Thursday 22 April 2010

W B Yates.


I was properly introduced to Yates by the artist Simon Fletcher. At school I had read the obligatory poem or two from his early collection 'The Wanderings of Oisin' (which I remember having contained totally unpronouncable Irish names), but the main armoury of his work only came to my attention in the late 60's/early 70's.

His 'Mythologies' (a Macmillan collection of 'short stories' published in 1959) is one of those books that I read time and again. It contains the wonderful Red Hanrahan and The Secret Rose stories (both from 1897). I recommend it to anyone interested in Irish folklore. I expect it's still available SBN 333 06780 0.

I chose the above portrait by John Singer Sargent (as an illustration) for two reasons. Firstly it's a good drawing. And secondly it demonstrates quite succinctly how close to 'slickness' Sargent could become; even his signature in the top right hand corner is studied, and mannered, in its execution. Being a 'slick' draughtman can be extremely destructive for an artist; one can very easily fall into the fatal trap of 'illustration'. Sargent is still regarded as a good journeyman portrait painter, but, on account of this unfortunate capacity, will never be seen as a 'great' artist.

Sargent's WBY portrait is the frontispiece for 'Mythologies', and I always think of the two works as being inseparable.
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15 comments:

  1. I don't care what anyone says! I love Sargent! He's a great artist! It's all a matter of opinion and I think the illustrators are great! Have you ever seen Arthur Rackham's work. How can anyone say he's not an artist just because he was a great illustrator? This is great because now I know who I'm going to feature for my next "Art History Moment" on my blog. I appreciate the inspiration. I haven't seen this of Yates before-so thanks so much for posting it and giving some background.

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  2. sorry to change the subject Cro but do you live anywhere near Puy-l' Eveque? It was near there that I attended a yoga retreat a few years ago. Loved the area!

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  3. About 20 Kms away. Nice old town perched on a hill overlooking the Lot river.

    Gosh, Linda, we're almost neighbours!

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  4. Hi Julie. I knew I would get some stick over my remark; but I stay with it. There is something about an overly 'good hand' that interferes with 'great' art. I spent over 5 years in various Art Colleges, and all the really talented draughtsmen that I encountered fell at the final hurdle. They could all very easily produce good looking work with their eyes closed, but it seemed to hamper content. I think that, without exception, all really great work is produced through hard work or even struggle. Slickness is attractive, but give me angst any day!

    I was practically raised on Arthur Rackham, but John Tenniel's illustrations of Alice are so much better.

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  5. By the way, Linda, I have a friend who, at this very moment, is in India on an advanced Yoga course. She already teaches in the area, but will be doing things much more seriously (if she can ever get a flight home). So, If you feel like doing another course!!!!!

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  6. I think that when we see art as 'slick', we are really finding it irritating. That's the trick with good art - not letting a virtuoso performance get in the way of the main point of the whole business. People talk about 'writer's writers' winning the Booker prize, or whatever, when writers decide on the winner and get very sniffy about J. K. Rowling. I find Salman Rushdie unreadable for that reason alone, and begin to see reason in the Ayatollah's vendetta against the bloke. Naughty but Nice.

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  7. P.S. Is Simon still banging on about Red Hanrahan? He was to me, about 40 years ago!

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  8. I've been down to stay with him twice in recent times, and he didn't mention him once. Great stories though; I'm pleased he did bang on, I'm reading them again at the moment!

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  9. I've always admired Sargent's work, slick or not. I've not seen this sketch of Yates. It's deliciously slick! :)

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  11. I messed up my other post! I hate that!!! It looks so ominous. Ooh, why did she erase it?

    The sketch is a bit 'front of the pencil box' isn't it? But I do see something exciting in here. I like the way his shoulder is thrown back; there's a sort of urgency in that stance. I like his forelock, it is kind of mussy, which matches the ridiculous bow that we all want to rip off his neck to set him free. And I like that he isn't looking up. HIs eyes are lost in the shadow. There are so many words back there, and he's thinking of them, right now.

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  12. Oh oh oh! I know what you mean about having too practiced of a hand. I can see what you mean about failing at the last minute but I take that with a grain of salt because I did terribly at the University of Utah art department and it almost ruined my art enthusiasm for life. Luckily I got smart and switched to art history and left my art alone for a while. But I think there is angst in people that you don't see. Case in point-at the U. of U. my art teacher told me that I would NEVER make it in art because I had never had anything bad happen to me. I have never forgotten that idiotic remark. He said that because I was always have been a very tailored and put together looking person but he didn't know I had had a very tragic childhood filled with more angst than he could ever imagine. Also, I may not have made it big time in the art world but that's all a matter of degree and opinion, don't you think? I may not be making wads of money like Thomas Kinkaide (not my favorite at all) but I do think my art fills a little nitch and from what I've learned in art I have shared for over 25 years (taught art to adults and students alike for 11 years and continue to teach on my blog). Hmmm. You knew, I'm sure, that I would have to make a few comments. I think the great illustrators may not be Picassoes but I would much rather have one of their paintings hanging than the other kind of art (ooops. Hope I didn't squish any toes for anyone that loves Picasso-sorry). I agree with what you are talking about Tenniel's Alice. That's the one I grew up on and she's Alice to me! Oooh. This is so much fun to have some good art discussions. Thanks!

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  13. Julie. Can I just tail this off by quoting what Tom Stephenson said above (he said it so much better). It's letting a 'virtuoso performance' get in the way of the real job which is the dividing point between 'irritation' and 'admiration'.

    No work TAKES AWAY from the vast arena that is creativity. Everything has its place and its 'market'. Maybe the huge blanket of UK art education teaches us to be overly critical.

    Thanks for your input.

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  14. Well said. Well said. Critical is not bad. Don't they call that discerning? It's a noble trait.

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  15. Both Sargent and Yates are sentimental favorites of mine so I totally dig this post.
    Warm regard,
    Simone

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