ArtWay - Rouault and Girard: Crucifixion and Resurrection, Penitence and Life Anew

The Artist as Truth-Teller and the Legacy of French Artist Georges Rouault was an Association of Scholars of Christianity in the History of Art symposium at Institut Catholique de Paris in 2022 in honour of the 150th anniversary of the birth of French modernist Georges Rouault.

I gave a paper at the symposium entitled ‘True humility is not mediocrity’ in which I explored the influence of Rouault on the life and work of André Girard. I discovered the work of Girard through Christianity in Art by Frank and Dorothy Getlein, a book which views Rouault as being ‘the twentieth century artist above all others who fused into one monumental testament all the elements of the social revolution and the new Christianity.’ Girard, as student and friend of Rouault, was seen by the Getlein’s as developing “the first move of Christian art toward the universal audience of today.”

Although he enjoyed considerable recognition in his own day and time, the reputation of Girard has diminished with time, unlike that of Rouault. As a result, his work is ripe for rediscovery. In this paper, in addition to highlighting key strands of Rouault’s influence on Girard such as humility and risk taking, I explored some of the reasons why Rouault’s work transcends his age, while that of Girard seems to remain within his. Additionally, I shared the contrasts in their work noted by their friend André Suares - penitence and affirmation.

This paper has now been published by ArtWay as their latest Blog post:

'when we combine the work of the teacher with that of his student, we encounter the full Gospel in depictions both of the dying world into which Christ comes and the abundance of life that is found in and through him as he brings a new world into being, just as Girard, in the words of Suarés brings a new art into being.'

For more on the ASCHA symposium, click here. My poem based on this paper entitled 'The twin poles of Rouault and Girard' has been published by Stride, while a related poem, 'Maritain, Green, Beckett and Anderson in conversation down through the ages', is in Amethyst Review. For more on Rouault, click here.

My visual meditations for ArtWay include work by María Inés Aguirre, Giampaolo Babetto, Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Alexander de Cadenet, Christopher Clack, Marlene Dumas, Terry Ffyffe, Jake Flood, Antoni Gaudi, Nicola Green, Maciej Hoffman, Lakwena Maciver, S. Billie Mandle, Giacomo Manzù, Sidney Nolan, Michael Pendry, Maurice Novarina, Regan O'Callaghan, Ana Maria Pacheco, John Piper, Nicola Ravenscroft, Albert Servaes, Henry Shelton, Anna Sikorska, Alan Stewart, Jan Toorop, Andrew Vessey, Edmund de Waal and Sane Wadu.

My Church of the Month reports include: All Saints Parish Church, Tudeley, Aylesford Priory, Canterbury Cathedral, Chapel of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, Hem, Chelmsford Cathedral, Churches in Little Walsingham, Coventry Cathedral, Église de Saint-Paul à Grange-Canal, Eton College Chapel, Lumen, Metz Cathedral, Notre Dame du Léman, Notre-Dame de Toute Grâce, Plateau d’Assy,Romont, Sint Martinuskerk Latem, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, St Alban Romford, St. Andrew Bobola Polish RC Church, St. Margaret’s Church, Ditchling, and Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft, St Mary the Virgin, Downe, St Michael and All Angels Berwick and St Paul Goodmayes, as well as earlier reports of visits to sites associated with Marian Bohusz-Szyszko, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, Antoni Gaudi and Henri Matisse.

Blogs for ArtWay include: Congruity and controversy: exploring issues for contemporary commissions; Ervin Bossanyi: A vision for unity and harmony;
Photographing Religious Practice; Spirituality and/in Modern Art; and The Spirituality of the Artist-Clown.

Interviews for ArtWay include: Sophie Hacker, Peter Koenig and Belinda Scarlett. I also interviewed ArtWay founder Marleen Hengelaar Rookmaaker for Artlyst.

I have reviewed: Art and the Church: A Fractious Embrace, Kempe: The Life, Art and Legacy of Charles Eamer Kempe and Jazz, Blues, and Spirituals.

Other of my writings for ArtWay can be found here. My pieces for Church Times can be found here. Those for Artlyst are here and those for Art+Christianity are here. 

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Ricky Ross - When Sinners Fall.

Winefride Wilson: Christian Art since the Romantic Movement

I've recently read 'Christian Art since the Romantic Movement' by Winefride Wilson. I found the book in a secondhand library sale.

The book, which was also published a 'Modern Christian Art' begins with the Romantic Movement. Winefride surveys the turbulent spirit of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century art and shows how the expressive artists of the twentieth century owes an unrecognized debt to the traditional Christian artists of earlier centuries. She discusses paintings and sculpture, emphasizing the important figures in this century: Graham Sutherland, David Jones, Eric Gill, Sir Jacob Epstein and many others. In separate sections, the author treats architectural trends, work in metals, ceramics, textiles and stained glass.

The book covers: The downfall of reason; Nostalgic brotherhoods; The age of revivals; Preaching boxes and true principles; Religious painting and European movements; Two centuries of Christian sculpture; A fantastical Spaniard and some contemporaries; Bright pavilions; and The precious arts.

The book is one of the most comprehensive I have read and is written in a polemical style that maintains the reader's interest throughout, even when one may not agree with the stated perspective. Winefride lectured widely and was the art critic for The Tablet. A former President of the Society of Catholic Artists, she was made one of the first Papal dames in 1994. She was taught the art of silversmithing by her husband Dunstan Pruden and joined the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic in 1975.

I experienced a sense of frustration in finding this book as Winefride is not someone I have seen referenced previously despite having being widely read on the topic of Modern Christian or Sacred Art. The fact that her book is more comprehensive than many on this subject demonstrates the extent to which institutional memory is commonly disregarded in this field.

Eric Newton, for example, was another excellent earlier writer in this field who is relatively rarely cited. Newton's 'The Christian faith in art' is well worth a read. Like Winefride Wilson, Newton was also an artist. In a similar vein and from a similar period, 'Christianity in Art,' published in 1959, by Frank and Dorothy Getlein is also worth reading. 

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Bob Dylan - Caribbean Wind.