Visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. (08.03.17)
Prior to visiting The Metropolitan Museum of Art I had been told about and had seen imagery of the building on the internet and Television. However the size/layout of the building and the large, diverse collection of artworks and artefacts seen in person was unbelievable to experience because when walking throughout the architectural space/s it doesn't seem like its going to end.
Overall there was a large group of pieces that I felt inspired me both creatively and generally as a tourist, so I have decided to select a small group of pieces that I feel were the most influential and will subsequently benefit my studio practice the most.
Piet Mondrian - Composition, 1921 - Oil on Canvas.
This early example of Mondrian's geometric mode of painting called Neo-Plasticism, is a piece that definitely relates to my own practice of using vertical and horizontal lines to divide the canvas/surface into multiple sections. The way he uses thick black lines to divide the canvas into eleven different rectangles, some of which are painted in primary shades of red and blue is something I find visually very effective due its simplistic forms and hard edge composition. This is something I can relate to within my own working practice as I have used the same idea/process when using Vinyl Tape/s to design various sized compositions onto MDF boards. Within this piece Mondrian has used lighter hues alongside the primary colours by mixing them with white. This method of diluting his palette is something I haven't seen in the more recent pieces I have seen/researched previously so it brings me with the conclusion that he must of over time ceased this method in favour of expressing pure primary colour/s.
Neoplasticism: -
a style of abstract painting developed by Piet Mondrian, using only vertical and horizontal lines and rectangular shapes in black, white, grey, and primary colours.
Fritz Glarner - Relational Painting Number 64, 1953 - Oil on Canvas.
This piece by Franz Glarner (American born in Switzerland) clearly shows an influence and a visual reference to the practice of Mondrian. I hadn't previously heard of Franz Glarner before seeing this piece so the text that accompanied the piece was very beneficial for me in contextualising the piece. From this I became aware that Glarner indeed adopted Mondrian's simplified vocabulary of forms and colours, however he had decided to modify the severe geometry of the Dutch artists' by introducing diagonal lines. By doing this Glarner has therefore changed rectangles into trapezoids and created an irregular rhythmical pattern/s. I can also see that that Glarner has introduced shades of grey for the lines in contrast to Mondrian's use of black. These alterations I feel create spatial dimensions that communicate a sense of movement and vitality that evokes and encourages the thought of urban architecture and dynamism.
Burgoyne Diller - Second Theme, 1938-40 - Oil on canvas.
When looking at this by Burgoyne Diller (American 1906 - 1965) I could also see a clear visual reference to the abstract painting style of Mondrian's Neoplasticism. Influenced by Piet Mondrian's work of the 1910s and 1920s, Diller devised his own abstract formats of working within his studio practice in the 1930s. Divided into groups called "first, second, and third themes," Diller's three series explore the sense of movement generated by different arrangements of geometric forms within a square canvas.
Second Theme pictures, such as this one, feature a grid system with rectangular bands of differing widths extending across the canvas. This layering effect and contrast between colours I feel communicates a sense of depth and movement within the piece. This is made more noticeable and prominent as a result of the primary colours being placed upon a white background and use of sections of negative space between painted marks.
Burgoyne Diller - Second Theme, 1949 - Oil on Canvas.
Diller pursued the three compositional variants he had devised for his geometric abstractions for almost three decades. Most of these works are executed in bright red, blue, yellow, black, and white paint. However others (for example the one pictured above) are limited to black, white and grey as a way of emphasizing structure over dynamism. This piece was first shown in New York in 1949, and at the time Diller was well regarded in the American arts community; but shortly thereafter he was eclipsed by the American Expressionists as his highly controlled and intellectual designs seemed to differ from their emotional, gestural paintings.
For me looking at these two pieces, I feel my interest and creative focus is more drawn towards the Second Theme, 1938- 40 which I feel may be as a result of the sense of layering and inclusion of primary colours. As most of practice and pieces include vibrant colour and working with the idea of layers and depth I feel that in this informs my judgement in this case.
Something Else which I particularly liked when looking at three pieces, both in person and again in my photographs, is the use of a square canvas at varied scales: -
Piet Mondrian – Composition, 1921 – (49.5 x 49.5cm)
Fritz Glarner – Relational Painting Number 64, 1953 – (50.8 x 50.8cm)
Burgoyne Diller – Second Theme, 1938-40 – (76.5 x 76.5cm)
Burgoyne Diller – Second Theme, 1949 – (66 x 66cm)
This squared dimension of space is something I have been working with within my own practice with the various scales of MDF and Plywood for my canvas/ work surface. Since seeing how small Mondrian’s piece was (shown above) I made the decision on returning to my university studio to try working with a smaller 30 x 30cm canvas. Since doing so I feel it has made me put slightly more thought into the placement of each mark (Directional Lines), due to the more limited space and trying to achieve the right balance of negative space to marks.
Other pieces that I liked when walking around the Metropolitan Museum of Art included:-
Bradley Walker Tomlin - Number 11, 1952-53 - Oil on canvas.
Purely for the directional, gestural strokes and layering effect that visually relates to my exploration and experimentation of using a window squeegee to apply Acrylic paint to a canvas/ surface.
Donald Deskey - Lamp 1927 - Glass, chrome-plated brass, wood. Manufactured in New York.
I like this piece of design because of the response to the New York skyline in the form of the rectilinear puzzle like patterns on the two side panels of the boxy proportions. These seem to evoke a link to architectural forms within the compressed design. Visually look like the style of geometric abstraction that I like to explore within my own working practice and gives me a visual reference of what my work could look like in a sculptural context.
I also managed to get the opportunity to experience and see a wall installation of Sol Le Witt's work which had been created within the architectural space of The Met. I had previously researched and looked into his work and watched YouTube videos of his practice prior to visiting New York, so being able to see a Sol Le Witt piece in person was amazing as it allowed me to see it in its true physical context rather than on the internet in the form of photographs and YouTube videos. Something that I liked about the overall piece was the scale of the piece and the way the black and white stripes contrasted one another and created a collective composition of shapes which together expressed a sense of dimensional illusion.
