Day 342 - More abstract paintings




 May 22, 2023

The paintings in Gallery 910 present examples of Cubism (Gris, Picasso), Surrealism (De Chirico, Chagall), and Futurism (Gino Severini, Joseph Stella).  It's also of interest to see an early (1915) Pointillist painting that Diego Rivera made in 1915, when he was a student in Paris.

Several paintings again raise the problem of how to "read" a nonrepresentational painting to which the artist has affixed a name. Max Weber called his large 1915 canvas, which measures about 40 inches high and 66 inches across,  "Athletic Contest." I have to say that, had I not read the placard that accompanies the work, I would not have had the least idea what inspired Weber's title. Having read it, I suppose I can see a group of runners at the top right, but the placard also mentions a pole vaulter clad in a striped tee shirt; I have no idea where this is. I try to guess what qualities of an athletic contest Weber was trying to capture - strength, speed, for example - but I don't see these, either. The canvas looks too congested and busy to suggest rapid forward movement, and the palette of earth tones and greens is one I associate with repose, not momentum. 

I also don't understand Joseph Stella's 1914 painting entitled "Coney Island. " I suppose the blues and greens in this tondo painting, which measures about 48 inches in diameter, might evoke a seaside setting. But I don't recognize any of the structures (the roller-coaster, for instance) that make Coney Island distinctive - and yes, Wikipedia tells me that Coney Island had an amusement park in 1915 as well as today. Again, I'm at a loss.

But I'm most bewildered by Severini's 1915 painting entitled "Dancer=Propellor= Sea";  I don't recognize any of these elements. I do, however, like the combination of straight lines and swelling curves and the rainbow of colors  that range in intensity from pale to strong.  The canvas conveys a sense of dynamism  that is enhanced by the unusual diamond-shaped frame. Maybe I should just stop trying to guess what the artist saw or was thinking of and instead simply let myself respond to the forms and colors of abstract compositions.

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