Issue Magazine - April 2014 by The Art Studio, Inc.

THE ARTS MAGAZINE OF THE ART STUDIO, INC.

APRIL 2014

H A R D A T W O RK T A SI M J A E I S H ER E , P A G E 7

INSIDE: THOUGHTCRIME ORIGINS, BRAQUE RETROSPECTIVE, SARGENT WATERCOLORS, AND MORE

RECLAIM YOUR BEST SKIN EVER TODAY!

, t r A e n i F Food e n i F

Sun damage, aging skin, other skin concerns? I am Elena Ivanova, Rodan and Fields Independent Consultant. I will help you to choose the right regimen for your skin from a variety of products designed at the laboratories of Rodan and Fields. 60 days return policy guarantee.

For more information and to place your order, go to my website https://bestskinever.myrandf.com

Two Magnolias r e s t a u r a n t in the Art Museum of Southeast Texas

Questions? Call (248) 890-3317 or send an email to mybestskinever@hotmail.com

Weekday lunch, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wedding Receptions • Rehearsal Dinners • Meals to go

10 % d i s co un t fo r a r ti s ts 500 Main Street in downtown Beaumont, Texas

409-833-5913 www.2magnolias.org • www.facebook.com/TwoMagnolias twomagnoliascatering@gmail

WE WANT YOU FOR BAND NITE Hear original music by local musicians at

For upcoming gigs, visit The Studio’s facebook page

admission

All ages welcome • 21 and up BYOB and have your ID.

A View From The Top Greg Busceme, TASI Director

I CAN ONLY SAY that the state of The Studio is strong and getting stronger. Our revenues are improving and art sales are at an all-time high, thanks to the patronage to the artists’ work. I was asked what was the reason for the increase in art sales these past few years and I can only see one explanation — people are spending more money, but in local places. Why buy art from someone you don’t know at twice the price in another city, when you can buy a familiar artist right here at home? I believe the people get it and they realize good art can be made anywhere, big city or small city — it just depends where you are. The Studio has presented more than 260 art exhibitions throughout its 30-year history. We’ve shown 99 percent local artists, that is, artists living in the Southeast Texas region or from Southeast Texas. That says a lot for The Studio, and especially the artists from this region, because of their dedication and perseverance against adversity, hot weather and mosquitoes. The ultimate choice to do something, anything beyond our daily existence, can be considered a heroic act. Life is an impediment to making art. All things have priority over art. But if art

ISSUE Vol. 20, No. 7 Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Art Studio, Inc. Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andy Coughlan Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tracy Danna Contributing Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . Elena Ivanova Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Dodson The Art Studio, Inc. Board of Directors President Ex-Officio . . . . . . . . . . . . Greg Busceme Vice-President. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angela Busceme Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Roberts Treasurer/Secretary . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beth Gallaspy Members at Large: . . . . . . . . . . . Sheila Busceme, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth French, . . . . . . . . . . Andy Ledesma, Stephan Malick, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Butler

The Art Studio, Inc. 720 Franklin Beaumont, TX 77701 409-838-5393 www.artstudio.org artstudio@artstudio.org The ISSUE is a monthly publication of The Art Studio, Inc. Its mission is to publicize The Art Studio and its tenants, and to promote the growth of the arts in Southeast Texas. ISSUE is also charged with informing TASI members of projects, progress, achievements and setbacks in TASI’s well-being. Further, ISSUE strives to promote and distribute the writings of local authors in its “Thoughtcrime” feature. ISSUE is provided free of charge to members of TASI and is also available, free of charge, at more than 30 locations in Southeast Texas. Regular features include local artists of note and reputation who are not currently exhibiting at TASI; artists currently or soon to be exhibiting at TASI; Instructional articles for artists; news stories regarding the state of TASI’s organization; and arts news features dealing with general philosophical issues of interest to artists.

Contents Braque Retrospective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4 TASIMJAE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7 Thoughtcrime Beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 8 Traveling with Sargent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 10 Around & About. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 12 Darkroom Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 13 Thoughtcrime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 15 Cover photo illustration by Andy Coughlan

takes priority expect to lose your friends and get an intervention with your family. Yes that last sentence was somewhat hyperbolic, but you get the idea. Art takes a back seat to everything, even in the areas that art does the most good — education. But this is the argument I made last month and it need not be repeated here. Our CPA, Lauren Brooks, has updated all the paperwork required in accordance to the nonprofit branch of the IRS. She has brought The Studio up to speed as far as all questions about our status as a nonprofit. We are now adapting to revisions in the tax code in reference to 501(c)(3) public organizations. One change is the proof of public support that was required in our first three years of the nonprofit status. As a public organization, a certain percentage of donations received must come from the public at large and not simply from foundation grants and the like. The change in the rule is the public test is to be reviewed every five years. This will require our continued outreach to the community and the community’s involvement with us. It is challenging, yet change we can live with. If it eliminates all the frauds in the nonprofit sector, it will be well worth the trouble.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AT THE ART STUDIO APRIL

M AY

TASIMJAE (The Art Studio, Inc. Member Jurored Art Exhibition) Lisa Reinauer (TASIMJAE 2013 Winner) Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April 5 Opening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 3

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ART STUDIO Membership in The Art Studio, Inc., provides invitations to all exhibitions and one year of ISSUE, the monthly arts magazine of The Art Studio. It also gives free eligibility for members to enter the annual membership art exhibition (TASIMJAE) and participate in various exhibitions throughout the year.

Name(s) Address City/St/Zip Phone

Credit Card Type: Visa MC Amex Disc Number

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:

THE ART STUDIO, INC.

Exp Date Day Phone

email SUGGESTED MEMBERSHIP AMOUNT

Individual: $35 Family/Group: $50 Friend/Business: $100 Sustaining: $250 New?

Renewal?

Patron: Angel: Benefactor Life Member: Artist?

$500 $1,000 $2,000 $10,000

for office use pd in comp issue thanks

If yes, list medium

The Art Studio, Inc. 720 Franklin, Beaumont 77701

4 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

Fresh Perspective Braque retrospective highlights importance of modern French master GEORGE BRAQUE (1882-1963) WAS part of a double act that founded the first completely new art movement of the 20th century — Cubism. While he is sometimes overshadowed by his early collaborator, Pablo Picasso, “George Braque: A Retrospective,” currently on display at the Museum of Fine ArtsHouston, points the spotlight squarely at the Frenchman. It is a beautifully spacious exhibition, giving the viewer plenty of room to really sit back and ponder the works — that seems to be Braque’s motivation, especially in the Cubist works on which he built his reputation. The viewer is challenged to see not only the object presented, but also how that object — and by extension, ourselves — relates and fits into the world. It is his contributions to Cubism that cemented his reputation, but his early career was heavily influenced by the Fauves, including Henri Matisse and André Derain. The Fauves, or “Wild Beasts,” as they were named by critic Louis Vauxcelles, took the influence of Impressionism and ramped up the color to produce vibrant landscapes and still lifes. The broad paint daubs offered an immediacy that was fresh, and the Fauves refused to be confined to natural representations of color, There is almost a synesthetic approach to color, arbitrarily using it to create a feeling or emotion which is not confined to the reality of the image. On the evidence presented here, Braque was the equal of his Fauve contemporaries. One suspects that, if he had not moved on, he would be recognized as a significant exponent of the style. That these paintings are largely overlooked is a testament to his later innovative brilliance. While Fauvism was founded in the very early 1900s it is considered a transitional movement for many artists. The influence of Paul Cézanne was still a major influence on the young artists and Braque’s subsequent work referred back to the master. Cezanne looked at nature in terms of geometric shapes that point to the center of the image. These fundamentals would stay with Braque as he progressed. When he was 25, Braque saw some paintings by Picasso and visited his studio with the poet Guillaume Apollinaire. Picasso was working on “Demoiselles d’Avignon,” his groundbreaking portrait of a group of prostitutes, which re-interpreted Cézanne’s “The Bathers.” The visitors were shocked — and Braque loved it. “Grand Nude,” 1907-08, is Braque’s response to what he saw in Picasso’s studio. One can clearly see the first inklings of Cubism in the two men’s work. One initially sees the figure standing, yet when one

Review by Andy Coughlan

Volume 20, No. 7

really starts to examine the figure it is clear she is reclining. The head and shoulders are large, suggesting perspective. The background includes what might be a sheet on which she is lying. The nude herself is twisting as if she is turning. Braque is playing with our sense of reality, forcing us to examine the validity of our linear perceptions. While Braque is still using rough brushstrokes, he has abandoned the bright colors in favor of browns and greys. It was not long before Braque and Picasso embarked on “Analytical Cubism,” the process of breaking an object down to shapes and planes. “Violin and Pitcher” (1909-1910), is constructed with a series of planes, yet the objects are still clearly identifiable. By the time we get to “Man with a Guitar,” 1911-12, the image is simple a mass of disturbing shapes as opposed to symmetry and harmony. One no longer sees a clearly defined subject. The man is in there somewhere — as is the guitar — but it requires the viewer to work to see him. And there is no guarantee that what one sees is what it appears to be. Braque’s brushstrokes are now small and dense, and the composition is a pyramid, suggesting perspective. The images were meant to come out of the frame toward the viewer.

April 2014 ISSUE • 5

Braque wrote, “Traditional perspective gave me no satisfaction…It never allows one to take full possession of things. It operates from a single viewpoint, which is never abandoned.” By now, the image is almost exclusively monochromatic, as he believed color would distract from the analysis of the form. The paintings titles cleverly instruct the viewer as to what they should be looking for, but the fact that the objects are hard — or impossible — to find keeps the viewer more engaged. In an old “Star Trek” episode, Captain Picard explains to an alien race that the one thing guaranteed to keep humans interested is a mystery. Braque keeps our attention by asking us to solve the puzzle of the deconstructed image. By deconstructing the object, Braque attempts to show us the “whole” thing, resulting in a work that is intellectually stimulating but also confusing and challenging. In 1912, Braque introduced a technique that is now standard, but at the time was revolutionary — collage. Papier collé is specifically the use of paper on paper. Braque saw some wood grain wallpaper in

See BRAQUE on page 6

Georges Braque, A TIRE D’AILE (IN FULL FLIGHT), top, 1956–1961, oil and sand on canvas rubbed on panel, Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris Georges Braque, SODA, above,1912, oil on canvas, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1942. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

6 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

BRAQUE from page 5 a shop, bought it and took it home where he pasted it down and drew around it. The term “Synthetic Cubism” grew out of this technique, which he developed in partnership with Picasso. If one looks at the work the two men produced during the Cubism period, it is hard to determine whose work is whose. Braque came from a familial line of house painters who specialized in “trompe l’oeil” — fool-theeye painting. They could make a simple wall look like marble. “Still Life with Tenora,” 1913, features a strip of wood grain wallpaper and a portion of a newspaper with sketched lines. If one looks closely, it appears to be a standard still life. Yet there are intersecting shapes and shadows that suggest it is not flat. And is this a round table viewed from above — more shifting of the perspective? Despite the simplicity of the rendering, it is also complex. The image seems to show a musician’s table, abandoned temporarily. Maybe the musician has been practicing before settling in to read the paper. There is much more here than meets the eye — it suggests a moment from a story we are not privy to, yet also suggests a mundane slice of life. Braque wrote, “Objects don’t exist for me except in so far as a rapport exists between them or between them and myself.” He adds that poetry is found in that harmony, and one finds an “intellectual non-existence…what I can only describe as a sense of peace.” The everyday objects that make up the still life fascinated Braque throughout his life. Long before Pop Art, Braque saw the artistry in the commercial, often including packaging along with the newspapers and wallpaper collages.

Man Ray, GEORGES BRAQUE, 1922, gelatin silver print, Musee National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, Photo: Jacques Faujour. © CNAC/MNAM/Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY. ©2014 Man Ray Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY/ADAGP, Paris Kurt Schwitters took the collage and extended it even further, using the detritus of everyday life to create his abstract collages. Braque’s collaboration with Picasso ended when

Georges Braque, COMPOTIER ET VERRE (FRUIT DISH AND GLASS), September 1912, charcoal on paper, woodgrain pasted on paper, The Leonard A. Lauder Cubist Trust, New York. Image ©Stinehour Photography. ©2014 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

he was conscripted into the army in World War I. He wrote “The things that Picasso and I said to one another during those years will never be said again, and even if they were, no one would understand them anymore. It was like being roped together on a mountain.” In 1915, Braque received a head injury in battle and was temporarily blinded. He was trepanned and was in recuperation for a long time. When he returned to painting in 1916, he re-introduced color into his work. In 1925, Braque painted three paintings of mantelpieces. These images are large verticals and not only incorporate distorted perspective of Cubism, but also draw on the family business. Each piece features painted marble. The paintings explore not just the objects, but also the space between the objects which, he said, make up the subject. The paintings feature multiple objects placed in the same interior, although the angles change in each. Different light sources affect the contrast. The bold shapes and colors are reminiscent of Matisse’s work. During the 1930s and through World War II, Braque painted a series of dark interiors. He and his wife Marcel, whom he met when he was 26 but did not marry until he was 44, moved to Paris during the war. He was not overtly political, but the fact he chose to stay when many of his contemporaries moved to England or America was an act of bravery. In “The Duet,” 1937, two women sit in a room, one playing the piano, the other reading a newspaper. The painting is split almost in two with light and dark. The newspaper headline reads “Debauche.” Is this a room at a brothel, with the two women representing the immorality of war? Or are they two women waiting for the return of their men from war? The light and dark could easily represent the split in French society at the time. Braque’s later works focused on birds, including collages and abstracted paintings (echoing the designs of Matisse’s late paper cutouts). “In Full Flight” (1956-61) is an interesting hybrid of styles. The approximately 4-feet by 5–feet canvas features a bird that looks more like a plane than the fluid, curving birds of his other works. It seems to be flying into a giant dark void — or is it a large black machine? Braque has mixed sand into his paint so that the surface is cracked and knobbly. The piece is far from the contained interiors and still lifes of his earlier work. It is as if he is acknowledging the modern world that he knows he will not see. What the future is, he cannot know. For him it is a void. Yet, in the bottom left-hand corner, a white bird, added later to the canvas, appears to break out of the darkness and is flying into the blue. By the end of his life Braque’s reputation was assured; he was the first living artist to be exhibited at the Louvre, and he was awarded a state funeral when he died. This retrospective clearly shows why he is so revered. Like his birds, Braque’s style flew far from the detailed analysis of his cubist works, casting a new perspective on the art of the 20th century. He deserves his place in the pantheon of great modernists. “Georges Braque: A Retrospective” is on display through May 11. A bilingual book containing all of the images from the exhibition is available in the museum shop and is great value at $24.95 (the full catalog is available in French only). MFAH is located at 1001 Bissonnet in Houston. For more information, visit www.mfah.org.

Volume 20, No. 7

April 2014 ISSUE • 7

TASIMJAE THE ART STUDIO, INC. MEMBERS JURORED ART EXHIBITION

APRIL SHOW OFFERS VISITORS CHANCE TO SEE MEMBERS’ WORK UP CLOSE The Art Studio, Inc. celebrated its 30th anniversary last fall, but the membership have not been resting on their laurels. It’s time once again to see what they have been up to as TASIMJAE time is here again. An acronym for The Art Studio, Inc. Member Jurored Art Exhibition, the show started in 1983 as an opportunity for the tenants of the fledgling arts organization to show their work to the community. Thirty years later, the goal is still the same — only there are a lot more members — almost 200 — and the competition for places is more fierce. Retired Lamar University art history professor Lynne Lokensgard has been named juror of this year’s show, which opens with a free reception 7-10 p.m. April 5, and runs through April 26. Lisa Reinauer won last year’s membership show and will be the exhibiting artist at The Studio in May. TASIMJAE regularly draws an eclectic group of artists working in all media. “The membership show is always eagerly antici-

pated,” Andy Coughlan, TASI tenant, said. “We have always had a policy of inclusion among our membership. There are no cutoffs for age or ability. We have regularly had high schoolers earning a place in the show. The judges look at the work purely on its merit. If it’s good enough in the eyes of the judge, it gets in the show.” Coughlan said the show also works as a membership drive. “Many artists join or renew their memberships in The Studio so they are eligible to enter the show,” he said. “It acts as a reminder that their dues are up.” Artists can join up when they submit their work. A membership form is available to fill in on page 3 of ISSUE. “TASIMJAE serves an important purpose in developing artists,” he said. “Art is a solitary business, for the most part, but it is important that artists take the opportunity to show their work and get feedback from others. Entering shows allows artists to let people into their private process.”

LABYRINTH by Lisa Reinauer, winner of TASIMJAE 2013.

Coughlan said that being rejected from a jurored show does not mean that the art has no value. “All art is, by definition, subjective,” he said. “A juror might like a piece for any number of reasons, be it technique, content, style, or simply that the colors are pretty. “A rejected piece from one show may win a different show the next month. That is part of learning about the business of art. It is important that artists take the risk to put their stuff out there for people to connect with. TASIMJAE offers an opportunity to get their work out.” Membership in The Art Studio begins at $35 for adults. Student memberships begin at $20 with valid ID. The opening reception will feature most of the exhibiting artists and offers visitors an opportunity to talk with them about their work — and to get involved with The Studio’s community arts efforts. For more information, call 409-838-5393, or visit www.artstudio.org.

8 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

poetic beginnings

THOUGHTCRIME GROUP ENCOURAGED WRITERS, FOSTERED FRIENDSHIPS Before Thoughtcrime was a page in the ISSUE, it was a completely separate publication. The first issue was printed in 1987. It was published through The Art Studio. Cathy Atkinson came on board with the second wave of publications, in September, 1988. She was working at what was then First Security Bank in downtown Beaumont. “A friend of mine from the bank had visited the original Studio one lunch time and said, ‘You’ve got to go, Cathy, and see,” Atkinson said. “It must have been pretty original — I think Greg Busceme’s totem show was up at the time. So I either made my way down, or called, or did something — somehow I got in touch with Kerry Fare. Kerry was the editor. I submitted some poems and they accepted them, and that’s how I found out about this. I didn’t know it was really the very beginning of it. In the early days of Thoughtcrime, submissions were accepted or rejected, according to a panel’s choices. Atkinson said that the poets had a regular group that met to discuss their work. “It was a lot of fun,” she said. “The magic of the poetry group was that we got to know each other through our poetry. We didn’t just sit around a table and say, ‘I’m Cathy Atkinson and I live…,’ Story by Andy Coughlan

Volume 20, No. 7

April 2014 ISSUE • 9

or ‘I just moved here…,’ or ‘I work at the bank…,’ or whatever. We got together through our poetry. “There was one guy who wrote beautiful poetry and he worked at an auto parts store in Vidor, of all things, which would surprise me.” Atkinson became a frequent lunchtime visitor to The Studio’s building on Milam. Growing up, Atkinson lived all around Southeast Texas — her father was a minister — before moving to England with her husband. “Thoughtcrime” was really The Studio’s first publication. Fare and Parigi are listed as editors, and Atkinson is listed in the September 1988 edition as editor’s assistant. Printing was much more of an ordeal back then, without access to today’s computers. They were typed up and glued to a template, before being sent to the printer. “I think this one got a grant form SETAC,” Atkinson said. “I don’t know if it was renewed every year or not, but I remember my boss, who was on the SEATC board, coming up the stairs and looking at me real furtive.” The poetry group met once a month around the kitchen table at The Studio. Atkinson said the group had around six regulars, including Fare, Parigi, George Wentz, Steve Kirk, James Spreckles and herself. Different artists would supply images for the publication. “It was along the lines of a workshop,” Atkinson said. “There was feedback, and we would read our piece and people would put their two cents worth in. It might help to hone the piece or change, or get you somewhere you intended to go but didn’t know how.” That was the benefit of a smaller group, she said. “And publication would come out of that — we would call for submissions so it wasn’t just the group publishing,” she said. Atkinson laughed as she said that her poetry grew out of angst over her ex-husband. “When I want to say something I have to write it — and I had a lot to say,” she said. “It came from the gut, and I sometimes feel pretty false when I’m called a poet — I don’t know. I’m not classically trained, it wasn’t my education, it just started. I’ve always liked writing.” Poetry can be the most personally revealing of the arts. “We used to have poetry readings, say one a quarter, and it was well attended,” she said. “It was petrifying to read, but the response was

See POETRY on page 14

Cathy Atkinson, above, shows off the original publications of Thoughtcrime, the product of the poetry group that met at The Art Studio in the late 1980s. The cover of the first magazine, far left, was designed by Greg Landry. John Gorton designed the cover of Vol. II, No. 1.

Blackout night to celebrate National Poetr y Month, April 15 The Art Studio, Inc. will host an evening of “Blacked Out” poetry, 7-8:30 p.m., April 15. The event is free and open to all comers. “It is going to be a really fun event,” Andy Coughlan, event co-coordinator, said. “Many people shie away from poetry because they are worried they can’t come up with the right words. The way this works, they don’t have to. The words are all there and one just has to eliminate some.”

Participants will be able to pick up newspapers, magazines and old books from the pile supplied. Then, armed with a sharpie, they simply black out some of the words on the page, with the leftovers forming the poem. “The other great thing is that one doesn’t have to bother about grammar,” Coughlan said. “It’s all about intention. Heck, you can even cross out half of some words to make new ones. It’s

part poetry and part visual art — and no one has to read their work. We are just going to pin them up around the classroom. “Come by and have some fun. Who knows, you might uncover the hidden bard that lurks within us all.” The Art Studio is located at 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont. For information, visit www.artstudio.org.

10 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

Traveling with Sargent

“Wonderfully light and fine is the touch by which the painter evokes all the small familiar Venetian realities...and keeps the whole thing free from that element of humbug which has ever attended most attempts to reproduce the Italian picturesque.” —- Henry James

EXHIBITION EXPLORES

DIFFERENT ASPECT OF ARTIST KNOWN FOR GLAMOROUS PORTRAITS JOHN SINGER SARGENT (1856-1925) is best known for his lavish, exquisitely painted portraits of glamorous ladies of the Gilded Age, such as Mrs. Joshua Montgomery Sears (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) or notorious Madame Pierre Gautreau, better known as Madame X (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.) However, the spring exhibition at MFAH reveals a different facet of the artist’s talent. “John Singer Sargent: The Watercolors” showcases landscapes, city views and figure paintings which Sargent created during his travels in Italy, Greece and the Holy Land. Although the artist depicted some of the most popular tourist spots, such as the Grand Canal in Venice, Villa Medici in Florence and the island of Corfu, his paintings are anything but a pictorial guide of the Grand Tour. Instead of dazzling the public with poster images of celebrated architecture and views, Sargent focuses on the most “unspectacular” subjects — a middle section of a fountain, a corner of a building, the “underbelly” of a bridge, or even laundry on the clothesline. His true subject is the interactions of light, shadow and color, especially white on white. The images are typically cropped or tilted up as the artist, like a modern photographer, zooms in on a detail that attracted his attention. The exhibition brings together for the first time in history two major collections of Sargent’s watercolors: from the Brooklyn Museum and from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The story of these collections deserves special attention. Sargent regarded his watercolors as exploratory, experimental works. He never intended them to be exhibited or sold. It was his close friend, Edward Darley Boit, who convinced the artist to show his work to the public in the United States. The first exhibition took place at the Knoedler Gallery in New York in February of 1909. From the start, Sargent was adamant that the works were not to be sold. His major reason was that the paintings “need to be seen taken as a lot.” However, when Brooklyn Museum president A. Augustus Healy made an offer to buy all works in the exhibition, he agreed despite his original reservations. Story by Elena Ivanova

Volume 20 No. 7

April 2014 ISSUE • 11

John Singer Sargent, Simplon Pass: Reading, far left, c. 1911, opaque and translucent watercolor and wax resist with graphite underdrawing, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Hayden Collection—Charles Henry Hayden Fund. Photograph © 2013 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston John Singer Sargent, THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS, left, c. 1903–04, translucent and opaque watercolor with graphite and red-pigmented underdrawing, Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription John Singer Sargent, IN A MEDICI VILLA, below, 1906, translucent watercolor and touches of opaque watercolor with graphite underdrawing, Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription.

There was another interested party, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Not to be outdone by New Yorkers, the Boston Museum proposed to house and, subsequently, purchase a new exhibition of Sargent’s watercolors. The artist immediately set to work and in March of 1912 the second American exhibition of Sargent’s watercolors opened in Boston. Both exhibitions were highly successful and whetted collectors’ appetite for Sargent’s watercolors, which even led some scholars to believe that Sargent only pretended to be reluctant to exhibit or sell his work while all along he planned it as a clever marketing campaign. However, the catalog of “John Singer Sargent: The Watercolors” puts an end to this speculation. Based on the artist’s letters and diaries, the curators, Erica Hirshler of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Teresa Carbone of the Brooklyn Museum, demonstrate that the mastermind behind both shows was Edward Boit. Sargent continued to refuse offers from private collectors to buy his watercolors till the end of his life. As popular British writer Edward V. Lucas wittily observed, Sargent’s watercolors “were not to be obtained for love or money, but fall to the lot of such of his friends as wisely marry for them as wedding presents, or tumble out of his gondola and need consolation.” Even such famous collectors and longtime patrons of Sargent as Isabella Stewart Gardner had to buy the artist’s watercolor paintings “second-hand” after his death. “Sargent the watercolorist” that emerges out of the MFAH exhibition is significantly different from “Sargent the official portrait painter.” The

latter, renowned for his unrivaled ability to convey a magnificent display of textures and lifelikeness of the sitter, belongs to the 19th century. The former, with his bold, innovative exploration of watercolor as a medium, fragmentation of the image and a free-hand painting technique, is a true 20th century artist, who intimately knows and appropriates discoveries of such contemporaneous modernist movements as PostImpressionism, Fauvism and even Cubism. Incredulous as it may sound (“Sargent a Cubist?”), all it takes to illustrate this point is to look at the series of paintings portraying Santa Maria della Salute. Sargent presents multiple views of the famous Venetian church, none of which shows the whole building. Taken at different angles, these views zoom in on separate sections of the building — a cluster of columns, the steps leading from the canal to the entrance, a corner obscured by the shadow. It seems as if the artist were saying, “In order to truly experience what it means to be in the presence of this church, one has to look at details and reconstruct the mental image of the whole from its parts.” Unlike Picasso or Braque, Sargent did not combine all these views in one painting; nevertheless, this is a distinctly Cubist approach to a visual image. Two circumstances in his life made it possible for Sargent, by the end of 1890s, to leave behind official portraiture. He was commissioned by the Boston Public Library to create

See SARGENT on page 13

12 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

Around & About If you come across any interesting exhibitions, museums or other places on your travels, share them with us. Call 409-838-5393, or contact us through our web site at www.artstudio.org. Be sure to include the location and dates of the subject, as well as any costs.

ART STUDIO CLASSES ABIGAIL MCLAURIN will host a DRAWING CLASS, 10 a.m. to noon, Saturdays, April 12 to May 10 at The Art Studio. Cost is $75 and does not include supplies. This class will focus on drawing from life and how to interpret the visual world onto paper. Students will learn about technique and the fundamentals of art through drawing. McLaurin received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Coker College in Hartsville, SC. She is a resident artist of the Art Studio. McLaurin coordinates the Life Drawing classes and Artist Symposiums in Beaumont. ______________ GREG BUSCEME will host ADULT CLAY CLASS FOR BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATES, Saturday mornings 10a.m. to noon, March 29 to April 26. Cost is $100, all supplies included. For information on classes, call 409838-5393, or email: info@artstudio.org. ________________ ADVERTISEMENT THE ART STUDIO has enlargers and various photo equipment for sale. Please contact Joe Winston at jewinston@gmail.com for more information. ______________ The DISHMAN ART MUSEUM presents: GLORY DAYS: THE ART AND VISUAL CULTURE OF THE SECOND SPINDLETOP 1929-34, through April 13. The exhibition examines the art, visual culture and architecture created by

the vast oil fortunes of Beaumont’s second Spindletop oil boom in the late 1920s. This exhibition is in collaboration with the Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum, the Chambers House, the Energy Museum and many other local institutions and individuals. Admission is free. Regular museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. For more information, call 409-8808959, or visit www.lamar.edu/dishman. ______________ HIGH STREET GALLERY will host artwork by GINA GARCIA and GREG LANDRY, beginning at 7 p.m., April 12. Refreshments will be supplied by Two Magnolias. High Street Gallery is located at 2110 Victoria Street in Beaumont. For more information, visit the gallery’s Facebook page. ______________ An EMPTY BOWL SALE will be held 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., April 12, in the DISHMAN ART MUSEUM. Items made during the Empty Bowl Making Marathon, held Feb. 8, will be for sale. Prices range from $5 to $50 and all proceeds benefit the Southeast Texas Food Bank. ______________ BEAUMONT COMMUNITY PLAYERS will present A Streetcar Named Desire, March 28-April 12, at the Betty Greenberg Performing Arts Center. “The tragic story of the emotionally fragile southern belle Blanche (Jade Oliver), who leaves the family plantation house and moves to New Orleans to live with her sister, Stella (Heather Rushing),

and Stella’s coarse, animalistic husband, Stanley (Michael Mason). She quickly gets a gritty life lesson in the seamy, steamy underbelly of the 1940s French Quarter.” Show times are 7:30 p.m., March 28, 29, April 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, with a matinee at 2 p.m., April 5. For tickets, visit beaumontcommuni typlayers.com. ______________ LAMAR UNIVERSITY will present SWEET CHARITY, at 7:30 p.m., April 10-12, and 2 p.m., April 13, in the University Theatre. In this popular musical, directed by Deena Conley, Charity Hope Valentine, a dance-hall hostess with a heart of gold and a past littered with bad relationships, finally finds love with Oscar, a naïve young man who knows nothing about how she earns a living. Originally directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, “Sweet Charity” premiered on Broadway in 1966 and contains popular musical numbers such as “Hey, Big Spender” and “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” For tickets, cal the box office at 409880-2250. ______________ FINDER’S FAYRE ANTIQUES will present CATS ON CANVAS by SARAH HAMILTON, April 3, 7-9 p.m., part of its Contemporary Local Artist Show Series. The exhibition will be on display though May 8. Finder’s Fayre Antiques is located in the Mildred Building, on the corner of Calder and MLK Parkway in Beaumont. For more, visit wwwfindersfayre. com.

LR L SE U O Y

K R O W T R A

JOIN TODAY!

Mission Statement Founded in 1983, The Art Studio, Inc. is devoted to: providing opportunities for interaction between the public and the Southeast Texas community of artists; furnishing affordable studio space to originating artists of every medium; promoting cultural growth and diversity of all art forms in Southeast Texas; and providing art educational opportunities to everyone, of every age, regardless of income level, race, national origin, sex or religion.

PURPOSE The purpose of The Art Studio, Inc. is to (1) provide educational opportunities between the general public and the community of artists and (2) to offer sustained support for the artist by operating a non-profit cooperative to provide studio space and exhibition space to working artists and crafts people, and to provide an area for group work sessions for those artists and crafts people to jointly offer their labor, ideas, and enthusiasm to each other.

GOALS 1. 2. 3. 4.

To present public exhibitions To provide educational opportunities To provide accessible equipment for artists To provide peer feedback through association with other artists and crafts people

OBJECTIVES 1. 2. 3. 4.

AC X T SE ORG .

5. 6. 7. 8.

To present 10 art exhibitions per year To maintain equipment for artists in a safe working environment To provide better access to artists for the public To offer regularly scheduled adult and children’s classes To develop and maintain public activities with all sectors of the community To develop and maintain equipment to aid artists in their work To provide a display retail outlet for artists To expand programming and activities with increased facility space This project was funded in part by the B.A. & E.W. Steinhagen Benevolent Trust through the Southeast Texas Arts Council.

Volume 20, No. 7

April 2014 ISSUE • 13

‘SPRING PHOTO FANDANGO’ 5-7 p.m., Friday, April 11, Friday 3-7 p.m., Saturday, April 12 $75 per person, all materials included. SPACE IS LIMITED. SIGN UP TODAY! Participants are encouraged to bring B&W film to be developed or their own negatives. After 7 p.m., Friday, plan to stay and visit with other photo folk and interested parties for food and libations. There will be another workshop in MAY 2014, Dates TBA. SARGENT from page 11 murals on the subject of history of religion, which provided him with a steady income. He also made some lucrative investments. As a result, he could travel more frequently and pursue his own artistic interests. Sargent often traveled in the company of his sisters and nieces and many of his works possess the immediacy of family vacation snapshots. In “Simplon Pass: Reading,” we see two women, probably, the artist’s sister Emily and one of his nieces, taking a break during a journey in the Alps. Other paintings show the company sketching en plein air, lying in the grass or walking at a distance. However, Sargent was never truly on vacation. Equipped with a portable easel and a box of watercolors, he was constantly sketching, capturing the fleeting moment, be it a bright parasol casting multicolor shadows on a white dress or the excitement of a young girl showing a bug to her aunt. The exhibition is amazing in the range and number of Sargent’s works. Each section transports us to another corner of the world — Italian gardens, the Middle East, Venice, Genoa, Carrara marble quarries, the Alps, Corfu.... We become more than Sargent’s traveling companions — we see the world with his eyes, we re-live his experiences. As we look at the fountain at the Medici Villa, we can almost hear the artist say, “See how the sunlight makes the cold white surface of the marble look warm and radiant?” In the garden of the Villa di Marlia in Lucca, we find ourselves standing at the side of the pool enjoying the sight of the emerald lemon tree weighed down by shiny golden fruit — a dazzling accent in the

overall dark gray, green and blue palette of the painting. Among the most striking sections of the exhibition is the one that features images from the Holy Land titled Arab Encounter. Sargent planned this trip as a research to make the biblical scenes at the Boston Public Library more authentic. Paintings from this cycle stand out for the extensive use of ultramarine color. It seems that Sargent considered this color the key in conveying the eternal mystery and attraction of the ancient biblical land and its people for Westerners. In “Bedouins,” the artist used the deepest shades of blue for the keffiyeh (head scarf) and the clothing worn by both the man and the woman. The color is so intense that it seems to have been applied directly from the tube. Ultramarine highlights also are visible in the facial features, especially in the eyes and in the man’s eyebrows and moustache. This painting is obviously a portrait, although of a completely different kind than typical Sargent’s portraits. It seems that the Bedouins are as curious and fascinated with the artist as he is with them. Is it a symbolic meeting of East and West? As the first American exhibition of Sargent’s watercolors was being installed at the Knoedler Gallery in 1909, Sargent requested that the paintings of the Holy Land be displayed last. He referred to them as the “pièce de resistance” which will provide a powerful finale to the presentation of his innovative and daring exploits in the area of watercolor painting. “John Singer Sargent: The Watercolors” is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, through May 26. MFAH is located at 1001 Bisonnett in Houston. For more, visit www.mafah.org.

John Singer Sargent, BEDOUINS, c. 1905–06, opaque and translucent watercolor, Brooklyn Museum, Purchased by Special Subscription

14 • ISSUE April 2014

Volume 20, No. 7

POETRY from page 9 so good that it encouraged you to go on. “What I liked the best was when someone would come up to me after the reading and tell me what it meant to them. They might be off track (as to the original intent) but it meant enough to them to say something about it.” The group itself was relatively short lived, and after a couple of years the group members went their separate ways — “to experience the angst,” Atkinson said. “I guess each of us had other endeavors to pursue,” she said. Atkinson pauses for a moment as she reflects that Fare, Wentz and Spreckles are all dead now. She has fond memories of the group dynamic. “For me, it made me bloom,” she said. “The camaraderie, being part of a producing group. We got to show our talents off and get ourselves known. And we made some pretty lasting relationships.” Part of her wishes it had continued, but it wasn’t time for her to go on. “There were other things in my life that I had to take care of at the time,” she said. “I had two small children. “I think that’s part of The Studio that needs nurturing.” Atkinson said she believes there is an audience for poetry. When the Toughtcrime group folded, she hosted several readings at the Walk On Café in downtown Beaumont.. “On a Sunday night in December, we had a capacity house,” she said. “From children to old ladies with furs and diamonds. They were quite successful. We had one that was to launch a book of Steve Kirk’s poetry. We thought was that his family would come. All we did was post fliers around town and sent out a notice to the media. Word just got around, I guess. I find that exhilarating.” She hosted another when Frank Parigi earned his doctorate from the University of Arkansas. “Frank is dynamic and one of the best writers I ever read,” she said. “He was coming back through town on his way to California. I wanted to

welcome back home a success. We did that at the Logon Café and it was big success, so much so that the Logon wanted me to do them monthly. But doing it monthly was too much of a circus for me.” Atkinson said she has attended the Poetry Renaissance group that takes place on the third Thursday of each month, hosted by Dorothy Sells Clover. “She’s really going after it, she’s doing good,” Atkinson said. Atkinson said she hopes that poetry stays a part of the arts scene. “I think that Beaumont has some extremely talented local (visual) artists, and we have very talented poets, and my aim, since the poetry group ended, is to promote them and give them a platform.” Ultimately, Atkinson said the original mission of Thoughtcrime, one that carries on in the ISSUE today, is to offer people a place to publish their work. “This is all about finding your voice,” she said.

Artist Maudee Carron contributed art and text, above, to Thoughtcrime. The cover of Vol. III, No. 3 was designed by Mark Jacobson.

ARTSkool Week 1: July 14-18 • Week 2: July 21-25 Look for details on our website www.artstudio.org

Volume 20, No. 7

April 2014 ISSUE • 15

Thoughtcrime Submission Guidelines and Disclaimer ISSUE solicits and publishes the work of local authors. Poetry, short fiction, scholarly works and opinion pieces may be submitted for review. All works must be typed and may be sent to TASI by email or by messaging the ISSUE Facebook page. The opinions expressed in “Thoughtcrime” do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TASI, its Board of Directors, ISSUE’s editorial staff, or donors to TASI. Send typed works to: ISSUE 720 Franklin, Beaumont, TX 77701 or e-mail issue@artstudio.org Authors must submit a daytime telephone number and email along with all submissions. Pen names are acceptable, but authors must supply real names for verification. All printed works are protected by copyright. The author retains rights to any published work. ISSUE does not notify of rejection by mail or telephone.

In honor of the first poetr y group at TASI, the poems this month are reprinted from the original volumes of Thoughtcrime magazine.

720 Franklin, Beaumont, Texas 77701

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit #135 Beaumont, TX

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

INSIDE • THE BIRTH OF THOUGHTCRIME • THOUGHTCRIME: MUSINGS FROM AREA POETS • BRAQUE IN RETROSPECT • SARGENT WATERCOLORS

When you support The Art Studio with your membership, you receive ISSUE, Southeast Texas’ and Southwest Louisiana’s alternative press, as well as class schedules, invitations to opening receptions and various Studio functions.

X MILAM COLLEGE

FOR ART OPENINGS ON THE FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH THIS MONTH:

Return Service Requested

A non-profit organization

720 Franklin Street Beaumont, Texas 77701-4424 (409) 838-5393 www.artstudio.org info@artstudio.org

720 Franklin Street Beaumont, Texas 77701-4424

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID Permit #135 Beaumont, TX

Elizabeth Fontenot Bryan Castino Heather & Adam Butler Andy Ledesma Rhonda Rodman Sue Wright Cyndi Grimes Rhonda McNally Andy Coughlan Ben Jennings Beth Gallaspy John Roberts Beau Dumesnil Karen Dumesnil Sheila Busceme Kailee Viator Haley Bruyn Bryan LaVergne Gabe Sellers Ian Grice Abby McLaurin Samantha Wheeler Scott & John Alexander Heather Adams Terri Fox Avril Falgout B.J. Bourg Michelle Falgout Dana Dorman Reagan Havens Anna Buchele Nick Wilcox Stacey Haynes

DISTRIBUTION POINTS

MLK

NECHES

TRINITY

PARK

JOIN US

ISSUE

FRANKLIN

Volunteers These people are the life blood of our organization. WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU! To volunteer, drop by The Art Studio, Inc., or call 409-838-5393.

CALL FOR ENTRIES AND INVITATION

TASIMJAE THE ART STUDIO, INC. MEMBERS JURORED ART EXHIBITION JUROR: DR. LYNNE LOKENSGARD RETIRED LAMAR UNIVERSITY ART HISTORY PROFESSOR APRIL 2014 • OPENING RECEPTION APRIL 6, 7-10 P.M.

APRIL 5-26

GALLERY RECEPTION IS APRIL 5, 7-10 P.M.

DOWNTOWN THE ART STUDIO, INC.

720 FRANKLIN

ART MUSEUM OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS

500 MAIN

BABE DIDRIKSON ZAHARIAS MUSEUM

1750 IH-10E

BEAUMONT CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU

801 MAIN

(IN CITY HALL) BEAUMONT ART LEAGUE (FAIRGROUNDS)

2675 GULF ST

BOOK BAZAAR

1445 CALDER

THE CAFE

730 LIBERTY

JERUSALEM HOOKAH CAFÉ

3035 COLLEGE

NEW YORK PIZZA & PASTA

790 NECHES

SETAC

701 NORTH STREET, STE. 1

STARBUCKS

EDISON PLAZA

TEXAS ENERGY MUSEUM

600 MAIN

SOUTH END/LAMAR UNIVERSITY CARLITO’S RESTAURANT

890 AMARILLO @ COLLEGE

DOS AMIGAS

1590 FRANKLIN

LU ART DEPARTMENT

DISHMAN ART MUSEUM OLD TOWN

ANNA’S MEXICAN BAKERY

2570 CALDER

BEAUMONT FRIED CHICKEN

7TH AND CALDER

JASON’S DELI

112 GATEWAY SHOP CNTR

KATHARINE & CO.

1495 CALDER

RAO’S BAKERY

2596 CALDER

SIGN INTERNATIONAL EXPRESS

2835 LAUREL

SUNRISE

2425 S 11TH

SWICEGOOD MUSIC CO.

3685 COLLEGE

THE TATTERED SUITCASE

2590 CALDER

CENTRAL/WEST END BASIC FOODS

229 DOWLEN

BEAUMONT VISITORS BUREAU

This project was funded in part by the B.A. & E.W. Steinhagen Benevolent Trust through the Southeast Texas Arts Council.

IH-10

COLORADO CANYON

6119 FOLSOM

GUITAR & BANJO STUDIO

4381 CALDER

LOGON CAFE

3805 CALDER

PACESETTER

COLONNADE CENTER

RED B4 BOOKS

4495 CALDER

REED’S LAUNDRY STUDIO 77

6025A PHELAN @ PEYTON 6372 COLONNADE CENTER

THIRSTY’S

229 DOWLEN PARKDALE

RAO’S BAKERY

4440 DOWLEN ORANGE

STARK MUSEUM OF ART

712 GREEN AVE.