The essay about 'The Palette - John Borg Manduca'

John Borg Manduca was interested in Art as when he was a student at St.Edward`s College where his participation as a water colourist in the Gainsborough Commonwealth Competition. In this competition he came in the top ten and from there he starts his artistic career. From every painting he was being judged by different poetic and romantic artist. Basically he always paint when he had the mood and he inspired mostly from the French Impressionists, from Turner and most of all from the great Russian marine artist Ivan Aivazovsky.

In the Sixties Manduca had the first experience of looking at the beautiful and inspirational parts of Malta. He was inspired from many paintings and “The Malta Suite” that was published by Editions Electo.  Malta was discovered from different artists such as the British Artist Victor Pasmore, J.MW.Turner, Edward Lear and more. Manduca was also interested from Ian Hamilton Finlay, from the history of ideas and the first two subject titles that he did in the Palette Drawing were ‘Fishing Boat’ and ‘Oil Rigs’. He did several sketches that they were very modern and original. He didn`t used any colours or something but only black colour. The shading was brilliant as how he applied it and how he painted these boats and oil rigs were abstract.

This is a sketch that Manduca did of a boat.

A sketch of an oil rig.

If we look at Manduca`s canvasses were influenced from the Impressionist Movement and there are four particular artists that they were focused to form and build both the grammar and language. They are Cezanne, Monet, Renoir and Pissarro. Manduca seem to have interested from them from his land and seascape compositions, in both painting technique and handling of form and colour. He had another influential work that he was focusing on the neo-classic tradition mostly from transfigured war machines. These drawings were titled ‘Allegory and Metaphor, The Hamilton Finlay Collaboration, Drawings’. These drawings were also seen as a rendered war machines iconography and they were all blessed by Finlay`s verbal magic touches.

A sketch of a transfigured war machine that it is a canon.

Another Fascinating works were the ‘Landscapes of Memory, Sun-Lit Stones and Shadowed Streets’. Manduca`s paint strokes were marvellous and he produce a sensual tonal images that shows an artistic townscapes. He used light colours, faded painting, seen as an abstract and also shows a movement from the brush strokes. I like the fact that he shows a feeling of calm and also shows the different weather on the paintings. These paintings were also shown the interests on the geometric forms and shapes.

A view of a building near the boats.

Another view of a building near the nature.

A view of a church.

The last work that is shown on this book is very interesting and the subject was about ‘Waters of an Island, The Architecture of the Sea and The Dance of the Waves’. Manduca`s work that was about seas are not the subject he view, but he wants to make a personal translation of the vision of his mind`s eye that he creates an abstract compositions that were shown like a textured surfaces and woven colours. The mood was about seas and also from angry storms.

The wave.

A view of some waves and a boat.

Some other waves.

From now on John Borg Manduca did many other works and he says that he is tired but happy, doing other works because he always wanted to create or do something artistic paintings and drawings.

Impressionism

Impressionism was the art that when you look at it you will have different aspects and outcomes that also tell impressions of what you see. Impressionism began in the early 1860s by Manet, breaking away from traditions. In 1874 a group of artists that were Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas and more, they organized an exhibition in Paris to make the move called Impressionism. From this move they continued till they did eight exhibitions more that took place until 1886. There was an important person in this art that who helped them by giving them the opportunity to make their own exhibition in his studio. This person was Nadar who was a famous photographer. If we look at the artists they have their own techniques but they prefer a lot to use bright colours. Many of them did not chose the thick golden varnish but using their own tone and the paintings were also vivid. They used vibrant shades too for example blue green and yellow that painters have never used before.

If we look at Monet`s work he had the iconic of impressionism that was lie freedom. The panting is ‘Impression Sunrise’ that was made in 1872. I like the fact of how he was using the effect of light and this technique displayed his interests and it is changing the effect on the colours. Basically he showed different feelings on different paintings for example you will notice from the brushstrokes. In my opinion he was rat in the pure unblended colours and also the emphasis on the effect of light. The colours that he used were white, greys and black.

The 'Impression Sunrise' painting that is made in 1872.

The other artist that fascinated me was Edouard Manet. Manet in 1874 did the painting called ‘boating’. It was a marvellous work and he showed bright colours, it was like cropped as a painting,  modernity in their form, their subject matter and he used very materials to paint them. This painting is also inspired from the Japanese. If you look closely on the clothes of the woman Manet used the technique of the brushstrokes that it came more eye-catchy.

Manet`s painting that is called 'Boating'.

Pissarro was another impressionism artist that he did several drawings that most of them were the renovated city, public gardens, wide boulevards and grand buildings. Sometimes he was focusing on the city scapes and the city`s inhabitants. Pissarro was the only person who had exhibited in the eight exhibitions that the impressionism artists had made. He was the eldest and he was a very good artist. The most work that I saw interesting was ‘The Garden of the Tuileries on a spring Morning' and it is made on the 1899. The most fascinated thing was that he used bright colours but he shows that the feeling was calm or because it was a normal view.

This is 'The Garden of the Tuileres on a spring Morning' painting.

Resource:

Samu.M.2004.Impressionism: Art and Modernity [online]

Available at < http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm> 

Arts and Crafts movement

The Arts and crafts movement was a style that they wanted to create something traditional and creative. This type of style was handmade and they wanted to not use any machines. The characteristics of Arts and crafts movement looked at simplicity of forms, inspired from plants and nature to a more geometric, plain linear and abstract forms. This movement helped the craftsmen ship to take pride of his work and skill. Machinery works couldn`t produce beautiful designs opposed to the hand crafting skill. The conditions found in factories led to bad working conditions and where often brutalized, this movement took a step forward to create safer working places. This style was developed in England during the latter half of the 19^th Century.

This movement brought many artists which were inspired by the social reform such as Walter Crane and John Ruskin, together with the ideals of reformer and designer, William Morris. In this period, manufacture goods were often poor in design and quality. The works were produce beautiful objects that exhibited the result of fire craftsmen ship. The ideas came from different sources such as Medieval European and Islamic. In the early Art and crafts forms were also had ideas from Japanese.

This type of Art was spread around the countries such as California, Spanish architecture, Native American design et c.... If we look at John Ruskin`s work we can see his creation on the ancient building. This painting is called “John Ruskin in his study at Brentwood, 1881, but the proper painter that he painted him was W.G.Collingwood. He was fascinated and inspired from William Morris to found the society for the protection of Ancient Buildings. Ruskin was the one of the greatest figures of the Victorian age, poet, artist, critic, social revolutionary and conservationist. I was interested from his drawings and also from showing his importance on the art and crafts movement.

This is John Ruskin in his study at Brentwood,1881, by W.G.Collingwood.

Another interesting furniture manufacturer, design leader, publisher and the chief proselytizer for the American craftsman style and an extension of the British Arts and Crafts movement is Gustav Stickley. He showed his importance by trying to design decent look on furniture at affordable prize for the middle class consumers. He had opened ‘Stickley Company’. I also like the fact that he created and invented different design on furniture and the colour that he put on every place was brilliant and combined well. He was looking at the simpler, rectilinear American Art and Crafts form that was very eye-catchy.

This is the interior design on furniture by Gustav Stickley.

Resource:

Jirousek.C. 1995. The Arts and Crafts movement[online]. Available at

< char.txa.cornell.edu/art/decart/artcraft/artcraft.htm>

The life of Turner and some of his Masterworks

The life of Joseph Mallord William Turner was born in late April or early May 1775 at ’21,Maiden Lane, convert Garden, London. His father, William, was a wigmaker and then he started cutting hair since wigmaker went out of fashion in the 1770s. Little was known about his mother, Mary (nee Marshall). His sister had a fatal illness, when Turner was only eleven years old. She died in 1786 and a year before Turner`s sister was dead, he moved with his uncle in Brentford, in a small market in the west of London.

Turner`s second home at 26, Maiden Lane, Convert Garden, 1852, watercolour, British Museum, London. This place is also his birthplace.

The first move that Turner made was in 1786, by attending school in Margate, a small holiday resort on the Thames estuary. He did several perspective drawings there and he finished school by the late 1780s. When he went back to London he started working some different architects or architectural topography.

Thomas Malton, Jr influenced him on his work and he went for the second time to school at the Royal Academy in 1789. They did not learn much to paint but the paintings were intended on the curriculum in 1816. They drew, from plaster casts of antique statuary to some other works of the nude. They took about two and a half years to make the move and Turner exhibited for the first time in 1790, at the Royal Academy School. He participates some contemporary art until 1850.

In that era the Royal Academy did one exhibition every year. In the 1790 Turner moved in Oxford Street to learn a lesson to move his art into dimensions of light and colours previously unknown to paintings. He also created several drawings that consist on nature of watercolours. In 1791, he made some other works as a scene painter at the Pantheon Opera House in Oxford Street.

 The Pantheon, the morning after the fire, RA 1792, watercolour, Turner Bequest, Tate Britain, London. 

The Pantheon Opera house in Oxford street was burnt down by arsonists on 14 February 1792. 

Basically Turner was doing good work till in the 1793, the Royal Society of Arts awarded him from his ‘Great Silver Pallet’ award for the landscape drawing. The youth was selling works easily and in 1790s they gave them the opportunity by giving private lessons He met different Artists during 1794 and 1797, some of which made friends with. By the time, he improved in his Art works and did more works. Hid did several works that are Romantic Paintings and by the time he moved his art to impressionism and also to an abstract way.

This picture is an Attic in Turner`s house in Maiden Lane, Convert Garden, said to have been Turner`s first studio, 1852, watercolour, British Museum, London.

If we look at his master-works that turner made we cannot forget the first painting that he made. The first painting was ‘The Archbishop`s Palace, Lambeth’, that was made in 1790, by using watercolours. He exhibited this painting at the Royal Academy for the first time. It was a perspective drawing and he was influenced from Thomas Malton, Jr when he was just fifteen years old. I think that Turner wants to show the importance of the people and directions that they are going by putting a bright light and shadow. He also put importance on the buildings. The colours that he used were orange, yellow and brown and the mood was calm. In my opinion I think that he wanted to use blended colours to give a soft feel for the smooth façade of the buildings.

The Archbishop`s Palace, Lambeth drawing.

In the 1792 Turner drew ‘Tom Tower, Christ Church, and Oxford’. He used pencil and watercolour on white paper as a media. This drawing was never exhibited or sold, that is why it has remained in his bequest. He was inspired from Michael Angelo Rooker`s water colour. He first laid down a wash of a very pale yellow and after it dried he added a wash of light grey. To finish this painting he used a scale of eight tones of light brown grey to dark blue grey. Basically Turner used three colour scales and around twenty-five separate tones. This drawing is made when he was seventeen years old during summer, in the late afternoon sunlight. In my opinion Turner focused more on the tower since the other building are darker in colour. Although the work is very detailed still looks faded on the four right of the drawing I noticed four droplets on the building, unknown if it was intentionally or a mistake.

This is the Tom Tower, Christ Church, Oxford drawing.

In the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1796, Turner did oil on canvas drawing that is called ‘Fishermen at sea’. Before he made this drawing, in 1795 Turner visited this island and made pencil sketches of the bay in his ‘Isle of Wight’ sketchbook. Turner was influenced by the French marine painter Joseph Verner and while the shaping of the clouds demonstrates the influence of Philippe Jacques De Loutherbourg. During the time when Turner painted this picture, he was also strongly influenced by Rembrandt. In my opinion he used dark colours and touches of white to enhance the moonlight. Although we can see some flow of the waves, I noticed that very far out the sea looks calmer. I could not figure out if this painting was drawn before or after a storm.

This is another drawing called "Fishermen at Sea".

This drawing might be the last one that Turner himself could have painted as late as 1850. This work is never exhibited and it is called ‘Yacht approaching the coast’ although I clearly do not see this. The bright light was a resemblance of God that might have been at a time when Turner was passing through a difficult time in his last days. It looks like an abstract drawing and faded colours. His paintings became surreal into a sense that he no longer cared what the critics would say. It was almost as if he knew that he was about to move on to a place of higher divinity. In his last years the paintings no longer appeared to have detail as they became more abstract.

This is made by using oil on canvas that called "Yacht approaching the coast".

Turner died on 19^th December 1851 and was buried in St Paul`s Cathedral. Turner`s work had moved to Queen Anne street Wet and David Place, Cremorne New Road, Chelsea studios. He had more than two thousand paintings and water colours. We can say that Turner had left a beautiful work.  

The death mask of Turner at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Resource:

Shanes. E. 2004. Turner - The life and Masterworks. Third Edition. New York, Usa. Park stone press LTD.

The Pre-Raphaelites

The Pre-Raphaelites were rebellious group of seven that was formed in 1848 as the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood.

Pre-Raphaelite means that they went back before Raphael.  They went against the predictability of Contemporary academic painting that most of them were colleagues at the Royal Academy of Art.  They turned to the directness and simplicity of Italian painters and this type of art shows the description of detail, bright colours on different paintings that go back to tempera paint used by medieval artists, religious paintings and also goes through nature.

This is the Royal Academy of Art.

It was a tough life in these days that began the industrial revolution and people were working in different factories.

If we look through every Pre-Raphaelites artist, they had their own inspirations such as,

Rossetti for example “found” he wants to show a London prostitute suffering.

This is "found" made by Rossetti.

Holman Hunt was interested from religious paintings such as a painting called “The holy land by the shores of the Dead Sea”. He used the goat as a symbol or you can say a model to show a message of dying from the study of religious ancient Rabbinic that called Talmud.

This is "The holy land by the shores of the Dead Sea".

There were more interesting paintings from every Artist but the person that kept the group alive was Rossetti by promoting its second generation of Artists.  

Later Rossetti turned to representations of female beauty such for example Proserpine.

This is a portrait of Jane Morris made by Rossetti.

If we go further Rossetti likes William Morris Wife and he also paint different portraits of her. Proserpine was one of them.

The Pre-Raphaelites Art was influenced from many artists and in the twenty-first Century the artist Howard David Johnson was inspired and tries to use that style and he succeeded.

Another portrait made by Howard David Johnson.

If we look closely to this style was a symbolism and made with mix media. It is a similar style like Rossetti`s paintings. For my opinion I think that Johnson tries to combine this style to our representations of females.

Meagher.J, 2004 The Pre Raphaelites,

Available at  http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/praf/hd_praf.htm .

The Exhibition that was "Xebgha Nies"

The Second Exhibition was also held at ST James Cavalier near the one of “Eccentricks”. The name of the exhibition was “Xebgha Nies”; it was about a collective exhibition of nine Maltese artists. From pen and ink to watercolour and oil paintings. There was also ceramic work, bronze and mixed media.

The subject of this exhibition was portraiture, the work could have been created from their own original and unique ideas, such as interesting characters.

If we take a close look at Moira Zahra`s drawing, called “downtown, we notice that the drawing is showing a woman walking with a reddish umbrella. It was made with mixed media and she tried to give importance to the woman by giving it colour. The background is made all with shading.

The drawing "downtown" by Moira Zahra.

Another religious element that Saviour`s show from his work was marvellous and interesting. His subject was about Christian iconography, the drawing that I saw catchy was “the last supper”. For this painting Saviour used oil on canvas and the importance of this drawing was on Jesus.  

"The Last Supper" by Saviour Baldacchino.

Steve Bonello shows an unbelievable work that was done with a pen and ink drawings. Although on the drawing that I liked the most, he uses polychrome colours. This drawing is called “In-Nemmiesa” and he did not use a lot of vibrant colours but he gave the importance to the lady by drawing two men who are looking at her. If I can see i think that he was influenced by pointillism.

"In-Nemmiesa" by Steve Bonello.

Another Artist that impressed me was Andrew Diacono and his most wonderful sculpture was “Man on penny farthing” which is made with mixed media. This sculpture was a man riding a bike which has a big wheel on the front and a smaller one at the back. I liked the texture that he is showing on the fat man.

"Man on penny farthing" by Andrew Diacono.

The other artist that inspired me most was Paul Scerri, this is because his work was different from that of the others and used ceramic to create the sculpture. The most interesting one was “The Braggart- opens your mind before your mouth”. It was amazingly done by using vibrant glazes on this form of a boy which has his mind open. By the boys open mind, Scerri is showing light and made some detail on his hands. 

"The Baggart" by Paul Scerri.

There were more artists who exhibited their work but the most powerful and interesting for me are the ones above. These powerful works had also different formal elements in there work such as Vibrant colours, tone, light, shading, texture etc. 

The Exhibition that was "Eccentricks"

The first exhibition that I entered was “Eccentricks” by Emanuel Bonnici. The date that I went to see this Exhibition was Friday,28th February His works was interesting and funny. Bonnici did several kind of work such as (f)lush, Duo, Hugo, telephone box, The bicycle with boat wheels and some other digital work. His work was inspired from the socio-cultural identity of the Maltese. His work is made by digital art and mix media.

A digital sketch before producing the final piece.

This is the project called (f)lush.

The ‘(f)lush’ was a very interesting object that he created, it consisted of a Maltese boat which was turned into a toilet. Firstly he did a sketch by digital art and then gave it life by using mix media.

This is a telephone box.

The Telephone box was another piece of work done by Bonnici. I was inspired from the fact that he tries to make something traditional appear modern.

The three clocks that are called "Hugo".

There were these three different coloured clocks that Bonnici called “Hugo”. This work was amazing for the originality that Bonnici showed, by creating a contrast from one clock to another. The originality of these clocks is that they have the guitar neck combined with a clock. 

A digital sketch of the chair.

This is the chair that called "Duo"

This chair was made from wood; he created a cart-like rocking-chair with the idea of a wooden cart which goes through our Maltese tradition.

Another digital sketch.

The bicycle that is combined with wooden cart wheels.

The green Bike is another interesting object made from a wheel of a Cart; he combined them with a Bicycle. He used our traditional colours of the Cart.

Some other digital sketches.

Another fascinating work was the digital art, which he left them plain and simple.

The other work that we had seen were very interesting and he used variety of vibrant colours and light colours too, texture, shapes, forms etc. We can learn also from the fact that he tried to combine two things together and they were all traditional work.