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by John Bendall |
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(Not the) Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Winter Landscape Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840) |
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The last artist in our series beautifully illustrates the kind of weird and wonderful
influences that inspire the visual arts. Unlike Science, Art is not an exact science. Friedrich was certainly supremely technically accomplished: born in Germany, he studied in Copenhagen until 1798 before settling in Dresden. His superbly executed paintings are often allegorical landscapes, some of which are strangely akin to classical Chinese painting, typically featuring contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, or morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. In his landscapes he tried to reflect the mood of the Romantic lyrical poetry of his time, as set, for example, in the songs of Schubert. If you look closely at the above scene (which I recommend you go and see in the National Gallery), you will observe that a wanderer in the snow has jettisoned his crutches and laid himself down against the rock in front of the large fir tree. A fantastical gothic church seems to loom out of the background gloom. There is always a mysterious appeal to Friedrich's work, but what it all means is anybody's guess! By contrast with the Karl Popper Philosophy of Science, there has never, to date, been a satisfactory 'Theory of Art'. Art can be seen as a set of experiments on people. Without an audience of people - or at least one person, the artist alone - there would be no point in a work of art. The artist sets out to produce a certain effect on the viewers, listeners, readers or whatever. He or she decides upon some method whereby this effect might be achieved and a piece of work is, accordingly, produced. The intended audience may be the whole population or, sadly perhaps, just the artist alone. A work of art without an intended audience is thus meaningless. The effect on the audience is then observed by the artist and, if the desired effect is a success - for example, if intended, the work may be sold for an appropriate sum - then something has perhaps been achieved. But, in that case, as in Science, nothing will have been learned: things only become of interest when the desired effect is not achieved. In Art, as in Life - or at the Bridge table - you only really learn by making mistakes. Enough. The End! |
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Thursdays: 1.30pm for 2.00pm St. James Church Hall Tunbridge Wells |
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Elspeth Fox Email: Pembury Bridge Club Tel: 07813 461371 |