Solitude in the City - Texas Christian University
32
Solitude in the City SELECTED WORKS ON PAPER FROM THE TCU PERMANENT COLLECTION Curated by Emily Dorward Jennifer Earthman Elizabeth Theban Jennifer Yuhas
Transcript of Solitude in the City - Texas Christian University
Solitude in the City SELECTED WORKS ON PAPER FROM THE TCU PERMANENT COLLECTION
Curated by Emily Dorward Jennifer Earthman Elizabeth Theban Jennifer Yuhas
1
In conjunction with the exhibition Solitude in the City, On show at Texas Christian University’s Moudy Gallery
January 17, 2019 through February 7, 2019
Created as a part of the Art Museum Seminar Taught by Professor Babette Bohn
Art History Masters Program Texas Christian University
Fall 2018
With special thanks to: Sara-Jayne Parsons
Lynné Bowman Cravens Stefanie Ball
Rachel Livedalen Ashley Stecenko Chris Wickers Zeke Williams
Cover illustration, center image: Noel Mahaffey (American, b. 1944) Night Times Square, 1981 (cat. No. 12)
Background image: Ching-Jang Yao (Taiwanese, 1941-2001), Building Reflection, 1981 (detail, cat. No. 13)
Cover Design: Jennifer Yuhas Formatting: Emily Dorward
2
The prints in this exhibition represent solitude in the modern city. Compositional conventions like the shadowed arch and doorway, the crowds across the street unaware of our gaze, and views from outside and above the city recur across styles and cultures. While varying in size and technique, the works in the show are all prints from the last century, representing the nature of urban life through a range of perspectives. Colorful, large-scale silkscreen prints by some of the biggest names in Photorealism, intimate WWII-era etchings of Europe’s architectural magnificence, and crisp Japanese woodblock prints from an ancient culture finding its way into modernity are all part of the exhibition. These prints span eras and cultures, techniques, color, and scale, but all deal with the common solitude of the human condition. Solitude in the City is our own version of modern-day cosmopolitan liminality, where we hope solitary contemplation will broaden cultural perspectives while enhancing self-knowledge. A renaissance of Japanese prints occurred in the twentieth century, in which printmakers were inspired by the ukiyo-e prints of Japan’s past. Ukiyo-e prints had defined printmaking during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and are characterized by flatness, bright colors, and images of courtesans, actors, and other elements of Japanese life in the pleasure quarters.1 Twentieth-century Japanese printmakers modernized and deviated from traditional ukiyo-e as a result of the cross-cultural exchange between East and West.2 Reacting to European fascination with ukiyo-e prints alongside an interest in the perspective and sophistication of Western art and technique, two groups of prints emerged, both represented in this exhibition. Shin-hanga are prints created with the purposeful intention of maintaining Japanese tradition, while sosaku-hanga print artists embraced Western art and sought creative personal expression through varying techniques and subject matter.3 The two movements existed in opposition to one another in the twentieth century, but because they occurred simultaneously and were shaped by the same aesthetic, cultural, and market trends, many artists, including Tokuriki Tomikichiro, represented in this exhibition, produced both types.4 These new prints are as important in Japanese life today as the ukiyo-e were in Japan’s past but their difference arises from their cultural context: during the heyday of ukiyo-e, Japan was agricultural, feudal, and sealed from the outside world, while the Japan of today is industrialized, centralized, urbanized, and caught up in internationalism.5 These modern prints are thus a result of Eastern-Western dynamics.6 The elimination of figures in the modern prints are a significant departure from traditional ukiyo-e prints, as they primarily featured figurative subject matter. Shin-hanga and sosaku-hanga artists also began to feature abstraction as well as the new urban landscape, either with schematized suggestions of human life or no figures at all, in reaction to the modern condition. Nishiki-e, the technique used in the prints included in the exhibition, was the final stage of development for woodblock prints and used multiple colors for different blocks.7
3
Like the Japanese artists who harkened back to tradition to develop sosaku-hanga and shin-hanga, artists in the coastal United States developed a new distinctly urban style in the mid-twentieth century. The early photorealists used traditional modes of painting to create something new and altogether radical in the 1960s.8 They took the precision and realism to an illusionistic level and combined it with a photograph-based process to create Photorealism. 9 Although there was a split between east and west coast artists in subject matter, the focus remained on examining the common culture.10 They pushed boundaries regarding the nature of art and the intense nature of their illusionistic realism called into question the idea of originality and the original.11 The direct adaptation of photographs into painting and prints challenged the way the world is seen and consumed on a daily basis.12 Looking to the works featured in this exhibition, artists represent both coasts through their depictions of urban landscapes. Hilo Chen’s Rooftop Sunbather (1981) stands apart in its direct figuration and focus on an individual within the city scene. The voyeuristic nature of both the viewer and the figure brings to mind the perpetual state of being on display in a crowd while also being unseen as an individual, creating a sense of solitude in the sea of people. Solitude can be isolating or transforming to those who experience it; it is often associated with the former rather than the latter. For some, loneliness can signify a lack of connection to the people around them, especially in the city, where interconnectedness is a function of the environment. For others, separating themselves can present an opportunity for revitalization from the unavoidable hustle and bustle of the urban landscape. In Solitude in the City, one finds evidence of this contrast through the meaning of solitude in the urban scenes presented. Across cultures, time periods, and styles, solitude is a theme common to all humanity. In these prints, solitude can be situated within the settings of crowded or empty urban spaces as depicted by the Photorealists, where isolation can be experienced by individuals who remain at the margins of the masses that dominate city life. Japanese prints by Okiie Hashimoto and Tokuriki Tomikichiro demonstrate the connection with nature attainable even within the sphere of urbanity, with depictions of sand gardens and lonely bridges that connect the city with the natural world and provide a space for quiet contemplation. In addition to these examples, the prints present a variety of perspectives on city life at different hours of the day, place, and time, which prompts the viewer to consider what solitude means within those instances. Solitude in the City explores what it means to be alone in a space of habitual community and connectedness where one might yearn for companionship or reflection.
4
JE
Tokuriki Tomikichiro (Japanese, 1922–1999)
Nishiki Ohi Bridge c.1950
nishiki-e woodcut 15 x 10 inches
Tokuriki Tomikichiro was born in 1902 in Kyoto to a line of artists dating back to the Keicho era (1596-1615).13 Before studying printmaking, he studied nihonga, a traditional Japanese style of painting, and graduated from both the Kyoto Municipal School of Arts and Crafts and the Kyoto Technical School of Painting.14 While at the Municipal School of Arts and Crafts he became interested in sosaku-hanga, translating to “creative prints,” which featured Western influences. He also took a course taught by Hiratsuka, an influential printmaker at the time, who contributed to Tokuriki’s interest in shin-hanga prints,15 which were modernized prints inspired by ukiyo-e from the Edo period; ukiyo-e were part of popular culture, were mass-produced, and tended to focus on aspects of city life.16 The demarcation between sosaku-hanga and shin-hanga is not always clear, and many artists, including Tokuriki worked in both, further blurring distinctions.17 Hiratsuka encouraged self-carving and self-printing,18 an aspect of sosaku-hanga that made a great impression on Tokuriki.19 Well-known for his popular landscape prints, Tokuriki also made prints that focused on different subject matter for his own pleasure.20 While he still sold the latter, they were not as profitable as the landscapes. Nihishi Oki Bridge is an example of one of Tokuriki’s creative prints. Here, he depicts the urban landscape. The bridge functions as the centerpiece and immediately draws the eye with its rhythmic composition. Oddly, the bridge is almost empty despite the urban setting, which is perhaps a reflection of Tokuriki’s tendency to minimize and schematize figures in prints depicting the city. His depiction of a few solitary figures allows the viewer to imagine himself enjoying a quiet moment on the bridge after a hectic day, viewing the distant city from afar.
1.
5
Tokuriki Tomikichiro (Japanese, 1922–1999)
Geisha Ba, c.1950 nishiki-e woodcut
9.25 x 14 inches This print likely comes
from one of Tokuriki’s
series featuring Kyoto.
One can imagine
viewing this scene from Nihishi Oki Bridge, also included in this exhibition. The subject matter
of this print is a house of geisha, courtesans schooled in traditional Japanese arts including
music, dancing, conversation, and tea ceremony. This narrative directly references ukiyo-e prints
as they often featured courtesans and actors from the pleasure quarters of Edo. As in his other
included prints, Tokuriki again eliminates all figures, only suggesting human life through the
brightly lit windows. The flatness is also reminiscent of ukiyo-e; depth is only hinted at through
the presence of the river against the tree and building. Tokuriki emphasizes the juxtaposition of
these natural elements versus man-made ones, perhaps in order to suggest the importance of
nature in city spaces in light of the hectic pace of urbanization. From the vantage point of the
print, a viewer would likely hear music, laughter, conversation, and people eating and drinking,
thus feeling simultaneously both a part of the urban nightlife while also separate. JE
2.
6
Tokuriki Tomikichiro (Japanese, 1922–1999), Twelve Views of Kyoto: Sumiya Restaurant c.1950 nishiki-e woodcut 10 x 12.5 inches Tokuriki’s upbringing and life
in Kyoto had a great effect on
him,21 and this comes across in
the prints he made for pleasure. This print is part of Tokuriki’s self-published series Twelve
Views of Kyoto featuring urban scenes from Kyoto. Here, he depicts the entrance to Sumiya
Restaurant. It is a shin-hanga print in that it evokes the ukiyo-e stylistically as a result of the
overall flatness, lack of depth, and abrupt cropping on the edges. The red tones rhythmically
activate the composition. Tokuriki features a liminal urban area where one could step away from
the busy city streets for a brief moment of respite. Historically, stores and restaurants in Kyoto
often featured these transitional spaces at their entrances, enclosing a small garden composed of
merely stones, water, and plants as a result of Zen minimalist aesthetics.22 This historical trend
continues today: the Teramachi shopping mall, located in the streets of Kyoto, the epitome of the
contemporary world view of Japan’s emphasis on consumerism, has one shop featuring a small
garden outside of the entrance.23 This feature provides individuals with an aesthetic counterpoint
and place of respite outside of the hectic nature of the city.24 This print depicts just such a
garden-like space through its inclusion of a small pathway, lantern, decorative sculpture, trees,
and shrine. These places sustained the city individual through providing both a physical and
mental transition into an interior space. Such an area would allow the viewer to leave the busy
realm of the city and enter into a more hushed, reflective state. JE
3.
7
Tomikichiro Tokuriki
(Japanese, 1922-1999) Birch Trees, c. 1950
nishiki-e woodcut 15.5 x 21 inches
As a lifelong native of
Kyoto, and the
descendant of a
centuries-long lineage
of Kyoto artists, Tokuriki frequently made Kyoto the subject of his shin-hanga prints.25 Though
exposed to all kinds of Japanese art through his artistic upbringing, shin-hanga was where he
was able to come into his own.26
In this woodcut, Tokuriki plays upon the divide between nature and city. Nature becomes a place
of calm respite for those accustomed to the bustling city. In the modern age being in nature has
become a way to reconnect to one’s self. The vibrancy with which he renders the landscape
frames being in nature and in solitude as a kind of renewal — but we are by no means
disconnected from the city. An industrial bridge runs across the composition, connecting the two
scenes. It is precisely this connection, and the relative safety of the city, that makes nature a
benevolent respite rather than an awesome and indifferent force.
Tokuriki divided the landscape between nature and city, where we, as viewers, look from a more
pastoral vantage point onto the city. This perspective is an uncommon opportunity to see a city
outside of itself, just as we gain a better understanding of ourselves outside of the city.
ED
4.
8
Okiie Hashimoto (Japanese, 1899-1993) Garden Number 6, 1958 nishiki-e woodcut 18.375 x 22.75 inches Okiie was born in 1899 in the
Tottori prefecture of Japan.27
He studied art education at
the Tokyo School of Fine
Arts and graduated in 1925.28 He was educated in almost every field of art, including oil
painting, Japanese-style painting, sculpture, applied design, etching and lithography, crafts,
calligraphy, art history, and teaching methods.29 Like Tokuriki, Okiie also studied hanga under
Hiratsuka, which had a significant influence on his choice of subject matter as well as
technique.30 He work is predominantly illustrative of a revitalization of Japanese tradition in
representational art and thus is primarily in line with shin-hanga 31. He is best known for his
simplified structures and patterns in large prints of castles and gardens.32
Tellingly, these traditional Zen gardens took on an increasing rule in urban life as consumerism
increased.33 While the streets might seem rather bleak aesthetically, spaces like this served to
break up urban areas and provide a quiet space of respite for visitors.34 While this space might
not have been in front of a commercial establishment, these gardens were designed to engender a
state of meditation and reflection as result of Zen Buddhist and Shinto thought. Gardens were
viewed as thresholds of subtle and often sublime experience, and thus, whether in front of a store
or in the midst of a city, provided viewers with a sense of respite and spiritual peace.
JE
5.
9
Okiie Hashimoto
(Japanese, 1899-1993) Silver Pavilion, 1958
nishiki-e woodcut 23.5 x 18 inches
Okiie again draws from his oft-depicted
gardens and ruins, here depicting Ginkaku-
ji, or the “Temple of the Silver Pavilion.”
Okiie’s woodblock prints convey the time-
honored construction of the temple in a
period known for a return to the traditional.
The historic nature of his subject matter
speaks to the Kyoto artists’ general view of
art as a method to archive their culture and traditions.35
The Muromachi period Pavilion is in Okiie’s hometown Kyoto, Japan, on the outskirts of the
city, bordering mountains.36 It was built in the 15th century as a space for shogun Ashikaga
Yoshimasa to retire.37 Zen gardens and pathways surround the building, much like the gardens
Okiie depicts in his other works. The pavilion was originally meant to serve as a place of solitude
for the shogun’s retreat. The name is a result of initial plans to cover the structure in silver.38
After his death, it became a Zen temple, renamed Jishō-ji after the shogun’s Buddhist name.39
In the print, the pavilion is relegated to the background, with the majority of the space devoted to
the sand of the Zen garden. The perspective depicts the building from afar with no individuals
around, creating a sense of isolation and solitude. Like Okiie’s Garden Number 6, the sand is
carefully formed without any indication of human presence in the smooth lines. Behind the
pavilion, a large rock wall separates the garden from the rest of the world, cutting off access to
the city nearby. The Silver Pavilion provides a place of solitude for the people of Kyoto today.
6.
ET
10
Elizabeth Keith (British, 1887-1956) New Years Lanterns, c. 1925 nishiki-e woodcut 17.5 x 12.25 inches Elizabeth Keith was born in Macduff, Scotland in
1887. Though she was interested in art from a
young age, she was never formally trained.
Keith’s brother-in-law, J.W. Robertson Scott, was
a publisher based in Tokyo. In 1915 she visited
Japan and stayed until 1924 when she returned to
England.40 New Year’s Lanterns has been dated to
1925, even though Keith was not living in Japan
at the time.41 It is known that she translated some of her sketches into prints after returning to
England.42 Keith returned to Japan twice more before her death in 1956, in 1932-33 and 1935-
36.43
In New Years Lanterns the repeated forms of the arches and paper lanterns receding through
space draw the eye through the composition. Figures are staggered in different layers of space,
creating the impression that people going about their daily lives continue far beyond the picture
plane, and that a bustling city extends past our limited perspective.
The outsider perspective of the print may reflect Keith’s position as a Western artist in the East,
or the fact that she likely created this print after leaving the city she had called home for nearly a
decade. The hopeful colors, New Year’s lanterns, and foregrounded broom create a scene of
renewal and cosmopolitan contentment. Keith’s admiration of her adopted home is clear in her
embrace of its cultural styles and her career-long thematic focus on Japan. ED
7.
11
Isamu Hayakawa (Japanese, unknown life dates, active 1950s)
Night View of Saruwaka-machi yoru no kei, 20th century, nishiki-e woodcut
14 x 9.5 inches The print exhibited is a copy by shin-hanga
artist, Isamu Hayakawa, active in Kyoto in the
1950s,44 after an ukiyo-e originally made by
Ando Hiroshige for the series, One Hundred
Famous Views of Edo (1856-1858).45
Hiroshige chose Meisho Edo Hyakkei as the
name, which translates to the title we know
today.46 While meisho means “famous
places,” the early significance of the word
refers to the poetic aspects of the site rather
than its prominence.47 Priority was placed on the feeling the location was capable of evoking.
These spots included teahouses, gardens, shrines, and kabuki theaters that served as locations
where people could escape reality.48 At the time of its initial publishing, the series was well
received for its innovative compositions, vibrant colors, and accuracy of the sights depicted.49
Hayakawa worked for the Kyoto Hanga-in, established by Kiyoomi Shinagawa in 1935.50 But
according to the top seal on the bottom left-hand corner, he also worked for the Matsukyu
Publishing company headed by Tokuriki Tomikichiro, also featured in the exhibition, which was
established after World War II.51
Art historians often describe Hiroshige’s views of Edo as distant and solitary.52 In this scene,
Hiroshige depicts the entertainment district as a world on its own: a place for people to seek
solace, near the city and yet separate.53 Contrastingly, there may also be those who seek
entertainment and solitude simultaneously while enjoying a hot
cup of tea and the spectacle of kabuki theater. JY
8.
12
Charles Bell (American, 1935-1995) Little Italy, 1981, Silkscreen, 22 x 26.5 inches Charles Bell was born in Tulsa,
Oklahoma, in 1935. He
emerged in the art world in the
1960s after moving to San
Francisco and working in
Donald Timothy Flores’ studio.54 In 1967, he set up a studio in New York where he created
photorealistic still life paintings and prints.55 While most of his work deals in nostalgia and
modernity with particular interest in vintage toys and games, this print depicts a street scene from
New York’s Little Italy.
Photorealism emerged in the 1960s in the United States in part due to the influence of Louis K.
Meisel, whose gallery represented Bell throughout his life and to the present day.56 Meisel acted
as a major promoter and representative for photorealists through his gallery and his position in
New York’s art world. During the development of Photorealism, a schism grew between the
coasts as New York artists focused on still life, while West Coast artists on landscapes.57
Little Italy, part of the Cityscapes Portfolio58, breaks from Bell’s usual vibrant, oversized still
lives in favor of a detailed, vacant urban landscape. This series is atypical for Photorealist subject
matter as it was commissioned to explore urbanity. The empty street scene creates an isolated
space within a usually crowded location. This isolation contrasts with the bright and welcoming
hues used in the print within the shop scene. The shop’s windows are lined with advertisements,
mass-produced as cold corporate designs, and hand-written personal touches that indicate
habitation. The store is fully stocked with bags and boxes of product waiting in the window for
the customers absent from the street. The emptiness of the street in this suggests isolation and
solitude, in contrast to the hectic images of cities crowded with people. ET
9.
13
John Baeder (American, b. 1938) Market Diner, 1981
silkscreen 22 x 26.5 inches
John Baeder’s roadside
diner scenes gained
renown during the 1960s
and ’70s, becoming a
source of inspiration and
appropriation for large companies.59 Over the course of his career, Baeder published multiple
books of his work, including his scenes of diners from across the United States.60 Baeder began
his career in advertising, which required precise technical skill that aided in his later work.61 He
achieved notoriety in New York’s art scene by utilizing his skills as an art director to create
smart compositions in selecting color choices.
The commercial quality of his work led to his iconic style’s appropriation in the work of Disney,
CNN, Coca-Cola, and others in diner scenes across mediums.62 Baeder’s detailed technical
paintings and prints place him into the photorealist canon, and his work was frequently featured
in literature about the subject.63 The buildings and signs along the roads and highways in
Baeder’s paintings establish a connection between his work and the Pop Art movement. His
choice of subject matter cemented the diner as an American icon.64
Baeder documented diners in large cities and small towns as he traveled across the United
States.65 His images evoke a sense of nostalgia and loneliness. Diners served as meeting points
and symbols of connection on the road yet have become obsolete in many ways in modern times.
Even still, diners tied urban and suburban life together with their anachronistic architecture often
surrounded by recent structures and other evidence of modernity, like taxicabs. ET
10.
14
Ron Kleemann (American, b. 1937) Gas Line, 1981 silkscreen 22 x 26.5 inches Kleemann began
making photorealist
work in the mid-
sixties as the style was
emerging in New York.66 He became a key figure in the movement, and the prestigious Meisel
Gallery in New York City represented him.67 The gallery’s connection to Louis K. Meisel
cemented its place as a main platform for the style in New York while Meisel led the
Photorealism movement to its height.68 Kleemann’s style blends clean lines and closely cropped
compositions that enhance the immediacy of the scene.
Kleemann’s well-known work typically features cars and street scenes. Unlike this print, they
feature cars in a glamorous way, with particular preference for race cars.69 He was also known
for his images of parade balloons in flight, another reference to street life in the city. This print
differs in its treatment of the subject, with a more complex composition and numerous figures
within the scene. Although multiple figures can be seen, none of them face the viewer, creating
further isolation.
The title Gas Line invokes the word play typical of Kleemann’s works. In this case, gas line and
gasoline reference both the commodity being sought within the scene and the process of attaining
it. The line of cars waiting for access to Hess Gasoline alludes to the fuel shortage that plagued
the Northeast in the 1979. This crisis both brought people together and tore them apart as people
waited for scarce and expensive resources. Although the people are together physically in the
urban scene, they are isolated by their own preoccupations with the oil crisis. ET
11.
15
Noel Mahaffey (American, b. 1944)
Night Times Square 1981
silkscreen 22 x 26 inches
Noel Mahaffey studied at
the Dallas Museum of Art
in 1959 before he was
recognized in the art world.70 Most of his works focus on urbanity with a particular interest in
street scenes and panoramic views. His style shows influences from the Pennsylvania Academy
and its academic realism.71 This New Realism, or Photorealism, style combines academic
qualities with the hard edges and flat surfaces popular in the 1960s. Mahaffey used photos as
preliminary sketches, making compositions and scenes reminiscent of postcards.72
This work focuses on street life in New York’s Times Square. Unlike his other works with a
distant perspective, Night Times Square features a crowded location with multiple figures
engaged with their surroundings, acting as staffage. A van occupies the center of the image,
blocking views of the sidewalk behind it. Neon signs and marquees light the figures walking the
sidewalk with the harsh light quickly fading in the darkness of the street. The signs advertise
topless shows and “Girls Satin Ballroom” to the city’s inhabitants, offering locations devoted to
superficial interactions that objectify women.
Along the street, the figures, mostly male, are backlit, with their silhouettes shown against the
bright buildings, obscuring their identities. The separation and anonymity of the figures created
by the lighting and the physical objects obstructing connection emphasize the isolation possible
even within such a crowded urban scene.
ET
12.
16
Ching-Jang Yao (Taiwanese, 1941–2001) Building Reflection, 1979 silkscreen 22 x 26.5 inches Ching-Jang Yao was born in
Taichung, Taiwan. He began his
career as an abstract surrealist
and graduated from National
Taiwan Normal University in
1964. He went on to participate in international exhibitions in Brazil and Tokyo.73 In the late
1970s, he moved to New York and became a photorealist.74 Yao’s interests were depicting the
contrast between the city and nature, inspiring two series, Reflection and Nature.75 The
Reflection series is photorealistic with its detail and technical precision, while Nature is a
departure from Photorealism with a hint of Surrealism.76
In Building Reflection, the surface of the building produces a likeness of the objects outside the
bounds of the image while simultaneously serving as a depiction of its exterior. Yao succeeds in
depicting three realities in one image—the interior of the building, its exterior, and that which
lies outside and across from the structure. Its overlapping layers of reality and the optical illusion
on the building’s façade demonstrate the complexity and meticulousness of the Photorealism
movement.77
The varying levels of the real world in the Reflection series are representative of the many layers
of existence in the city. For those unaccustomed to urban life, it may seem those who live there
are never alone. But just as the building’s surface only shows the external world and not what is
happening within its walls, those in the city might not express the loneliness the urban metropolis
may ignite.
JY
13.
17
Tom Blackwell
(American, b. 1938) 451, 1981
silkscreen, 26.5 x 22 inches Throughout his career, Tom Blackwell focused
on two main subjects: the motorcycle and the
shop window. Both are ideal subjects for
conveying the photorealist style. Glossy
surfaces became a means of proving artistic
skill, and the photorealists became preoccupied
with painting what Dieter Roelstraete called
“gleam.”78 Blackwell’s plate-glass storefronts
are a particularly tricky and compositionally
variable way of exploring gleaming surfaces.
Photorealism is focused on the objective, using images taken directly from a photograph, and is
concerned primarily with the surface. A subject is typically chosen as a means of depicting the
medium rather than providing any substantial content. The shiny, reflective surfaces portrayed
with Photorealism both entice and deflect the audience’s gaze.79 The precise clarity of 451
ironically obfuscates interpretation, suggesting that there is nothing of note beyond what
Blackwell has painted. Yet, he admitted that even the act of painting directly from a photograph
changes the subject by filtering it through “a human sensibility.”80
In 451, color delineates between the real and the world beyond the shop window. The real is
made up of mellow, muted greens, while its doubled reflection is all vibrant, fiery shades of
orange and red. However, in the reflection of the window, the real and the fake become harder to
distinguish. The window reflects the cycle of discontented cosmopolitan consumerism, the
barrage of unattainable ideals in advertising have distorted our true reflection. Blackwell’s
preoccupation with shop windows, mannequins and their real, reflected counterparts is not just a
product of technical challenges but a commentary on the modern condition in consumer culture.
14.
ED
18
Hilo Chen (American, b. 1942) Rooftop Sunbather 1981, silkscreen 22 x 26.5 inches Taiwanese-born
American artist Hilo
Chen lives and works
in New York City. In
the early 1970s, Chen
adopted the photorealist style that has come to define his work.81 Although some photorealist
artists mostly eschew figuration, Chen’s choice of female form as subject has proven unexpected
and timeless. And yet, Chen’s treatment of the female form is almost plastic, suggesting object-
hood rather than personhood.
Despite adopting figuration, his highly sexualized depictions are still concerned with the
photorealist preoccupation with surface. His women gleam. In his work, skin is almost reflective,
and his photorealistic background is most apparent in the rendering of beads of sweat and
seawater. He often crops figures to their essentializing body parts, continuing a tradition of men
depicting women as form over content.
In Rooftop Sunbather, Chen softens his style significantly. The lines and colors are softer, and
the woman depicted reads as real rather than fantasy. She is a voyeur of the city below, able to
see from above without being glimpsed in return. However, we are voyeurs onto her moment of
solitude. Chen fetishizes her aloneness, taking pleasure in catching the sunbather in a private
moment, a reminder that solitude in the city is more a state of mind than a physical reality.
ED
15.
19
Arne Besser (American, 1935-2012)
Bridgehampton, 1979 silkscreen
26.5 x 22 inches Arne Besser was a minor photorealist
who lived and worked in New York. He
was born in 1935 in Hinsdale, Illinois, to
Henry Besser and Irene Jackson.82 After
graduating high school, he attended an
art school in New Mexico and the Art
Center School in Los Angeles. 83 His
works portray animals, the urban setting,
people, and the underbelly of society.84
His approach to the city went beyond
showing what was commonplace, displaying the underground sex world and addiction.85
Besser met Duke Morell, his partner, in New York while selling his works on the street. Taken
by Besser’s work, Morell opened a gallery exclusively to display Besser’s art.86 The gallery was
a success and Besser’s works sold swiftly for thousands of dollars. According to Morell, Besser
abruptly stopped painting around 2002 and never resumed making art.87
In Bridgehampton, the scene seems to take place in the evening and shows the storefront of a
restaurant. It is a solitary urban landscape with the exception of two female sex workers, who
stand looking out onto the street awaiting their next customers. The perspective of looking in
from across the street creates a sense of being under surveillance. The women stand without
making eye contact with the viewer, who serves as an invisible onlooker and witness to these
societal outsiders. JY
16.
20
JE
Beatrice S. Levy (American, 1892-1974) Central Park Etching Mid-20th century color etching and aquatint 9.25 x 8 inches Beatrice S. Levy demonstrated
significant artistic talent as a child and
was awarded a children’s scholarship
for drawing class.88 She attended the
Art Institute of Chicago and became
well known for her skill in etching and
painting; she was viewed as a progressive artist in both mediums.89 Levy was a member of
various groups in Chicago, including a group of artists in the 1920s and 30s who experimented
with new ways to make color etchings.90 Levy had monographic exhibits in several cities in the
United States91 and also won various awards for her etchings throughout her career.92
Artistically, Levy saw herself as a solitary explorer; her prints were records and impressions of
her experiences. Though aware of abstract art, she maintained the importance of representation
in her art93 and viewed her work as intrinsically American.94
Here, she depicts a view of an American landmark: Central Park, the buffer against urbanity in
the middle of Manhattan. She focuses on the trees and pond, while including elements of modern
life through the depiction of the streetlights and distant apartment buildings. The dark blues of
the pond, trees, path, and night sky are harmonious, but broken up by the electric lighting and
stars. This choice results in a juxtaposition of natural light versus artificial light and a natural
space versus an urban one. Like contemporaneous Japanese printers, she includes natural
elements and eliminated figures in order to concentrate on the solitary aspect of the park view.
17.
21
Carman Bonanno
(American, 1901-2006) Tower of Pisa, 1949
etching 11.75 x 8 inches
Carman Bonanno was born in New York. At
the age of nine his family returned to Italy. He
was schooled in Sicily and southern Italy
before receiving formal artistic training in
Rome.95 After completing his schooling,
Bonanno became a working artist. In 1931, he
moved back to the U.S., where he learned
etching and drypoint, the mediums for which
he became known.96
While serving with the
American armed forces in WWII, Bonanno was stationed throughout Europe.97
During his postings in Europe, he focused largely on architectural renderings.
The Pisa print dates to the late 1940s and bears striking stylistic and
compositional similarities to his other prints from the period, particularly The
Church of Santa Maria (1946, fig. 1) and Washington Square (1947, fig. 2). In
all three he uses an arch to frame the composition.
In both The Tower of Pisa and The Church of Santa Maria, Bonanno looks
straight on through shadowed arch onto the isolated, light-drenched monuments
of Italian cultural heritage. His etchings take on a romanticism that extends
beyond tourism or architectural appreciation, instead hinting at his strong
emotional ties to his American and Italian upbringing. His Italian prints show
deserted streets and timeless architecture, celebrating the triumph of cultural
survival after the devastating destruction of Europe from both world wars.
18.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
ED
22
Paul Geissler (German, 1881-1965) Place Kléber, Strasbourg France, 1922 etching 12.625 x 15.75 inches Born in Erfurt, Germany, Paul
Geissler received his artist
training in Weimar. 98 His life
and work belonged in Munich, but he took time to discover the wonders of the European
landscape and its rich history through accurately rendered and detailed etchings.99 The settings of
his works included France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and England. In 1929, Geissler made a trip to
the United States, where he was commissioned to illustrate the major buildings of the New York
cityscape.100
Geissler was greatly drawn to the historic architecture of Europe and strived to capture in detail
the structures from a higher viewpoint, as seen in this etching.101 In other instances, he would
draw his sites from within the landscape of the city, a perspective where he appears to situate
himself between the buildings.
Geissler’s etchings show his technical prowess, and the accuracy of his works that gives a
recognizable portrayal of sites represented. In this etching, Geissler has depicted Place Kléber.
Its vastness and towering buildings dwarf the presence of the people. At its center stands the
statue of Jean-Baptiste Kléber, a general during the Revolutionary Wars in France. On the far
left, the spire of the Lutheran Church Temple of Neuf is visible alongside the prominent bell
tower of the Cathedral of Strasbourg near the center of the composition. Just as the architecture
rises above the people, so does the viewer’s perspective. We are hidden spectators gazing upon
the masses moving below in a moment of quiet and perhaps solitary contemplation.
JY
19.
23
Anthony Gross (British, 1905-1984)
Cyclists, 1939 etching
10.75 x 18 inches
Anthony Gross was
multifaceted: painter,
illustrator, engraver, etcher, filmmaker, teacher, and war artist. Born in Dulwich, Gross showed
an affinity for art since a young age.102 In 1923, he attended the Slade School of Fine Art in
London and later the Central School of Arts and Crafts. To further his skills, in 1926 he went to
the Académie Julian to train in painting and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts to learn etching in Paris.103
Later, he embarked on several trips in Europe, Morocco and Algeria.104
His personal style focuses on “exploiting” the line.105 In Cyclists, Gross depicts a busy square.
The lines are unsteady and overlap with one another. Some are sharp and others rendered lightly.
The figures are not distinct but interlocked with one another. Gross demonstrates his style’s
focus on life in the cities in Cyclists.106 The scene is lively. On the foreground a table and a few
empty chairs gives the viewer the perspective of one being seated at the café gazing upon the
multitude. The point of view suggests looking out while contemplating whether to join the busy
crowd or stay at a distance and enjoy a quiet moment of leisure where being alone may be
preferable to being among the masses.
JY
20.
24
Notes 1 Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years (Honolulu: University of 2 Merritt, Modern Japanese, ix-3. 3 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 3. 4 Amanda T. Zehnder, introduction to Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, by Carnegie Museum of Art (PittsburgH: Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009), 12. 5 Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1956), 3-4. 6 Statler, Modern Japanese, 4. 7 J. Noel Chiappa, "Glossary of Terms Useful for Discussing Woodblock Prints," Glossary of Terms Useful for Discussing Woodblock Prints, last modified 1999-2017, accessed December 1, 2018, http://mercury.lcs.mit.edu. 8 Louis K. Meisel and Linda Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002), 7. 9 “Charles Bell". The Guggenheim (website), accessed September 28, 2018, https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/charles-bell. 10 Ibid. 11 Meisel and Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, 11. 12 Ibid., 17. 13 Oliver Statler, Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn (Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle, 1956), 106. 14 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 89. 15 Statler, Modern Japanese, 120. 16 Ibid., 7. 17 Helen Merritt and Nanako Yamada, A Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: 1900-1975 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992), 3. 18 Merritt and Yamada, A Guide, 3. 19 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 89. 20 Statler, Modern Japanese, 121. 21 Ibid., 106. 22 Allen S. Weiss, “The Limits of Metaphor: Ideology and Representation in the Zen Garden,” Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 54, no. 2 (Summer 2010): 116-117, http://jstor.org 23 Ibid. 24 Ibid., 116. 25 Merritt and Yamada, A Guide, 153. 26 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 250-1. 27 Merritt and Yamada, A Guide, 30. 28 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 250-1. 29 Statler, Modern Japanese, 133. 30 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 251. 31 Statler, Modern Japanese, 127. 32 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 251. 33 Weiss, "The Limits," 116. 34 Ibid.
25
35 Donald Keen, Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), 87. 36 Merritt, Modern Japanese, 30. 37 Keen, Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion, 87. 38 Ibid. 39 Ibid., 88. 40 “Singapore (aka: New Years Lanterns, Morning (Malacca)) by Elizabeth Keith,” The Annex Galleries, November 2018, https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/detail/LEAR110/Elizabeth-Keith/Singapore-aka-New-Years-Lanterns-Morning-Malacca. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Kendall H. Brown. "Lilian Miller: An American Artist in Japan." Impressions, no. 27 (2005): 85. 44 Merritt and Yamada. A Guide, 222. 45 Hiroshige Ando, Henry D. Smith and Amy G. Poster, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo/ Hiroshige. (New York: G. Braziller, Brooklyn Museum, 1986), 9. 46 Ibid., 9. 47 Ibid., 10. 48 Ibid., 11. 49 Ibid., 9. 50 “Shin-Hanga Seal Details,” Shotei, October 29, 2018, http://shotei.com/seals/seal_details.php?seal=1106 . 51 “Other Miscellaneous Publisher’s Seals, Part 1,” Ukiyoe-Gallery, October 29, 2018, http://www.ukiyoe-gallery.com/otherseals.htm. 52 Ando, Smith, and Poster, One Hundred Famous Views, 10. 53 Ibid., 90. 54 “Charles Bell". The Guggenheim. 55 Ibid. 56 Meisel and Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, 51. 57 “Charles Bell". The Guggenheim. 58 The Cityscapes Portfolio was printed in 1981 but some of the Portfolio’s individual works are dated to 1979, for the sake of consistency we have dated the entire series to 1981, as this is the printing owned by TCU. 59 Virginia Anne Bonito, “John Baeder,” in Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from the Seavest Collection, (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Museum of Art, 1998), 10-15. Published on John Baeder’s website. 60 Ibid. 61 Jay Williams, "Pleasant Journeys And Good Eats Along The Way: A Retrospective Exhibition Of Paintings By John Baeder," Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. 62 Bonito, “John Baeder.” 63 Meisel and Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, 51. 64 Bonito, “John Baeder.” 65 Jay Williams, "Pleasant Journeys And Good Eats Along The Way: A Retrospective Exhibition Of Paintings By John Baeder".
26
66 "Ron Kleemann," 2009, Ron Kleemann. 67 Meisel and Chase, Photorealism at the Millennium, 7. 68 Ibid. 69 "Ron Kleemann," 2018, Louis K. Meisel Gallery. 70 Joan M. Marter, "Contemporary American Art At The Academy," In In This Academy. The Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts, 1805-1976, (Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1976). Reproduced on Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc. website. 71 Ibid. 72 Ibid. 73 “Biography,” C.J. Yao, October 29, 2018, http://cjyao.org/EnVer/Biography.htm. 74 Ibid. 75 “Art Book,” C.J. Yao, October 29, 2018, http://cjyao.org/EnVer/Artbooks.htm. 76 “Yao Ching-Chang (Chinese 1941-2001),” Lot Essay, Christie’s, October 29, 2018, https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/yao-ching-chang-chinese-1941-2001-wall-street-5638447-details.aspx. 77 Louis K. Meisel, Photorealism since 1980. (New York: H.N. Abrams, 1993), 14. 78Dieter Roelstraete, "Modernism, Postmodernism and Gleam: On the Photorealist Work Ethic." Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, no. 24 (2010): 6. 79 Colette Brooks, "Remarks on Realism." Performing Arts Journal 6, no. 2 (1982): 47. 80 Christine Lindey, Superrealist Painting & Sculpture (London: Orbis, 1980): 25. 81 “Hilo Chen,” Louis K. Meisel Gallery. Accessed September 2018. http://www.meiselgallery.com/artist/bio/index.php?aid=8. 82 “Arne C. Besser,” East Hampton Star, October 25, 2012, http://easthamptonstar.com/Obituaries/20121025/Arne-C-Besser. 83 Ibid. 84 Ibid. 85 “Besser, Arne Charles,” Object Record, Tucson Museum of Art (website), accessed September 28, 2018, https://tucsonmuseumofart.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/196F17D2-4D18-11D9-BD9A-016751224300. 86 “Arne C. Besser,” East Hampton Star. 87 Ibid. 88 C. J. Bulliet, "Artists of Chicago, Past and Present: Beatrice S. Levy," Illinois Historical Art Project (Chicago), accessed October 17, 2018, http://www.illinoisart.org/no-75-beatrice-s-levy. 89 Ibid. 90 Joby Patterson, Bertha E. Jacques and the Chicago Society of Etchers (Cranbury, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2002), 4. 91 Bulliet, “Artists of Chicago.” 92 Ibid. 93 Ibid. 94 Ibid. 95 “Carmen Bonnano.” Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. November 2018. https://art.famsf.org/carmen-bonanno 96 “Carman Bonanno.” Brier Hill Gallery. September 2018. https://brierhillgallery.com/carman-bonanno/. 97 Ibid.
27
98 “Views of Italy,” Exhibitions, Georgetown University Library, October 29, 2018, https://www.library.georgetown.edu/exhibition/views-italy. 99 Ibid. 100 Ibid. 101 “Paul Geissler,” Art on Campus, Rochester Institute of Technology, October 29, 2018, http://artoncampus.rit.edu/artist/288/. 102 “Anthony Gross, 1905-1984,” The Redfern Gallery, October 29, 2018, https://www.redfern-gallery.com/artists/64-anthony-gross-ra/. 103 Redfern Gallery, “Anthony Gross, 1905-1984.” 104 “Anthony Gross (Biographical Details),” The British Museum, October 29, 2018, http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=122667. 105 Graham Reynolds, The Etchings of Anthony Gross, (London: Victorian and Albert Museum, 1968), 8. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title in 1968. 106 Ibid., 8.
Bibliography
Ando, Hiroshige, Henry D. Smith and Amy G. Poster. One Hundred Famous Views of Edo/ Hiroshige. New York: G. Braziller, Brooklyn Museum, 1986.
“Arne C. Besser.” East Hampton Star, October 25, 2012.
http://easthamptonstar.com/Obituaries/20121025/Arne-C-Besser. Blackwell, Tom, “Profile.” September 2018. http://www.tomblackwell.com/#Profile. Bonito, Virginia Anne. “John Baeder,” Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from
the Seavest Collection. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Museum of Art, 1998, 10-15. Published on John Baeder’s website.
British Council. “Anthony Gross.” British Council Collection. Accessed September 28,
2018, http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection/artists/gross-anthony-1895/initial/g.
Brooks, Colette. "Remarks on Realism." Performing Arts Journal 6, no. 2 (1982). Brown, Kendall H. "Lilian Miller: An American Artist in Japan." Impressions, no. 27
(2005). Bulliet, C. J. "Artists of Chicago, Past and Present: Beatrice S. Levy." Illinois Historical
Art Project(Chicago). Accessed October 17, 2018. http://www.illinoisart.org/no-75-beatrice-s-levy.
“Carman Bonanno.” Brier Hill Gallery. September 2018.
https://brierhillgallery.com/carman-bonanno/. “Carmen Bonnano.” Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. November 2018.
https://art.famsf.org/carmen-bonanno. “Charles Bell." The Guggenheim (website). accessed September 28, 2018.
https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/charles-bell. Christie’s. “Yao Ching-Chang (Chinese 1941-2001).” Lot Essay. Accessed October 29,
2018. http://cjyao.org/EnVer/Biography.htm C.J. Yao. “Art Book.” Accessed October 29, 2018. http://cjyao.org/EnVer/Artbooks.htm. C.J Yao. “Biography.” Accessed October 29, 2018.
http://cjyao.org/EnVer/Biography.htm. Georgetown University. “Views of Italy.” Exhibition. Accessed October 29, 2018.
https://www.library.georgetown.edu/exhibition/views-italy. “Hilo Chen.” Artnet. Accessed September 2018. http://www.artnet.com/artists/hilo-chen/. “Hilo Chen.” Louis K. Meisel Gallery. Accessed September 2018.
http://www.meiselgallery.com/artist/bio/index.php?aid=8.
29
Keen, Donald. Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion. New York: Columbia University
Press, 2003. “Keith, Elizabeth.” Benezit Dictionary of Artists. September 2018.
http://www.oxfordartonline.com.ezproxy.tcu.edu/benezit/view/10.1093/benz/9780199773787.001.0001/acref-9780199773787-e-00097753.
Lindey, Christine, Superrealist Painting & Sculpture. London: Orbis, 1980. Lynes, Russell, Gerdts, William H., and Donald B. Kuspit. At the Waterʼs Edge: 19th &
20th Century American Beach Scenes. Tampa: Tampa Museum of Art, 1989. Marter, Joan M. "Contemporary American Art At The Academy". In In This Academy.
The Pennsylvania Academy Of The Fine Arts, 1805-1976. Philadelphia: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1976.
Meisel, Louis K. and Linda Chase. Photorealism at the Millennium. New York: Harry N.
Abrams, 2002. Meisel, Louis K. Photorealism since 1980. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1993. Merritt, Helen. Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii, 1900. Merritt, Helen, and Nanako Yamada. A Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints:
1900-1975. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992. Patterson, Joby. Bertha E. Jacques and the Chicago Society of Etchers. Cranbury, NJ:
Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2002. Reynolds, Graham. The Etchings of Anthony Gross, 8. London: Victorian and Albert
Museum, 1968. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title in 1968.
Rochester Institute of Technology. “Paul Geissler.” Art on Campus. Accessed October
29, 2018. http://artoncampus.rit.edu/artist/288/. Roelstraete, Dieter. "Modernism, Postmodernism and Gleam: On the Photorealist Work
Ethic." Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, no. 24 (2010). “Roger Kuntz: The Shadow Between Representation And Abstraction". Laguna Art
Museum (website), accessed September 28, 2018, https://lagunaartmuseum.org/exhibitions/roger-kuntz-2/.
"Ron Kleemann." Louis K. Meisel Gallery, last accessed September 28, 2018,
http://www.meiselgallery.com/lkmg/artist/index.php?aid=23. "Ron Kleemann." Ron Kleemann, last accessed September 28,
2018,http://www.ronkleemann.net.
30
Shotei. “Kyoto Hanga-in.” Shin Hanga Seal Finder. Accessed October 29, 2018. http://shotei.com/seals/seal_details.php?seal=1106.
Statler, Oliver. Modern Japanese Prints: An Art Reborn. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle,
1956. The British Museum. “Anthony Gross (Biographical Details).” Accessed October 29,
2018. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=122667.
The Redfern Gallery. “Anthony Gross, 1905-1984.” Accessed October 29, 2018.
https://www.redfern-gallery.com/artists/64-anthony-gross-ra/. “Singapore (aka: New Years Lanterns, Morning (Malacca)) by Elizabeth Keith.” The
Annex Galleries. November 2018. https://www.annexgalleries.com/inventory/detail/LEAR110/Elizabeth-Keith/Singapore-aka-New-Years-Lanterns-Morning-Malacca.
Tucson Museum of Art. “Besser, Arne Charles.” Object Record. Accessed September 28,
2018, https://tucsonmuseumofart.pastperfectonline.com/webobject/196F17D2-4D18-11D9-BD9A-016751224300.
Ukiyo-e Gallery. “Other Miscellaneous Publisher Seals, Part 1.” Library. Last modified
November 28, 2018. http://www.ukiyoe-gallery.com/otherseals.htm Weiss, Allen S. "The Limits of Metaphor: Ideology and Representation in the Zen
Garden." Social Analysis: The International Journal of Social and Cultural Practice 54, no. 2 (Summer 2010): 116-29. http://jstor.org.
Williams, Jay. "Pleasant Journeys And Good Eats Along The Way: A Retrospective
Exhibition Of Paintings By John Baeder." Traditional Fine Arts Organization, Inc., 2007. http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/7aa/7aa929.htm.
Zehnder, Amanda T. Introduction to Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, by
Carnegie Museum of Art, 7-13. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009.
