They Meet at Last!

Photo: Mitro Hood, Baltimore Museum of Art

Some months ago, I wrote with great anticipation about the upcoming Matisse/Diebenkorn exhibit. The reviews are in, and they are glowing! The exhibition has just finished its run at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and will open March 11 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Left, Matisse; Right, Diebenkorn

Reviews call the exhibition "deeply stirring", "important", "radiant", "glorious".  It pairs paintings by Diebenkorn with relevant works from all periods of Matisse's life. Diebenkorn was in his 20's when he first discovered Matisse, and was deeply impacted by the work of the French master. Throughout his entire career, Diebenkorn sought out works by Matisse, collected books on Matisse, and stuffed sketchbooks with clippings and postcard reproductions of Matisse's works. The current exhibit has been called a celebration of the influence of Matisse on Diebenkorn.

Left: Diebenkorn, Untitled (Ocean Park), 1971
Right: Matisse, View of Notre Dame, 1914

I have read that the pairings of the two artists' works are "not too literal", but illustrate the deep connection between the two painters. As Sebastian Smee wrote for the Boston Globe, "When you love an artist...your feeling for what he wanted to do, and for the temperament and the thinking behind those ambitions, becomes so engaged that everything he or she attempted interests and involves you. Richard Diebenkorn had that feeling for Henri Matisse." Amen.

Diebenkorn, "Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad", 1965

Luckily for me, I plan to visit friends in California this spring, and that means I may have an opportunity to see the exhibit in San Francisco. Can't wait!  Meanwhile, for Diebenkorn fans, check out the newly released catalog raisonne' from Yale University Press that covers all works throughout his entire career, and gets great marks as a "monumental work" done with "meticulous care".  Oh, and by the way, the book review for these volumes is headlined "The Heir to Matisse...". 

The Gift of the Overcast Day

Some of you may remember reading about my struggles to control the light in my studio when I am painting still lifes. I paint using only natural light, and as the sun moves from east to west, the light through my window changes dramatically. I have resorted to various tricks to manage the light, but they all have certain disadvantages. So you can imagine my excitement during the recent spell of overcast days--not pretty days to be outside, but ideal for painting indoors!

"Overflowing"
Oil on Linen, 18 x 18
(c) Lesley Powell 2017

On high overcast days, the quality of the light stays very stable from morning through afternoon. That means that I don't have to rush to finish a painting before the light changes. It is such a luxury to know that the lighting will remain constant. I can stop for lunch, or  take

Anders Zorn

Anders Zorn
"Reveil, Boulevard Clichy", 1892
Watercolor, 36 x 24 cm.

He is called "a painter's painter", ranking right up there with John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla. There's no question that he was a virtuoso artist. But his name is hardly a household name nowadays: Anders Zorn.  So who is this Anders Zorn? Born in 1860, he was a Swede, and one of the most acclaimed portrait painters of the Belle Epoque era. In fact, he and Sargent painted portraits of some of the same glamorous clients.

Anders Zorn
"Isabella Stewart Gardner in Venice", 1894
Oil, 91 x 66 cm.

I first encountered Zorn's work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It turns out that the Gardner has the finest collection of Zorn's paintings in the United States. I remember to this day how the painting (above) of Isabella Stewart Gardner took my breath away. There is such life in her gestures, and the effect of the light dress against the dark night is so striking. Strong, simple shapes, and  bold gestures. It doesn't get any better than this! (By the way, there's an interesting backstory on this painting, which you can read here.)

Anders Zorn
"Self Portrait with a Model", 1896
Oil on Canvas, 49 x 41.3 cm.

There is so much to say about Zorn, but for this post I will focus on his way he painted whites. His whites are completely astonishing. Whether I am looking at the voluptuous folds of fabrics in the top painting, or the artist's smock in the self-portrait just above, I am amazed. The subtle shifts of color are so sensitively observed. At some level deep inside, I can actually feel the fabric just by looking at the painting. I know whether it is soft or crisp, thick or thin.

Anders Zorn
"Emma Zorn Reading, 1887"
Oil, 40.2 x 60.6 cm.

Zorn's magnificent handling of whites is not limited to fabrics. I love the painting of his wife reading the newspaper, above. There are cool shadows where the paper is shaded, and warm areas where there is some light coming through. Gorgeous! Of course, we can't really see a painting very well from a photo. I'm sad to say that I missed the big Zorn shows in New York and San Francisco over the past few years. That's why I'm especially excited that there is a huge retrospective of Zorn's work scheduled for this fall in Paris. Here's a link to the scoop--and here's hoping that a plane ticket could be in my future!

A New Year's Ritual

Happy New Year, everyone! Who doesn't love to open a fresh calendar, smooth the page open to January, and start a new year?  To make the transition even more enjoyable, I have a special year end ritual at the studio: I destroy old paintings that have never been finished to my satisfaction. It's very cathartic! Getting rid of these old clunkers makes way for new inspiration--both literally and figuratively.

"Reflections and Rooflines"
16 x 24, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2016
Available

What happens to the old clunkers? If they are painted on the very expensive Belgian linen that I love so much, I often remove the varnish, sand them down a bit, and paint over them.  The linen is just too precious to waste! It's actually fun and helpful to have a counter-image