Wild roses Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on canvas panel 12 x 12 inches
Persimmon Tree Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on linen 10.5 x16 inches
December in the Garden Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on wood 7 x 11.5 inches
Artnotes: Barometer
You know the pickens’
are slim when you cruise the spam file for interesting email.
We’ve had all weather this week – from below freezing to
torrential rain. Much time has been
spent indoors. The temperature has
varied 25 degrees Fahrenheit in 24 hours.
The barometer has swung from very dry to very wet.
Some years ago we bought my father an antique
barometer. I resurrected it from a drawer
while I was at his house at Thanksgiving, and brought it back with me. It’s a fascinating device, swinging back and
forth with the pressure. I can’t tell
if it is a mercury barometer or something more primitive. I love tracking the weather – I follow the
satellite predictions on the bbc weather site to determine if clouds will be
covering the coast or just Paris. Right
now, the only sun seems to be around Nice.
In the rain, I have been going to a number of art shows,
including the Van Gogh and Hiroshige shows
at the Pinacotheque in Paris.
Surprising and interesting: Van
Gogh’s impressions of the Japanese prints were unmistakable! The curator of the show took no chances that
you should miss the influence:
copies/details of the prints were placed directly next to the painting.
I was surprised just HOW similar the prints and paintings
were, at least from a compositional point of view. The exciting part was how Van Gogh took
something so incredibly controlled and injected mega-soul into it. Don’t get me wrong – the Hiroshiges were
wonderful pictures, too. Many people
thought the separate Hiroshige show was superior to the Van Gogh portion – it
included many more pieces, in any case and was less familiar.
Hiroshige’s work was all line and blocks of color (I think
of comics, in fact, and the paper they are printed on promotes the
comparison). His compositions are pure genius
and the colors are magnificent. But there
couldn’t have been two more opposite sensibilities: the over-the-top emotionalism of Van Gogh,
and the controlled understatement of Hiroshige.
Van Gogh sought that coolness “with a passion”. He pursued all things Japanese in hopes of controlling his
own tormented soul.
It was an exhibit that demanded more than the couple of
hours I gave it. I would have liked to
spend more time in front of Hiroshige’s snow.
But at the end of the day, I relate more to Van Gogh. Like the barometer my range is from stormy to
dry, with wild fluctuations in the middle.
Small Persimmon Tree Laurie Fox Pessemier Acrylic on masonite 8 x 15 inches
