Melancholy, Sadness, Grief, and Loneliness in Art

It's been almost one year since the passing of my wife of >40 years. Spring flowers, as discussed in my previous post, bring me joy and remind me of my lovely wife, whose birthday is in early April. On the flip side is the loneliness I'm experiencing, along with the sadness and grief of losing the love of my life.

The Honorable Mrs. Graham
(1777), Gainsborough

Thomas Gainsborough's portrait of The Honorable Mrs. Graham was commissioned by Mary's husband, Thomas, though she died a few years later of tuberculosis after he attentively cared for her throughout her illness. Sadly, he couldn't bring himself to look at her portrait after her death, and he lived for another 50 years. I may have seen this painting in the Scottish National Gallery when we visited Edinburgh in 2017.

Sorrowing Old Man (1890),
Van Gogh

Most of my favorite artists were Impressionists, with their soft, yet vibrant colors, peaceful landscapes, and portraits. Van Gogh's At Eternity's Gate (a.k.a. Sorrowing Old Man) shows a tired, worn-out man seated beside a warm hearth and possibly contemplating life after death in heaven. The chair resembles the one in the painting of Vincent's bedroom. I believe both men were residents of the asylum at St. Rémy, where Van Gogh spent the last two years of his life battling mental illness.

The Old Guitarist (1903), Picasso

In my post, Making Connections with Artists & Animals, I highlight Picasso's The Old Guitarist, which I like to use in my art lesson plans. It frequently appears in episodes of Bewitched, which I have watched repeatedly in reruns. It was hung rotated 90 degrees to the right to fit over the Stephens' fireplace. I like to ask my students which orientation is correct and which they like best. Picasso began to paint figures of the downtrodden (like this blind, poor guitarist) in response to the death of his close friend, Casagemas.

Christina's World (1948), Wyeth

Probably my favorite American Realist artist is Andrew Wyeth. In my post entitled, Farms and Barns by Famous Artists, he is described as "an actor being typecast for a specific role, who struggles to be recognized for his other works, and is forever remembered for a single character". Christina is a disabled young woman in a field of grass. You may recall his obsession with Helga, who was his most often painted model.

Nighthawks (1942), Hopper

In a repeated commercial for the Looney Tunes Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries series, the backgrounds that fly by remind me of the paintings of Edward Hopper. Nighthawks depicts a late-night diner with four lonely people. There's a takeoff painting with James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley as the soda jerk behind the counter. A Simpsons episode, "Homer and the 18th Amendment" also spoofs the famous painting.

Hotel Room (1931), Hopper

Automat (1927), Hopper

Many of Hopper's images are melancholic, especially Automat and the Hotel Room. In both paintings, a young woman is seated alone, one at a restaurant table at night, and the other in a small hotel room during the day. They share a similar color scheme, perspective, and strong contrast of light and dark.

The Scream (1895), Munch

Norwegian Expressionist Edvard Munch is often considered to be the melancholiest artist of all time. His paintings dealt primarily with death, as many of his family members suffered and died from lung disease such as tuberculosis and some of his subjects from polio and syphilis. He (like Van Gogh) also suffered from mental illness, probably from experiencing trauma early and throughout his life. The Scream is sometimes referred to as the Mona Lisa of its time and is clearly one of his most recognizable works. I didn't realize that it was pastel-on-board. Apparently, in 2012, it sold for $120M. It is also considered to be his self-portrait, that of a mad man, although he has painted the figure asexually and almost inhuman, like a space alien.

Pocket Poodles (1962), Keane

The final painting I want to share is by 'Big-Eye' artist Margaret Keane, whose second husband tried to take credit for her paintings (Can you believe that!?). Tim Burton's 2014 biopic, Big Eyes starred Amy Adams as the blonde artist. Pocket Poodles (1962) is a portrait of a sad young girl holding two small dogs. You may find such portraits cute, but I think they're a little creepy. In my grief journey, I am blessed to have the comfort of my own two Shih-Tzu fur babies, without whom I'd be lost!

May Flower Paintings

White Lilacs in a Crystal Vase
(1882), Manet

For this post, I was inspired by the red-violet lilac bush that is finally blooming in my yard this Spring. Édouard Manet painted White Lilacs in a Crystal Vase in 1882. Notice how soft the flower petals are depicted against the detail of the glass vase.

Palm Springs Floral Arrangement
(2021), Patterson

I painted a bouquet of hydrangeas, lilies, and orchids in a very similar square glass vase using watercolors, achieving an impressionistic composition. Seeing how a master artist represented lilacs makes me proud of how a novice like me captured the texture of white hydrangeas. I also like the modern glass beads at the bottom of my vase.

Lilacs in a Window (1880-83),
Cassatt

Mary Cassatt also captured lilacs in her painting, Lilacs in a Window (1880-1883). I especially like the lighting, and the mixture of lavender and white lilacs perched in an open garden window. This is an oil painting in an Impressionist style, even softer than the Manet above.

Lilac Bush (1889), Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh also painted a lilac bush, although much bushier than my own scraggly one. Because of the detail of his foliage, the execution of the bush departs from the better-known brushstrokes found in the background and to the right.

Alliums and Lace (2017),
Stafford

Alliums are very similar to lilacs but in a spherical, ball shape. You almost have to be a Pointillist in order to capture the texture and multiple hues. Here's a painting by a Fine Art America colleague, Natalie Stafford. I love the shadow at the bottom left corner!

Monet

Manet

I've blogged about peonies and the paintings of bouquets by Claude Monet and Édouard Manet. Pretty different interpretations! I use the Manet version for lessons about positive-negative space, and the Monet for comparison.

Young Woman with Peonies (1870),
Bazille

Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase
(1886), Van Gogh

I also enjoy Van Gogh's interpretation of peonies. And I also found this portrait of a black woman by Frederic Bazille. It's really like three separate painting -- the flowers in the foreground, the bouquet of peonies, and the portrait of the woman.

Still Life with Irises (1890), Van Gogh

Of course, everyone loves Van Gogh's irises. I guess I never noticed the dark outlines of the flowers before. Of course, Van Gogh still use a lot of yellow in his paintings! I enjoy his saturated colors and high contrast and the feelings they invoke.

Bleeding Heart (1932),
O'Keefe

There are several other May flowers I could show you, but I'm not as interested in Lily of the Valley and Bleeding Hearts. Georgia O'Keefe did paint bleeding hearts, although in my opinion not as impressive as many of her other floral closeups.

Lily-of-the-Valley (1886), Lucas

The only Lily-of-the-Valley depiction I could find is the landscape by Albrecht Durer Lucas. While the bell-shaped flowers are perhaps easier to paint than other more elaborate blooms, I think they read as cartoony and don't hold my interest. Lucas even had to surround them by a beautiful landscape!

Praising Budding Artists for Their Work

Words of encouragement go a long way to inspiring young artists. “Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom, while discouragement often nips it in the bud. Any of us will put out more and better ideas if our efforts are appreciated.” - Alexander Osborn

For example, "I love the way you...", or "Your style amazes me." is a great starting point. Get people talking about their art and have them practice talking about the work of other artists. "What do you like about it?" "Why did you choose this color combination?" Use art vocabulary, explaining how their choice of complementary or contrasting colors added interest. Besides praising an artist for their own unique style, it might be helpful to compare their work to that of other more famous artists. It also helps to take a picture of your art on your phone. Seeing a photo can change one's point of view away from the canvas you've been staring at for an hour and a half, and that which you've become overly critical.

Making connections with other artists and even the subject matter -- "Your brushstrokes remind me of Van Gogh" or "That reminds me of MY dog" -- are inspiring comments for an artist to hear. Their work is being thoughtfully acknowledged for its content, execution, style, or the feelings it invokes in the viewer.

Two Crabs (1889), Vincent Van Gogh

My family, friends, and colleagues encourage me to do more art. Museums are always stimulating, especially when I discover another Van Gogh painting or see a Rembrandt in person! Flemish artist, Peter Paul Rubens was heavily influenced both artists. Van Gogh was also influenced by his friend, Paul Gauguin, who encouraged him to paint from his imagination, French realist Jean-François Millet, other Impressionists, and Japanese art. Van Gogh painted Two Crabs in 1889 as an experiment in complementary colors inspired by the color theory of Eugène Delacroix.

In May of 2017, I saw it hanging in The National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square.

Emily's Chicken

I wonder if PawsWithCause resident artist, Emily, was inspired by Van Gogh's crabs. Here is her portrait of a chicken in a very similar contrasting color scheme. Amazing! And I love the brushstrokes!!

An art docent needs to understand and become familiar with the elements and principles of visual art.

As time is often limited to an hour and a half, it is important to monitor the progress of the artist's portrait. They need to decide where to start, then begin to lay down paint. If they have a favorite color and are unfamiliar with brushes and the medium, you may suggest starting with the background. Help the novices mix their color in the large space in the center of the palette, making enough to cover the surrounding area. Often, with Seniors especially, the background is left blank. If the body of the subject animal is grey, that too may require mixing lots of that color in the middle of the palette.

One of our seniors spent most of her time outlining the features of her white cat and chose to limit her palette. She simply used black paint to suggest texture on the cat's coat. She carried on and used black for the front paws in shadow. The cat's tail saw the beginnings of Pointillism that had time permitted would have been an awesome technique to finish with. Because there was no paint applied to the background it made for a harmonious somewhat linear composition.

White Angora Cat (1761), Bachelier

Another favorite of mine is this portrait of a white angora cat beautifully (oil) painted by French artist, Jean-Jacques Bachelier. Here we see a cat chasing a butterfly. The cat's fur is well-executed. Though I wouldn't want to have to brush that coat!

All one-color animals, such as white or black cats, or white, brown, or black dogs, are particularly challenging to paint. It may take time to execute the subtle shading (primarily shades of grey). As an art docent I'd recommend doing small areas at a time while the paint is still wet; this is when blending is most successful. Maybe work on the head, then body and legs. Highlights may be added later, as with the back and tail in Bachelier's painting.

Two Cats Blue and Yellow
(1912), Franz Marc

Cats on a Red Cloth (1909),
Franz Marc

20th century German Expressionist Franz Marc captured some cats sleeping or grooming themselves. The first painting is more realistic than his second more expressive Cubist work. Can you find the mouse?

18th century English artist Thomas Gainsborough also studied feline positions of the Great Cat. According to the referenced link, his black-and-white chalk drawing is similar to that of another famous artist from the 15th century.

Apparently, I missed Paul Gauguin's Flowers and Cats (1899) while visiting the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek museum in Copenhagen, Denmark on our cruise to the Baltics in June 2019.

Another recent post, entitled Making Connections with Artists & Animals features the cats of French Fauvist Henri Matisse.

Many of the world's most famous artists kept cats as pets. Here's a list:

Henri Matisse (Minouche, Coussi, and Le Puce); Pierre Bonnard (Cat);

Salvador Dali (Babou); Gustav Klimt (Katze); Georgia O’Keeffe (Siamese); 

Pablo Picasso (Minou); Louis Wain (Peter); Andy Warhol (Sam); and

        Wassily Kandinsky (Vaske)

We lost American artist Laurel Burch in 2007. She was famous for her bold cat designs such as those featured in one of her books, Fantastic Felines (1997). I believe we've done a jigsaw puzzle like this.

by Bill

Many of the artists who paint the shelter animal portraits are seniors who hang out at senior centers or assisted living establishments. One such artist is Bill, whose work is reminiscent of German Expressionist, Max Beckmann. See my post entitled, 'Egyptian Art, Sculpture, and Tombs'.

Another PawsWithCause patron painted this portrait of Cai with a light green tennis ball in its mouth. The artist's style is also like Beckmann, but with more of a Surrealist vibe. The background continues with the lime green color, adding little wispy shapes much like Henri Matisse decorated his red wallpaper in his Fauvist works. The touches of blue add interest to the composition.

You may also appreciate Medford the dog, who is sporting a Dio de Los Muertos mask on his face, reminiscent of the art of Frida Kahlo or Diego Rivera. Spanish Catalan painter Joan Miró often used a black background and Whimsical shapes (like spirals) to create his abstract art with Surrealist fantasy. Notice how the brushstrokes in his blonde fur add a realism that adds an anthropomorphic touch as if the animal is celebrating a human holiday. See Pepe the Dog in my post entitled, Making Connections with Artists & Animals.

Marlee is a good example of Realism. I especially like the artist's use of small, jagged brushstrokes, lending texture to the dog's coat. Happy accidents, like allowing the marker outline (from the original sketch) to show through, accentuate subtle features. I love the impressionistic background which further softens the overall painting. Check out the eyes with different color irises!

This portrait of Emma shows a good example of well-executed shading. The blue-gray color that the artist chose is a beautiful complement to her orangish-brown coat. Her sad eyes and overall color scheme make me think of the melancholy paintings (like "The Scream") of Norwegian Expressionist, Edvard Munch.

Many of our painting sessions, as with many of the art classes I've taught, are often too short for seniors or even younger students to complete a portrait in the allotted time. Although not common for established painters and master artists, some works are intentionally unfinished.

Gilbert Stuart created the Athenaeum Portrait of George Washington that currently hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. The unfinished work was used to paint 130 copies sold for $100 each and for the engraving of GW on the US $1 bill.

The only other unfinished painting I've ever seen is “An Allegory of Virtue”, attributed to Corregio (~1489-1534), which hangs in the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. 

My Artwork on FineArtAmerica

"Degas Recreation" by Ken Patterson

My brother has started posting his artwork to FineArtAmerica and he has inspired me to do the same. Artists are able to display their art, sell products with an image printed on them, and even sell originals (if available). Artists may set their own prices and receive a nominal fee for each product sold. It's a great way to get your art out there! My neighbor loved one of my pastel paintings and purchased a canvas print.

"Vernazza Harbor" by Ken Patterson

My latest acrylic painting is of the port city of Vernazza, Italy, where my daughter and her husband visited while he was stationed in Vincenza, Italy. It was supposed to be a wedding present, but I dragged my feet and gifted it to them for Christmas last year.

"Wedding Portrait"by Ken Patterson

I recently discovered photos of some of my old watercolor paintings that I did prior to taking an art class at Everett Community College. I painted a couple of portraits to practice using the medium.

"Clowning Around" by Ken Patterson

Ten years later I went on to paint faces at my daughter's 5-yr-old birthday party, where I was recruited by Bubbles the Clown to work with her. I consider this painting to be more of a quick study rather than a finished portrait.

"Cowboy" by Ken Patterson

I did two paintings while taking the watercolor class at Everett Community College in 1982. One was a seascape including a lighthouse and the other was this portrait of a cowboy (posted to FineArtAmerica).

"Clown" by Ken Patterson

The earliest oil painting I have in my possession is a clown painting I did in ~6th grade. I like his expression, though I could have done better on the collar and the background. You can see by my signature that I used Miss Kittle cursive penmanship!