tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post6719537821944719243..comments2024-03-29T06:46:10.487-04:00Comments on Studio and Garden: Realism and AbstractionAltoon Sultanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-67402478037594599402011-10-07T16:38:57.776-04:002011-10-07T16:38:57.776-04:00Yes, Sam, that painting is way before my house pai...Yes, Sam, that painting is way before my house paintings. And you too see your work returning to a beginning! I agree about the deKooning show; it was fascinating to see him come round and round again.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-17438118215571629732011-10-07T14:44:38.115-04:002011-10-07T14:44:38.115-04:00So the abstract/realistic painting pictured is bef...So the abstract/realistic painting pictured is before your Victoriaan porches. It certainly is a precurser of your current work. <br /> Another example of returning is shown in the De Kooning show - he does figure then abstract then returns to the figure then abstract maybe five times. With myself my 14th Street painting looks very like my Canal Street painting done 40 years earlier.Sam Thurstonhttp://samuelthurston.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-5758639272303791792011-10-07T09:39:33.658-04:002011-10-07T09:39:33.658-04:00Julie, what an interesting point about self consci...Julie, what an interesting point about self consciousness. Of course some if it is the many years of skill-building, which enables one to have more freedom, as do the many years of thought.<br /><br />Rob, I certainly must have been playing with those hue/value shifts, and of course the complementary colors yellow/violet.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-43089691638615290762011-10-07T09:15:28.576-04:002011-10-07T09:15:28.576-04:00Yeah, I get what you mean about it being obvious, ...Yeah, I get what you mean about it being obvious, but I really like those colors, especially how that purple runs into the grey at the top while they're almost the same tone.Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-66830570236839044702011-10-07T09:03:31.412-04:002011-10-07T09:03:31.412-04:00Yes all about "voice," isn't it? Fas...Yes all about "voice," isn't it? Fascinating to see your earlier work. Similar focus, perhaps, but more grounded now. Ironically less self-conscious presumably in part due to more self consciousness.Julie Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668542359534413638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-20875811274574075962011-10-07T07:41:28.880-04:002011-10-07T07:41:28.880-04:00Mitchell, of course it's all abstract in the s...Mitchell, of course it's all abstract in the sense that we are working with paint on a flat surface. I don't think I'm actually making nuts and bolts and bending sheet metal. And of course we are in our paintings. But, at the same time, there is a big difference between making an illusionistic painting and one that is non-objective. I think both Barnett Newman and Catherine Murphy would object if we saw their work as the same; we would be leaving out much of its meaning that way.<br /><br />thanks so much, Ms. Wis. These are much better than grad students; they're all working artists, and thoughtful ones.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-59010495749579853862011-10-07T00:52:11.397-04:002011-10-07T00:52:11.397-04:00What a wonderful thoughtful post. And the comments...What a wonderful thoughtful post. And the comments are the icing on the cake — like an especially articulate group of grad students!LINDA from Each Little Worldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02380944603357066650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-36475820380136053022011-10-06T22:41:06.797-04:002011-10-06T22:41:06.797-04:00Abstract vs. real. Isn't it all abstract? Th...Abstract vs. real. Isn't it all abstract? There's no question that viewers are affected by the presence or lack of "imagery", but for the artist or creator I would argue that most of the issue's of color, balance, composition, feeling, etc, etc are the same. On some level you can't keep yourself out of the painting no matter how hard you might try (like Richter does) so in my opinion you are there, original or not, in all of your glory, abstract or real.Mitchell Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08970018549664857998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-33156686733546269012011-10-06T21:49:45.511-04:002011-10-06T21:49:45.511-04:00well, Rob, I always like what I'm doing while ...well, Rob, I always like what I'm doing while I'm doing it, and what I want to do keeps changing. So, I am of course very interested in what I'm doing now; I like the images and the challenge of getting the balance of the real and the abstract to work, and also getting feeling into what could be a cool subject matter. I don't like that early painting very much because for me the idea is too obvious, but I'm glad you like it.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-82556706734565628882011-10-06T21:37:35.726-04:002011-10-06T21:37:35.726-04:00So, how do you feel about coming "full circle...So, how do you feel about coming "full circle" so to speak? That grad school piece you did I like as much as your current work. <br /><br />As you know, I've just gone back to abstraction, which is a full circle for me. And I sometimes wonder if I've made any progress. Just curious how you regard the theme you've found in your work.Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-54151281968363068932011-10-06T21:08:43.193-04:002011-10-06T21:08:43.193-04:00thanks for that great quote, David. I'll be su...thanks for that great quote, David. I'll be sure to bring it to Amy's attention.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-15684326471689592112011-10-06T20:29:19.295-04:002011-10-06T20:29:19.295-04:00It was recently brought to my attention, this famo...It was recently brought to my attention, this famous letter from Mark Twain to Helen Keller regarding claims of her plagiarizing. Twain says this: "Oh, dear me, how unspeakably funny and owlishly idiotic and grotesque was that "plagiarism" farce! As if there was much of anything in any human utterance, oral or written, except plagiarism! The kernel, the soul--let us go farther and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances in plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are second hand, consciously or unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources and daily use by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them any where except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing.David Forlanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170835445575461264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-885674360386022782011-10-06T18:53:31.158-04:002011-10-06T18:53:31.158-04:00thanks, David.
Mona, I do remember seeing the &qu...thanks, David.<br /><br />Mona, I do remember seeing the "22 Realists" show and how interesting it was that they mixed painters who worked perceptually, such as Pearlstein, with narrative, like Sidney Tillim, and those who worked from photos in different ways. Photorealism was very hot then, and wasn't very involved with abstraction; I don't count Close as a photorealist, as his work was so very different from the rest of them.<br /><br />Amy, there are no really new ideas under the sun. Your approach would be your own. It's hard to be completely original.Altoon Sultanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16743040814034732581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-14798730292441033282011-10-06T18:43:37.647-04:002011-10-06T18:43:37.647-04:00I am also very inspired by the interplay of realis...I am also very inspired by the interplay of realism and abstraction, and I have to confess that as I worked my way through this post, enjoying the selection of images you included, I felt my heart sink when I got to Catherine Murphy's painting - which is quite beautiful! - because just last week I was working on some drawings with almost the exact same composition. Curtains, though, with a narrow vertical opening, playing with the simple abstraction of shapes and lines. I wonder what your thoughts might be on this sort of thing, which I imagine must happen for a lot of artists, of working with a certain idea and then finding it "out there" already?Amy Tennanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14515466590704461261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-45478521485429090902011-10-06T18:33:30.906-04:002011-10-06T18:33:30.906-04:00It's so interesting to see this early work of ...It's so interesting to see this early work of yours and how it connects to your current work. I like it. <br /><br />What an interesting discussion of "22 Realists" show; thanks for reviewing it. It has bothered me that the term 'photorealism' has been generalized or at times freely interchanged with the term realism - two different emphases, and yet it's true that photo-realists and realists alike do play with abstraction...just in different ways. A contemporary painter who does it in a similar yet different way than Close is Alyssa Monks.<br /><br />What a hoot and stroke of genius this Catherine Murphy painting is! I just love it! :-)Mona Diane Connerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02022399915344870046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658518583188826551.post-33320025210878923202011-10-06T18:00:32.439-04:002011-10-06T18:00:32.439-04:00Great post! It is clear in your paintings that yo...Great post! It is clear in your paintings that you are very thoughtful about what is there and your writing takes us even further.David Forlanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07170835445575461264noreply@blogger.com