My creative lesson 44 - Seeing the beauty in abstraction
1 November, 2020
It was one of my painting heroes who opened my eyes to the beauty of abstract art.
I am a serious fan of Picasso, even though he was such a misogynist, but it wasn't him who helped me to get abstract art.
It was Vincent van Gogh.
More or less 19 years ago (!) I was lucky enough to visit the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam. The curators there arranged his paintings in chronological order. So first we see the dark and somber paintings of his early work, such as the Potato Eaters.
Gradually our Vincent started to fall in love with colour and light and then we see his paintings such as Sunflowers, the Starry Night and Cafe Terrace at Night.
He loved the colours yellow and blue and often used them
"There is no blue without yellow and without orange, and if you put in blue, then you must put in yellow, and orange too, mustn't you?"
As you walk through the Van Gogh art museum, it is very clear that his paintings became bolder in color and also way more textured.
Along with his timeline in the museum, you see how colour and texture (and some lines) are just about the only things IN his paintings. Just look at his last paintings, Tree Roots and Wheatfield with Crows.
In abstraction 101 in the art world we learn that in an abstract work of art, the artist removes anything that is not necessary. If the artist wants us to only see textures, or colour or shape - then that is the only thing that you will see. Everything else is stripped away.
Who cares about the shape of a tree when the message of the artwork is about the colours of the leaves, or the rough texture of the bark.
As he painted his glorious paintings one after the other, Vincent started to see what is really important and that is what he painted. And this is what he taught us to see it too.
A few brown lines is enough for us to understand that the road ends in the wheatfield. We know that the blots dark-blue tells us that a thunderstorm was approaching. The wing-shaped black paint tells us that a flock of crows was eating in the wheatfield until something startled them and they took flight together.
And this I think is where the beauty of abstract art lies. It is the ultimate form of interactive art. Vincent van Gogh didn't just paint what he saw, he painted what he wanted us to see. He hoped that we would look at his paintings and understand that the dark-blue paint means that a storm is coming.
It is said that Vincent only sold one painting while he was alive. Today, not only is each of his paintings worth millions, they also inspire, delight and awe art lovers all over the world.
We cannot reach back in time to tell him how much his paintings mean to us today but we can give his gift forward to those who come after us.
We can make work that strips away everything that is not essential. Work that takes the viewer by the hand and says "Look".
"Look at this pattern."
"Do you see the matches?"
"Does the pattern intrigue you?"
"Do you see the play of light and dark?"
So what DID I learn this week?
Abstract art is not just a pretty picture to look at. It is a two-way street that requires the viewer to know certain things such as the shape of birds in the sky or what matches look like. And then it goes further. After seeing it and understanding the short-hand clues, the viewer also has to add her own interpretation.
If she thinks that storms are scary, she will find that van Gogh's painting is ominous. A person with OCD will find the patterns made by the matches different from each other, less say matchless 😁.
Abstract art is so amazing because the artist invites us to be part of the creation of the piece and NOT just the viewer.
