A DISCUSSION OF My AND RELATED PROELENS

By STANLEY BORIS PRANSKY

A Paper Suhitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.

Approved: ',,' . Professor Directing Paper

None Minor Professor

~ h 8-

Representative of Graduate Council / -. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ...... iii INTRODUCTION ...... 1 THE PAINTINGS AND RELATED PRoBIEMS ...... 3

ii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE Page 1. GaggedFigure...... & 2. Self Portrait...... L 3. Abstract ......

-7 h. Emre ...... a 5. Seatedbh ...... 72 6. NightinTunisia ...... 3 7. VOUW ...... 35 .c 8. PortraitofLinda...... iu 9. Alice in Boogieland ...... t;i 10. Fiesolean...... X 11. Viuzzo di Monteripaldi ...... 2; 12. Agony of an Easter Bunny ...... 2s

-C 13. Wally's Paradise ...... L~ 14. HardSwina ...... 26

iii INTRODUCTION

Although the paintings of my one man exhibition speak for them- selves, the following commentary should provide the reader with some further insight.

it entails is a combination of unhesitating abandon on the one hand, and terrific control on the other. I tSy to approach my work with that absence of self-consciousness which is so obvious in the art of children.

But in th case of an adult artist, this quality of freedom must be 2 demands, whatever the juxtapositions at work in a particular picture, the creation of a spatial reality. The shapes and colors I finally achieve in a painting approximate the intuitive feeling I have about the phenomena around me. I have never felt that I have said all that there was to say in a painting, but at times I have felt that I have come close.

I feel that these are rare times in which to be living and paint- ing. The kind of energy that permeates painting today recalls to me various high points in the history of art. We are in the midst of a rare and exciting phenomenon--the emergence of a new visual fow. A new vis& concept is always being formulated, but at certain times, the tempo quickens and the change becomes more radical. Consider the change ex- plicit in the work of the early Italian Renaissance arkkits, or in that of the French Impressionists, or of the Gem Expressionists. In each period there uccurred a decided quickening of pace in the formtdation of the particular visual language.

It is difficult to be objective about the time in which one lives butthe evidence today indicates a heightened pace in the evolution of the visual concept. In America, especially, this seems to hold true. Pe haps it is because there is less opposition here to new solutions by solidly entrenched ideas than there is in Europe, as a comp&son. There is a massive kind of active energy here which does not exist there. It may be that America, more than Europe, feels the need for new solutions. I don't think it can be disputed that ours is an unresolved energy. As an artist I am excited merely by living and working in this time of flu. THE PAINTINGS AND RELATED PROBLEMS

I have never been vitally interested in complicated painting techniques. I have always been attracted to as simple and direct a painting process as possible. Accordingly, I have experimented rela- tively little with the various mediums, and have, for the most part, in my oil paintings, limited nryself to the combination of the paints, turpentine,Ctamnrar varnish, and various oils. The requirement of per- manence in a painting became an integral part of my artistic makeup due to thorough technical training at the Museum School. As an art student, I gradually became more and more familiar with the painter's materials and employed a number of different painting techniques. In time I came to realize that painting "directlp was the most appropriate method for me. That is to say, I learned that exten- sive glazing, scumbling, and the Like, were for me too "indirect." The technique I have used for years has been this: in the early stages of the picture I mix rqy paints with a medium composed mostly of turpentine and some damar varnish; I then introduce varylng amounts of linseed, sun-thickened, and/or stand oil, depending upon the surface desired. Whatever the combination, I have always mixed my mediums in a way that would ensure permanence. The earliest works included in this exhibition, "Self Portrait" (Fig. 2) and *Gagged Figure" (Fig. l), were done while I was a student at the Boston Museum School. The relative darkness of the pictures is as typical of rqy work then, as it is typical of "Boston ," the doanant artistic direction at that time in that locale. The leading proponents of the style were FIymm Bloom, , and David Aronson. While at the Museum School, I studied under the latter and with . In large measure, "goston Expressionismw combines E?yzantine iconography - particularly in the case of Aronson and Bloom - with a central-European Expressionist verve that is well exemplified by the Paintings of Chaim Soutine. Invariably, a high degree of emotionality characterizes %ston Expressionist" painting. "Gagged Figure," especially, reflects the influence of Boston

Expressionism. I remember being very impressed at the time by the man- tine artists' juxtaposition of areas of goldleaf with richly painted figurative and architectural groupkngs. Max Beclonann's paintings as0 impressed me. There is a dream-like quality in Beckmann's pictures that I felt, and still feel, very close to. Beckmann's imagery, more than any other single source, influenced my choice of subject matter in "Gagged Figure."

At the time, I was paying considerable attention to the painting surface. A concern with surface was a distinctive characteristic of Boston Fqressionist painting, which then exercised considerable influ- ence over artistic ideas. In various paintings executed at this time, e.g., "Gagged Figure', I arrived at a glossy, 'finished' surface. This concern with surface was relatively brief. I was not satisfied with my efforts in that direction and did not consider them successful.

In Y3e1f-PortraitR done at this time, the emphasis is on directly portraying nature. An all-over dark tone prevails. I was concerned here mainly with the visual problems presented by the image in front of me, and this concern with the direct portrayal of nature has persisted in

I t9y work. My artistic career has consisted of shifting intermittently from imaginative motifs to direct portrayals of nature. I have found it necessary to approach painting in both ways.

When working directly from life I set down only that which I actWy see. That is to say, I do not imaginatively improvise. I've been mainly concerned with seeing the image in front of me acutely, rather than making na good painting." I know that if the image is seen acutely, the demands of "a good painting" will necessarily be satisfied.

"Abstract Paintingn (Fig. 3) was done while I was a student in

Boston and it was one of qy first ventures into %on-objective" painting.

I personally prefer it to anything else I did at that time. It is the one painting, done while I was still an undergraduate student, which, I feel, reaches beyond a student's statement. The result, for me, was more "real" than anything I'd previously done. Painted with casein on a muslin-like materlal that is thinly primed with gesso, "Abstract Painting" was conceived very slowly in com- parison with qy work executed directly from life. It was a drawn-out process of trial and error. I juggled the form and colors around con- %inuously until the painting assumed its present and final state. Des- pite the satisfaction the painting gave me, I recallbeing artistically inhibited by the adverse climate of opinion concerning abstract painting at that time. Due to this, and to qrsubsequent military service, it was not until years later that I actively pursued that direction.

The years 1954-56 were a void in qy creative output. Shortly after graduation from school I entered the Navy for a two year tour of duty. I had been a qua.rtermaster-signalman in the Naval Reserve and upon being activated I was assigned to a destroyer. The motto, 'Join the Navy c

Fig .? , 3 and See the World," came alive. I traveled much but painted little.

While in the Navy, I decided I would use the G.I. Bill as a mea of staying in Europe for an extended periad. I was discharged in the Spring of 1956 and left for Europe the following February. In the interim I worked as a commercial portrait artist in Miami Beach.

It was a valuable experience, for I learned what I definitely did want to do within the realm of art. No doubt I profited artistically to some extent, for I executed hundreds of portrait conrmissions, and I couldn't help kt become more familiar with facial stpucture.

I lived in Florence during most of qy three years abroad, but I traveled widely throughout the continent. lQ stay in Europe was a pro- found developmentdL experience. When I afiived, my artistic world was limited mainly to the visual language of my student dap in Boston. My career as a painter had been restricted to a student situation up until that time: now I was embarking on something quite different. The total wprience of the years in Europe - the diversity of experiences, the personal relationships formed, seeing countless hundreds of mastenrorks, studying with a great contemporarg artist, but most of all, working independently - widened my horizons personally and artistically. I studied a+, 's "School of Vision" in Salzburg, Austria, during the summers of 1957 and 1958. I had for a long time been much impressed by Kokoschka's work. When the opportunity arose I welcomed the chance to study with the man. The sessions at the "Kokoschka- Schule" were most active artistic learning experiences. Xokoschka aptly titled his school, The School of Vision." His intent was to teach the student to see originally, unhindered by precon- ceptions. His teaching method was geared to this end. ClichLs and mannerisms were not tolerated. The accent was on seeing mfreshly." Each session consisted of a month's intensive work from models, using water color. The models were quite alive a9 personalities and they were continuously Mtated around to the various student sections. Poses were

brief: the model assumed one pose for ten minutes, shifted to another for ten minutes, and then returned to the first for ten more minutes.

This method afforded the student a second fresh look at the particular pose. The necessity of setting down our perceptions rapidly made water color an ideal medium. Such simple devices proved most effective. In time the eye became more disciplined, and the perception and execution of' the image as one unit came closer to realization.

These sessions were my real introduction to color. Although I hadn't been aware of it before, it became all too clear to me after a short time with Kokoschka, that ny previous art school experience, while affording me a strong foundation in drawing and technique, had stressed a "graphic" rather than a ncolor" approach to painting. It became clear to me that painting, by its nature, has always demanded the latter. This does not necessarily mean a %olorful" approach, for many a great artist has approached painting with a limited or even an essentially monochromatic palette. Boxlone, Pascin, and Morandi are cases in point. If one

reflects upnn the history of Art it becomes obvious that the various color solutions to paintings cover a wide range. The realization of a spatial reality in the "color" approach seems to distinguish it from the "graphic" approach.

Kokoschka insisted that the business of painting had to be ap- proached primarily through the senses - "by using your eyes and your heart" - rather than through an essentially intellectual. process. It is

interesting to note that while he emphatically encouraged a free and uninhibited approach, he, at the same time, demanded a "correct* ap- praisal of the particular image on the student's own terms. He wd- insist, in his criticisms, that the student set down the essence of the particular model, the particular pose, and the particular image. If one compares ny earlier water calm done at the School of

Vision with the later ones, it becomes clear that the experience af- firded me entry into the world of color. The more I partook of the School of Vision's exercises, the closer I came to approaching painting in terms of color, instead of graphically. As time passed and as n(g eyes became more disciplined, I could perceive more effectively the various juxtapositions of color in relation to the whole image. I came steadily nearer to the realization of the image as a single unit made up of parts related to one another and to the whole.

After ny first session at the School of Vision, I returned to Florence where I began painting independently. "Night in Tunisia"

(Fig. 6) was the first painting executed after my return. No sizeable indication of "knowledge gained" at the Kokoschka School is apparent.

It would seem that I was still involved with the visual language of qy Boston referential framework. Looking back, I can recall feeling rela- tively restrained during the execution of qight in Tunisia". It may be that this was a kind of "stage fright," caused by the prospect of painting independently for the first time. The painting' is a. COW

@Site of mostly figurative and Some abstract elements. It has the dark tones of qv previous oil paintings and reflects in mood and in subject- mtter ngr preoccupation with jazz. (At this time I was very much under the spell of a jazz piece written by Dizzy Gillespie entitled "Night in

Tunisia.") I feel strongly about the painting. I view it as a culminat- ing statement of v world up to that point, and, at the same time, as a hint of things to come.

In the months of painting that followed, I gradually came to realize that I was usually quite slow in the execution of roy work. I' found that I worked best when working on two paintings concurrently.

Also, I found that I could usually work effectively on a particular pictux no longer than a few hours at a time. Generally, I had to work months on a particular picture before I considered it complete, For a while, 19p relatively slow pace disturbed me, but finally I accepted the fact that this was the way I worked.

"Voutay" (Fig. 7) and "Portrait of Linda" (Fig. 8) were executed after "Night in Tunisia," and here the transfer of knowledge gained at the Kokoschka School is apparent. Whereas, previously, roy oil paintings had been on the dark side, now they were essentially light. There is a carry-over here of color relationships realized in the execution of the water colors, where the white of the paper functions as color to the same degree as the paint. In "Voutay," I found myself using the off-white tone of the canvas as color in the same way. The juxtaposed color group- ings - in "Voutay" especially - are reminiscent of color solutions I'd arrived at in my watercolors. But both rtVoutayn and "Portrait Of Linda," when compared with my earlier painting, indicate a basic color awareness that hadn't existed before. mVoutay" reflects a heightened preoccupation with the abstract. Like "Might in Tunisia," it is a blending of figura-. tive and abstract elements. However, the abstract becomes more pronounce( in "Voutay."

I was becoming more and more involved in abstract painting, in general, and particularly in the Abstract Expressionist nmvement. In my last years at the Boston Museum School, I was especially impressed by the work of and Arshile Gorky. This was in 1952 and 1953 when the Abstract Expressionists were, for the most part, =a laughing matter" in Boston Art circles. If the movement was, at this time, determining the New York art scene, in Boston, it had achieved far more notoriety than success. As chairman of the Student Exhibition

Committee at the Boston Museum School, I staged an impressive retrospec- tine exhibition of the work of Willem de Kooning. The evolution of the man's art, from his somber-toned figurative paintings to his 'Woman" series, was superbly illustrated, and even if the various Boston critics were not impressed (not one of them reviewed the exhibition), I certainly

WaS.

hngthe artists I met in Florence were aotive abstract painters. The American abstract painters, especially, displayed considerable energy and originality. I found a milieu there within which I could freely pursue my artistic ideas. There was the inevitable exchange of ideas betwean other artists and myself. If I bmu&t something of value to this exchange because of referential background, the others did also because of theirs. I profited from it in terms of a widened scope, and by becoming less restricted in qy approach to painting. I felt freer. This new freedom began showing itself in "'Tout@ and "Portrait of Linda," and is even more apparent in the work that followed. Although

"Voutay" unquestionably was a big step in the evolution of nlp painting, it still suffers from a lack of unity. During its execution, various areas became so precious to me that I was unable to discard them. Thus, in large part, "Voutay" has m;my individually satisPying parts that do 33

lie. CI . not have an adequate relation to the painting as a whole. I gradually

became aware of this discrepancy in my work, but it wasn't until Some time later that I could control it. Finally, I discovered that in destroying those "precious areas" that don't relate to the painting as a whole, the painting is closer to resolution.

"Portrait of Linda" was executed directly from life. The dynadc

quality resulting from the juxtaposed color groupings bespeaks my School

of Vision experience. "Portrait of Linda" was a difficult problem.

When I was working with waterccolon I had to work rapidly to set dm

the important "first fresh vision." The qualities of oil painting made the retaining of fresh vision a more difficult problem. In painting

'*Portrait of Linda" I was constantly devising ways that would permit me

to see the image again and again in a fresh way. Because this painting demanded so much extended concentration, executing it was no easy matter.

Only after a strenuous effort did I evolve a solution which satisfied me. *'Alice in Boogieland" (Fig. 9) followed next. It reflects still more new-found freedom. There is an increase in spontaneity here which begins to reflect that of nry waterccukms. As in the previous two paintings, w Kokos&~~-Schc~traiainingis apparent. A marked similarity of particular color juxtapositions is evident here. Although it tends tmrd the abstract, "Alice in Boogieland," like Voutay" and Night in Tunisia," is composed of figurative and abstract elements. But here, it seems that the conbination of the two work together more fluidly, and the result is a more coherent painting. The color and rhythmic transfer from my watercohrs is more complete in ((Alioe'in Eioogieland.n

Living in Florence, I was exposed to a wealth of art. If any-

thing, there was too much to see in Florence and in its province, Tuscan;

A short distance from Florence lay Siena, Arezzo, S. Gimignano, Pisa, hato, and Lucca. Florence itself was filled with exciting masterpieces.

The whole city was like one vast museum. I was repeatedly confronted by the works of Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Masaccio, Botticelli,

Leonado, Donatello, Plichelangelo, and others.

I found that I preferred the art of the Medieval period to that of the Renaissance. Duccio, Giotto, Sirnone Martini., Orcagna and the

Lorenzetti especially affected me. The Renaissance painters impressed me, but the Medieval artists gave me something that was more direct and inmediate. I was, however, very excited by the Venetians, especially Titian, Tintoretto, Carpaccio, the Bellini, Mantegna, Veronese, and

Giorgione. In comparison to the Florentines, the Venetians exhibited a dazzling sense of color.

During qy stay in Europe, I also came in contact with more recent art. I aaw a great deal of German Wressionist painting, which I had admired since qv days at the Boston Museum School. The work of Beckmann, Kokoschka, Erchner, Schmidt-Rotluff and Jawlensky affected me prafoundly.

I'd been familiar with KandinsQ before going to Europe, but it was only after seeing many more of his works that I began to be aware of his stature.

Of all the paintings that I saw, I was most aroused by Giotto's frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Titian's 'Page Paul I11 with his Nephew Ale-s;~,hj and Ottavio Farnese" in Naples' Capodimonte Kuseum, Giovanni Bellini's "Annunciation" in the Accademia in Venice, and the Spanish Romanesque frescos in Barcelona's Museo Nacional. This wealth of art had a telling effect on me. However, I have never been the kind of artist who conlr?.be influenced in any manner except

24 indirectly. That is to say, if I see a Titian whose composition excites me, I cannot imitate these compositional elements in my own work. Cer- tainly I became influenced by any number of things that I see, however, the influence invariably manifests itself in an indirect, or subconscious way. Of the works shown, "Fiesolean" (Fig. 10) and "Viuzzo di Monteri- paldin (Fig. 11) are the last of the paintings executed in Europe. They were painted followin,q qy second ax3 last session at the Kokoschka-School, In them, increased abstract cofltent merges with a further exploration of color juxtaposition. At the same time, the paintings become more simple compositionally. I was consciously striving to realize a painting as a single unit whose parts related to one another and to the painting as a whole. About this time, I also began to depart from the facile and the delicate in paint surface, preferring a more "raw" aspect.

Upon retrlrning to the I was tendered a graduate assistantship in the Departnent of or ~lori_daState &i-%3 en- abling me to continue devoting my full time to painting. Initially it was strange to again be painting within an academic institution for I hsd been working independently for some time. I was soon comfortable, how- ever, because of the structure of my situation. It was of such a nature that in a short time I was fluidly working on my paintings in a most ade- quate studio space provided me.

Explicit in Professor Karl Zerbe's mde of instructing me has bee1 the idea that it is for me to work out the problems presented in qf paintings on my own terms. He has criticized my work from the standpoint of those elements which all sound painting has in common. He has made suggestions to me when he has felt that I have deviated from this line,

and he has encouraged me when he has felt that my visd statements were aligned to this end. While being open to whatever visudl innova- tions his students might evolve, Professor Zerbe insists that they have a firm basis. I have found that within this structure, I have been able to pursue nly own ideas with the utmost freedom.

'Wdly's Paradise" (Fig. 13) and "Agony of an Easter Bun@ (Fig. 12) were painted concurrently, and "Hard Swing" (Fig. 14) followed.

"he three were executed after I commenced graduate work at Florida State University. A nrawness" of surface becomes more pronounced in these pictures, especially in "Hard Swing." At the same time qard Swing* is more simple compositionally than the other two. Structurally it is less broken up. All three reflect a preoccupation with juxtaposed areas of color. In painting them, I was highly conscious of the necessity of discarding the extraneous elements, and of executing the paintings as single nnits composed of related parts.

The transition from the figurative to the abstract is nearly complete in these paintings. The figurative aspect is present, but here, unlike earlier paintings, it manifests itself as a vague hint, rather than a specific expression. In previous paintings, such as "Voute and

"Alice in Boogieland," the demands of my *inner eye" were satisfied by a mixture of figurative and abstract elements, of which the figurative is specific and recognizable in nature.

I have always strived for a "sense of immediecy" in my work. This has called for different visual solutions at different times. Where- as earlier it was satisfied by figurative elements of a specific nature, recently it has ca3led for a 'hragpe" configuration that hints of heads, torsos, landscapes,still-life, etc. I With time, my awareness of the elements of sound painting has increased. Without a sustained relationship between painting and

/ nature, this awareness can only result in mannerisms and cliches.

Rather than producing "sound paintings," my end in painting is to be repeatedly "born again." what is involved here is something more vital than an intellectual grasp of the tenets of sound pinting. At

the very most, an intellectual comprehension can only assist me in achieving my end.