Picasso Cache - Truth or Theft?

Poor Pierre Le Guennec. All he wants is the almost eighty million dollar windfall that ought to come with his recently revealed cache of artworks made by Pablo Picasso. Unfortunately, few believe his story that the master artist gifted him with an enormous treasure of drawings, paintings, collages and more. Generous the artist was, but $80 Million? That was some great electrician-client relationship that Guennec had with Picasso!

For my part, I want to believe the French working man. I even hope he gains profit from this somehow, but hopes don't make proof. I advise anyone giving their art as a gift may want to provide some documentation along with it. Who knows who will accuse the beneficiary of art-theft in generations to come?

Reader Traits & Matisse Bits

Originally posted November, 2008.


The faithful readership of The Colorist are responding with some well thought-out Artist's Traits. These are responses to my Artist's Traits series, and represent the desired character traits these artists feel would bring them growth.



First, I will list the traits, and then a blurb from each respondent.

Doubt

Genius

Authenticity

Perseverance



Adam Cope, of Dordogne Painting Days, France, writes the following:

"Well then can we say that doubt & questioning is part of the mix of ingredients?

Doubting is part of the critical functioning & must work in a way that is constructive to creativity. When it works well it is analytical & opens up the artists to new opportunities. However, in my experience, the suspensions of the doubting, critical self in the beginning phases of making a painting is important, for if the artist is to dig deep within himself (herself) & tap into the authentic, the natural - 'le Propre du Soi' - then this is more of an affirmation, a kind of YES as it feels natural & as if it always were & will be. The opposite of doubt maybe?

Do some research into the the idea of Genius as the Ancient Greeks meant it.

So my traits are doubt & genius."

Deborah Paris, of Deborah Paris-A Painting Life, Texas, says,

"High on my list of traits for myself as an artist and for my work is- Authenticity. By that I mean possessing an aesthetic which is 'of its own time' (reflecting both the time and place of its making) as well as one that successfully announces the unique passion of its maker."

Lisa Bachman, of The Studio News, Maryland, explains,

"I admire perseverance. That ability to persist towards a goal in spite of frustration or self-doubt. If I could use only one word to describe Van Gogh, this would be it."

Julianne Richards, our ever-faithful Colorspeaker, New York City, writes this comment, too,

"Here are some of my thoughts on 'traits and...'
First, what I call 'a strong (very) work ethic'-which falls under the already mentioned 'discipline' is the first thing that comes to mind whenever I think of a trait of necessity for the 'artist path.'
In staying with artistic traits, in addition to self awareness, I would definitely add having a keen awareness (and interest) of one's environment-both on the small and larger scale. As your posts are reflecting, being open minded to learning and change, ultimately makes one a better artist as well as a better person."

Thanks, also, to Martha Marshall and Zoom (who added "Love, faith, hope, courage, persistence, generosity and a sense of humour") for checking in. Also, a special thanks to the others who have commented throughout this series.


More Matisse Bits

I will be noting some fantastic Henri Matisse trivia as I come across such. See my study of the great Modernist here, here and here. Also, if you select my label, "Henri Matisse", you will see all of my posts on the keener, but several of them overlap with the Artist's Traits posts.

I mentioned before that Matisse's progeny are involved in arts, but I also notice that they don't seem to flaunt the name. With some propriety, I send you to this young man's very nice blog.

This fantastic blog, the Quip TORUM, entertains me much. Today's Matisse post led me there.

Laura K. Aiken writes A MOSAIC STUDIO, a "Mosaic and Visual Art Blog sprinkled with Henri Matisse".

I am gob-smacked by children's art, especially since I am a father of two young ones myself. I came across this really enjoyable video of some young student responses to Matisse.

Speaking of the wee ones, my own were watching some Bugs Bunny cartoons, and I happened to see one that is a tribute to Matisse. "Wackiki Wabbit" not only features landscapes with Matisse patterns, but the castaways are drawn in the linear style of the great artist, too. I post it here, but keep in mind that this gem is 6.41 minutes long! Sorry about the Google ads.

T Day T Dump

"T Dump" meaning Tab Dump, which is internet speak for, "Here's what came in over the transom." Enjoy these links to Thanksgiving Day posts. We'll be going to dinner at Grandma's house, but only after I recover Lorie's pickup truck with the dead battery and the frozen-shut hood. Minus temps do things like that.

Jane Librizzi, The Blue Lantern, Thanksgiving.
Margaret (Peggy) Stermer-Cox, Drawing 329 And Meet Sid The Cubist Turkey
Sippican Cottage, He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven
Katherine van Schoonhoven, Art and Music, Thinking and Thanking
Elizabeth W. Seaver Fine Art, "And Then HE Said..."

The Artist's Ideas - The Artist's Ethos

Edvard Munch
The Scream, 1893
o/c, tempera & pastel

A work of art can't be questioned or dismissed. Saul Bellow.


The obscure word ethos has a different meaning today than it did seventy years ago, and it has traveled a malleable path since the days of Aristotle. Whereas, today, it is a corporate creed, it formerly held a deeper meaning. Pre-war artists owned the word - it was the artist's ethos. My 1936 Webster's dictionary has the following:

Webster: From the Greek, ethos, ἔθος, character. The moral, ideal or universal element in a work of art as distinguished from that which is emotional in its appeal or subjective.

How do the artist's ideas exhibit themselves in an artwork? Is it important for an artist to express an ethos through the making of art?

We have been considering The Artist's Ideas, with these previous posts:

Have Ideas
Quotes - The Artist's Ideas
The Inner Meaning
The Artist's Ideas
Paint Better Now


The Artist's Ethos.

The Greeks saw ethos as the first proof of debate, and it had to do with trusting the moral competence of the rhetorician. Fast-forward to our concerns and the artist's ethos. Let's unpack the definitions of moral, ideal and universal elements.

The Moral Function of Art.

Webster describes a moral element in a given artwork, which is, by definition, an illumination of right or wrong. As concerns the formal parts of art, there is no right or wrong. "There is no must in art because art is free," Wassily Kandinsky. So, we are left with artworks that reveal a moral quality intended by the artist, such as in the case of Sacred Art. See below some artworks that reveal strong moral qualities in a broader context. See The Sistine Chapel for Sacred Art.

John Dewey said that “Art is more moral than moralities.” Artist and blogger Katherine A. Cartwright is reading Dewey's important 1934 book, Art as Experience, and hosting a community discussion on The Moral Function of Art. See here, here and here, and remember to read the comment fields.

Here is the "see below." For my part of the discussion at Katherine's blog, I have been illustrating the moral function of art by identifying individual artworks that I see as strong moral forces in the canon of Western art. Blogger/artist Linda W. Roth had the idea first, and she chose Edward Munch's The Scream for its moral content. I think she's right on with that, and I thought of Andrew Wyeth's Groundhog Day, and Willem deKooning's Woman 1. These artworks are linked below.

The following opens a window into Dewey's thinking: Art is morally powerful because it is indifferent to moral praise and blame (loosely quoted). Do you agree?

Ideals - The Artist's Ideas.

Notice that the Websters definition relates to a work of art, and not the group known as artists. My understanding of "the ideal" is that an artwork must, to be true to the artist's ethos, reflect his ideas. See these quotes on The Artist's Ideas.

Universal Elements.

Art is a universal mode of language. John Dewey. Philosophers will tell you that language is wanting in descriptive power - it falls short of expressing what man is able to think. Art is a huge bridge in "speaking" to mankind aught words.


Edvard Munch, The Scream.
Andrew Wyeth, Groundhog Day.
Willem de Kooning, Woman 1.






Ethos at Wikipedia.
John Dewey, Art As Experience.

Links and Studio News

November 15 in the Studio, Hoquiam River Scenes
Casey Klahn

Jeanette Jobson, who does Gyotaku Prints, has published an interview of me at her newsletter. Jeanette blogs at Illustrated Life. Go here to find out about my studio secrets.

Katherine Tyrrell, of Making a Mark, has linked me on her popular Sunday feature, "Who's Made a Mark This Week." If you don't already make a habit of reading her Sunday entries, you should. I consider it the artist blogger news.

Here at The Colorist, I am continuing to think about The Artist's Ideas. If you haven't found your answers as to what your art ideas should be, that's good. Keep looking, and use my essays as fuel for your thoughts.

Also, in the world of blogging, I wonder who will become my three-hundredth follower? Next month will be the fourth anniversary of The Colorist, and I think you can appreciate the effort that requires. I appreciate each reader at my humble artist's blog.

I am becoming active at the ning community, Artistes de Studio. Jennifer Evenhus, a great artist from central Washington, is the driving force there. I enjoy the status of a Master Artist in the group.

Studio Panorama

In the studio, I am going forward with the long awaited Hoquiam River Series. Consider it like Twilight, only more moody. My representation of the rainy, coastal little river is a passage I am making by means of strong pastel paintings. Are these paintings of one of the most interesting places on Earth good representations of the scenery there? Only if you look at them through the heart.

I hope to have an opening in Hoquiam, my hometown, some time next year.

Apple Pie and Veteran's Day

American cemetery
Florence, Italy
Photo: Casey Klahn

Today, my children are enjoying a day off from school for Veteran's Day. Yesterday, I was invited to attend an assembly at the school in honor of veterans. It is a good thing to have a community memory of the military service that some have provided. I came home with an apple pie, given to each vet who left the ceremony. That was nice.

Have Ideas

Hoquiam River Bright
10" x 14.75"
Pastel & Charcoal
Casey Klahn

Here are some thoughts on painting:

• A painting must become more than the sum of its parts.
• A painting is a history of what happened to the artist.
• An artist should communicate his ethos through his art.
• I believe that a painting should affirm the personal.

I made a map of my art ideas. My 7 year-old daughter added her input, too.

Here is the theme music for this post ( Right Click to open a new tab). Open in your media player.



You might need to update your adobe reader to view my illustration.



Previous Mind Maps
Map Your Ideas

Master Copies of Degas

Repost Research

The Colorist

Number 31, 1950
at the MoNA
Jackson Pollock

Lavender Mist, 1954
Jackson Pollock

Here are a selection of Jackson Pollock links.


Jackson Pollock:

• New York Times On Topic for Jackson Pollock-Link. Best to read the NYT if you value critics that use words like "inimitability". Otherwise, follow their Jackson Pollock Navigator until you find an article that makes some sense.
• My dated post on the topic of Jackson Pollock links.
• Squidoo Lens on Pollock.
• MoMA Collection of Pollocks. Link. From the NYT list, but I'll put it here as an important collection.
• The Art News Blog lists these links for Pollock.
• The Pollock-Krasner House.
• Pollocksthebollocks is a blog with a base in Abstract Expressionism.
• The movie about Jackson Pollock has certainly pushed forward his star in the public conscience. My review is found here.
• There is an interesting video legacy of the drip painter which may do much for his posterity as we go further into this digital age. Hans Namuth and Paul Falkenberg.
• Jackson Pollock Unauthorized. Looks like bootleg prints, but some good info, too.
  

You can't get through Pollock without visiting Abstract Expressionism.

• Here are my posts on the topic.
• I recommend the Wikipedia post on the topic.
• This book, Taschen's Abstract Expressionism, by Barbara Hess, is a good pictorial analysis, by artist, of the great American movement.
• A dated Wordpress blog with some nice AE references.

And the inimitable Clement Greenberg requires some study if you want to cover JP correctly:

• Wikipedia.
• Art Czar: The Rise and Fall of Clement Greenberg, Marquis. Did CB invent Modern Art? Read this new bio for extra, extra credit.
  
• I see my local Portland Art Museum has the significant collection of Clement Greenberg's catalogs and private art collection. Wow.
• Official CG site.

Quotes - The Artist's Ideas

Der Blaue Reiter, 1903
Wassily Kandinsky

"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else," Pablo Picasso.

“The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning.” Wassily Kandinsky.

"One can say nothing about the content of a painting...It says itself, like breath without words." James Matthew Wilson.

"Truth and reality in art do not arise until you no longer understand what you are doing and are capable of, but nevertheless sense a power that grows in proportion to your resistance." Henri Matisse.

"In art, one idea is as good as another. If one takes the idea of trembling, for instance, all of a sudden most art starts to tremble. Michelangelo starts to tremble. El Greco starts to tremble. All the Impressionists start to tremble." Willem de Kooning.

"Any artist should be grateful for a naive grace which puts him beyond the need to reason elaborately," Saul Bellow.

"But often it's doubtful whether the logic of the work itself and the words used to describe it really have anything to do with each other," Thom Mayne.

“Trust your feelings entirely about color, and then,
even if you arrive at no infallible color theory, you will at least have the credit of having your own color sense.” John F. Carlson.

"See, don't think." Attributed to Wolf Kahn.

"I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking." Albert Einstein.

Kahn quote: h/t Tracy Helgeson.

The Inner Meaning

"There are more valid facts and details in works of art than there are in history books," Charlie Chaplin.

Some readers know that I have been bottle feeding a litter of kittens whose mother was killed by a coyote. Two different times, I've had the experience of bringing a kitten back from the threshold of death. These limp, comatose pets fit easily in one hand, and I bathed them, forced Pedialyte by soft syringe and just held them.

What is it that animates the body just moments before death, and yet vanishes at the point of expiration?

Käthe Kollwitz
Woman with Dead Child, 1903
Etching

We are considering The Artist's Ideas, a series on the things that are understood in art but not stated outright. Tired of words and heavy thinking? Here is a visual way to understand this subject. The drawings of German artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) are easily understood just by looking. I queried her images on Google, and was immediately struck by her poignant meanings. Ugly truths, but tender beauty is revealed by the hand of this master. I understand there are about forty schools named after Kollwitz in Germany.

Käthe Kollwitz
Blogger view.

Käthe Kollwitz
SP, 1898

The Artist's Ideas

"Pittura est cousa mentale"
Painting is a thing of the mind.
Leonardo da Vinci

Imagine entering a beautifully appointed building, in which there are many rooms hung with original fine art. Some of the paintings are by masters, such as Rembrandt, Eugene Delacroix, Mary Cassatt and the like. Others are by unknown or little known but well respected artists from past eras. Still more are by contemporary artists in practice today.

You are just one of a large crowd of viewers, pausing at one painting, then another and another. There are no docents chattering; no plaques or notes posted to annotate your visit. Somehow, as the throng proceeds, they note little of each image, and by the time they spill out of the exit, most even have trouble remembering the names of the creators of the paintings or the subjects painted. By the time he orders his latte at the cafe, one patron has no recollection at all of even one image seen in the exhibit, and that is a representative experience of the crowd as a whole. He flips open his cell phone, and starts to read his texts.


Nothing was gained by this visit to the art exhibit; no memorable emotive experiences will be remembered. The coffee was good, but the viewers did not partake of any of the artist's meanings, and they go away with souls unfed.

Whose failure was this? Was it the lack of curatorial effort? Surely, but I lay the blame mostly upon the artists themselves.

Don't get me wrong. Rembrandt's meanings are readily available to his audience, as a painter of beauty in respect to all mankind and as an advocate of excellence in oil painting. Cassatt gave impressionism the delicacy of pastel's grace, and the charity of womankind exampled in the mother and child. But, in my imaginary tour (which idea I took from Kandinsky in his writings) the meanings of each artist, from the known and all others, is obscured by certain factors.

The hanging, although beautifully lit and nicely placed, contains artworks whose elements are so diverse, and confused in subject, type and style, that any hope of ascertaining a meaning is lost. Tragically, the majority of the works displayed do not have a foundation in ideas, but rather are pretty pictures set adrift in a sea of misspent intentions. It wouldn't hurt to have a patronage well schooled in visual basics, so that they may understand art's intent when they have the opportunity. But, we are taking up the question of The Artist's Ideas in this series of essays.

When you read my essay series on How to Paint for the Prize, posted last year, you may have noticed that I wrote a lot about content. Half of the posts described the artist's motivation through his ideas. Now that my exhibition season has, for the most part, ended this year, I am wanting to write more in-depth on this holy grail of the artist's true goals: The Artist's Ideas.

Now the prize is no longer my personal best, but I have resolved to triple the quality and the value of my art by next year. How will that be done? Mostly by resolving the core issues that exist for any fine art. I want to present my ideas in comprehensible ways through visual means. Read this series of essays on art content to see how core ideas can illuminate the visual artist's work.

"Never trust the artist. Trust the tale," D.H. Lawrence.

To really understand the foundation of this series, you ought to read again the series on How to Paint for the Prize. These are the posts:

How to Paint for the Prize
Commit
Looking for the Why
Quotes on Content
What Are Your Ideas?
Content
Get There Quick!
Edit Your Own Work


Art museum photo: toni_janelle at photobucket

Personal Events

Two kittens remain in our home from the litter we've been bottle-feeding, and they're now dealing with some kind of illness. One is better, and the second now presents as sick. There are some other health things going around my family, mostly minor, but my girl has been sent home from school today.

On the way home, I ran over the neighbor's dog, which is a tragedy I've never experienced before. He ran in front of the truck, as I was slowing down and expecting him to chase the vehicle. That is a heartbreaking event. Somewhat removed from me, but serious, is a friend from my hometown who is experiencing a major family tragedy. This kind of time is what prayer is for, and I am sending mine heavenward today.

I'll be back with the new essay series in a day or two. Thanks for reading here!

Paint Better Now

Towpath in Winter, After Wolf Kahn
Pastel
8.5" x 11.75"
Casey Klahn

A new essay series is in the works and I will post very soon. Last year, after returning from Sausalito, I wrote about how to get a juicy prize for yourself. I want all of my readers who are artists to excel, and you will find some inspiration in that series. If you aren't an artist, but want to reach for the brass ring in any field, have a look. How to Paint for the Prize.

The upcoming series is a result of some recent conversations I've been having with artists and patrons. I want to offer you my ideas about creating art that is based on the best common denominator - ideas themselves. The most accessible fine art has some truth to reveal, and if you want to swim in that pool of making art that speaks, you must have ideas.

Meanwhile, I have been busy cleaning my studio and getting ready for the next events. At the same time, I am doing some professional development by taking a course online from the excellent Deborah Paris.

Please stay tuned.

Eight Hundred and Ninety-Two, and Please Don't Hate Me

Eight Hundred and Ninety-Two. I can barely write that number and get it right. That represents the number of hits The Colorist received on Thursday. Which is a few more - well, quite a few more - than it is used to getting. The stats have been exploding the past month and a half, but that represents something like a low-yield nuclear weaponized bump.

Many of you are like, "ho hum, I get 900 hits on my blog before breakfast." But, for my humble blab place, that is a happy anomaly. For those of you who walk with mortals and aren't used to such high-handed blog stats, pull up a chair and see how The Colorist got here. It is an amazing story of foibles, foul - ups and flouting full-force the power of the webtunnel.

As the author of The Colorist, I try my hardest to balance that razor's edge between bald self promotion, and universally interesting art content. No blogger that wants to be read by the racing public throng should focus on themselves too much. Does that even need explaining? To that end, I work at writing a few art essays, and I try to promote the best that artist blogs have to offer. Then, I sneak in the bald self-promotion, and likely way too much of that. When I begin to gag on narcissism, I revert back to art content. I hope it all works out in the end, and I have had readers introduce themselves and explain that they appreciate the balance. All I can do is try.

The reason for The Bump of the past month will make my artist blogger friends chuckle, or turn green with envy, or throw a brick through their computer. I hope for the first response. This post was receiving hits like a lab rat on nicotene, and I had to find out why. When I followed the trail left by StatCounter, I found a Google redirect page. As near as I can tell, Google, which never makes mistakes, had randomly selected my Jackson Pollock post as a holding place for confused search devices. Hallelujah! I get hits like Babe Ruth on steroids.

Before you throw that brick, I will plead some of my thoughts on this. On the one hand, that post about the famous artist is not too badly written. I sincerely feel, at the bottom of my heart, that it has near-zero original content. But, as a reference tool, it has something going on. And, as time progressed, my search rank for that post and the image of Galaxy, by JP, began to rank as number one at Google. That is reality, as we count it in computer land. Hello, manna from cyberspace!

I quickly updated it to represent my current format for posts, and added the Pollock dripping paint vid from You Tube. And (you'd do this too, I hope) then I added a couple of big, fat links back to this blog at the top of the post.

All those hits, and a dollar, will now buy me a cup of coffee downtown. Don't hate me, outright, for my good luck, friend. Just hope that Google throws you a bone now and then.

Casey Klahn

abacus photo by chicobangs/photobucket.

The Dramatic Landscape

In The Draw, Green
9.75" x 9.75"
Pastel
Casey Klahn

At the Tinman Too in Spokane this Friday night, October 1st., from 5-9 PM, you can see The Dramatic Landscape, pastel images by Casey Klahn. The exhibit will hang throughout October, and next door at the Tinman Gallery will be bronze works and mixed media by renowned artist Harold Balazs.



Press - Spokane Visual Arts Tour

Gorge Shadows

Gorge Shadows

Pastel
Small
Casey Klahn

My Thanks

...to the following comment givers on my last post.

Jean
Don
Brian
Irina
Kathy
Joni
Lisa
John
Jen
Robin
Sara

This blog community keeps me going!

gif credit: wolfman.

First Place Award

Casey Klahn

Artist Casey Klahn, of Davenport, Washington, received the First Place Award in the Drawing category, at the Sausalito Art Festival, September 4-6, 2010. Klahn won this award for the whole body of work presented in his outdoor booth, which this year featured The Prairie Series of pastel landscapes.

The Sausalito Art Festival enjoys national and international prominence as one of the best fine art and craft venues. Established in 1952, it has become a premier annual destination event for collectors and art patrons.

Casey Klahn received the same award in 2009: First Place in Drawing, Sausalito Art Festival. His other awards include the Making a Mark Award for the Best Picture of a Place posted on an artist blog in 2009, and two Juror's Choice Awards, 2005 and 2007, in Fine Art from the Spokane ArtFest, jurist Michael Monroe.


The Prairie Series.
Sausalito Art Festival.
2010 Awards List.


Photo Credit: Lorie Klahn

Note to my readers: Regulars at The Colorist already know about my new award, but since I only snuck the news in as a photo caption I now have to provide this formal release to appease the self promotion troll. Thanks for your forbearance!

The Tinman Too

Showing in October at the Tinman Gallery in Spokane are mixed media works by Harold Balazs, and at the Tinman Too (next door) I will be exhibiting 15 - 20 pastel landscapes, including images from The River Series and The Prairie Series.

My one man show is to be scheduled in the next year at the Tinman Gallery. Also next year I will be showing in the City of Hoquiam, and at the Sausalito Art Festival.

Harold Balazs.
Northwest MAC, Harold Balazs.