Algunas muestras de la Selección Pictórica prevista: comentario y análisis (y II)

Algunas muestras de la Selección Pictórica prevista: comentario y análisis (I)

 

MOEBIUS (Jean Giraud)

He was one of the most original, innovative, accomplished and hallucinatory artists of the last century. But he was "just" a comic cartoonist, what a pity!... Obviously, I am joking... 
    These days, when some sort of silence is needed more than ever (when, actually, silence is back... see "The Artist"), those Moebius frames, those limpid, airy and enigmatic wordless frames, should be "compulsory" for us all to look at, once in a while: just a few minutes, each and every day, to help us dream... He left us just a few days ago. May he rest in peace. 

http://www.suite101.net/news/muere-moebius-figura-clave-del-comic-a77712

http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20120310/moebius-valentia-afan-llevar-comic-fronteras-inexploradas/506419.shtml
 

GUERNICA by Picasso

I found this to be very interesting. I hope you will agree with me...

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2012/02/07/actualidad/1328647432_719593.htm

http://elpais.com/diario/2012/01/25/cultura/1327446002_850215.html
 

Tápies

Just a few days ago, one of the most significant Spanish artist of the twentieth century, Antonio Tàpies, died after a long and fruitful life. He was upset by the people who said that any child could imitate his style and draw or paint his works, which were deceptively simple and coarse, very expresive and dramatically "shapeless" (informal). He was a painter and sculptor too.

    He was born in Barcelona in 1923, where he died at the age of 88. He was still active when he passed away.

You can see him in his studio, not long ago...
 

http://elpais.com/diario/2012/02/07/cultura/1328569204_850215.html

http://elpais.com/diario/2012/02/07/cultura/1328569208_850215.html

VELÁZQUEZ / Jonathan Brown

I recommend you to read this article on Velázquez. Later on, we may compare our impressions about this reading. 

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Velazquez/has/descubierto/todo/elpepicul/20120109elpepicul_2/Tes

Retrato de Inocencio X,
el "mejor retrato de la historia"
(Galería Doria Pamphili, Roma)

Las Meninas (Museo del Prado)

ESCHER

I would like you to watch this TVE program. I think it is very interesting. There might be something familiar about it to most of you. Enjoy it!

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/la-aventura-del-saber/aventura-del-saber-escher/1245707/

Inspired by Escher

CURIOSIDAD (Los "peligros" del arte moderno)

Os aconsejo que lo leáis...

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/Timo/alto/nivel/cuspide/arte/elpepicul/20111226elpepicul_1/Tes

Elegy to the Spanish Republic (Serie, 1967), Robert Motherwell

Making senses

 

Colours, what a wonder! You get their sensations through your eyes. Colours are light; and light is made of colours. Your eyes are the entrance of the sense of sight, which is one of the five main senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Decisive as it can be, sight is not the only sense that plays a role when perceiving plastic arts. All the senses overlap, so to speak; or rather interact, when you watch a painting, a sculpture or a building. This phenomenon, when very sharp or intense, is also known as synaesthesia. 
    Actually, only a few people can perceive smells by hearing sounds (music, for instance); or colours, when they taste a biscuit... Nevertheless, we can all get a fraction of these perceptions, and it is quite normal to realize (and rather obvious) that it is not the same matter to be by a great building than looking at some photograph of it. And you can get a similar feeling when you are in front of a great painting, instead of looking at a tiny reproduction of the same piece of art. We talked about it when we saw the canvas by Pollock in your Art book... Oh, sorry!: when we saw the reproduction of a photograph of this huge piece of art, actually... 

By Balzuel

POINTILLISM / Seurat & Signac

A bit ahead of the schedule, we have learned that colours can be darkened not just by plain black, but by the respective complementary ones (which are the opposite colours on a Colour Wheel). We will be expanding on this topic pretty soon.
    Now you can see some of the most successful pointillistic pieces you and your classmates have drawn.

 

And here you can find some useful information about Seurat (here too) and Signac. Who were they?... How would you describe Pointillism?...

GIL, AGAIN

Have a look!

http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/v/20111118/cultura/arte/diseno-grafico-como-puente-20111118.html
 

VINCENT (By Gombrich & Don McLean... Anyone else?)

Self-portrait

 

El otro día tuvimos la oportunidad de leer un pasaje de una famosa obra: "La historia del arte", de Ernst Gombrich. Se trataba de su admirado resumen de la vida y obra de Vincent Van Gogh, famoso -e incluso popular- pintor holandés. Resulta irónico y triste que, alguien tan admirado hoy en día, fuese ignorado en vida por la mayoría de sus contemporáneos; con una media-sonrisa que no quiero ocultar del todo, os sugiero que ese desprecio e indiferencia, tal vez, nos compensó al resto de los mortales (ciertamente, no igual que al propio Vincent) con un arte sublime e inmortal... Aunque, ¡a qué alto precio! (me refiero a la vida de Van Gogh, arrebatada por sí mismo, no a las altas cotizaciones de sus cuadros).
    Os recuerdo que los cuestionarios que os di y las actividades que se os sugerían, deberían ser entregadas lo antes posible. Si lo habéis perdido, podéis descargar el texto AQUÍ... Del multiple-choice "quiz" ya hablamos más adelante.
    ¿Qué más?... ¡Ah, sí!: quisiera que escucháseis una hermosa canción, bastante famosa también. Se trata de "Vincent", de Don McLean. Puede que os suene aun más otra canción de este autor: "American Pie". Sí, ya sé que sois bastante jóvenes aún, pero no pierdo la esperanza de tener algún melómano entre vosotr@s... ¿Y a qué viene todo esto?: pues os hago escuchar la canción, en primer lugar, para que disfrutéis de ella; y, sobre todo, para que leáis su letra y me la traduzcáis... Enjoy it!

 

¡Lo siento, os rescato del estado de ensoñación!... Esto no ha acabado aún, pues tengo otro encarguito: quiero que averigüéis qué directores de cine han explotado el tema de Van Gogh (o, simplemente, "Vincent"). Al menos se me ocurren tres americanos (uno de ellos está vivo, aunque le obsesionen los muertos, las "novias cadavéricas" y demás "zumos de escarabajo") y también uno francés... Os propongo algún enlace, para empezar:

- http://www.allrovi.com/movies?r=allmovie

- http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/
- http://www.imdb.com/

(NOTA: Cuando hayáis terminado con las indagaciones cinéfilas, os propongo que os conectéis a esta sencilla prueba. Tened en cuenta que sólo dispondréis de cinco minutos)

Bien, lo prometido es deuda: ahora echad un vistazo a esto... ¿Os resulta familiar?... ¡No dejéis de responder! Cheerio!
 

Unfinished HERGÉ

Remember something: what you see now are parts of Hergé´s last project, which remained unfinished (Hergé died at the age of 75, in 1983). It is very interesting to realize that the first sketches are so simple, almost as if an "amateurish" cartoonist was at work. Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that first steps must be as simple as possible: fast and clear. Little by little, the pages (both drawings and texts) evolve and become recognizable pieces of art. 
    Consequently, try to draw some conclusions and a few important lessons: work in stages, without thinking that you will get the definitive "artwork" immediately; share your work with your team; try to specialize. 
    Good luck!

Designing a character