July 10, 2012
After 30+
successful and creative years at Vidal Sassoon NYC, I am proud to share that I
have moved with my colleagues to the new, beautiful and pristine Salon SCK. See
us at www.salonsck.com
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
What I learned from Michelle Rick's Photograph "Giant"
August
6, 2012
"Giant" by Michelle Rick
"Giant" by Michelle Rick
By Arlene Sulkis
I like this photograph titled, “Giant” by Michelle Rick and I think it
is beautiful. In, his 15 questions; “Is
Beauty The Making One Of Opposites?"
Eli Siegel
describes Light
And Dark
“Does all art present the world as visible, luminous, going forth?-Does
art, too, present the world as dark, hidden, having a meaning which seems to be
beyond ordinary perception?-And is the technical problem of light and dark in
painting related to the reality question of the luminous and the hidden?”
I
think Siegel's description is dead on. We are struck by the dark mysterious silhouette, the outline of a building and the cylindrical shape of a water tower. This formidable black structure against that luminous sky with brilliant ominous clouds do present the world as visible, luminous, going forth. At the same time it also presents the world as dark, hidden, mysterious, making both clouds and structure even more formidable. What we see are black vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines. Geometry, with its specificity, meets glowing clouds.
There is a lightsome quality too. Look at the smaller poles, to the right of the tower, they almost look like two couples talking, looking out in awe, taking in the view. They seem to be walking towards the ladder propped up against the water tower.
Mr. Siegel asks, “-And is the technical problem of light and dark in painting” or in this instance, a photograph, “related to the reality question of the luminous and the hidden?” I think it is. Notice the the clouds, they seem to have more than one mood; warm and inviting, the other forboding and a little threatening. In fact, these clouds are like most people. A person can be cheerful and bright one moment and suddenly become sad and brooding the next.
The way light and dark are in this photograph has one feel dramatically, the mystery and wonder of the world. I thought I would be more mysterious by being illusive, especially with men. They never knew where they stood with me. I thought that would make me seem more appealing. Instead, I was filled with emptiness and self doubt, especially when everything seemed to be going so brilliantly. I remember being in the arms of a man who I thought I cared for, perplexed by a sudden nagging feeling, “Is this all there is?” I didn’t know that the emptiness I felt was caused by contempt, described by Eli Siegel as "Seeing oneself as more by making something else less." I wasn't enough interest in other people and I had a huge desire to impress them. In my mind, I made myself luminous while everything else was in silhouette.
I was longing to hear the kind, critical questions that I was fortunate to be asked in an Aesthetic Realism consultation. “Do you see other people as having the same reality you grant yourself or do you see them as shadows? And, "Do you like having a man dance at the end of a string?" My consultants showed me that what I wanted more than to glorify myself was to use every person to like, see meaning in and be affected by the whole world. Questions like these illuminated my conceit, making it possible for me to change, to have a genuine, deep, fellow feeling for other people.
The
black structure and glowing sky are both glorious. They each have more meaning and grandeur through their relation to one another. The cylindrical tower is affected as it is bathed in golden light. You actually feel the suns energy and heat radiating out
of that lovely graceful curve. Color seems to emanate from that place, in
undertones of pink and blue, making you look up in resplendent wonder. The
water tower is a strong, dark, opposing structure but it is surrounded by something much larger, the whole world. There is mystery as well as
brilliant luminosity and it is beautiful.
Michelle
Rick captures this dramatic moment which she describes as the “Golden
Hour.” This photograph has a heavenly quality.
There is something religious about it. It
captivates us, makes us look up in reverence. It is an arresting moment
that I am glad exists.
I am more grateful than I can say and it means my life to me to try to know the feelings of other people including, my dear husband, family, friends and colleagues. It is a privilege to be learning about myself through them and the great art of the world, making me better able to know and express myself.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Welcome To My Blog!
My name is Arlene Sulkis. I love New York City. It is where I live and work as a consultant and stylist in the beauty industry.
I am also a student of the philosophy, Aesthetic Realism, founded by the American poet and critic, Eli Siegel. I have a greater appreciation of all the arts, including music, which has enabled me to know myself more deeply through this important, life changing principle:
"All beauty is a making one of opposites and the making one of opposites, is what we are going after in ourselves."
When a person sees that the world and oneself have the same structure, the oneness of aesthetic opposites, it makes for the greatest awe and self respect. I feel keener, kinder and more alive!
I am also a student of the philosophy, Aesthetic Realism, founded by the American poet and critic, Eli Siegel. I have a greater appreciation of all the arts, including music, which has enabled me to know myself more deeply through this important, life changing principle:
"All beauty is a making one of opposites and the making one of opposites, is what we are going after in ourselves."
When a person sees that the world and oneself have the same structure, the oneness of aesthetic opposites, it makes for the greatest awe and self respect. I feel keener, kinder and more alive!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Lichtenstein's "Woman In Mirror"
I think this sculpture, “Woman With Mirror.” by Roy Lichtenstein is beautiful. I remember first seeing it at the Gagosian Gallery with Marcia Rackow, Aesthetic Realism consultant and teacher of the "Visual Arts and The Opposites class." This sculpture has in it what Eli Siegel describes in, “Is Beauty the Making One of Opposites?”
Heaviness and Lightness:“Is there in all art, and quite clearly in sculpture, the presence of what makes for lightness, release, gaiety?-and is there the presence, too, of what makes for stability, solidity, seriousness?-is the state of mind making for art both heavier and lighter than that which is customary?
This question is true and describes every inch of this sculpture. Lichtenstein flattens out this woman looking in the mirror, not for the purpose of taking away meaning but seeing the intense meaning she has. In doing so he makes this sculpture both heavier and lighter than that which is customary. Matter and space intermingle everywhere. Space is in her, of her, around her and represents nothing less than the whole world. In fact, space has as much weight as matter.
Heaviness and Lightness:“Is there in all art, and quite clearly in sculpture, the presence of what makes for lightness, release, gaiety?-and is there the presence, too, of what makes for stability, solidity, seriousness?-is the state of mind making for art both heavier and lighter than that which is customary?
This question is true and describes every inch of this sculpture. Lichtenstein flattens out this woman looking in the mirror, not for the purpose of taking away meaning but seeing the intense meaning she has. In doing so he makes this sculpture both heavier and lighter than that which is customary. Matter and space intermingle everywhere. Space is in her, of her, around her and represents nothing less than the whole world. In fact, space has as much weight as matter.
Lichtenstein masterfully encompasses the space as an integral part of what makes for the warmth and fullness of flesh, suggestion of body and luminous hair. He shows this woman having mind, looking closely and critically, replete with thought and human feeling.
There is lightness, release, gaiety along with stability, solidity, seriousness in the curved lines of her flowing hair, face, neck, outstretched arm and there is something jaunty in the lopsided mirror she looks into. Maybe, Lichtenstein was critical of a woman’s vanity. She looks into a mirror and sees emptiness, a void. This is the true result of a woman’s vanity. Yet, she looks into the unknown with dignity and courage. Is this sculpture a criticism of woman? Is Lichtenstein trying to give his criticism form? This sculpture cannot be summed up! I got more excited when I saw this!
In the ‘Everlasting Dilemma of a Girl,’ Eli Siegel writes: “Girls have always found it hard to know what they should be liked for. Of course, they have wanted to be liked for how they looked; but suppose they couldn’t feel that how they looked was the same as what they really were? Then there was something missing; and there were incompleteness and pain.”
I know personally when a woman is more interested in having an effect through how she looks she can feel intoxicated. But that tantalizing feeling always makes for a heavy and pervasive emptiness later.
One does not feel this woman’s gaze is narrow or vain for the purpose of having an effect. In fact, it is not she who we are seeing in the mirror at all. She is as mysterious and unknown as the deep dark, void reflected within the mirror. Is that void space or is it matter? It’s both! What we are seeing is the mystery of the world.
Lichtenstein shows that her beauty comes from something deeper, the courage to look and see meaning. I think Lichtenstein is trying to see meaning, too. There is an interplay of heavy and light everywhere through bronze and space. Her unknown thoughts are highlighted by the space, making you think about her. The white triangle behind her eye, while so small, is crucial and stands for something so large. Without that space, the intensity would be gone. That space has energy and shows that the whole world is not only around her but intimately of her. There is deep contemplation, a concentration that is so different from the focus we can have on ourselves at the expense of everything and everyone else. Who is she? What does she see? She cannot be summed up. She is deep and wide and takes in the whole world.
I am grateful for my continued study of Aesthetic Realism; that I feel I have a mind that I increasingly respect. I love Aesthetic Realism as it continues to teach me that I and everyone else are related to the whole world and the only way to feel beautiful is to see beautifully. My life has more weight and substance than I ever thought possible and I am grateful to feel that this paper represents my true self expression.
There is lightness, release, gaiety along with stability, solidity, seriousness in the curved lines of her flowing hair, face, neck, outstretched arm and there is something jaunty in the lopsided mirror she looks into. Maybe, Lichtenstein was critical of a woman’s vanity. She looks into a mirror and sees emptiness, a void. This is the true result of a woman’s vanity. Yet, she looks into the unknown with dignity and courage. Is this sculpture a criticism of woman? Is Lichtenstein trying to give his criticism form? This sculpture cannot be summed up! I got more excited when I saw this!
In the ‘Everlasting Dilemma of a Girl,’ Eli Siegel writes: “Girls have always found it hard to know what they should be liked for. Of course, they have wanted to be liked for how they looked; but suppose they couldn’t feel that how they looked was the same as what they really were? Then there was something missing; and there were incompleteness and pain.”
I know personally when a woman is more interested in having an effect through how she looks she can feel intoxicated. But that tantalizing feeling always makes for a heavy and pervasive emptiness later.
One does not feel this woman’s gaze is narrow or vain for the purpose of having an effect. In fact, it is not she who we are seeing in the mirror at all. She is as mysterious and unknown as the deep dark, void reflected within the mirror. Is that void space or is it matter? It’s both! What we are seeing is the mystery of the world.
Lichtenstein shows that her beauty comes from something deeper, the courage to look and see meaning. I think Lichtenstein is trying to see meaning, too. There is an interplay of heavy and light everywhere through bronze and space. Her unknown thoughts are highlighted by the space, making you think about her. The white triangle behind her eye, while so small, is crucial and stands for something so large. Without that space, the intensity would be gone. That space has energy and shows that the whole world is not only around her but intimately of her. There is deep contemplation, a concentration that is so different from the focus we can have on ourselves at the expense of everything and everyone else. Who is she? What does she see? She cannot be summed up. She is deep and wide and takes in the whole world.
I am grateful for my continued study of Aesthetic Realism; that I feel I have a mind that I increasingly respect. I love Aesthetic Realism as it continues to teach me that I and everyone else are related to the whole world and the only way to feel beautiful is to see beautifully. My life has more weight and substance than I ever thought possible and I am grateful to feel that this paper represents my true self expression.
Lichtenstein's "Moonscape"
I’m fascinated by and have come to love this silkscreen on Rowlux, 24" X 24" titled, “Moonscape” by Roy Lichtenstein, printed on metallic plastic that shimmers like aluminum foil. It is described as “A screen print on plastic.”
+1964+Rowlux.jpg)
In 1964, Lichtenstein discovered a new material called “Rowlux, a foil made of cellulose propionate with a metallic coating. He used it as his chief element in a series of landscape pictures he did from the mid-1960's. Unlike his usual motifs, these landscapes, are not derived from printed models but are rather free compositions of the artist’s. Nevertheless, they, too, reveal the stylistic features typical of Lichtenstein’s work: dots and black framing lines demarcating powerful color surfaces. The surfaces of the foil, shimmering in reflected colors, suggest depth and movement and make this coastal landscape exciting. Today about 100 works by Lichtenstein are known in this technique.”
I’m grateful to my husband who first brought it to my attention several years ago. Although Lichtenstein’s technique clearly describes depth and surface, I am going to take up the opposites of Light and Dark in # 13 from Eli Siegel’s 15 Questions: “Is Beauty The Making One Of Opposites?” It was a hard call, and while depth and surface weaves throughout this paper, light and dark spoke out to me in Moonscape.
I think this is true. We know this silkscreen is a moonscape by its very title, and, it has a moon. But what are we looking at it? Might it be an aerial view? It is abstract and mysterious in it’s luminosity and darkness. The deep, rich, bright shades of blue can be taken for a body of water or the blue sky. I know not which, as it is still a mystery to me.
I love the swirling, circular, luminescent blue that appears phosphorescently, having, as Eli Siegel states, “a meaning which seems to be beyond ordinary perception.” I get the feeling that this blue void is vibrant and alive.
The abstract land mass below or, possibly, dark cloud, looks rather sinister with its black, sinuous, thin, lines, curves and points. There is something eerily delicate about this black mass and while it accents the sinister, the flat, white abstract cloud above with the small, red benday dots have Lichtenstein's comic-book style. Here, the lighthearted and deeply frightening come together. The point where the cloud passes in front of the moon seems to twist in on itself like a thin ribbon. These benday dots are so characteristic of the work we are accustomed to seeing by Roy Lichtenstein.
I see a repetition of similar shapes; The cloud above and dark mass below, the circular shapes in the red dots, moon and shimmering round shapes in the blue luminescent background. If the large blue area is sky, it takes on the richness and motion you might find in the sea with it’s circular whirlpools and eddies. It is a mystery.
The luminous blue surface draws you into the depth and darkness through the gradation of shadows lit by the light of the moon. It is truly wondrous.
The rows of benday dots in crossing diagonal lines has one feel depth even while the cloud appears as a flat surface. The way the cloud spreads horizontally across the surface of the moon also makes for a feeling of depth and, at the same time, the moon is a white flat circle lighting up the sky. The flat, rich, abstract black mass in the foreground echos the shape of the cloud. It is clearly in front of the blue space which, again, makes for a feeling of depth.
Before studying Aesthetic Realism, I made reality flat by taking the meaning out of things. In doing so, I trivialized my own meaning. I wanted to be seen as smart and acted as if I knew more than I did. Deeply, I was terrified that people I had to do with would see right through me, that I was all fluff and no stuff. I would flit from one thing to another like a firefly, thinking I was the luminous one, not giving luminosity to anyone or anything else. On the other hand, I felt lonely and like a deep, dark, void, felt like an empty shell of a girl. I was ashamed feeling uneducated but I hid my feelings behind an affable lighthearted smile. I didn’t see going after knowledge as fun. I equated it with drudgery and saw it as taking up too much of my time and I longed to get back to something lighter and easier.
This work of art has what I so much needed to know. I am very grateful to Aesthetic Realism that I heard the criticism of my contempt, with humor and depth. In an early consultation, my consultants asked, “Do you see the depth of other people or do you see them as shadows? Would you like to appear on a stage as the star in your own show?” I had so much trouble remembering things. I didn’t know that I stopped myself from being affected because I was too busy trying to have an effect. This is what made it impossible for me to learn and have the facts of the world find a home within my mind. Because of my good fortune studying Aesthetic Realism and what I continue to learn in this class, my life has taken on so much more: weight, luminosity, richness and color. I feel more truly educated and I see it as an exciting, good time.
I discovered another silkscreen by Lichtenstein, titled, “Ohne Titel” (Seascape) described as “Gouache over collage with blue Rowlux foil, firmly mounted on cardboard. 1964.” This seascape, completed only one year before Moonscape might shed some light on his technique.
+1964+Rowlux.jpg)
In 1964, Lichtenstein discovered a new material called “Rowlux, a foil made of cellulose propionate with a metallic coating. He used it as his chief element in a series of landscape pictures he did from the mid-1960's. Unlike his usual motifs, these landscapes, are not derived from printed models but are rather free compositions of the artist’s. Nevertheless, they, too, reveal the stylistic features typical of Lichtenstein’s work: dots and black framing lines demarcating powerful color surfaces. The surfaces of the foil, shimmering in reflected colors, suggest depth and movement and make this coastal landscape exciting. Today about 100 works by Lichtenstein are known in this technique.”I’m grateful to my husband who first brought it to my attention several years ago. Although Lichtenstein’s technique clearly describes depth and surface, I am going to take up the opposites of Light and Dark in # 13 from Eli Siegel’s 15 Questions: “Is Beauty The Making One Of Opposites?” It was a hard call, and while depth and surface weaves throughout this paper, light and dark spoke out to me in Moonscape.
“Does all art present the world as visible, luminous, going forth?–does art, too, present the world as dark, hidden, having a meaning which seems to be beyond ordinary perception?–and is the technical problem of light and dark in painting related to the reality question of the luminous and hidden?”
I think this is true. We know this silkscreen is a moonscape by its very title, and, it has a moon. But what are we looking at it? Might it be an aerial view? It is abstract and mysterious in it’s luminosity and darkness. The deep, rich, bright shades of blue can be taken for a body of water or the blue sky. I know not which, as it is still a mystery to me.I love the swirling, circular, luminescent blue that appears phosphorescently, having, as Eli Siegel states, “a meaning which seems to be beyond ordinary perception.” I get the feeling that this blue void is vibrant and alive.
The abstract land mass below or, possibly, dark cloud, looks rather sinister with its black, sinuous, thin, lines, curves and points. There is something eerily delicate about this black mass and while it accents the sinister, the flat, white abstract cloud above with the small, red benday dots have Lichtenstein's comic-book style. Here, the lighthearted and deeply frightening come together. The point where the cloud passes in front of the moon seems to twist in on itself like a thin ribbon. These benday dots are so characteristic of the work we are accustomed to seeing by Roy Lichtenstein.
I see a repetition of similar shapes; The cloud above and dark mass below, the circular shapes in the red dots, moon and shimmering round shapes in the blue luminescent background. If the large blue area is sky, it takes on the richness and motion you might find in the sea with it’s circular whirlpools and eddies. It is a mystery.The luminous blue surface draws you into the depth and darkness through the gradation of shadows lit by the light of the moon. It is truly wondrous.
The rows of benday dots in crossing diagonal lines has one feel depth even while the cloud appears as a flat surface. The way the cloud spreads horizontally across the surface of the moon also makes for a feeling of depth and, at the same time, the moon is a white flat circle lighting up the sky. The flat, rich, abstract black mass in the foreground echos the shape of the cloud. It is clearly in front of the blue space which, again, makes for a feeling of depth.
Before studying Aesthetic Realism, I made reality flat by taking the meaning out of things. In doing so, I trivialized my own meaning. I wanted to be seen as smart and acted as if I knew more than I did. Deeply, I was terrified that people I had to do with would see right through me, that I was all fluff and no stuff. I would flit from one thing to another like a firefly, thinking I was the luminous one, not giving luminosity to anyone or anything else. On the other hand, I felt lonely and like a deep, dark, void, felt like an empty shell of a girl. I was ashamed feeling uneducated but I hid my feelings behind an affable lighthearted smile. I didn’t see going after knowledge as fun. I equated it with drudgery and saw it as taking up too much of my time and I longed to get back to something lighter and easier.
This work of art has what I so much needed to know. I am very grateful to Aesthetic Realism that I heard the criticism of my contempt, with humor and depth. In an early consultation, my consultants asked, “Do you see the depth of other people or do you see them as shadows? Would you like to appear on a stage as the star in your own show?” I had so much trouble remembering things. I didn’t know that I stopped myself from being affected because I was too busy trying to have an effect. This is what made it impossible for me to learn and have the facts of the world find a home within my mind. Because of my good fortune studying Aesthetic Realism and what I continue to learn in this class, my life has taken on so much more: weight, luminosity, richness and color. I feel more truly educated and I see it as an exciting, good time.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
I was arrested when my eyes first came upon Peter Paul Ruben's magnificent painting, “The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus.” I was captivated by the vibrant colors and wild composition.
At first, I saw bright color and commotion. As I looked closer, I saw that it had an organization.
I love this statement by Eli Siegel: "All beauty is a making one of opposites and the making one of opposties, is what we are going after in ourselves."
This is his description of Logic and Emotion in painting:
“Is there a logic to be found in every painting and in every work of art, a design pleasurably acceptable to the intelligence, details gathered unerringly, in a coherent, rounded arrangement?--and is there that which moves a person, stirs him in no confined way, pervades him with the serenity and discontent of reality, brings emotion to him and causes it to be in him?”
There have been times, mostly with men, where my emotions didn't arrise out of the logical facts, and likewise, the facts didn't always cause sufficient and proud emotion.
This painting puts logic and emotion together in a way that is beautiful and in a way we can learn from. As I began to look, I saw these opposites in so many more ways. It stirred and pleased me and at the same time I liked the logical progression of thought I had making for large, proud, emotions in me.
I read this description by Helen Gardner in “Art Through the Ages,” and became even more excited. Paraphrasing, she writes, This painting describes the abduction of two young, mortal maidens, descendants of the opulent Venuses of Giorgione and Titian. These voluptuous women are being abducted by the gods Castor and Pollux, who have fallen in love with them. Helen Gardner says, “The gods do not labor at the task of sweeping up the massive maidens... Nor, do the maidens energetically resist.... The figures are part of a highly dynamic, slowly revolving composition that seems to turn on an axis–a diamond-shaped group that defies stability and the logic of statics."
I was seeing just that. All of this tumult seemed to be captured in slow motion and the weight and position of the bodies seemed to defy gravity. Mr. Siegel says that in every work of art there’s logic to be found. It is seen in the “...details gathered unerringly, in a coherent rounded arrangement.” Seeing this was so satisfying.
Look at the awkward position of the man on the ground trying to hold up the woman, her full weight balancing on his knee, propped up by his hand under her armpit. The tension of his legs and feet are a test of his balance and strength. They create a triangle with its stable base. Weight and strength battle it out. At the same time, the central female figure is being supported by the arm and hand of the man above holding a red garment that is supporting her beneath her thigh as well as under the crease of her knee. This central, weighted figure has her body pushing against the already unstable man below making for even more tension. But, who is supporting who? Notice the man below has his hand on the shoulder of the woman above. If she were not there, I think he would fall. And look at the tension in the red garment. The man on the horse must be holding the other end.
A shimmering, gold garment rests on the ground, draped over the back of the maiden’s leg, laying motionless in the sun. This garment, along with the flowing red and black one, forms yet another triangle.
A cherub clings to the white horse for dear life while another nonchalantly hangs off the side of the brown horse, loosely holding the reign. Is he using his wings to help him stay in that position? He doesn’t seem at all bothered by the commotion around him.
The faces portray different emotions. The man on the brown horse has a concerned and longing look. He seems to be looking at the naked woman below, while she looks back at him, in fear. The man below also looks at her with lust. The central female figure, in her nakedness, yields utterly, gazing upward towards the heavens. A diagonal line, starting at the legs of the brown horse, following up through central figure, aided by her upward gaze and the bucking horse makes for a so much needed lift. If it weren’t for that diagonal line, the sheer weight defies the logic in this painting. Instead, she seems to be floating, suspended in space.
It doesn’t look as if the maiden below is as concerned with being raped as she is with being crushed. With all this going on, look at how their feet meet in the lower center of the painting. They meet ever so gracefully. There is tenderness in that graceful curved line between their feet as well as tension making for the uncertain possibility of their giving way. Also, look at how her arm and hand meet his back leg and foot. There is something delicate in the midst of all this ravaging commotion.
The verticality, horizontality, diagonal and curved lines, formed by the succession of heads, bodies, legs, arms, hands, feet, hooves, hair, wings, and garments, going this way and that way, makes for the highly dynamic, slowly revolving composition. that Helen Gardner describes.
Doesn’t this move and stir us in no confined way and pervade us with serenity and discontent of reality and doesn’t this bring emotion to us and cause it to be in us? I think that this is why this painting is so satisfying, both logically and emotionally.
I love studying the relation of art and life. It makes for pride and self respect and enables one to know with more confidence and conviction what we are going after is the oneness of opposites in ourselves.
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Welcome To My Blog!
The Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus
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Lichtenstein's "Woman In Mirror"
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Lichtenstein's "Moonscape"
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About Me
Arlene
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At first, I saw bright color and commotion. As I looked closer, I saw that it had an organization.
I love this statement by Eli Siegel: "All beauty is a making one of opposites and the making one of opposties, is what we are going after in ourselves."
This is his description of Logic and Emotion in painting:
“Is there a logic to be found in every painting and in every work of art, a design pleasurably acceptable to the intelligence, details gathered unerringly, in a coherent, rounded arrangement?--and is there that which moves a person, stirs him in no confined way, pervades him with the serenity and discontent of reality, brings emotion to him and causes it to be in him?”
There have been times, mostly with men, where my emotions didn't arrise out of the logical facts, and likewise, the facts didn't always cause sufficient and proud emotion.
This painting puts logic and emotion together in a way that is beautiful and in a way we can learn from. As I began to look, I saw these opposites in so many more ways. It stirred and pleased me and at the same time I liked the logical progression of thought I had making for large, proud, emotions in me.
I read this description by Helen Gardner in “Art Through the Ages,” and became even more excited. Paraphrasing, she writes, This painting describes the abduction of two young, mortal maidens, descendants of the opulent Venuses of Giorgione and Titian. These voluptuous women are being abducted by the gods Castor and Pollux, who have fallen in love with them. Helen Gardner says, “The gods do not labor at the task of sweeping up the massive maidens... Nor, do the maidens energetically resist.... The figures are part of a highly dynamic, slowly revolving composition that seems to turn on an axis–a diamond-shaped group that defies stability and the logic of statics."
I was seeing just that. All of this tumult seemed to be captured in slow motion and the weight and position of the bodies seemed to defy gravity. Mr. Siegel says that in every work of art there’s logic to be found. It is seen in the “...details gathered unerringly, in a coherent rounded arrangement.” Seeing this was so satisfying.
Look at the awkward position of the man on the ground trying to hold up the woman, her full weight balancing on his knee, propped up by his hand under her armpit. The tension of his legs and feet are a test of his balance and strength. They create a triangle with its stable base. Weight and strength battle it out. At the same time, the central female figure is being supported by the arm and hand of the man above holding a red garment that is supporting her beneath her thigh as well as under the crease of her knee. This central, weighted figure has her body pushing against the already unstable man below making for even more tension. But, who is supporting who? Notice the man below has his hand on the shoulder of the woman above. If she were not there, I think he would fall. And look at the tension in the red garment. The man on the horse must be holding the other end.
A shimmering, gold garment rests on the ground, draped over the back of the maiden’s leg, laying motionless in the sun. This garment, along with the flowing red and black one, forms yet another triangle.
A cherub clings to the white horse for dear life while another nonchalantly hangs off the side of the brown horse, loosely holding the reign. Is he using his wings to help him stay in that position? He doesn’t seem at all bothered by the commotion around him.
The faces portray different emotions. The man on the brown horse has a concerned and longing look. He seems to be looking at the naked woman below, while she looks back at him, in fear. The man below also looks at her with lust. The central female figure, in her nakedness, yields utterly, gazing upward towards the heavens. A diagonal line, starting at the legs of the brown horse, following up through central figure, aided by her upward gaze and the bucking horse makes for a so much needed lift. If it weren’t for that diagonal line, the sheer weight defies the logic in this painting. Instead, she seems to be floating, suspended in space.
It doesn’t look as if the maiden below is as concerned with being raped as she is with being crushed. With all this going on, look at how their feet meet in the lower center of the painting. They meet ever so gracefully. There is tenderness in that graceful curved line between their feet as well as tension making for the uncertain possibility of their giving way. Also, look at how her arm and hand meet his back leg and foot. There is something delicate in the midst of all this ravaging commotion.
The verticality, horizontality, diagonal and curved lines, formed by the succession of heads, bodies, legs, arms, hands, feet, hooves, hair, wings, and garments, going this way and that way, makes for the highly dynamic, slowly revolving composition. that Helen Gardner describes.
Doesn’t this move and stir us in no confined way and pervade us with serenity and discontent of reality and doesn’t this bring emotion to us and cause it to be in us? I think that this is why this painting is so satisfying, both logically and emotionally.
I love studying the relation of art and life. It makes for pride and self respect and enables one to know with more confidence and conviction what we are going after is the oneness of opposites in ourselves.
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Arlene
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