Art and Spirituality

My spiritual life has a great impact on my creative life, and vice versa. Recently I’ve been revolving around a couple of aspects of this relationship between the spiritual and the artistic. As a child growing up in a conservative Christian denomination, I was never discouraged from drawing or painting. Still, the church environment itself was always very sterile. No fancy windows, no pictures on the walls, sometimes not even a cross at the front.

As an adult artist still participating in the church, there are strange dichotomies within the Protestant church that still affect me. On one hand, my beliefs provide inspiration. Biblical literature is full of the struggle and the sublime. The stories often have miraculous components and use descriptive words that paint vivid pictures for our imaginations to run with. The Jewish tabernacle, for instance, is described in great detail. Every kind of precious metal, rare stone and fine wood and textile was used. This was a place built to remind people of God’s glory and authority. Every last detail was important.

On the other hand, the history of the Protestant church and where it has led us today, especially in the United States, causes me to struggle. Image has become idol. The influence of Puritanism is still strong even today. Church walls are blank. Buildings are utilitarian. Why are we not responding creatively in our spiritual lives if we think we were made in the image of the Creator? This absence of creativity has crossed over into other areas as well. King David wrote most of the book of Psalms, a collection of poems and songs 150 chapters long. Where are our poems? What kinds of songs are we writing?

I want to push against both sides of this, to chase the sublime, supernatural beauty while also critiquing this attitude of fear. There is a paradox here of the beautiful and the ridiculous and I keep going back and forth, pulling things out and putting them under my microscope.

(Featured image is “Sublime” by E.J. Cobb.)

Why That Famous Stuff Is Famous Part 3: Vincent van Gogh

If you’re a normal human being, you’ve been waiting to see if I would write one of these “famous” posts on Vincent van Gogh. Because everyone likes Vincent van Gogh. If you’ve ever been to a museum you like Vincent van Gogh. If you’ve seen that episode of Doctor Who (Yeah, you know what I’m talking about… THAT episode.) you like Vincent van Gogh. Some of you may have had a poster of “Starry Night” hanging in your dorm room. (I myself had it on a mouse pad). Even the jaded Art student that publicly claims that there’s nothing special about him… even they like van Gogh.

In my case, Vincent van Gogh was my first Art love. I still have a special place in my heart for him. In high school I wrote a 12 page research paper on him. In high school, I saw my first van Gogh painting in person at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In college, I had the amazing privilege to travel to Paris, visit the Musee d’Orsay, and walk into an entire room full of van Gogh paintings. To this day he remains both familiar and mysterious to me.

So, the basics. Vincent van Gogh was Dutch. He wanted to be a pastor, but as it happened he was very bad at it, so he became an artist instead. (A perfectly valid and logical next step, in my opinion.) He moved to France, because that was where all the Art was happening. He made some artist friends. He got into the bohemian scene and drank absinthe. He made about 2,000 paintings, drawings and sketches in a decade or so. And then he died.

During his life, his artwork was only known to a select few. His brother Theo supported him financially, but never sold any of Vincent’s paintings. In his last two years, Vincent did start to exhibit his work, getting some positive recognition in places like Paris and Brussels. Despite the notice people took, he still only sold one painting during his life. Eventually, his mental and emotional troubles started catching up with him. His brother was having difficulties with his job and he himself was depressed. On July 27, 1890, Vincent van Gogh arrived home with a bullet wound to the stomach. On July 29 he died.

(It has been commonly accepted that Vincent van Gogh committed suicide by shooting himself in the stomach while out for a walk. In recent years, a new argument has been made that he did not kill himself, but was shot by some young boys in town by accident. There is convincing evidence for both theories. If you’re curious, I would suggest doing a little research to help you come to your own conclusions.)

When Vincent van Gogh died, his brother Theo inherited all of his work. Vincent’s paintings were getting more notice, and several memorial exhibitions of his work were being displayed. Unfortunately, Theo was never able to fully enjoy this inheritance. Six months after Vincent’s death, Theo van Gogh died. (One doctor said he died of sadness.) Theo’s widow Jo was able to sell all of Vincent’s accumulated work which is now spread all over the world in museums and private collections.

So there you have it. Van Gogh is famous because he died. Ok, not just that though. Truth be told, his paintings express much more than just paint and color. There is depth and emotion conveyed through every single one, but especially in his portraits. The one I’ve shown here is one of my favorites and is on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. The fact that his first exhibitions captured the attention of critics is a sign that his work was appreciated before his death. I think he still would have been known if he had lived a full and uneventful life, but because of his well-known mental struggles and very sudden death, he drew the attention of the world and became everyone’s favorite artist.

(Self-Portrait by Vincent van Gogh, 1887)

Why That Famous Stuff Is Famous Part 2: Impressionism

French Impressionist Art is incredibly popular. Most people would recognize it the minute they walked into a gallery or a museum. The problem I’m going to have here is that while it is popular, it is also very diverse. Hopefully though, I can provide a basic idea of what it was, why it was so influential and why it continues to be a huge favorite.

In France in the 1870s, there was one right way to make Art and one right place to exhibit. The subject matter was limited and there were many many rules. There was a proper and traditional way to portray a nude or a story from mythology and a proper technical method in carrying it all out. In the end, if you made a piece of Art and you wanted to show it, you had to submit it to the government (aka Napoleon) sponsored Salons and hope it didn’t get rejected.

In 1874, a group of people, fed up with the regulations and rejection, rented out a hall and displayed their work themselves. This was the beginning of the Impressionists.

Impressionism is all about the eye and the way light and color interact with it. A true Impressionist artist painted outside often, focused on landscapes, light and color, and never used black paint. Impressionist paintings also usually don’t have much deep meaning because it places the highest importance on the beauty of it.  However, there is so much diversity within the movement that these rules were sometimes broken.

French Impressionism produced several important artists, each making their own individual mark. The most recognizable of them all was Claude Monet.

Monet was probably the most true to the artistic ideals of Impressionism. After all, the term “Impressionists” was coined from the title of one of his paintings. (The painting I’ve chosen for this post.) By focusing on the interaction of light and color, Monet’s work is what really ended up defining the style most associated with this movement. He never used black, he painted en plain air (which just means outside) and he focused on landscape and scenery rather than people. Thanks to the recent invention of paint in tubes, it was easy for the Impressionists to get outside and paint from life, and Monet took full advantage. He often painted multiple versions of the same scene at different times of day or different times of the year to show the changes in lighting.

Édouard Manet, on the other hand, broke all the rules of Impressionism. His paintings focused primarily on people. His work used black paint heavily. His subject matter was mostly religious or made strong social statements. Despite the fact that Manet’s style leaned toward realism, it had a gestural quality to it. (By gestural, I mean it almost looks like a sketch, kinda scribbly.) Most people at the Salons would have probably considered his work unfinished. In his more socially charged work, he confronted the viewer with the steady unashamed gazes of confident looking women rather than the demure modesty that was more traditionally displayed. To us, Manet’s work doesn’t seem like it would be a big deal, but at that time these paintings were positively offensive. Still, despite the differences Manet exhibited with the Impressionists several times, and even started painting more outdoors after getting some encouragement from his sister-in-law and fellow Impressionist Berthe Morisot.

So why it’s famous… in my opinion, it’s a little bit about subversive rebellion and a lot about looks. No matter what the style, this stuff is just downright nice to look at. These artists made a point of using pleasing color combinations and the strategic use of light. It was all about beauty, and that’s exactly why it’s famous.

(Image is “Impression, Soleil Levant”, painted by Claude Monet in 1872)

Why That Famous Stuff Is Famous Part 1: The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is the most well known piece of Art in the world. Many people that have had the chance to see it in person find themselves wondering what all the fuss is about. Usually when I ask what they thought their reply goes something like “It was a lot smaller than I thought…” followed by various grumblings about the cost of the Louvre, the many many tourists blocking their view and their opinion that her smile isn’t really that mysterious at all.

So let’s start with the basic stats. The Mona Lisa is 30.25 inches tall and 21 inches wide. It’s painted with oil paint on a wood panel (poplar, if that kind of thing interests you). It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1506. In other words, IT’S REALLY OLD. It is on display at the Louvre in Paris in a humidity controlled case to prevent warping and behind bullet proof glass, National Treasure style.

But wait, there’s more! Part of the reason this painting is so famous (despite it’s small size) is because it was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. Even during his lifetime da Vinci was a famous artist and these days you’d be hard pressed to find someone that hasn’t heard of him. (Thank you Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) Not only that, but this painting was basically the first of its kind a lot of ways. It’s a portrait that shows more than half of her body, not just her head and shoulders. The background was not set in a studio, but instead is made up of a wild and hazy imaginary landscape. Da Vinci also developed something new in this painting which is called sfumato. This is a fancy Italian word arty people use to say it makes things blend, making her face look more realistic and the background look kinda far away. As far as innovation, this small portrait was kind of a big deal.

But much more mysterious and interesting than all of that is not knowing who in the world she actually was. The most common belief is that she was Lisa Gherardini (some rich merchant’s wife), but there is no definitive proof. The painting itself doesn’t give many clues either. She’s not wearing any jewelry or holding anything that might indicate her social status. What’s more, whoever commissioned this painting never got it. Da Vinci kept it himself until he died.

Those are some things that made it well known, but what could have made it FAMOUS? The answer is simple. Scandal. In 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre. The museum shut down for an entire week in an attempt to investigate, plastering pictures of the painting all over Paris. Having no luck, the museum reopened only to find that scads of people were lining up to see the empty space on the wall. Two years later, the painting turned back up when the thief, a former museum employee (who had simply walked out with the Mona Lisa under his coat after closing time) tried to sell the painting to a gallery in Italy. By that point, the Mona Lisa had become an icon, the veritable poster child for Art itself. Other artists like Dali and Warhol have even used the image over and over for their own purposes.

So the moral of this story is, if you’re an artist and you want to get famous… like REALLY famous… get yourself a show and then get some disgruntled employee to steal your work for a year or two. Hopefully by the time it turns back up, people will be so familiar with it that the rest will just fall into place.

“Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, from C2RMF retouched” by Leonardo da Vinci. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Mona_Lisa,_by_Leonardo_da_Vinci,_from_C2RMF_retouched.jpg