In 1970-1, Frank Auerbach did a study on Titian’s ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’. Auerbach abstracted the forms but distilled the essential pieces of the composition – a great exercise for any artist. We did some modern interpretations of classical compositions in my classes last quarter. I’ll post some pictures soon. For today, here’s Auerbach’s study of Titian.
Titian’s ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’
Auerbach’s Sketch #1
Auerbach’s Sketch #2
Auerbach’s Sketch #3
You might recall yesterday’s post included a Matisse, in which the brush strokes abstracted, and instead of describing form, they separated, and became a pattern. You might notice Auerbach’s sketches starting to do something similar here. He lets go of the figures, the picture, the illusion of space. He lets go of the landscape, and he lets the brush strokes float on the picture plane’s surface, but still in motion and relationship. Here’s that final painting again:
[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”7736″ alignment=”center” animation=”None” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][vc_column_text] Piet Mondrian The first part of this challenge was to draw a tree from observation. The second was to draw the same tree, editing to emphasize the patterns within the branches. Today, draw …
This is not an election related post. This is also not a cheerful post, or a motivating post. This is a post about one of the many events in 2020 that made it a year we all wish had never happened. This is a post about the smoke. This last September, wildfires raged across California, …
Artist Piotr Szyhalski’s COVID-19: Labor Camp Reports are a daily series of poster designs inspired by news events; the first posted on March 24, 2020. This prolific series can be seen on Instagram, and is soon to be published as a book (see Kickstarter video below). These “vintage” protest and propaganda poster designs are lush, …
Leon Golub was an awkward man who made ugly paintings. They’re about power mostly. Violence, war, and other unhappy things. I learned about Golub in art school, around the first years of the internet. What impressed me more than his large scale work and hard edged process was his collection of reference images. Golub had file cabinets full …
Auerbach’s study of ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’
Bacchus and Ariadne, Frank Auerbach
In 1970-1, Frank Auerbach did a study on Titian’s ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’. Auerbach abstracted the forms but distilled the essential pieces of the composition – a great exercise for any artist. We did some modern interpretations of classical compositions in my classes last quarter. I’ll post some pictures soon. For today, here’s Auerbach’s study of Titian.
Titian’s ‘Bacchus and Ariadne’
Auerbach’s Sketch #1
Auerbach’s Sketch #2
Auerbach’s Sketch #3
You might recall yesterday’s post included a Matisse, in which the brush strokes abstracted, and instead of describing form, they separated, and became a pattern. You might notice Auerbach’s sketches starting to do something similar here. He lets go of the figures, the picture, the illusion of space. He lets go of the landscape, and he lets the brush strokes float on the picture plane’s surface, but still in motion and relationship. Here’s that final painting again:
Bacchus and Ariadne, Frank Auerbach
What do you think? Did he get it?
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