Distance: 1 mile is all
Great weather, but not so easy to enjoy it...
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Getting to be Time to Wash the Car --- Day 3/5
Walk: Legion of Honor (Egyptian Lecture), Nico Restaurant
Distance: 1 mile is all
Great weather, but not so easy to enjoy it...
Distance: 1 mile is all
Great weather, but not so easy to enjoy it...
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Landscapes: Back to the Masters, Pt. III -- Day 3/4
Walk: Mindful Body, Balboa Cafe
Distance: 2 miles and take yoga class
Claude Lorrain (nee Gellee), known and signed as Claude
ca 1605-1682, French painting in Italy
Pastoral Landscape, oil on canvas, 21.26"x16.54"
View of Tivoli at Sunset, 1644, oil on canvas, 39.5"x53.9" (Legion of Honor, San Francisco)
It could be said that Claude Lorrain was every bit the Romantic that his friend, Poussin, was the Rationalist. He was a superior draftsman and his landscapes are rooted in recognizable nature around Rome, Tivoli and Genoa primarily. But his overwhelming interest was in atmosphere and the effects of light. He Adored light, and, virtually without exception, a distant dawn or sunset is the actual centerpiece of his work.
His natural world is poetic, idealized, beautifully poignant. Next in order of Claude's loves was animals, particularly cows. People were painted with respect - and probably to ensure patronage because, in his time, the thought of a painting simply about nature would have seemed ludicrous to the art world. Not to Claude; he knew he was painting landscapes even if his patrons did not. And thus, with him, quietly began the landscape genre which wended its way through England (Constable, Turner), France (Millet and the Barbizon School painters, the Impressionists), America (The Hudson River School, Homer), the Dutch of course and to the many other important landscape painters that followed Claude.
Imaginary View of Delphi with Procession Enchanted Castle Seaport at Sunset
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Landscapes: Back to the Masters, Pt. II -- Day 3/3
Walk: Mindful Body
Distance: 10 blocks and teach yoga class
Continuing from Day 2/365...Poussin and Lorrain (or Claude, the name by which he signed his artworks) are both pioneers (in Claude's case, one would virtually say, 'inventor) of the idealized landscape painting style. Friends who spent many days walking through through the Italian countryside observing and sketching, their works can appear similar - particularly in Claude's mature years when he, like Poussin, employed strong classical elements such as ancient ruins and figures in antique togas. Ciwt at least was a little vague on their differences at first, so in case you are like her - or just interested, here are a few things to know.
Landscape with Polyphemus, 1648, o/c, 59.1"x 78.3" (Hermitage)
Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion, Collected by His Widow, 1648,
Poussin was first and foremost a rationalist who obsessively planned every aspect of his style from line to appropriate color. The amount of thinking and theory that informs Poussin's paintings is truly impressive.. Often using ancient and philosophy as his inspiration, he felt the only subjects worthy of being painted were grand, epic stories from ancient mythology and early Christianity. Even in his landscapes; though they are beautiful and carefully executed, nature is secondary to the story of the painting which takes place in the foreground and commands the most attention. The landscape itself is 'rational,' working its way back in the painting/away from the story in receding horizontal tiers.
Interestingly it is Poussin's classical balance and stability as well as his emphases on harmonic geometric forms that attracted and greatly influenced Cezanne centuries later. And, through Cezanne, Poussin would also have an indirect impact on later artists like Picasso, who claimed Cezanne as his artistic father.
Tomorrow his friend and fellow landscape pioneer, Claude Lorrain....
Distance: 10 blocks and teach yoga class
Continuing from Day 2/365...Poussin and Lorrain (or Claude, the name by which he signed his artworks) are both pioneers (in Claude's case, one would virtually say, 'inventor) of the idealized landscape painting style. Friends who spent many days walking through through the Italian countryside observing and sketching, their works can appear similar - particularly in Claude's mature years when he, like Poussin, employed strong classical elements such as ancient ruins and figures in antique togas. Ciwt at least was a little vague on their differences at first, so in case you are like her - or just interested, here are a few things to know.
Nicolas Poussin (Fr. 1594-1665)
Landscape with Polyphemus, 1648, o/c, 59.1"x 78.3" (Hermitage)
Landscape with St.Matthew and the Angel, ca 1645, 49"x 59.1"
Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion, Collected by His Widow, 1648,
Poussin was first and foremost a rationalist who obsessively planned every aspect of his style from line to appropriate color. The amount of thinking and theory that informs Poussin's paintings is truly impressive.. Often using ancient and philosophy as his inspiration, he felt the only subjects worthy of being painted were grand, epic stories from ancient mythology and early Christianity. Even in his landscapes; though they are beautiful and carefully executed, nature is secondary to the story of the painting which takes place in the foreground and commands the most attention. The landscape itself is 'rational,' working its way back in the painting/away from the story in receding horizontal tiers.
Interestingly it is Poussin's classical balance and stability as well as his emphases on harmonic geometric forms that attracted and greatly influenced Cezanne centuries later. And, through Cezanne, Poussin would also have an indirect impact on later artists like Picasso, who claimed Cezanne as his artistic father.
Tomorrow his friend and fellow landscape pioneer, Claude Lorrain....
Monday, January 13, 2014
Fewer Obstacles for 2014 --- Day 3/2
Walk: Town School Consignment, Friends of the Library, Apple, Best Buy
Distance: 5+ miles and lots of heavy lifting
Remember these books from Day 2/364?
They went to the staging place during yesterday's 49ers game. (Yay team!)
And today they're all donated for the next readers to enjoy.
Giving 2014 energy clearer passage.....
Distance: 5+ miles and lots of heavy lifting
Remember these books from Day 2/364?
They went to the staging place during yesterday's 49ers game. (Yay team!)
And today they're all donated for the next readers to enjoy.
Giving 2014 energy clearer passage.....
Sunday, January 12, 2014
CIWT Year Three Begins!! --- Day 3/1
Walk: No
Distance: 0 but lots of book moving and small home yoga practice
Wow! What a gift to have a place where writing doesn't start with a Capital W and Ciwt can be herself out loud.
Many thanks to Andrea and Rich for nudging me until CIWT came into being and to those who have made comments or read silently.
Back to more of the same tomorrow....
Distance: 0 but lots of book moving and small home yoga practice
Wow! What a gift to have a place where writing doesn't start with a Capital W and Ciwt can be herself out loud.
Many thanks to Andrea and Rich for nudging me until CIWT came into being and to those who have made comments or read silently.
Back to more of the same tomorrow....
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Landscapes: Back to the Masters --- Day 2/365 (Year 2, That's a Wrap)
Walk: Legion of Honor
Distance: 1 mile
Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain were contemporaries and close friends and both perfected the relatively new genre of idealized landscape. Can you tell one's art from the other? What differences do you see?
NICOLAS POUSSIN (French, 1594-1665)
Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Calm, 1651, o/c
Distance: 1 mile
Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain were contemporaries and close friends and both perfected the relatively new genre of idealized landscape. Can you tell one's art from the other? What differences do you see?
NICOLAS POUSSIN (French, 1594-1665)
Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Calm, 1651, o/c
Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with Diogenes, ca 1647, o/c
Nicolas Poussin, Landscape with a Man Killed by a Snake, ca 1648, o/c
CLAUDE LORRAIN (born Claude Gellee, signed art 'Claude', French, ca 1605 - 1682)
Claude Lorrain, Pastoral Landscape, 1644, o/c
Claude Lorrain, Pastoral Landscape, ca 1648, o/c
Claude Lorrain, Landscape with Shepherd, ca 1657, o/c
Seems fitting to honor the past on this last day of CIWT, Year 2. To be continued tomorrow in CIWT YEAR THREE.......
Friday, January 10, 2014
Tome After Tome --- Day 2/364
Walk: Sundance Kabuki (Her), Trader Joe's
Distance: 3 miles and home yoga
Seems like just yesterday these books, mags, notebooks and ipad were all orderly...
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Ancient Musings --- Day 2/363
Walk: Legion of Honor
Distance: 9 blocks is all and small home yoga practice
In the air and oft mentioned at today's lecture on Ancient Art (focus: the collection of the Legion of Honor) was the supposed 'full circle" from ancient forms to the modern art particularly of Brancusi, Modigliani, Moore and other sculptors of simplified forms. This is a notion that confuses Ciwt. Not the visuals. Certainly the abstract, elemental qualities are present in these art creations separated by thousands of years. And certainly the best of them, ancient and modern, are emotionally stirring in their capturing of form and spirit.
But what seems facile when Ciwt encounters this notion is the suggestion that the ancient creators were superior all along, and finally the Western modern artists came to the understanding of their primal genius. When she hears this ever so easy connection between the ancient and the new she immediately thinks a couple of things.
One is that, if she were given a chunk of marble and a very primitive tool and told to produce a likeness of her cat, it would most likely be very, very pared down, abstract. But most importantly she thinks about how much development there has been in mind, (art) understanding, tools and techniques, well, realistically, Everything in, let's say, six millenniums/6,000 years. Brancusi, for instance, was a man of wide ranging talents from science to poetry, song, violin playing. His friends included the Parisian avant-garde as well as artists and intellectuals from his native country, Romania. Brilliant, educated, a man who had carved a working violin from scrap wood at age 18, and fashioned his own phonograph, utensils, tools, he chose to seek essence in his sculptural work. So did Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Arp, so many more. And, to Ciwt, this matter of modern consciousness and choice makes all the difference between the ancient fisherman/artisan and the modern artist. That they all arrived at the same formal point goes to the essence of line and form.
Head from a figure of a woman, Spedos type, Early Cycladic (2700-2300 BC), Keros type, marble
Constantin Brancusi, La Negresse Blonde, 1926, marble with bronze
Above: Atelier Brancusi, Paris Below: Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
Distance: 9 blocks is all and small home yoga practice
In the air and oft mentioned at today's lecture on Ancient Art (focus: the collection of the Legion of Honor) was the supposed 'full circle" from ancient forms to the modern art particularly of Brancusi, Modigliani, Moore and other sculptors of simplified forms. This is a notion that confuses Ciwt. Not the visuals. Certainly the abstract, elemental qualities are present in these art creations separated by thousands of years. And certainly the best of them, ancient and modern, are emotionally stirring in their capturing of form and spirit.
But what seems facile when Ciwt encounters this notion is the suggestion that the ancient creators were superior all along, and finally the Western modern artists came to the understanding of their primal genius. When she hears this ever so easy connection between the ancient and the new she immediately thinks a couple of things.
One is that, if she were given a chunk of marble and a very primitive tool and told to produce a likeness of her cat, it would most likely be very, very pared down, abstract. But most importantly she thinks about how much development there has been in mind, (art) understanding, tools and techniques, well, realistically, Everything in, let's say, six millenniums/6,000 years. Brancusi, for instance, was a man of wide ranging talents from science to poetry, song, violin playing. His friends included the Parisian avant-garde as well as artists and intellectuals from his native country, Romania. Brilliant, educated, a man who had carved a working violin from scrap wood at age 18, and fashioned his own phonograph, utensils, tools, he chose to seek essence in his sculptural work. So did Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Arp, so many more. And, to Ciwt, this matter of modern consciousness and choice makes all the difference between the ancient fisherman/artisan and the modern artist. That they all arrived at the same formal point goes to the essence of line and form.
Head from a figure of a woman, Spedos type, Early Cycladic (2700-2300 BC), Keros type, marble
Constantin Brancusi, La Negresse Blonde, 1926, marble with bronze
Above: Atelier Brancusi, Paris Below: Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
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