Between: rembrandt

Showing posts with label rembrandt. Show all posts

Monday, 22 April 2024

Artlyst: The Last Caravaggio - National Gallery

My latest exhibition review for Artlyst is on 'The Last Caravaggio' at the National Gallery:

'Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, as both a revolutionary artist and a violent individual in a violent age, divides eras and opinions.

His paintings are strikingly original and emotionally charged with their intense naturalism, dramatic lighting and powerful storytelling. These elements of his work have had a lasting impact on European art and continue to reverberate to this day. His focus on the human in depicting stories of the divine reversed the idealisation of the human primarily found in the Western tradition up to that point and introduced a new language to painting, one that would eventually result in Rembrandt’s ability to reveal the divine in his sitters and characters.'

See also my first article for Artlyst - Was Caravaggio a Good Christian?

Interviews -

Monthly diary articles -

Articles/Reviews -

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Gregory Porter - Revival.

Thursday, 17 August 2017

The inexhaustible, unlimited motherly and fatherly love of God

Here is my sermon from today's Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook:

Henri Nouwen was a bestselling author and pastor of a L’Arche community in Toronto, a community of people with learning difficulties. One of his best loved books is The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. The book reflects on the parable of the Prodigal Son by way of a painting; Rembrandt’s Prodigal Son.

In the book Nouwen describes his thoughts as he first saw that image as a large poster pinned to a colleague’s door: “I saw a man in a great red cloak tenderly touching the shoulders of a dishevelled boy kneeling before him. I could not take my eyes away. I felt drawn by the intimacy between the two figures, the warm red of the man’s cloak, the golden yellow of the boy’s tunic, and the mysterious light engulfing them both. But, most of all, it was the hands – the old man’s hands as they touched the boy’s shoulders that reached me in a place where I had never been reached before.”

Through reflection on the painting and through L’Arche, Nouwen became familiar with the home of God within him. That place where, “I am held safe in the embrace of an all-loving Father who calls me by name and says, ‘You are my beloved son, on you my favour rests.’ Looking back he sees that his intense response to the father’s embrace of his son told that he was desperately searching for that inner place where he too could be held as safely as the young man in the painting. It maybe that we are each one searching for that place and embrace.

For Nouwen it all began with the father’s hands: “The two are quite different. The father’s left hand touching the son’s shoulder is strong and muscular … That hand seems not only to touch, but, with its strength, also to hold. Even though there is a gentleness in the way the father’s left hand touches his, it is not without a firm grip. How different is the father’s right hand! This hand does not hold or grasp. It is refined, soft, and very tender … It lies gently upon the son’s shoulder. It wants to caress, to stroke, and to offer consolation and comfort. It is a mother’s hand …As soon as I recognised the difference between the two hands of the father, a new world of meaning opened up for me. The Father is not simply a great patriarch. He is mother as well as father. He touches … with a masculine hand and a feminine hand. He is, indeed God, in whom both manhood and womanhood, fatherhood and motherhood, are fully present.

Then there is the great red cloak. With its warm colour and its arch-like shape, it offers a welcome place where it is good to be. At first, the cloak … looked to be like a tent inviting the tired traveller to find some rest. But as I went on gazing at the red cloak, another image came to me: the sheltering wings of the mother bird. They reminded me of Jesus’ words about God’s maternal love: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem … How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” Day and night God holds me safe, as a hen holds her chicks secure under her wings. Even more than … a tent, the image of a vigilant mother bird’s wings expresses the safety that God offers her children. They express care, protection, a place to rest and feel safe …

For most of my life I have struggled to find God, to know God, to love God. I have tried hard to follow the guidelines of the spiritual life … and to avoid the many temptations to dissipate myself. I have failed many times but always tried again, even when … close to despair. Now I wonder whether I have sufficiently realised that during all this time God has been trying to find me, to know me, and to love me. The question is not “How am I to find God?” but “How am I to let myself be found by him?” The … question is not “How am I to love God? But “How am I to let myself be loved by God?” God is looking into the distance for me, trying to find me, and longing to bring me home … God is the father who watches and waits for his children, runs out to meet them, embraces them, pleads with them, begs and urges them to come home. It might sound strange, but God wants to find me as much as, if not more than, I want to find God …

Many people live their lives never fully sure that they are loved as they are. Many have horrendous stories that offer plausible reasons for their low self-esteem. The parable of the prodigal son is a story that speaks about a love that existed before any rejection was possible and that will still be there after all rejections have taken place. It is the first and everlasting love of a God who is Father as well as Mother. It is the foundation of all true human love, even the most limited. Jesus’ whole life and preaching had only one aim: to reveal this inexhaustible, unlimited motherly and fatherly love of his God and to show the way to let that love guide every part of our daily lives. In his painting of the father, Rembrandt offers us a glimpse of that love. It is the love that always welcomes home and always wants to celebrate.”

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Keith Green - The Prodigal Son Suite.

Saturday, 21 March 2015

Stations of the Cross

Henry Shelton is a noted painter of religious art in a contemporary style. He trained as an apprentice draughtsman in a London studio developing his drawing skills in lettering and fine art. After 15 years he set up his own studio receiving many commissions from such clients as the Science Museum, borough councils, private and corporate bodies.

In recent years he has worked designing in studios across the world, including Hong Kong and the USA. Throughout this time he has painted Christian art and his commissions include an Ascension installed as an altarpiece in the Church of the Saviour, Chell Heath; the Millennium clock tower in Goodmayes, and the memorial etched-glass windows in All Saints Church, Goodmayes, depicting events in the life of Jesus. In 2007 he had a one-man exhibition in York Minister where he showed this set of Stations of the Cross. Most recently, he has completed commissions for St Luke’s Chapel in Queens Hospital Romford, a contemporary set of Stations of the Crown of Thorns for St Paul’s Goodmayes and etched windows for All Saints Hutton.

Shelton has painted four sets of Stations of the Cross, two of which have been combined with meditations by Rev Jonathan Evens. These have been published by http://www.theworshipcloud.com/. These pictures, poems and prayers enable us to follow Jesus on his journey to the cross reflecting both on the significance and the pain of that journey as we do so. With their second sequence, ‘The Passion,’ both aimed to pare down the images and words to their emotional and theological core. The mark making and imagery is minimal but they hope in a way that makes maximum impact. Their first sequence, ‘Mark of the Cross,’ was described by Rev Steve Santry as "Stunning artwork and thought provoking words [which] open up the events around Easter in a new and imaginative way."

Shelton says of his semi-abstract style and minimal flowing lines, that, “as I’ve got older I’ve learnt that ‘less is more’ and through the development of my work I’ve learnt to express emotion in a semi-abstract form.” This is why he paints; “it all goes back to feeling; the pathos of suffering.”

The power of art to evoke emotion is what originally inspired Shelton and which has sustained his work throughout his career: “When I first saw the great Rembrandt’s in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the power of his images seemed to transcend time. The same thing attracted me to Christian Art as a choirboy at All Saints West Ham; the art spoke to me. I used to look at the altar and see images that were just so powerful. The images seemed to bring the past into the present and to form a profound link with the lineage of the past. I see myself as an artist trying in my small way to continue that lineage and my passion as a Christian artist is to keep that lineage alive in my generation as a witness.”

Shelton says of commission4mission, of which he is a founding member and which encourages churches to commission contemporary art: “I want us to be offering quality work and craftsmanship, rather than mass-produced work, to continue the legacy of the Church as a great commissioner of art. The Church has, in fact, commissioned some of the greatest works of art ever produced.”

To have his work in churches, Shelton says, “really is the fulfilment of my life’s work.” He doesn’t have much ambition to show in galleries and says that, “the whole point for me is to create reaction and engage people; for people to enjoy and be moved by my work, just as I’ve been engaged by the work of other artists.”

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Neal Morse - King Jesus.

Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Jim Morphesis and Corita Kent

The Pasadena Museum of Californian Art is currently showing work by Jim Morphesis:

'Since the 1980s, Jim Morphesis has been one of the most influential members of the expressionist art movement in Los Angeles. Taking its title from what Friedrich Nietzsche called "The Eternal Wounds of Existence," JIM MORPHESIS: Wounds of Existence examines an impressive oeuvre that has captured the profound predicaments of human life. Morphesis most often works serially, on imagery and themes as varied as the Passion of the Christ (influenced by his Greek Orthodox upbringing), nude torsos (inspired by Rembrandt and Soutine) and universal symbols of mortality, including skulls and roses. His paintings of the Passion are grounded in art history, sharing aspects with Diego Velázquez's Christ on the Cross and Giovanni Bellini's Pieta, but are made undeniably modern by his sensuous, textured surfaces. For the past four decades, his paintings have communicated a deep, universal concern with the dehumanization of society throughout history.'

Later in the year they also have a retrospective of Corita Kent's body of work:

'Someday is Now: The Art of Corita Kent is the first full-scale exhibition to survey the entire career of pioneering artist and designer Corita Kent (1918-1986). For over three decades, Corita experimented in printmaking, producing a groundbreaking body of work that combines faith, activism, and teaching with messages of acceptance and hope. A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Corita taught at the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles from 1947 through 1968. At IHC, she developed her vibrant, Pop-inspired prints from the 1960s, mining a variety of secular and religious sources and using the populist printmaking medium to pose philosophical questions about racism, war, poverty, and religion. Her work was widely recognized for its revolutionary impact and remains an iconic symbol of that period in American history. As a teacher, Corita inspired her students to discover new ways of experiencing the world by seeking out revelation in everyday events. Bringing together artwork from Corita's entire career, this exhibition reveals the impassioned energy of this artist, educator, and activist.'

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Morrissey - Now My Heart Is Full.

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Exhibitions round-up

London's commercial galleries currently have high profile exhibitions featuring many of the major figures in later Modern Art.

Throughout the autumn, Hauser & Wirth is devoting all three of its London galleries to a presentation of works from the collection of Reinhard Onnasch. A celebration of Onnasch’s longstanding passion for art and collecting, ‘Re-View: Onnasch Collection,’ the exhibition focuses on the period between 1950 and 1970, which saw the birth of some of the most important artistic movements of the 20th century. It features significant works including iconic examples of Pop Art, Fluxus, Colorfield, Assemblage, Minimalism and Abstract Expressionism from the New York School of Art, many of which have never been presented before in London.

Raw Truth: Auerbach-Rembrandt is at Ordovas and brings together a striking group of landscapes and portraits by the 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, and Frank Auerbach, the renowned British artist. This is the first collaborative exhibition to be presented by the newly renovated Rijksmuseum and Frank Auerbach is the first contemporary artist ever to show alongside works from their collection.

Candy, at Blain|Southern, is the first time that paintings from Hirst’s Visual Candy series have been presented together exclusively, and candy spill works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres serve as a counterpoint to the paintings. The exhibition showcases the ways in which each artist used the signifier of candy during the early 1990s, exploring questions of pure aesthetics and identity.

Amidst all these well known names I was also interested to discover P.J. Crook at Alpha Gallery. Brian Sinefeld cites Balthus and Magritte as artists who have worked within a similar framework as PJ Crook. These artists 'whose surrealistic works of static, quirky realism belie a powerful mysticism lying below the surface' are akin in their sense of mystery to P J Crook. Cressida Connolly writes: "There is mystery at the heart of these paintings, as if something momentous might be about to take place; or as if a seismic event has already happened, perhaps still unbeknown to the people in the picture. The viewer may be lost within this world of the artist’s devising, or impose a narrative of their own. Like the silent white owls which swoop though some of the night-time paintings, PJ Crook always invites the imagination to take flight."

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King Crimson - The Power To Believe.

Friday, 30 August 2013

Self-portraits: Stranger

Flowers East was one of the first galleries to open in London's East End, in a former laundry/fur storage facility in Hackney. I was a regular visitor for shows that included work by John Bellany, Nicola Hicks, Peter Howson and John Keane.

In 2002 the gallery moved from Hackney into a 12,000 sq foot industrial space in Shoreditch, East London and, while I've been to shows at the Kingsland Road location, I've not been such a regular visitor. So I enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Gallery this morning with Mal Grosch to see the current exhibition of self portraits by Gallery artists.

Interestingly, many of the artists that were showing with the Gallery in the 1980s are still with them, suggesting both that they have been adept at identifying artists with significant potential and at fostering positive ongoing relationships with such artists. There are, of course, newer artists also in the mix but the jury is still out as to whether these will gain a similar profile to the earlier group that I remember seeing from the '80s onwards.

The exhibition aims to illuminate the relevance of self-portraiture, and its aesthetic value through each individual’s varied approach to self-representation. Historically, the self-portrait was often used as a reference or educational tool; an honest depiction of an artist that reflected the environment in which he or she existed. It enabled the artist to hone their skills, studying their own form as a free and constant model. Artists such as Rembrandt used the self-portrait as a cathartic tool to chronicle their changing physicality and to develop a greater anatomical understanding. It was a method to explore emotive, even distorted facial expressions, typically out of bounds within a commissioned work.

The exhibition's title, 'Stranger,' suggests a rather more conflicted approach to self-portraiture from these artists with work that conceals as well as reveals and which deals in image and irony as well as realism.

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Duke Special - Portrait.

Saturday, 1 June 2013

Art in the Heart

Birmingham and the West Midlands have quietly been making their mark on the contemporary arts map. Art in the Heart is a celebration of the diverse and exciting exhibitions taking place across the West Midlands during 2013.

From May to December you can see work by amazing artists from Botticelli and Rembrandt to Damien Hirst and Quentin Blake in a variety of venues, from Jacobean and Georgian mansions to contemporary art galleries and even a Planetarium! Running alongside this calendar of exhibitions is a specially commissioned poetry programme, containing a series of public workshops led by Poet in Residence Philip Monks.

The Art in the Heart site gives an easy reference guide to all of the 23 venues taking part and a glimpse of some of the amazing exhibitions you can see.

It highlights the strengths of the region’s world class art collections and its innovative contemporary programmes, many underpinned by national and international partnerships to bring art of the highest quality to the Heart of England.

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The Moody Blues - Dawning Is The Day.

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Art interviews - Bishop of Barking (1)

The Rt Revd David Hawkins was consecrated bishop on 17 October 2002 and began his public ministry as Anglican Bishop of Barking in the Diocese of Chelmsford in January 2003. He has special responsibility for mission and parish development.

JE. You use a lot of visual imagery in your public ministry where most of your sermons or talks contain at least one acted out parable. I can remember seeing you stand on your head (after a number of attempts!); release doves; cook a meal; wash and iron clothes; and hang ‘L’ plates around your neck and those of confirmation candidates. Why is the visual of such importance to you in communicating with people publicly?

DH. For me it is instinctive. I think visually, it is the way I am wired. I am fired by visual images because of my interest in and practice of art. The visual is the most instinctive tool I have. After all, a picture says more than a thousand words. All through history people have been educated and informed primarily through visual images. Jesus also used visuals in his very concrete teaching, so I feel I’m in good company in using everyday objects to make connections for others. I love to use surprise, shock, mirth and amusement in order to make what are hopefully memorable spiritual and theological points. In Church, in spite of centuries where the Church has been a patron of the Arts, the primary means of communicating faith is our insistence on using far too many words which often go right over people’s heads.

JE. Where does your interest in the visual come from originally and how has that interest been developed over the course of your ministry?

DH. I think of myself as an artist first and a clergyperson second. Chronologically, I have been painting and drawing since my colouring book days. Art has been a lifetime pursuit. I was ordained aged 24 but have had a calling to paint since childhood. Therefore, it is natural for me to use visual imagery in communication. It has never been a self conscious decision for me; a trying out of this, that or the other.

Early memories for me, as a child, include seeing Rene Magritte’s Time Transfixed and Salvador Dali’s Lobster Telephone which are bizarre juxtapositions of everyday objects. Now, when I think of the resurrection, I think of a washing machine in front of a communion table. Such juxtapositions help to make familiar preaching themes fresh and to make connections for those who listen. In recent sermons, I have placed in the sanctuary a bath and, a few weeks before seeing the Helter Skelter slides at the Tate Modern (Carsten Holler’s Test Site 2006), I used a children’s slide. I also use a wall of 8 x 4 whiteboards on which to paint stories, which I find works well with All-Age audiences. I feel nervous relying solely on words.

JE. Who or what has influenced in that development? Are there particular artists, periods of art or theologians who have heightened your appreciation of the visual?

DH. There are a large number of artists and periods that I find absorbing, for example, Rembrandt’s religious paintings or the work of Van Gogh. However, what fires me most are contemporary artists such as Terry Frost, Sam Francis, Ivon Hitchens and Howard Hodgkins. The emotional landscapes of Hodgkins are startlingly memorable and I love the iconic impact of his colours.

I am also fascinated by the prophetic influence of so many artists that people would seldom consciously recognise but to which they unconsciously respond. The work of Mark Rothko, which can now be found on calendars and tea towels, seems to be speaking into a longing for a contemplative or mystical expression in people’s lives. Less people now experience this sense in Church leading to a spiritual void in many people’s lives. On Sunday mornings the Art Galleries in London are jammed with people and Art seems to be filling something of this void in people. The prophetic and spiritual vocation of artists is, therefore, more important than it has been for a long time.

The remarkable success of the Tate Modern and, in particular, the Turbine Hall installations, is evidence of this phenomenon. The Weather Project left people awestruck by the everyday phenomenon of the weather. Contemplating our atmosphere and weather in a gallery providing us with a way of reflecting on experiences that are bigger than our individual lives. Embankment contained thousands of cardboard boxes in their emptiness – icebergs of discarded emptiness – which reflected the experience that many people have in their lives. Now, there are the helter skelter slides. In each case these installations are formed from everyday phenomenon but they provide the opportunity for reflection and contemplation. In this way, the Turbine Hall is like a well-filled modern Cathedral.

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Noah and the Whale - Give A Little Love.

Saturday, 13 September 2008

Art interview - Henry Shelton (2)

JE: Your etched glass windows at All Saints Goodmayes were dedicated earlier in the year by the Bishop of Barking. How did it feel to have been able to leave this major legacy at the church where you worship?

HS: To have my work in churches, coupled with an exhibition at York Minister last year, really is the fulfilment of my life’s work. I don’t have much ambition to show in galleries. The whole point for me is to create reaction and engage people; for people to enjoy and be moved by my work just as I’ve been engaged by the work of other artists.

JE: The memorial windows were over-subscribed and I understand that the experience has led you to develop ideas for an Art Society assisting churches to commission new work. Can you tell us more about your plans for this Society?

HS: The purpose of the Society will be to promote modern Christian Art in all its forms (i.e. painting, sculpture, music etc.) and by doing so to raise money for charity, particularly children’s charities. I want us to be offering quality work and craftsmanship, rather than mass-produced work, to continue the legacy of the Church as a great commissioner of art. The Church has, in fact, commissioned some of the greatest works of art ever produced.

JE: Your ideas for a Christian Art Society are coming together at a time when several other art-related initiatives are being developed in the Barking Area (including a re-launch of the Faith & Image group at St Mary's Woodford and the Advent Art installation project initiated by Revd. John Brown). Do you see possibilities for a wider network of folk with an interest in the visual artists coming together in the Barking Area, in particular because the Bishop of Barking is himself an artist?

HS: Bishop David has agreed to become patron of the new Society and has showed great interest in the success of the venture. We are already seeing interest from churches in the Barking Area in exploring the possibility of commissioning windows, stations and other paintings as memorials.
JE: You are currently part of the group which is creating an Advent Art installation for churches in Redbridge. How have you found this experience of collaborating on an art project and what do you hope the project will achieve?

HS: It’s the first time I’ve been part of a community project. I’ve found it very interesting at the initial meetings and am looking forward to working on the project with the rest of the team. Our purpose is to provide a peaceful environment to reflect on the meaning of Advent amongst all the busyness of Christmas preparations. Real thanks are due to John Brown for his vision for the project.

JE: You have had a varied career having done creative work in commercial design and in fine art while your work is displayed in private homes, churches and commercial complexes. What do you can be the legacy that an artist like you can leave in our contemporary, consumerist culture?

HS: It’s a very difficult question to answer but, as I said earlier, when I look at a Rembrandt, the picture transcends the centuries and is as powerful today as when it was created. I am proud to be a very small part of that artistic and Church lineage and hope that my images will react on people in years to come in the same way that the masters have reacted on me. When I did the York Minister exhibition, one of the Canons said that my deposition image connected for him with images he had seen on TV of mothers holding their dead children. My image was powerful for him because he could relate it to modern episodes; sometimes it is remarks like that that tell me why it is that I paint.

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Noah and the Whale: Five Years Time.

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Art interview - Henry Shelton (1)

After a successful career as a commercial product designer, Henry Shelton's time is now mainly set aside for his religious paintings. He says: "People often ask me what inspires me to paint a picture. Well, there are many reasons of course and I guess it doesn’t pay to analyse them too closely. I only know that when I stand facing a blank canvas I do hope to find inspiration from somewhere. Usually an idea will come to me when I least expect it and long before I can actually begin painting. All creative people will agree that a good idea can come to you anywhere, any time. But I like to think there may be a little “Divine Intervention” in what I do as my ideas are certainly intended to witness our Christian faith and depict images that will touch us all to the very core of our beliefs." Henry is involved in developing plans to launch a Christian Art Society which will encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities.

JE: You've said that you first became aware of the importance of Christian Art as a choir boy in West Ham. What was it that attracted you to Christian Art at that time?

HS: It was the same thing that attracted me to the great Dutch masters; the art spoke to me. I used to look at the altar and see images that were just so powerful. The images seemed to bring the past into the present and to form a profound link with the lineage of the past.

JE: You originally trained as a draughtsman. What impact do you think that has had on your art?

HS: The impact has been tremendous. I studied as a lettering artist which taught me drawing skills and discipline, and led me to study great artists, like the typographer and artist, Eric Gill.

JE: In what ways have you been influenced by the work of other artists and how has that influence been felt in your work?

HS: When I first saw the great Rembrandt’s in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the power of his images seemed to transcend time. I see myself as an artist trying in my small way to continue that lineage and my passion as a Christian artist is to keep that lineage alive in my generation as a witness.

JE: Over the years, and through your commercial and Christian Art, you have worked in a variety of styles with a high degree of felicity. How do you choose an appropriate style for the image you have in mind?

HS: As I’ve got older I’ve come to see the picture in my mind before I start working on it. For example, the windows that I designed for All Saints Goodmayes needed to be modern but representational and so I had to develop a specific simple visual style for the images before I could begin work.

JE: Your most recent Christian Art works, which are to be included in the 'Visual Dialogue' exhibition at St Johns Seven Kings from 3rd-5th October, seem to have a 'less is more' approach as you are painting in a semi-abstract style with pared down imagery. What has led you to this approach?

HS: The real answer is prayer. My most recent pictures have all come to me in prayer as I have been meditating on particular Bible passages. Most of my work now comes through a meditational process.

Someone recently asked me what my current painting is and it’s an abstract painting of the gates of heaven. That’s an amusing image in its own right; putting up a ladder to paint the gates of heaven! As an abstract work people won’t immediately know what it represents. It’s an image designed to draw people in; for them to engage with it and discuss it.

JE: You make use of minimal flowing lines to create the human figures in your 'Stations of the Cross' (also to be exhibited at St John's) and your etched windows at All Saints Goodmayes and yet the minimalism of these works seems deeply expressive. How do you see the emotion seep into the work through the combination of line and colour alone?

HS: It is the pathos of suffering. As I’ve got older I’ve learnt that ‘less is more’ and through the development of my work I’ve learnt to express emotion in a semi-abstract form. That’s really why I paint; it all goes back to feeling.

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Mat Kearney - Undeniable.