Thank you for the introduction to Arcimboldo. New to me. These pictures brought to mind the grotesque.
Many, many years ago I wrote a really long paper on the grotesque, mostly as it is expressed in literature. In researching the paper I had to analyze Wolfgang Kayser's "Grotesque in Art and Literature".. His definition of the grotesque, "Its images most often embody distortions, exaggerations, a fusion of incompatible parts", would seem to describe Arcimboldo's pictures. I find these to be jarring, even unpleasant. But they are interesting--I've already looked up his bio and other work.
I'll never visit Vienna (though I was there briefly once I didn't see the Museum), so this tour was very much enjoyed. I love the virtual tours Steemians take me on.
I looked up "the Grotesque in art and literature" and found "commedia dell' arte" mentioned. This reminded me of a book from Anne Rice (Vampire chronicles) where she used the theme. In wiki it is said:
" ... the Commedia dell'arte is a theater, which
masks and types and not individuals and their development,
Watching a play and becoming uneasy is probably a great compliment for the artists. The non pleasing aspects of art always made me kind of angry but I must admit this art forms stuck to my mind and I remember them much more than the pleasing works. Which, of course, I also like.
Happy that you found @vieanna's blog.
Yes, I like this blog very much. When I was younger, I saw a cross-cultural relationship between uses of the grotesque in literature. My focus was on ETA Hoffmann/Kafka/Borges. I found Kayser (I read him in German!) to be very insightful. He took a long view, which I appreciate, and tried to correlate the use of grotesque imagery with historic events. I believe (do I remember properly?) he concluded that during times of disruption artists (visual and literary) express the disruption by distorting reality. I looked up Commedia dell'arte, and sure enough it blossomed during the time of the plague. I don't know if this proves Kayser's thesis, but it certainly is an interesting coincidence. Thanks for drawing that to my attention. Sometimes labels can throw us off, but then we see the substance (mannerism, surrealism, grotesque, Commedia dell'arte, for example) is the same.
Thanks for that very interesting commentary. I learn every day on Steemit, particularly if I communicate with certain people :)
I too have heard that provocative art flourishes most when there are times of great unrest. The small art stages in times of war and insecurity still distracted people from their worries for a short time. Since there is always some unrest in the world, there will never be a lack of cultural expressions. I have always been interested in art, less in the creators and I have never noted down their names - which is a gap in my knowledge. I didn't read books about the artists of their respective epochs, but I encountered them as indirect references in novels by authors who were inspired by them. Your clues reminded me of them, so I can thank you for making me acquainted with the names. On youtube I watch countless tutorials that show the artists at work. It's like eating a good meal. One watercolor artist I can recommend to you is Gary Tucker.
He is wonderful. Thank you! These tutorials will be very restful for me, almost like meditations. I think art is all about seeing, about vision. Of course, the artist needs to be able to coordinate hand and eye, but first the vision has to be there as a guide, through the whole piece. What looks like nothing to us in the beginning is always there for the artist. Magic. Thanks so much Erika for the recommendation.
Yes, isn't it a gem? I rarely find such good watercolor artists on youtube. But this one is exceptionally skilled not only in painting but also in commenting and give meaning of his art. He is from NY, I guess. So one day you might meet him at his favorite spots. You'll find out soon where those spots are when you follow him for a longer time. Thank you for appreciating.
I would love to see him in person, though I would never speak to him, I believe. But who knows? Sometimes I am driven by enthusiasm and surprise myself.
🙂
Thank you for your comment. I am very pleased that you have discovered a new, interesting artist because of my post.
For me Arcimboldo is a master of the grotesque, the paradox and the deception. His paintings are irritating, but also very fascinating when you get involved with them. He was an exponent of Mannerism, a style of the Italian High Renaissance in which allegorical or enigmatic representation was an essential element.
Of course, I've read about Mannerism, but never really knew anything about it. I went to Google and put the names Hieronymus Bosch and Arcimboldo together. Sure enough, there was an exhibit in France last year that featured the work of Bosch, Brueghel, and Arcimboldo. That must have been something to see, and experience.
Yes, your blog opened ideas for me, areas to explore. This makes life not only more interesting, but also more compehensible, I think, as we see the relationships between cultures and generations. Your blog was indeed very fruitful for me. Thank you!
Because you mentioned Bruegel: last year there was a really great exhibition here in Vienna about this artist, whose work I really appreciate. I reported about it here. For someone interested in art, Vienna is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.