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deea_bks's review
5.0
What Siri Hustvedt sees in some works of art never ceases to amaze me. How she interprets visual metaphors, the use of light and shadow, perspective, closeness and distance in paintings, as well as edges of objects and contours is simply amazing. I wish all art had an explanation written by her as she is one of the most erudite writers I've read and delving into essays written by her is a challenging delight.
Siri introduced me to artists I had never heard of before and helped me understand the hidden meanings behind some modern paintings. Although I am sure that I've seen some of the works she is talking about displayed in the Tate Museum, I most certainly did not get the meaning of the paintings and I did not ponder upon them sufficiently so as to let their magic work on me and keep them in memory.
I had not heard of Joan Mitchell before (or if I had, I only had really vague information about her and her work) or Morandi. Not even of Chardin. Yes, consider me a philistine in this respect if you will, but I wonder, how many of us go to art museums and ponder for a good number of minutes (I will not say hours) upon each painting that we see? Well, Siri does and she sees all those details that are lost on the majority of us. We usually (or maybe I should stick to talking only about myself) see a painting, look at it for a bit, we decide whether we like it or not, we try to understand its meaning, but if that eludes us, we won't spend a lot of the time dedicated to that museum or that exhibition to really see all the significant details in order to make sense of the bigger picture and we just pass on to the next one. We might be paying attention to some works more than to others, but we don't (I don't) spend time in art galleries to elucidate mysteries. Again, Siri does (or she did) and she discovered some details that nobody had seen before (in Goya's paintings for instance), not even the professionals that are dedicated to studying these works of art for a living.
''And yet, if there's one thing I've understood about art in general, it's that there are thousands of different ways of getting at the world and what we experience as its truths.'' Siri's way is not the only way to interpret these works of art and I know this. It is however a very imaginative and interesting one. She sees beyond appearances and sees paintings as windows of meditation upon life.
''I found the inversion of this image very moving. In it, tree and tree reflected are equals, and it made me think again about memory as a reflection of what has been seen and is seen again in the mind. Most of life consists of these reflections, either indelible or dimming.''She has this unique way of blending information from neurology, psychology, philosophy and art in a very creative, appealing way and she always reaches the most original conclusions about memory and imagination. The way she writes about still lifes made me see them from a different perspective and appreciate them, see and understand the message behind, while I was only admiring them as simple displays of shapes on canvas before.
Siri introduced me to artists I had never heard of before and helped me understand the hidden meanings behind some modern paintings. Although I am sure that I've seen some of the works she is talking about displayed in the Tate Museum, I most certainly did not get the meaning of the paintings and I did not ponder upon them sufficiently so as to let their magic work on me and keep them in memory.
I had not heard of Joan Mitchell before (or if I had, I only had really vague information about her and her work) or Morandi. Not even of Chardin. Yes, consider me a philistine in this respect if you will, but I wonder, how many of us go to art museums and ponder for a good number of minutes (I will not say hours) upon each painting that we see? Well, Siri does and she sees all those details that are lost on the majority of us. We usually (or maybe I should stick to talking only about myself) see a painting, look at it for a bit, we decide whether we like it or not, we try to understand its meaning, but if that eludes us, we won't spend a lot of the time dedicated to that museum or that exhibition to really see all the significant details in order to make sense of the bigger picture and we just pass on to the next one. We might be paying attention to some works more than to others, but we don't (I don't) spend time in art galleries to elucidate mysteries. Again, Siri does (or she did) and she discovered some details that nobody had seen before (in Goya's paintings for instance), not even the professionals that are dedicated to studying these works of art for a living.
Going back to Joan Mitchell, if I had seen her paintings and I had not read Siri's essays, I would have considered them really colorful, but I would not have (really) appreciated them or the message they conveyed. I would have probably silently wondered whether she had really been that talented as anyone could have played with colors like that and get a surprising result. Well, what Siri sees in them is surprising and her interpretations make them stay with you, haunt you.
''In these last works, the relations between objects and empty space, between solid form and air, between the edge of one thing and another are persistently questioned. Where does one thing begin and another end?'' (about Morandi's cups and bottles)
''The effect is a slow rhythm of visual variations that create beats of similarity and difference, seducing the reader into a reverie of possible allusion-to vaporous skies, to mists over grasses, to nearly black bark or dark gray stepping stones.'' (about Joan Mitchell's ''Mooring'').
''And yet, if there's one thing I've understood about art in general, it's that there are thousands of different ways of getting at the world and what we experience as its truths.'' Siri's way is not the only way to interpret these works of art and I know this. It is however a very imaginative and interesting one. She sees beyond appearances and sees paintings as windows of meditation upon life.
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