Part 4: Abstract Art: Research Point

Wassily Kandinsky

The above image, though not a finished outcome in itself, is readily recognisable as the work of Wassily Kandinsky. You can see the texture of the watercolour paper where the artist used a sketchbook to work out different colour combinations as a reference tool for later works. I can imagine this was a most useful piece of work: time well spent in researching how different colours worked against, or with, one another when seen together like this. It is a great example of how preliminary work is an important part of the process, and that rushing headlong to the finished article is seldom an optimal way to produce art. I will take from this the lesson to work up to a finished outcome using a sketchbook and to play around with colour and form. This, as well as useful and pertinent note-taking, will further enhance the effect of my outcomes as well as my process.

Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko is another artist obsessed with colour combinations. He used thin layers of different coloured oil paint to produce luminescent outcomes on huge canvasses. When hung in galleries and viewed, these outcomes produce, in me anyway, certain emotional responses, speaking directly to one’s subconscious. This is perhaps not surprising, as Rothko himself is reputed to have said that “Art, to me, is an anecdote of the spirit”. Seen here on this tiny screen the full import of these works is hugely diluted. As with so many works of art, you have to be there to fully experience the intended effect.

Jackson Pollock

There was method aplenty in Jackson Pollock’s “madness” here. The results of his famous drip technique are seen above. Again, the scale of this image has not translated well to a computer screen. A visit to the Tate to fully experience this piece is advisable. It speaks to me of graffiti art. There is a haphazard pattern in the movement of the punctured paint can as it deposits its contents over the canvas. This rhythm is analogous to the rhythm of life itself, or as its title says “Summertime”, the pattern is reflective of the seasons. Punctuated with primary colours, the black splashes are almost like an overly stylised font which attempts to communicate the unintelligible. It’s a fun, chaotic pattern, if that’s not too much of an oxymoron.

References:

Green and Maroon by Mark Rothko (no date). Available at: http://www.markrothko.org/green-maroon-1953/ (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Jackson Pollock: 100 Famous Paintings Analysis and Biography (no date). Available at: https://www.jackson-pollock.org/ (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Mark Rothko | Artnet (no date). Available at: http://www.artnet.com/artists/mark-rothko/ (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Mark Rothko | MoMA (no date) The Museum of Modern Art. Available at: https://www.moma.org/artists/5047 (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Tate (no date a) Jackson Pollock 1912–1956, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/jackson-pollock-1785 (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Tate (no date b) Wassily Kandinsky 1866–1944, Tate. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/wassily-kandinsky-1382 (Accessed: 17 April 2021).

Wassily Kandinsky – 610 artworks, biography, books, quotes, articles (no date). Available at: https://www.wassilykandinsky.net/ (Accessed: 17 April 2021).