Showing posts with label action painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label action painting. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Retrospection: Clarence H. Steele, Mark Tobey, and Me

Clarence Steele and Don Mangus



Clarence Steele




Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Mark Tobey



Don Mangus




Mark Tobey



One of the paintings I grew up with was this stylized scene of a rooster and chickens behind wire, painted by Clarence H. Steele (1910-1988). It was much more "Cubistic" in approach than most of the landscapes painted by the other artists that dad knew. 

Later in life, curious, I asked dad how he came to own the Steele. He answered simply, "I saw it at an art show, liked it, and bought in on the spot."

Once dad was giving our family friend, noted watercolor painting legend Edmond "Jim" Fitzgerald a tour of his collection hanging on the walls. and when Jim saw the large canvas, he immediately piped up -- "This artist has studied with Mark Tobey." Jim was absolutely correct.





Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Franz Kline: The Vital Gesture

Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline



Franz Kline began his career as a figurative painter, but in the late 1940s, he used a projector to enlarge one of his drawings of furniture onto the wall. Kline was intrigued by the resulting abstraction: “A four by five-inch black drawing of a rocking chair -- loomed in gigantic black strokes which eradicated any image, the strokes expanding as entities in themselves, unrelated to any entity but that of their own existence.” 

From this moment on, Kline would dedicate himself to creating large-scale, black-on-white abstract works. “I paint the white as well as the black,” he once said, “and the white is just as important.
The dynamic curves and slashes of his works may seem totally spontaneous, but many of his so-called action paintings, were carefully reproduced from preliminary studies. Many of Kline’s works, though non-representational, seem to suggest through their titles and through the stark, pulsing compositions the bridges, railroad tracks, and machinery of America. Kline’s material of choice -- inexpensive, low-viscosity house paints -- also points to the artist’s interest in industry and consumerism.






Thursday, January 26, 2017