Straightforward images to paint on canvas
1656-57
Oil on canvas, 318 x 276 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid
“Las Meninas” is a Portuguese word used to name the Maids of Honour of the Royal children in the 17th century.
Las Meninas or The Royal Family is one of the great problem pictures in the history of art. An almost infinite number of interpretations have now been proposed for the scene it shows. At first sight, however, Las Meninas seems to present no problems at all, and indeed appears perfectly straightforward in its sober geometry and good-humoured clarity.
It is set in a room in the Alc�zar, equipped by Vel�zquez as a studio, and shows the heiress to the throne, the Infanta Margarita, with her court. Palomino names all those present. The queen’s maid of honour, Dona Maria Agustina Sarmiento, one of the meninas, is kneeling at the Infanta’s feet, handing her a jug of water. The other maid of honour, Dona Isabel de Velasco stands behind the princess, and beside her we see the grotesquely misshapen female dwarf Mari-B�rbola and the male dwarf Nicolasico Pertusato; the latter, as Palomino points out, is placing his foot on the mastiff lying in front of the group to demonstrate the lethargic animal’s good temper. Further back, almost swallowed up in the shadows, are a man described only as guardadamas – a guard or escort to the ladies – and the lady in waiting Doña Marcela de Ulloa.
Vel�zquez is standing with brush and palette in front of a tall canvas; we can see only the back of it. There are some large pictures hanging on the back wall of the room. Two of them were painted by Vel�zquez’s son-in-law, Mazo, from models by Rubens, and show scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, one of them another version of the punishment of Arachne. The princess’s parents, the king and queen, appear in a dark frame below these pictures, probably the glass of a mirror. To the right of the mirror, on a flight of steps leading up to a doorway and a brightly lit adjoining room, stands Jose Nieto, the queen’s palace marshal.
There are several basic questions that have been asked again and again about this picture. What is Vel�zquez painting on the front of the canvas that is hidden from us? Where did he stand in order to paint the scene and himself in it? What is the source of the image in the mirror – that is, just where in the room must the royal couple have been standing for their reflection to appear? And finally, is there any significance in the fact that the red cross of the Order of Santiago is prominently applied to the artist’s clothing?
It was long thought that Vel�zquez was creating a picture without any metaphysical or speculative reference, and was merely recording a fleeting moment in permanent form, as if in a snapshot. According to this theory the subject was no more than an ordinary scene of palace life.
A different hypothesis is put forward by art historians, who believe that intellect and keen perspicacity, as well as the artist’s eye and hand, were involved in the painting of Las Meninas. The largest number of interpretations have been put forward for the mirror on the back wall, sometimes also thought to be a painted canvas. Much learned industry has also been applied to the question of location: in which room in the palace is this scene taking place?
FRANK STELLA
Van de Weghe Fine Art is pleased to announce an exhibition of Frank Stella’s works on canvas from the ‘60s. Frank Stella’s contribution to the history of post-war painting is paramount and each work on view originates from a distinct and critically important series produced by Stella during the decade that would help define him as a pioneer in the field of painting. Beginning in 1958, Frank Stella produced the highly influential Black Paintings series and quickly gained notoriety for developing a groundbreaking approach to abstract painting, one that challenged the reigning popularity of Abstract Expressionism and helped propel the medium into a fresh new direction. As William S. Rubin noted in his 1970 essay for the Stella exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art: He was one of the first artists of a new generation to react against the spontaneous gesture and loose brushwork of Abstract Expressionism, proposing in its place an art that stressed control and meditative classical rationalism over and against the Romantic freedom of expressionism. Stella’s works on canvas function literally as paint on canvas, rather than as a vehicle for representation of the outside world or an interior psyche. The current exhibition brings together paintings from several major series produced by Stella during the 1960s. Highlights include, Carl Andre, 1963, an ode to his close friend and fellow artist, from the early Purple Paintings series, two large paintings from the Irregular Polygons series, Conway II, 1965, and Sunapee III, 1966, along with Untitled, 1966, an example from the double Concentric Square series, one of his most iconic bodies of work. Also on view from the Protractor series will be Protractor Variation, 1968. By challenging painting’s previously established use of line, color, scale and canvas shape, Stella created a unique visual language that he continues to develop today. Stella’s paintings are as much about their own object-ness, as what they are not: illusionistic, representational and viscerally emotional. They are straightforward paint on canvas; coolly planned and executed. Stella’s paintings from the ‘60s helped to define our understanding of what abstract painting could be and indeed helped further the medium for future generations of painters. Frank Stella currently lives and works in New York City. The gallery will host a reception Saturday, November 8, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Gallery hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am- 6 pm, and by appointment. For further information, please contact Jen Viola at 212 929 6633 / [email protected]
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# monochromatic canvases, # Italian -born artist Rudolf # Stingel challenges the definition of painting by forcing his audience to observe the techniques and process of creation. Stingel’s series of silver canvases, begun in the late 1980s, can be considered part of the ‘Instruction Paintings’, first exhibited in 1989 and accompanied by an illustrated brochure laying out the method of production. According to Stingel, the process of making an ‘Instruction Painting’ is fairly straightforward : paint a canvas with a layer of oil paint, lay down a scrim of cloth, spray a layer of silver enamel and allow the paint to rest. Once the surface is set but still tacky, pull the cloth through, mixing the surfaces into a tempestuous ground. Although the process itself appeared simple, small variations at each step affected the ultimate outcome: everything from the creases in the cloth, to the drying time allowed, to the precise proportions of oil and enamel used. Consequently, the result could appear variously iridescent or matte; monochrome or multi-hued; textured in some places and smoother in others. Stingel’s work reminds us of important art historical precedents: Lucio # Fontana ’s ‘Tagli’; Yves # Klein ’s monochromes; and Gerhard # Richter ’s ‘Abstraktes’, which, much like Stingel’s work, emerge organically through a process of layering. Like his predecessors, Stingel deconstructs the techniques of # painting , and in ‘Untitled’, 1995, with its shining silver surfaces, Stingel gives us a work of sublime # abstraction .
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Rudolf Stingel (b. 1956), ‘Untitled’, 1995, oil on canvas. Offered for sale from a Private Collection.
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# rudolfstingel # abstract # abstractart # monochrome # contemporary # conceptualart # conceptual # contemporaryart # dickinson # simondickinson # dickinsongaller y # artdealer # artadvisor # mayfair # uppereastside # artstagram
Фото из хроники · 23 мая 2018 г. ·
