The Edwin P. Turnquist
quoted on the main Mondrian page is a fictional painter in Block's novel, The
Burglar who painted like Mondrian
"Just a handful of good painters this
century. Mondrian, of course. Picasso, maybe five percent of the time, when he
wasn't cocking around. But five percent of Picasso is plenty ... Who else?
Pollack. Frank Roth. Trossman. Clyfford Still. Darragh Park. Rothko, before he
got so far down he forgot to use color."
I
have tried to find examples of the work of the painters listed and have not been
entirely successful.
Picasso Well everyone knows him. I'll put a few of my favourites here,
starting with
Pollack
There is a stained glass artist Pollack,
but let's assume he meant Pollock.
Looking at it again, my hardback Book Club
edition refers to Pollack, but a later paperback specifies Pollock. I'll
leave the first link in anyway as it is a nice site with some Mondrian
influence.
I'll
include this from Pollock too as it is relevant to PM. In May 1943
Mondrian was invited to sit on the jury for a Guggenheim exhibition Spring
Salon for Young Artists. This picture, which Guggenheim dismisses,
draws his [PM's] attention as "the most exciting painting that I have
seen in a long, long time, here or in Europe". (Piet Mondrian,
Bullfinch Press, 1994, page 83)
Stenographic Figure, 1942
Frank
Roth
seems to be most famous as a baseball player. Link
But I also found this one
A
Chair Contemplating Christianity,
Acrylic on canvas, 1987; Signed and initialed Frank Roth F.R. lower right
and signed and dated Frank Roth July, Aug. 1987 upper left, verso and
signed again Frank Roth lower left, verso and titled "A Chair
Contemplating Christianity" #18 upper right, verso; Dimensions
72" x 43"; Framed; Frame 72 5/8" x 43 3/8"; $20,000;
Layaway for only $2000/month!
Trossman
I had drawn a blank on this one. But found the answer just after I had
set up this page. Here's the dedication in Block's book:
The best link
I can find for MT features tasteful B&W nude photography.
This is for
LYNNE WOOD
with special thanks to MICHAEL TROSSMAN
who taught me how to prepare the canvas
and
LAURENCE ANNE COE
who helped me assemble the frame
Clyfford
Still
1904-1980
1957-D, No. 1,1957
Oil on canvas, 113 x 159"
Gift of Seymour H. Knox, 1959
Clyfford Still was something of a maverick
in the art world. In many cases, he disdained or was infuriated by anyone
who tried to interpret his work, including art critics, art historians,
patrons, and museum curators. His attitude about art and artmaking was
romantic and passionate, and he did not believe that most people
understood or properly appreciated his work. Link
Rothko
Born in Dvinsk, Russia, he became a leading Abstract Expressionist, using
the rectangle of large-scale canvases for a one-color ground, visible
along the edge and through occasional openings, showing three or four
horizontal blocks of color with brushed surfaces and fuzzy borders.
He used thinned oil paint in many layers, achieving the effect of
watercolor which he had used so often before. He created simple, flat
shapes which, for him, showed a relationship between primitive art and
myths cast into working through his own personal experiences. His work
expressed drama and violence, suggesting both serenity and conflict.
The National Gallery of Art, Washington has
a terrific online presentation of Rothko's work. Click
here.
There is a not-inexpensive Catalogue
Raisonne available from Amazon US
and UK.
In May 2002 I was honoured by a note from the
Great Man (Mr Block) himself,
"Re the painters---the
three you're not familiar with are friends of
mine. Frank Roth is an abstract expressionist, essentially, whose work has
faded from view somewhat in recent years, but is represented in several
museum collections. Darragh Park is a photorealist; I've lost touch with
him of late so don't know what his recent work looks like. And Michael
Trossman is primarily an illustrator, though a very painterly one."
"My wife's an artist, and
my mother and stepfather were both accomplished painters. And I painted a
Mondrian of my own almost 20 years ago, figuring I'd never be able to own
an original, and how hard could it be? That's what gave me the idea for
that book."
