| Painting had a great renaissance in France in the 19th | | | | understanding expressed. It will within its perimeters |
| century. This renaissance we call impressionism. Color | | | | carry you from HERE TO THERE, you can see it as |
| and form came to life in a style that had heretofore | | | | the unfurling of cosmos. This is achieved through |
| been unseen in painting. The artists painted to express | | | | understanding. The artist must further understand the |
| themselves, and nature in terms of painting (color, | | | | tools by which he practices the expression of his |
| brush, composition, and style - the art form itself). | | | | understanding. The appreciator must also be part of |
| In a real sense, the whole culture entered the modern | | | | this understanding in order for her or him to enter fully |
| era. With the coming of the industrial revolution, it | | | | into the depth of possibility the artist creates. |
| seems the times demanded a shift in awareness. The | | | | A painting is a doorway into Psychological/Spiritual |
| industrial revolution served modern art by producing | | | | space, it is an expression of transcendent form which |
| color in easy to dispatch tubes, with greater variety | | | | opens out into the infinite. If you can allow your |
| and intensity. | | | | judgment to arise out of your experience of art rather |
| Modernism means that a painter can paint, compose | | | | than have your experience be tainted by your |
| and express her or himself and if there was talent and | | | | pre-conceived judgments, you are on the right path. |
| genius, create harmonies of color, brush, self, and | | | | Fashion has little to do with true art, while the ebb and |
| nature that represent a true balance of all these | | | | flow of real history (not the history of books and |
| elements. Most importantly self expression is the | | | | words, but the living reality of each moment) evolves |
| keynote. It started to be understood that painting was | | | | art from understanding to understanding. SO PAINTING |
| an aesthetic language which could propel the artist and | | | | IS NOT MUZAK FOR YOUR WALLS , But |
| her/his audience into states of ecstasy, i.e. other states | | | | contemplative doorways. Communications of ecstasy |
| of consciousness. | | | | and understanding. To have a painting on your walls is |
| At this point it is important to understand the difference | | | | to have a great positive vibration in your life. It is not |
| between style, and 'stylized". A quote by the master | | | | muzak for your walls. |
| Antonio Salemme (1892-1995) explains this beautifully: | | | | In the Eastern visual traditions we have Mandala and |
| "Style is most important, whether it be a book, a piece | | | | yantra. These are visual designs which the viewer |
| of music, a painting, or a piece of sculpture. But style is | | | | would concentrate upon in order to go within her |
| recognized only in retrospect. If one has style in mind | | | | himself. They are rather formal and generally very |
| while one is painting, one becomes stylistic. One | | | | rigidly executed. In the Sumi e brush and ink tradition an |
| produces a style after the Gothic, or Renaissance, or | | | | aesthetic understanding of the spontaneity of the |
| African. The style becomes superficial and becomes a | | | | brush and ink is established but becomes generally |
| manner, and we call that stylistic. | | | | formalized and thus stylized and ritualized , the student |
| My style comes out of my whole life. The style is the | | | | mimicking the master and taught thus, The danger of |
| result of the state of mind of the artist, the subject | | | | all traditions. The work of the l9th century French |
| matter one is handling, the state of one's health, and | | | | "impressionist's" is a more evolved and mature |
| the clarity of one's mind, all that goes into the work. | | | | understanding of painting involving a synthesis of east |
| After it's done, the style can be recognized. Whatever | | | | and west. These artist who we now label |
| comes out is a spontaneous and mysterious thing. | | | | impressionists or post impressionist, which are by the |
| Style cannot be defined intellectually. It can be seen | | | | way poor labels, are visual musicians. |
| only in retrospect. | | | | In India, music has developed over the centuries and |
| For example, the Gothic style came out of the | | | | these classical works are called raga. They are so |
| condition of France and Germany in the 13th and 14th | | | | sensitized in this tradition that certain ragas are played |
| century. The 12th century was Romanesque: after the | | | | only at certain times. Thus there are morning ragas |
| Romanesque came the Gothic. The Romanesque | | | | and evening ragas which fit these specific times and |
| was a result of the Roman Empire, the Greek art and | | | | are to be played and practiced only at those times. |
| all of that. Then the Gothic came because the people | | | | They carry the vibrations of those times. They arise |
| began to express themselves more directly. It came | | | | directly out of the heart of nature and one's |
| out of The climate, the stones they had to work with, | | | | attunement to it. Ravi Shankar is a famous example of |
| and their religious approach... their interpretation of | | | | the player of raga on sitar. Singing out the beautiful |
| Christianity. That whole thing produced what we call | | | | notes of moment to moment understanding, his music |
| the Gothic style, and the word 'gothic' means | | | | is an expression of the 3 great forces of cosmos, |
| 'barbarian', uncivilized'. It was original expression, getting | | | | creation, preservation and destruction, all one in the |
| away from the Greek and the Roman. But it all came | | | | great universal flow. Who has understood Vincent |
| about in retrospect. The people who built the Gothic | | | | sees Vincent in ecstasy in the midst of nature's |
| cathedrals built them as well as they could under the | | | | cosmic dance expressing himself in the moment to |
| condition and the state of mind they were in, and out | | | | moment heat of creation, preservation and destruction |
| came what we call the Gothic style. | | | | and his paintings are visual expressions of that |
| So when someone does a painting, the same process | | | | ecstasy. Look at Monet, each brush stroke a player in |
| takes place. Everything one is comes out in that | | | | a great symphonic harmony of color and form. |
| painting. If one's able to be spontaneous, then there is | | | | Cezanne, incomparable raga of aesthetic |
| spontaneity in the style and there is vigor in the brush | | | | understanding. Gauguin, Sisley, Le Trec, All magnificent. |
| strokes. If one is not able to be spontaneous, because | | | | Modernism is contemporary classicism. A modern will |
| one is still immature and one is uncertain, and one's | | | | allow her/ his painting to evolve naturally out of visual |
| technique is not complete, then style doesn't come | | | | reality and its relationship to her/himself. We must |
| through, because one is still struggling with technique. If | | | | break the chains of glamor and romanticism in our art |
| one has mastered the technique and lived, and is still | | | | and culture, and begin to see things as they are. |
| vigorous, and paints with pleasure, then out comes | | | | Gauguin has been a great inspiration to me. In his epic |
| what we call style. Style is never an intellectual and | | | | painting- WHO ARE WE? WHERE DID WE COME |
| willful effort. It is like grace in the spiritual life. We try, | | | | FROM? WHERE ARE WE GOING? He asks 3 |
| we pray, we sit, we meditate. By the grace of God in | | | | basics questions in life. It has been said the soul must |
| a mysterious way we become enlightened. You don't | | | | arrive at the point where it asks out of the depths of |
| become enlightened by mere effort. You don't achieve | | | | its being, Who am I? Where have I come from? |
| enlightenment. Enlightenment comes after great | | | | Where am I going? This then marks the beginning of |
| discipline and effort, but we don't achieve. It is the | | | | the spiritual journey. The greatness of Gauguin is that |
| same with style in Art." | | | | he asks not Who am I? but Who are We? He speaks |
| 'Always be a beginner...'- Suzuki Roshi | | | | for all of us. He has become priest, Shaman, Lover of |
| The true masters all through history express style and | | | | Humanity. He reaches and his paintings are |
| their value ever resonates with us. The great painters | | | | communications coming out from his touchings with |
| of the l9th century create the space for a more | | | | infinity. |
| mature understanding of style. They are the first | | | | Painting teaches you to see things as they are. Where |
| modern masters. Impressionism is not an appropriate | | | | can you look that the absolute nature of visual reality is |
| title if you allow it to chain them to a stylistic concept | | | | not before you. You simply see. Through painting you |
| of art. Their work is not conceptual, nor are they dated | | | | can bring yourself to some wonderful conclusions. |
| now, but their works still live. Because they are true | | | | Bring yourself to see the everflowing , everchanging |
| paintings and art, they transcend time. | | | | light of nature. Reality is abstract. THE ABSTRACT |
| So, Morisot, Monet, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, | | | | NATURE OF REALITY IS THE SOURCE OF VISUAL |
| Sisley, Pissaro, Le trec to name a few, are our modern | | | | BEAUTY, not some romantic sentiment about some |
| masters. They have real style, they paint with their | | | | specific form, not some personal preference or dislike |
| whole selves- they were not merely intellectual, not | | | | but the absolute nature of a thing as it is in any given |
| merely emotional, but at their best they form a balance | | | | moment, recognizing there is nothing static about |
| of mind and heart seasoned with transcendent intuition | | | | nature. Yet, if you see the abstract nature of a cup (to |
| that creates works of ecstasy. Works of great music. | | | | take a simple example) and begin to note the |
| They create visual music, Raga! | | | | complexity of visual relationships in such a simple |
| The generation that followed naturally was caught up | | | | object, you will find that it is not so simple, and also that |
| in this flow of apparent revolution. Most notably | | | | it is not just an abstraction but it is still a cup. Will remain |
| Picasso and Matisse, two of the better known | | | | a cup. you cannot separate the cup from its abstract |
| neo-Moderns. They say, 'look what has gone down, | | | | nature. Even if you break it you cannot separate the |
| We'll go farther out.' Not realizing the basic fallacy of | | | | broken cup from its abstract nature. If the truth is |
| that kind of self conscious search for a style to set | | | | reality is both abstract and representational, it follows |
| them apart from everyone else. While they both show | | | | that a true painting will be both representational and |
| genius and moments of brilliance, neither of them truly | | | | abstract. |
| dig as deep or with the intensity of their predecessors. | | | | A true work of art is abstract, to take away the |
| They become children of their fame and the media | | | | representation or to simply have abstract shapes |
| before they had truly been grounded in the art. Thus | | | | doesn't make for more sophistication, it just shows a |
| they were always searching for the next great step | | | | lack of understanding and subtlety. |
| like most of the twentieth century world. | | | | Cezanne says "We are the primitives of a new art. |
| What has not been truly understood by this culture of | | | | And proceeds to show us an aesthetic reality both |
| ours is the originality of self. It is already original. To | | | | purely classical, and personal. All the best of his |
| paint a simple still life without concept, without prior | | | | contemporaries express themselves in terms of a |
| ideas, but with one's own heart, mind, and soul, it will be | | | | more evolved understanding. They begin to use the |
| different, it will be a manifestation of one's self. Have | | | | palette and brush as the pianist uses his keyboard or |
| faith in your originality and forget all you've been taught | | | | the conductor his orchestra. They don't throw out |
| to see. See beauty with your own eyes. | | | | representational form but imbue it with the rhythms of |
| I recently read a quote by Matisse that was rather | | | | its abstract nature, translate it into visual music each |
| disturbing to me. In it are implied the forces of | | | | according to her or his artistic personality. There is |
| neo-modernism. He says" a Cezanne is a moment of | | | | today a new academy to rebel against. An academy |
| the Artist, while Sisley is a moment of nature." A | | | | of neo-modernism, neo-classicism being the other side |
| seemingly to the point statement, because certainly | | | | of the coin. |
| Cezanne is that. He transforms his motif into a | | | | Who will see the world with their own eyes and break |
| personal style that is his connection to the universal- | | | | the chains of culture. Who can see a vase and |
| yet he doesn't rely wholly on himself. He is in | | | | flowers with some fruit (a still life) as the width and |
| relationship to nature, the world. Sisley, in his own way | | | | breadth of cosmos and bring to it painting that has |
| transforms nature into painting and sings to us in an | | | | originality. Who is willing to have art be Her or his life |
| exquisite voice which may not have the depth of | | | | and have her/his life be art. Who is willing to say with |
| contemplative genius visible in Cezanne ( he lacks | | | | the simple conviction of honest seeing "but the |
| Cezanne heavy temperament and nature, and is more | | | | Emperor has got no clothes on! |
| fluid in his expressions.) He nonetheless is a poet of | | | | Begin by looking without judgment. Do not be too sure |
| color and form, and should not receive anything but | | | | of yourself. allow your sensitivity to develop slowly and |
| thanks from his descendants for his moments as an | | | | surely or quickly and surely. You must be able to |
| artist. For Matisse to say Sisley is a moment of nature | | | | receive a painting fully , and out of that openness a |
| (as if to suggest merely) shows the immaturity of | | | | sure judgment will arise, not based on some idea of |
| Matisse! All one has to do to realize this is to look at | | | | what makes something art, but on an experience of |
| Sisley's struggles that broke the ground for men like | | | | which intellect is merely a servant. |
| Matisse to gain their reputations. | | | | Cezanne says if you want to paint you must avoid the |
| In this universe there is understanding. There is the | | | | literary spirit! Likewise if you are to appreciate a |
| relative and the absolute. As above so below. It is very | | | | painting, you must avoid the literary. It is the disposition |
| important to grasp how the microcosm reflects the | | | | of color and execution of the same on a specific |
| macrocosm. In a true painting you will find this | | | | surface that determines a paintings value. |