AGO TRIP

 I have always like the saying A Picture is worth A Thousand Words. After our trip to the AGO last week i have decided that it applies to A Painting too. So...

Chevreuse II by Jean Paul Riopelle, 1950's

A Painting worth a thousand Words ...

  Amazing. Incredible. Colorful. Impressive. Huge. Massive.

 Time. Textured. Detailed. Thick. Fascinating . Movement.

 Crazy. Interesting. Intriguing. Line. Jaw Dropping. Awe. 

Yellow. Orange. Captivating. Colour Explosion. Red. Green.

Oil Paint. Canvas. Fan. Pink. Black. White. Wow. Chaotic.

 Blue. Patterned. Exploration. Imagination. Love It. Hours.

 Effort. Dedication.Cool. Creative.Wonder. Original.

 Real. Emotion. Circle. Rhythm. Variety. Inspiring.

ok well maybe not a thousand...

During our trip to the AGO, I came across an oil painting that i was FASCINATED by. It was a HUGE, MASSIVE, CANVAS that cover an entire wall.   The painting did not have any people, buildings or objects but to me appeared to look like a COULORFUL EXPLOSION. The OIL PAINT was layered THICKly across CANVAS in a FANning motion. Every FAN stroke was filled with a VARIETY of COLOURS. It had WHITE, RED, BLUE, GREEN, PINK, BLACKS... The painting to me appeared as though it may hold the artists various EMOTIONS, that as the COLOUR wove it self across the canvas, it held COLOURS that represented good times spent and rough times to. The THICK TEXTURE of the paint made the painting pop-out, and made you WONDER. How long did it take? How many hours were spent working on it? How many tubes of paint did he use? Did the artist start in the middle of the page and work his was out? Or did he work from one side of the page to the other?  It captured an experience this artist took, I felt as though i was EXPLORING his CREATIVE IMAGINATION. It was as if I had stumbled across a story that was told through the paintings COLOURS, LINES, SHAPES, and RHYTHM. 

I could have stood in front of the painting for hours, and still felt that I hadn't had enough time to explore and understand the entire painting. It made me WONDER.

The painting was called Chevreuse II, it was painted by Jean Paul Riopelle. He lived in Quebec in the 1950's. The painting took from 1953 to 1954 to complete. He used oil and a large canvas to create his work.  

ART WORD of the WEEK: TEXTURE

Texture is the surface quality of a work of art, how it feels. (Schirrmacher& Fox, 2009)

Riopelle created an intriguing painting that was a true example of Texture. The thick paint made for a complex and interesting surface for it's viewers.

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6th

Ed.). Belmont, CA: Delmar