One Hundred Great Artists: Part Five - Esther

I’ve had an irritated struggle with this one. Picking the artists is easy; honing down to one work is tough but tougher still is finding out dates & details for younger artists & contemporary works. I’m overwhelmed by the number & quality of artists I’ve newly discovered in my internet career so far but it seems there are periods in art history where documented facts are scarce. If the work was made between the 1500s & 1960, it’s mostly okay but before & after those dates, it gets more difficult. Well, but that’s my struggle, not yours. Here’s what I have.

41. Gustav Klimt (Austria, 1862-1918): The Park, 1910 or before

If this list was a top ten, Gustav would be top three. Yes, three. Partly because of an early capturing of my imagination but more because he continues to be one of the most influential artists on my own work. I’ve chosen The Park for this list though because it is not necessarily what one’s mind goes to instantly when his name is mentioned. Overwhelming trees with foliage that fills the canvas, almost claustrophobic but nevertheless beautiful, I admire it too for its painterly fiddliness. The detail is intense & I do love a square picture (110.4 cm x 110.4 cm). & there’s maybe something creeping, unseen. Maybe something sinister in there too…

42. Alison Watt (Scotland, 1965-): The Renfrewshire Pig, ?

The first of Alison Watt’s works I ever saw were her fabric paintings. Hyper realistic in style, they are beautiful & peaceful & can be seen as genitalia apparently. Although I can understand that, I never interpreted them in that way. Her other paintings, such as The Renfrewshire Pig however are more narrative (still with symbolic elements) but open to interpretation. What’s with the cups? What’s in the figure’s hand? Why does the other figure appear to be gasping? If anyone should be gasping, I’d expect it to be the pig himself, given the slice of bacon sitting on the tiles…

43. Richey Beckett (Wales, 1980): Life Exposed, ?

In interviews, Richey has stated that he’s not interested in drawing something that’s not organic. He avoids machinery or buildings & works mainly in black & white with pen & ink. & he’s an absolute genius. Mainly creating designs for posters & record covers his pieces are evocative & rich in elaborate detail. His technique of “layering” his pictures inspired me to start tinkering around with something similar, even in my flat way of illustrating; he creates an impression of depth by putting globes of light in front of the main image, adding to the perspective & visual interest. 

44. William Orpen (Republic of Ireland, 1878-1931): Self Portrait painting “Sowing New Seed,” 1913

Despite being popular in his day as a society portraitist, William Orpen’s most stunning works are of himself. There can be few artists that stuff so much of themselves - or at least the selves they’d like to be perceived as – into their self-portraits as Orpen. It feels as if you’d know how he’d speak & what his deportment would be in the flesh. He produced copious amounts of work in his role as war artist for Britain & his painting style is traditional, often with an impressionistic flair. He was criticised for his “old-fashioned” paintings in later years & it has been suggested that due to all that he’d seen & suffered during the war, he was indeed covering up his true self…or perhaps trying to find him again. Then again, he also had a flair for mischief, quite illegally traversing Europe despite military orders to the contrary after a series of reprimands. This followed the misdemeanour of joking about having painted a spy... 

45. Hans Holbein the Younger (Germany, c.1497-1543): Portrait of Sir Thomas More, 1527

Hans Holbein was easily one of the greatest painters that ever lived, but particularly for the time he was working. He’s the one that has given us Henry VIII, the one who brought him to life in paint & in everyone’s consciousness. From those paintings, you can tell Holbein was a painter that painted the personality, not just the physical figure of his subjects. So when we look at Thomas More here, what can we tell about his character? For me, the word “troubled” comes to mind just looking at him & when we know his history, we can see why. In direct religious opposition to the aforementioned monarch, More was summarily executed & later canonised. How has Holbein contained all this information? In the near-clasped hands, in the wide eyes, the forward-leaning, tense seated position, the clenched jaw, the fixed stare. Apart from Holbein’s stunning technique, handling of the paint & obvious technical ability, he understands what makes A Human.

46. Théophile Steinlen (Switzerland-France, 1859-1923): La Tournée du Cat Noir de Rodolphe Salis, 1896

This is surely Steinlen’s most well-known work & although he was a prolific commercial artist, it’s the style of this cat that is so memorable.  Proud & defiant, it’s even got a halo with the words, “Montjoye Montmartre,” said to be a declaration of commitment to the seditious & freethinking attitude of the area & the Black Cat cabaret itself. His wartime art clearly shows empathy for women, the working class & refugees & depicts the tragedies of war’s aftermath. Although it has been stated that Steinlen used cats frequently as a symbol for all that was bohemian & subversive in Paris at the time, he nevertheless had a clear affinity with felines. We shall see more of that is next week’s blog…

47. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italy, 1571-1610): Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, (1604-5)

One of the best-known names in art history, Caravaggio has been developing a name for himself as a mischief-maker, homoerotic genius & sometime convicted murderer, even centuries after his own death. As the modern preoccupation with the artist as opposed to the art continues to escalate, it is important to remember his utter brilliance as a draughtsman & master of chiaroscuro. In his John the Baptist, we see a real person before we see an allegory or historical/religious figure. We imagine him in a studio rather than in “the wilderness.” Even if this was a modern model however, Caravaggio’s skill renders him believable: a man born to die in praise & prophecy of another, greater figure. He renders the introspective Baptist as the wilderness itself & depicts his physical & mental struggle.

48. Muirhead Bone (Scotland, 1876-1953): A Manhattan Excavation, 1923

Another war artist (in both World Wars), Muirhead Bone’s draughtsmanship was bewildering. I understand the need for artists of the time to be able to produce multiple prints of their works but the intricacy & detail of his etchings is so staggering that I can scarcely believe they’re not simply drawings. As tedious as images of architecture or industrial subjects could be - in the wrong hands - his are beautiful, elaborate & astonishing. A Manhattan Excavation deftly depicts the scale & perspective of the area with the inclusion of visual markers such as buildings, people & vehicles, but the eye is instantly drawn to the collection of beams & planks in the foreground. Masterful.

49. Arnold Manaaki Wilson (New Zealand, 1928-2012): Ode to Te Ihi, ?

Those that know Arnold Manaaki Wilson’s work may be more familiar with his beautiful & elegant sculptures, but I also love his painting. He was a pioneer in modern Māori art, mixing traditional imagery, colour, symbolism & methods from his own heritage with European practices. With no information about the artist’s intentions, I can only interpret Ode to Te Ihi as I see it. I see it as an invitation to explore. To me it suggests a road or river leading us into his own country & culture perhaps towards the Taiarahia hills near where was born & brought up.

50. William Blake (England 1757-1827): Illustrations of the Book of Job, plate 11, 1826

When I happened upon him as a teenager, I could barely believe that William Blake wasn’t a modern artist. In his lifetime, he wasn’t celebrated particularly & his ideas were perhaps too esoteric to be appreciated; indeed many thought him mad. Now, he feels contemporary; many of his works look as if they belong in the world of graphic novels. The facial expressions, the drama, the fantastical nature of his paintings & etchings feel as if they belong here. This perhaps explains his more recent appeal. It’s art we recognise, no matter what ideas he’s trying to get across. What does that say about us, I wonder?