Characters on Canvas: Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein by Red Grooms

Red Grooms (born Charles Rogers Grooms on June 7, 1937) is an American multimedia artist best known for his colorful pop-art constructions depicting frenetic scenes of modern urban life. Grooms was given the nickname "Red" by Dominic Falcone (of Provincetown’s Sun Gallery) when he was starting out as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Provincetown and was studying with Hans Hofmann.

Gertrude Stein also appears in this photograph by Man Ray, with her Picasso-painted portrait in the background.

Artist of the Week: Man Ray

Man Ray

1890-1976

“I do not photograph nature. I photograph my visions.”
–Man Ray

"Legendary Photography, painter, and maker of objects and films, Man Ray was on the most versatile and inventive artists of this century. Born in Philadelphia in 1890, he knew the worlds of Greenwich Village in the avant garde era following the 1913 Armory show; Paris in the 1920's and 1930's, where he played a key role in the Dada and Surrealist movements; The Hollywood of the 1940s, where he joined others chased by war from their homes in Europe; and finally, Paris again until his death in 1976. "

From Man Ray Trust

(everything you ever wanted to know about him and a complete image archive)

 

Self-portrait

The Gift

1921

"Of course, there will always be those who look only at technique, who ask 'how', while others of a more curious nature will ask 'why'. Personally, I have always preferred inspiration to information." – Man Ray 

Kiki de Montparnasse

1922

...a wild, impetuous, amoral woman at a time when, beyond bohemian circles, women were often still expected to be seen and not heard. "All I need is an onion, a bit of bread, and a bottle of red," Kiki once said. "And I will always find somebody to offer me that."   read more: Kiki: The Queen of Bohemia

 Noire et Blanche

 Electricity
1926

(the model is Kiki) 

Man Ray began work in several mediums: sculpture, film, painting and photography were just some of his many passions. His earliest works were fairly static, inspired mostly by cubism and expressionism. It was only when Marcel Duchamp befriended him that he began to add movement to his works; his focus changed to Surrealism and Dadaism. Together the two founded the Society of Independent Artists in 1916, and published a single issue of New York Dada.

Kiki de Montparnasse in a variante of "Violons d'Ingres"

 

In 1921 he coined the term “rayograph” for a cameraless process using objects to block light and embed their image on light sensitive paper. In his homage to a revered master, “Le violon d’Ingres”(“Ingres’ Violin,” 1924), Ray combined a rayographic technique with a regular photograph, overlaying the curving f-holes from a violin onto a photograph of the naked back of his model and mistress, Kiki.

1929

Man Ray tried to create a Surrealist vision of the female form, and utilized solarization, cropping, over development (various photographic techniques) to create a surreal effect in his photographs.

Tears

1930

Lee Miller's Neck

1930

Lee Miller

Dora Maar

French photographer, poet and painter best know for being a lover and muse of Pablo Picasso


Having broken with his wife, Man Ray left New York for Paris in 1921—marking a continuous stream of tempestuous and often doomed romances. Through Duchamp, Man Ray met some of the most exciting artists and thinkers in Paris. Though he didn’t speak a word of French at first, he was welcomed into this group and became its unofficial photographer. Among the many models from this period were Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali, Gertude Stein, James Joyce, and the famous performer, Kiki of Montparnasse. For six years Kiki was Ray’s constant model, muse and lover

Pablo Picasso

 Dali

 Gertrude Stein
(Of "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" fame. I still scratch my head over how Stein ever became known as a writer, but that's just me.)

Henri Matisse

 Jean Cocteau


Paintings

 After Lunch

1919

Sculpture

Le Cadeau (The Gift)

is an early readymade by Man Ray (with the assistance of Erik Satie), consisting of an iron with fourteen nails glued to its sole, made in 1921 in Paris.

Much like Oppenheim’s Object, Gift is a conjunction of two alien objects. One represents domesticity and possibly femininity; the other represents carpentry and hence masculinity. The sheer failure of Gift as something practical makes the object a poor gift -- ironic naming on Ray’s part.

Film

Spoofing Man Ray

 

Man Ray

 

(good link above)

 

Le violin de Ingres

1924

I came upon the parody of Man Ray's famous photograph when doing what I spend way too much time at - searching for art images on the web. I'll get back to that in a moment.

There are a lot of parodies of famous works of art, as I'm sure you know or guessed. Some are homegrown photoshop creations, others more polished.

In any event, I'm not sure where I got this Man Ray spoof but I thought it was a fun departure from some of the usual masterpieces that are chosen:  Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Munch.


Man Ray himself could've gotten a brief chuckle out of it.


Getting back to image searches. You should see some of the stuff I dig up! If I were to post it, it would have to be on an "adult content" blog and then what would become of me!? I mean, they banned Cranach's Venus from the London underground, for cryin' out loud! Sometimes I think I'm on an alien planet.

What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait Part II

In this post, What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait, I asked my readers and blog pals to give me the names of artists (living or dead) whom they would choose to paint their portrait.

Since then, I've received responses from more folks.  Flor Larios, an artist herself and proprietor of the Etsy shop Flor Larios Art, comes a request for a portrait by either her inspiration Frida Khalo or by Gaugin. You'll love Flor's beautiful Mexican inspired paintings, prints, boxes and other artworks. I've purchased a couple of prints as gifts and some beautiful note cards for Christmas.

While it's true that Frida mostly painted self-portraits, I'm particular fond of this portrait of her sister Cristina Khalo:

My Sister Cristina Khalo

1928

My Sister Cristina Khalo

Detail

And also for Flor, a favorite Gaugin of mine. With her long, dark hair, she would make a perfect subject in a Gaugin painting.

Three Tahitians
1899 

Steve of the blog Color Sweet Tooth, also a fine artist, said that if Friedensreich Hundertwasser painted portraits, he would be his choice. This is the closest I came to anything resembling a portrait. Thanks, Steve, as I'd never heard of him. Incredibly good stuff to sink my head into in the very near future.

Steve also thought of Klimt. I thought of Klimt too. What woman wouldn't think of Klimt to paint her portrait.  But finding any portrait of a man by Klimt proved to be difficult. Here is one I found:

Joseph Pembauer
Pembauer was a pianist and piano teacher of the times in Vienna. The frame is also A Klimt design. I believe this is a glicee print.

And because Klimt's portraits of women are so extraordinary, I leave it to your imagination how he may have painted a male portrait in the same vein in this one, without the woman. Just a thought.

Libhom chose Man Ray, who is also a huge favorite of mine. Here is a sample:

Cloudia of wasn't fussy about who should paint her portrait as long as she was painted as a nymph. What exactly is a nymph, you ask? There are many. Read up on them here. Depicted here, however, is a particular kind of nymph called a Haliai.

Haliai

Quite simply, sea nymphs. They show up under this name in a random play by Sophocles and in Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis (read it!), but doesn't seem to be as commonly used as the more general "nymph" or the more specific "Nereid" or "Oceanid". Haliai comes from the word for "sea" and also means "salt". Oh, for a moment of amusement,  glance to the right at the poll results. I'm really curious about who has had their portrait painted and by whom. Come on! Fess up!  ;-) I was the only one who voted that I would have to think about it.  I had such a hard time choosing just one portrait. There were so many, for the various stages of my life; finally settling on Mona Lisa. I can't give Mona up...   I hope you're having a good Saturday. Peace, love and all groovy things, Pagan Sphinx