Work methods in biographies

Cian McLoughlin · 01-25-2005, 12:25 PM

It seems that the biographies I read are mostly concerned with an artist's relationships, travels and public showings. Only rarely, hidden in a paragraph here and there, do they go into details of the day to day routine of their subject (and usually only to shock, Whistler's fainting sitters etc). It is this routine that may not be of interest to a general reader but I'm sure would be of great interest to all of us in this forum.

By routine I mean: did they mix their own paints/ stretch their own canvas? Their palette? Have sittings every day? What time did they start work? What would a sitting involve? If they were working and traveling what did their 'kit' involve? How long would a piece of work take? How many commissions would they have on the go at once? How did they deal with galleries/ agents? How much did they charge? How many stages of work were involved in each piece? etc etc It might sound mundane, but I love all this stuff!

Can anyone recommend biographies or on line articles they have read that are concerned with these kinds of things? I would personally appreciate references to Sargent, Whistler and Sickert. But as a thread perhaps people could recommend any biography that they have enjoyed.

John Crowther · 01-25-2005, 02:03 PM

I highly recommend "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling," by Ross King. It goes into all the historical and political background, but is also highly detailed in terms of working methods, pigments used and where obtained, assistants who worked with him, living conditions, and so on. It reads like fiction but is meticulously documented.

John C.

October Reader · 01-25-2005, 08:09 PM

Hi Cian, I was all set to return to my cave and postpone posting for a while so to concentrate on painting when I saw you question. Your work is deeply inspiring. I truly hope you post here more often. So people can get to know you and your work better.

I was in England for a bit in Dec 04 but was too ill to seek out Paine's work on display, what a shame. I can't seem to locate much of it on the web either.

Back to your question, I don't know how feasible or practical it is for you to get hold of American publications over there, but I would recommend to look on amazon.com for potential matches and I would also suggest you to lookup museum websites or even to contact museums and their curators that specialize in the period and genre of work that you are looking for to see if they can offer details on biographical info. I don't know about Ireland, but across the pond here some museums let their members access its archival material which may be another source for you to get to the horse's mouth.

Perhaps British institutions can be helpful as well on Sargent, Whistler and Sickert as they all resided there if I am not mistaken. And of course academia where art historians come from.

Not sure if this one is of interest to you:
Rembrandt: His life, his paintings : a new biography with all accessible paintings illustrated in color by Gary Schwartz

Writeup on Amazon:
Schwartz's masterfully documented study should both revolutionize and illuminate our understanding of Rembrandt's life and works. Through a scrupulous investigation of the master's personal and professional relationship with the religious, political, and cultural factions within Dutch society, the author rediscovers the man and the artist within the milieu in which he labored. Rembrandt's paintings may no longer be comprehended as largely subjective expression, but rather as an interpretation of the intellectual and spiritual concerns of the master's circumscribed circle of patrons.

Sharon Knettell · 01-27-2005, 03:17 PM

Cian,

I have spent hours in bookstore and libraries looking for teeny bits of information about various artists techniques. Why do these biographers only think we are interested in their sex lives. For heavens sakes, even toads have sex lives, but they don't paint!

The ONLY books I have found that dealt in any length vis-a-vis techniques was a series of books put
out by Chartwell Books of Secaucus, New Jersey. I found them in a close-out bin of a really cheesy discount store at $4.99 ea. about 5- 10 years ago. An Abrams book they were not. But these stupid cheapies had pages of information on technique, close-ups of details and color photographs of palette arrangements. I grabbed all of them. One included a Whistler.

The full title of the book is "The History and Techniques of the Great Masters, Whistler", by Micheal Howard. It was publishished in 1989. I grabbed a Manet and a Titian as well. You may be able to find this specific book.

However, when searching out this publisher I did find a used paperback book by this publisher called "Techniques of the Worlds Great Painters" by Kanusezak, or Januszczak. ( it was spelled both ways). I found this on Amazon. There were about a dozen of these books available in inexpensive paperback editions. You can believe I grabbed one at about $12.00

I hope this helps. I don't know which of the "great artists" are included, but it seems likely that Whistler might be.

As to Mr. Sickert, the last thing I read about him was a very interesting biography based on the theory that he was Jack the Ripper, by Patricia Cornwell. It was an interesting look into his life and modus operandi, if not his palette.

Tony Pro · 01-27-2005, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cian McLoughlin

It seems that the biographies I read are mostly concerned with an artist's relationships, travels and public showings. Only rarely, hidden in a paragraph here and there, do they go into details of the day to day routine of their subject (and usually only to shock....Whistler's fainting sitters etc). It is this routine that may not be of interest to a general reader but I'm sure would be of great interest to all of us in this forum.

By routine I mean: did they mix their own paints/ stretch their own canvas? Their palette? Have sittings every day? What time did they start work? What would a sitting involve? If they were working and traveling what did their 'kit' involve? How long would a piece of work take? How many commissions would they have on the go at once? How did they deal with galleries/ agents? How much did they charge? How many stages of work were involved in each piece? etc etc It might sound mundane, but I love all this stuff!

Can anyone recommend biographies or online articles they have read that are concerned with these kinds of things? I would personally appreciate references to Sargent, Whistler and Sickert. But as a thread perhaps people could recommend any biography that they have enjoyed.

One of the best books out there that is a hard to find is the book by de Lazlo called "Painting a Portrait". He was a contemporary of Sargent's and he painted with him, if I am not mistaken. He wrote a book on his method and there are photos of him doing demos. It's a very hard to find book but it's VERY worth it. Phillip de Lazlo is HIGHLY underrated and not too many people know about him.

Check it out!

Marvin Mattelson · 01-27-2005, 09:06 PM

here is a link to the text of the Delaslo book:
http://www.jez.hall.zen.co.uk/laszlo.htm

Enjoy. Unfortunately no pictures, but a great resource.

Holly Snyder · 01-27-2005, 09:49 PM

I have that book checked out from a University Library. I was so surprised when I found it on the shelves. It was published in 1934. It's been rebound, but the paper is yellowing, and the plates are pasted on the pages. It's definitely a gem.

Chris Saper · 01-29-2005, 08:44 PM

Hi Cian,

One of my students, not yet a Forum member, saw your post and asked me to pass on the following, should you be interested:

Quote:

Cian McLoughlin was looking for books written about the work methods of some of the Masters. Yesterday I found a wonderful book at Borders, Valasquez, the Technique of Genius, by Jonathan Brown and Carmen Garrido. There is a wealth of information in this book, filled with close-up shots and explanations of the techniques used...lots of food for study.

Cynthia has it here in her bookstore

Best wishes

Timothy C. Tyler · 02-11-2005, 03:23 PM

Two books came out shortly after Sargent's death. Both mention his methods to some degree. Most biographers don't understand enough about the actual working methods to accurately write what was going on. Be careful when you find those that do. The artists or their students do the best job of this. The vast majority of readers don't care to know this and thus it is left out... there are at present about 20 books on Sargent in print. Reading most of these will give you a solid understanding. I've not ever found much on the other two artists and I'm not a fan of either so in truth, I've not dug very deeply.

The is no real perfect book that addresses what you desire. There are a couple books out on Bouguereau (see ARC) but most experts agree that even these too leave out essential technical information at least the real meat of the stuff that you most want.

Someone should write such a book that was rich with quotes, facts and examples. It might require 3 or 4 authors but at least one ought to be a painter skilled in the traditional methods.

Furthermore, it is precisely the discussion of such methods that are great for these forums.

Allan Rahbek · 02-11-2005, 04:40 PM

My entrance to the art world was based on some thin books from Walter T. Foster, called: " How to paint seascapes", "Painting on location" and so on. 1$ each. These were made for art students and happy amateurs and dealt with "how to do".

I also bought some thin books called "The Masters" 10- 12 pages, size A 3, with some fine illustrations.

Novels and movies, now a days, deals with what interests the majority of the public and don