Pursuing praxis

In particular, I sought out the American Wing at The Met, and was blown away.

The sculpture, the landscapes, and many of the portraits and historical paintings were just fantastic. The light, the detail, often the subject matter (thankfully). Rooms 220 and 221 were my favorite, in case you go. (Yes, several of the pictures are a bit blurry; no flash allowed, etc. Click on thumbnails for larger, blurrier views.)

 Sanford Robinson Gifford. A Gorge in the Mountains - Kauterskill Clove (which is similar to October in the Catskills, but better. He was apparently influenced by Turner, whose works appeal to me in color and light, but almost never in subject matter.)

  Worthington Whittredge, The Trout Pool, 1870

 Johan Christian Clausen Dahl, Outbreak of the Vesuvius, 1826

 George Henry Durrie? (Similar to Winter Scene in New Haven, Connecticut, 1858).

 Thomas Moran, The Teton Range, 1897

 Asher Brown Durand, The Beeches, 1845

 John F. Weir, Forging the Shaft, 1874-77

Frederic Edwin Church, Heart of the Andes, 1859.

And of course, Leutze’s centerpiece and masterpiece, George Washington Crossing the Delaware:

Now for sculpture.

 William Henry Rinehart. Latonia and Her Children - Apollo and Diana, 1870.

Medea
 William Wetmore Storey, Medea, 1865

 Daniel Chester French, The Angel of Death and the Sculptor from the Milmore Memorial, 1889-93.

 Daniel Chester French, Memory, 1909

 ? In the European Sculpture Court

And finally, one of my favorites from Rodin:

 Eternal Spring, 1906-7

And this one is actually in Central Park, and comemorates the end of feudalism or somesuch in Poland in the 1400s. Why this is of concern for New Yorkers, I’m not entirely sure. But I dig the statue.

The other day I formulated an old thought in a new way: it’s funny - strange - wonderful - and natural - that the brain is biologically logical. As in, whatever the contents of your mind, your feelings and actions flow logically and consistently from them. On the surface, I see no reason why this must necessarily be the case, in terms of biology or evolution. Of course, so much as disturb the surface with a question, and a half-dozen potential answers jump readily to mind. But that’s another thought-tangent, and another blog.

Along those lines, I note with interest how my interests and preferences in art change over time. Today I went to The Met, for probably the third time in my life. In past years, I spent the most time in the European Paintings section, with Degas and Rembrandt and David and Renoir and Rodin, and wandered dutifully through the various other continental and ethnic exhibitions. I was usually most bored by the American art. It all seemed woefully familiar, trite, and dull, and felt like a visual recap of my high school history textbook. Supremely uninteresting.

Today I planned to view those same sections again, and see if and how my reactions differed. I have clearer, more purposeful preferences in art these days (among other things), and I wondered if they were established enough to elicit new emotional reactions to art, if they were strong enough to override old preferences - basically how the old and the new play out in my current life.

First I got side-tracked by a special exhibit on Girodet (1767-1824), a French painter who trained with, and eventually spurned, the neo-classicist painter Jaques-Louis David (quite famous for the Death of Marat, and Oath of the Horatii, among other things.) It was a huge collection on display. I’m always impressed by a superb command of the human form, facility with oil paint (a la Ingres), and use of line drawing. I wasn’t enamored with his attitude and motivations, as portrayed in the program and placards available, and in his choice of subject matter and rendering. But I am a sucker for technique and lighting, and in this respect I enjoyed many of his works.

In terms of light and lighting, these caught my eye:

Burial of Atala

Endymion Asleep

The Apotheosis of French Heroes

As far as oil painting and portraiture goes, these I liked:

Danae (or, Mlle Lange as Danae)

Napoleon in Coronation Attire (and detail)

As for his drawings, like nearly every other artist save daVinci, they’re really hard to find outside of museums, probably because they’re usually preparations and studies for larger works. All Google turned up was this one by Girodet:

The ability to take a pencil and piece of paper and catch some essentially human quality in two dimensions somehow rivets me. I love drawings, whether with pencil, charcoal, crayon, touched up with watercolors, etchings and engravings (since they rely solely on lines), etc. I dislike John Singer Sargeant’s paintings, for which he is famous. I could stare at just the ankle of one of his drawn figures for upwards of an hour though. Absolutely captivating and beautiful.

By Sargeant: