Ron Weaver's Painting Blog

One of the Maine paintings that I'm bringing to my Arizona studio this month.

This is my painting of Evelyn Major on the occasion of her Solemn Communion in the Roman Catholic Church. Evelyn is the mother of my wife Barbara Major-Weaver, Kathleen Major (Dowling), Mary Ellen Major (Gapinski), and James Michael Major.


Evelyn Major at her Solemn Confirmation, acrylic/canvas, 24" x 30"

I haven't done a lithograph for many years but I came across this one of an addition of 20 that I did in a litho seminar at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the 1980s.

Linda, Lithograph, 22" x 30"

Paul Cezanne, Bords de la Marne

For those of you who are realist painters, I've found a site with many quotes from Paul Cezanne.  Many of these can support your work.

http://quote.robertgenn.com/auth_search.php?authid=92#.UY6eoWXn9jp

 One quote that has remained  significant for me over many years  is:  "I want to make of impressionism something solid and lasting like the art in the museums"  The Bords de la Marne (above) reflects his success in doing what he wanted although he certainly had his occasional doubts.

It's essential that a painter spend much time in the great museums.  Louis Fiinkelstein, American Painter, 1923-2000, Professor emeritus in the art department of Queens College, City University of New York, spoke of his  "being a child of the Metropolitain"  Yes, what wonderful parenting for Louie; just as the Louvre was for Cezanne. 

 

These two sculptures illustrate by comparison my points made in the critique of a sculpture by Audrey Flack that I saw at the University of Arizona in the past week.  The critique follows............ 
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Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century Roman

Aphrodite Braschi, copy after Aphrodite of Cnidus, 350-340 BC

Compare this high point in Greek sculputre to the 1st century Roman sculpture above.  I post them to make my point concerning a modern sculpture by Audrey Flack that I viewed at the University of Arizona Art Museum last week.  (Read my critique in the following post).

 

 

Aristide Maillol, Monument a Debussy, 1930

I just realized that I hadn't posted the Maillol sculpture that I had mentioned in relationship to the Audrey Flack sculpture. (See below)
So here it is.   Of course,  I know that you cannot view either from all points of view as one must when looking at sculpture.  But let me try to explain what I mean by "form" that is present in the Maillol and form being absent in the Flack sculpture. (Scroll down to see the Flack Sculputre and tnen return to my text)

The subject of form is related to the strong demarcation between Illustration and Art when considering painting.  (And even then it's not easy to explain if one hasn't looked at a lot of good painting).  After all illustrations and paintings are both just pictures!!  Only they're not both just pictures nor is form present in all pieces of sculpture.

 The Flack sculpture is 3 dimentional just as an unformed amount of clay or plaster is.  And of course, she's shaped and colored her material to be cast just as she wants it to appear.  But I contend that her interest in what she sees and wants us to see is more like minor story telling rather than fine visual literature.   It's a little like looking at a soap opera as opposed to seeing a classical drama well produced.  I think the Maillol is a fine clasical drama well produced and very much his own of his own generation.

The idea of true form is a subtle one that I want to explain by visual examples as much as through reading any words that I could write.  For example, if you look at Greek sculpture at it's highest aesthetic point in history compared 1st century Roman sculpture, you'll see that what has been lost is the clear focus on abstract relationships of abstract  forms generated by the human body that are beautifully profound in the sculptor's eye and mind.  But following generations of sculptors began to introduce naturalistic details that pulled a shroud over the abstract concept of subtle and elegant relationships of forms seen in the human body.  

Form is not about one element that describes a body part but it's about how that body part is shaped and more importantly, how it relates to the next part.  And this interaction is something that Flack's sculpture does not consider.  Her elements are more about shaping a body part that takes it's singular place as a metaphor in her overall story.  But in the best of classic sculpture the metaphor is about one form coming to know another and not about many separate illustrated objects telling us what the sculpture is supposed to mean.  Indeed Flack's "Apoltina" adds up to what it means and I contend that it doesn't mean much compared to what the Maillol sculpture means. (I couldn't insert the Greek and Roman sculptures that illustrate my point so I had to post them above these paragraphs.  Please scroll upward to view those.) Again, I see the Flack sculpture as pop culture in the guise of an invented personal classical goddess. Well at least it's personel.  (Again, scroll down to the Flack sculpture to make your own personal comparison between Maillol and Flack). 

 

We also came upon this sculpture by Audrey Flack at the University of Arizona Art Museum this past week.
I want to contrast it with the Maillol sculpture that I posted earlier this week.
The Maillol is all about form and the Flack is without form.  And it's the same with Flack's photorealist paintings.  That is, her paintings are formless.  They're simply lurid visual literature.  Are you seduced by it's  technique and it's "look"?  Careful you may turn to stone.

Audrey Flack, Apoltina, University of Arizona Art Museum. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I seem to be posting paintings for no other reason than that they greatly please me.  This one is by Bernard Chaet whom I wrote about recently (See 1/18/2012 post)  Some of the points that I made about Bernard's paintings are his ability to express authentic elements in nature and that his paintings are modern, original, and not retroactive. Beautifully his own.  Like no one else.

Bernard Chaet, Lazy Sun, 40 x 42 inches, o/c,  1980 -1984

I'll never get over my interest in Max Beckman's paintings nor do I want to.  They're both powerful and beautiful.

Max Beckman: Columbine (Carnival Mask, Green, Violet and Pink)
1950
Oil on canvas
135.5 x 100.5 cm
The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri

Everyone defines beauty on their own terms.  For me, the beauty of Beckman's pantings is in his passion and compassion for humanity expressed in unique color, shapes, and space.  By the way, would you ever mistake one of his paintings for somone else?