Reforming the Past

There is so much art around these days. Particularly now that we are not limited to the standards of The Art Academy. Thank goodness because who wants to have this hanging in their living room...

Charles Dominique Joseph Eisen, Putti at Play, 18th Century, Oil on Panel

Believe it or not, in the 18th and 19th Centuries, this type of allegorical painting would likely have been chosen over works by great artists (including the Impressionists, Expressionists and Realists) for academic exhibition; this was due to the Academy's strict stylistic and thematic rules.

As we now have the luxury of choosing for ourselves the art that we want to enjoy (or inflict upon others- depending on their tastes), I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about one of my favourite contemporary artists. I find that the mass body of work produced today tends to hark back to a style or an artist from the past. It is hard to find anything truly original. Even the concept of using Elephant dung has been taken- yes, I am thinking of Chris Ofili's 1998 homage to Bob Marley, No Woman, No Cry.

Despite many original concepts having been snapped up, there are still many extremely talented artists around, and while their work may not be conceptual or laced in deeper meaning, there is still something to be said for enjoying a work of art, simply because it looks beautiful.

Last year I stumbled across Susan Entwistles' work at a flower show; an established artist in her own right, her work highlights the beauty of the gardenscape in a style which allows her to use an infinite colour palette.

This style of creating an image purely from dots and dashes is known as Pointillism (or Neo-Impressionism) and was famously used by Georges Seurat in the 19th Century.

Georges Seurat, Un dimanche après-midi à l'île de la Grande Jatte, 1886

I like to think of Entwistle's work as Neo-neo Impressionism, because like most people, I just can't resist putting concepts into neat little boxes...

What I particularly admire about Entwistle is her ability to draw together a canvas using a spectrum of light and dark colours, yet all of her works appear cheerful. There is nothing sinister or underhand about these works, what you see is what you get; something which I find particularly refreshing. For me, her works hark back to a simpler time, when people had time to spend on lovingly tending to their gardens- something which is very appropriate for lock down (I have no doubt that we will be seeing a lot of beautiful gardens once it is over). What's more, her woodland scenes perfectly emulate the dappled effect of leaves which form a canopy over the woodland floor. She has the ability to flawlessly capture flecks of light peeking through gaps in the tree-scape.

Entwistle's work transports me back to my youthful Summer days when I would explore my grandmothers' immaculately manicured garden, inhaling the sweet floral scents...

If this is just your cup of tea, I highly recommend having a further look at Susan Entwistle's designs by clicking one of the pictures!