There was a time in the
not-so-distant past when my interest in art history stopped at
Post-Impressionism. When I read art books and visited museums, I was
instinctually drawn to artwork from the Italian Renaissance through
Impressionism and curious to learn about the culture of those eras. When it
came to contemporary art, I spent many years just trying to objectively observe
and understand everything that was happening in our representational art
world and anytime I would glance at the modern art scene there was little that
peaked or held my interest.
 |
|
|
Jeanne Hébuterne by Amedeo Modigliani, 1918, oil painting, 36 x 28.
Collection
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.
|
|
|
Within the last three years or so,
however, I've noticed that my eye is changing. A certain restlessness with the
familiar is giving way to a search for something new, sparked by a few key
individuals whose ways of
painting and thinking have pushed my perspective in a
new direction. I find myself increasingly interested in work that is skillfully
done and respects tradition but that is emotive, expressive, and has contemporary
subject matter and style. I am also looking at various forms of abstract and
modern art and enjoying the harmony and playfulness of colors, lines, and
shapes that seem to coalesce with effortless ease.
I think I started to fully realize
this transition within the past year. Last September, while visiting the Lucian
Freud show at The Met, I found myself in the modern wing for the second time in
my life. I loved the enigmatic subject matter and energetic colors that
surrounded me, and found myself intrigued by the works of Modigliani, Soutine,
Boccioni, and others. The following month, while in the Pitti Palace, in
Florence, I was shocked at how much time I spent in the modern gallery
marveling at paintings by such artists as Bernardini (1891-1974) and especially
Costetti (ca. 1875-1949) when there were Raphaels and Titians just steps away.
I am pleasantly surprised at this
new appreciation and want it to be an extension of the movements I already know
and love. I will always have my Old Master favorites, but the art-historical
work that is speaking to me at the moment is from artists who built bridges
from the old to the new (such as Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso), and in today's
art those who combine the skill and tradition of the past with the contemporary
content and critical thinking of the present.
My hope is that we are entering a
time when each side of the artistic divide can appreciate the other. I am
learning that dismissing anything that has happened or is happening in art is
dangerous. There is a reason why certain artistic styles and statements appear
when they do: they are a reflection of the current cultural and societal
climate and a foreshadowing of what's to come. If you watch with open eyes and
mind, it helps you understand more about who you are (or are not) as a painter
and where you want to go.
How about you? Have you found that
your eye and aesthetic has changed over time as you've evolved as an artist, or
do the styles and concepts that initially drew you to painting continue to be
your inspiration? Leave a comment and let us know.
--Allison
Allison
Malafronte is the senior editor of American Artist.