July 01, 2021
Flowers In Spring
by SAL McINTYRE
There is nothing better after a stretch of cold weather than filling a space with flowers— nature’s most compelling decoration. Nature has long been a subject matter revisited time and again by history’s greatest artists, past and present, providing an indisputable array of beauty with which all walks of life can associate. And flowers, in particular, are that mysterious living enigma, a burst of color, fragrance and joy that uplifts all who cross their path. Artwork of flowers seems to present a brilliant cross-contouring of nature’s most desirable display and the expressions of some of the world’s most adept visual creators. When an artist is in their element, the works of flowers navigate an almost otherworldly arena, creating a near living new entity that connects immediately to that powerful force within nature itself, and wielding the ability to weave color, joy and vitality into the lives that it touches.
Piet Mondrian – Chrysanthemum, offset lithograph 1996
Piet Mondrian is so overwhelmingly known for his infamous primary color rectangle paintings, it is hard to believe that he painted anything different— though his prolific genius is readily apparent when perusing his paintings of flowers. This Chrysanthemum is so delicate and strong it inspires a meditative quiet, his effortless brushstrokes calling forth a real spirit of nature.
Donald Sultan – Red & Black Poppies II, Black Poppies,
Red & Black Poppies I, Red Poppies I, SIGNED silkscreens 2007
With his large silhouette shapes and rich color choices, Donald Sultan is able to conjure the dreamy fever surrounding the essence of the poppy. This set of four silkscreen prints is furthermore printed with luxurious thick ink on bright fine matte paperboard, lending his Poppies series a tactile quality that could silently sway any onlooker, much like the mystery from which this flower gains its reputation. And in Italian Poppies, also a signed silkscreen, Ed Baynard perhaps quotes this same indescribable allure.
Ed Baynard – Italian Poppies, SIGNED silkscreen 1996
Picasso’s usual simplified epiphanies are what draw us in again and again, this Mourlot stone lithograph from 1950 De Memoire D'Homme IX being somehow rich with feeling and playful with boldness at the same time. He manages to communicate the many layers of beauty hiding within a flower while confidently inscribing his own marks, in the masterful way that only Picasso can— this work seems to carry within it the complete essence of spring.
Pablo Picasso – De Memoire D'Homme IX, Mourlot stone lithograph 1950
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