Charles Sheeler: Father of Precisionism

 

 In the way that each era has its own reflection in art, Charles Sheeler (1883-1965) represented the growth of industry and the American era. In fact, Sheeler is considered to be the founder of the American Modernism or Precisionism Movement.

 

 

He was interested in the interplay between photography and painting. It was the basis of his abstract leanings on portraying both rural and modern industrial scenes at their elemental geometric form. Hence, the use of Precision as to the style of the art movement.

 

From Sheeler's time in Europe, you can see in his paintings the inspiration of the Cubist such as Picasso and Braque. These works were more from the intellectual than the emotional as are the works of sentimentality found in pre-Raphael or the humanity of the Impressionists.

 

 

 

 

 Even his beloved farm takes on a certain precision in his art. Yet, there's a certain beauty to the deceptively simple, but fully identifiable paintings of Sheeler.

Finally, here's one that incorporates Sheeler's precision, but the unusual is the sense of movement:

Seurat, Signac, Van Gogh & Pointillism

When asked recently what was my favorite art period. I didn't hesitate. It was the very dynamic period from mid-19th century to the pre-WW 2. Perhaps because with the invention of the camera, artists were free to move from photo-realism to Impressionism, Japonisme, and Pointilism. So many new techniques arose in that period and have endured to this day.

It was seeing the famous painting by Georges Seurat (1859-1891), "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte" that the magic and science of Pointilism struck me. Close up, the painting is a mix of colored and indistinguishable dots, but as you move back, it becomes an outstanding representative scene. (Below is the painting at a closer view)

How do they manage to paint small areas of color or tones and yet create a portrait or a scene? It baffles me at the same time it creates a certain wonder.

(click on images to see an enlarged version)

 

 

By 1886, Seurat and Paul Signac (1863-1935) had mastered the technique and are considered to be the Pioneers of Pointilism. It was the optic science of the eye that blurs the overlapping dots into a single object. Today, we use the same optics for digital creations via pixels.Back then, it was mixing primary colors to create secondary colors. 

Other well known artist who experimented with Pointilism were Van Gogh, Monet, Pissarro, and Luce.Well, enough about the technique. Here's some of the more famous paintings as seen using optic science.

In this Seurat painting, you can see the dots at the very closest. At you move back, the blurring starts and the man begins to take shape in our vision.

Here is a closer view of the painting "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grande Jatte." (shown above at a greater distance.) 

 

 

 

The other pioneer of the technique, Signac, made expert works. For this blog, below is a close-up of his Pointilist technique followed by a bit of softening, which the eyes do naturally as the colors begin to meld together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, although Vincent Van Gogh was known more for his impasto works, here's one that shows his interest in Pointilism:

 

 

 

 

This technique is carried into contemporary times by artists like Chuck Close (1940-2021), who not only uses colors for his large portraits, but also black/white tonals to accomplish the same effect. He's successfully creates the blurring within tiny rectangles.

Indigenous People by Roseta Santiago

 

 This Monday was Columbus Day. It seemed a good time to pay homage to the Indigenous People, who had already had discovered this continent to be later known as the "Americas."

 

 

 

 

 An artist, who found inspiration in Native Americans, is Roseta Santiago (1946-). She came to know about the Pueblo people of New Mexico and, while not a native herself, found out more about the meaning of heritage as she painted their portraits, rituals and crafts.

 

 

 

 

The single subject for focusing on this blog is Santiago's portraitures. In them, you can see the masterful use of chiaroscuro (dark/light) lighting and the dignity of her subjects.