Abstract
Abstract
Representational painting requires and imaginative leap, however modest, to transport the viewer into the fictive world of the painting. Whilst it is reasonably straightforward to grasp the extent to which the subject matter of a picture might have been dealt with in an imaginative manner, it is perhaps more difficult to acknowledge how the physical construction of the painting might have arrisen as a consequence of 'visual imagination'. It can be tempting to divorce subjectmatter from the means by which that subject matter is imagined through the application of paint to surface. When looking at a painting in reproduction it is understandable that the iconography of the image can take precedence over the means of execution and the materiality of that image. This paper will attempt to redress that balance by examing works by Lucian Freud and Odd Nerdrum in order to demonstrate how factors including composition and touch have been utilised and exploited to enhance and invigorate the creative and imaginative potential of an art idea.
Aims:
The aim of this paper was to demonstrate how the 'materiality' of painting in both Lucian Freud and Odd Nerdrum can be shown to be evidence of an imaginative form of visual enquiry.
Objectives:
Through direct comparison of seminal works by both Freud and Nerdum I attempted to find common ground in two artists who are rarely if ever compared. Whilst on one level they are diametrically opposed in terms of ambition and intention, I can demonstrate that by virtue of a shared belief in the importance of primary source material (working from life) they both attempt to reconcile objective and emotional reality (Kuspit 2019).
Representational painting requires and imaginative leap, however modest, to transport the viewer into the fictive world of the painting. Whilst it is reasonably straightforward to grasp the extent to which the subject matter of a picture might have been dealt with in an imaginative manner, it is perhaps more difficult to acknowledge how the physical construction of the painting might have arrisen as a consequence of 'visual imagination'. It can be tempting to divorce subjectmatter from the means by which that subject matter is imagined through the application of paint to surface. When looking at a painting in reproduction it is understandable that the iconography of the image can take precedence over the means of execution and the materiality of that image. This paper will attempt to redress that balance by examing works by Lucian Freud and Odd Nerdrum in order to demonstrate how factors including composition and touch have been utilised and exploited to enhance and invigorate the creative and imaginative potential of an art idea.
Aims:
The aim of this paper was to demonstrate how the 'materiality' of painting in both Lucian Freud and Odd Nerdrum can be shown to be evidence of an imaginative form of visual enquiry.
Objectives:
Through direct comparison of seminal works by both Freud and Nerdum I attempted to find common ground in two artists who are rarely if ever compared. Whilst on one level they are diametrically opposed in terms of ambition and intention, I can demonstrate that by virtue of a shared belief in the importance of primary source material (working from life) they both attempt to reconcile objective and emotional reality (Kuspit 2019).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Apr 2019 |
| Event | The Representational Art Conference: Imagine - Ventura, United States Duration: 31 Mar 2019 → 4 Apr 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | The Representational Art Conference |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | TRAC2019 |
| Country/Territory | United States |
| City | Ventura |
| Period | 31/03/19 → 4/04/19 |