Art Gallery of New South Wales

Today, I made a quick visit to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, located among the giant fig trees of The Domain, a large parkland in the heart of Sydney, with views of one of the most spectacular harbours in the world. It's a must see if you are in this part of Australia, or the world.

Here are some marine-themed works from the AGNSW collection. From what I could see in the limited time available, only the Monet is actually on display. I suspect that marine painting, especially maritime or nautical art, is often seen by curators as too bourgeois - something that businessmen use to decorate their office or study. None of these works are by Australian artists. Marines have not been a major aspect of Australian painting, despite the fact that Australia is an island continent with a vast coastline, and, apart from the indigenous population, our ancestors came here on very long sea voyages. Perhaps we don't like to be reminded of the sea that exiled us from the rest of the world.

Charles Napier Hemy, Smugglers- "To save their necks".
Edward de Martino, Golfo degli Aranci, Sardinia.
John Mogford, Crossing the Bar, Scarborough.
Julius Olsson, The Night Tide, 1915.
Cluade Monet, Port-Goulphar, Belle-ile.

Impressionism - Ultramarine Blue

Bernhard Gutmann, Breton Fishing Boats, 1912.
Childe Hassam, The Silver Veil and the Golden Gate.
Claude Monet, Rocks at Belle Isle Port Domois.

Though it sometimes seems as though the works of the Impressionist masters have been imitated to death, there is much to learn from them.

The emphasis on capturing effects of light and atmosphere, the unification of the image through colour and pattern, the vibrant optical colour mixing, the energy of the brushstrokes - these things will always be relevant to painting.

As seen in these works, the Impressionists celebrated Ultramarine Blue. They used it for skies, seas, and shadows (unmixed with white, it can be used almost as a black). 

Ultramarine was originally made from ground semi-precious stone (lapis lazuli) imported from far off central Asia. It was prized for its ability to simulate the azure of skies, but it was prohibitively expensive.
In the 19th century, chemists discovered how to make a much cheaper artificial version of the pigment with almost the same beauty and qualities.
The Impressionists also made use of Cobalt Blue and Cerulean Blue (both also first produced in the 1800s). Ultramarine is a favourite mixing blue, as it doesn't overpower the mix.

Artists often wonder what the difference is between "French Ultramarine" and "Ultramarine". French Ultramarine tends to be more violet than blues simply labelled 'Ultramarine'. A violet cast can be useful for painting natural-looking skies.

Dick Blick art supplies, say that the only 'natural' or 'genuine' Ultramarine they stock is DaVinci Lapis Lazuli Geniune, which is produced from stone mined in Chile.

Image Making

Claude Monet, The Rock Needle seen through the Porte d'Aumont, 1885

By looking for unconventional viewpoints and qualities of light, great painters like Monet breathed new life into the seascape genre of painting. In choosing this unusual keyhole view, he was clearly interested in image-making not just plein air painting.

Image-making gives a work an iconic quality that remains in the imagination of the viewer for a long time.

To make a strong, interesting image it is necessary to simplify and unify the composition and avoid scenes that have been painted to death. 

Image-making can involve the use of some kind of visual ambiguity. In this work the eye sees the gap in the rock as both a figure and a frame.

Monet

detail

The Beach at Honfleur

Claude Monet - French

The Nets

Claude Monet - French

Belle-Ile, rain effect


Rocks at low tide, Pourville



Point of Rocks at Port-Goulphar

These seascapes by Monet illustrate the point made in the earlier post about the importance of maintaining tonal contrast. While celebrating colour and brushwork, Monet did not eliminate dark darks and white from his palette.

Claude Monet

The Rocks at Belle-Ile, 1886

Though Impressionism is usually associated with the capture of a fleeting moment in time, Monet's work captures the Eternal. His brushwork is energetic but also subtle, and unifies the entire image in a vibrating texture.

Minneapolis Institute of Art

William Trost Richards



detail of central part



Monet








George Morland

Monet

Seascape with Storm