Two paintings by Lyonel Feininger

Two of the paintings we found in the museum were by Lyonel Feininger. These are the two paintings I will use in the living room.

1. Clouds Above The Sea IV 1942 Oil on Canvas by Lyonel Feininger (New York 1871-1956) 2. Edge of the Woods 1928 Oil on Canvas by Lyonel Feininger (NY 1871-1956) Lyonel Feininger (1871 - 1956) was a German-American painter and caricaturist. He grew up in New York, but moved to Berlin because his parents wanted him to study music (violin and composition) in 1887 when he was 16 years old. He decides to study drawing instead. He began his artistic endeavors as a cartoonist, and caricature artist and worked doing this for about 20 years. He began to produce paintings in 1907. Those that he painted between 1907-1910 were based on his early cartoons and caricatures. Then he visited Paris a couple of times (1906-7 and 1911) and met Robert Delaunay, and encountered Cubism. His later work shows a strong use of prismatic style, and planes of colour emphasized by intersecting light rays. Many concentrate on an architectural feature as well. In 1937 some of his work was included in the 'degenerate art' showing that the Nazis displayed to criticize artists who were working in the modern styles. His wife was of Jewish descent and they fled to America in 1937. He left a large amount of his work hidden in the country with a friend . He continued to develop his cubist style in America.

Embrace
1971 Oil on Canvas
by Pablo Picasso
(Malaga 1881 - Mougins 1973)

I chose this painting because it shows the obvious passion of two lovers, and since I was doing the bedroom, it seemed to fit. The Colors are very Calming.

Nude Woman Leaning On A Table
1917 Oil on Canvas
by Jean Metzinger
(Nantes 1883-Paris 1956)

This image is extremely seductive. Because our client lives alone, I decided to put it in the bedroom above the desk. The bedroom is where I decided to put the nude paintings, because of the seductivity of them.

8.47 or Flowered Quivers 1947 Oil on Canvas by Paul-Emile Borduas (St Hilaire 1905 - Paris 1960)

This painting adds a very sophisticated feel to the room. Because you have to know what it is before you see the painting, it gives the viewer the chance to interpret the painting in their own way.

Cubism in Sculpture

Although Cubism is considered to be a style in painting, we can see its principles more clearly defined in sculpture, as we look at the collision of angles and surfaces in a 3D medium

Jacques Lipchitz (1891 - 1973) a Jewish Lithuanian engineer who moved to Paris to study art in 1909, is considered to be the first cubist sculptor because he adopted its principles and began to work with them. Even though he produced more traditional pieces, he enthusiastically tried to incorporate the new way of looking at things that Picasso and Braque were developing into his work. In applying these principles to sculpture, the artist must work at dissecting a figure into geometric shapes and reorganizing the parts by counterbalancing the opposing planes and shapes. He created a piece called Sailor and Guitar in 1914 which clearly demonstrates this application of the principles of cubism to sculpture




In 1916 the 1st exhibition of sculpture where "cubist sculpture" was emphasized, was organized by Raymond Duchamp Villon at Galerie de l'Art Ancien et Contemporain. Many sculptors who attended from other parts of Europe were greatly influenced by this exhibition. Sculpture began move from being representational to using the medium to evoke emotions.

Lipchitz became friends with Le Corbusier, and in his later works you can see a strong architectural aspect developing.

This is the sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz that we found in our Museum trip

It is entitled Man with Guitar and was done in 1920. It is a bronze edition of 7 made at that time.

Museum Report

My first painting is a true Cubist era piece titled L'Estaque done in 1913. It is an oil on canvas
by Raoul Dufy (Le Havre 1877 - Forcalquier 1953)
This painting is found on the main floor of the Museum in the Modern Art exhibit entitled

The Modern Tradition - from Monet to Picasso;
Selected Works from the Museum's Collection.

Dufy was a French painter who was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
Like many artists of the era he was fascinated with the works of both Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne. He later worked side by side with Georges Braque in L'Estaque where they both painted Cubist style landscapes. In 1913 in the height of the movement Raoul Dufy had begun to develop his own personal style.


Composition 40 is by Paul-Emile Borduas (Saint-Hilaire 1905 - Paris 1960). It is also oil on canvas and was done in 1958. It was a gift of Renee Borduas given to the Museum of Fine Arts.

The Black Star is also a piece by Paul-Emile Borduas. Oil on cnavas done in 1957, this piece was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Lortie.

Both of the Borduas pieces are found on the lower level of the Museum (S2) in the Marcel Elefant Family Gallery in the Contemporary Art section of the permanent collection. There is quite a number of pieces by Borduas in this room as he was quite an important figure in Canadian Art history.

Borduas apprenticed as a church painter and decorator and later in 1923 he attended the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. In 1937 Borduas began teaching at l'École du Meuble.

He became involved with the Contemporary Arts Society, and in January 1938 he was elected vice-president of the group. Borduas began painting again, inspired by his work with children who showed him their innate surrealism and automatic writing which brought the name "Automatists" for the group after his painting Automatisme 1.47.

Borduas wrote the manifesto Refus Global (or "Global Refusal") in late 1947- early 1948 which advocated the separation of church and state in Quebec. Borduas was dismissed from l'École du Meuble for his involvement in this social critique as the Catholic Church still had wide influence.

Unable to find work or support himself with his art, Paul-Emile Borduas returned to Paris where he died in 1960 of a heart attack.