M2 Chapter 13 - Artist Study

Hans Holbein the Elder (c.1460-1524)

Holbein the Elder came from a family of painters and his two sons were artists and printmakers, both of whom he taught to paint. He is known mainly for his richly coloured religious portraits, but was also a portrait artist, woodcutter, and illustrator.

He was born in Ausberg, Bavaria and died Alsace, France. Much of the skill of his son Hans Holbein the Younger is attributed to his painting lessons from his father. His painting St Barbara (1516) shows blackwork.

 

Hans Holbein the Younger (c.1497-1543)

Holbein the Younger was also born in Ausberg and he is most famous for his Tudor paintings, painting many portraits at the court of Henry VIII.

 

 

 

 

There is some debate over which of his portraits were actually of Henry VIII’s wives, but it is known that he painted the famous miniature of Anne of Cleves which the King declared to be too flattering!

 

 

Many of his portraits of the court detail the blackwork, and other embroidery, used to decorate clothing in extraordinary detail.

Blackwork and Holbein Stitch

Blackwork became popular in England during the reign of Henry VIII and is thought to have been introduced by Catherine of Aragon from her Moorish/Spanish background. Moorish designs were of geometric patterns, both intricate and complex and were embedded in the Muslim faith. By the 1600's in England designs included leaves, fruits, flowers, insects and fish. Pattern books became available and shading effects became common.

Today blackwork is often used in a more contemporary style, and many colours used. It is popular for portraiture as well as modern takes on traditional patterns.

The stitch used for blackwork was named Holbein Stitch. The stitch is used to produce a pattern the same on both sides of the fabric, and although it appears to be back stitch is actually double running stitch. There are other methods of producing blackwork including the diaper pattern style and speckling style.

 

Bridget Riley (1931 -)

Bridget Riley was born in London and studied at Goldsmith’s College and the Royal College of Art. She painted semi impressionist and landscapes, but  is most famous for her ‘op art’ or the potential of optical phenomena. Her first solo exhibition was in 1962.

 

 

Her black & white works show a great variety of geometric forms that produce a sensation of movement. Indeed some viewers complained of feeling seasick when they were first seen. Although Riley worked mainly in black and white during this period (1961-64) she sometimes introduced tonal scales of grey.  In 1967 she turned to colour and contrast, often using tessellated patterns and lines.

 

  

 

'Movement In Squares' and 'Fission'

 

Arrest 3

 

Riley not only works as an artist but has also worked as a writer and as a curator. She currently lives and works in London, Cornwall and France.

I'm hoping to visit the Courtauld Gallery in London before January 2016 to see the Bridget Riley: Learning from Seurat

 

Joan Schulze (1936 - )

Joan Schulze works with textiles, collage and fibre arts, and is most famous for her quilts. She made her first quilt in 1974. Her early work was mainly stitched and collaged and she soon moved to dyeing, painting, photography and photocopying amongst other techniques. Schulze' work often relates collage to poetry, although her themes have changed over the years; from 2000 she had a renewed interest in the garden.

 

 

She has experimented with ways to reinvent drawing and produced many black and white compositions on silk. She uses a photocopier to print on cloth and to create new images and marks. Riley sews prints together, cuts and rearranges to produce new work and images.

 

 

Her work appears both complex and calming with wonderful tones and images. She has described herself as a 'maker and teacher', although she currently works as a full time studio artist in her studio at San Francisco.