February 03, 2009

gabriel cornlius ritter von max




imagine 1870
the impressionist are starting this big turning point in arthistory
'impression soleil levant' has not been painted yet.
alot of artists are struggeling with artcritics, theyre biggest frustration isn't their talent, but the fact they have to prove it to artcritics.

enter garbriel cornelius ritter von max. a czech artist working in munich.
he got frustrated. his pallet is dark, his stroke near perfect. the most important quality in art, the truthfullness of the illusion is impressive. but it cost him alot to get past these critics.
he started reacting against it. at the one part, he made work he thought would get past these staring eyes of men in important suits, mostly religous themed work. the other part he made 'tableaux' depicting these men as monkeys.
he had to process what happened to him. this is the form of his frustration.
first one is called 'der atelierbesuch'
second 'monkeys as judges of art'






these last works are the ones that interest me, the first works are just a bit too 'empowered.' they aren't very subtle in any way.

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