Irish Artists - PowerPoint Presentation

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Irish ArtistsSlide2

Objectives

Study 4 Irish Artists: Jack B. Yeats, Sean Keating, Paul Henry- Painters and Eileen

Gray

– DesignerHow to look Ways Of seeingCover Exam questionsBreakdown of marksUseful ResourcesSlide3

Ways of seeing

Sketching is an excellent way to learn to understand a work of art

Take the time to look carefully

There may be emphasis placed on different worksBefore film or tv , art was often a means of entertainment and, and it was understood that viewers would be able to linger over works of art and uncover their details slowlySlide4

"The true artist has painted the picture because he wishes to hold again for his own pleasure - and for always - a moment, and because he is impelled... by his human affection to pass on the moment to his fellows, and to those that come after him."

  JACK B. YEATS

The Old Grass Road, Kinsale" 1925

Oil, 18 x 24 ins. "A richly romantic landscape, complete with lovers, in the south west of Ireland, with a huge sky typical of the region."Slide5

History- Social Context-Background

For many years, the work of this remarkable artist was only known and enjoyed by individuals with access to the private and public collections, particularly in the National Gallery of Ireland and the Sligo County Library and Museum. Fortunately, major exhibitions have been mounted recently in the UK and America, bringing the works before an international audience

.

His Sketches of Life in the West of Ireland was shown in Dublin and LondonGreatest Irish Artists of the 1st half of the 20th centuryHis Paintings are displayed in a particular room in the national

gallery

He was born in London but lived for a lot of the time in Sligo

The youngest of 6 children, his older brother is William B Yeats, the famous

poet

His father was a seaman and inspired in the young Yeats a great love for the

sea

He studied

at the prestigious Westminster School of ArtSlide6

"The Publican", 1913 Oil, 14 x 9ins.

"A shrewdly observed study of a figure of some importance in the rural districts of Ireland around the turn of the century, as J.M. Synge described in his reports for the "Manchester Guardian" in 1905 which were illustrated by Jack Yeats."Slide7

"A Race in Hy-Brazil"

1937

Oil, 28 x 36 ins

. "A Magical, almost supernatural glow suffuses this painting, which refers to the distant past of Gaelic myth - the island of the Blest is an imaginary island off the west coast of Ireland."Slide8

History His father was a seaman and inspired in the young Yeats a great love for the sea

His later paintings would have been inspired by the landscape of Sligo

In

is earlier works he sketched a lot and used watercolourHe had a great interest in the nationalist cause - ‘A political Meeting’He was fascinated with horsesHe often made drawings of sporting eventsHe attended race meetings, hurling games, boxing and matchesSlide9

"The Man from Aranmore", 1905 Watercolour, 15 x 11ins. "This glowing watercolour was painted in the year Jack Yeats and J.M. Synge travelled together in the west of Ireland. The proud subject is from

Aranmore

, the largest of the three Aran islands, off Galway, where Irish was the principal language spoken."Slide10

Jack B Yeats - Style Medium -mainly oils

Use of subdued strong tonal contrasts to achieve dramatic effects

He applied the paint in broad flat strokes

He had a bold and linear drawing style, evident in his paintings1925- Developed impasto- a technique with vigorous thick brush strokes and a brighter paletteHis later works from 1940 the lines disappearSlide11

“The

Liffey

Swim", 1923

Oil, 24 x 36ins. "This painting of the annual swim down the River Liffey through Dublin was the first Yeats painting acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland in 1931. There is some evidence of the looser line of his paintings during this period, but the treatment is generally traditional and completely successful - the total involvement of the watching crowd is beautifully caught

."

Depicted the drama and the excitement of a swimming raceSlide12

‘

Grief’ by

Jack B.Yeat’s

1951649x 430National Gallery of Art Slide13

Grief 1951A mysterious and disturbing image of war and misery

Solidity is defined by strong directional slashes with the palette knife

T

he characters emerge from the surface in ripples of lightHe painted from memory, seeking to recapture the emotion from the eventUsed an impasto styleFollowing the death of his wife in 1947 and after witnessing 2 world wars and the turmoil in Ireland, his work became even more expressive and experimental in themeHe expressed nostalgia He used bright, optimistic coloursHe painted with his fingers, a palette knife and used paint directly from a tube in a controlled passionSlide14

How to analyse a painting

What is this painting about?

Which part of the work catches the eye first?

Why is that?Which way is the eye then directed?What is the structure or composition of the work?Does it fit into a shape, etc???Slide15

The artists is like an author?- Telling a story

Is there a

narrative

or a message in this work?Do you think the artist intended you to ‘read’ the whole story at once or does a certain feature keep pulling your attention back?Perhaps the artist intended this and that you are meant to spend more time exploring it?Do you think that some details are symbols for something?Does the artist spell

everything out for you or do they allow you to fill in the details yourself?Slide16

Colour, Line & Texture

A

key ingredient in visual art

How does the artists choice and arrangement of colour convey the importance of one element of the work over another?Can you see strong lines in the work?Do you think the artist prefered to work with Line other than colour?What kind of

surface

does the painting have?

Has the artist used

thin

glazes of colour or

thicker

paint?Slide17

Colour

Does the colour use conveyed emotion, time of the day and distance or some other special feature?

What kind of paint/ medium/material had been used? Why do you think this colour or medium was chosen?

Can you see brushworks?Do the brush strokes convey movement?Slide18

Where is the

focal point

?Why is your eye led there?

Is your mind looking for objects or ideas while your eye is attached to areas of high contrastAre you allowing your eye to do the work and lead your mind through the art work?Slide19

Terms

Figurative Art

– representing a human figure or animal figure using real object sources

Representational- Based on real objective sources. ‘Realist’ or ‘objective’. In other words it means something.Abstract – Distorted, change. Real objects that have been changed.Impasto- a thick application of paint, usually in oil with visable brush strokesNarrative

- Telling a story

Composition

- Layout of figure, look at background foreground, where is the setting?

Objective

- pertaining to something that can be known

Symbolism-

A representation of things , meaning or character

Plein

Air-

term coined by The Impressionists the open air or the quality of light outdoorsSlide20

Resourceshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk

Video on Yeats

http://www.nationalgallery.ie/en/Learning/Schools/Teachers/Leaving_Cert_Resources/Irish%20Art%201890-1960.aspx National Galleryhttp://www.crawfordartgallery.ie/images/educationimages/ArtistsBio/JackBYeatsbio.pdf Crawford Art Gallery http://www.nationalgallery.ie/Learning/Schools/Teachers/Leaving_Cert_Resources/~/media/Files/Education/Worksheets/SketchbooksPostPrimary.ashx You tube John Berger

“ Ways Of Seeing ”

Galleries Local and National

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