Art Appreciation – October/November 2022
In our October meeting, Molly Doyle shared some of her experience as an artist and teacher, to show members about the techniques used by Renaissance painters.
We learned about the labour intensive processes used to produce frescos (painting directly onto fresh plaster), paintings on wood, velum and canvas, and the problems and advantages of each medium. Artists were apprenticed for many years from childhood to learn how to grind pigments and prepare surfaces, as well as learning to draw and paint. This was a far cry from being able to buy a tube of acrylic or a canvas as artists in much more recent times have been able to do.
We also learned about some of the complex mathematical theories which influenced composition, such as the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci Sequence. Molly gave illustrations of how the Fibonacci Sequence occurs in nature, and how these proportions can be traced in paintings we are familiar with produced by some of the great artists of the Renaissance. This prompted much discussion amongst the group as to what extent the artists deliberately used mathematics to produce a harmonious composition as opposed to instinctively understanding that these ‘rules’ produce a pleasing effect. We also wondered how much these devices for composition were employed by artists in non-Western cultures.
Finally, we looked at the employment of the camera obscura and lenses to enable artists to produce accurate, finely detailed depictions of complex forms. This has been a subject of much investigation and research in recent years, notably by David Hockney.
It was a fascinating talk and left us all marveling at the achievements of old masters such as Caravaggio, Da Vinci and Van Eyck.
Our next meeting has been moved from our normal slot of the second Tuesday of the month, to 2pm on Monday 14th November in the Mayor’s Parlour at the Manor House. This is for one month only. Members have been asked to choose a work of art which suggests something about ‘Family’ or ‘Relationships’. It will be interesting to see what variations on this theme we can come up with.
Lynne Vick, Convenor