Hilary Guise on Gertrude Stein and her circle

South African-born, British art historian, painter and lecturer Hilary Guise was the most recent speaker at Waikato Decorative and Fine Arts Society. While her topic was Gertrude Stein, Hilary provided a snapshot of the life of the arts salon in Paris and the shift in artistic expression that predicted the horrors of World War I.

Gertrude Stein was born in Pennsylvania, USA in 1874. She was educated at Johns Hopkins University and moved to Paris in 1903, where she and her brother Leo became patrons of the arts. On receiving the proceeds of their trust account of 8000 Francs they bought contemporary art works including Gaugin’s and Three Tahitians, Cezanne’s Bathers and two Renoirs. When artists were included in the Saturday evening soirees at the Stein apartment, that signalled acceptance in the Paris art world. Over her life time, Gertrude Stein is reputed to have collected 105 Picassos and 75 Matisses.Picasso was a particular friend. His painting of Gertrude took over 90 sittings “and he still could not find the real Gertrude”.

Also in Stein’s realm were Braques, Rousseau, Matisse, Jewish writer and poet Max Jacob and Guillaume Appollinaire, the witty “illegitimate child of a wayward Polish aristocrat”. Avant-garde Californians moved into the same apartment building that the Steins lived. They were Isadora Duncan, who was breaking new ground in the world of dance, and her partner.

In 1907, Stein met her lifelong partner Alice B Toklas. Each evening, Alice would copy out what Gertrude had written during the day. A stream of consciousness writer, Gertrude did not use commas. She is reputed to have said, “You ought to know where to breathe without being told.” Gertrude bequeathed her writing to Toklas but the Stein family broke into the apartment and stole it, so Toklas did not ever come into possession of her inheritance.

At a time that painters represented beauty, Picasso embraced brutality and ugliness. At the Ballet Russe, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky were capturing barbarism and primitivism with their music and choreography.

Hilary said that to predict what is going to happen next in the world, look to what the artists are saying now. The sensitivity that contributes to artistic expression makes the world’s artists super-aware of where the world is heading.

Gertrude Stein, 1934

 

Charles Saatchi’s art museum

When Barry Venning lectured the Waikato Decorative and Fine Arts Society on Charles Saatchi’s art collection, he provided a wealth of examples. There were some that particularly resonated with me.  I didn’t necessarily like the works. These were the works that burnt powerful images in my mind. They were the works that provoked that seemingly unanswerable question – “What is art?”

I was grateful to Barry for revisiting his lecture and offering some detail about the works.

Kader Attia’s Ghost

Kader Attia’s installation from the back looks like a group of veiled Muslim women at prayer. From the front, the bodies are empty shells. Barry describes them as “devoid of personhood or spirit”.

Marc Quinn’s “Self”

 

Marc Quinn took a latex cast of his face, filled it with nine litres of his blood which was drawn off him a pint at a time every few weeks and frozen. The latex was then removed to produce this sculpture of frozen blood. Barry tells me it is quite beautiful. I can’t get past the thought of what the sculpture is made from to see any beauty in this creation. The idea makes me feel ill. Quinn aims to repeat the exercise every five years for the rest of his life.

The Little Artists, John Cake and Darnet Neave, who parody well-known contemporary art, produced frozen raspberry jam sculptures on lolly sticks and called their art works “Lick Yourself”. Well, there’s a way to put you off raspberry jam forever. What a revolting association with “Self”. Clever though! Really clever.

Marc Quinn’s “Alison Lapper Pregnant”

 

Quinn also sculpted Alison Lapper Pregnant. Alison Lapper was born without arms and with shortened legs. Quinn’s marble sculpture of her is 3.55 metres high and was exhibited on a plinth at Trafalgar Square until late 2007. The sculpture uses traditional material and style in conjunction with a non-traditional subject. By imitating the idealised Greek sculptural form with non-traditional subject matter, Quinn debunks the idea of the perfection of the human body. How authentic in this era of the airbrush.

Tracey Emin’s bed

I understand this installation is a reflection of Tracey Emin’s disrupted and disturbed life. A close-up of the detritus around her bed would, no doubt, be quite revealing.

Chris Ofili’s “No Woman No Cry”

Barry Venning also spoke of “No Woman No Cry”, which Saatchi did not acquire. “The Tate beat him to it,” said Barry. The title of the painting comes from Bob Marley’s song about being poor in Jamaica. Ofili’s painting refers to Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, who was killed by a gang of white racists when he was on his way home from school in 1993. The painting is a protest about alleged Police negligence. It was said that the Police did not take the investigation seriously and failed to collect appropriate forensic information. Finally, in 2012, the gang members were imprisoned, with two being convicted of murder. The Police, who tried to frame Stephen’s friend Dwayne Brookes (who had also been attacked), had to pay $100,000 compensation to Dwayne when it was found that the Metropolitan Police of that time were institutionally racist.

So, thank you, Barry, for bringing such a diverse and interesting collection to our attention. Entrance to the Saatchi Gallery is free. What a gift to those who live in London and those who travel there. Apparently the exhibitions change regularly, too, so revisiting would be most rewarding. For those of us who are far from London, it is worth spending some time looking at the website. For those who think I have everything and are short of gift ideas – feel free to visit the Saatchi shop and merchandise website. I saw all kinds of objects and art works I could see myself acquiring. You might find something for me to gift to you, as well!

So that was a brief taste of an infinitesimal selection of Charles Saatchi’s art collection. I challenge those who visit this post to offer a definition of art.

 

Barry Venning lectures on Charles Saatchi’s art collection

Associate Lecturer with the Open University, Barry Venning is an acknowledged expert on the artist JMW Turner. As well as writing a book on Turner for publisher Phaedon (a book which sold 27,000 copies), Barry has published a study of John Constable’s paintings. However, rather than hearing about Turner, WaikatoDFAS asked Barry to ask on another area of interest – the art works of Charles Saatchi. The committee settled upon the topic long before Saatchi hit the headlines for his treatment of Nigella Lawson. We decided to continue with the Saatchi lecture as, whatever the issues of his personal life, his art collection is interesting.

Barry Venning

Barry is in New Zealand touring as a NADFAS lecturer for the New Zealand’s Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. He looked a bit pale when, on Thursday, we told him the news that there had been a significant earthquake in Wellington, his next destination. We hope his journey is not proving too terrifying, as Barry has arrived in Wellington to speak both at Te Papa (New Zealand’s national museum) and at Wellington DFAS’s meeting. The region has continued to throw some unpleasant aftershocks. Barry will, no doubt, be pleased to be heading home to England when his lecture tour finishes in the next day or so.

Barry is an engaging lecturer – energetic, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He generously spent time with Kiwicommunicator the day after the lecture reiterating some key points.

About Saatchi – Saatchi started his work with an entry level job with an ad agency in London, clipping the firm’s advertisements from newspapers as proof to clients that their ad had been published. From there, he became a copywriter, with his early work largely based on other people’s copywriting.

Saatchi got together with Ross Cramer to form Cramersaatchi. His ground-breaking “What if men could become pregnant?” ad belongs to this period.

Saatchi’s pregnant man ad.

 

In 1970, with his brother Maurice, he formed Saatchi & Saatchi. Maurice worked on the account of Michael Heseltine, who challenged Margaret Thatcher. The British electoral system deemed television election ads to be unlawful, so Maurice’s clever billboard campaigns for Heseltine put Saatchi & Saatchi on the map. The business acquired other companies and expanded worldwide, including to Auckland, New Zealand where the agency ran from a stunningly redeveloped industrial building in Parnell.

In 1969, Charles Saatchi started collecting art works – not one off pieces, but entire exhibitions of up-and-coming artists in Britain. Saatchi became an influential patron whose purchases, according to Barry Venning, could instantly add a zero to the sum artists could charge for their work. His decision to offload en masse the work of a given artist could, on the other hand, instantly drop the value of the artist’s work.

Barry took DFAS guests through a number of art works which have shown at various times in Saatchi’s gallery. The images he shared were sometimes bewildering, often disturbing, nearly always challenging. New Zealand art commentator Justin Paton offers the view that a possible criteria for assessing artistic value is the level at which an art work is thought-provoking. On that basis, look out for some interesting works in Kiwicommunicator’s next post.

Indulging in the fantasy of living the Baroque lifestyle

Reporting on last week’s lecture by Dr Annie Gray to the Waikato Decorative and Fine Arts Society in Hamilton is daunting – especially since Annie tells me she’s likely to read this post, which is an insubstantial recollection of a lecture so rich in highlights.
Annie – a UK food historian, consultant to stately homes and television personality – took us back to the Baroque period to experience the lifestyle of those who lived at that time. Explicit about the term “lifestyle”, she told us that poor people have a “life” and only the seriously rich have a “lifestyle”. Her lecture was on “how to get by if you are very rich indeed – preferably as someone with family money”. Taking the leap of imagination to picture myself as a seventeenth century somebody was hugely appealing.
First of all, we went on the real estate tour, with an examination of the merits and limitations of various stately homes. Baroque was the beginning of consumer culture, Annie told us – the period when Hampton Court Palace was built and when Versailles was “the ultimate model”. Baroque architectural style featured a “preponderance of angels” – somewhat at odds with my usual preference for minimalism, but oh! I could see myself as the lady of the house living in such magnificence. I was intrigued by the notion that the English had to create their own version of French style, to reflect Protestantism rather than Catholicism. Looks like the angels squeaked in, regardless.
Then there was Blenheim, where landscaper Capability Brown flooded over 40 rooms to make the lake.
As if the title of palace was insufficient, the Howard family named their home Castle Howard. According to my mother, we are (rather distantly!) related to the Howards, an infinitesimal claim to roots that go back to Castle Howard that fitted rather too  comfortably.
The lady of the house evidently had serious responsibilities. In a period that predated feminism by several centuries she was the property manager, the HR manager and had the taxing job of finding the perfect mate from the right estate for her beautiful daughter and who would not demand too much in the way of a dowry. I wonder what her husband spent his time doing?
As the lady of the house, my outfit would have had stays that fastened down the back of the bodice. Poor women’s stays fastened down the front – as they did not have a maid to help dress them. Annie dresses up in costumes of this period and assures us that they are quite comfortable – the perfect way to have a fashionable nipped in waistline.
Then there was the food (not at all conducive to nipped in waistlines) – hare pie, complete with the head of the hare, and luxurious piles of fruits in syrup. Now, instead of having just a knife with which to stab their food, the rich also had a fork, which made the serving of syrupy dishes so much less messy.
Working as a researcher and consultant, Annie helps those with historic sites maximise the potential of kitchens and dining areas. Over drinks the night after her lecture, Annie regaled me with relative ease with which she could skin a calf’s head as opposed to a boar’s head. She is one hands-on consultant! For those visiting the UK during 2013, there is a list of Annie’s lectures on her website (though some may not be open to the general public?). Attending one of Annie’s lectures could well be one of the most entertaining, informative, and very English experiences you could have during your visit.

The image above is from the internet. The picture is of Annie in costume we taken when she visited Kenilworth to train members of the tearoom catering team on techniques and recipes that would have been cooked at the castle at the time of Robert Dudley.

Cassandre’s advertising posters

At a recent Decorative and Fine Arts Society (DFAS Waikato) meeting we were privileged to hear Charles Harris lecturing on the work of Adolphe Jean-Marie Mouron, known as Cassandre. Harris is a multi-award winning creative director who worked in advertising agencies in countries such as the UK, USA, Australia and Singapore. He was involved with creating posters for brands such as Nestlé, Kraft, Sony, General Motors and Shell. With his own expertise as a creative, he was an articulate and credible advocate of Cassandre’s advertising art.

During the 1930s, Cassandre created advertising posters that epitomised the Art Deco period. I was intrigued to learn that the term “Art Deco” was not coined until 1960. It is an abbreviation of “Expositions des Arts Décoratifs et Industriel”, which was an exhibition that took place in Paris in 1925 to celebrate modern living. Cassandre’s posters do, indeed, celebrate the new forms of transport of his time.

Harris showed us more recent advertising which referenced Cassandre’s famous steamship poster (shown here) – but it simply did not have the drama, flair and imposing lines of this artwork.

Cassandre was known for inventing typefaces that were integral to his poster designs. Don’t you love the economy of the shapes of the lettering in this advertising for Nord Express? As someone who writes advertorial for a living – I am blown away by the economy of words. The image, the lettering, and the limited word count are all so powerful.

There was something so familiar to me about this poster. Did I grow up seeing it in my mother’s glossy magazines? or on billboards? I had not previously understood the pun – Dubo (Du beau – handsome), Dubon (Du bon – good), Dubonnet (the drink, Dubonnet). Sheer genius!

Sometimes committee work yields some thrilling rewards. As a DFAS committee member I drove to Auckland to pick up Charles and Marilyn Harris (on the right and in the middle of the image) to bring them to Hamilton for the Charles’ lecture to DFAS members. We had lunch at the home of Fred and Angela Dobbs. Fred was formerly a principal with McCann Erickson and a major player with Lockheed. I was in awe, sitting in on their conversation.

Sustainable futures

Dr Priya Kurian lecturing to Awatere Club members.

Monthly Awatere Club meetings introduce us to a range of topics delivered by experts in their field – areas of interest that we may not otherwise learn about. Topics this year included Dr Kirstine Moffat talking about “Stories of the New Zealand Piano” (great to see her book on this topic at Paper Plus a couple of days ago), Constable Lexlei Taylor inspiring us with her work with disadvantaged young people through the Big Brother, Big Sister programme, Graeme Polley talking about his work as an air crash investigator for insurance companies, and Ian McMichael talking about the widening role of pharmacists in delivering primary health care.

This month’s speaker was Dr Priya Kurian, University of Waikato, whose address was titled In Search of a Sustainable Future: A Feminist Narrative. By taking us through her own academic and professional journey, Dr Kurian introduced us to interlocking thoughts on the environment, gender, power, racism and bureaucracy. She described her inter-disciplinary work as “border crossing.

“When you come up against borders you see how they leak and seep into each other,” she said.

The website www.ashgate.com encapsulates her research themes more aptly than I am able to: Her “work opens up a path to understand, evaluate, and unpack the deep-rooted gender ideologies that shape understandings of and approaches to the environment and that, more broadly, influence political processes, power relations, and access to knowledge and resources.”

The University of Waikato website states: “Her research interests include environmental policy and politics; sustainable development; women, gender and development; public policy; race, gender and postcolonialism; science and technology politics; and media and politics.”

“As a social scientist I am committed to objective research – but all research is inherently subjective, shaped by our own values,” Dr Kurian says.

Dr Kurian took us through her own professional life, starting as a journalist with The Times of India in Mumbai. She was involved with writing about the Save the Narmada Movement, a grassroots group objecting to the development of a dam which would displace many marginalised people. In the face of the Movement’s protests, the World Bank withdrew funding for the project. (The project did go ahead, without World Bank input.) The project highlighted for Dr Kurian how public policies can destroy people’s lives, culture and land, through “the upholding of technical rationality and narrow economic values as a priority”. People’s culture must remain at the centre of development, she says.

A six month award to work in the USA led to her undertaking a Masters degree in political studies and PhD at the Purdue University. From there she was invited to work at the University of Waikato in 1996.

It was embarrassing to hear of Dr Kurian’s experience of racist treatment at bureaucratic level – jumping through hoops with the NZ Immigration Department to prove she had a working, everyday knowledge of English, with a degree in English Literature and a PhD from an American University apparently being insufficient evidence. With the abuse meted to her on a personal level, it’s a wonder she stayed. New Zealand boasts of egalitarianism. There is much that happens in our country to challenge this blithely stated assumption.

Dr Kurian touched briefly on the effect of nanotechnologies on our lives – the unknown and unpublicised dangers and promises – and went on to share some of her work with Shama:Hamilton Ethnic Women’s Centre Trust, a group that works to create societies that are socially, culturally and environmentally sustainable. Shama is a group that “challenges the pervasive barriers that ethnic women face”. It provides culturally appropriate support, advocacy and programmes to be a source of strength and empowerment for ethnic women.”