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.

Georges Braque in His Studio

Georges Braque

The Intimate Sketchbooks of Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Georges Braque

Pablo Picasso Linocut Prints: Always an Inspiration to Me

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso

Saul Steinberg: The Master Cartoonist/Modern Artist

There's a very fine line between cartoons and Modern Art -- Saul Steinberg has erased this line...

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

Saul Steinberg

The Influence of our Clarence Steele Painting

I grew up with this painting of a chicken coop by Clarence Steele. Dad liked it and bought it at an art show in the 1950s, which really impresses me, because of its pronounced Cubist qualities. 

When the watercolorist Edmond J. Fitzgerald visited the house, he took one look at the canvas and boldly declared, "This artist studied with Mark Tobey." He was exactly right, which isn't surprising because Fitz himself had studied with Tobey. 

I've always loved this painting. When the heat was on during my final semester in Graduate school at SMU, I decided to narrow- focus on black and white paintings of the bird cages at the Dallas Zoo for my qualifying thesis show. 

I was intrigued with exploring the idea of playing with the spatial tension of the outline volume of the cage bars and the high-contrast patterns of cast shadows and bird shapes (2-D pattern vs. 3-D depth). It created an "ambiguous gestalt" where the image would emerge out an flat abstract pattern to a recognizable picture space, especially when viewed from a distance. Only later did I realize that this was sort of a subconscious variation on the Cubist painting I'd grown up with.

Clarence Steele

Don Mangus

The Precisionist: Charles Sheeler's Photographs

From yee Wiki: 

Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) was an American painter and commercial photographer. He is recognized as one of the founders of American modernism and one of the master photographers of the 20th century.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he attended the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art, now the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), from 1900 to 1903, and then the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied under William Merritt Chase. He found early success as a painter and exhibited at the Macbeth Gallery in 1908. 

In 1909, he went to Paris, just when the popularity of Cubism was skyrocketing. Returning to the United States, he realized that he would not be able to make a living with Modernist painting. Instead, he took up commercial photography, focusing particularly on architectural subjects. He was a self-taught photographer, learning his trade on a five dollar Brownie.

Sheeler owned a farmhouse in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, about 39 miles outside Philadelphia. He shared it with his longtime friend the artist Morton Schamberg (1881-1918), who died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. He was so fond of the home's 19th century stove that he called it his "companion" and made it a subject of his photographs. The farmhouse serves a prominent role in many of his photographs, including shots of the bedroom and kitchen and stairway. At one point he was quoted as calling it "my cloister."

Sheeler painted using a technique that complemented his photography. He was a self-proclaimed Precisionist, a term that emphasized the linear precision he employed in his depictions. As in his photographic works, his subjects were generally material things such as machinery and structures. He was hired by the Ford Motor Co. to photograph and make paintings of their factories.

A. M. Cassandre Cubist/Surrealist Designer

From yee Wiki:

A. M. Cassandre was the pseudonym of Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron (1901-1968), the Ukrainian-French painter, commercial poster artist, and typeface designer.

He was born Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to French parents. As a young man, Cassandre moved to Paris, where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie Julian. The popularity of posters as advertising afforded him an opportunity to work for a Parisian printing house. Inspired by Cubism as well as Surrealism, he earned a reputation with works such as Bûcheron (Woodcutter), a poster created for a cabinetmaker that won first prize at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.

Cassandre became successful enough that with the help of partners he was able to set up his own advertising agency called Alliance Graphique, serving a wide variety of clients during the 1930s. He is perhaps best known for his posters advertising travel, for clients such as the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits.

His creations for the Dubonnet wine company were among the first posters designed in a manner that allowed them to be seen by occupants in moving vehicles. His posters are memorable for their innovative graphic solutions and their frequent denotations to such painters as Max Ernst and Pablo Picasso. In addition, he taught graphic design at the École des Arts Décoratifs and then at the École d'Art Graphique.

With typography an important part of poster design, the company created several new typeface styles. Cassandre developed Bifur in 1929, the sans serif Acier Noir in 1935, and in 1937 an all-purpose font called Peignot. In 1936, his works were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City which led to commissions from Harper's Bazaar to do cover designs.

With the onset of World War II, Cassandre served in the French army until the fall of France. His business long gone, he survived by creating stage sets and costumes for the theatre, something he had dabbled in during the 1930s. After the war, he continued this line of work while also returning to easel painting. In 1963, he designed the well-known Yves Saint Laurent logo.

In his later years, Cassandre suffered from bouts of depression prior to his suicide in Paris in 1968.

In 1985, Cassandre's son told his father's life story in a book titled A. M. Cassandre. The book, published in English by Rizzoli, is currently out of print.

Georges Braque Prints