The Hidden Beauty of Cubism

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: “Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.”

GEORGES BRAQUE

Still Life with Fruit Dish, Bottle and Mandolin, 1930.

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf.

© 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

Courtesy of The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

 However, there are many forms and styles of accepted ‘art’ which do not conform to conventional definitions of beauty. Take Cubism as an example. Many art enthusiasts, whilst acknowledging that the likes of Pablo Picasso and George Braque are masters of their craft, are confounded by Cubism. Abstract art may have this effect in the general sense, but there is something about Cubism which perplexes and befuddles the viewer.

Lovers of art for the sake of loving beauty were suddenly forced to confront a form of art which possessed a mathematical, geometrical, and almost dispassionately considered beauty. Arguments may be made that dispassion is not beautiful, or pleasing to the eye, and many critics and artists alike rejected this movement when it was first brought to public attention in the early 20th century.

Analysis as a form of art may be too academic for the most vocal critics of Cubism, but the process of identifying the key characteristics of a subject, breaking them down, and fitting them back together in an abstract sense is not without purpose. In a Cubist painting, the viewer is given a series of perspectives combined in one image, and the significance of the subject grows in consequence. This can be considered beauty in and of itself.

If the purpose of art is to inspire, and the cause of art is expression, then surely Cubism strongly deserves its place amongst the elite of the art movements. Nobody can deny that this genre provokes strong reactions from its audience – it intrigues, puzzles, raises questions, and is ripe for analysis. There is certainly no question that Picasso and Braque inspired a host of artists who followed in their wake, not only in art, but in music, dance, and literature.

PAUL STRAND

Georges Braque, Varengeville-sur-Mer, France, 1957.

Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Courtesy of The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

If you follow the Cubist path, you may find yourself at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. There, the exhibition George Braque and the Cubist Still Life, 1928-1945 will be running until the 1 September. Be sure not to miss it! And why not advance your Cubist knowledge still further with Guillaume Apollinaire and Dorothea Elimert’s Cubism?

- Fiona Torsch

Where’s The Respect?

Animals:  We keep them as pets; use them for food, clothing, and transportation; we travel thousands of miles to see them on safari; gawk at them in zoos; revere them in certain religions; abhor them and call them vermin; experiment on them for medicine and for beauty; work alongside them in certain jobs; use them therapeutically; compete them; bet on them; cage them; free them; hurt them; heal them; study them; and learn from them. They truly are deeply ingrained into our way of life, and have been since the dawn of time. 

 

Andy Warhol
Panda Bear, 1983
Acrylic paint and silkscreen on canvas, 24.9 x 19.9 cm
Bruno Bischofberger collection, Zurich

 

Our treatment of our (usually) four-legged friends, as a society, differs greatly from one country to the next. Whilst in America, dogs may be getting used to being fed from the table and being dressed up in all kinds of (some would say ridiculous) outfits, in South Africa they are regarded predominantly as guard dogs, and are kept outside. In places where animals run wild, they fight for survival, and fully own the great expanse of space which they are privy to. Outside of these far-flung lands, these same animals are locked up and fed and watered on a schedule that runs like clockwork.

Certain animals have found themselves with a celebrity status, internet memes being responsible for some (Grumpy Cat?!), whilst merely belonging to an actual celebrity works for others. Tinkerbell, for example, Paris Hilton’s prize pooch, has earned some big celebrity miles due to being constantly photographed in Ms Hilton’s handbag. Max and Bubbles are perhaps two of the more unusual celebrity animals which have been thrown into the spotlight, belonging to George Clooney and the late Michael Jackson respectively. Bubbles is the high-maintenance chimpanzee who had to be re-housed in an Ape Center in Florida due to aggressive tendencies, and Max was Mr Clooney’s beloved potbellied pig, and constant companion for over 19 years until his death (the pig’s, not Clooney’s).

 

Edouard Manet
The Cats' Rendezvous, 1868
Lithograph, 43.5 x 33.2 cm
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

 

I find it extremely strange that, as humans, we treat animals with such different attitudes. In general, I think we need to start showing animals a little more respect. Yes, certainly let us continue to use them in our daily lives, but humanely – be it as pets or in zoos. (Is dressing an animal up and spoiling it really the best thing for that animal? I don’t think so...) And above all, we must be far more respectful of the natural habitats of many of the world’s animal species. Conservation is a term which people should definitely make a little more room for in their vocabulary! On behalf of all the unsung Maxes, Bubbles, and Tinkerbells out there, I’ll give a little shout out to Aretha Franklin... all together now, R-E-S-P-E-C-T...

 

To see how animals have been treated in art, you need go no further than the Fine Arts Museum of San Diego, which is currently hosting a comprehensive exhibition of Artful Animals until the 28^th of April. Otherwise, why not check out John Bascom’s Beauty of the Beast?

The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships

It was Christopher Marlowe who coined the infamous line regarding Helen of Troy; ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’.

I have to say, I do feel sorry for Helen! Put in a position where she was, effectively, responsible for a ten-year war, loss of lives, and the sacking of a city. I ask: was it even her choice to leave Menelaus? Sure, the story goes that she and Paris fell in love and escaped Sparta and her husband by fleeing to Troy. But, really, what if this wasn’t the true story? What if she was actually in love with Menelaus, and was just kidnapped by Paris? Admittedly, if Paris looked like Orlando Bloom in Troy – and let’s face it, with a brother-in-law like Eric Bana... – fair enough, she might well have decided to go.

BUT... this is all Hollywood conjecture. Menelaus could well have been the Channing Tatum of his day, or, admittedly a character who was a little older; Brad Pitt say. Who’s to say he wasn’t? Throw in charming, persistent, influential (hey, he did win Helen’s hand over all her other suitors, right?!), and you’ve got the beginnings of a pretty good match. Additionally, he was friends with Odysseus, who strikes me as a very decent guy (anyone not familiar with The Odyssey and his ten-year journey to get back to his wife and child, you’re missing out!), now, I may be reading too much into it, but I don’t think Odysseus would have been so loyal to an undeserving man. Paris – the young and brash fellow that he was, obviously did not have that much good sense, and on top of that was selfish. Seriously, endangering your whole country for the sake of one woman (who may not actually have wanted to go with him)... that is not an attractive quality in my opinion. You see, Helen had a lot to put up with!


Leonardo da Vinci
Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), c. 1503-1506.
Oil on poplar panel, 77 x 53 cm.
Musée du Louvre, Paris.

 

But it is true, that for many of us, beauty is blinding. A beautiful face (sadly) offers a free pass to many things in life, whether it is a cancelled parking ticket, free entry to a club, or free dinner/groceries/drinks, you name it. It has happened. And will happen again. But this is shallow beauty. Once you have met beauty, invariably, you also meet the beast. A pretty exterior unfortunately often comes with an ugly interior – shallowness, vanity, selfishness. This, of course, is not always the case, and I’m sure that many people would say, very rarely the case. But think about it, a face filled with character, one which is not classically beautiful, may often be much more intriguing than that which we have been told is classically beautiful.

Michelangelo
David, 1504.
Marble, 434 cm.
Galleria dell’Academia, Florence.

Take the Mona Lisa – I’d go as far to say that she is not beautiful, but she is certainly enigmatic! She has been a mystery for centuries... who or what inspired her smile?

In a similar manner, The Laughing Cavalier also causes great speculation. Whilst Michelangelo’s David is supposed to be the bees’ knees in terms of masculine perfection, in my opinion, The Laughing Cavalier is far more interesting  - all because of the facial expression.

Helen of Troy, I fear, in all her beauty, lacked this quality of unusualness. It is for this reason (I admit, this is my own personal speculation) why she was regarded as a possession rather than a person: to be stolen away, and then fought over, like a child’s toy. Is this the future that anybody actually aspires to when they wish for beauty? The expression ‘Be careful what you wish for’ springs to mind!

 

 

To appreciate the beauty of the unusual and the enigmatic, the BP Portrait Awards exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery is the must-see exhibition of the New Year. On display until January 27^th, 2013, the very best of contemporary portraits showcase the beautiful, the tender, the surprising, and the insightful renderings of the artists’ perceptions of themselves and the people around them. Not to be missed, there is no excuse not to see this inspirational exhibit, especially as it is free of charge! However, if you really cannot make it to Edinburgh, do the next best thing, and check out 1000 Portraits of Genius, written by Victoria Charles and Klaus H. Carl. In this book you will be able to find for yourselves the quirks and the idiosyncrasies which make a face memorable or not: who will become your new Mona Lisa?