I was recently introduced to Makoto Fujimura .
I was told to read his book, (which I need to order) but I did start reading his blog. How delighted I was to come across the blog about Georges Rouault which I linked above!
There is something intriguing to me about Rouault. Perhaps it is because he was a rebel. Perhaps because he was truly a medievalist and not a modernist. Perhaps it is because his art speaks to my heart.
Whatever the reason, I love his art. He inspires me to make art that communicates God's love to the broken. He shows light in darkness. Here is an excerpt from the blog about Rouaults' work.
"Rouault's paintings are not ideologically driven, like the modernists, or of pure abstraction, like some of the expressionists, nor hedonistic, like the Fauves: Rouault paintings are faithful depiction of the broken realities of his time, eloquent testimonies of color in fragmentation and graceful reminder of faith in an agnostic, and increasingly atheistic era."
The following excerpt reminds me of how George MacDonald's writings influenced C.S.Lewis and opened a whole new world to his mind about reality.
"Thus, Rouault's influence in my life is far more than mere inspiration; he gave permission in the "No Exit" room to look outside from the most unlikely place of exile: his painting were little windows into a Reality I did not know existed. What I saw there was both beautiful and terrifying. It showed a path of a suffering servant who took on the broken condition of our souls, the historic Jesus of Nazareth, who chose to walk into darkness as claiming to be the "light of the world." The images of the Savior that entered my eyes, became etched into my heart, and eventually broke through into my life, and along with the words of William Blake, and Jacques Maritain, became central guiding posts for my journey of art, faith and creativity.[10]
To Rouault, to create such indelible images, hard labor and discipline is required. Many people today assume that being an artist or musician is irresponsibly drifting into a romantic ease; young artists and musicians may think that as well, until they actually attempt to make it work. Artists actually work longer hours, with lower wages, with no guarantees of security than most other occupations. There is no "nine to five" boundaries for us. But those who make it work, do so knowing that their expression has a place inside more enduring conversations that go deep beneath the culture's superficial terrains. And to Rouault, and often for me, that conversation is rarely with contemporaries, but with artists of the past influences, like Rembrandt or Fra Angelico, or, for my journey, artists like Tohaku Hasegawa. We are caught in the five hundred year conversations. And in such reality, consistency, diligence and commitment to discipline is the only way to gain entry into an enduring conversation"
I was told to read his book, (which I need to order) but I did start reading his blog. How delighted I was to come across the blog about Georges Rouault which I linked above!
There is something intriguing to me about Rouault. Perhaps it is because he was a rebel. Perhaps because he was truly a medievalist and not a modernist. Perhaps it is because his art speaks to my heart.
Whatever the reason, I love his art. He inspires me to make art that communicates God's love to the broken. He shows light in darkness. Here is an excerpt from the blog about Rouaults' work.
"Rouault's paintings are not ideologically driven, like the modernists, or of pure abstraction, like some of the expressionists, nor hedonistic, like the Fauves: Rouault paintings are faithful depiction of the broken realities of his time, eloquent testimonies of color in fragmentation and graceful reminder of faith in an agnostic, and increasingly atheistic era."
The following excerpt reminds me of how George MacDonald's writings influenced C.S.Lewis and opened a whole new world to his mind about reality.
"Thus, Rouault's influence in my life is far more than mere inspiration; he gave permission in the "No Exit" room to look outside from the most unlikely place of exile: his painting were little windows into a Reality I did not know existed. What I saw there was both beautiful and terrifying. It showed a path of a suffering servant who took on the broken condition of our souls, the historic Jesus of Nazareth, who chose to walk into darkness as claiming to be the "light of the world." The images of the Savior that entered my eyes, became etched into my heart, and eventually broke through into my life, and along with the words of William Blake, and Jacques Maritain, became central guiding posts for my journey of art, faith and creativity.[10]
To Rouault, to create such indelible images, hard labor and discipline is required. Many people today assume that being an artist or musician is irresponsibly drifting into a romantic ease; young artists and musicians may think that as well, until they actually attempt to make it work. Artists actually work longer hours, with lower wages, with no guarantees of security than most other occupations. There is no "nine to five" boundaries for us. But those who make it work, do so knowing that their expression has a place inside more enduring conversations that go deep beneath the culture's superficial terrains. And to Rouault, and often for me, that conversation is rarely with contemporaries, but with artists of the past influences, like Rembrandt or Fra Angelico, or, for my journey, artists like Tohaku Hasegawa. We are caught in the five hundred year conversations. And in such reality, consistency, diligence and commitment to discipline is the only way to gain entry into an enduring conversation"
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