One Hundred Great Artists: Part Six - Esther

Here we are more than halfway to a hundred. 

51. Alphonse Mucha (Czech Republic, 1860-1939): Winter Night, 1920

Alphonse Mucha developed one of the most distinctive styles in art history. Designing adverts, windows, posters & even bank notes, he cultivated an Art Nouveau shorthand that was never matched. Once again though, the dates give away the history. Sadly, he was captured & released by the Nazis in 1939 as they began their invasion of the then Czechoslovakia before the war. Mucha was never the same after; his health failed & he died a few months later of pneumonia. Winter Night portrays a starving Ukrainian woman, alone & distraught in a frozen wilderness. Without the lightness & distraction of the admittedly beautiful decoration he often employed for his commercial works, we can appreciate his talent as a portraitist. Only the pattern on her shawl hint at the artist’s usual style. Mucha masterfully captures the woman’s angst & pain as seen in the detail. Here we also see his typical working method of using photos for reference, often utilising grids for perspective & measurements.

52. James McNeill Whistler (USA, 1834-1903): Symphony in Flesh Colour & Pink: Portrait of Mrs Frances Leyland, 1871-4

Not only was Whistler one of the greatest painters, he was one of the more lively characters in art history. A firm believer in “art for art’s sake,” he rejected the mawkishness often found in the art of the time, as we can see in the famous painting of his mother. This wonderful work however surfaced from the chaos of a falling-out between Whistler & the sitter’s husband. As was normal for Whistler, many reworkings of the portrait were required, which meant they spent a great deal of time together, arousing Mr Leyland’s – not unreasonable - suspicions. In any case, the perfection of composition & palette show his genius, where his life decisions perhaps did not. The subtlety of mood, decoration & pose reflect the gentleness of the interloping blossom & overall we’re left without doubt as to the influence of Japanese art on Whistler.

53. Lucian Freud (UK, 1922-2011): Double Portrait, 1988-90

Often depicting family members - & himself – looking uncomfortable, waxy & lumpy under unflattering lighting, Lucian Freud is nevertheless a master craftsman. His handling of paint renders his pictures the quality of being in three dimensions. It was said he’d spend many, many hours on a single painting, expecting tortuously long & often awkward sittings from the subjects. There are numerous Freud dog & horse paintings – he’s an expert at making the animals as realistic as the humans. Although the boy & dog here are portrayed realistically, we also get a sense of their relationship & closeness; they’re relaxed & secure with each other. Despite Freud’s typically impressionistic style, there’s a huge amount of observed detail in the image.

54. Njideka Akunyili Crosby (Nigeria, US 1983-): Before, Now, After (Mama, Mummy & Mamma), 2014

Akunyili Crosby’s work merges her different life experiences in the different places she has lived. Her combination of painting & transfer collage creates arresting images of life in the US as a Nigerian woman & represent her layers of life experience & how she identifies herself. Even the plants of both countries are included in the transfers & she often depicts domestic spaces. In this work we see her younger sister sitting at a table with pictures of her mother & grandmother – three generations of women. The still life of crockery is set up as her grandmother had it. The image was part of a public art installation at Whitney Museum of American Art in 2015/6.

55. George Grosz (Germany, 1893-1959): Lovesick, 1916

The beauty of George Grosz work lies in its ugliness. It’s hard to see where he starts with his images – they’re frequently shambolic & surreal caricatures of people & places of 1920s Berlin. Of course the Nazis came looking for him, yes he was accused of blasphemy, but when things turned really nasty in Germany, he emigrated to the US. Although his work changed after his move, his style remained nevertheless distinctive. Here in 1916 though, Grosz is going for the imagery of despair big time. Bones, hearts, drug paraphernalia, a gun. Even the head is skull-like. Here the pessimism of unrequited love in all its misery, but still with the undertone of violence, the air of sleaze & the backdrop of Germany’s corruption.

56. Cindy Sherman (USA, 1954): Untitled Film Still #58, 1980

Cindy Sherman was one of the first artists I wasn’t sure it was okay to like but did. On first encountering her Film Still works, I recall thinking it seemed too simple to be allowed to be regarded as art. & the further I delved, the more I liked them. As an adult, I now realise that the simple thing was having the idea. Ideas can come or go, but acting on them, being disciplined enough to see them through is the hard part. Making a living, creating an oeuvre is the hard part. Abandoning painting she said,

“I was meticulously copying other art & then I realised I could just use a camera & put my time into an idea instead.”

57. Ralph Steadman (UK, 1936): Giant Panda, 2017

Ralph Steadman is one of the more enduring 20th Century illustrators. A satirist, caricaturist & cartoonist, his distinctive techniques set him apart as unique in his field. In my opinion, his work on Lewis Carroll’s Alice books was his masterpiece & never bettered beyond Rackham & Tenniel. Ever courting controversy, he was recently involved in a case where his artwork was said to have been “encouraging drunkenness.” Artwork for a beer company. This Giant Panda image was one of Steadman’s critical endangerment series. Profits from the sales of its prints go to the WildAid charity which seeks to eliminate illegal wildlife trading.

58. Jules Bastien-Lepage (France, 1848-1884): October: Potato Gatherers, 1879

Bastien-Lepage’s en plein air painting & realist style was hugely influential on the Glasgow Boys & other Impressionists. His frequently rural subject matter could often be seen to verge on the sentimental were it not for the incredible painting techniques & - in particular - the rendering of light on natural surroundings he employs. His ability to portray people out in the elements appears today as freshly spontaneous & unaffected & reveals an admirable bid for authenticity:    

“Nothing is good but truth. People ought to paint what they know & love. I come from a village in Lorraine. I mean, first of all, to paint the peasants & landscapes of my home exactly as they are.

59. Judith Leyster (Netherlands, 1609-1660): The Serenade, 1629

A Dutch Golden Age genre painter, Leyster was left unrecognised until 1893, when it was finally discovered that she was the artist of her creations & not her husband nor Frans Hals. Most of her works were not signed with her full name & often when they were recognised as hers, were referred to as having been made by the wife of her husband. Once the truth was discovered, her work was then of course frequently dismissed due to being made by a woman. In fact, her work was as fine as any painter of the time & beyond. Leyster is most well-known for her self-portrait – a woman portrayed at her work as an artist & appearing to enjoy herself – but I’ve chosen The Serenade. The treatment of the light on the musician’s face, hands & clothing is astonishing. The brushwork & colours are bold, despite the dimness of the room & she doesn’t shy from omitting detail & using flat patches of colour as in his hat. If her paintings were to be disparaged for their “weakness of the feminine hand” then plenty artists now & then would be glad of feminine hands.

60. James McBey (Scotland, 1883-1959): Disquietude (Portrait of Mrs Martin Hardie), 1914

James McBey may have been an Aberdeenshire boy & we’re proud to name him as such, but he had a miserable upbringing & didn’t stick around. As a war artist, he developed a necessarily quick sketching style, which I can’t help feeling finds its way into all his work, even his paintings. Everything he does is all exquisitely observed, yet simultaneously summed-up, recorded. There is a large collection of his works & a library in his name housed in Aberdeen Art Gallery, thanks to his wife’s bequest. I love this beautiful drypoint not only for its expressiveness but its economy & quality of line.