20 x 30 cm detail from ‘Longing for Pondicherry’, Linen on wood, 70 x100 cm, in progress
Hanneke van Oosterhout just emailed me a detail from her latest painting showing a watermelon resting in an earthenware bowl. When I first discovered Hanneke, she was painting roses. I am able to admire one of them because it graces my dining room. Hanneke’s painting shows a yellow rose standing in streaming water while stretching upwards, both lovely and powerfully, with one of its leaves fluttering downwards.
A few years ago, Hanneke changed her motifs, now indulging in her love of fresh fruit and vegetable. She has painted still lifes of grapes, strawberries, apricots and plums with some of them resting in gorgeous china bowls. Looking at these still lifes makes me want to grab their fruit and bite into it.
While one inspiration for Hanneke’s still lifes is the lovely color, texture and taste of fresh fruit, another one is the Dutch master Adriaen Coorte.
This week, two paintings by Adriaen Coorte were discovered in a ‘drawer’ somewhere in Holland. These paintings will be auctioned at Sotheby’s for E 100,000.00 to 150,000.00. This past July, Sotheby’s auctioned another one of Adriaen Coorte’s paintings – THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN. Thus, Adriaen Coorte’s small, carefully balanced minimalist still lifes are becoming pricey.
Does the increasing popularity of Adriaen Coorte’s still lifes mean that a representational way of painting is becoming fashionable again?
I can’t speak to fashion, Birgit, but that painting is astonishing. It’s real enough that I want to reach for it and slice myself a bite. I’m only stopped by the darkness of the surrounds — why aren’t there six people fighting over the rind?
I think that currently there are so many ways, media, ideas about making art that we could be returning to the notion of the artist as maker/creator. Of course, fashion and greed (buying to speculate on) always cause distortions and one “kind” of art will be seen as much preferable to another. But my joy in the art world of today is partly that textiles and oil paintings and photography and mandalas made from foam (and other such things) all can be art, given the right presentation, the right audience, the right creative frames of mind.
Birgit:
Hanneke’s work just keeps on getting better. For a person like myself who’s art has no settled address, the idea of moving into a place with a long history, such as still life (Hanneke) or landscape (you and June) can be somewhat itchy. In this case one is facing the known. The unknown may be in oneself and a personal question: what potential do I have to do as they have done?
A fashion for fashion comes and goes. A lot of this had to do with a certain control of the artistic discourse by a relative few as art as a publishing event arose after WWII. Somewhere along the line Artforum lost its lease as the go-to source for what was hot and not. Various forms of representation were not for awhile but they came back, both in a traditional sense and as platforms for new kinds of statements.
June,
Yes, Hanneke’s paintings are wonderfully harmonious.
What a good time to live in. We are catholic (universal) in our tastes and some aspect of society has become more fluid (communication) though, regrettably, national politics have not advanced much beyond the dark ages.
With respect to depicting what is out there, for the last year, I have been practicing realistic presentation. But last night, giving in to a few wakeful hours without fretting (no early appointments today), I developed an image in my mind with simple, colorful shapes. Later at home, I will try to paint it.
So far, I have been doing my more ‘representational’ work on smooth boards, masonite or wood. Doing the more ‘abstract’ piece, living in my mind, will be a perfect opportunity to try painting on linen using canvases, bought a year ago.
Jay,
Our two previous comments collided on the internet pushing yours a blink of the eye ahead of mine.
…. such as still life (Hanneke) or landscape (you and June) ….. In this case one is facing the known. The unknown may be in oneself and a personal question: what potential do I have to do as they have done?…
I see my landscapes as a starting point and I have no idea where they will lead me. Color and geometry are what I love. I am fascinated by de Kooning’s color schemes and by Cezanne’s distortions of perspective but I am not trying to imitate these artists, rather, they serve as Wegweisers (trail signs) on my journey.
You are so far ahead of me. My first course in Art is A&P.
For me this kind of painting is a love song, nothing new but beautifull
Hanneke,
A love song is a rich manifestation of spirit. Your painting of a Yellow Rose (in my home) is inspirational to me and feels unlike anything that I have seen in art museums.
The true impact of a painting is lost on the computer screen. I hope to be able to see your current still lifes in ‘real life’ some day.
Ah, Hanneke, what a lovely aura for your painting — a love song. Love songs are as various as the human condition, both universal and individual. They keep on coming up, in old and new forms, even as we listen to all those that have gone before, from jewish chanting, Muslim calls to prayer, Methodists coming to the garden alone, Johnny Cash walking the line “because you’re mine” and Mimi and Rudolfo. You can’t go wrong with a love song — although some are more right than others. Yours is very right indeed.
Birgit,
Like you, I think of the Elders as “Wegweisers (trail signs)” although I didn’t have the language to express it. I think I am lucky not to have had a formal academic education in art (although sometimes I think just the opposite –snort–).
The formal education would fill in the blanks nicely, but leave me perhaps exhausted and intimidated and needing to do something new, to wipe the slate clean, to get out from under all that perfected baggage. Being naive about art when I started (I had taken Art Appreciation 101 and Art 102 thirty years before but that was it), without gallery experiences that being urban might have presented, and without knowing personally many visual artists gave me that foolish bravery that I still exist in. I know a bit more now, but I’m still a novice at the great historical landmarks, milestones, and chains around the age old art of painting. So fools rush in (I speak only of myself) because it’s there, even if many others have trod the trail before.
My task is to challenge myself — not difficult, since I’m such a novice. Others have done everything I’ve done and I’m sure done it much better, but that isn’t the challenge I look at. My challenge is to look at my own work, shake my head, and try again. Or to look at the detail from Hanneke and wonder if I could ever approach that lusciousness. Luckily, I’m doing landscape, not still life, so my awe in seeing Hanneke’s work doesn’t make me stop and weep at my own inadequacy.
On a different subject, let me know what you think about painting on canvas. I’m experimenting with that clear gessoed linen.
June,
I asked Karl whether I should take a workshop with Mr. Bartman, his teacher at high school. Karl’s reply was that, while I undoubtedly would learn a great deal, it may be detrimental to my spontaneity. Thus, there may be something to naiveté.
Karl wants me to try out linen.
I don’t know yet how I respond to (1) linen and (2) using wider brushes. During yesterday’s experiment I was reminded of my 3 yr old Max. Instead of my usual involved operation, inspired by Hanneke’s posts on A&P, I painted big (relative to the canvas) and colorful shapes. Starting with small brushes, I grabbed bigger and bigger ones. I was done in 1.5 hrs of obsessive work/play. I am thinking that perhaps I should do both, play with big colorful shapes and also continue my wave studies.
Do you feel that you paint differently on smooth boards versus linen?
June,
Searching for Hanneke’s post, I came across Karl’s post on Cennini’s advice to find a personal style. …By choosing the right artist to study, and by studying his work consistently before studying that of another artist, one will achieve the preconditions for finding a personal style…
I just realize that Hanneke, studying Adriaen Coorte’s still lifes, is in agreement with Cennini’ advice.
I love Turner’s seascapes. This weekend, back in NYC, I will again visit his paintings at the MET.
Birgit,
A running joke at one critique group that I belong to is “Get a bigger brush.” One of the members of the group looked at a painting I was working on, early in our acquaintance, and muttered “Get a bigger brush.” I was startled, since I had scarcely spoken with her before, but dutifully did so. And she was right. Since then, when we see a painting that isn’t quite working, we announce, “Get a bigger brush!”
That being said, I bounce around between a variety of sizes and kinds of brushes. I find that the tough bristle ones are best, particularly early on, on the canvases I’ve used. The lovely sable ones are too soft for early work.
I’m slower on canvas, too, and it isn’t just a matter of size (although obviously…) The canvas (linen or cotton) seems to drag the paint and require more pushing and pull to get it to “take.” When I return to board, I sometimes put too much paint on and have to scrape it down. Glazing becomes important with canvases for me, because I think the paint dulls by sinking into the threads.
Do study Turner closely. He should be perfect for your current interest in the Lake and dunes. But be careful; some of his color has faded considerably. So look at his techniques and composition, but be cautious in studying hues. And if you can, transfer some of the excitement of seeing him in person to me — it’s only a few thousand miles.
I just returned to Emily Carr for some advice. I’m going to try something in the next few days that isn’t her, exactly, but came out of a book about her work and from a few paintings of hers that I looked at in the book.
Guys:
It’s me, I know it, but I tend to see faces everywhere in racks of clothing, clouds, piles of stuff etc. It also can happen in non-representational paintings, which can suffer the bugaboo of a representation lurking among the non-. Once the viewer sees Abe Lincoln peeking out from the blobs and swirls, then it’s almost impossible to make him go away, as he will be there to greet the viewer in future encounters.
This can happen in depictive work as well. I will not describe what I see in Hanneke’s painting as it will possibly compromise the experience for others – but, yes, my facial proclivity strikes again. Is it fair to even bring this up as a comment?
I am not an artist. I am a medical scientist without any ability to express my creativity on canvas. For some reason, I am inexplicably drawn to certain artists’ work. Hanneke van Oosterhout is one on those artists. Does anyone know where I can see these works in person? The online images are not enough for me!
My work is going to be shown at Kunstlijn 6,7 and 8 november ( until I think middle of november ) in Haarlem Holland,close to Amsterdam . http://www.kunstlijnhaarlem.nl