A Way In: Intimacy in Art
Dissecting passion and intimacy
As I have been talking about how an artist finds their way into their work, I decided to dial it in and discuss the emotional quality of a mark, both drawn and painterly.
Since I am playing with the idea of intimacy and passion in my art, this topic has been dancing around in my psyche a bit.
I have two artists who consistently remain on the board in my studio who capture not just intimate moments but intimacy in line quality and brushwork.
Howard Tanyge is the first on the list. I found his work at an Art Fair in New York City several years ago and immediately became an ardent fan.
His line quality exudes intimacy, and his thoughtful, restrained use of color over form paints a picture of quiet sensuality.
I have always loved a contoured line, and so Howard’s work really speaks to me. The use of positive and negative space on a 2-dimensional surface to create feeling and form with casual confidence is something I always aim for in my own work. Seeing through the form to expose what lies beneath feels like an intimate act.
I love this quote from his website:
Tangye's twisted line finds similarities with Egon Schiele, but what separates Tangye's work is an intriguing, shy romanticism. Tangye himself states that '[drawing is] a bit like falling in love, however unrequited.'
There's an excellent video of him working on his collaboration with the couture fashion house Alexander McQueen here.
Tangye works from live models, and you can see the closeness of observation in his work. The video discusses how he dealt with not having live models to work from during Covid and how it played into a change in the intimacy of his work.
So this brings me back to the question swirling in my head from seeing so much Renaissance art in Rome and Florence a couple of weeks ago. I have been asking myself what I was drawn to and what did not "hold" me within the works of art.
I found myself searching for intimacy in Renaissance art. I love the passion of the art from this era, but I am asking myself how intimacy and passion coexist. I have realized in my mind, intimacy is a bit quieter.
A quick Google search led me to these definitions:
Passion: An intense desire, a strong, barely controlled emotion, intense sexual love, a state or outburst of strong emotion
Intimacy: close familiarity, an intimate act, especially intercourse, the closeness of observation
The other artist I feel is quite intimate in her work is Berthe Morisot. I have been enchanted with her sense of color, and by enchanted, I mean it has cast a spell on me, and I can't seem to extricate myself from it, no matter how much I try.
Morisot creates a sense of space and depth through the use of color. Although her color palette was somewhat limited, her fellow impressionists regarded her as a "virtuoso colorist.”
I especially love this portrait, above, of her daughter. Morisot's soft, muted palette, the unfinished edges, and the loosely rendered furniture feel confident and familiar. Moving beyond the domestic subject matter, which she would have been confined to during this time, she outshines her male counterparts with her self-assured brushwork.
During the 1880s, Morisot’s brushwork became increasingly free, with loose, rapid strokes accentuating the flat surface of the canvas. - The Barnes Foundation
Berthe is finally getting her proper due as a female artist within the impressionist movement. (A little late for my taste, but….) There is speculation that Édouard Manet was her lover and yet eventually married his brother, Eugene, much to the chagrin of the married Manet. Drama! Passion! Masterpieces, I love it!
What I am taken with the most is how she held steady to her way of seeing and of making a mark, sensitive, intimate, and knowing. It was her "way in."
I recently painted these two works where you might see the influence of these two artists who have joined me in my studio as I marry the idea of intimacy in color, mark, and contour line.
There is something in this work that I am hoping to explore on a larger canvas or possibly even on a large watercolor. Until then, this particular 16 x 20 has taken up residence in my heart.