It’s All In The Eyes
A million faces, two million eyes
What do they think of, in their million lives
And where they’ve been and the reasons why
They’ve had to laugh or smile or cry
Normally, the art I’m drawn toward is not that which focuses on definible objects. I generally prefer abstract art that leads my brain down a path but allows it to wander where it feels like, instead of being told what to believe. Yesterday at the Art Institute though, the faces in the paintings and sculptures were pulling me in. What I was thinking about was not what the people in these pieces were thinking or feeling, because those people are mostly fictitious - but what the artist was thinking and feeling while he created the piece. What was the motivation? What was he trying to get the observer to think and feel, or did that even matter?
Maybe because I’ve been taking so many photos lately, and because I love to paint, and because I surround myself with such creative, sensitive people - the actual artists have been more intriguing to me this trip than the work they produced. I keep trying to get a feeling for what Max Weber, Diego Rivera, or Joel Sternfeld is/was truly like as a person based on what I can tell about them through their art. I suppose I do that a lot anyway, I certainly do while tasting wine. I love to try to assess the winemaker’s personality based on what flavors they try to accentuate and what they try to laud about their wine. Do they use a lot of new oak? Big tannins? Subtle nuances? Fine balance? What does that say about them as a person?
I suppose I’m becoming a humanist in my old age, or maybe I’m just realizing that I’ve always been a humanist and it’s okay to allow other people to see it.
From The Art Institute of Chicago
From the Smith Stained Glass Museum
August 1st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
That painting of the lady with the shawl looks like Robert Henri’s work, I’ve always enjoyed his paintings,, and his writings for that matter. I would have loved to be under his tutelage. He really knows how to paint with substance, like a sculpture almost; you really feel like the people he paints are there in a definable “bulk” you can visually poke, hug, or sit and commune with. Maybe it also helps that almost all of his portrait subjects are very humble “real” people that interest him, not monetarily affluent people commissioning him to paint them. So in that sense alone, they are more “accessible”.
I’m glad your Chi town trip has been so enlightening! Or at least “sensual” in that matter.
Adam
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:54 am
Adam - you are absolutely right, it is Robert Henri. I loved the light and warmth in her eyes, and the counterpart painting lower down of her husband. She has a very compassionate face. The titles are “Herself” and “Himself” apparently those are terms of endearment in Ireland for a husband and wife to call each other.
-B