Monday, January 25, 2010
January 25th, 2010 This month David and I are celebrating our 40th anniversary. It is also my 65th year. Dates are so very important when they mark milestones in a life, a wonderful life. So it sometimes baffles me when art repeats itself in a unconscious or conscious way. My own art is of a European culture which was my childhood. Also I am aware of the trends of the art in our city, Edmonton. The Greenberg connection to the styles of art produced in this city should have become a stale memory, but it seems to raise its head every now and then. So it was with glee that I found an old publication of the Alberta Society of Artists ,Winter 1963. Margaret Chappelle, artist and activist (1915-1992) wrote this article titled, Clement Greenberg.
"The most prevalent reaction upon meeting a "name" of Greenberg"s magnitude is one of passive resistance -- a determination to remain unawed by the reputation. By the end of the first day of exposure to this man his forthright sincerity had pried a few chinks in my armour. He made it clear from the first that he was a critic not a teacher... a new experience for Emma Lake!
" I don't care what type of painting you produce," he told the group - " as long as it's good."
His attitude to work was a bit unusual. Fishing, exploring, the cocktail hour had no place in his schedule and he kept himself constantly available to the assembled painters. Several full days of "talk sessions" conditioned us to the business of painting, with discussion thenceforth limited to before and after the day's work.
Many big names have emerged under the impetus of his artistic approval- names like Pollock, Noland, Lewis. One day I rashly questioned the validity and lasting quality of Noland's circles. His reaction told me that this was heresy! Yet again he would enthuse over a realistic landscape or a still life with flowers. "A gem!" He'd intone with the same admiration bestowed upon his favourite modernist. "Go further into realism" he urged the semi realist. He deplored the over abundance of single-track New York abstract expressionists who had nothing to say. "Stay away from New York," he warned, "if you're a serious painter who wants to go places!"
Though sometimes paradoxical, his thinking seemed uncluttered; his language free of "beat" jargon and double talk. His revealing anecdotes about "big name" painters brought them all into sharper focus. "Action painting" he disclosed (like impression-ism, cubism and so many others) was invented by a newspaper critic, and De Kooning and his cohorts were a bit nonplussed when the label stuck.
On the last day he told us how surprised he'd been discover so much sophistication and unpretentious professionalism "up here in the sticks" ( and the way he said it... took the sting out of that last phrase!)
I like this slice of another artist's life. Margaret Chappelle is now the name on a humane society building in Edmonton. When she died it was discovered in a hand written will that her art should be sold 10 years after her death. November 2003 her work sold for twice the amount than was expected. Her estate,estimated over a couple of million dollars, was given to the humane society.
Occasionally one can see one of her drawings and painting come up for auction. There is little about her work on the net.
About Clement Greenberg there is still a great deal to be said, my favourite comment was in John Perreault's art diary,"Artopia" (The Greenbergian Stake..).I hope if you are interested this article is still on the net.
Now time to paint. Thanks for reading this, Christl Bergstrom
posted by Christl Bergstrom's Art Matters at 10:17 AM
