Some time ago I subscribed to a site called Artwork Archive, one of a several available tools for managing artwork.
At first I just entered my drawings and paintings indiscriminately, using hastily made photographs, in order to keep track of the work I had, what had been given to people as gifts, and what had been sold. I never took the time or the trouble to use the multiple features offered, such as adding up expenses, generating invoices, or setting up a public profile.
The work can be organised as a portfolio, in the order of one’s choice, or sorted into collections
Then when I started entering art for online exhibitions or competitions, I kept getting asked for my website address, so I decided I now needed my own art website. After wasting numerous hours trying to choose between Word, Winx and Squarespace, and more hours attempting to navigate their sites, I belatedly realised the Artwork Archive Public Profile would do the job more than adequately.
It would save me from paying for another site, plus their client support is excellent.
Here is a random page showing the tools offered, and how the work looks in the portfolio mode
So if I have not posted anything here for a while, it is because I’ve been working on taking better photos, deciding which pieces to put on the public platform, and entering any relevant information. All this takes an inordinate amount of time…
Viewed as a portfolio
But here it is! Although it is still a work in progress, and will continue to be one as I make new work and improve my presentation and other parameters, I am now proud to reveal it to you.
Viewed as Collections
If you are interested in actually going on-site, here is a link.
Can one have a horrible life, punctuated by difficulties and tragedies and ending in extermination at Auschwitz, yet leave behind work that, despite its disturbing themes, is poignant, breathtaking and uplifting in its luminosity and colour?
This is the case of Charlotte Salomon, the only Jewish artist who died in the Holocaust to leave behind such a large body of work. It consists of 769 works painted between 1941 and 1943—a mere two years—while she was hiding from the Nazis in the South of France. In October of that year, 5-months-pregnant Salomon was captured and deported to Auschwitz where she was immediately killed.
Born to a prosperous and well-assimilated Jewish family in Berlin, Charlotte was 16 when the Nazis came to power. By 1938 it became too dangerous for her to continue her studies, so she left the art school she was attending, and after Kristallnacht she was sent to live with her grandparents in Nice; her father had been interned and, when her stepmother succeeded in freeing him, they left for Amsterdam. Her mother, suffering from depression, had committed suicide when she was eight.
After several attempts, her grandmother also succeeded in killing herself and Charlotte remained with her grandfather, who it appears was abusive. To escape him, she went to Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat where—in order to recover her mental sanity—she started painting; stating that she was driven by the question, “whether to take her own life or undertake something wildly unusual”.
Painting obsessively, in less than two years she produced more than 1.300 gouaches, amongst which she chose the 769 which she numbered and edited, adding text, captions and transparent overlays, to make a kind of autobiography outlining the main events of her life—speaking of herself in the third person, altering all the names and adding elements of imagination.
In 1942 she was obliged, due to her residence permit, to join her grandfather in Nice. Shockingly, shortly after, she poisoned him with a Veronal omelette, then drew him as he lay dead (the drawing exists). She made a 35-page confession which she sent to a former lover who, however, never received it; it remained a secret until much later.
In 1943, as the Nazis closed in, she packed up her paintings and gave them to a local doctor with instructions to forward them to Otillie Moore, a wealthy American who was her protector and sponsor. At war’s end, the package found its way to her remaining family.
In 1943, Charlotte had married Alaxander Nagler, another German Jew refugee, with whom she had been confined in Otillie Moore’s house for a while. Soon after their marriage, they were both deported and murdered.
I find it beyond me to talk about her work, which is based on film-making techniques and is extremely layered and complex; and one must also follow the narrative, in its dream-like dimension. It is, in some ways, a precursor to the graphic novel as we know it today. Although Salomon has always been classed as a Holocaust artist, her work—save for very few drawings—is not about the Holocaust: it is about her childhood, her very disfunctional family, her life and her loves. In the final pages of her book, two sentences stand out. She writes, ‘And with dream-awakened eyes she saw all the beauty around her, saw the sea, felt the sun, and knew; she had to vanish for a while from the human plane and make every sacrifice in order to create her world anew out of the depths.’
I have seen her paintings live in a couple of exhibitions, and they are simply wonderful. I have a book published by the Royal Academy of Arts, with colour reproductions, which I highly recommend.
More information:
Charlotte is a biography by David Foekinos, which I have not read yet, but which has excellent reviews. This is the Amazon link to the English version (the original is French).
Also there is a very interesting article in the New Yorker with more information than I have given on both her life and her work, and great images. Link below:
The dawn of a new year: who knows what it will bring. Is there a glimmer of light on the horizon? Let us be optimistic, although things are pretty grim at the moment. I skim over the headlines each day, trying to avoid the worst of the news.
We all wish for world peace, at least those of us who are not dictators or involved in the arms industry. Meanwhile, let us take comfort in the good things in life, if we can manage it: art and books and nature, family and friends. And let us hope for good health.
Let us think of those who have none of the above, and lend a helping hand when we can. Let us hope for that glimmer of light on the horizon.
And for those who like to celebrate, here is a painting by Toulouse Lautrec, who was a master at depicting people enjoying themselves!
In the last 70 days of his life, Van Gogh produced 74 paintings and 33 drawings! A huge burst of productivity before he sadly put an end to his life.
The current exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris is the first devoted to this period in his life, spent at Auvers-sur-Oise, which was the home of Dr Gachet, his friend, mentor and supporter—a man who specialized in the treatment of melancholia but was also a lover and connoisseur of art, friend to the Impressionists and a collector and amateur artist. There he could also be closer to his brother Theo, an art dealer.
From May 20 1890 to July 29th, in a frenzied artistic renewal, he painted one or two canvases per day, mostly “alla prima”, using thick pigment directly on the canvas.
If you look at the detail, you can see bits of bare canvas, as well as the boldness of the strokes and the thikness of the paint
In the drawings, he interestingly mixes oil and aquarelle, and sometimes other media, such as graphite and wash.
Luminous landscapes, portraits and still lifes.
Pure colours, and sheer boldness which delivers a huge emotional impact.
Wonderful cows!
The exhibition is well worth the effort, because although not large, almost every painting is a masterpiece—the artist in full maturity and control of his expression.
The highlight, however, of a very special show, was the room with 11 paintings in the rare ‘double square’ format.
In Greece the sea is still warm enough to swim in, but here in Normandy where we mainly live now the weather has turned, despite the steady rain being interrupted by periods of brillian sunshine. At 7.30 am it is still pitch dark; there is a chill in the air that inspires the lighting of a fire in the chimney, although the heating is not on yet.
Beach walks are dramatic
Autumn is a productive time, with a good harvest of apples and pears
The last of the tomatoes
Dahlias still thriving
The leaves have started to turn
More indoor time means more art making
Morning Window. Oil and varnish on book cover
An interior on a hardbook cover primed with gesso (instead of paper or canvas)
I was inspired by the pears to make an oil sketch on another, embossed, book cover.
In my art workshop we have been drawing shoes!
Charcoal on paperMarker on paper
And a wet and dismal Saturday (it steadily rained all day) drove me to bake a totally unnecessary—but delicious—cake. Of course the apples and pears make lovely crumbles and pies and compote, but I was in the mood for something different. Something I’ve wanted to try for a while. It is Yottam Ottolenghi’s Lemon and Blueberry one-bowl loaf. Only I did not have a loaf tin and the blueberries were frozen, but I don’t think it made a difference.
The trick is to roll the blueberries in flour before putting in the batter—in my case, straight out of the freezer. It was an easy cake and highly recommended.
Quite by chance, on a lovely blog called The Garden Trust, I discovered an artist I had never come across before. Diana Sperling was the daughter of a landowning family in Essex, and kept a sketchbook between 1816 and 1823, recording the daily life of her family in a quirky and charming manner. The colourful, cartoon-like sketches show how people who, while not noble, were genteel, spent their days on a country estate. A privileged, middle-class family life with its activities, fun, and annoyances.
Diana, or Di as everyone called her, was born in 1791 to a family who made had their money in the fur trade. They bought Dynes Hall, a country mansion with about 500 acres, made a lot of improvements to the house and land and soon became part of the local elite.
Di had an elder sister, a younger sister and two brothers. These, together with her parents and her elder sister’s husband and family, are the subjects of her sketches, showing the family going about its daily life. The interiors are also beautifully drawn, as are the landscapes.
Riding in a strong wind
Despite having servants, family members did various chores themselves, such as killing flies.
Mrs Sperling ‘murdering’ flies and the maid waiting to catch the dead and wounded
Sewing
Mrs Sperling sewing by an open doorHanging wallpaperPlantingTaking the potted plants out into the rain to rinse them off. Beautiful tiled floor.
But Di also documented their leisure, always seeing the funny side
Swimming in the pondIce skating on the pond in winterA family dinner with Di feeding the dogSome kind of wrestling game? Playing shuttlecock Walking to dinner with neighbours Often in deep mud
It is interesting that the family girls rode donkeys instead of ponies
Donkeys can be ornery The cosy couple playing chessDancing
Di married at 41 and thereafter made more ‘ladylike’ drawings, which were less amusing.
The drawings are collected in a book, below
I have always enjoyed and admired graphic journals, but so far have only come across ‘serious’ ones, like Maus, by Art Speilberg, Life? Or Theatre? by Charlotte Salomon, and Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Have you read any of those? They are well worth it. I could post about them, if anyone is interested.
For anyone who does not already have a huge TBR pile and wants something to read for the rest of the summer—at the beach, or if it is pouring outside—here are a few recommendations from my recent forays into literature.
The Marriage Portrait, by Maggie O’Farrell, tells the story of Lucrezia, daughter of the richest man in Florence, who is married at fifteen to the Duke of Ferrara, whom she suspects of trying to kill her. The details of the period and settings are vividly imagined and portrayed and the suspenseful story only adds to the enjoyment. Based on historical facts.
Perhaps Greek friends, but not only, would enjoy The Clover House, the story of a family set in the city of Patras in Greece during two periods: in 1940 during the war, and in the present day. Complex characters and family secrets.
I am a fan of William Boyd, and The Romantic ticks all the boxes. The saga of Cashel Greville Ross is a fascinating one, and beautifully told. Something to sink into.
For lovers of thrillers, a recommendation from Ian Rankin, who is one of my favourite crime writers. All the Sinners Bleed is a chilling but unputdownable read. Great characters, suspense and endless twists.
The best seller Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus, lives up to its reputation. A fun, quirky story, with original characters, it would be the ideal beach read.
A Winter Chase, by Mary Kingston is for fans of Jane Austen. Set in the Regency era, it is no bodice-ripper, like many of these sort of books nowadays are, featuring bare-chested dukes clutching begowned maidens on the cover. This is an exploration of class and family values.
Fey’s War, by Catherine Bailey, tells a true, incredible story, and it makes for harrowing reading. A WWII tale of a mother whose sons are taken away by the Nazi, and her quest to find them.
For horse lovers, and not only (knowledge of horses is not a prerequisite for enjoyment), Kick the Latch, by Kathryn Scanlan, provides a fascinating view into American racing. Written like a memoir, (it is based on transcribed interviews with Sonia, a horse trainer), in short bites full of humour, it depicts the daily vicissitudes of one woman’s life at the racetrack.
I like everything by Amanda Craig, and her latest, The Three Graces, is set in Tuscany, making for perfect summer reading. An earlier book I had somehow missed, Hearts and Minds does not disappoint. It is a heartwarming and thought-provoking look into the realities in modern Britain. As always, her characters are diverse and likeable and, as usual, some we have met before, in previous books.
And finally, The Means of Escape, a collection of wonderful short stories by the incomparable Penelope Fitzgerald. Something to read again and again.
I did not write a review of each book, because it would make this post interminable, and you can easily find reviews online. My purpose was to try to tempt you. I hope you find something to like.
I don’t want to go into details about the fires raging in Greece, since these can be found in all the papers and news streams. They are too awful to contemplate, as are the fires in Canada, California, and elsewhere. Nor do I want to start a discussion of what, or who, is to blame—arson, climate change, negligence… It is too painful.
Ireelevant photo of a soothing Japanese garden
All I want is to spare a thought for the people affected, who have lost holidays, possessions, properties and sometimes their lives. And another for the people fighting those fires, with immeasurable courage. Having witnessed a few myself, I know there are few things more frightening than an out-of-control blaze. Horrible for people on the ground, but perhaps even worse for the pilots, who have to fill up with water from a raging sea (it is strong winds that drive the blazes) and then fly blind through the smoke to dump it on houses and woods.
The gardens of the Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild in the south of France
And finally a thought for nature, which will be depleted for years to come, and might never recover.
I have posted peaceful pictures because we see enough violent ones in the news.
Good post from @agreekmatinee. Greeks use a lot of rosemary in cooking, and always have a bush growing outside the kitchen door in the country. I put sprigs inside whole fish, and in baking trays of potatoes.
From my garden I pluck rosemary leaves to add to my steaming hot tea. Now mid June, that is, our Winter, blooms grin, attract ants.
‘Are rosemary blooms edible too?’ I wondered.
Daughter says, ‘Yes you can eat rosemary blooms. You could crystallise and put in sugar for subtle flavouring. Also you could freeze in ice cubes to add to gin!’
Son says, ‘You could also make some kind of hair serum with the rosemary.’
‘I’ll pass on the crystallised rosemary flowers due to sugar. However, in icecubes for gin sounds good. Should practice for travelling Scotland, ha ha haa!’
‘You’ll love some of the craft gin in the UK also the zero alcohol gin. Worth a try.’
My 12 year old granddaughter’s ‘hair serum’ is super simple to make Son says. ‘She simply took fresh rosemary and placed it in a saucepan of water (not too much water), brought…
It is a blessing to have Italian friends, especially if they happen to have a house in Tuscany! The Tuscan landscape must be amongst the most pleasing in the world. And still quite unspoilt.
Hills upon hills, in shades of yellow, ochre and green, spiked with the dark spears of cypress, and dotted with flowering oleander.
Sometimes crowned with medieval villages, or crumbling farmhouses.
A wide, clear horizon. Blue skies.
Views from every window.
Here we are close to Pisa, Florence and Sienna, so if one is has the energy, there is a lot of art and architecture to be enjoyed within an hour’s drive. Also Forte dei Marmi, to swim and eat seafood.
There are wonderful sunsets to enjoy, while sipping a drink—and I will not even try to describe the heavenly food.
It is very tempting, however, to just stay put, eat, read, laze around, play board games and do a bit of light sketching.
Letters from Athens 