The Art of Mati Klarwein

click to enlarge each of the five paintings

Mati Klarwein (1932-2002) was born of Jewish parents in pre-war Germany. The family immigrated to Palestine in 1934 and Mati grew up there very much as an outsider. He often used the name Abdul Mati Klarwein. He traveled and worked around the world, from France to the United States, from Africa to South America, and from Spain to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco and India. Klarwein's early paintings have a decidedly psychedelic look, while his later paintings are surreal and dream-like.

 

These images are all from a rich, 1983 paperback by Mati Klarwein, entitled Inscapes.

Klarwein's name never became a household word, and yet if you were alive and kicking in the 1960s and 1970s, you probably would have been familiar with his work. Carlos Santana used Annunciation, the painting below, as the cover of his all-time best-selling Abraxas album.

matiklarweinart.com

Mati Klarwein, photographed by Bettina Rheims

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Greek Keys No. 3

Photo by Barbara and René Stoeltie, from Irish Georgian, Herbert Ypma, 1998.

This beautiful space was designed in 1742 by Richard Castle, one of Ireland's greatest architects. It's central to Russborough House, a Palladian treasure and home to the first Earl of Milltown. The fanlight serves to bring light to upper floor bedrooms.

I've recreated these Greek keys, which all originated as mosaics. Of course, they would not necessarily have been in these colors.

Eric Cohler Design  |  leejofa.com

History of Art  |  H. W. Janson, 1962

A detail of a Greek vase from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  H. W. Janson describes this as "the oldest characteristically Greek style in the fine arts, the so-called Geometric." It's 8th century B. C., which means that it was created close to the founding of the Olympic Games.

Skulls Wine, A Different Label

I recently had a festive dinner at Sandy and Greg's, with neighbors of theirs, Chris and Gary. Gary and Chris brought the main course and the second hit of the evening, an Australian red wine called Skulls. This is what Skulls looks like from the front ...

... and this is the Skulls bottle from the back.

Now take a closer look at the label.

Click to enlarge.

This ingenious drawing is by Istvan Orosz (b.1951), a Hungarian graphic designer, poster artist and film director. Orosz is very interested in illusions, and in particular, anamorphosis, which Wikipedia defines as "a distorted projection or perspective requiring the viewer to use special devices or occupy a specific vantage point to reconstitute the image." Below is an anamorph by Istvan Orosz.

The Ambassadors  |  Holbein  |  Phaidon, 1976

from sccart.blogspot.com

Another prime example of anamorphosis is Hans Holbein's 1533 painting, The Ambassadors, with its famous foreground skull. So there you have it, two skull illusions in one posting.

"And what about the wine?" you ask. It was good, but I'll let Robert Parker's Wine Advocate describe it: "The 2007 Skulls Red Wine is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mataro raised in stainless steel. Dark ruby-colored, it offers up an expressive bouquet of garrigue, forest floor, spice box and cherry. Forward, medium-bodied and friendly, this savory effort will drink well over the next six years."

Recreating a Trajan Inscription

 

One of the great monuments in Rome is the Trajan Column, built to commemorate Trajan's victory in the Dacien Wars. Its spiraling bas relief frieze depicts two wars that each lasted but one year. For lovers of typography, the Tajan Column also includes what is considered by many to be the finest example of Roman lettering in existence. Below is a portion of the inscription, executed by an anonymous master.

In 1989, Carol Twombly of Adobe Systems designed a very literal interpretation of the inscription, a typeface that was of course named Trajan. I've reconstructed the image below to illustrate how faithful Twombly's font design is to the original.

Below is an image of Carol Twombly from her days at Adobe Systems, and some of her typeface designs.

Pack Rat, The Grand Acquisitor

Illustration by Charles B. Slackman, for Horizon Magazine, Winter 1969

When I read The Grand Acquisitor, Horizon Magazine's 1969 article on the pack rat, I was absolutely charmed. I hadn't realized that there actually is a small rodent that hunts for objects that are attractive though totally useless to him (Sound like some other species?).

Rodentia   |  Cricetidae  |  Neotoma

The pack rat has sleek fur, a white stomach and a bushy tail, and bears a close resemblance to the hamster. In his nervous movements, he's sometimes compared to the squirrel, and he's a very busy thief. Food is a big portion of his loot, of course, but the pack rat is attracted to almost anything in his path. Unlike the magpie, who is discriminating, the pack rat is indecisive when confronted with a choice of objects. Because he's famous for lugging along one item, seeing another, and then leaving his first choice in place of the newer find, the pack rat is sometimes called a trade rat.

The pack rat takes his treasures back to an ever-growing nest which is inhabited by a succession of rats, often generations of the same family. With all the clutter of oddities, the nest is appropriately referred to as a midden.

I found the personality of the pack rat so amusing that I decided to paint this curious little animal.

© Mark D. Ruffner

This is a color sketch for a pack rat painting. I did several which I gave away, but in each one, the pack rat was a collector of antiques, quilts, posters and famous paintings.

© Mark D. Ruffner

My mother enjoyed the series so much, she requested her own pack rat painting. So this is The Swiss Pack Rat. All the items allude to Switzerland or family. The flirtatious lady in the background is my grandmother, who was from Bern. The pack rat wears a traditional Bernese hat, which mirrors my grandmother's. He proudly displays the Basel Dove, Switzerland's rarest stamp (my mother was a philatelist), but unfortunately the stamp is being sliced by a Swiss Army Knife!

I'm thinking of painting another pack rat, but this one with older items closer to his scale. I've settled on an Indian Head penny and an old bottle cap, but haven't thought beyond those two items. I'd love to get your suggestions! What would you include in a pack rat's midden?

Trade Cards and Their Evolution

For a long time, one of my great passions has been collecting the ephemera known as trade cards. These bright advertisements were a scrapbooking rage throughout the latter part of the 19th century. The Americans of that era were excited about the full-color printing that was very new, and by the imaginative work of artists who apparently had free design reign.

I've chosen some cards from my collection that illustrate how images like the one above evolved into advertising that was closer to what we would today call corporate identity or branding. To access them, just go to the right-hand column and click on that iconic, 19th-century pointing hand.

The Stylish Blogger Award

I am delighted to announce that I have been honored with the Stylish Blogger Award by pgt of little augury. Blogging provides a forum that can be a satisfying opportunity for creative expression, which is exactly the way I approach every posting. It’s equally pleasurable to learn from so many talented fellow contributors, and to exchange and share images and ideas. Thanks, Gaye!

The Stylish Blogger Award is to be accepted under condition of the following rules:

1) Thank and link back to the person who awarded you. (Done)

2) Share 7 things about yourself. OK, here goes:

• My ancestry is Swiss, on both sides of my family.
• Andy Warhol and I shared the same design professor, 20 years apart.
• One of my great pleasures has been to gradually transform the front of my house from a nondescript style into a Neoclassic facade.
• At the age of eight, I copied all the U.S. presidents' faces as a drawing exercise. As a result, I've never quit reading presidential history.
• I think it's valuable for artists to collaborate with artists in fields other than their own. The experience invariably brings new perspectives to one's own artwork.
• I've taken the Evelyn Wood Speed Reading course but still read slowly because I enjoy lingering over well-written passages, and dwelling on the imagery.
• I like to start my day by doing two crossword puzzles.

3) Award 10 other bloggers.

4) Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award. This is not only a form of recognition from your peers, but also a wonderful avenue for introducing new readers to great blogs. It's what Gaye calls, "spreading the love around."

I am happy to pass this award on to these Stylish Bloggers:

Art's The Answer!
Corbu's Cave
Gervais de Bédée
Art and Alfalfa
My French Country Home
Quintessence
Shadows On Stone
The House That Lars Built
The Neo Lifestyle
The Ornamentalist


Congratulations!