One Hundred Great Artists: Part 4 - Esther

 You know the drill by now.  

One hundred great artists, I pick the artists, I pick the artworks, I apologise mildly for my Eurocentricity & you can disagree all you like. In fact, I’ve shown you my list - why not show me yours…?

31. John Singer Sargent (United States of America, 1856-1925): Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose, 1885

It was years before I realised Sargent was not a European painter. In fact his family was originally American but they travelled widely across Europe when he was young & he experienced much interruption in his life & learning. Decidedly French sensibilities aside, his style is of its time, his art of its age.  Today the lanterns in Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose wouldn’t be allowed for a start. But the painting is a showstopper – the incredible capturing of the fading light & the limited heat afforded by the glowing lanterns are so meticulously depicted. It seems that as time passed, fake flowers had to be inserted as models. The painting’s composition & shape are also unusual & it transpires that its squarish proportions came about from Sargent’s decision to chop off about two feet of canvas from the left. This daring act only adds to what I regard as a virtually perfect painting.

32. Wangechi Mutu (Kenya-USA, 1972-): She Walks, 2019

Aside from some depictions of Medusa perhaps, are there any more formidable & frankly intimidating representations of woman than Wangechi Mutu’s sculptures? Doesn’t … own the space, as it were? Her caryatids, The New Ones, will free us for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with their winding bronze ropes for robes cut a series of beautiful but powerful figures but She Walks feels to me like a potted history encompassing what it might mean to be a woman in the world: multiple cultures, primal, strong, beautiful, humorous, sexual, primal, menacing, arresting, a catwalk queen & fashionista. It’s as if she’s fronting it out, a symbol of her heritages with bravado & inviting us to question her. Just you dare.

33. Jacob Epstein (US-UK, 1880-1959): St Michael’s Victory Over the Devil, 1958

As a young person, my family tended to travel by car to places in England within reasonable driving distance of my aunt & uncle’s whose floor we’d borrow for little holidays. On one of the trips out we made, we went to Coventry. I was stunned by both Coventry Cathedrals, the new & old versions & their intertwined stories & this visit was where I began a lifelong love of Graham Sutherland’s artwork. There are a number of significant religious & reconciliatory artworks there. It was also where this statue by Jacob Epstein is mounted, Epstein of the Oscar Wilde tomb in Père LaChaise cemetery. Many of his works drew criticism because of their sexuality & were subsequently vandalised. & I was sure Satan in the Coventry Cathedral piece had a large, spiralling erection rather than the flaccid article (not pictured) he’s been left with, but I may be misremembering…

34. Romaine Brooks (United States of America, 1874-1970): Self Portrait, 1923

Another American in Europe, Romaine Brooks’s subtle palette attracts me at once. Developing her own artistic vision, she shunned trends in art & conventions in romance, survived a chaotic upbringing as well as sexual harassment. Known primarily for her images of androgynous women, here her best model is herself. Around 1904 she turned her attention to her favoured colour scheme of greys, a decision which has contributed immensely to her strong & recognisable style.

35. Pearl Thompson (England, 1957-): Obsidian Mirror, 2019

Pearl’s style has been one of the most distinctive in art & music. Previously known as Porl & sometime guitar icon from The Cure, at the time he created incredibly recognisable record cover & merchandise designs for the Parched Art company he co-founded. In truth, these pieces not only stood as unique works in themselves, but helped develop – alongside the video work of Tim Pope - the band’s identity & musical niche. In Pearl’s recent work, she’s been something of a multi-media maverick, at times shedding her famously individual style. I particularly like Obsidian Mirror because it recalls that previous life & career, but also signals a more personal change.

36. Stanley Spencer (England, 1891-1959): Portrait of Mrs Marjorie Metz, 1958

Stanley Spencer is one of the Greats of many lists of painters. He’s known for his religious works & works referencing religious topics but there is something peculiar, bland & expressionless about those that people them, no matter how beautiful or affecting the overall piece. There are the paintings that catalogue his strange & in some ways sad sexual & romantic life: hyper-real, too close up & difficult to witness. They’re all superbly rendered because he was a true master of his craft. Despite being an enduring fan of Stanley & willing to leave him to his warts-&-all lifestyle choices it is nevertheless lovely to view paintings such as this. I don’t have to worry about what it means & whether or not he was deeply unhappy but can simply accept it as an exquisite portrait; one of his less often seen since it comes without a sensational backstory.

37. Carel Fabritius (Netherlands, 1622-1654): The Sentry, (1654)

As the creator of one of my top favourite paintings, The Goldfinch, Fabritius has a special place in my heart. Outrageously talented, a pupil of Rembrandt but sadly taken too soon, Fabritius shows Rembrandt’s influence in subject, if not style in this very human & mildly humorous work. The pig & the rosary on the gable stone, the dog on high alert, the person spying on the poor guard, the trousers worn through at the knee…all the details conspire to judge the unfortunate sentry & we are gently encouraged to do likewise. Yet, you feel that Fabritius is sympathetic to his plight. His “artistic” side may well have understood that after a rough night, it could be difficult to stay awake, even when working. Sadly a quarter of the city of Delft was destroyed on 12th October 1654 as the result of a gunpowder explosion, taking Carel with it & we are left with a mere thirteen paintings attributed to him.

38. Mervyn Peake (England, 1911-1968): The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 1943

If you’ve read Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy, then you probably know that he was also an accomplished artist, in fact this was his initial career path. Although his paintings show obvious talent & a particular style (& those of glassblowers made as a war artist are in my opinion especially fine), I’m particularly fond of his illustrations. The images for Treasure Island & The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are beautiful & evocative drawings. In this illustration, his crosshatching is immaculate & conveys the sense of isolation & anguish the poem dictates. 

39. Paul Klee (Germany, 1879-1940): Notebook drawing, 1920s?

I’ve said it before & I’ll say it again: I never used to rate Paul Klee. I should have known better than to take the popular word for it & I should have dug deeper much sooner. On the other hand, it is refreshing to be challenged, to make discoveries & have your mind well & truly changed in middle age. I’m still not wild about many of the pieces you find regularly in the mainstream. Some of the works that changed my mind were made of meticulous tiny squares. Others were more like sketches & frankly, doodles. I’m always keen to see the process at work, even more so if the images look like they come from the subconscious. They bring us closer to Klee.   

40. Doris Zinkeisen (Scotland, 1898-1991): Portrait of Miss Sanders Watney, 1937

Doris Zinkeisen’s portraits of society women are distinctive & accomplished & reveal something of the theatrical designer she also was. Commissioned as a war artist in 1945 (whilst working as a nurse in the mornings & painting in the afternoons), she worked in recently-emancipated areas & was based for a time in Belgium. Later she recorded life at Bergen-Belsen just after its liberation, selecting muted colours & a flat style to do so. Although she was criticised for her portrayals of the concentration camp, it is a documentation, a witness testimony & should be viewed as such. The experience is said to have guaranteed her nightmares for the rest of her life. After the war, she returned to theatre & costume design. Doris’s is a remarkable story in terms of the change in her art as well as the events of her life.