Backgrounds

[Michele Rushworth]

I would say that Sharon's "figure with flowers" contains two foreground objects and that the flowers aren't background at all.

[Allan Rahbek]

Would this self portrait by William Orpen be without background

The wall and frame, seen around the "motif", is in front of the portrait for which reason I assume that it would not be "background" then, while the motif is the painter in his studio seen as the reflection in the mirror.

He also did more traditional portraits with real backgrounds

[Julie Deane]

The abstract shapes and lights/darks in that Orpen work (the first) is really exciting. Thanks for sharing it

I guess I would call the mirror frame, wall and letters a sort of composite frame. If background equals atmosphere surrounding the subject, then the aforesaid area could also be called "background", but I don't feel it serves that purpose.

[Alexandra Tyng]

When I look at William Orpen's self-portrait, my eye goes directly to the face. So I would say that the background successfully "goes back." Analyzing it further, Julie's frame idea makes sense. I do think the outer borders frame the portrait and lead the viewer into the center, like going through a door. The dark window blinds (or whatever they are) around his head read as background, making his head come forward.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Sharon Knettell

The 'flat' art of the Asians influenced many artists at the turn of the last century, Van Gogh, Klimt, Gauguin, Manet, Whistler, etc.
.

Sharon,
I believe that the 'flatness' is still influencing the majority of western art and I feel that it is desirable to explore the possibility's of it.

Since the surface of a painting is flat I find that one should deal with the two dimensions even when we paint a highly 3 D illusion like a portrait. That would help us to arrange the proportions in a harmoniously way.

Could it be that Asians, like Chinese and Japanese, 'think flat' because their letters are written/painted in two dimensions. Their letters are literally simplified pictures. That would explain why they are so good at it. Just a thought.

[Mischa Milosevic]

I really appreciate that Alex has taken the time to start a thread on backgrounds. Being good at ones craft takes a lot of time and dedication as most would agree. What is the subject her backgrounds and how to or backgrounds and the philosophical view?

The backgrounds in the east and the backgrounds in the west. I guess it depends on the individual what one prefers. Again it all depends how one wishes to compose the background and subject. Whether to give one or the other dominance or equal value. Sharon posted some beautiful works of art and so did Allan. In Sharon's last post there is a definite distinction between subject and background. Whether the background stays back or it is composed around the subject that is totally the artists choice of like or dislike. Where light comes from within a work of art is the choice of the artist whether he/she be from the East, West, North or South.

Allan, would you please tel me where you found these beautiful works by W. Orpen?

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Mischa Milosevic

Allan, would you please tel me where you found these beautiful works by W. Orpen?

Mischa,
I have a book about Sargent, The Later Portraits, in which there is a black and white photo of a portrait by Orpen. The sitter is Sybil Sassoon, she was painted by both Orpen and Sargent the year she married Lord Rocksavage.

I did not know Orpen before so I searched the Internet for William Orpen in the Picture section and found one here and another there, I can't remember the addresses. Good luck.

Ps. I never found the portrait of Sybil Sassoon in color

[Linda Brandon]

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

I did not know Orpen before so I searched the Internet for William Orpen in the Picture section and found one here and another there, I can't remember the addresses. Good luck.

Ps. I never found the portrait of Sybil Sassoon in color

I have a book about Orpen - I am a big fan of his. If nobody else comes up with anything here, I will take photos of the pictures in the book and post them (maybe on a new thread?) in the next couple of days.

[Mischa Milosevic]

Fund a excellent web page featuring many artists in the US and Europe http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

type William Orpen in the search bar.

[Sharon Knettell]

Originally Posted by Mischa Milosevic

I really appreciate that Alex has taken the time to start a thread on backgrounds.

And I do too. I will delete my posts that seem to conflict with Alex's original direction.