Day Ninety One: Untitled by William King Amsden
Hello and welcome to day 91 of 100 days of Tonalism.
Today study is Untitled by William King Amsden.
William King Amsden is not very well known these days and I've hada bit of a problem finding much biographical information about him on the Internet. I did find one page with some information which I will be reading on today's video narration so please check that out.
In today's blog post I'd like to talk about why I chose to become a Tonalist painter. I knew and I felt that I was going to become a landscape painter in the second half of my life, but I was not aware of Tonalism until about six or seven years ago. After becoming familiar with this artistic movement I knew that I had to find a way to bring what was good and magical about it into my own work as a modern painter.
I was reading a book today called a History of American Tonalism. Those of you that have been following this blog will be very familiar with this book by now as I have been reading sections of it for the video narration of several of the artists that we've covered in this series 100 days of Tonalism.
In his introduction the author David A Cleveland is remarking how it is almost criminal that Tonalism has been forgotten by many Art Historians to a large degree. The roots of modern art are buried within this movement and not in the early part of the 20th century as almost any book on art history will tell you.
I've been known to rant about modern art. The truth of the matter is that I actually like some modern art, though the overwhelming majority of it has no real reason to exist other than to stroke the egos and enrich the bank accounts of artists that have pursued this paper chimera.
The reasons we do art are more important than the substrates we paint on or the materials we use or even the artists that have influenced us. The reason that you paint is the foundation of what you create.
If you are creating work for the good strokes of your fellow artists or validation from the 'art community you essentially have feet of clay and it's hard to believe that the work you create will have any lasting historical significance.
The thing that is powerful about Tonalism and Tonalist paintings is that they are pregnant with emotion and strongly convey what it is to be a human being perceiving nature. This is an innovation that came about after painting movements like the Hudson River school where nature was faithfully copyed in every detail. Those artist strove to objectively depict nature.
While I admire many paintings from the Hudson River school and the Luminists, their work falls flat in comparison to the Tonalist school that came after. The reason for this I think is that Tonalism embraces subjectivity. The landscapes produced by Tonalist painters are brimming with emotion and a sense of being. It is so easy to connect with these paintings that it almost seems like a bit of a conspiracy the way that these artists have been shunted by art history and relegated to the auction houses.
Sometimes that which is moving, subtle and beautiful requires a similar state in the consciousness of the viewer in order to be appreciated. With the advent of modern art, these sorts of ideas have become unpopular and what we are given instead of moving beauty is cleverness disguised as intellectual authenticity.
When I am in nature and I am experiencing the beauty of a sunset or a storm, I am moved very deeply and as an artist I wish to convey that feeling to the best of my ability. This is why when I came across Tonalism I felt like I had found my family artistically.
I do not attempt to make paintings that look old or function as antiques although my work is sometimes perceived that way by people. Instead I endeavor to use the tools that Tonalism has provided to me as a living artist and as a man expressing himself in his own time.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about Untitled by William King Amsden; I really like the colors in this painting and the very loose fractured brushwork that William has used.
My reference image was quite lo-res but that is okay, it allowed me more self-expression than many of the other studies in the series. Because the forms are so vaporous and not very well defined it leaves a lot of room for color to convey emotion.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Painted after - Untitled by William King Amsden, Study by M Francis McCarthy - Size 5x7, Oil on wood panel |
William King Amsden is not very well known these days and I've hada bit of a problem finding much biographical information about him on the Internet. I did find one page with some information which I will be reading on today's video narration so please check that out.
In today's blog post I'd like to talk about why I chose to become a Tonalist painter. I knew and I felt that I was going to become a landscape painter in the second half of my life, but I was not aware of Tonalism until about six or seven years ago. After becoming familiar with this artistic movement I knew that I had to find a way to bring what was good and magical about it into my own work as a modern painter.
I was reading a book today called a History of American Tonalism. Those of you that have been following this blog will be very familiar with this book by now as I have been reading sections of it for the video narration of several of the artists that we've covered in this series 100 days of Tonalism.
In his introduction the author David A Cleveland is remarking how it is almost criminal that Tonalism has been forgotten by many Art Historians to a large degree. The roots of modern art are buried within this movement and not in the early part of the 20th century as almost any book on art history will tell you.
I've been known to rant about modern art. The truth of the matter is that I actually like some modern art, though the overwhelming majority of it has no real reason to exist other than to stroke the egos and enrich the bank accounts of artists that have pursued this paper chimera.
The reasons we do art are more important than the substrates we paint on or the materials we use or even the artists that have influenced us. The reason that you paint is the foundation of what you create.
If you are creating work for the good strokes of your fellow artists or validation from the 'art community you essentially have feet of clay and it's hard to believe that the work you create will have any lasting historical significance.
The thing that is powerful about Tonalism and Tonalist paintings is that they are pregnant with emotion and strongly convey what it is to be a human being perceiving nature. This is an innovation that came about after painting movements like the Hudson River school where nature was faithfully copyed in every detail. Those artist strove to objectively depict nature.
While I admire many paintings from the Hudson River school and the Luminists, their work falls flat in comparison to the Tonalist school that came after. The reason for this I think is that Tonalism embraces subjectivity. The landscapes produced by Tonalist painters are brimming with emotion and a sense of being. It is so easy to connect with these paintings that it almost seems like a bit of a conspiracy the way that these artists have been shunted by art history and relegated to the auction houses.
Sometimes that which is moving, subtle and beautiful requires a similar state in the consciousness of the viewer in order to be appreciated. With the advent of modern art, these sorts of ideas have become unpopular and what we are given instead of moving beauty is cleverness disguised as intellectual authenticity.
When I am in nature and I am experiencing the beauty of a sunset or a storm, I am moved very deeply and as an artist I wish to convey that feeling to the best of my ability. This is why when I came across Tonalism I felt like I had found my family artistically.
I do not attempt to make paintings that look old or function as antiques although my work is sometimes perceived that way by people. Instead I endeavor to use the tools that Tonalism has provided to me as a living artist and as a man expressing himself in his own time.
Cheers,
M Francis McCarthy
Landscapepainter.co.nz
A bit about Untitled by William King Amsden; I really like the colors in this painting and the very loose fractured brushwork that William has used.
My reference image was quite lo-res but that is okay, it allowed me more self-expression than many of the other studies in the series. Because the forms are so vaporous and not very well defined it leaves a lot of room for color to convey emotion.
To see more of my work, visit my site here
 |
| Original painting, Untitled by William King Amsden |