at this I was completely stumped and couldn't see it beyond graph paper but Martin took her time in producing her work.
https://nationalgallery.com.au/printe... Jennifer Bartlett, Untitled II (1979)
from the series Untitled ( Graceland), state II woodcut
As for this one it stopped me in my treks, it just lines and limited colour but neat!!!
Excellent examples, Inkspill! For the first one, I couldn’t see anything more than a few lines on a grayish paper-like background. But then reading what it says as to how she meticulously went about creating this 6’ canvas and how the size alone can make the viewer feel, really puts it all into perspective.
I agree with you on the one below, it may be simple but it is neat!
Thank you for posting those!
This is a short (1:19) video introducing the Guggenheim Expo of Agnes Martin:https://youtu.be/65Sd-L03X84
This gives a good impression of the size of Martin's works:
Thanks Dirk for posting short interting video about Martin and remimding me of the size of her work. I dunno, I tried and tried but just could not get pass the graph paper.I found most of her work also greyish Heather, even the ones with colour or musical notes instead of lines lines was overshadowed by this. This, to me, seemed to be her predominant style. But I remember she took a lot of care and time over each one, so posting a wikiart link https://www.wikiart.org/en/agnes-martin that shows a variety of her works including ones with colour.
Thank you for the link, Inkspill! I went through and looked at each of her works carefully, trying to digest each detail she is trying to disclose (or hide). That one, The Sea, looks like a black square. But when you look closely at it, they are actually very thin black and white lines on top and layering each other, I like it! This is art that if you hadn’t introduced me to the artist and her work and I would have seen it in a museum, I would walk on by. But now, I think I can appreciate it more. Thank you!
Yes, Martin’s work is asking you to get close and really look at it to see the simple lines it’s made of. And it is surprising. I’m pleased its helped Heather, it’s a good question you posted from The Met. Works like this by-passed me as well until I really started to look. It’s hard to believe that lines and simple forms have an impact but we can't always see them as they are a part of a more complex form.
