BALTHUS
Paintings should be seen and not read about, so believed Balthus. He rejected many conventions of the art world throughout his career and only towards the very end of his long life did he begin to talk about his work in any traditional way. Yet Balthus’ work was talked about by others, both in adoration and controversy. Depicting the physical and psychological struggles of adolescence, Balthus paintings of young people are erotically charged, yet never explicit. The narrative scenes are disquieting and uncomfortable as he casts the viewer as a voyeur, yet in a classical, figurative style they are dreamlike and technically beautiful works. A loner and outsider, Balthus’ own reluctance to discuss his work increased their mythology and infamy. When the artist stays quiet, it is us who must consider the work most deeply.
BRAQUE
Under the strong light of Southern France, Georges Braque started a brief and important affair with Fauvism. He joined the movement late and left early, the whole relationship lasting less than a year and few works resulting from it. Within a year of this work, together with Picasso, Braque would lay the foundations of Cubism, bring sharp geometry and simultaneous perspective to a more subdued colour palette, but it was his time in southern France as temporary Fauvist that allowed this revolution to happen. Braque painted most of his Fauvist works in the fishing villages of La Ciotat and l’Estaque, favourites of Paul Cézanne. Under the shadow of Cézanne’s legacy, Braque drew the ordinary ahead of him and imbued it with magic. Cubism was, for Braque, purely an extension of the ideas Cézanne had started a half-century before, and Braque’s affair with Fauvism was, more than anything, an affair with the spirit of Cézanne who guided him to stranger, more powerful things.
VAN GOGH
The irises want to escape. Escape the porcelain jug that has become their vase and escape the confines of the small canvas they live on. Painted in the final days of Van Gogh’s stay at the Saint-Rèmy asylum, it was the last of four paintings of irises Van Gogh created in his life. Two were painted during his time in the asylum and two in the year immediately before. The differences between these works are staggering. The former pair depict irises in the wild, the natural background energetic and free as the flowers rise from the earth in freedom. The latter pair are confined, placed on tables against flat backgrounds, longing to be wild but starting to wilt. Van Gogh was an iris, a wild-flower, who found rare beauty in nature, and saw the beauty of wilderness in his confinement.
1hr 32m
5.8.24
In this clip, Rick speaks with actor Chris Pine about reaching a flow state in art.
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Ale Nodarse May 7, 2024
Children’s drawings abound. They have few dates and fewer titles, but nonetheless they pile up. Assembled on fridges or tucked away in shoeboxes, they belong to a world of their own. It’s a world they, with few inhibitions, create –– and a world which is fragile. If such drawings survive, it’s most often because they have been saved by someone else. In other words, if drawings from your childhood survive, then you most likely have someone to thank…
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Choral Music
Was the human voice the very first musical instrument? I don’t know, but I expect it will end up as the very last one. In the meantime, the choral pieces people have been producing amount to one of music’s most underexplored traditions.
Wednesday 8th May 2024
Today, the moon transitions from the constellation of Aries to Taurus, shifting from the influences of a fire sign to those of an earth sign. On a clear night, in a place with minimal light pollution, we can witness the moon as it journeys through the fixed stars of the zodiac. This lunar passage is known as the sidereal rhythm, a significant observation for biodynamic agriculture. Easier to discern is the synodic rhythm of the moon, which also holds implications for agriculture and nature. This rhythm governs the phases of the moon; today marks the new moon, signifying a favorable time for new beginnings.