Mark Tobey was an American painter, poet and composer who
was born in Centerville, Wisconsin in 1890. He was the youngest of four
children and his parents were called George Tobey and Emma Cleveland Tobey. His
father was a carpenter and house builder and would give Tobey drawings to cut
out, whilst he worked carving animals into stone. In 1893, the family settled
in Chicago and Tobey attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1906 to 1908,
studying watercolour and oil paint. After this, Tobey became a model drawer in
Chicago and did the same later in 1911 in New York. In 1918 Tobey converted to
Bahaism, * His faith impacted his life and his art and so his
beliefs can be seen in his work. From 1922 to 1925, Tobey became an art teacher
and taught at the Cornish School, Seattle.
Tobey did a lot of travelling, including visiting Europe in
1925, including places such as Barcelona, Paris, Athens, Beirut and
Istanbul. He additionally visited Akka
to learn more about Arabian and Persian calligraphy, along with going on a
pilgrimage to the holy site of Bahai in Haifa. Although I am not religious, it
is clear that Tobey followed his interests which I will be able to do also.
Tobey was furthermore interested in European cubism, East Asian painting and
calligraphy. Tobey then relocated again
and moved to teach at Dartington Hall School in Devonshire, England,
recommended by Beatrice Straight, the daughter of Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst.
Later on, the Elmhirst’s sent himself and a potter named Bernard Leach to Japan
for a year, where Tobey was able to benefit from being immersed in Asian
culture and introduced to oriental calligraphy. He also had dealings with
teachings and paintings of Zen and Haiku poetry. I have studied Haiku poetry
before in secondary school, these are short, concise poems that are limited to
4 lines, including a certain number of syllables on each line. This helps
suggest a sustained rhythm which Tobey possibly could’ve liked due to being a
composer too – making his first compositions in 1938. In 1937, he returned to
the United States of America and lived in Seattle until 1960.
The Willard Gallery in New York showed his first exhibition
in 1944 and marked his artist breakthrough, including “White Writings”. Tobey
covers the background of his composition in several layers of white paint (or a
colour near this). This was the beginning of ‘all over’ painting, which was
also used by artists like Jackson Pollock. Tobey’s work was involved in
Abstract Expressionism, along with Pollock. This was a development Post-War in
the 1940s and 1950s that originated in New York and expresses subjective
emotions through abstract art. His work was additionally shown in Kassel in
1959 and 1964. He has been the subject of retrospective exhibitions at the
National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Smithsonian Museum and Foundation
Beyeler in Basel. In 1960, Tobey moved to Basel, Switzerland and passed away
there in 1976.
Untitled -1970
8.5 x 5.5 inches
Painting
This composition by Tobey is untitled like many of his other
artworks, which suggests that Tobey was producing these in a quick, responsive
fashion. The colours in this piece are relatively bright. He has used primary
colours red and blue, and the secondary colour, orange. Although I have not stated
the type of paint that had been used, I can presume that it is oil or
watercolour as many of his other pieces are painted in these mediums. Due to
the translucency of the strokes, I believe it to be watercolour paint. The
composition is mainly dark blue which has calm connotations which could like to
his involvement with studying Zen on his travels to the Eastern part of the
world. These strokes of blue and red are loose and expressive which look like
writing, more specifically, Chinese calligraphy. These lines would have been
influenced by his trip to China. The red paint is used in the same way as the
blue, these layers of colour overlapping but not mixing, therefore the paint
has been allowed to dry before the next layer of paint is applied. Beneath
these calligraphic marks, there are loosely winding shapes that have been
created using a single thin line, which are curved and overlap each other.
These lines are blue and orange which complement each other, along with the
orange being harmonious to the red marks. The red marks could represent his
passion for the East, following his visit to Asia with a friend. However, the
red and blue could portray some sort of conflict in Tobey’s life due to the
juxtaposing moods that is suggested by the cool blue and fiery red. The red and blue calligraphy-like marks vary
in thickness therefore creating different movements around the composition. Furthermore,
red and orange are both associated with Chinese culture and dress so this could
have been what his colour palette has been inspired by. I have been trying to
look at taking photographs differently, addressing aspects such as colour to
influence my ideas as well as the subject of the picture. Tobey’s use of colour
is interesting as, although the colour palette is limited, the colours
complement and are harmonious to each other, thus creating an aesthetically
pleasing amount of contrast. The background of the composition is mottled with
tints of red and shades of blue in triangular shapes which face the focal point,
this creates fury, fizzy texture. The focal point of the composition in
restricted to an oblong in the centre, perhaps suggesting a feeling of
loneliness or insecurity. As there is no title, this composition can be
interpreted in many ways based on the individual who is viewing it. However,
the fact that it is untitled could lead the viewer to believe that Tobey did
have a time where he felt out of touch with the outside world, or perhaps he is
allowing the viewer to see what they draw out of the composition, therefore
noticing what kind of person they are, for example, positive or negative.
Despite the message of this piece of art not being quite as clear as others, it
is evident that Tobey was inspired immensely by his visit to Asia, with the
composition being filled with cultural links to China. I have been influenced
by Tobey to take a further look into the places I have visited, and draw my
inspirations from my personal experience.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment