Out of Stock?!

In the current unprecedented times of quarantine and isolation, artists all over the world are practicing art voraciously. People who would have never imagined putting a brush to paper have also taken advantage of lockdown and resorted to artistic endeavors in order to lift their spirits. Art is proving to be the silver lining to the dark, gloomy corona virus cloud.

But what do you do when you are running out of canvas and paper during the lockdown? How do you replenish them when all but essential shopping has been forbidden? Many of us may be finding ourselves skimming through our dwindling art supplies, frantically hunting for ways and means to keep our art practice going, but little do we realize that what we need to engage with our creativity is probably tucked away somewhere in our home itself.

I’m sure many of us are sailing in the same boat so here’s a quick guide that can perhaps help replace that rapidly depleting stock of art supplies and keep the creative process going. I have compiled some tips and tricks, mostly conceived by fellow artists who deserve a special mention in this post. Thank you all for your innovative inspirations! So go ahead, browse through, pick your favorite options and innovate!!

Paints – If you think you are the only ones running out of oil or watercolor paints, join the gang! Don’t sweat….your regular house paints can serve as a good option. But don’t forget to check whether they’re oil or water based before using them.
Drawing material – Take stock of all your pencils, pens, markers, pastels, color pencils and other dry mediums that may be lying around in a state of neglect in your house. Every small bit of charcoal and chalk counts.
Paper and Canvas – If you are anticipating a shortage of drawing and painting surfaces, make do with whatever is available at that time. It doesn’t matter if it’s small pieces of paper, a tiny sketch book or discarded canvases. Expressing your creative instincts is of prime importance.

Here are some options that some of my fellow artists have come up with to nourish and nurture their creative faculties:

Unsold or discarded paintings that are nothing but dead stock can be gessoed over and reused to create brand new artworks.

Different types of ornately printed paper, gift wrapping paper or even wall paper have great potential for collage and mixed media effects.
Newspaper and magazine pages are an awesome replacement for plain old boring paper. The fine print can add an extra element of interest to the subject sketched or painted on top if it complements the theme of the artwork. Picasso used to add his own characters on magazine photos.
Don’t get rid of all those grocery bills, corrugated packing sheets, brown paper, crinkled craft sheets, etc. They can prove to be valuable drawing and painting surfaces.

***Anannya’s clever use of different surfaces to create art (click on thumbnail to view full image)***

Leftover pieces and planks of wood from your carpentry projects for home improvement can serve as a good replacement for canvas.

***Swati’s ingenious recycling of a waste plank of wood***

Dried leaves when painted on with acrylic paints can be transformed into beautiful works of art.

Stones and pebbles can be used as miniature canvases and painted over with acrylic paints or markers.

A word of caution…sometimes the materials you choose may not live up to your expectations and you may not achieve the desired results. Don’t fret too much at this point. It’s all about trial and error. After all, art is an enriching and learning experience and every mistake can become a precursor to a great masterpiece. All you need to do is work your way around it and try something else. Another upside to using leftover material is that it can help open up new channels of creativity.

The key to innovative progress right now is to carefully consider what you have at the present moment and how it can be put to good use. Now’s the time to tests the limits of your creativity. Who knows? Maybe you’ll come up with something stunning with all those scraps of paper lying around in your house!

Acknowledgements and Credits –

As I had mentioned earlier, several of these ideas are the creative genius of my fellow artists. All the images featured in this post belong to these immensely talented “innovators” and I do not claim any of them as mine in any way. They deserve to be applauded for their resourcefulness and brilliance. I hereby acknowledge their skills and give them full credit for their contributions towards the enrichment of art. Thanks a ton Sheetal, Anannya, Swati and Aditi for your innovative improvisations. Cheers to your ingenuity!

Lockdown Art – Labyrinth

The global COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the pause button for humanity and stopped the world in its tracks. It has brought all of us down on our knees, but as we struggle to cope with it, we are also slowly learning to live with it. Even though all over the world lockdowns and restrictions are being eased out progressively, it doesn’t mean that the virus is gone. Our respective governments may have granted us some relaxations, but COVID-19 hasn’t. This is a long-drawn battle and we should continue to be on the vigil and fight on till we defeat the enemy and emerge victorious.

Today I present to you “Labyrinth,” the last artwork of my Corona Series, as we embrace the “new world order” of a dangerous world in the midst of a perilous virus. This one is inspired by the most brilliant yet dangerous military formation in Indian mythology, the mythical “Chakravyuha.”

To give a brief account of the Chakravyuha, it is a multi-tiered defensive formation chronicled in the Hindu epic, Mahabharata. It is believed that it was a seven-layered circular maze where each of the layers is rotating in the same or opposite direction, with strategically placed weak and strong soldiers. The warriors at each interleaving position would be in an increasingly tough position to fight. Each of the layers are presented with possible openings which are closely guarded by one of the main highly ranked warriors and his personal troops.

It is this brutal form of assault that I have adapted in my artwork as an attempt to depict all the strategies and tactics that are being implemented by us in order to keep the virus at bay. The Chakravyuha was not just an allegory or a physical labyrinthine disc, but a representation of a ferocious form of defense. This ring formation could hover across the battlefield and consume opponent soldiers from within, like a tornado or typhoon moving unhindered and destroying everything in its path.

Just like the Chakravyuha rotates on its axis as well as revolves in its trajectory, thus making it a great defensive as well as offensive mechanism, we too have devised a labyrinth of preventive and counter attacking measures that can be as impenetrable as the deadly Chakravyuha itself if implemented effectively. Each layer of this maze is our defense against the virus and their potency keeps becoming stronger as you move inwards. The innermost layer represents our ultimate defense against the virus – a vaccine. Even though we are still working on this aspect, I am sure the day is not far away when we will succeed in completing this layer of defense.

I have depicted the other six layers as our current lines of defense, namely, personal hygiene measures like washing hands, sanitization, etc., personal protective gear like gloves and masks, healthy eating to build up immunity, social distancing, quarantine/isolation and medical treatment for the infected. Together all these layers need to be set into motion, in unison, moving continuously across the COVID-19 warzone.

This spinning spiral of death can also be put into action as an offensive tactic to attack the seemingly invincible Corona virus from all sides. If we manage to enforce and carry out this plan incessantly, we stand a chance at defeating the fatal virus and ending the pandemic. All it requires is a collective effort from one and all so let us all stand together, for all of us are soldiers in this global war.

Lockdown Art – Light at the End of the Tunnel

“Sometimes life seems a dark tunnel with no light at the end, but if you just keep moving forward, you will end up in a better place.”

In the current COVID-ridden times, we seem to be stuck in an endless tunnel of lockdowns and curfews. Just when we think the exit is around the corner, it seems to stretch on further at the very next turn. That’s exactly what’s happening presently, what with lockdowns being extended incessantly across the world.

The worldwide lockdown has changed our lives drastically, engulfing us in the darkness of uncertainty as we remain restricted within our four walled fortresses. People all over the world are experiencing this darkness in varying forms, be it curfew, lockdown, isolation or quarantine.

This Global Lockdown is what I bring to you as an artwork in today’s blog entry, which is inspired by and named after the very phrase – “Light at the End of the Tunnel.” Another rendering in watercolor, it is a symbolic representation of the multiple lockdowns that our world is being subjected to in order to slow down the pandemic. I have used the contour of a keyhole to depict the dark cavernous tunnel of confinement. Each keyhole silhouette represents a lockdown phase and together all the contours collectively form the tunnel that we seem to be traversing through.

I have used the technique of perspective to illustrate the three dimensional view of a tunnel onto the two dimensional surface of a paper with an attempt to make it as natural and realistic as possible, at the same time creating an illusion of space and depth. The innermost keyhole signifies what lies beyond the tunnel – the light of hope. It’s this light that we need to see beyond the darkness of the seemingly never ending lockdowns, but to do so we have to travel all the way through the dark abyss with the faith that what lies at the end of the tunnel is the much needed relief of the confinements being eased. This light gives us hope that the end is just around the corner.

The tunnel in my artwork symbolizes our journey through these dark times, which seems as gloomy as the path itself. We find ourselves entrapped in the darkness of this murky cavern unable to navigate our way ahead through the sufferings we encounter on the way. The only way to beat this darkness and get through to the other side is to divert our thoughts towards the light of positivity, thereby asserting our faith in the fact that respite in close at hand. We need to channelize and transform the gloom into our strength and illuminate our resilience to go through with the sojourn. To find the light at the end of the tunnel, advance through the darkness knowing that nothing lasts forever and this too shall pass.

The light in my artwork also represents the hope-filled signs that this crisis will end soon. These signs include efforts of the likes of social-distancing, testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine which at least for now are helping us in controlling the spread, until effective treatments and vaccines can help us put the virus back in it’s box. I opted for a monochromatic grayscale color palette to render the contours of the tunnel as it represents how we view the world during the lockdown – in black and white.

In this global crisis of uncertainty and unpredictability, everything depends on the effectiveness of containment measures which can only attain their full potential when followed stringently. So let us all kindle the spark of positivity and help it guide us through to the end of the tunnel where the light awaits us. For –

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but the way out is through.” — David Allen

Lockdown Art – Battle Scars

As COVID-19 continues to march across the globe making every man, woman and child it comes across its prisoner, our gallant soldiers in white fight on relentlessly. Doctors, paramedics, nurses and health care workers all over the world stand their ground like a shield between us and the deadly virus. They form our front line defense in the battle against this silent and invisible enemy.

Here’s another watercolor tribute to the tireless service being rendered by these courageous warriors, who have been selflessly caring for others day and night without giving a thought to their own safety and well-being. This artwork, like an earlier one of mine titled “Gods in White Capes”, is once again a salute to their grit and determination. Their dedication towards their duty and their conviction to save each and every life they are entrusted with are not just praise worthy but also inspiring.

Words cannot do justice to the rigorous toil and sweat of our medics but it becomes evidently visible when they step out of their protective armor which conceals tales of their valor. Their undiluted courage can be seen in the impressions on their faces that have been left behind by the masks they are forced to wear round the clock. It is these marks of courage that I have highlighted in my rendition of our real life superheroes. These tell-tale marks are also witness to their noble service and are a constant reminder of the hardships they are willingly putting themselves through to safeguard the ailing and heal them back to health.

These men and women knowingly choose to put their own lives in jeopardy to save lives that are on the line. At times like these, when your own survival is at risk, it is difficult to think about others but these are the people who make it look easy. We are all indebted to these soldiers who choose to serve humanity over being with their near and dear ones. Let us all remember their “Battle Scars” even after they fade away. Let them remind us to forever be grateful to these saviors for rising up to the challenge in these unprecedented times.

Lockdown Art – Tame the Curve

In today’s Covid-19 ridden world, the phrase “flattening the curve” is not just a figure of speech used to represent statistical data, but also one of the strategies we have adopted with the hope of containing the pandemic until a vaccine or effective treatment comes into existence. It is our desperate attempt to delay the spread of the infection and keep our health care services within their operational capacity. That’s why countries all over the world are tirelessly working to flatten the curve.

I don’t think I need to go into the mathematical aspect of the phrase as I am sure most of us are well versed with it by now. So in a nutshell, flattening the curve implies reducing the number of new COVID-19 cases with time. This can take the load off our healthcare system to some extent and prevent it from becoming overwhelmed. When a country has lesser new COVID-19 cases appearing with every passing day, it’s a sign that the country is flattening the curve.

It is this metaphor and its pictorial representation that inspired me to create this week’s artwork once again through my new found love for watercolors. I know it’s an extremely abstract depiction so bear with me if it doesn’t come across to you at first glance!

I have attempted to illustrate the COVID-19 trajectory on a conventional graph with its two slopes, the steeper one signifying the exponential rise in cases against time and a flatter one which represents what we are aiming at in order to sustain our health care systems. The face within the steeper curve symbolizes the suffering humanity has to endure if we do not contain the spread of the contagion. The mask within the flatter slope embodies all the measures we need to take to counter the infection and ensure that we limit its spread within the confines that can be handled by our health care systems and also succeed in flattening the curve.

The background of the artwork is also an abstract representation of a graph sheet that is used to plot a graph. I have used the technique of pattern doodling to create this backdrop. Now you all must be itching to know what’s the role of the sun that I have depicted here? Well this symbolizes the hope that we will beat this darkness and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Once again, I have rendered the sun using watercolors and further enhanced it through doodling.

This artwork is my personal expression of our need to do everything in our power to check the escalation of this deadly sickness. This modern day plague is like a wild predator that has been unleashed on us and is devouring our health and well being. The only way we can ensure our survival is if we can restrain this beast, terminate it and send it to its grave, before it does the same to the entire human species. It’s almost as if we need to “tame” this monster, hence the title of my artwork – Tame the Curve. So let’s all flatten the curve and save lives.

Lockdown Art – One World

A deadly contagion has declared war on our world, afflicting us with illness and fatality. Every corner of the planet feels like a warzone as we make desperate attempts to combat the Corona virus with lockdowns, quarantine and isolation. As social distancing and staying home become the norm, we are slowly learning to acknowledge the importance of these actions in keeping us alive and kicking.

In the face of this global health crisis we are seeing endless human suffering which is changing people’s lives for the worse. Mankind is traumatized and our social fabric is torn. People are worried and scared. We need to counter this atmosphere of fear and panic by recognizing and accepting the fact that we have only each other to ensure our survival. This is not the time to indulge in skin-deep, color based prejudices and fanaticism but to unite against our common faceless enemy. This human crisis calls for global solidarity and unification.

It is this thought that has inspired me to create a watercolor rendition that I call “One World.” Through this artwork I wish to convey that we are all in the same troubled waters so all the nations of the world need to come together and unify their forces as well as resources in order to successfully tackle COVID-19. I have attempted to express this by depicting all the nations as one single cityscape under the same skyline.

Even though each country is trying its level best to address this worldwide epidemic in its own way, it is too complex a predicament to be handled individually. This demands combined action from the world leaders not just to help their own country but also look out for the less developed and more vulnerable ones. Universal coordination and cooperation are the need of the hour.

COVID-19 is the Trojan horse that has insidiously infiltrated the human operating system and is slowly shutting it down. The only antidotes we have against it come in the form of lockdown, quarantine, isolation and precautionary measures of the likes of social distancing, washing hands and wearing of masks. These countermeasures are being adopted globally hence I have highlighted some of them in my artwork. As of now this is the only “antivirus” we have against the infection.

If our nations become more integrated in this battle full of uncertainties, the human race stands a chance of pulling through this dark time. So let us all come together in our fight against Corona virus even though we are miles apart. In these difficult times, Bob Marley’s legendary lyrics from “One Love” sound just right so signing off for now with a few lines from the song –

One love
One heart
Let’s get together and feel alright

One love
One heart
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel alright
Let’s get together and feel alright

Let’s get together to fight this Holy Armageddon (one love)
So when the Man come, there will be no no doom (one song)
Have pity on those whose chances grows thinner
There ain’t no hiding place from the Father of creation (sayin’)

Lock-down Art – Home Safe Home

The world has been invaded by a minute yet potent entity that has ravaged the human race and brought it down to its knees. This unyielding adversary is the killer COVID-19 that has dramatically altered our lives in just a few months. Since the day this deadly pathogen declared war on humanity, we have been living in terror and what makes it worse is the fact that no-one knows when this war will end or who will be the victor or what our world will look like after it does.

The onslaught of this virulent microbe has radically changed the existing status of human civilization universally. Our hustling bustling world now looks empty and desolate. The streets are deserted, restaurants and cafes are closed for business, malls and department stores are shut and the once thriving tourist destinations are out of bounds for humanity. Countries have closed their national as well as international borders, modes of long distance travel like air and rail have been suspended indefinitely and mandatory curfews or lock-downs have been imposed on any non-essential movement.

As the menacing corona virus infiltrates every street and alley, spreading its reach far and wide, it has turned our world upside down. Countless have succumbed to it and umpteen more continue to fall prey every day. People are dying in masses, health resources are stretched beyond their limits and the very foundation of our existence is under threat. The essence of our freedom is diminishing as we are forced to go into an unnatural hibernation, for this virus seems to know no barriers.

Even so, humanity has not lost completely for thousands recover and beat the virus every day, so not all hope is lost. In this time of crisis, confinement and isolation are paramount for our wellbeing and eventual survival. ‘Stay Home’, is not just the current mantra, but also the need of the hour and a new way of life in the present day scenario. For how long you ask? For as long as it takes I say.

It is this mantra that inspired me to create this watercolor artwork titled “Home Safe Home”. In the present circumstances it becomes absolutely imperative for each and every one of us to stay indoors and follow all the lock-down rules. In order to defeat this deadly virus, we need to unite not just as a community or a race but as a species and limit ourselves within the protective boundaries of our homes, for these are like impregnable fortresses that the virus cannot penetrate unless we step out and bring it in ourselves.

Our planet has provided us with so much more that her capacity that she almost has nothing more left to give. She has protected us from floods, famines, disaster and disease just like a selfless mother protects her child from all harm. She has always put us first and all we have done is drained her dry. We have used and abused her time and again for our own selfish gains without giving any thought to her well being. Maybe this is her way of mending herself or teaching us a lesson and making us mend our ways. Who knows?

***My artwork titled “Home Safe Home”***

Through this artwork I wish to convey that now it’s our turn to return her favors. The earth is our home, in fact the only home we have. By staying within the confines of our individual dwelling places, not only do we protect ourselves from the deadly COVID-19, but also protect our planet from us. Right now, we need to be patient and resilient and wait for the day we attain victory over this virus. Once we are liberated from its stronghold, we must remember to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start. We need to heal our planet and make her a safe haven not just for us but for all the other beautiful living beings that reside on it. Only then will it become “Home Safe Home.”

Let’s hope that this period of confinement and self constraint takes us into the depths of our thoughts and makes us introspect on how we can make ourselves worthy of living in this safe haven.

Lockdown Art – Gods in White Capes

The Corona virus is like a malignant tumor that is spreading uncontrollably across the world, slowly putting it into shutdown mode. This is an extremely distressing time in the history of mankind, especially for those who revel being out in the open. But the current situation makes it absolutely imperative for everyone to stay indoors.

Being a loner and a recluse, I have always enjoyed being with myself the most and love my solitary strolls with just nature’s sights and sounds to keep me company. Not only do these secluded reveries relieve me of my worries, but also provide me inspiration for my most beloved activity – making art. Creating something aesthetically appealing is like therapy to me. It heals my thoughts as well as my spirit and soul.

As I sit isolated from civilization, my own retrospective reflections have found a release through my art. The solitude of lockdown has intensified my artistic energy. My introspections have brought forth glimpses of other’s lives and helped me put their role into perspective. At a time when the framework and confines of daily life have shriveled to the bare necessities, I am filled with gratitude for all the people who are helping the human race endure and sustain this perilous episode.

The artwork I share with you all in today’s post is an expression of my gratefulness to the warriors who are at the forefront of the combat zone of the COVID-19 invasion – our health workers, paramedics, nurses and doctors. This is my tribute to our medical healers who are working tirelessly day and night to pull us out of the clutches of the macabre corona virus.

When man is overwhelmed by turbulent storms, he turns to faith and hope. Faith comes in the form of the trust he puts in his savior to rescue him from the storm and hope is what makes him hold on to his faith. In the present day situation, our faith has taken the form of our medics who are no less than reincarnations of God. They hold the divine power to heal us and revive us back to health.

This dauntless service to humanity is not for mere mortals like you and me. Not only is it equivalent to a divine power, but also an act of heroism in its own right and deservant of a place next to none other than the Almighty. Hence, I have represented the entire medical community through an image of God. I have rendered my illustration of this image of divinity with my beloved prismacolor pencils. I have used chalk pastels to represent the form of the virus and colored gel pens for doodling the dos and don’ts that are being recommended by our doctors and medical experts.

These are not Gods we have read about in mythological books and epics. They are real life Gods with the power to heal disease. These are not the superheroes we read about in comic books or see in movies. They are real life heroes who are combating this pandemic fearlessly, putting their own lives at risk in the process. So let’s all salute them for their unwavering resolve and support, for we owe our lives to them.

“Viral” Art

As the deadly Novel Corona Virus or COVID-19 grips the world in its vicious claws and spreads its wings far and wide, it made me wonder how artists during similar epidemic-ridden periods in the past would have been affected and how they would have rendered these afflictions in their own work. I did some research and was surprised to come across several works of art depicting the same. So get ready for a trip down memory lane to reminisce about how various pandemics in history have been depicted by artists.

Tournai Citizens Burying the Dead During the Black Death, 14th century

During the Black Death (1347 to 1351) skeletons and death were very common in culture and art. This miniature shows the mass burial of the dead by the citizens of Tournai, Belgium. There are fifteen mourners and nine coffins all crammed into the small space, with the face of each mourner given individual attention, each conveying genuine sorrow and fear.

***The Citizens of Tournai, Belgium, Burying the Dead During the Black Death of 1347-52(Detail of a miniature from The Chronicles of Gilles Li Muisis ,1272-1352)***

Painting by French artist Josse Lieferinxe at the end of the 15th century

In this painting from the 1490s, St. Sebastian, one of the saints whom people prayed to for protection against the plague, kneels before God while a grave attendant is stricken with the plague as he is burying someone who died of the disease. He has a single bubo on his bent neck. You have to look closely to notice the swollen red lump (the bubo) on the neck of the man on the ground in green sleeves.

Giacomo Borlone de Burchis, The Triumph of Death with The Dance of Death, 15th century

The Dance of Death (Danse Macabre), which is a part of The Triumph of Death scene, shows Death as a crowned skeleton queen swinging scrolls in both hands. Two skeletons at her sides are killing people with a bow and an ancient arquebus. Beneath her feet is a marble coffin where the corpses of an emperor and a pope lie surrounded by poisonous animals, symbolic of a quick and merciless end. Powerful yet desperate people from diverse social classes are offering valuables and begging for mercy.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Triumph of Death, c. 1562

The Triumph of Death by Flemish Renaissance master Pieter Bruegel the Elder also shows the Black Death. An army of skeletons wreaks havoc across a blackened, desolate landscape. Fires are burning in the distance, the sea is full of shipwrecks. Everything is dead, even the trees and the fish in a pond. This painting depicts people of all social backgrounds, from peasants and soldiers to nobles as well as a king and a cardinal. Death takes them all indiscriminately.

Pieta, 1576 by Titian

When Venice was struck by plague, Titian painted the Pietà as a prayer for the survival of himself and his son, Orazio. In the bottom right-hand, propped under the stone lion, is a tablet on which Titian and Orazio are seen praying to the Virgin for delivery from the plague, but in vain. Titian died “of fever” and Orazio also died during the plague. Glimmers of silvery torch and moonlight on the mosaic canopy above Christ, on the statues of Moses and the Sybil and the pale glowing body of Christ accentuate the terrible gloom. While the painting pleads for salvation, the emotional texture is of fear and horror at the closeness of death.

Van Dyck’s Saint Rosalie Interceding for the Plague-Stricken of Palermo, 1624.

This was painted by Van Dyck on top of a self-portrait he had sketched on a canvas. Van Dyck was in Palermo, Sicily, when a plague broke out. On July 15, 1624, the remains of Saint Rosalie—the city’s patroness, who died about 1160—were discovered on Mount Pellegrino, seen here above the harbor of Palermo. The canvas was cut on all sides, which trimmed the paint surface slightly on the left and right. Matching canvas has been added and repainted to complete the putto at the top left to the saint’s left hand. The landscape is quite worn and the upper sky is restored.

Paulus Furst of Nuremberg, Doctor Schnabel von Rom, 1656

This etching displays a protective costume used in France and Italy in the 17th century consisting of an ankle-length overcoat, a mask, gloves, boots, a wide-brimmed hat, and another outer garment. The mask had glass openings for eyes, a curved bird-like beaked shaped face with straps to hold the beak in front of the doctor’s nose and two small nose holes serving as a respirator which held sweet or strong smelling substances (usually lavender). The beak could also hold dried flowers, herbs, spices, camphor or a vinegar sponge to keep away bad smells, known as miasma. This costume terrified people because it was a sign of imminent death.

Bonaparte Visiting the Plague House at Jaffa, 1804.

The painter Antoine-Jean Gros depicts the courage of General Bonaparte visiting plague-stricken French troops in the courtyard of a Jaffa mosque in Syria, being used as a military hospital, in 1799. Bonaparte is seen touching a sore on one of the plague victims with his bare hand. One of the officers has a handkerchief over his mouth. On the left, two Arabs are handing out bread to the sick. On the right, a blind soldier is trying to approach the general-in-chief. In the foreground, in the shadows, the dying men are too weak to turn towards their leader. The painter implies that Bonaparte’s virtue and courage justify the horrors of war and gave him the luminous aura and gestures of Christ healing the lepers in religious paintings.

Arnold Böcklin, Plague, 1898

Plague illustrated Arnold Böcklin’s obsession with war, pestilence, and death. Böcklin, a Symbolist has personified Death here as a winged creature, flying through the street of a medieval town. According to art historians he took inspiration from news about the plague appearing in Bombay in 1898, though there is no straightforward, visible evidence of Indian inspiration (Symbolists always used as ambiguous and universal symbols as possible).

Egon Schiele, The Family, 1918

The 20th century brought the Spanish Flu, the horrific scale of which is hard to fathom. Egon Schiele was one of the great artists who died from it. The Family was unfinished at the time of Schiele’s death and initially was titled Squatting Couple. It was one of his last paintings. It shows Schiele himself with his wife Edith and their unborn child. Edith died of Spanish flu in the 6th month of her pregnancy. Three days after she died Egon did too.

Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait after Spanish Influenza, 1919

Among other famous artists who died of the Spanish flu were Gustav Klimt, Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, and Niko Pirosmani. Edvard Munch caught it but he survived. Munch painted this work in 1919. He created a series of studies, sketches, and paintings, where in a very detailed way he depicted his closeness to death. As seen here, Munch’s hair is thin, his complexion is jaundiced, and he is wrapped in a dressing gown and blanket.

David Wojnarowicz, Untitled (Falling Buffalos), 1988-1989

In this photo-montage a herd of buffalos is seen falling off a cliff to their deaths. Made in the wake of the artist’s HIV-positive diagnosis, Wojnarowicz’s image draws a parallel between the AIDS crisis and the mass slaughter of buffalos in America in the 19th century. It reminds viewers of the neglect and marginalization that characterized the politics of HIV/AIDS at the time. Wojnarowicz died of HIV/AIDS in 1992.

Keith Haring, Ignorance = Fear, 1989

Keith Haring designed and executed this poster in 1989 after he was diagnosed with AIDS the previous year. The poster depicts three figures gesturing “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing”. This implied the struggles faced by those living with AIDS and the challenges posed by individuals or groups that fail to properly acknowledge and respect the epidemic. Keith Haring died of AIDS in 1990 at the age of 31.

Untreatable plagues have been a regular feature of human existence for centuries. The medieval Black Death from 1347 to the late 17th century and the Spanish flu were some of the most devastating pandemics in human history. The paintings in this post remind us that “the plague” is not just a thing of the past but a global phenomenon that keeps recurring every few decades.

Not only did art survive the trials and tribulations of disease, it flourished. Even though art history is brimming with images of death, it is also full of learning. It’s almost as if all that pestilence served as a driving force for artists to create incredulous masterpieces aimed at affirming the importance of life. As a global community, we need to take a lesson from this, stop focusing on our differences and fight these outbreaks together. All we need is a positive outlook, the will to fight and a universal messenger like art to transmit the message everywhere.

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, we fear epidemics like never before. We don’t know yet what would be the final numbers of this global contagion, but looking back into art history, we realize that the past holds optimistic messages for modern day man. If people could endure incomprehensible contagions in those days, then so can we.

DISCLAIMER – All the information, data and imagery in this blog post is for informational and educational purpose only. While there may be copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner, I have only made it available with the sole effort to stimulate creative progress and artistic enrichment. Some images may have been taken from the links included below and I give full credit to these websites/pages, thereby in no way claiming them to be my own. I have also used these links for reference purposes and collection of data; therefore I give full credit to the respective web pages. Most of the data in this post is based on my personal experiences and opinions and I am not responsible for any material that is found in the links at the end of this post.

Sources and Photo Credits –

Plague in Art: 10 Paintings You Should Know in the Times of Coronavirus

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/feb/15/brush-black-death-artists-plague

https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/napoleon-bonaparte-visiting-plague-stricken-jaffa

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/71.41/

https://www.titian.org/pieta.jsp

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/08/18/542435991/those-iconic-images-of-the-plague-thats-not-the-plague

Female Muses through the Ages – Part 2

During the early days of the Modern Era, the classic female muse was a stereotypical image of a woman who inspired the artistic genius of male artists more on the basis of their physical appearance than anything else. But as time progressed, the later part of the Modern Period witnessed her metamorphosis into something more just a glorified female form. The so called “deity” of inspiration was no longer privy to the male artist’s gaze just for her superficial beauty.

In continuation with last week, today’s post will explore some of these emancipated women who changed the male artist’s perspective towards the female muse and redefined her identity.

Kiki de Montparnasse (1901–1953)

Born Alice Prin in France, Kiki de Montparnasse was a nightclub singer, painter, actress, and model. She posed for dozens of artists including Jean Cocteau, Moïse Kisling and Alexander Calder and inspired several others including Julien Mandel, Gustaw Gwozdecki, and Tsuguharu Foujita.

However, there is no doubt that she was Man Ray’s muse. Le violon d’Ingres, in which she is pictured from behind, with two violin f-holes painted on her back and Noire et Blanche are two of the most recognized works of Kiki by Man Ray.

Her look was legendary: a sharply cropped black bob with straight, thick fringe, pale white skin, dark red lips and severely painted eyebrows. This iconic helmet-like hairstyle would be seen in works of art including paintings, photographs and Pablo Gargallo’s 1928 bronze Kiki de Montparnasse.

Marie-Therese Walter (1909-1977)

Marie-Thérèse Walter was the lover and model of Pablo Picasso. Some famous pieces depicting this French muse are Le Rêve and Nude, Green Leaves & Bust. Their relation fell apart after Picasso started seeing Dora Marr. While Picasso found another mistress, Marie-Thérèse never stopped loving him, and it’s believed he never stopped loving her — there is an abstract sculpture of her on his grave.

***The Dream (Le Rêve), 1932 by Pablo Picasso***

Dora Marr (1907-1997)

This dark-haired beauty was the muse of Pablo Picasso during the 1930s and ’40s. She has inspired several of his most famous paintings, including Guernica (1937) and The Weeping Woman (1937). Marr, a photographer, was the only person allowed to capture the successive stages of Guernica as Picasso painted it. She is also said to have worked on elements of the painting. This brilliant intellectual was also a talented painter herself.

Monique Bourgeois (1921-2005)

In 1941, when Matisse was recovering from treatment for cancer, Monique Bourgeois took the job of nursing him, and doubled as his model. In 1943, after they had been separated by the fortunes of war, Bourgeois entered a convent. She didn’t meet Matisse again until 1946, when she came to see him to ask him to design and execute the Chapelle du Rosaire, his last and greatest complete work.

Gala Diakonova (1894-1982)

Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, otherwise known as Gala Diakonova, was a muse for her first husband Paul Éluard, Max Ernst and André Breton and finally for Salvador Dalí, also her husband. Gala posed for Dalí in works such as Portrait of Galarina, Leda Atomica, and Galatea of the Spheres. Gala appears in several other Dalí paintings and sculptures, notably The Madonna of Port Lligat (1949), Imperial Monument to the Child-Woman, Gala (1934) and The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus (1958–59).

Helga Testorf (born c.1933 or c.1939)

The muse of the American artist Andrew Wyeth was a German model Helga Testorf. For fifteen years, he worked on The Helga Pictures, a series of more than 240 drawings and paintings of the model. Helga was Wyeth’s neighbor, and the artist depicted her in various poses indoors and out of doors, nude and clothed. Interestingly, the sessions were a secret even to their spouses, and the works were located at the home of Frolic Weymouth who was his student, neighbor, and a good friend.

***Andrew Wyeth – Braids (Helga Testorf), 1979. Dry-brush watercolor.***

Edie Sedgwick (1943-1971)

The iconic 1960s figure Edie Sedgwick starred in several of Andy Warhol’s underground, experimental films such as Poor Little Rich Girl and Kitchen. Sedgwick was a fixture around Warhol’s iconic Factory, and stars in two screen tests and several films, including Beauty No. 2, Ciao! Manhattan and of course Poor Little Rich Girl. Warhol also painted Sedgwick multiple times. Sedgwick’s pedigree and iconic sense of style, which included a cropped haircut, dangling earrings, fur coats, and occasionally, no pants, enthralled the rather shy Pop artist.

Ada Del Moro Katz (born 1928)

Ada Del Moro is the wife of painter Alex Katz, who has depicted her classic, dark-haired beauty in over 40 figurative works including The Black Dress (1960), Ada With Bathing Cap (1965), and The red scarf (Ada in polo coat) (1976). Katz’s portraits of his wife tend to show her stylishly dressed and radiating positivity.

Ilona Staller (born 1951)

Ilona Staller, also known as Cicciolina, married Jeff Koons in 1991. He was inspired by the porn star and Italian politician to create the sexually-explicit “Made in Heaven” series, which featured both photographs and sculptures of the couple engaged in various stages of lovemaking.

Sandra Bush

Not all muses are lovers. For Mickalene Thomas, her greatest inspiration has been her mother, Sandra Bush. Thomas has portrayed Bush, a former model, in several of her characteristically exuberant collage paintings as a quintessential 1970s babe complete with a massive afro and rhinestone-encrusted get-ups. In the 2012 film Happy Birthday to a Beautiful Woman, Thomas shows a different side of Bush – an aging woman, ill with kidney disease, who narrates her own incredible life story through questions asked by Thomas, who remains off screen.

***Mickalene Thomas, Dim All The Lights (2009)***

It is evident that with time the female muse was no longer just a young, beautiful woman, groomed by the male artist and displayed to the world as his “find” or “trophy.” In today’s day and age, the art world has debunked and abandoned the traditional ideas of a female muse and successfully obliterated the line between an artist and the muse. Now, one can be the other or even both for that matter.

The quest for inspiration is a continuing process that changes, evolves, and matures with the artists themselves. If a male artist draws inspiration from a woman, he needs to honor not only the artist-muse relationship, but also the personal identity and public image of the woman. No matter what age, color, shape or size, she is an integral part of an artist’s creative universe. After all, in today’s “selfie” and “Me Too” age, who’s stopping a creative genius in the female form from tapping into her own inner muse? She is very much capable of romanticizing herself and does not need a man to do so.

Sources and Photo Credits –

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/artblog/2008/jun/02/theroleoftheartistsmuse

https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/historys-most-fascinating-muses/