Art and the Homeless

The purpose of this class is to prepare undergraduate students of art for the grad school (MFA) thesis. Not everyone advances to grad school. For those who do advance, the Master's Degree in Fine Art prepares students for a career in college-level teaching. Knowledge of the concept of a thesis is a good foundation for everyone's life work. Your assignment for next week is to visit the college Library. Ask the librarian to direct you to the Master's Degree thesis shelves.  They are first publications in print by grad students for the Master's Degree -and beyond. Pull a few editions from the shelf for examination and comparison. Notice that they all have a similar format. They are printed with triple line spacing, stitched binding, and (of course) all are cataloged. Exceptional statements are sometimes uploaded by thesis authors to the internet. Most are more modest in scope.  Indeed, successful professionals often prefer to forget these published, elementary statements o...

My recent comments about Matisse's apparent hesitation to advance into absolute abstraction must be qualified by one exception. It is his oil painting, “Open Window at Collioure,” 1914, located in Room 7, Level 5, of the Centre Pompidou, Paris. It's title refers to the town of Collioure, on the Mediterranean coast of southern France, which attracted Matisse, and other artists, for its fine climate and reclusive medieval dignity. Art tourists may wish to visit the Collioure Maison du Fauvisme. Matisse's painting of “Open Window at Collioure” was contemporary with the outbreak of World War I, in 1914. It is an easel painting, measuring about 45” in height, by 35” in width—of modest scale—made to fit comfortably in the dwelling of a private art collector. The scene is void of figures. It may be classified, at a glance, as all paintings which fall under the category “geometric.” At the same time, it has more going for it—as art—than mere abstract geometry. The painting's bl...

Henry Matisse's famous comment that art should be "like a good armchair," is from his written statement, Notes of a Painter (1908). It is, indeed, the most engaging comment in an essay written in response to criticism that his work was devoid of ideas. His droll quip was a concession, at least, to the objection that he took himself too seriously. Matisse's painting was not a critical success. It was a crowd pleaser. His acclaim was so great that the critics confined writing about his work to obscure periodicals and, at exhibition, spoke of it in hushed tones of voice. No one disputes that Matisse's style is decorative. He worked at painting like a decorator.  In his own words, from the Notes; "Suppose I have to paint an interior: I have before me a cupboard; it gives me a sensation of vivid red, and I put down a red which satisfies me. A relation is established between this red and the white of the canvas. Let me put a green near the red, and make the floor...

Anyone who has given the problem of Homelessness serious thought—going beyond indignation—must agree that the cause, or causes, are frustratingly complex—even stubborn—refusing all efforts to help. Nobody believes that homelessness is a choice. Calling it fate doesn't help. It is an illness. What circumstances led to the homeless living as they do? Accounts are hard to come by. The facts are a private matter. Personal stories are not publicized because of the disturbing subject matter. There is a natural tendency to cover-up—and cover- for —the shame of going so totally exposed in public. The homeless person may be fully-clothed, but may as well be completely exposed, for all his meager effort does any good. Nonetheless, by diligence, a composite image can be formed of a certain type of homeless person's fall from grace. Personal, and therefore private details, are leaked inadvertently. We gather enough to assume a deep psychological motive. They need to be unburdened by talkin...