The Man with the Red Crayon

Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s biography is a collection of fragments, a life cobbled together from official documents, observations and stories told by friends, and contemporary critiques of his work. As far as I know, there are no extant letters by Char

  • PDF / 28,518,302 Bytes
  • 188 Pages / 432 x 648 pts Page_size
  • 3 Downloads / 257 Views

DOWNLOAD

REPORT


SIRI HUSTVEDT Essays on Painting

siri hust vedt

ii

Mysteries of the Rectangle mysteries of the rectangle

iii

Published by princeton architectur al press 37 East Seventh Street New York, New York 10003 For a free catalog: 800.722.6657 Web site: www.papress.com Produced by winterhouse editions po Box 159 Falls Village, Connecticut 06031 For a free catalog: 860.824.5040 Web site: www.winterhouse.com © 2005 Princeton Architectural Press All rights reserved. Printed in China. 08 07 06 05 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher, except in the context of reviews. Every reasonable attempt has been made to identify owners of copyright. Errors or omissions will be corrected in subsequent editions. Editor: Scott Tennent Designers: Winterhouse Studio —William Drenttel & Don Whelan Special thanks to: Nettie Aljian, Nicola Bednarek, Janet Behning, Megan Carey, Penny (Yuen Pik) Chu, Russell Fernandez, Jan Haux, Clare Jacobson, John King, Mark Lamster, Nancy Eklund Later, Linda Lee, John McGill, Katharine Myers, Jane Sheinman, Jennifer Thompson, Joseph Weston, and Deb Wood of Princeton Architectural Press — Kevin C. Lippert, Publisher. Front cover: Francisco José de Lucientes y Goya, Capricho with Five Heads, 1820–21. Collection of Stanley Moss. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hustvedt, Siri. Mysteries of the rectangle : essays on painting / Siri Hustvedt.— A Winterhouse ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 1-56898-518-5 (alk. paper) 1. Painting—Themes, motives. 2. Painting—Appreciation. i. Title. nd1145.h845 2005 759—dc22

2004029909

FOR KAREN WRIGHT

CONTENTS

ix

list of illustr ations

xii

acknowledgments



xv

introduction



1



11

vermeer’s annunciation



27

the man with the red cr ayon



43

ghosts at the table



61

narr atives in the body: goya’s los caprichos



93

more goya: “there are no rules in painting”

the pleasures of bewilderment

121

giorgio mor andi: not just bottles

135

joan mitchell: remembering in color

149

gerhard richter: why paint?

169

notes

175

illustr ation credits

LIST OF ILLUSTR ATIONS

the pleasures of bewilderment 3 Giorgione, The Tempest. c. 1503 –1504. vermeer’s annunciation 13 Vermeer, Jan (Johannes), Woman with a Pearl Necklace. c. 1662–65. 20 Duccio (di Buoninsegna), Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin. c. 1308–11. 22 Petrus Christus, The Annunciation. c. 1450. the man with the red cr ayon 34 Chardin, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon, A Glass of Water and a Coffee-pot. c. 1760. Chardin, Young Student Drawing. c. 1733–34. 37 40 Chardin, Self-Portrait with pince-nez. 1776. ghosts at the table Cotán, Juan Sánchez, Quince, Cabbage, Melon and Cucumber. 1602. 47 50 Claesz, Willem, Vanitas. 1628. Soutine, Chaim, Carcass of Beef. 1925. 52 53 Cézanne, Paul, Still Life with Pitcher and Aubergines. 1893–94. 56 Guston, Philip, Painter’s Forms. 1972.

list of illustr ations

ix

narr atives in the body: goya’s los caprichos 64 Goy