Miro: Femme et Chien Devant la Lune

Miro, Joan; Woman and Dog Before the Moon, 1936; Pochoir; #911392

From the portfolio published by Adlan, Barcelona. Miró executed this work for his friends in the group Adlan (Amigos de la arte Nuevo – Friends of the new art), a group devoted to modern Spanish art and architecture, and one the groups to organize the monographic show of Picasso in Spain. According to Dupin, Kandinsky and Hélion also contributed work for portfolios sponsored by the group.

This screen-printed pochoir, from an original gouache (pictured right) dating from the same year, is one of several works in this medium executed by Miro in the years leading up to the Spanish Civil War, each dealing more directly with the effects of the war. It prefigures Miro’s response to the massacre at Guernica, a large painting which hung with Picasso’s famous canvas in a show of solidarity with their home country.

Pochoir is a print medium akin to silkscreen, in which stencils formed in zinc sheets demarcate mostly flat color fields with strong edges. Many of his pochoirs were executed during his “savage” period, beginning in 1934 as the political situation in Spain began to deteriorate. Dupin, in his catalogue raisonne produced with the artist, notes the pochoir created for D’aci I d’alla (pictured left) stating “the violence of the pure tones harmonizes with the cruel distortion of the forms translating the feeling of terror gripping the bodies at the approach of the great disturbances which have been threatening.”

Miro left Spain in 1936, after the outbreak of civil war in July, and remained away until 1940. While he had been living primarily abroad for some time, he was unable to return to his homeland in Catalonia. Caught without a studio, and distressed at his exile, he was a steady supporter of the antifascist movement in general, though he never joined the Communist or other party.

Since 1934 his work was populated with increasingly distorted depictions of the extreme anxiety and distress of those oppressed by the oncoming civil war. But it was not until 1936 that his work began to exhibit a more direct approach to events. Femme et Chien Devant la Lune was one of the earlier manifestations of a contorted citizen wailing to the sky, of the type later to be seen in his own and Picasso’s work during the war. The bold, flat fields of color were emblematic of both his work of the period and the physical considerations of the medium. That they were intended to evoke an emotional response to the situation is emphasized by the next pochoir he created.

Aidez l’Espagne (pictured above) appeared in Cahiers d’Art 12, nos. 4-5, and art review which in the face of the impending crisis devoted multiple issues to Spain. This issue featured a poem on Guernica by Éluard and Picasso’s Songe et mensonge de Franco (Dream and Lie of Franco), and was to raise funds for the Republican forces. Miro’s contribution is a pochoir in the style of Femme et Chien Deavant la Lune, in a more hopeful vein, and was accompanied by Miro’s hopes against the disaster for his country. His handwritten caption for the print read: “In the present conflict I see the decrepit forces of the fascists, and on the other side the people, whose vast creative resources will five Spain a strength that will astonish the world.”

If Femme et Chien Devant la Lune is reflected stylistically in Miro’s other pochoir, perhaps the ultimate compositional corollary his canvas painted in what amounted an international display Spanish artists against fascist Spain. The Reaper, created in 1937 for the Spanish Republican Pavilion at the Paris World’s Fair, was lost after the exhibition. It is similar in tone to Picasso’s Guernica, which was created for the same solidarity exhibition. It depicts a Catalan peasant with flailing arms and contorted visage whose sickle represents at once his labor, growing communist tendencies and, as a modified scythe, a symbol of death. It is one of his most unequivocally political statements, and an important indicator of the impact the events in Spain had on the artist despite his absence.

Goya: Spain's Rembrandt

Francisco de Goya, born 1746 Fuendetodos, Aragón, Spain and is Spain’s most influential Master Painter and Printmaker of the 18^th century. Goya is to Spain as Rembrandt is to the Netherlands. From an early age Goya studied to be a painter. At the age of 14 Goya entered into apprenticeship with Jose Juzan, a local Spanish Master Painter, and then later went to apprentice with Anton Raphael Mengs, popular artist with the Spanish Royals, laying a strong foundation in the niche of Spain’s Royal families.

In 1763 and 1766 Goya was rejection by the Royal Academy of Art but did happen to enter and win 2^nd place at a completion in the City of Parma, Rome. Later Goya began to paint with Francisco Bayeu y Subias, this who Goya picked up the color palette and tonalities that he became famous for.

In 1783 Goya was hired by the Spanish Crown to create designs for tapestry’s and eventually created hundreds of works that not only changed art history but chronicled the political and social world. Goya’s artistic mastery was very scholarly and highly prized however this isn’t all he is known for. Goya took artistic liberties with his art by taking his personal views and outer imperfections of the royalty depicted and placed them within the art. Many of the people painted were subject to actual renditions of their likeness, sparing no mole melancholy smirk or crocked smile which was extremely radical of the time. But somehow he escaped the scrutiny of the court, perhaps because of his close relationship with Queen Sophia. The Queen was a huge admirer of Francisco de Goya’s work as was King Charles IV and eventually the Queen would save him from persecution later in his career.

Francisco de Goya grew ill in1792 with a combination of nervous and physical troubles, which have yet to be diagnosed even today. This illness left Goya almost def and took hold of his art. His subject matters and palate became an outward depiction of his inner turmoil; bitter, secretive, and dark.

Like his successor Picasso, Goya took major political stances with his art especially turning the later dark periods in his life. The Spanish Inquisition was well into fruition and drew Francisco de Goya further and further into a torturous dark place allowing for personal angst and desolation to fester inside. Goya combined his inner pain with the pain of the Spanish Inquisition, social anxiety, and widespread corruption of the Catholic Church giving way to the perfect rendition of dark and lucid trepidation of 80 etchings, Los Caprichos.

Feburary 6^th, 1799 Goya finished work on his most famous and treacherous series Los Caprichos, created during the Spanish Inquisition. The works sold for 320 Reales about 35 dollars for the set, about 35 cents a print. Only 27 copies were sold and Goya stopped the sale of the works.

This series is by far one of the most politically charged statements of its time. So much so that Goya withdrew the works from the public after selling only a handful party because of the inquisition and fear of the Crown implicating him in a plot against it and partly because of its failure to sell.

However, Goya did not slip by persecution as he hoped and was brought in for questioning. Fortunately due to Francisco de Goya’s relationship with the queen of Spain he was let go and gave the plates and prints to King Charles IV. Some history books claim this was Goya’s decision but one can speculate that Francisco de Goya ‘agreed’ or was ‘persuaded’ to hand over the 80 plates to Spain as a barter for his freedom. While other historians state that the Spanish government demanded the unsold works and copper plates be handed over and thus saved Goya from a life of imprisonment or even death. (The Spanish government held the collection of etchings for many years before allowing the world to see them. In fact it wasn’t until the 1950’s did Spain allow the works to be seen in public.)

Between 1815 and 1824 Goya created his final print series Los Proverbios a series of 18 etchings depicting satirical rendition of life in Spain and others nightmarish darkness or evil. The working proofs were called Los Disparates or “Follies” and thus known by the two titles. These works are also very much tied into his Black Paintings period created in the same time period. The Los Proverbios could be considered the print versions of the Black Paintings.

In1819 Goya had moved completely into himself working on a series of 14 paintings called the Black Paintings, again referencing witchcraft and war similar to that of the Los Caprichos series but much darker and less political. It is speculated that the 14 works were never intended to be on display by the artist, painted directly on the walls and never mentioned in writings. The Black Paintings are on permanent display at the Museo del Prado, housing the largest public collection on Goya’s art.

By 1845 Goya lost all faith and nationality with Spain and moved to Bordeaux (and only visited Spain twice after that) where he died in 1928 at the age of 82.

Goya: Los Disparates / Los Proverbios

Goya y Lucientes, Francisco Jose de
Renounce the Friend Who Covers You with His Wings and Bites You with His Beak, 1864
Etching
9 1/2 x 14 inches

Francisco Goya created his final and most enigmatic print series in the years between 1815 and 1824. For reasons that remain unclear, 40 years passed before their publication in 1864. The series was published under the title Los Proverbios, although Goya's own captions for the working proofs include the word "disparates," meaning "follies." As a result, this print series is known by both titles. The proverbs assigned to each plate were added upon publication.

Even with titles, the meanings of Los Proverbios remain ambiguous. Like Goya's "black" paintings, begun in 1819 after his recovery from a serious illness and filled with macabre visions, Los Proverbios are imbued with an overwhelming sense of pessimism and appear to reflect Goya's precarious mental state at the time. Each of the 18 etchings depicts isolated figures in dark, often nightmarish landscapes. While some plates appear harmlessly satirical, others depict gruesome monsters or attacks on innocents. Although the subject matter in this series is varied, the level of quality is constant. Goya's expert use of contour, line density, and tonal variation in weaving his dark visions clearly evidence his extraordinary abilities as a master printmaker.

Dali: St. George and the Dragon

Dali, Salvador
St. George and the Dragon,1947
Etching
17 3/4 x 11 1/4 inches

The most famous legend of Saint George is of him slaying a dragon. In the Middle Ages the dragon was commonly used to represent the Devil. The slaying of the dragon by St George was first credited to him in the twelfth century, long after his death. It is therefore likely that the many stories connected with St George's name are fictitious.

There are many versions of story of St George slaying the dragon, but most agree on the following:

A town was terrorized by a dragon A young princess was offered to the dragon and when George heard about this he rode into the village, slayed the dragon and rescued the princess.

The Legend of St. George and the Dragon

St. George travelled for many months by land and sea until he came to Libya. Here he met a poor hermit who told him that everyone in that land was in great distress, for a dragon had long ravaged the country.

'Every day,' said the old man, 'he demands the sacrifice of a beautiful maiden and now all the young girls have been killed. The king's daughter alone remains, and unless we can find a knight who can slay the dragon she will be sacrificed tomorrow. The king of Egypt will give his daughter in marriage to the champion who overcomes this terrible monster.'

When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess, so he rested that night in the hermit's hut, and at daybreak set out to the valley where the dragon lived. When he drew near he saw a little procession of women, headed by a beautiful girl dressed in pure Arabian silk. The princess Sabra was being led by her attendants to the place of death. The knight spurred his horse and overtook the ladies. He comforted them with brave words and persuaded the princess to return to the palace. Then he entered the valley.

As soon as the dragon saw him it rushed from its cave, roaring with a sound louder than thunder. Its head was immense and its tail fifty feet long. But St. George was not afraid. He struck the monster with his spear, hoping he would wound it.

The dragon's scales were so hard that the spear broke into a thousand pieces. and St. George fell from his horse. Fortunately he rolled under an enchanted orange tree against which poison could not prevail, so that the venomous dragon was unable to hurt him. Within a few minutes he had recovered his strength and was able to fight again.

He smote the beast with his sword but the dragon poured poison on him and his armor split in two. Once more he refreshed himself from the orange tree and then, with his sword in his hand, he rushed at the dragon and pierced it under the wing where there were no scales, so that it fell dead at his feet.

Dreams and Lies of Franco - at Picasso Museum and Galerie Michael

Picasso Museum currently has on exhibition the "Dream and Lie of Franco" etching and aquatint 1st and 2nd plate.

Galerie Michal also currently has on exhibition "the Dreams and Lies of Franco" Etching and aquatint 2nd plate, only difference ours is for sale. Truely a museum quality work.

Check out the Museums work here!

Compare it to galerie michaels here!

"On January 8, 1937, Picasso began work on The Dream and Lie of Franco, a
satire against the military uprising of the previous July. It was also at this
time that the artist formalized his support for the legitimate government of the
Spanish Republic and was the first evidence of the work to the official
commission that came to visit. The pair of etchings was finally printed on
Picasso’s own initiative, together with a text he himself had written, and the
money raised from sales of the copies donated to the Republican cause. Each of
the two plates that make up the work is divided into nine panels, and the sheets
were originally intended to be cut up to produce a series of postcards, although
this was never done. The formal structure of the sequence of images is close to
that of a cartoon or comic strip; what we see here is a committed artist
bringing together the most avant-garde concepts and grassroots popular culture
in the service of a cause. Picasso then set the etchings aside until late May.
In the days prior to this, the artist had started to work on Guernica, his great
mural painting for the Spanish pavilion at the Paris International Exposition,
which is a direct consequence of his work on The Dream and Lie of Franco. On May
25 he added some tonalities to the aquatint and finally, on June 7, completed
the second plate, with new illustrations in which dramatically intense images of
death replace the initial parody. "

-- From Picasso Museum Exhibition

Jan Lutma, Goldsmith

REMBRANDT Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669)

Jan Lutma, Goldsmith, 1656

B. 276

Jan Lutma (1584-1669) was a celebrated gold and silversmith and Rembrandt presents him to us with the various tools of his trade: hammer and punches (in the cup), chased silver basin and silver candlestick. Lutma was the leading goldsmith in Amsterdam and his son was an etcher who may have been trained in Rembrandt;s studio. On of Jan Lutma's most celebrated commissions was the tulip beaker he made in 1652 for Nicolaas Tulp, who's anatomy lesson Rembrandt had painted at the very outset of his career in Amsterdam. The beaker was much prized by Tulp, and he left it to the Guild of Surgeons on his death.

Lutma's relaxed posture, calm face, and warm eyes seem to affirm that this was a man kind, pleasant and easy to know. Rembrandt selected the same old leather-backed chair with lion heads for two etched portraits of dignified older men, Haaring (B 274) and Tholinx (B284) done in the same year, 1656.

Adam and Eve

REMBRANDT Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669)

Adam and Eve, 1638

B. 28

The two figures show a minimum of idealization and could pass for a pair of middle-aged nudists who have gone for a stroll in the woods. Rembrandt has probably modeled the serpent - actually a kind of dragon - on one in Durer's print of 1512, Christ in Limbo, which Rembrandt had acquired in 1638. But the figures could hardly contrast more to Durer's Adam and Eve of 1504. The elephant in the backgrounds was probably derived from one named Hansker which was brought to Holland around 1637. During that year Rembrandt did a series of drawings of the elephant. In 1638, he elected to make it the only animal in paradise.

The Descent From The Cross

REMBRANDT Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669)

Descent from the Cross, 1633

Etching with burin

With margins signed and dated in the plate

B. 81

This is Rembrandt's first attempt at a large formal etching intended specifically for sale to the public. It shows off his amazing facility with an etching needle. The body of Christ, released from agony, is gently lowered by his friends and disciples as the sun breaks through the clouds behind them. This is Rembrandt at his most Baroque and emotional. Descent from the Cross remains on e of the foremost examples of the etcher's artistic abilities and artistic beauty. The print can be found in Museums everywhere.

GOYA, Francisco "Los Caprichos"

GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Fracnisco Jose de

"He who does not like Thee Will Defame Thee in Jest", 1864
Etching and aquatint on wove paper

First published in 1799, Los Caprichos exposed the vice and corruption that led Spain to be branded as "Black Spain" in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the 80 etchings that comprise the series, Goya depicted the peasantry's superstitious belief in witchcraft, the arrogance of the nobility, and the widespread corruption of the Catholic Church. To avoid alienating powerful individuals at Court and to protect himself from the wrath of the Inquisition, however, the artist masked his satire by means of images that would inspire multiple interpretations. For example, in plate 68, two nude witches, one old and withered, the other young and voluptuous, ride a broomstick. The image clearly refers to the belief in witchcraft, but, on a less obvious level, it also addresses the issue of prostitution within Spanish society. This subtle layering of meanings, seen with particular brilliance in Los Caprichos is one of the hallmarks of Goya's artistry.

Only a few copies of the first edition of Los Caprichos were sold. Despite Goya's attempts to veil the critical nature of the series, he felt it necessary to withdraw the prints from circulation and make a gift of the plates to the Spanish monarch. Ultimately, however, Los Caprichos became Goya's most popular series; Domenico Tiepolo owned a set, as did Eugène Delacroix, who borrowed freely from Goya's images. Twelve editions of Los Caprichos were produced between 1799 and 1937, and it was primarily through this print series that Goya became known outside of Spain (view more works).

MIRO, Joan "Gargantua"

Miro, Joan
Gargantua, 1977
Etching, aquatint and carborundum
Signed lower left 38/50

Story of Gargantua:

Gargantua (1929-1949) was a captive lowland gorilla who was famous in his lifetime and has been credited with saving the Ringling Brothers circus from bankruptcy. Gargantua was born wild in the Belgian Congo in approximately 1929. In the early-1930s, the gorilla was given to a Captain Arthur Phillips as a gift from missionaries in Africa. The captain was fond of him and called him "Buddy". He was kept aboard his freighter and became popular with most of the crew. One sailor, however, drunk and seeking revenge on the captain's strictness, threw nitric acid in Buddy's face. This did not kill the gorilla but the attack almost blinded him and left both mental and physical scars - leading to much more aggressive behavior.

Unable to deal with this aggression, the captain gave Buddy to Gertrude Lintz, a wealthy eccentric who looked after sick animals in Brooklyn. She cared for Buddy, and other apes, as her children and even arranged for plastic surgery on the scar, leaving Buddy with a permanent sneer. She was known to drive around Brooklyn with Buddy, dressed in clothes, in the passenger seat. This behavior backfired, however, in 1937. Buddy, frightened by thunder, broke out of his cage and climbed into bed with his "mother" for comfort. Mrs. Lintz contacted John Ringling shortly thereafter

Ringling bought Buddy from Mrs. Lintz and renamed him "Gargantua". The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, in financial problems after the Great Depression, heavily advertised their newest attraction. Gargantua attracted millions and single-handedly saved the circus. Gargantua died in November 1949. His skeleton was donated to the Peabody Museum in 1950 but is now only displayed on special occasions.

Michael Schwartz Lectures at Bowers Museum!

This past weekend July 25, 2009 our very own Michael Schwartz lectured on "The Origins of Rembrandt's Etchings" at the Bowers Museum. (Michael Schwartz, Galerie Michael, discusses Rembrandt’s creative genius using the medium of etching as a major liberation of 17th century art. He will also examine the history of etching and how it replaced engraving.)



John Villarino's (a close friend of Galerie Michael) extensive Rembrandt Collection is currently on exhibition at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana:

Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt's Etchings
July 11 - August 23, 2009

Featuring 35 rare etchings by Rembrandt Van Rijn made between 1629 and 1654, Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt?s Etchings focuses on a subject the artist frequented in his formative years: the beggar. Rembrandt's images document and humanize the vagrant population living in 17th century Dutch society that considered these individuals repulsive and outcast. Often using biblical subjects and narratives, Rembrandt draws parallels in many of the etchings between the plight of the homeless and derelict, and figures such as Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Each etching on paper executed in a style closer to drawing than engraving portrays individualism, character and emotion of each figure rendered, beckoning the viewer's empathy and compassion.