{"id":466,"date":"2012-12-19T14:53:36","date_gmt":"2012-12-19T19:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=466"},"modified":"2012-12-19T17:06:13","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T22:06:13","slug":"thumbs-up-bonnard-thumbs-sidewaysvuillard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/12\/thumbs-up-bonnard-thumbs-sidewaysvuillard\/","title":{"rendered":"Thumbs-up: Bonnard; Thumbs-sideways:Vuillard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vuillard<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you dated someone whose online profile scored highly, only to be\u00a0disappointed\u00a0upon\u00a0meeting her\/him? \u00a0I’ve never used an online dating service (my wife has strong opinions on this subject), but my relationship with Vuillard feels like a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0blind date. \u00a0At different times I’ve studied him closely. \u00a0He has a beguiling profile filled with attributes I\u00a0admire: he’s an honest worker, he never brags or shows off, and his subjects are taken from common experience. \u00a0But whenever I approach closely, I come away\u00a0disappointed.<\/p>\n

The problem he sets himself is, well, a problem. \u00a0His focuses on exploring interior space (interior<\/em> of buildings, not some inner, psychological space), investigating pattern and the picture plane. While these are interesting problems (see Matisse, Cezanne, Bonnard, and many, many, many others), Vuillard is obsessed to the point where they submerge all other problems. \u00a0Setting oneself problems is all well and good, but there’s nothing wrong with solving problems either; or, having solved them, moving on. \u00a0Vuillard seems\u00a0permanently\u00a0stuck at the same place.<\/p>\n

\"Vuillard:<\/a><\/p>\n

Another problem I have is scale. \u00a0Vuillard’s subjects are intimate and his most successful\u00a0paintings\u00a0are small\u2014intimate scale. \u00a0But Vuillard wanted to do large scale works, and in his bigger pieces, like this one<\/a>, his limitations are underlined.<\/p>\n

Vuillard reminds me of another painter that leaves me lukewarm\u2014Braque. \u00a0Like Braque, his color sense is subdued\u2014constantly in a minor key. \u00a0Both artists were satisfied with a modest assortment of themes, which they revisit time and again. \u00a0Both relieved the monotony by exploring different materials, such as silk and sand. \u00a0Finally, both were overshadowed by a close associate.<\/p>\n

Vuillard gets a thumb sideways\u00a0because\u00a0I’ve always felt this way\u2014blase\u2014about his paintings, and nothing has\u00a0caused\u00a0me to change my\u00a0opinion\u00a0 \u00a0Indeed, my initial opinion has only hardened over the years. \u00a0What saves Vuillard from falling into the “just walk past” category is his drawings and prints. \u00a0He is a first-rate\u00a0draughtsman\u00a0and print maker. \u00a0Whenever I come across one of his drawings or prints<\/a>, I stop and study it and I’m always rewarded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bonnard<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bonnard was to Vuillard what Picasso was to Braque. \u00a0Bonnard overshadows Vuillard the same way Picasso overshadows Braque. \u00a0It’s odd to me that much of modern art was fashioned by artists working closely with a group of peers. \u00a0That’s all gone now.<\/p>\n

Picasso famously disdained Bonnard. \u00a0You can Google Picasso’s remarks, but essentially his charges were these: Bonnard’s color sensitivity was irrelevant in art making, that he failed to make\u00a0decisions, and that he depended too much on nature. \u00a0This last point (artists talk such rot) reminds me of the charge leveled at the Impressionists by the academic\u00a0artists.<\/p>\n

F**k Picasso.<\/p>\n

Bonnard’s color sense is among the very best\u2014van Dyake, Monet, Matisse, you name it, he holds his own. \u00a0The same cannot be said for Picasso. \u00a0My overwhelming impression upon visiting the Picasso Museum in Paris was “What dreary color!”<\/p>\n

Even in my poor photo of the Cleveland Museum’s “The Dessert,” one admires the masterful play of color. \u00a0Picasso contrasted Bonnard’s color usage with Matisse’s more “intellectual” approach. \u00a0I dunno, this seems like something Matisse would applaud.<\/p>\n

\"Bonnard\"<\/a>
Bonnard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When I was young I considered Bonnard a minor artist but I still admired his work. \u00a0I gave him a (subdued) thumbs-up from the very start. \u00a0But his stature has continued to rise in my eyes, and now I consider him one of the best artists of the 20th Century. \u00a0He’s important for another reason, as well. \u00a0In my view, Western \u00a0culture died in 1914 in the trenches of France. \u00a0Since then, we in the West have been in a long decline, or if that is too severe for you, a long transition to something else. \u00a0The optimistic Western impulse is long gone.<\/p>\n

But since then, some artists\u2014like Bonnard\u2014have (mysteriously) kept the\u00a0flame\u00a0burning. \u00a0Bonnard manages to engage nature and along the way makes his engagement an exciting adventure. \u00a0His art is\u00a0informed\u00a0by nature at every point, unlike most art today which self-consciously\u00a0takes art itself as its subject and, therefore, is impotent is the face of the mysteries, horrors, and beauties around us.<\/p>\n

Finally, Bonnard’s works are well\u00a0mannered, gentle,\u00a0and kindly. \u00a0By contrast, much of modern art seems like art porn.<\/p>\n

Two\u00a0enthusiastic\u00a0thumbs-up!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vuillard Have you dated someone whose online profile scored highly, only to be\u00a0disappointed\u00a0upon\u00a0meeting her\/him? \u00a0I’ve never used an online dating service (my wife has strong opinions on this subject), but my relationship with Vuillard feels like a\u00a0disappointing\u00a0blind date. \u00a0At different times I’ve studied him closely. \u00a0He has a beguiling profile filled with attributes I\u00a0admire: he’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,6,46,87,1],"tags":[88,104,90,89],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","category-paintings","category-reviews","category-thumbs-up-down","category-uncategorized","tag-bonnard","tag-matisse","tag-picasso","tag-vuillard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1085,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/02\/thumbs-up-neel-thumbs-up-also-pearlstein\/","url_meta":{"origin":466,"position":0},"title":"Thumbs-up: Neel, Thumbs-up (also): Pearlstein","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"By happenstance or cunning plan, The Cleveland Museum of Art has two large paintings hanging next to each other by artists of whom I am fond-- Alice Neel and Philip Pearlstein. 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