Rendering 3

              Abstract or Realistic Painting

The author of the article is Evelien Nijeboer, artist since 1991. It was published on the web site creativespotlite.com The article provides some artistic research on color, modern art history and other aspects of painting.

The author points out 2 main categories of art "abstract" and "realistic". Realistic paintings are immersed with abstract aspects like color, composition, forms and texture. Abstract art always has some new and creative referral to our memory of sensory perception. Evelien explaines that when you paint realistic, you need some abstract skills to make good paintings; and in abstract painting, you also need to have some realistic painting skills. When we make realistic paintings, we can play with the mood of picture by choosing specific subjects, props, or a specific time of the day. According to the text the main difficulty is that it's hard to perceive natural state. You only have to relate to your canvas with your own body as referring material. Nijeboer emphasizes that you only have to relate to your canvas with your own body as referring material. In addition to abstract art painting, it does make a difference if you take a naturalistic subject and paint it in a new way, or if you paint really abstract and try to generate meaning. Besides painting becomes interesting where realistic and abstract painting are connected.

So, the author comes to the conclusion that concepts like 'realistic' and 'abstract' are concepts that remain dead when taken as given objects, but they come alive when you connect them to each other. This kind of objectivity is what gives the real value of art. The body is the key. And Evelien Nijeboer hopes that maybe it's time we start to use it.

To my mind abstract painting is closer today than realistic. It has a very clear artistic challenges. There is enough history for generalizations, and also contains an infinite chain of differences. It is more accessible than realistic. I think that realistic painting is for “gourmet”.

William Somerset Maugham "The Moon and Sixpence"

Summary, 14-25 chapters

Crabbe returned to England. He realized that Strickland never come back, and he does not care about the opinion of him and of his paintings. Strickland's family could not believe that he left them for the sake of art, considering his passion a nonsense. In the end, Mrs. Strickland announced that she did not want her husband to come back and decided to earn her living herself.

5 years later Crabbe decided to live in Paris. He met his friend, an artist Dirk Stroeve. In a conversation Crabbe happened to discovere that they both know Strickland. Dirk considered him a genius, even in spite of the fact that his wife Blanche did not like because of bad manners. Meeting Strickland again, Crabbe felt clearly that Strickland was possessed by painting, however he didn't acquire popularity.

Christmas arrives, and Dirk decides to invite Strickland, who stayed alone. When Crabbe and Dirk visited him they found that Strickland was seriously ill, and they worried if they leave him alone, he would die. Dirk wanted to take him to his apartment to give him the necessary treatment, but Blanche was against this idea. She was afraid of Strickland and was convinced that it would bring misfortune to their house. But in the end, after Dirk's long persuasions and Blanche's hysterics, she agreed.

Rendering 2

Japanese Painting

The author of the article is Dieter Wanczura. It was published on the web site www.artelino.com, August 2003. The article provides the information about the The art of Japanese painting.

In the beginning of the article the author tells about the history of Japanese Painting. According to the text all forms of art had been under the influence of the Chinese culture. Gradually own Japanese styles were developed and painting schools were established. Then Wanczura notes that after the opening of Japan to the West (1868-1912), the early years were marked by an exaggerated embracing of Western art. Then Western art was condemned. However in 20th century there were establish good relations with other countries.

Further the author points out Painting Schools and Styles, tells about its history and development. The first one is Suibokuga. It is the term for painting in black ink. The 2^nd is Kano painting school, which used bright colors and introduced daring compositions with large flat areas. The 3^rd school is Tosa-ha, specialized on small miniature formats in book illustrations. The next is the Nanga style, landscapes and natural subjects like birds and flowers for a cultural elite. And the last one is Shijo school, characterized by subjects taken from people's everyday life.

Further Wanczura reports that Japanese painters used a wide variety of media over the centuries. The 1^st is horizontal scrolls called emakimono, the oldest form of paintings. The 2^nd is vertical scrolls called kakemono, which comes closest to the Western framed canvas painting. The next is byobu, used for decorating of temples and palaces. Sliding doors, called fusuma were another media for Japanese painting. And the last are shoheiga and uchiwa.

In the next subparagraph of the article the author points out several subjects, which are used in Japanese paintings, such as shiki, meisho, monogatari etc. And in the last paragraph Wanczura gives the reader the Japanese Painting Glossary.

So Dieter Wanczura comes to the conclusion that the art of Japanese painting is full of mesmerizing Asian charm. But it is also a subject that not always easily accessible for Westerners.

As for me, I am fond of Japanese culture, especialy Japanese paintings. They are quite unusual, magnificent. They reflect specific culture and traditions of Japan, so uncommon for us.

Rendering 1


                 AFTER THE FLOOD IN PORT-MARLY: ALFRED SISLEY

    The author of the article is G. Fernández. It was published on the web site www.theartwolf.com. The article provides the information about the great painters of Impressionism, especially about Alfred Sisley.

    The author points out that when talking about Impressionism, an error is often committed when assigning to this movement a series of painters who nothing or almost nothing had in common with it, or or others who, despite having felt an early attraction to the new movement, soon separated from it. Fernández also consider those who, though being generally considered as representative members of this movement, can not be called "pure impressionists''. He points out three painters and fixes his attention on Alfred Sisley (1839-1899).

    The author gives the reader some information about this painter and his art. According to the article Alfred Sisley was above all a landscape painter. He painted several canvases depicting these floods in Port-Marly, but the two most outstanding examples are those showing the river's waters around a wine shop in the Rue of Paris. Contrary to most of the paintings depicting natural disasters, Sisley did not add to the composition any tragic or catastrophist element.

    Further the author reports that Sisley was a member of a wealthy family till the Franco-Prussian war, which bankrupted his family, sending him to a poverty for the rest of his life.

    So Fernández comes to conclusion that Sisley saw the floods in the quiet town of Port-Marly as a reflection of his own life, troubled, overflowed.

    I like Sisley's art. He depicted nature puting the whole soul into his works. His painting ''Flood at Port-Marly'' reveals an important and main part of his life. It is my favourite painting of Sisley's works.

William Somerset Maugham "The Moon and Sixpence"

Summary, 1-13 chapters

The narrator, Crabbe, knows a man named Charles Strickland for a several years, and many years later, Strickland becomes a famous painter. Crabbe decides to write a book about Strickland, and he talks about what he remembers of his experiences with Strickland. He also goes around Tahiti where Strickland lived his last years, and the narrator hears the stories of various people who remember Strickland. For most of Strickland's paintings, he is anti-social, and considered by all to be without talent, so it is a great surprise when he turns out to be a painting genius.

Crabbe first meets Strickland through his wife, Mrs. Strickland. Crabbe is a young writer in London, and Mrs. Strickland loves hosting parties for writers. When Charles leaves his wife, she sends Crabbe to Paris to beg him to come back, certain he has left her for another woman. When Crabbe confronts Strickland, Strickland says that he does not care about his wife and children, he doesn't love them. Strickland lech for painting pictures. So Crabbe isn't able to convince him to return home. Strickland was unshakeable.

My pleasure reading

Year 1, Term 1: Ernest Hemingway "To Have And Have Not"

Year 1, Term 2: J. K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone"

Year 2, Term 3: J. K. Rowling "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"

Year 2, Term 4: Kazuo Ishiguro "Never Let Me Go"

Year 3, Term 5: Daphne du Maurier "Rebecca"

Year 3, Term 6: Jane Austen ''Sense and Sensibility''