Mexican people: A series of three oil paintings

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by Bdmund Daniel Elnslnger

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philoso­ phy In the department of Art in the Graduate College of the University of Iowa July, 1942

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ACEEOWLLDCa^KTS 'I wish to express my gratitude for the advice, criticism, and encouragement received from the members of my committee, hr* Lester !>• Longman, Mr* Alden Megrew, and. Mr# Philip Guston.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Pag© Acknowledgments • ...................... I# Content * . * ........... . ............. II. Scheme of Composition . . . . . . . . . III. F o r m ............................ IV. C o l o r ...............

. . . . .

Photographs*

.........

1 2 4 8

V . AppXIeatxon « « • • * . » . * • * * # * Footnotes.

11

. . . . . .

11 14 15

MEXICAN

X#

pApHkhl

Content The aeries of thro© oil paintings, !l'.: u C M l PhPPhb,

i® not intended only to depict a slice of Mexican life at a particular aomont, but ?a also an attempt to express the philosophy of the Mexican Indian*

I do not know of any bar-*1

dor between two countries where two different way® of life contrast to such an extent as between, the United htatos and Mexico*

The United states Is ulrkly civilised;

the people

are on the hunt for money and most faimers are Inclined to be farm induetrialiata, losinp the love of earth, the a&mlration for naturefa "beauty, and the enjoyment of the pro­ ducts of art*

Mexico is still primitive a:id re XI 1,-us; the

native is part of the oarth which provides 1 : 1 wl. th. his dally needs*

lie ex pres so a hie love of nature by beautifying

.with dosI,yis of ole own invention every kind of 1 he nukes and. uses In hie dally life*

!>• m a t

ho Is a true pert of

the earth to which even his shin color Is akin*

Jenulnc

hunble and yot proud in bearing, ho wears hie el.uplc clothes with fcho ,race and hiunity of a prank. sol, .nonr*

fa inuxyrcs-

sinle happlueso like a .eolancholy cirofto seems to possess the Pox lean; and the haste, tho restless no so and h.o die 11.1 us 1 raanfc of our modern ape ere unkn.nm to .uin* The center piece of kkhlvAh . pop, p represents a pro up of younp pen a see- feled around laconic conversation,

the Cantina oho r--, In

ti e;; o toeoeo the lr •-r >:.:f•: m *

Church

and market are over and after a visit and a drink they will return to their hamlets«

The panel at the left represents

women resting on their return from the public fountain or the market 5 while the right panel depicts a mother with her two children before the porch of their house, which, typical of villages of a high altitude, represents a mixture of native and

Spanish colonial

style*

I

spent six months

In Mexico mostly In Taxco

the studies for all three paintings were made*

where

I was deeply

Impressed by the natives and their organic relationship with surrounding nature*

The paintings are not meant to be

a triptych in the strict sense, but it was my Intention to bind them together by certain construction lines which would lead the eye from one painting to the other*

Moreover, a

similarity of gestures and the repetition of forms and objects provide an encompassing unity when the paintings are hung next to one another and In the proper order* XX. Scheme of composition All three paintings have a proportion 3 to I, which gives a diagonal of 5*

This proportion has been preferred

by artists since the earliest time 3 *

Half of this rectangle,

the triangle with sides proportioned 3 to 4 scribed by

Plato, the Greek

beautiful of all shape 3 •

to 5 , was de­

philosopher, asbeing the meet

Many Roman©squo churches and other

buildings of different periods are derived from construc­ tions based on a proportion of this triangle.

Today, vjg

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even find the proportion 3 to 4 in the shape of our type­ writing paper as well as in charcoal paper and many other items of daily use. proportion,

The introduction of the .golden-mean

(short side to long side as long aode to the

whole) gives this rectangle an interesting interplay of arithmetic and geometric means. It is not ay op1n 1on that the artist ahouId stick to these first considerations under all circumstances b e ­ cause, in the process of development, color planes change their original size through the introduction of light and dark and through the various intensities and qualities of the colors which the artist aimplies*

Feeling should always

be the first guide, but it is astonishing to tho student of composition how the greatest masters of composition, Raphael, Tintoretto and especially hi Greco used their first construc­ tion lines without altering them in the process of develop­ ment.

Among modern masters, the Keo-Irapressionist, beurat,

and still more recently the French Cubist, Juan Gris, could be mentioned as giving serious attention to the construction of the picture plane.

Since Egyptian tines, proportions

and their logical development have always played the most important role In architecture.

codern architectare uopenas

basically on simple proportion, a consideration Welch was stimulated by the 3tl.|l group of stitch painters Van boesburg)•

(Uondrian,

It is up to the artist to put life and the

spirit of invention into his construction.

Juan Gris said

in a lecture delivered in 1924 at the Gorbonnc in Faris,

"All architecture Is a construction, but not every construe tion is architectural.11

For th© painter, th© limitations

of a construction form a certain restriction In options, giving him a foundation for his work. the T*ang period said with groat truth; the artist1s best friend.11 III.

A Chinese artist of "Limitations are

All great art is disciplined.

Form The content and the compositional scheme of a

picture are only the background of the painter*s work.

Th©

solution of the problems of form and color, to express vol­ ume and space In a unified and rhythmical depth-raovomont, is his major design problem.

This should be done without

disturbing the two-dimensionality of the picture plan©, nothing should fall out or make a hole In the canvas*

It

is the task of the artist to find the equation In which the naturalistic feeling of depth, including the rendition of the volumes, is transformed Into a formal and expressive order.

The rjarts have to be so arranged around certain

points centrals, as Cezanne called them, that a perfect, though

asymmetrical balance is achieved, in w..ich the feel­

ing of depth and volume Is absorbed by rhythmical movement, showing the parts in an inner relationship.

of a painting* ally*

Chcnev In

It Is possible to explain this scientific­

We see primarily only In two-dimensional color spots,

which the mind combines through earlier experiences of all

th© senses into volume ss ana their relation in space*

boeth©

sag a that with each attentive look we build a thoosy, which leads to the understand!ng; of the Impress!.m*

1 eh" 1,1 has

to learn to sees he lias first no fooling for distance, trice to grasp a church tower, falls over chair© and bumps into tables before he learns to calculate,

be opens and closes

his hand going; nearer and nearer to the desired object until h© touches and can grasp It# a mental construction.

liiroo^diiaon©lormlIty Is thus

Appearance difTera for ©very on© etc-

cording ta the reliability of the eye, fclie degree of concen­ tration, th© degree of ©atporien©©, the power of thinking and the © Ircu&f©r once of knowledge*

If any one of those

considerations changes, seeing, ©specially artistic seeing,

changes too* The mystery of pictorial croatl;n is based on the relation of two— and thrco— dinensi ';nal seeing*

batu.ro Is

really trjree-dimenslonal, though Its &fP/carane© .!o twodimensional*

It la only tlirongh understanding; that appear­

ance becomes throe-d In© ns Iona .1*

*•'$* Kt*Ji *■UPC: 11— SiwO j C>-.-O-.‘Oa OPu ,

not only between nature and appearance, but also between appearance and. effect of appearance•

bo :oil-.tcp, 1:; :r>uorn

art espQciaXly, appearance is something entirely d *fher out from th© effect which e o -\oa froo it*

It becomes clear,

therefore, why v«r I was art dlrocti --no of our tines use such distorted formal the pointer has become thoroughly conscious of his freedom of Intororotati on*

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tends in the Introductions

11Th© effect of natural is clc

distance Is not of the slightest artistic importance unless It functions in terms of value expression.

It was

what

Oswald Spongier calls it, the creation of a spiritual space, wide and eternal, which responds to the Imperious need of Western man for a symbol of distance and the Infinite,

when,

with Bouguereau, space becomes only a trick of copying we do not have a depth-experience that Is significant or es ­ thetic; when with Cezanne space Is a harmony of deep, solid and subtly related masses,

the distanc.e-thruot yields an

inner imaginative order— an expression of values and there­ fore the very stuff of art*

We discovered, among other

things, that most of the great art of the world has been unrealistic; or rather the realism of art was spiritual In character as in the Ideal of Cezanne who said:

fI have not

tried to reproduce nature, I haye represented it. 1M This conception of space could be clarified by the following quotation from Henry Kahnweiler1s book, Per leg gum Kubisinus:3

"a distinct final plane enters the pictures

of Braque and Picasso from 1908 which limits the vision. Instead of an 111usIona1 horizon against which the vision looses Itself, a chain of mountains in a landscape or a wall in still-life or figure composition closes the painted three-dimensional sxrnce.

he have seen the sane 11, niltat I on

of picture space In Cezanne*s work.

Instead of starting

from a foreground and suggesting an lllusionary depth through the means of perspective,

the new painter calculates from a

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represented background*

From this oaekgrounu, ne

for ward In a kind of form scheme In which each object is represented in relation to the To. ckgrouncL and the o volumes*

This new method allows the painter to represent

the objects in relation to their placement In space, In­ stead of imitating them through illusional means *

These

representations have a certain resemblance to geometry, which Is quite understandable since both have the aim to represent the third-dimensional volume on a two-dimension­ al plane*

This new language has given an unknown freedom

to the artist*

ho object has been created by man

whose

lines ax*e not geometrical as a cube, sphere, or cylinder* Hature seldom lias these regular forms, but they are deeply rooted in m a n ’s mind*

Without them there would be no def­

inite feeling fox1 the three-dimensional world.st

(Trans­

lated from German by Edmund Kinzinger.) In order to clarify my relation to a school, I should, call myself a follower of the Intellectual principles of Cubism*

I have been deeply impressed by the cubist

pictures of the Frencii school from the. time I first saw them In 1910 and have worked in that direction ever since* Being of a rather romantic nature, however, and very orucli bound to direct Impressions, my development reveals many conflicts*

Thus both In form and content, ny thesis pic­

ture*? x cpresent an tu j.ort at a reconciliation of t •j.o very basic clash between architectonic design and emotional expression*

It is in the character of our ago that artists change their style from time to time, inclining more to abstract form at one moment and leaning more toward repre­ sentation at another*

in all epochs previous to the late

10th century, the understanding o f ■other periods was restricted by a lack of historical knowledge and. easy communication.

Therefor© th© isolated artist had to

rely largely on his local tradition.

Today, we have a

thorough knowledge not only of the contemporary art of all countries, but also of nearly all the past of the human race.

The resulting influences on intelligent and Informed

artists are manifold, and change- of style, as lopg as it is consistent with the artist’s personality, is rather a sign of spiritual flexibility them lack of conviction, as it Is sometimes interpreted by unimaginative observers. Only through doubt and experiment are invention and progress possible*

My graduate studies in the history and criticism

of art, and my effort to reach a new level of esthetic expression in th© painting of my thesis,

thus represent

evidences of the searching and genuinely creative attitude engendered by the Ph.D. program I have followed* IV.

Color The solution of the color problem also presents a

great challenge to the painter,

lie likes to .Ive to his

colors a relationship to nature and at the same time to develop an expressive pattern.

Thus, since a compromise

... raust b© taa&e, the modern artist simplifies

and trans­

forms the realistic color appearance to arrive at his personal solution of the impression and to rive to his picture the quality of surface that may be called color architecture.

Color harmony, If I •may use this doubtful

expression, can only be developed in relation to the fun­ damental characteristics of color, which are hue, value and Intensity.

Hie great variety of theories on color harmony

which we find In books may be satisfactory for the design of wall paper, but are unsa t i s f a ctor y for painting.

The

artist tries In relation to his aim to express unity and variety at the same time. . Unity can be achieved; 1*

By using mono chroma tic colors, that is colors

which are derived from the same hue.

In this case, contrasts

of values and Intensities to satisfy the desire for variety will necessarily be Introduced.

The artist may also add

neutral colors, which through simultaneous contrast will be Influenced to talce the complementary character of the re­ flected light*

Without disturbing the monochromatic scheme,

he may also add to his original hue some of the neighboring colors, or he may strengthen the simultaneous influence of the neutrals by giving them a bluish or reddish character (as the case may be) of low intensity*

do see such color

combinations in PicassoTs blue and rose periods as well as in his grey-red nudes*

The work of Rembrandt and other old

masters may also be listed as examples*

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2*

By colors of the same value, and ordinarily

of the same

Intensity, as for example, in the impressionis­

tic period.

Variety Is given by the use of many hues.

S.

By colors of the sane intensity, often pure

colors as in Van Gogh and Gauguin, in the German bnpressioniats and th© Fauves•

Variety enters here through

difference in the value of pure colors, 4.

By analogous colors, i.e. colors which are

near to each other In th© color circle,

hot more than three

or four colors should be chosen lest the contrast become too great. sity.

Variety Is Introduced, here by value and inten­

One

color being dominant, there Is a resemblance

to number 1; this method has been used In all periods of art. Variety can be achieved; 1*

By contrasting colors, one color pair being

mostly dominant,"

Unity enters through value or Intensity,

Examples are the work / of Matisse and much Oriental art. 2.

By contrast of light a n d •dark (value).

is achieved through nearly mono clipomo colors,

Inlty

dlbcra,

Rembrandt, and the e a r l y cubists used this method almost exclusively. The beau tv of contrasting colors im a c

olor

scheme do os not cone from the simple e n t r a n t of the colors but from variety, for example varied reds ay.lnst a variety of blues.

This treiaofp of color (to use a tonal expression)

very often gives an abstract and musical quality to a pic-

ture* X am certainly aware that no definite rule of color combination can exist for painting, but the abovesuggested combinations are fundamental ones used in or/ work.

It is not the colors themselves but ti e proportions

and relations of the color sx>ots, which make

the most dif­

ficult pr ob 1era. V*

Application to mj thesis of the means of expression discussed in this description* In the three oil paintings MEXICAN PEOPLE, I have

usod a color scheme derived from the contrasting colors of red and yellow-browns against blues and greens*

The har­

mony of the dark skinned people with the color of the earth was the reason for this choice. rived from Cubism:

The formal means are de­

plastic organization In three dimension

freedom of form from descriptive realism, and restriction of literary connotation.

The design values arc

,10derated

and balanced, however, by an attempt to stay as near to re­ presentational form as possible without disturbing the plastic organization* My style seems to me to have greater opportunities today than naturalistic art or art which deals exclusively with abstract forms.

The abstract artist refrains from

giving any personal observation concerning his surroundings and often neglects the fascinating problem of rendering the three-dimensional world on the tv/o-dimensional- canvas, which is the very essence of Cezanne’s work as well as the

spiritual efforts of the cubists,

Hie only thing the

abstract artist can achieve is rliythriical pattern wltn trie expression of noo&, the very stuff of which music is com­ posed.

Walter Pater *s observation that "All art inclines

to the purity of music" is true, but abstract beauty alone, in ray opinion, is not sufficient for /minting, for tlio painter, in contrast to the musician (whose medium is by nature abstract), can never reach the goal of pure tonal orchestration.

The possibilities of music, which can only

be appreciated in tine, are far more numerous than the pos­ sibilities of abstract painting, In which the pair:ter Is unfortunately bound to static form.

The artist has to seek

significant human content througl i 20 mi, in a do.It ion to exploiting abstract pattern, in order to make his work comparable In importance to a great symphony.

For this

reason, many abstract painters turn theIr attention to In­ dustrial design and architecture where, because of the additional dimension of useful funcfloi 2, Lius orao of more importance *

is

i©m s

are

I painted In an abs tract nannor from

1917 to 1920, but I soon ills sod the inspiring resist ions to natural impressions and turned to a nope roprosentatlenal style* The artist

who paints too natoralistically, on

the other hand, overlaps the domain oi photography and the cinema, which through their technical nature as reproduc­ tive arts, and the latter as art In ti.^e, are far superior

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to painting in recording the visual aspects of nature * Furthermore too much concentration on con cepfc ional Ideas overlaps the domain of literature, which is bettor suited to Ideational purposes* , Therefore a reconciliation of the demands of representation and design to their mutual advantage has been the task for the painter of many periods and Is the first principle of numerous progressive painters today* In the throe paintings, MhXICAl PhOPIdS, I have attempted such a solution*

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FOOTNOTES ■'•Sheldon Cheney, EXPRESSIONISM III ART, Liverricht Publishing Corporation, 1934* Mr* Cheney collected many ideas for his book through contact with earlier students of th© School of Fine Arts of Hans Hofmann, Munich, which 1 conducted as director from 1930-33* p Melvin M# Rader, Assistant Professor of Philos­ ophy, University of Washington, A MO 1MBM BOOK OF ESTHETICS, Henry Holt and Company, 1935* ^Robert Henry {Pseudonym for Henry E&hnweiler), HER xma SUM JCUBIMUS, Delphin Verlag Munich, 1918* Mr* Henry Kahnweiler was the art dealer of the first Cubists*

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