Art & Perception

Here are two paintings of pears in which Hanneke van Oosterhout seems to express human personalities.

Look how different are the characters she has painted.

In the first painting, the pears seem innocent, perhaps prudish. In the second painting, the fruit is sensuous and, well, quite the opposite of prudish. In the first painting the pears seem not quite ripe. In the second painting, the surface of the pears shows they are at their sweetest, but will soon be too old.

Both paintings use a bowl to contain the pears. But the tone here is different as are the pears. In the first painting, the blue ceramic, broken and reassembled, has a world-weary character that forms an interesting contrast with the fruit. In the second painting, the bowl serves as a container, but is otherwise more neutral.

The neat folds of the cloth in the second painting are an interesting contrast with the wild disarray of the pears. In the first painting, the tabletop is more stark and hard.

These pictures make one think about what goes on in Hanneke’s mind. “I didn’t paint them like this on purpose!” she insists. I wonder if I believe that.

On the question of how to frame pictures for exhibition, Angela Ferreira commented:

I think the best way to exhibit any painting to appeal to a wide variety of buyers is to display it with a very simple effective frame, or leave the canvas unframed. Framing can be distracting and might not appeal to some — most people like buying a painting and then framing it to their own house style.

Of course, a painting only has to appeal to one buyer — the one who takes it home. In this way, a painting is different from a book or a song. Most people know how challenging it is to frame a picture. If the artist does a good job in choosing a frame, this can save the buyer a lot of effort and decision-making.

The right frame can enhance the value of a painting. But the artist takes a risk in framing, as Angela implies. The time and money invested on the frames may not be well spent.

Should artists consider the frame as an integral part of their work and strive to get it right, whatever the risk or complexity? Or is it better to leave framing to the buyer?

[See the poll at the top of this blog, right column]
[See also post on Photostream]

Here is an example of a painting by Hanneke van Oosterhout that is good, but still needs something. The painting is well developed for all but the fruit. I think some well-chosen highlights could bring them alive.

Another question has to do with the way the foot of the bowl is reflected in the bowl itself. In the painting it seems as though there is something wrong, but the real bowl looks like this. Should Hanneke leave it as it is, or soften it somehow, departing from reality? [Poll]

This painting fascinates me. Hanneke van Oosterhout has painted figs with personality. This is almost a group portrait. I sometimes wonder, “Does the world really need more still-life paintings?” This picture answers, “Yes!” Hanneke is pushing the limits of this genre.

Some time ago Hanneke van Oosterhout showed me an old cup that she had bought at an antique market. I thought to myself, “what a piece of junk.”

Hanneke took the cup to her studio and made this drawing. She then transferred it to a panel and painted it. Initially, there was a cloth under the cup (as in the drawing), but she was not satisfied with this, so she painted it over with white and light grays, adding a bit of raw sienna to the grey for warmth in the foreground (a color effect to bring the front part of the table/base forward).

Lately, Hanneke van Oosterhout’s still-life paintings have affected the way I look at things. I notice myself observing fruit and ordinary objects like ceramics in a different way. I see the beauty in them. Hanneke says, “That’s the way it is for me all the time. That’s why I am so eager to paint everything I see!”

This painting by Hanneke van Oosterhout is in an interesting state (click painting to enlarge it). Originally it had a black background, but Hanneke found this an ugly combination with the orange colors. For this reason, she painted the background white, in order to make a new start with it. However, she painted the white thinly, and the background is not really white now, but has an interesting cloudy quality. Although not planned, this is a perfect example of the type of optical effect that can be achieved by painting in layers. The cloudy quality that results gives a feeling of mystery to the still-life which would not be there if the background were pure white.

I don’t know what Hanneke’s plans are for this picture. It will be interesting to follow how it develops, and if she decides to keep some of this accidental background quality, or make something different. I like the cool background grays that contrast nicely with the warm grays in the objects. What do you think?

Here is a drawing of witte aalbessen that Hanneke van Oosterhout made this June (click the images to enlarge). The same day she transferred the drawing to a panel using tracing paper. Then she made an underpainting with acrylic.

The next day she over-painted all the berries with oil paint, a tiring day’s work. Why did she paint them all in one day? “Yes, the berries go away quickly,” says Hanneke. She wanted to capture the fresh, ripe quality of the fruit before the berries dried.

Some weeks later she over-painted the cup and the background in about half a day, again with oils. The result is shown here.

A detail shows the spontaneous but refined brushwork used to paint the berries — the shiny transparent skin and translucent interior. “That is the magic of these white berries, that you can look inside,” says Hanneke. “That’s why I worked so hard to paint them when they were fresh.” On the panel each berry is about 7 mm wide.

Two and a half days work is fast for a detailed painting like this. But is the picture in finished? You decide.