Alfred Lichter and Shaun Gagg

The painter and sculptor Alfred Lichter, born in 1917, lived and worked in Mallorca for almost 30 years. He died at the age of 95 years on November 1, 2012 in Alaró. 

His mature understanding of the meaning of art was that it opened windows to the spiritual world – an alternative concept to our materialistic and conflict-filled earthly existence. He wrote that:

'Capriccio is the result of my lifelong search for the essence of art.

Capriccio is the name for an artistic approach that places special emphasis on nature’s inexhaustible energies and the logic of chance.'

In 2001 he exhibited a collection of Ecce Homo images.

The Sorrows Of Steel is a welded steel nail sculpture by Shaun Gagg which is a life size Jesus Christ from over 15,000 nails welded together. Gagg says that he doesn't consider himself particularly religious but for many years has had the Idea of a 'Jesus from Nails' at the back of his mind. He thinks it must have something to do with the painting Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali which he first saw as a teenager and has fascinated him ever since.

The sculpture is now the focal point for the newly-refurbished Lady Chapel of Holy Cross and St Francis Catholic Church, Walmley. 

Parish priest, Father Neil Bayliss, said: “I thought the sculpture should be in a church where Christians can see it, reflect on it and get inspiration. It is an amazing sight and one which I want many others to share in. Many parishioners have taken the chance to see the artwork whilst it has been on display in a local art gallery, and were fully supportive of my proposal to buy it. Art plays a huge role in the church and this was a great opportunity for us to add something extra special to the redevelopment of the Lady Chapel.”

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Linda Perhacs - We Will Live.

Banned Stations of the Cross

I've been reading Jacques Maritain's Art and Scholasticism which includes an appendix describing the banning, by the Roman Catholic Church, of Stations of the Cross created by the Belgian artist Albert Servaes. Servaes played a significant role in a renewed interest in ecclesiastical art in Belgium. This renewal also had links to the revival of religious art in France in which Maurice Denis played a significant role.

Maritain's comments can be read, together with background information on Servaes, at this blog - idle speculations: The Banning of the Stations of the Cross.

Servaes' banned Stations are reproduced in Ecce Homo: Contemplating the Way of Love together with meditations by Titus Brandsma. The publisher's state that:

"Albert Servaes (1883-1966) is the leading representative of Expressionism in Belgian painting. Here we have a great piece of Flemish art matched with the spiritual thoughts of Brandsma. Titus meditating on the passion of the Lord, and calling attention to the place of the cross in prayer. These meditations on the passion stand wholly in this tradition of the vivid use of the imagination in order to evoke the reality of Jesus' sufferings. The details of his thoughts are determined by the artist's black on sepia drawings and are completely understood only by reference to them. No doubt the grim expressionist statement of the theme brought home with extra force to Titus' mind the frightful nature of the crucifixion."

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Sofia Gubaidulina - Seven Words.