Imitationalism

Ways of Seeing: Imitationalism

Some art philosophies say that art is a way to imitate what an artist sees. Accuracy and honesty in such art are highly valued. A work of art might be judged effective if it meets some of the criteria listed below:

First Impression

• The artwork looks real. The images that make up the artwork look realistic.

Design

• The colours, proportions, textures, shapes and other elements seem natural and life like.

• The design may be slightly simplified; textures may be reduced, shapes may be simplified or smoky misty effects may be created, especially in the background (sfumato). The important parts of the image are clear, whereas less important parts may be simplified or removed. For example, when creating an accurate portrait, the features on the front of the face may be clear, whereas the background may be blurred or simplified.

• The work is planned around patterns, rhythms and forms you see in nature or the human-made environment. The images are based on objects you might actually see in the world. The work is not from a dream or fantasy.

• Aerial perspective may be used to show distance and create depth. This involves making objects in the distance smaller, hazy and bluish in colour. Linear perspective techniques may be apparent.

Subject/Theme

• The subject or theme seems to be based on a real event or something the artist has observed.

• The subject or theme is more realistic than abstract.

• It is honestly shown, not idealised.

ARTISTS WHO ARE CONSIDERED TO HAVE WORKED AND FIT WITHIN THE IMITATIONALISM STYLE OF ART

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa, 1503-06

Oil &tempera on wood 78 x 52cm

Leonardo da Vinci was known as the Renaissance Man.

Leonardo was an inquisitive man and he sought to find out many scientific, anatomical and astrological truths like; how birds flew and how humans could fly. He dissected cadavers (dead bodies) to investigate the muscles and their functions. His findings were reflected in the highly realistic bodies he painted and sculptured.

In his paintings like Mona Lisa, few lines are evident rather, sfumato techniques have been employed. Sfumato is an Italian word used to describe changes of colour, and especially tone, from light to dark by gradual stages.

Leonardo said, ‘light and shade should blend without lines or borders, in the same manner as smoke’. Use of sfumato techniques softened da Vinci’s images and made his models’ skin look soft and realistic. Aerial perspective techniques were used to create backgrounds that looked distant and never ending. Landscape features were made hazy and da Vinci used cooler colors to help them recede.

Chuck Close

Chuck Close, Bob 1970

Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 274 x 213 cm

Chuck Close is an American artist famous for his enormous paintings of human faces. He photographs his friends in casual, spontaneous poses. Often they look like they have just stepped out of their living room, with uncombed hair, no makeup and startled looks on their faces. Chuck Close magnifies his photographs onto large canvases using a grid transfer method.

Every hair, pimple, pore and wrinkle is magnified in detail. As in a photograph, only the foremost parts of the images are in perfect focus, everything else loses clarity as it moves away from the focal point. In other words, the eyes are in sharp focus but the ears, side of the face, hair and clothing are blurred. The paintings often have the washed out effect of a flash photograph’s cold and over bright illumination.

This way of working is called Photorealism. The artist relies on a photo to capture details that the naked eye would not normally see consciously. The Photo Realists placed little importance on the actual subject with greater concern placed on the painting techniques.

IMITATIONALISM: FEATURED ARTIST

Jeffery Smart (born 1921)

Jeffery Smart is an expatriate Australian artist, who lives in Italy. He paints urban landscapes that appear uneasy and full of the unexpected. Dramatic light, slightly heightened colour, deep shadows and minimal use of texture contribute to making this works highly realistic. He works by carefully arranging the forms of buildings, fences, trucks, signs and spheres to create intriguing compositions that look real but soulless.

Smart works within the structural framework. He is certainly concerned with the composition of his paintings. You would not think a car park would be an interesting subject for a painting, but Smart has made it intriguing and dramatic. In Parking Lot near Bologna we see further evidence of Smart's concern with balancing his shapes and areas of colour. Look at the way the colour red has been repeated; and the position of the people - not quite in the centre yet leading the eye from one truck to the next.

Smart's paintings are about the modern world: freeways, towers, high rise buildings, road signs and factories. He depicts cities as strange, inhuman places. Even though he includes people, they seem dwarfed by the buildings. They act as a contrast to the landscape rather then belonging to it. Smart's dark skies and deep shadows combine with his precise painting technique to create haunting effects. Smart shows us the beauty of the modern constructed environment, its strong, simple shapes, lines and patterns (strips in particular). He uses the signs and symbols of urban life to balance the geometric shapes of the trucks, walls and bridges.

Smart will often take his ideas for a painting from several different places that he has visited and will rearrange the image to suit his idea for the composition. This sometimes means turning arrows around so that traffic is directed in the wrong direction. Smart opens our eyes to the wonder and timelessness of our cities.

APPRAISING TASK 1 – Imitationalism: Answer the following in your Visual Diary:

Composition/Structural frame:

1. Describe the pictorial and visual devices artist Jeffery Smart has used to create an illusion of depth, dimension and volume in this two-dimensional work Hide and Seek II. This will involve you using words like light, dark and graded tones; light, shade and shadow; overlap; one and two point perspective; foreground, middle ground and background; advancing and receding colours; linear qualities; textual effects; size.

Jeffery Smart, Hide and Seek II, 1970 Oil on Canvas 60x90cm

Cultural:

2. The urban environment has provided inspiration for artists in various ways. Look carefully at Parking Lot near Bologna and Underground Carpark. Do you think Smart is trying to show the joy of the city life or the isolation and loneliness? The painting of a car park was painted in Italy, but does it remind you of an underground car park you have visited? What does the painting tell you about city life?

Composition/Structural frame:

3. Do you think Parking Lot near Bologna (below) would have been as interesting without the shadows? What part do they play in the painting?