Morandi and Latour

Welcome, I’m glad you’re here.

These two painters may not seem like a natural pairing at first look, however I think looking at their work together is a worthwhile discussion. This is because through them I find an incredible dialog about how simple, the crazy magic that is painting can be

It kind of goes like this,....

As I pursue my artwork on a daily basis I find that I need a rotation of projects. So, I do, I rotate through several pieces, often in different motifs. This allows for drying and looking time, it also adds some variety which helps creative flexibility. Still life is one of the genres I include in the mix. But,... that still doesn't answer the question of why still life in the first place…..? 

The answer is really quite simple. The reason I continue to find myself fascinated with the still life is this:  Endless Variation.

If you take the basic elements of a still life painting composition, there are only a small number of actors/settings/props needed for the illusion to begin. Now consider the variables involved in the process of painting from observation (lighting situation, paint treatment, composition, detail vs general). Multiply this by the variables present in even one human artist involved in the act of painting. And suddenly, there seems to be an endless variety of outcomes. 

One painting device they both make use of is a purposeful dialog between detail and generalization. This can be seen in several areas including the handling of the relationships between the detail in the flowers against a minimal background. 

Notice how both painters keep that almost solid color background alive with the subtle texture and paint quality used in that big open space. Similarly,  there is thought given to the design and composition of the horizon line created by the table. The curved arc in the Morandi and the slight angle and corner in the Latour both create a sense of visual tension and create just enough of a place, or scene for the actors.

Second, and more important to me is that somehow, even with all the speed of media at hand today; something so captivating about a single image persists. It amazes me that a painting can hang so completely still and confident unto itself; that it creates a silence that cuts through the overwhelming din of life bringing us right back to the here and now. Using its power to draw people across the room in an act of visual poetry.

In looking at these two painters side by side as I do for inspiration and guidance. It is important to bring up that this is about connections not competition. As both Artist and Viewer, we so often take the cheap bait, the sucker punch that is, “Who’s Better?”, and so quickly fall into that trap. Take this opportunity to view these two artists in a different way. See them as different voices, both chasing a similar inspiration in their search for communication through a visual language. 

Oddly, Latour who was more of a traditionalist in his time, was embracing the same color, compositional and paint ideas more commonly associated with his impressionist contemporaries; who were seen as a more modern force in that time. 

Similarly while Picasso and de Kooning and others battled their way through the mid-century, midlife crisis of the art world. Morandi found a very modern aesthetic in commonplace objects that silently speak volumes to the persistence of life.

In this way,  we can see that often ”Ideas are in the air” so to speak, many people are aware of their presence. The differences come down to how these ideas are interpreted by the artist and integrated into their artwork.    

I see quite modern ideas in Latour that feel like a direct pathway to Morandi across the great divide of two world wars and drastic social and political change surrounding the turn of the century. That connection is the experience of looking at their work

There is something meditative about working from observation. I create a dialog between the subject, my brain, and the image I’m creating. A dialog about searching for the image at hand on that day. What I’m looking for in the act of painting is something that speaks to me as being individual and just different enough to deserve consideration. 

I think that it is through this dialog that the emotion gets mixed with the reason, and the perception of a mood or emotion becomes embodied in the painting at hand. Creating an image that speaks from the emotional space of that day. I experience this same sensation when I view their work, especially in person. 

Through Morandi and Latour I find the confidence and inspiration of a shared search for communication and moments of visual poetry. 

As always thank you for joining me here, 

Jamie