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ART TALKS
THE EXPRESSIVE FIGURE
by Greg Harper, Executive Director and Curator of the Cape Museum of Fine Arts
"Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly the name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, air, fire and water so is the body of earth. If man has in hi bones which are the support and armor of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if a man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which rises and falls every six hours for the world to breath. IF from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying throughout the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water." Leonardo da Vinci
"Boxer" by William Littlefield, courtesy CMFAAs the reawakening of the world of knowledge was occurring 500 years ago with the Renaissance, man again began to inhabit the center of the universe. The "Vitruvian Man" was revived from his sleep of the Dark Ages and western classical technical skills and ideas were relearned through decades of observation and practice. This, of course, was mixed with the confidence of the time, growth of private patronage and the influx of new ideas from the East, Near and Far.
The artist and artisan, even during the Medieval period, have contributed the humanizing elements to the products of their society. They messaged the base materials of egg tempera, oil, wood and stone to express the human understanding of the natural and supernatural.
Over time, as the "Modern Human Being" has evolved, the reason for the artist's product has changed and subjects are explored from a variety of angles, not just the patron's point of view.
In Leonardo's statement, man is identified with the earth. In fact, the spiritual element is only faintly implied by an artist who knew the physical human being inside and out as well as the natural history of the time.
Relearning what the "ancients" knew about the human figure was a process of observing and sketching from the live model.
As their skills developed, they were increasingly able to infuse it with symbolic or emotional meaning, germane to the time. And this capacity to relate ideas and mores through representations of the human body has not changed.
"Woman Reading" by Betty Lane, courtesy CMFAFigurative works from the Cape Museum of Fine Arts permanent collection will be on view in the Hope - McClenner Gallery through April 20th. Artists featured include Arnold Geissbuhla, Edwin Dickinson, Nanno de Groot, Robert DeNiro, Sr., Sidney Simon, Jan Collins Selman, and more.
This article is co-sponsored by the Cape Museum of Fine Arts. Be sure to view and participate in all the exciting upcoming events and art shows to take place at the Cape Museum of Fine Arts in 1999. For further information please visit their web site at: http://www.cmfa.org
Cape Museum of Fine Arts
P.O. Box 2034
Route 6A
Dennis, MA 02638
508.385.4477
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