Friday, August 2, 2013

Pick one............art lovers?

Rothko

Matisse

Register


OKAY, folks................Which one and why?

Z

44 comments:

Silverfiddle said...

Love the Matisse.

I favor the impressionists, for some reason.

My favorite stuff by him is from his Fauve works. That man could do some awesome stuff with the color blue.

Jen said...



I suppose the Rothko would be my favorite, followed closely by the Matisse.

The Rothko appeals to me because it seems symbolic.

Ducky's here said...

Definitely between Register and Rothko.

Register goes further than Hopper and in the absence of people Register's malaise seems final though there is some safety in the inner space.

Rothko makes me think of the phrase "if you had not known me you would not seek me". But you can't fight your way through the surface. It has no meaning beyond the surface.
The mystery is palpable and denied at the same time.

I'd normally pick Matisse who I think was the greatest 20th century painter (Picasso certainly must have thought so for all he cribbed off Matisse) but that particular work doesn't have the impact of his best.

The Political Chic said...

Rothko by far, it was the only one O really loved, though the others ere very good, just not my cup of tea.

Irish Margie said...

Off topic, but important.

The United States will temporarily shut down its embassies and consulates around the world Sunday, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt, as a precautionary measure, the State Department said Thursday. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf did not say how long the international installations would stay closed -- only that the decision was taken “out of an abundance of caution and care for our employees and others who may be visiting.” Sunday is a normal workday in many Arab and Middle Eastern countries.
What’s up here? After Benghazi, who knows! Surely this isńt another phoney scandal . But by the way, August 4th is Obama’s Birthday!

Always On Watch said...

Definitely the Register for me!

For the reasons that Duck mentioned and more: the shadows, the geometric pattern cast on the floor, and the solitary red chair.

The chair's back is not quite to the window. To me, that positioning means that the solitary person hasn't quite turned away from the world but prefers the isolation.

PS to Duck: So, what do you think of my amateur analysis?

Always On Watch said...

Jen,
I admit it! I don't understand most abstract art. I've tried to, but just can't get there.

Ducky's here said...

I've always said you have a pretty well developed eye, AOW.

Anonymous said...

Register b/c I like what it conveys: solitude, maybe loneliness. I did a painting with a chair myself called Waiting room for dreams. Obviously not as nice. So I'm biased.

Z said...

great comments...I'm kind of surprised at the responses.

I'll say now those are lesser known works from those artists with a distinct purpose in my mind.

I'm late to work; am looking forward to chiming in later.

THANK YOU and I Hope we get some more comments to chew on.

z

Jen said...

AOW, I don't spend enough time to understand most art, but things usually resonate on some level.

Jen said...

I appreciate people who can articulate a good critique, because I can't. I agree with all the comments on the

Jen said...

Register. But for me it's too lonely. The malaise Ducky mentioned is too heavy for me.

Sorry for the wonky commenting. This iPod is acting up

Pris said...

I choose Matisse. It's warm and inviting and of course he is a master artist.

Register is excellent at his perspective, but I find it very cold and unappealing. But that's just me.

I do like abstract art. In fact I have paintings done by a cousin of mine who has passed away. He was an Art Professor as well.


Right Truth said...

Register: It has clean lines, organized, soothing colors.

Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

Pris said...

If any of you are interested, here's a link of some of my cousin's paintings. His name was Flavio Cabral.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do13rPV96m8

JonBerg said...

Matisse


It brings to mind Clint Eastwood's renowned "Empty Chair Obama" speech.

elmers brother said...

I prefer the Register...the contrast of light and shadow..the sharp angles, the austerity of the room.

JonBerg said...

CORRECTION:

I meant to say "Register".

Bob said...

I like them all. First of all, the Matisse is colorful and connotes beauty in our everyday world.

The Rothko reminds me of the blue screen of death. Very impressive.

However, the Register is the product of a disturbed mind. It is geometrically driven, with the off-center chair in a bare room, strategically located in the bright sunlight, calculated to blind the poor schmuck who will soon be interrogated in that self-same chair by the SS Kapitan. Very collectivist.

FreeThinke said...

Matisse if the only one of the three I might like to live with given the change.

The solitary red chair in the empty room evokes the essence of sterile modernism. I makes 'sense," and the composition is good, but like most things that appeal especially to our Ducky it invites despondency, and given time it could drive one to despair -- possibly even suicide. I see the red chair as a grim reminder of places and states of mind loving, sensible, wholesome, healthy-minded people would hope to avoid.

The first piece is "striking," I suppose, but it makes no sense. Such "art" has always seemed childish, irresponsible and destructive to the common sense mores that make life tenable for the majority of people.

I don't dislike all abstract Art at all, some of it is quite amusing, but as I said of the lonely red chair in the depressing room, I wpuldn't want to have to live with it.

If I had o pick a favorite among all the painters of all the periods, i would have to be Monet with Renoir and his American disciples Mary Cassatt and Childe Hassam running close behind.

I "get" Picasso, and respect what he did, and enjoy Matisse, Joan Miro, and see the humor in Paul Klee, but these swatches of bold color juxtaposed in geometric forms or simply splattered all over the canvas willy nilly do leave me cold.

Z said...

The weirdest thing is that, just today, our facilities guy at school wondered what posters we should be for our office and I suggested Rothko and he's ordering two...he loved them.

We could have an original Register if we played our cards right! His granddaughter attends our school and her mom's a friend of mine :-)
He wasn't deranged at all. Trust me. Though I never knew him.

I'm a huge Hopper fan (Edward, not Dennis, tho he did paint pretty well), but seeing Register's work gave me the impression he took Hopper and refined him.
Cracked me up to be in the Register's living room looking at his large coffee table book and seeing a painting on the wall that's in the book...

I once went with an art dealer to a home nearby and laughed at myself when I had to say "I love your Calder" (hanging in the foyer)...I often wonder how many times I'll be able to say THAT :-)

I'm very glad so many of you like the Rothko and the Register.
The Matisse is lovely ... I put it there as a more likable piece as juxtaposition.

FT...the Monet museum was a ten min. walk from our Paris apt...one room is nothing but the huge Water Lily paintings all around you, on all four walls...it's like you could drown in them; happily.

Ducky's here said...

@FT --- The first piece is "striking," I suppose, but it makes no sense. Such "art" has always seemed childish, irresponsible and destructive to the common sense mores that make life tenable for the majority of people.

----
Think Nietzsche (Rothko studied him intently). Think about the void staring back.
Then call it childish although your statement about common sense mores is worth further thought.

viburnum said...

The Matisse is warm, friendly and inviting in a "Chelsea Morning" sort of way. Pleasant enough but nothing to write home to mother about.

The Register just doesn't float my boat. Whether it's the starkness for it's own sake, or the incongruous angles of the shadows I'm not sure.

I like the Rothko best. It doesn't strike me as 'empty' but attractive and compelling in a somewhat dangerous fashion. Like a kid peering into a well, it generates an urge to jump in just to see what's down there.

Z said...

The thing about Rothko is the plays of color and placement of those colors.....that's EXCELLENT almost always.
I know plenty of people think of that kind of art as a kind of nihilism and there's plenty of good reason for that but I can't get there..the beauty of those colors and the texture of the paint knock me out.
I can't WAIT to get a couple of those prints in our office.

Z said...

viburnum...I have to disagree on the Register because I LOVE anything with shadows represented in them and always paint them in myself. Actually, I tried to grab one of mine but my computer won't transfer them :-( What I have on line isn't too hot, anyway...maybe that was a "God thing"!!

BUT, I like your thoughts on the Register, nevertheless, and find your other comments compelling; thanks for weighing in.

You've all had some really good things to say; I have enjoyed reading them

viburnum said...

The Matisse is warm, friendly and inviting in a "Chelsea Morning" sort of way. Pleasant enough but nothing to write home to mother about.

The Register just doesn't float my boat. Whether it's the starkness for it's own sake, or the incongruous angles of the shadows I'm not sure.

I like the Rothko best. It doesn't strike me as 'empty' but attractive and compelling in a somewhat dangerous fashion. Like a kid peering into a well, it generates an urge to jump in just to see what's down there.

viburnum said...

Blogger apparently thought them worth repeating LOL.

I love shadows in paintings as well but they ought to follow the laws of both physics and perspective. ;-)

Ed Bonderenka said...

I can relate to all three works.
I only want to relate to the Matisse.

Z said...

Viburnum, THAT's odd!! I won't delete it because of your comment ...I have NEVER seen that happen in comments anywhere :-)


Ed...you really do crack me up.

Kid said...

# 2 Matisse. It transmits a mood, perhaps even a memory, and regardless, it takes us to another place for a moment or two.

Kid said...

Z, any chance there is a sych test embedded here? :)

Impressions reveal personality.
Couple Examples:

Ask a man what he thinks of when he thinks of a large body of water.

The answer indicates how he thinks of women. (My answer was deep, warm, and mysterious btw)

Ask someone what they think of when they think of a hospital. Their answer reveals what they think about death/the afterlife. (My answer was White, Cold, Sterile) Hmmm.

Always On Watch said...

Duck,
Considering my strange visual acuity, I have to wonder HOW is developed any art appreciation whatsoever. I didn't dare take a course in art appreciation because my eyesight is an anomaly.

Always On Watch said...

Jen,
Register. But for me it's too lonely. The malaise Ducky mentioned is too heavy for me.

Being alone isn't necessarily loneliness.

And being with a crowd can be loneliness.

PS: I'm an only child.

Always On Watch said...

Z,
Great comments in this thread!

Interesting what the different likes an analyses tell us about the individual making those comments.

Jen said...

AOW, I know what you mean 're solitude vs loneliness. I agree. The Register looks lonely to me. Maybe if the child a or were occupied it would symbolize solitude??

I agree that the answers are so interesting!! I love this kind of insight.

Jen said...

Sigh.....
child a or were occupied

If the CHAIR WERE OCCUPIED

:)

Ducky's here said...

I agree, Jen. There's an inevitable comparison to Hopper who I believe painted solitude but Register moves to loneliness.

Z said...

Kid, it was a kind of psych test on my part, frankly! I enjoyed the conversation VERY much, too.

I think an empty chair usually points to loneliness, doesn't it...just by the nature of being unoccupied. Seems to me that, for solitude, we'd need someone sitting alone in the chair?

Solitude...someone sitting at the lunch counter like the very famous Hopper.
Loneliness...someone sitting at the lunch counter checking his watch! ! :=)


Kid said...

Actually, the empty chair to me means what the military air forces call the Missing Man Formation

4 jets fly into view of the memorial area and one changes direction to vertical and disappears in the distance.

A loved one missing at the table, that sort of thing. Absent friends and lovers.

Sorry if it's a downer.

Artistcally, I like some artist impression in a painting as well, not something that looks like a photograph, unless the painting is very striking, like a Remington, or have you seen the pencil drawings kids are turning out today?

And to complete the thought on this post, I can get into say color arrangement, but the first one in this post just didn't do anything for me.

Kid said...

proper link to pencil drawing

Liberalmann said...

Always enjoyed Rothko's contemplative paintings.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

The Rothko one sucks. You can totally tell he wanted a blue box, made it too big at the top, and tried to slop over it with orange paint. People who think this is art do not belong in an art discussion.

The Matisse one looks like he only got to work on it for one hour a day, in 8th grade art class.

The Register one almost looks like a photograph. That takes talent lacking in the previous two.

viburnum said...

Well, as they say, there's no arguing about taste. I guess that make you an Ingre young man

http://uploads8.wikipaintings.org/images/jean-auguste-dominique-ingres.jpg!Portrait.jpg