A few months ago I tried to photograph flowers as Mondrian had painted flowers. I did not consider for one second his politics, his personality, nor, in fact, anything personal about him as I based my tutorial on the images of his work that I could find online.
Emil Nolde’s seascapes caught my eye in the past few months and, subsequently, his flowers as well. But, this time I ordered an exhibition book to use as my tutorial. Like, Mondrian, I knew nothing about him.
It is filled with essays about his politics (sympathetic to the National Socialist Party) and although his art was deemed “degenerate” and he was “forbidden” to paint, he continued to paint all throughout the WWII. In the book, a letter from his wife bemoans Hilter’s government shunning her husband as, in her opinion, he shared many of their beliefs.
There are many essays in the book about how art scholars attempt to reconcile this artist’s politics and his art. One essay suggests that his art must be detached from his politics, and in fact, are directly contradictory.
My love of flowers has brought me into a dark, dark world. I shall read more. Look more. But, this is a tutorial that is no longer about just flowers.
