Truthful Art

The truth always comes out and this is especially true in art!

On a recent visit to the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC to view the current exhibit of “Color, Line, Light: French Drawings, Watercolors, and Pastels from Delacroix to Signac” I observe works of art that I believe every avid art student needs to see especially those who need to learn more about the craft of drawing. I tell my art students almost constantly to create effective artwork, one has to be truthful to what one sees. To illustrate, if you have a still life of a fruit or a vegetable (such as an apple or a gourd), you have to study it carefully, follow the lines and shapes with your eyes and carefully transfer that information to a piece of paper. For example, if you are drawing an apple, be truthful to it and draw it to its actual size in its actual colors. Don't stop looking at the apple and say, well I know how an apple looks like, it is round and red. One has to forget what one thinks an apple looks like and draw what one sees (that specific still life in-front of you) then your drawing will be much more effective. Back to the National Gallery of Art and the drawing exhibit, by walking through the exhibit's galleries my eyes glimpse a drawing that I declare is the best in the exhibition. It is by the French Impressionist artist Edgar Degas most notably known for his drawings and paintings of beautiful ballerinas stretching, exercising and getting ready to go on stage for their ballet performance. In this exhibit, Degas shows us something even more beautiful, a look at every day working class women of Parisian life 1885. “Two Women Ironing” is the title, and this is exactly what the drawing represents truthfully and without embellishment simply two women ironing. The truth is even further documented with what these two women are doing: one is hunching her figure and pressing hard to iron and straighten the clothes at task, the other is yawning, tired and grabbing a drink. In this drawing, Degas exemplifies the objective and almost in a dispassionate way becomes a recorder of that moment in life. More precisely he documents the everyday life that was the heart of the nationalist art movement in the late 19th century. Hence, Degas focuses on the two working class women engaging in their dreary job of ironing other people's cloths, conveying through their posture both monotony and the physical demands of that job. This is exactly what I admire about Edgar Degas, his brave lines that represent nothing but the truth. At the end to be a good artist is to to be an artist who documents the truth - the truth of that moment captured in the artwork, the truth of feelings, of emotions, of expression.
In this drawing, Degas didn't only capture their actions but captured their exhaustion and their fatigue from the daily job. This is why Degas is a master draftsman, and by draftsman I mean a person who excels in the art of drawing. The drawing is in pastel and charcoal on brown paper. Drawing on colored paper is a great way to make works of art to look more like paintings especially when using powder like material such as charcoal, pastel and conte crayons in varying colors like white and others.

Around 100 drawings and watercolors from the collection of American collector James T. Dyke showcase in this exhibit the development of modern draftsmanship in France, from romanticism and realism through the impressionists. Artists working from 1830 to 1930, including Monet, Degas, Cézanne are part of this exhibit which emphasizes on the use of color, light and line in artwork.

The exhibition is currently on view at the West Building of the National Gallery of Art, Main Floor till May 26, 2013.

To learn more about artist Vian Shamounki Borchert, her artwork and art classes visit:

www.vianborchert.com