Walk in Their Hues - Esther

We can’t help wanting to know about the artist behind the art. If you’re anything like me, you’re incredibly nosy (but I am discreet if you ever need to share…) & like to know stuff, even when it’s useless or you’re going to do nothing with it. If I’m watching TV, I’ll often search up how tall someone is. I like knowing how tall people are – I like that sense of relativity & scale. I have no idea why. 

It’s fair to say many of us like to know what artists looked like (difficult before a certain period of time – a self-portrait is one thing, but are we looking at a reliable narrator…?) as it perhaps brings us closer to them. We feel we know something of their inner being from looking at their work, but we also enjoy knowing what their outer was like. Better still if we get a feel for their fashion sense too.

Obviously this extends to visual artists & their creations. Once I’ve been impressed or moved by a piece of work, I’m often keen to know how it was done, or at least to get some impression of the artist in the work. I prefer to see the brushstrokes, the process in the finished piece, the hand of the artist. In music, I like to hear the breath of a singer, a wrong note now & then or the squeak of a plectrum accidentally sliding along a string. In art, I like seeing thumbprints on clay, smudges on canvas or a wonky signature. I like to experience the humanity in all forms of art, otherwise where does it come from & what will we learn?

With this in mind, recently I’ve been looking up artists photographed with their own works of art. There are lots of them & repeatedly they appear in their studios or in the acting of making a piece for this kind of picture. Often they’re for articles about the artists & even contemporary artists are frequently pictured in black & white.

So although, yes I’m very, let’s call it curious, that curiosity comes from a real interest in others. That’s my story & I’m sticking to it.

Jackson Pollock by Hans Namuth, 1950

What is so brilliant about this photograph is how the artist is painted doing exactly what he is known for. We clearly see the movement of his arm & the sweep of his brush, his feet are in motion & the concentration on his face is evident. We see the mess on the floor behind him & the dripping pots of paint. It’s a wonderful capture of an incredible artist. 

Lee Krasner by Waintrob Budd, 1956

Lee Krasner & Jackson Pollock were married in 1945 & this photo was taken in her studio just two weeks after his death. For a long time she remained in Pollock’s shadow & was considered a mere muse, perhaps in part due to his untimely demise. Now she is recognised as an important artist in her own right, bridging the gap between how America was perceived in pre- & post-war art, her parents having fled to the US to escape anti-Semitism.   

Chris Ofili by Horace Ové 

If you’ve heard of Chris Ofili, you’re likely to think of elephant dung, one of the materials he has previously used in his work. He has in fact used many elements (I said “elements”) in his paintings. Perhaps the antithesis – or evolution? - of Warhol in attitude at least, he has said:

The studio is a laboratory, not a factory.

Yue Minjun, Yue Minjun Studio

Rejecting labels & often interpretations of his work, Yue Minjun nevertheless invites questions about the sense of self, self image & self-absorption. Inspired by Geng Jiyani & taking self-portraiture to its extreme, all his works feature his own laughing image in two or three dimensions.

I’m actually trying to make sense of the world. There’s nothing cynical or absurd in what I do.

Henri Matisse by Alvin Langdon Coburn, 1913

Every artist needs to wear what is best for him/her & Matisse has gone for a three quarter length jacket; it’s strangely formal looking since it has been buttoned up, including at the cuffs. Looking closely, you can see the reason for this - his suit & tie beneath.

Lucian Freud by David Dawson, 2005

Recently I read that Marc Chagall often painted in the nude, particularly when he was living in poverty & clothing could be less easily washed or replaced. Thankfully, Lucian hasn’t gone that far in this image but he must have done so to create his nude self portraits. Although his actual work doesn’t figure here, his process certainly does: the vast bundle of brushes, the cloth stuffed into his belt for wiping hands or brushes, paint spattered over the door & frame & that incredible testing area for thick smears of oil paint. There seems to be paint everywhere including the chairs although his discarded shirt draped neatly over one chair appears miraculously untouched.

Jenny Saville by Quintin Lake?

Considering how vast Jenny Saville’s canvasses are, this is a remarkably organised & splash-free studio scene. Her work deals with the physicality of the human body & she is well-known for her depictions of large nude women & challenging ideas about traditional norms & aesthetics.  

Joan Miró by Maywald Wilhelm, c. 1948

This image gives little away about Miró. The ragged table probably tells the best tale, with its frayed edges & ravaged varnish. Miró invites us to take himself & his work seriously. He has literally rolled up his sleeves to get on with it.

Beatrice Wood from the Jim McHugh Artist Archives, 1983

In later life Wood was a potter & sculptor but had also worked as a writer & studied theatre. A documentary about her life also named her “The Mama of Dada.” Living to the age of 105, she was once quoted as saying “I owe it all to art books, chocolates & young men.” 

John Singer Sargent from Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, c. 1884

I always find it very affecting to see artists in the midst of creating identifiable artworks, especially long after their death. Although Sargent’s renowned Portrait of Madame X is showcased & framed to the side, The Breakfast Table sits on his easel as a work in progress. This wonderful image shows Sargent in an elaborate Paris studio but is certainly posed. He has nothing to cover up his dapper suit from splashes & the shine on those shoes… An incredible image of an incredible artist.