Art of the ages

Tag : fine art materials

Like Renoir, Pablo Picasso's prints echo the hallmarks of his bestloved paintings, which are evident in one of the three showcasedpieces La Dame a la Collerette or Portrait de Jacqueline a laFraise. The prints are original linocut in five colours - black,brown, blue-grey, grey and white - from two blocks, and features asmodel Jacqueline Roque, Picasso's muse and wife during the last 20years of his life.
Although Picasso's graphic arts may not fetch stellar prices atauctions due to the artist being so prolific that he created atotal of around 2,000 images, some with an edition of 1,000 prints,print-making seems to have opened the always-revolutionary artistto a new realm of artistic possibilities. In another way, theprint-making world also benefits a great deal from artists likePicasso, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse, with master print-makerssuch as Fernand Mourlot and Roger Lacouriere, frustrated with theserule-breaking artists as they were, working together with them topush the envelope of the media. Picasso, in particular, is asversatile and diverse in terms of style and materials with printsas he is with his paintings and images, which are printed fromplates of metal, stone, wood, linoleum and celluloid. It's notsurprising to know the artist once noted, "Graphic art ... is myfavourite medium of expression."
While Picasso's draughtsmanship enables his graphic work to emulatethe bold and contemplative lines and forms of his paintings, theartist's refusal to stick to traditional rules and particularstyles somewhat sharpens his technical virtuosity. This isdemonstrated in multi-colour prints like La Dame, a work thatreflects Picasso's maturity as a full-fledged graphic artist. Froman amateur graphic artist who once created for a single printseveral linoleum blocks, each to be used with one colour, he becamea technical expert who managed to invent the technique of printingmultiple colours from a single linoleum block.
Graphic art may dominate the exhibition, with 13 lithographs byHenri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Joan Mirand Edgar Degas and Georges-William Thornley, together with drypoint etching and linocut by Picasso, Renoir and other artists,still a total of 13 oil-on-canvas paintings make their way onto theexhibition walls. Interestingly, the paintings on display seem topossess a mutual characteristic with the prints. In this case, it'sthe subject matter that reflects a fascination with a certain spaceand time.
The two most outstanding paintings in the exhibition capturefleeting moments in time: Jules Breton's Fileuse Bretonne andEdouard Leon Cortes's Porte St Martin. Known for his fascinationwith the idyllic countryside, Breton's portrayal of a singlepeasant female set against the backdrop of France's lush landscapeis an ode to the rural existence of 19th century France.
Set in a different time and place and executed with a differentstyle, Edouard Leon Cortes's Porte St Martin shares with Breton'sFileuse Bretonne the nostalgia for a certain time and place.Depicting pre-World War Two Paris Street, post-Impressionist artistCortes seeks to capture the life of the City of Lights, withhorse-drawn carriages and busy Parisians, shimmered in gold hues asreflected from the evening twilight - an embodiment of time andplace the artist yearned for.
Despite a large collection of paintings and graphic masterpieces,it's probably the one and only sculpture that is the true highlightof the exhibition. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a work bythe artist famed for his paintings that depict soft clocks andmelting watches, Salvador Dali. This bronze sculpture is asculptural incarnation of Dali's masterpiece The Persistence ofMemory, and it undoubtedly steals the show.
"The sculpture by Salvador Dali, titled Time in the FourthDimension, a famous and iconic image illustrating a melting clock,portrays the Surrealist perspective that time is never constant,"said the curator.
With over 30 beautiful paintings and prints, Yarger believesenthusiasts will enjoy the special opportunity to view themindividually for their technique, subject matter, narrative andemotional quality as well as experience all of the art works inrelationship to each other and as a whole collection.
"Showcasing artists of different styles and periods in oneexhibition provides not only an art history experience but allowsan educational and scholarly opportunity, to experience it in onesetting, to compare and contrast the works," he said.