Works of Art Are Not Created In A Vacuum, But Rather Responses To The Time And Place In Which They Are Created.
...sts. Because expressionism was undergoing a revolution in relation to modern art during the late 1800, Van Gogh’s techniques exhibited striking colours, contoured forms and abrasive brushwork. It had been speculated that ‘Wheat Field with Crows’ was the last piece before Van Gogh’s suicide in 1890, and it can easily be seen how it could be interpreted so - however the proof is still unfounded. Created in the last weeks before his death, Van Gogh produced this piece in a series of 12 canvases which expressed his enjoyment of the countryside in Auvers-sur-Oise, where he recently relocates after enduring the effusive pace of Paris. It was shown through the stark and portentous atmosphere the painting emanated that his state of mind was deteriorating, where the colours chosen were subdued and bitter. Furthermore, his strokes are distorted and violent, which corroborates Van Gogh’s depression. The crows which are scattered on the angry skies are symbolic of death and disaster, whereas the red paths which are illustrated predict ‘the end’ as they vanish into the horizon. It was also in the very same wheat field exhibited that Van Gogh took his life, which confirms the painting symbolic of death. At around this time of its construction, Albert Aurier, an art critic, had deemed Van Gogh’s paintings linked to the ‘symbolists’ and was described as ‘anti-realistic’, a popular technique at the time. However, the artist remained firm on his belief on his paintings as expressionism. Brett Whiteley, another expressionism artist experienced similar emotional ailments during his career. Considered one of Australia’s venerated artists, Whiteley gained myriads of awards since the age of 7 where his techniques evolved over time, venturing from abstract to intricate figures exhibiting violence and sex to collages with photographs and glass. His bizarre lifestyle led to the creation of ‘Alchemy’ (1972-1973: 203 x 1615 x 9cm: Oil, gold leaf, collage, rock, perpex, electricity pencil, PVA, varnish, brain, earth, twig, taxidermied bird, nest, egg, feathers, cicada, bone, dentures, rubber and metal sink plug, pins, shells, glass eye, 18 wood panels), where it displayed an allegory of life: the metamorphosis of life and death as well as ‘Art, Life and Other Thing’ (1978: 90.4 x 77.2, 230 x 122, 31.1 x 31.1: Oil, glass eye, pen and ink on cardboard, plaster, photography, PVA, cigarette butts, hypodermic syringe on board), a triptych that delves into Whiteley’s personal battle with art, realism and drugs. ‘Alchemy’, one of Brett Whiteley’s most acclaimed works not only exposes the mentality of that period, but his exploration of art in reference to his life and his experiences. Able to be read in any way, the panels converse with the audience with atmospheres of earth, ocean and sky whilst revealing vivid images of flesh, genitalia, fornication and landscapes. The white sun, displayed on the left hand side of the piece referred to Yukio Mishima, a Japanese writer who committed seppuku in 1970 shows Whiteley’s interest in the Japanese culture at that period in time. Originally a single piece which Whiteley ‘destroyed’, Literary Mythology defines Mishima’s last moments on Earth as an explosion of the sun which lit the sky in ‘spiritual illumination’ (Barry Pearce, 2001). This triggered the further construction of ‘Alchemy’, where the rest of the 16 panels were then created to symbolise his encounters and emotions felt during his lifetime. ‘Alchemy may be read in any direction as a compressed autobiography in visual terms; a place between body and spirit, from the messy forces of incarnation to soaring transcendence, from the primal flows of sex to the hard rain of imminent apocalypse’ (George Alexander, 2002). ‘Art, Life and Other Thing’, an Archibald Prize Winner in 1978 displayed triptych self portrait of Whiteley represented his status as an artist, where his intention was to challenge the morals of human identity and the principles of portraiture. The artist himself described it as “a picture of inner conflict: a painting that assaults life on many levels using three images”. The centrepiece, an exaggeration of human emotional intensity is encased in a golden frame where the figure is of Whiteley drawing another Archibald Prize winner, William Dobell’s ‘Joshua Smith’ (1948), a portrait which caused controversy for decades as it contested what art defined as a ‘portrait’. Whiteley wanted to test the limits of what was classified as a portrait, emphasising the fine line between what society deemed ‘real’ and ‘abstract’. With his pen poised above the canvas of the appropriation of Dobell’s piece, the smudged ‘head’ of the Whiteley shows blue eyes which gaze out accentuating the act of looking or seeing intensity, which was influenced by Francis Bacon’s technique of distortion. On the right hand side displays a small ‘snapshot’ of Whiteley, grinning virtuously yet ambiguously, underpinning the centrepiece by stressing that the sitter must be painted from life. Furth...