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6: The use of expressive paint handling to embody emotion or mimic the felt-life of nature:
The Tonalists, like John Twachtman, J. Frank Currier, and William Gedney Bunce, were known for their expressive handling of paint.
They were influenced by the Munich School, which emphasised bold and skilled paint application.
J. Frank Currier's artwork, Setting Sun, created around 1880, stood out among his fellow artists in America and Europe because of his dynamic watercolour and pastel techniques.
J. Frank Currier (Joseph Frank Currier)
Setting Sun, ca. 1880
Summary
Summary
1. The Tonalists were known for their expressive paint handling.
2. They were influenced by the Munich School's bold paint application.
3. J. Frank Currier's artwork stood out due to his dynamic watercolour and pastel techniques.
4. Currier's artwork captured the energy of nature and enhanced the symbolic power of landscapes.
5. Alexander Wyant's painting portrayed intense and stormy nature using abstract paint marks.
6. It was rare to find an artist who could depict a subject with such freedom and power.
7. William Gedney Bunce used energetic brushwork and later embraced gestural abstraction.
8. Bunce's artwork showcased his exuberant use of colour and represented his personal connection to nature.
9. Other artists like J. Francis Murphy and Ben Foster also demonstrated skillful brushwork and understanding of nature.
10. Charles Fromuth and Clifford Addams depicted different settings, showcasing the expressive power of paint handling in urban and natural environments.
His artwork captured the energy of nature and enhanced the symbolic power of landscapes.
Only Courbet, Whistler, and Degas came close to matching Currier's expressive freedom.
Alexander Helwig Wyant
Gray Hills, 1879
Around the same time, Alexander Wyant's Gray Hills, painted in 1879, portrayed the intense and stormy nature using abstract paint marks.
It was rare to find an artist, whether American or European, who could depict a subject with such unrestricted freedom and subjective power.
William Gedney Bunce, another Tonalist, also used energetic brushwork in the early 1880s. As he grew older, he embraced gestural abstraction even more in his later works, pushing the boundaries of expressive power.
William Gedney Bunce
Venezia, ca. 1900
Venezia, created in 1900, showcased Bunce's exuberant use of colour in a vast sky. The artwork represented not only the natural forces of air and atmosphere but also the artist's personal connection to these powers.
It was as if Bunce sought to merge with the light bouncing between the sky and lagoon.
Even J. Francis Murphy's relatively calm piece, Spring Mist, from 1905, demonstrated a skilful use of expressive brushwork and a deep understanding of nature's essence. Ben Foster's Yellow Foliage, painted around 1910, showcased a restrained yet deliberate application of yellow brushstrokes, capturing the gentle movement of the fall breeze across the receding tree line.
J. Francis Murphy
Spring Mist, 1905
Ben Foster
Yellow Foliage, ca. 1910
In Charles Fromuth's Wind and Sea from 1930, the artist moved towards complete abandonment of form in depicting the sea, sky, and sardine boats. The artwork beautifully depicted the seamless interaction of all the forces of nature.
Charles Fromuth
Wind and Sea, 1930
Clifford Isaac Addams
Union Square, ca. 1928
Clifford Addams' Union Square, created around 1930, demonstrated how expressive paint handling, influenced by Whistler, could effectively capture the bustling urban setting. The crowd moving along 14th street in the evening was portrayed as a collective force amidst the urban canyons and busy streets.
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