Emile Bernard, "Boy Sitting in the Grass"

 

   For my last painting of 2020, I have selected Emile Bernard's work of 1886 titled, Boy Sitting in the Grass.   Although it is the queerest of pictures, I do like the thought of putting our backs to the past and looking forward into the sunshine, which I believe this young man is doing.

   Bernard (1868-1941) was considered a post-impressionist in his younger, prime painting years, between 1886 - 1897.  He was associated with Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, sharing their paintings and their multiple views on art.  Near the end of the nineteenth century Bernard began a series of travels eventually resulting in a change of direction for his art, which history has recorded as not as successful as the early years.  From 1904 till his death in 1941 he taught at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

    The first reproduction of this painting that I saw, the picture was cropped just above the head, making the image a square.  Now looking at the whole we see those two feet in our upper left corner.  Looking closely I also see three faint lines, and my guess is that they are legs of an easel.  What could be happening here?  Is the boy really a model for someone else's painting?  Do we have at least two painters outdoors painting on a sunny day and Bernard selects the view of the backside of the model?  

   The title refers to sitting in the grass, but what interesting grass.  The shadow cast by the boy tells us the sun is to our upper right and it must be quite strong to bleach out the grass to this shade of blue/green.  The color harmony is complementary:  blue/green to red/orange.  Notice how the modeling or shading on the boy's body is done in almost that same blue/green and a deep blue outlines the contour of much of the body.  

   Boy Sitting in the Grass was painted in 1886.  It is an oil on canvas and is part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands.  

   Just as this boy has his face to the sun, I hope all of us can do the same, put 2020 behind us for a bright and wonderful 2021.  Happy New Year.

   Make Art a part of your life, it's a beautiful thing to do. 

Comments

  1. Char HarguthJanuary 12, 2021 at 8:06 AM

    Since I am late responding to this, we certainly do want to turn our backs to 2020!! This is such an interesting painting. He could be posing for even more artists that we don't see. I am fascinated by the grass. I always find it difficult to make it interesting or give it texture. The feet of the artist gives the painting more of a story and tells us what the boy is looking at. The red hair and the boys outline are quite striking. I like this painting a lot. The soft colors are relaxing and pleasant.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wayne Thiebaud, Sunset Streets

Image
   In giving title to this landscape, California artist, Wayne Thiebaud not only provides the location, but also the time of day.  Knowing that Thiebaud is a California artist provides the last clue to guessing the probably location.  Smartly, The San Francisco Museum Of Modern Art purchased this painting for its permanent collection in 1986, a year after it was completed.  Sunset Streets is an oil on canvas measuring 48" x 35".      Wayne Thiebaud was born in 1920 and resides in California. He is one of several artists creating a distinct California aesthetic using heavy pigment and exaggerated color.   He is best known for his commonplace objects, figures, and landscapes. of which this is a perfect example.    The composition of this work is amazing.  Right down the center, at a slight tilt is this blue-black stripe, K shape, beginning with a heavy base and capped with a large triangle of sorts.  The painting is a geometry lover's dream, completely dedicated to ever
Read more

Nature Abhors A Vacuum, Helen Frankenthraller

Image
  Today let us look at an acrylic painting on canvas by American artist Helen Frankenthraller (1928-2011).    Nature Abhors a Vacuum is a huge work of art measuring 103" high, 112" wide.  This is over 8 feet high and 9 feet long!  You can stand next to it at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; and to do so would completely immerse yourself in this huge spread of color.   Nature Abhors a Vacuum was painted in 1973 and is a perfect example of a school of painting Frankenthraller helped develop called color field painting.  Here she stretched raw unprimed canvas on the floor and poured thinned acrylic paint on it.  In doing so she created floating fields of translucent color.  Being that the canvas was raw, the paint stuck to the fabric more like it was dyed, than brushed on. It was an exciting and new process!    Our title, Nature Abhors a Vacuum  immediately indicates a landscape, however I think it a disservice to confine our reaction to so simple an understan
Read more

Childe Hassam "The Avenue in Rain"

Image
    I probably should have saved this for the 4th of July, but that is a little far off and this work is among Childe Hassam's finest.      I have known of Childe Hassam (1859 - 1935) for a very long time, but only recently did Wikimedia straighten me out about the correct way to pronounce his first name.  It seems the "e" is silent; and his last name is pronounced as written, with two syllables.        From what I have read, Hassam was a pretty sharp guy, and possibly a little  arrogant.  He created 3,000 some works of art in his career and lived his entire adult life on the proceeds of their sale.  This is quite remarkable.  Most artists, (at least before 1930) had to supplement their income by teaching, commissioned portraits or careers outside the art field.  But Hassam figured out not only how to market his work, but also what subjects would be popular.  Timing is always a big issue, and he was at the forefront of marketing impressionist paintings to Americans.      
Read more