Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Friday, March 29, 2013
Thoughts On Vermeer's "Woman In Blue Reading A Letter" on Loan at the Getty Museum
by Gregg Chadwick
"It seems appropriate that a gesture so paradigmatic of Vermeer's art, should appear concerned with the weighing and balancing of light itself."
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| Johannes Vermeer Woman In Blue Reading A Letter (Brieflezende vrouw) 18 5/16" x 15 3/8" oil on canvas 1663-64 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest) |
"It seems appropriate that a gesture so paradigmatic of Vermeer's art, should appear concerned with the weighing and balancing of light itself."
Currently on view at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, is Vermeer's haunting painting Woman In Blue Reading A Letter. On loan from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Getty is the artwork's last stop on a world tour before returning to the Netherlands for the reopening of the Rijksmuseum on April 13, 2013. The painting is on view at the Getty through Sunday, March 31, 2013.
The Getty has thoughtfully installed Woman in Blue Reading a Letter amidst paintings by Vermeer's Dutch contemporaries. On a recent visit to see the work at the Getty with my friend, art conservator René Boitelle, we both were struck by how modern Vermeer's painting looks in a room full of other 17th century paintings. Both the cinematic quality of Vermeer's art and the painting's rich harmonies in blue seem to carry the work forward into our time. Also, the mystery of the image gives space for the viewer to enter into the scene and to create a sort of pictorial meaning out of the clues presented.
This is what we appear to see:
It is morning. A woman fresh from bed, she still wears her nightcoat, stands before a window quietly reading a letter. It is a cool, wintery Northern light. The light from the window provides only a hint of warmth in a scene limned by blues. The woman's flesh is grayed with transparent glazes of lapis lazuli, as is the wall behind her. Reds seem to have been banished from the composition. Did Vermeer plan to add layers of color to this scene or did he intend to leave an image in blues?
On the wall in this blue room is a map quite similar to one printed by the Dutch artist and mapmaker Claes Jansz. Visscher in 1652. The map depicts Holland in the 17th century and brings to mind thoughts of seafaring and trade - major Dutch commercial activities then and now.
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| Claes Jansz. Visscher Map of Holland Third State published by his grand-son Nicolaas II |
Just as twitter, text messaging, and e-mail now dominate written communication, in the 17th century the personal letter became the preferred means of transmitting thoughts and ideas to close acquaintances, friends, family, and lovers. Of course official and legal correspondence had long been in use, but the discussion of private thoughts, feelings, and desires in epistolary form came into fashion during the 1600's along with a rise in middle class wealth and literacy in the Netherlands. I can't help but wonder who the letter is from. Is the map a clue? Is the letter from an absent husband? Lover? Did she receive it recently? Or did she pull it like a treasure from the open box on the abstracted table in the foreground? She reads with rapt attention. Perhaps this is her morning ritual - to each day reread the words her love left for her to cherish until his homecoming. Vermeer, amazingly allows us to witness her private moment of strength and serenity.
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Johannes Vermeer Woman In Blue Reading A Letter (detail) (Brieflezende vrouw) 18 5/16" x 15 3/8" oil on canvas 1663-64 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest) |
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Monday, January 28, 2013
Slow Looking With Peter Clothier
by Gregg Chadwick
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| Peter Clothier Leads A One Hour/ One Painting Session photo by Joanne Warfield |
Peter Clothier's important new book Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art guides the reader seamlessly through the history, process, and ideas behind his One Hour/One Painting sessions. Clothier's development of One Hour/One Painting began with the realization that along with most museum or gallery visitors, he increasingly spent more time looking at the information label on the wall than at the artwork itself. To combat this habit, Peter began to spend an hour silently and inquisitively gazing at one work of art. Much influenced in recent years by Buddhist thought and practice, Clothier combined elements of meditation and contemplation in these sessions and found more profound and rewarding experiences.
In a One Hour/One Painting session, Peter Clothier invites small groups of participants to sit in front of a single artwork for a full hour in a gallery, museum, or studio environment.
Clothier recently hosted One Hour/ One Painting sessions during the Diebenkorn: The Ocean Park Series exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art and at the LA Louver Gallery. Peter, also, held a session (see video below) in my Santa Monica Airport studio. Clothier began as he usually does with a brief introduction describing the hour to take place and then gently guided the participants by explaining the principles of closed-eye breath meditation, how to relax and refresh the eyes, and provided encouragement to rid the mind of expectations and pre-judgments. For me and most of the participants that evening, the hour moved quickly as Peter led us through alternate closed and open-eyed moments. As Clothier explained, "this was individual work without initial discussion or interaction and allowed each participant to experience the artwork as fully as possible, without interruption." At the end of the hour, however, Peter invited responses and a rich discussion of the experience followed.
Peter Clothier's Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art is written in clear, supportive language that illuminates art and meditation. Clothier seeks to achieve a harmony of mind, heart, and body in his life and writing and Slow Looking provides rich examples for us to learn from and follow. In the book, we are encouraged to seek a pure visual experience with art through a beneficial process of contemplation, stillness, and serenity. Slow Looking also provides access to an audio and a video demonstration of a One Hour/One Painting session that invites readers to try it out for themselves. Highly recommended!
Video Demonstration
Made along with participants at Gregg Chadwick's studio in Santa Monica, this video was filmed live by David Lowther. It provides a full length example of Peter Clothier's One Hour/One Painting sessions and demonstrates the techniques involved in this guided meditation and contemplation.
Past venues & subjects for Peter Clothier's One Hour/One Painting events :
1. Pasadena Museum of California
Art—“The Matterhorn from Zermatt,” Edgar Payne
2. LA Louver—“ Echo Home,” Joe Goode
3. Laguna Art Museum—“Spring Day,”
Clarence Hinkle
4. Lora Schlesinger Gallery—“I’ve
Been Dating Recently,” Michael Beck
5. William Turner Gallery—“Sun
Biscuit,” Ned Evans
6. Gregg Chadwick Studio—“ A Balance
of Shadows,” Gregg Chadwick
7. LACMA—“Montauk Highway,” by
DeKooning
8. MOCA—“Untitled,” Mark Rothko
9. The Getty—“Christ Entering
Brussels,” James Ensor
10. OCMA—“Untitled Works,”
Richard Diebenkorn
11. Hammer Museum—“Dr. Pozzi at Home,” John Singer
Sargent; “Trees in the Garden,” Van Gogh
About Peter Clothier:
Peter Clothier has a long and distinguished career as an an internationally-known art writer, novelist and poet and describes himself as "an aspiring Buddhist who looks at art, books, and the vicissitudes of life." Clothier enjoys a world-wide following for his blog, The Buddha Diaries and is a contributing blogger in The Huffington Post. He lives and works in Southern California. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Artscene, ARTNews and other publications. He also hosts a monthly podcast entitled "The Art of Outrage," on ArtScene Visual Radio.
Peter Clothier's latest books are Persist, Mind Work, and Slow Looking.
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