Willem de Kooning Explained in 7 Minutes
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ค. 2022
- This video explains how a Willem de Kooning abstract painting is actually highly structured using asymmetrical balance and the brightness/weight illusion.
For information about a free online workshop that elaborates on these concepts and gives you the opportunity to try your hand at using these ideas by creating your own artwork, click the link below: www.meetup.com/greatestphotow...
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Love de Kooning…flew to the NYMet to see a retrospective….all the way from the west coast! Was not disappointed in the show!
My favorite painter and a big part of why I like his work. I like your photographs.
Your spot on. I’m glad to have found your video. Asymmetrical balance is part of what makes my abstracts readable
Thank you for your comment. If you are interested, I facilitate a 1 hour online workshop based on these ideas - that other artists have gotten a lot out of. It's less than $20. Here's a link to the description. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask: www.airbnb.ca/experiences/2015855
A big Thank You to you Paul for this video. Finally, I am able to understand this kind of art better. More videos like this will be such a treat.
Thank you very much for your kind comment. I am glad you got something out of the video. There"s a free course on Meetup where you can learn more about these ideas, if you wish:
www.meetup.com/greatestphotoworkshoponearth/
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks again,
Paul
I’ll be watching your future videos. Thanks
Really enjoyed it. Opened up new way of seeing. I’m an artist and appreciate your take on asymmetrical balance.
Thank you for your kind feedback. I am glad you appreciated the video.
Great insight into De Kooning’s process … learnt lots so thanks 🙏🏻❤️🇦🇺
Thank you very much for your kind comment. I am glad you got something out of the video. There"s a free course on Meetup.com where you can learn more about these ideas, if you wish: www.meetup.com/greatestphotoworkshoponearth/
But I would have to share, in regards to de Kooning that my work shared something in his art as an influence probably from my years in high school. In fact some techniques he employed I would have discovered sooner had I actually studied his work in greater depth. The retrospective did reveal technique that I spent years developing because I had not formally studied his career. He and I had both arrived at the same conclusion many years apart in our travel along the less traveled paths of painting.
Asymmetrical balance is how perspective is, and De Kooning is a master at that and that's why he can do this.
... They've recently discovered his micro-photography collection of details of Impressionist paintings.
Fantastic video
A very useful video sir. Please keep making more such videos
Thank you for your comment.
Really enjoy this video.
Thank you for your kind feedback.
Super - thank you
Whillgen is the great. .si es hermoso y yo adoré su pintura ...fue un icono .....y un compulsivo actor de sus telas ...no estuve cerca de ellas ..pero es cool al final
Amazing
Thank you for your kind comment. It changed my life when I figured this out. It happened in one moment and felt like being struck by lightning. I elaborate on this and give participants the opportunity to actually try it during a 1 hour online workshop. If you wish, click the link for details - $15.75 US: www.airbnb.ca/experiences/2015855 . If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks again.
@@paulfremes So a 1 hr work shop for 15.75? I'll probably check that out. I'm painting now and your video concept here I used immediately - to positive impact.
@@murraymarshawn2175 Really? Would you mind sharing with me a photo of the painting your working on and how used the concept? My email address is: pfremes@gmail.com. I'd like to be able to show others an example of how these ideas are used - beyond examples of my work and the work of masters. Thank you.
Thank you
You're welcome. Thank you for your comment.
Muy interesante tu explicacion , soy artista y por supuesto uno conoce estas reglas de composicion y simetria oero siemore es bueno escuchar unacexplicacip fresca te recomiendo ver la obra de un fotografo chileno ,que trabajaba asi tambien. Sergio larrain ! Muchas gracias !
Gracias por tu comentario y por mencionar a Sergio Larrain.
Thanks for creating and sharing quality content, I'd just suggest please make the paintings bigger next time if possible,even on TV screen I wish I could look at a bigger picture. What's the real size of it, please? (ignore please if you put it in thevideo description, forgot to look in itbefore commenting). Like!
Thank you for your comment. I could make the painting slightly larger, however, I am limited by the frame height of the video. I did a Google search for you and learned the size of the original painting: 152.4 by 137.2 cm. Executed in 1977. I hope that helps.
I view the top/centre dark shape as the strongest elements in this work. Perhaps subconsciously, because it's DeKooning, It appears to be the focal point - a female bodice and resting arm, with all other shapes leading to this unusual spot. Am I over-reaching?
I think I understood your statements reasonably well. What in your opinion is the meaning of "art"? To do/create something difficult to do or perhaps something no one else has done? Just those, not those, or more? What?? To me art is a creation that touches me, creates feelings (or thoughts) in me, or provokes me, all can be in a good or bad way. In that sense, this piece did not do it for me, though many other de Kooning pieces do, some very much so. It obviously provoked and triggered a sense of surprise, admiration, and thought (about balance, math., etc.) in you. So, in my definition of art it is good art to you, while not much to me! Please note that my point of view (and the definition of art) is only from and for the receiving side/person, not that of the creating artist. I am not even remotely attempting to guess why he painted this piece, whether he thought about it long/at all, or just felt a certain emotion he had to express, was happy, sad, thinking about balance/math/technique, etc. I am interested to hear your definition of art for the observer (listener, viewer, etc.). And, of course, if you have more of a guess why he painted this particular piece it would be nice to hear that too! That said, I do not think we should generally spend any time trying to understand what the artist was trying to say. He said what he was trying to say (if anything). If we do not get it he did not achieve his goal. Maybe that is our loss!
Question: If you do not understand this long and intentionally rambling comment about your video, is it your fault that perhaps you did not think enough etc., or my failure and fault (or maybe even that of my English as second language), or the very fact that it is/was long (again intentionally long to make a point), had typos, etc.? Should you even think about what I must/could have wanted to say? Fact is that I had a medium, an idea, and in this case a purpose (expressing my specific thoughts for you and others to appreciate) but did not succeed doing so! So what? That is that!
As for your photographs, to me they are more, much more, artistic than this painting and indeed the best part of your video, which btw is very "unbalanced". Most of your photos meet my definition of "art". I should not, and do not (and did not) think what was he (you) thinking when he took that pictures, or what was he trying to say, what feeling was supposed to be conveyed to me, etc. They all happened. It does not even matter if I got out of those pictures the same that was intended by you! If you want specifics of why I liked them or what I got/appreciated --regardless of what you said about them in your video: I appreciated the compositions and b&w nature and lighting. Will go look at the again now. Thank you for responding!!
Thank you for your message. I am happy to answer your questions, however, I should point out that the purpose of the video was to shed light on the concepts of asymmetrical balance and the brightness/weight illusion - ideas that for the most part have been lost - that I strive to make common knowledge because this understanding adds a wonderful new dimension to my experience and understanding of art - I wish to share with others.
I was not trying to say this particular painting is good. I was simply using it as an example to illustrate the use of the concepts mentioned above.
Having said that, I am not sure if an articulation of my opinion of what the meaning of art is, is really relevant. All I am trying to do is say, 'look how the author made every part work in relationship to each other - it's not just a random splattering of paint'.
I agree with your statements about what art can do for the viewer. I don't have a short definition of the meaning of art because I've seen so many different types of art that do so many different things. I don't know if this is of any help to you but, I can tell you I have little to no interest in most pre-1840 A.D. art because prior to that time the focus seemed to be P.R. for the Church, showing off technical skills, recording or idealizing 'pretty' scenes or subjects.
Thank you for your kind feedback on my photographs.
I hope this of use to you.
Mr. Paul Fremes explained basic concepts in art that are taught in good institutions in the first semester. I remembered those studies.
Yes, de Kooning took over W. Kandinsky's discovery of the great Abstraction in "The First Blue Abstraction" (the first abstraction). Together with P. Mondrian (hard abstraction), they are the forerunners of the Great Abstraction. For more than 100 years, no cardinal was invented in this direction with some exceptions: P. Soulages, G. Richter... and others, who brought: in form and space, technique, color, structure, etc. something new within the Great Abstraction.
I do not touch other currents in art such as cubism, pop art, hyperrealism, op art, surrealism, primitivism, etc. which does not interest me at the moment.
You (above) if you don't have art studies, do you want solutions ready in 5 minutes? It won't be like that. And if you don't like and don't understand abstract art, that's your problem.
Most people are not educated about Art and others think they are or think they know. That's why quite a few high-end abstract Artworks look like just a bunch of paint splattered on a canvas to some and very well may be. An Artist's Art is a communication of an idea, concept, mood, feeling Etc... to an audience whether it be one person or group's of people. If the Artist's "Art" does not convey the artist's communication very well or is misinterpreted or not understood Etc... to that degree, it fails to be Good "ART" and thus communicates poorly, and if it fails to communicate at all it fails to be "ART" at all but to a few who I deem under the "The Emperor has no Close Effect." This is one of the fundamental problems and controversies about Modern and Contemporary art such as Abstract, Expressionism, Impressionism Etc...
Thank you for your comment.
Well said. I just posted an intentionally made lengthy comment above trying to (mostly) say what you did very precisely!
Bs , what choice was there ? All red or all white ? The best abstraction has no conscious input , that , makes it hard ,or easy ?
Like him,the red is not the darkest area, he also implies image,this was the disagreement with Pollack who by the way also returned to image.
Thank you for your comment. You are correct about the red not being the darkest. I am arguing that the large red shape on the center, bottom, right is the most dominant.
There is a big difference between a painting looking like a mess and a painting that actually is a mess. Just try painting like De Koonig - it is a lot harder than you think.
Thank you for your comment. I think you may have missed the intention I had for this video. I was trying to say that de Kooning's work is highly structured.
I’m an artist, you explain it well for idiots, as I once was
Thank you for your comment.
Well, it is of course, just as you say. Brovo!
Thank you for your comment.
Personally I think art as a whole.. Is in ones ability to make the unobvious beautiful and make us look at the obvious, through a different lense.
We can get analytical ad nauseam or use mathematics of values and balance all we like.. but in the end... does "it" command our attention? If yes.. Its art if no, then no.
Thank you for your comment. However, this video is not about what is art.
@@paulfremes I know it wasn't.. My comment was more about the assertion of people thinking abstract art as something a child can do
No puedo copiarlo ...es tan auténtico
El pintaba perfomances
Hip hop is like abstract painting
Can you explain how?
@@paulfremes I always wanted to make a video explaining on how hip hop / rap music, especially in The Tribe Called Quest Era. How that relates to how art started as being realistic to abstract and cubism. Like music went from classical to sort of abstract sampling parts of classical music and creating an art form, which is misunderstood by some like for abstract art may look simple but it’s actually very complex art.
@@fernandotjameya4859 Thank you. Please let me know when that video is ready.
The thinking that goes into a painting like this deKooning isn’t very different from the thinking that Andrew Wyeth put into his paintings. There are massive differences but each painter would recognize the visual logic in the other’s painting.
I like your comment and I appreciate your adding it here. I agree that abstract painting can exhibit the exact same balance methodology as a representational painting, however, I disagree with the specific example of Andrew Wyeth.
I feel that although Mr. Wyeth had exceptional skill in representing reality and depicting wonderful feelings like a curtain delicately moving in a breeze, I don't see that he understood balance.
Compositionally, I feel his images suffer from lost opportunities he had in potentially creating relationships between objects. If an image exhibited strong form it seems it was serendipitous such as, Ring Road, 1985. That's a lovely painting. However, Distant Thunder, 1980, for example, the wonderful mood in the moment he captured is compensating for the lack of structure this image exhibits.
I can't look at Wyeth's work because of this dichotomy. The moods are great but the structure is often not up to its potential. And hey, each to their own. If you love Wyeth I can certainly see why. He was an excellent painter. It's just there was this whole other dimension that could have been included.
Many American painters don't exhibit use of these ideas and it's not their fault. These ideas originated in Europe and have never been clearly documented in English. That's essentially what I am trying to do with my video series.
Conjecture.... Conjecture.... Conjecture....
images of kensington, vancouver and tenderloin lol
7 minutes ?
Paintings should be understood and have emotional values with out any explanation, I am afraid your explanation make the case more complicated for the viewers.
what?
I have a suspicion that you are not really seeking an answer, however, my goal is to help people understand these concepts because they've helped me a great deal in getting more out of looking at and creating art.
If you are interested to enter a discussion about this subject, please provide a more detailed question. Thank you.
The king is in the altogether the altogether the altogether the altogether as naked as the day that he was born😂
I love art but learned with Warhol that you have to be in the club to be successful. Art and charities are big in the laundering business. People now believe me because of the corruption with United way, the red cross and Hunter's art.
depends on what ”successful” entails for you
@@biocykle Selling paintings for ridiculous amounts.
@@swaters5127 oh okay then
@@biocykle Right back at ya.
Nah, overrated hack..
The photographs however are well composed and finely executed.
Form and structure...yet no content. A work of art must be about something. And not just an emotion.
Still doesn't actually mean anything
Reaching for straws
Art should not have to be explained
Perhaps not to you. As for me, I am learning and I like complex paintings explained to me.
According to who?
It needs no explanation. Just remove your learnt idea of recreating an image being the highest achievement, instead of learning about composition in space and colour.
@@archiebrackenridge7785 You just gave an explanation.
@@tinycuisine6544 An explanation in art theory not of an individual piece.
I don’t think De Kooning spent much time on this painting. Overthought crap.
One man's "overthought crap" another man's "purple fart"!
Sometimes the difference between art and junk is like the difference between imagination and the emperor's new invisible clothes.