Thught for the Day - May 15,00

Subject: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: Peter T.
Date: 15 May 00 - 09:32 AM

The finest art exhibition for many years is currently in our city -- arrived without fanfare, lines, coffeecup logos, and will probably leave the same way. No one seems to have noticed. Borrowed from the Morgan Library in New York, 48 Rembrandt etchings -- some about as big as a commemorative stamp -- are in town. A fearsomely difficult process -- involving scratching needles into a layer of wax over a copper plate, which is then dropped into an acid bath, graving the lines permanently into the copper. All this has to be done backwards, and once done, can only be somewhat erased.

All the great Rembrandt etchings are here: the landscapes generated out of a few swirling curlicues of line; the washerwomen nudes, their skin glowing in skeins of crosshatching; the dark entombments; the tiny dogs; the beggar children. And the grand pieces speaking of the great discovery of the Protestant Reformation: that the poor can be as great carriers of the truth of God as the rich and the priestly -- Christ preaches to the multitude: and in one corner a dog shits, and a child doodles, and a mother wonders whether there will be a dinner on the table tonight. He is crucified, and the bored soldiers think about the rest of the weekend coming up. Just a gesture, a grimace, a huddled body. It is all there in a few scratches on a copper plate, inked, and pressed down on fragile paper.

And because they are etchings, anyone can go into a good bookstore and get the two volumes of the Dover etchings for about 40 dollars, and there is a lifetime of looking, pretty close to the Morgan Library versions; though it is a thrill to see the real thing, up close, and inexhaustible.

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: tar_heel
Date: 15 May 00 - 11:33 AM

lord,thank you for this beautiful day.please encompass us in your pure white light. let nothing but good go from us.let nothing but good come to us.thine will be done.

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 15 May 00 - 12:20 PM

When I first came face to face with Van Gough paintings, I thought a lot about his difficult life, and no doubt his personal story influenced how I viewed his work. When I first saw a Rembrandt, I remember not giving a darn (at that time) about his life, his relationships or his travails....all I could think of was, Wow, this guy's one hell of an artist! Since then I've read some books and seen the flick...but still, wow, what an artist!

Rick

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: Peg
Date: 15 May 00 - 12:35 PM

one thing I appreaciate about the new version of Sunday Morning on CBS (now hosted by Charles Osgood since Kuralt retired) is they often announce gallery exhibitions of artists that are noteworthy if not always famous...seeing a piece of art up close cannot compare to books or film...but seeking out artists who move us, no matter what form we view their work in, is always worth doing...

thanks Peter for reminding me what a master Rembrandt was

Peg (artists' model of fifteen years)

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - May 15,00
From: Amergin
Date: 15 May 00 - 12:50 PM

Not much of an art person myself. I prefer the written or spoken word. A picture can't convey the feelings to me that a song, story, or poem can. That's most likely due to the fact that I have always been fairly good at writing and that I can't draw a bloody stick figure. I admire those who can though. Well, enough of this...

Amergin

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: Mbo
Date: 15 May 00 - 05:03 PM

Yeah, Peter, I know how it is! I took a printmaking class last semester, only in these modern times, wax has been replaced by asphaltum, and copper plates with zinc for the intaglio process. The acid's still the same...6:1 nitric acid/water bath. And VERY hard to fix. Of course we also had to do aquatinting....and PLEEEEZE don't say "scratching"--most printmakers will kill you for that! It's "needling"! But I can appreciate how hard making intaglio is! Rembrandt was a true master. None of mine ever got higher than a B grade. The detail REAL masters can put into them is mind bogglin, as you pointed out!

--Mbo

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: catspaw49
Date: 15 May 00 - 08:04 PM

The beauty is in the detail.....or perhaps the thught alone is the shrine of all beauty. Whatever a thught is..........

Spaw

Subject: RE: Thught for the Day - May 15,00
From: rangeroger
Date: 16 May 00 - 12:30 AM

Hey Mbo,do you still take your asphaltum to bed with you?
rr