Part 3 Project 2 Research Point 3

This work is about artists who work in series with landscape as the focus.  I have already looked at some of the work of Turner, van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet and Hockney in my work on trees.  My manual suggests that I look at the work of Peter Doig, John Virtue and Nicholas Herbert. To that list I would like to add Deborah Phillips because I like the way she takes what might be the boringly familiar and gives it a twist.

Peter Doig b 1959 - 

Peter Doig

This artist is one of the most respected alive today and his work sells for vast sums of money.  Most of Doig's work is based on the landscape of the area he happens to be living in at the time.  He came to prominence in 1993 with his painting Blotter and then as a Turner Prize nominee in 1994.

Blotter by Peter Doig, 1993
Oil on canvas (1)

Blotter was based on a photograph of his brother during their time living in Canada.  It is still considered to be one of his best paintings.  Most of Doig's paintings use photographs as a reference although there is no intention to make a photographic copy.  Photographs are photocopied, cut up, repeated and collaged (2).  The idea of copying from photographs is almost like plagiarism, certainly cheating, but taking them and developing ideas from them in other media offers lots of creative possibilities.

There is a very interesting video clip of Doig talking about his work and his source material before the opening of his exhibition at the Tate in 2008.

http://art-landscape.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/peter-doigs-landscapes-and-painting.html

Canoes are a regular feature of Doig's work and are presented in a variety of colours.  This one has elements of (almost) realism in the reeds but mainly it is surreal.  The repeating shape of the reflection and the figure could easily be missed as it blends effortlessly into the water.  The image is broken into five horizontal bands which I find very unusual.  The black band is quite unsettling but I'm unsure why.

Canoe Lake - Peter Doig, 1997.  Oil on canvas (3)

I find the wide range of Doig's work intriguing and it leaves me with the feeling that you can use anything in any way as long as you can justify it.

John Virtue b 1947 -

John Virtue
www.artistsonfilm.co.uk

John Virtue paints landscapes working only in monochrome.  He paints on canvas with white acrylic paint, black ink and shellac. He sees colour as an "unnecessary distraction"  (4)

Landscape no 507 - John Virtue (5)

Virtue is "interested in making exciting abstractions from what he perceives" around him in London (5) 

and is very influenced by both Turner and Constable.  He finds inspiration in the Dutch landscapes as well.

I'm not sure why but I don't warm to this work.  This happens sometimes then later, when I'm better informed, things change and I come to understand more of what the artist has to say.

However, I can relate to Virtue's preparatory sketches done on the roof of Somerset House.  They are quite spare and very evocative.  They give an unusual view of a familiar scene.

Preparatory work - Somerset House - John Virtue (6)

Virtue acknowledged that it was this unusual aspect that caught his attention.  This is a panoramic view expressed with a line drawing.  There is some hatching but not much.  There is some distance indicated as the building appear smaller in the background.  The whole sketch is done from a distance.

Nicholas Herbert b ?

Drawing and mark making is fundamental to this artists' work.  During 2013 Nicholas Herbert chose to make a series of drawings of the Chiltern Hills.  When I read about his work I get the very strong feeling that Herbert is less focused on what he sees and more concerned with what he feels. On his website he talks about atmosphere, permanence/impermanence, decay, resonance and the collective memory of our ancestors.  There's not a lot about trees and other features of the landscape. 

Landscape Drawing near Ashridge Estate, Chiltern Hills.  Nicholas Herbert. June 2013
27 x 18cm Mixed media (7)

Although the palette is similar to that of John Virtue I find myself liking this very much more. I think that it is probably because of the lighter tones (although that isn't always so).

Landscape Drawing L797, The Chiltern Hills. Feb 2014 - Nicholas Herbert
18 x 14 cm Mixed Media. (8)

In some ways his work reminds me of the embroidery of Linda Bellinger - there is a freedom and sense of movement that is very evocative of wide open spaces.

Autumn by Linda Bellinger - paint and stitch on calico
from my photo collection

Both artists use marks that show their love for what they draw.

Herbert also uses the iPad:

Image using an iPad - Nicholas Herbert (9)

Herbert questions the use of the iPad as an artists tool.  At the moment his thinking is that it is useful as a development tool but has little place in finished pieces. (9)

Deborah Phillips b 1965-

Deborah Phillips is a Scottish born artist who paints familiar landscapes but in surprising ways. (10)

Heathery Ben - Deborah Phillips (10)

Turquoise Dusk - Deborah Phillips (11)

This artist works in acrylics and says she loves the way the paint glistens as she squeezes it from the tube. I like Phillips choice of colours but after the monochrome of the previous two artists this is quite a shock.  I enjoy the way the foreground is really close up and detailed.  This work is much easier for me to understand but doesn't make me think or feel as much.


(1) http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/history/prizewinners-exhibition/paintings/peter_doig.aspx

(2) http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/doig-blotter-p11478

(3)  http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/doig_Canoe-Lake.htm

(4) http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artist-john-virtue/scheme/why_john.htm

(5) http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artist-john-virtue/default.htm 

(6) http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artist-john-virtue/studies/somerset_acc_2.htm

(7)  https://nicholasherbert.wordpress.com/

(8) http://www.nicholasherbert-drawings.co.uk/drawings-2014.html

(9)https://nicholasherbert.wordpress.com/2013/03/15/landscape-drawing-on-a-ipad/

(10) https://the-leith-gallery.co.uk/artist-a-z/deborah-phillips

(11) http://macmillanartshow.org/index.php/deborah-phillips/