Johan Zoffany was a German neoclassical painter whose life story is as fascinating as his juicy hyper-realist portraits and meticulously recorded insights into all levels of European society in the 18th Century.

Zoffany lived a bold and adventurous life, moving between Germany, Italy, England and India, and was no stranger to scandal. His indefinite marital status – separated but not divorced- hampered his position in society. To try and solve this, he met a teenage girlfriend who he tried to pass of as his wife. One of his rare disappointments was the failure to secure passage as ship’s artist on Captain James Cook’s second voyage to the South Seas.

In terms of his subjects, Zoffany depicted everything and everyone from queens to street merchants, and cockfights to fellow Royal Academicians. Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed, a collaboration between the Royal Academy and the Yale Center for British Art, makes the most of this panoramic gaze, also showcasing Zoffany’s portraits of famous actors both in and out of role. Architecture critic Christopher Hussey termed him the “Jane Austen of English Painting” in 1930 due to his meticulous depictions of the details of society life. In the Tribuna of the Uffuzi, as seen below, for example, the works are painted with such precision that they can be identified as specific famous pieces, as detailed on the Wikipedia page for the painting. This exacting style drew criticism from Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy, who dismissed the style as “mechanical dexterity”, “minuteness” and “imitation”, and termed him a ” lower painter, like the florist or collector of shells”.

However, contemporary collectors saw no problem with Zoffany’s attention to detail, and he completed several royal commissions. Today, we benefit from the historical accuracy of his work, along with its charm and beauty.

It’s likely that the Gore family commissioned this painting to celebrate the marriage of Hannah Anne Gore to George, 3rd Earl Cowper, who are both shown standing in the painting. The painting is set in Italy; we can see a view of the Tuscan hills in the background. (Image source: http://londonist.com/2012/03/johan-zoffany-royal-academy.php/b1977-14-87)

This painting shows the north eastern section of the Tribuna room in the Florence Ufffuzi, one of the oldest art galleries in the western world. (Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Tribuna_of_the_Uffizi_(1772-78);_Zoffany,_Johann.jpg)

Johan Zoffany RA: Society Observed is at the Royal Academy’s Sackler Wing of galleries in London until 10 June 2012.
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Today sees the first in a series of posts, No Artspeak Allowed, where I’m going to explain a number of modern painting styles and movements. My aim is to explain them in a clear and digestible way, using as little baffling jargon and artspeak as possible, and if I do use it, I’ll explain its meaning, or provide a link to a simple explanation, (or you can tell on me!) Obviously I’m not going to know if I’ve totally avoided artspeak unless you tell me, so please do feed back in the comments and social media.What is Artspeak?

Artspeak is a formal and intellectual way of talking about art that uses a lot of unnecessary jargon. Check out this example, courtesy of this irreverent service:

“Ever since I was a student I have been fascinated by the essential unreality of the human condition. What starts out as undefined soon becomes debased into a tragedy of distress, leaving only a sense of decadence and the possibility of a new synthesis.
As subtle replicas become clarified through diligent and academic practice, the viewer is left with a statement of the corners of our culture.”

Right, so now we know our enemy, let’s have a look at today’s movement. It’s abstract expressionism, a mid-20^th century North American and European movement.

Let’s look at the term itself. Abstract art is that which isn’t supposed to “look like” something from the real world, or it may look like a pared down and simplified (abstracted) version of something from the real world. “Expressionism” simply refers to the emotional intensity in the work; these painters were expressing their feelings on canvas.

Abstract expressionism’s major centres were New York and San Francisco, and the style’s most important years were from 1940-1960. US artists were inspired by earlier European expressionism, and developed this inspiration into their own more anarchic, energetic and rebellious style. Indeed, abstract expressionism has a strong link with the concept of the outcast, rebel artist; the style is associated with the beat generation and with nihilist philosophers such as Nietzsche.

Abstract expressionist artists

Possibly the most well-known abstract expressionist was Jackson Pollock. (1912-1956) His large scale drip paintings, with their highly physical method of production, work with the twin ideas of abstraction and expressionism perfectly.

A second artist who springs into many minds when abstract expressionism is mentioned is Willem de Kooning. His work is a good example of what I mentioned a bit ago about abstract art looking like a pared down or simplified version of something from the real world. We can see a female human figure in most of his paintings, but the figure is “abstracted” to various degrees.

Ok so short but sweet for a big art movement, but I hope that explained in a nutshell what abstract expressionism is about, and that the pictures I chose are good examples of the style. Please comment and let me know! Check back next week for No ArtSpeak Allowed #2 : Surrealism.

 

Open until August, this exhibition looks at the significant impact of immigrants on British art. From 17th and 18th Century Dutch and Italian painters who moved to Britain because they couldn’t compete with the great masters in their home countries at the time, to 20th Century modernists including Piet Mondrian, Naum Gabo and Laszlo Maholy-Nagy, the exhibition attempts to cover a vast range in terms of dates, styles, movements and provenances.

The show explores the establishment of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1768; works by Swiss-Austrian Angelica Kauffman, and Anglo-American Benjamin west were fundamental to it’s foundation. The aforementioned 20th Century modernists came to Britain, in the main, to escape the war in Europe in the 1930s and 40s. Some were personally threatened by the political unrest, their works having been included in Hitler’s exhibition of ‘Degenerate Art’, which included non-representational styles that he deemed to be a threat to Germany.

Moving on to the 1950s and 1960s and later, the exhibition covers works by artists who moved to the UK from commonwealth countries, including the Black Audio Film Collective. Sonya Boyce’s 1988 work From Tarzan to Rambo: English born ‘native’ considers her relationship the constructed self-image her roots in reconstruction examines representations of race and colour, and what they reveal about cultural stereotyping.

Image source: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?cgroupid=999999961&workid=1386&searchid=9609&tabview=image

Migrations: journeys into British art is at Tate Britain until 12th August

Tate Britain is open every day, 10.00-18.00
Last admission to special exhibitions at 17.15

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It’s finally here, woohoo! To celebrate the glorious spring weather, here are my top picks from the spring-themed paintings at Art2Arts.Prelude to Spring by Maureen Greenwood.

Making great use of impasto and and texture, Prelude to Spring also bursts with colour and exciting composition. It’s guaranteed to make any home or corporate interior spring into life (sorry).

Narcissus 1 by Diana Anderson

Russian-born Diana Anderson quotes Henry Ward Beecher in saying that “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” With Narcissus 1, she’s literally brought nature into the picture, and this energetic, bold floral is ideal for the contemporary home interior, or home office.

Freston Woods by Marc Bedingfield

You can’t be blue with bluebells on the way, and this fine art photographic print by Marc Bedingfield captures the spring light perfectly. The closeups in the foreground could make you feel like you’re really there- beautiful stuff.

Calla Lily by Victoria Stothard

Fans of Georgia O’Keefe will appreciate Victoria Stothard’s bold single lily arrangement. Prolific artist Victoria has created and sold over 2000 works, and despite her success, her works remain affordable as she believes art should be accessible to everyone.

Clarity Landscape by CK Wood.

CK Wood’s poppy and landscape paintings sell all over the world, to collectors in countries including Singapore, the US, and Spain. She finds inspiration in the natural beauty of her surrounding landscape, and we can see how spring colours and freshness have influenced Clarity Landscape.

Love David Shrigely’s quirky cartoons and drawings? Here’s an interview where he talks ideas creation, not being able to draw, and cutting down on swearing.