jenna brand

In today’s Lessons in Modern Art for the Modern Quilter, we mix it up with the “Wild Beasts!” … It’s Fauvism!

From about 1899 – 1908 a group of artists get even more bold with their color choices and the abstract nature of their art.  The compositions of these paintings were simpler to accommodate the unnatural and vivid colors.

Portrait of Madame Matisse. (The green line) – Henri Matisse – 1905

There was no concern for if the colors were “realistic,” but rather if the paint choices represented the mood the artist was trying to convey.  Here, the colors of the paints were chosen for symbolic purposes and to stir emotion.

La danse (second version) – Henri Matisse – 1909 – 1910

See the works of: Henri Matisse, André Derain

La Gerbe – 1953 – Henri Matisse

I want to include these pieces here, eventhough they were not created until the 1940s and 50s.  In the 1940s Matisse became sick with cancer and had to undergo several surgeries.  Life in a wheelchair did not hinder his art, as Matisse began to create beautifully vivid paper-cutout pieces called gouaches découpés. 

I’ve always thought these pieces would make fantastic applique quilts  : )

The Fall of Icarus – Henri Matisse – 1943

Koi Pond Quilt by Pat Merkle

I also wanted to include a picture of this brilliant quilt (blogged here – image used with permission) as an example of the power of color choice.  This is a beautiful blanket, made all the more stirring by it’s use of highly contrasting solid fabrics. 

 Although perhaps not unique to Modern Quilts, the saturated nature of solid fabrics common in Modern projects reflects the appreciation for vivid, bold colors found within the Fauvist movement.

Key Sources: theartstory.org and metmuseum.org

As Impressionism and Post-Impressionism guided painters towards more abstract shapes and away from the glorification of the past, another movement was well underway.  The Arts and Crafts movement is dated from the 1860s – 1910.   As galleries and exhibitions continued to value the ornate and ostentatious, artisans started looking for ways to increase the beauty of a home with simple, purposeful, and well-crafted items.   Here materials mattered, and function mattered, and ornaments were secondary or viewed as unnecessary.   There was a reliance on bold colors and vivid patterns that were exciting without being over-decorated.

Library table, 1904
William Lightfoot Price

The handicraft gained appreciation as a reaction against the over-mechanized, industrialized tones of the time.  One person creating one good from start to finish was rare in a world where factory lines assembled endless bits of products.

During this movement, we see a trend occurring in the world of painting during 1890 – 1905 that has been classified as “Art Nouveau.”  In these paintings we see artists using organic, flowing lines based on what they saw in nature, but creating this style with bold lines and shapes.

See the works of: Gustav Klimt

See more of Rossie’s quilt here…

Look at these paintings and see how they are filled with modern quilting patterns.  With the wabi-sabi crosses, squares and triangles, certainly we can link our quilting movement to this era in history.

After learning more about the Arts and Crafts movement, I had greater appreciation for this quote from the Modern Quilt Guild:

“Modern quilts and quilters… make primarily functional rather than decorative quilts”

Indeed, our projects are not overly ornate.  Whereas many art-quilts may employ beading, wires, and glue as decoration, the Modern Quilt is meant to be comforting.  Even if hung on a wall as decoration, these blankets are made to warm a space (literally and figuratively).  There is a respect given to the “homey” nature of the quilt, rather than an undervaluing.  And certainly any quilter can appreciate the valuing of the individually created versus mass produced.   The admiration of the individual is especially evident in the world of modern quilting, as improvisational piecing and free-form design means more blankets are made without patterns and can therefore never be precisely recreated.

The Post-Impressionists emerged in the 1880s and lasted primarily throughout the 1910s.  Can rebels rebel from the rebels?  Of course!  They do all the time and such was the case with the Post-Impressionists.

“Moulin Rouge: La Goulue” – 1891
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

The Post-Impressionists reacted against the “en plein air” naturalism of Impressionism, and wanted to explore the use of abstract form and pattern – relying less on nature and more on the personal experiences of the self.   A style emerged from this unofficial group of painters showcasing more saturated, simple colors and more abstract forms.

The popularity of the camera was a participating factor in the push towards abstract art.  In 1900 Kodak created the Brownie, an affordable box camera that could be easily operated. Now many people could own a camera and quickly create accurate portraits with a snapshot, but a painter had the infinity of imagination to represent personal emotions.

See the works of: Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh

Paul Cézanne – Study of Trees, 1904

Looking at this painting, I definitely see a Modern Quilt.   The colors are more isolated from each other, there is space to breathe in the composition, and in a sense it appears to be just a glimpse of what we can imagine is a never-ending vision.   This painting goes beyond the canvas borders.

Is there a sense within the Modern Quilting community that, when looking at the precision of traditional quilts, there‘s a bit of “I can’t do that” or maybe “I could, but I don’t want to!”  That’s what comes to mind when I think of the inundation of portrait photography versus abstract art.  Maybe there’s a part of “I can’t compete, so why play” that leads to abandoning elaborately pieced, meticulously joined traditional quilts in favor or pursuing the loose nature of improvisational piecing, or large-scale piecing.  Moreover, I believe there’s a grander sense of “that’s been done – let’s try something new!”

Key Sources: theartstory.org, metmuseum.org, kodak.com

In today’s Lessons in Modern Art for the Modern Quilter, we’ll look at those who could be called the founders of the Modern Art movement, the Impressionists!

For context, here’s what most prestigious paintings looked like pre-Impressionism.  These are representations of Classicism, Neoclassicism, and Romanticism:

Molière – Nicolas Mignard (1658)

“Venus Induces Helen to Fall in Love with Paris” – Angelica Kauffmann – 1790

Eugène Delacroix, Death of Sardanapalus, 1827,

From the 1870s – 1890s there was a longing to break from the traditions imposed by academic artists.  The academics valued meticulous details and thought works must looked polished without any visibility of brushstrokes.

The Impressionists sought a new way to paint that would better reflect the “now,” rather than idolize historical moments, figures, or religious icons.  This was a time after great social upheaval (especially in France) and there was an emphasis on the new, modern way of life.

Impressionists looked to capture a moment on their paintings – the brush strokes were hurried and remained visible in the final product.  The traditionalists at the time thought their worked looked unfinished and were insulted. Another drastic change was the color pallet used by the Impressionists – light, airy colors were valued above the dark rich tones of traditional artists.

These new painters embracing this radical style found it very difficult to be accepted by art galleries.  Rejected by the prestigious art houses of the time, the Impressionists had to find their own ways to exhibit their work.

See the works of: Monet, Manet, Degas

Monet – “Westminster Bridge” – 1871

Look at the use of “negative” light-colored space in this painting by Claude Monet, and the unbalanced composition of the docks.  The imprecision with how he depicted the boats in the water – there is a freedom from accuracy in favor of emotion.

Can we, as Modern Quilters, relate to this desire to step-away from traditional notions of quilting techniques and the traditional quilt composition?  When I think of traditional quilts, I see the meticulous piecing, and this is juxtaposed to the loose compositions of modern quilts.  The nature of repeated block patterned quilts can create a dark, rich tone to a traditional quilt whereas the use of sashing and negative space in modern quilts creates a lighter pallet.  And what can be said about reaching out to the blogosphere in order to find a community willing to embrace the experimentation of modern quilting?  Although traditional quilt guilds may not have “rejected” members for embracing a Modern style, there is comfort in finding a group of like-minded artists rather than remaining an outlier – for many of us this meant turning to the Internet and forming our own Modern Quilt Guilds.

Key Sources: theartstory.org and impressionism.org