Painter in Paradise - Walter Spies

Die Landschaft und Ihre Kinder

Walter Spies was born in Moscow in 1895, the son of a diplomatic family. His colourful life would make a great film but until then a very good fictionalised book about his life in Bali, Indonesia called "Island of Demons" by Nigel Barley will have to suffice. Although a work of fiction it has been very well researched and as there has been no proper artist biography yet published (that I know of) this book gives you an insight into his life and indeed how life was for the small group of Western artists that settled on the island in the 1930's. If one has past lives I can only hope that I was there at this time, certainly my Paradise!

Island of Demons

After an association with F.W. Murnau in Berlin when he helped the film director on "Nosferatu" he left for the Dutch East Indies in 1923 going first to Java and then settling in Bali in 1927. Spies immediately immersed himself in the fabulous culture of the island every aspect of which fascinated him. He learnt to speak Balinese and became an expert (and innovator) on Balinese culture, so much so that during the 1930's when the island was visited by the rich and famous such as Noel Coward, Charlie Chaplin and the heiress Barbara Hutton, it was he that was called upon to be their guide to all that the island had to offer.

Iseh in Morgenlicht

In addition to composing music, studying the flora and fauna, photographing and filming ceremonies and adapting ancient dances into new forms, he was a painter. Due to the constant distraction he did not produce a huge body of work, most of the paintings being sold to Western visitors which means that they are spread all over the world and is difficult to mount a proper exhibition.

Leyak-Legong

I came across his work on my first visit to Bali in 1986 when I was an illustrator specialising in fantasy and Science Fiction and was immediately struck by it's strong use of design and contrast whilst still retaining a soft fantasy element. I started to adopt the way he used a layering of planes of distance in my own illustration work and in 1994 I went there with the specific intent of setting up a model in full dance costume for a picture painted purely for myself, the above "Leyak-Legong".

Jungle Scene

River Landscape

After what must have been an idyllic life from 1927 to 1939 life began to get difficult. As he was German and Germany had invaded Holland of which Bali was a colony, the Dutch authorities arrested him as a potential spy (like any other German national in the Indies) and he was sent to an internment camp in Sumatra. Although it was difficult he managed to keep on painting and composing music while he was there ("Sumatran Landschaft" below was painted there in 1941) but eventually due to the threat of the Japanese invading the Dutch East Indies all the inmates including Spies were put on board a ship bound for Ceylon in 1942. Tragically the ship was bombed one day out of port by a Japanese plane and started to sink. The Dutch crew abandoned the ship but failed to allow the prisoners out of their cabins so most of them  including Spies died drowning in a slowly sinking ship. Can you see now why his life would make a great movie?!

Sumatran Landschaft

The Brushwork of Scott Burdick

Born 1967 in Chicago, Illinois Scott Burdick credits Bill Parks at the American Academy of Art for his knowledge and enthusiasm and by the looks of it, a lot of things that I would love to know about colour! He then went on to study at the Palette and Chisel Art Club where he met his wife Susan Lyon, another very good artist; they share a website (a very large and compehensive one!) where there is a large painting archive of both of their work as well as details of books, videos etc.

Of particular interest to me are the paintings where he shows the brushwork by photographs that progressively approach nearer and nearer to the picture surface to a point where they become lovely abstract pieces in their own right. I love the rich, creamy colour and the way that it has been applied to the canvas. Personally I have'nt been able so far to deal with thick paint application and always end up applying it in a way that is more natural for me, thin and a bit smeary! I guess that this may be an interesting point, one should by all means try different approaches but in the end one hopefully arrives at something that is natural to oneself but informed by the different roads taken along the way!

African Colours

For a closer look at Scott Burdick and Susan Lyons work visit their website:

Korinne

www.scottburdick.com

Jeremy Lipking ...and the Colour Green

Nymphe du Bocage

At The Door

Porcelain

Diaphanous Gown

Reflection

Reclining Nude Figure

Flor de Muertos

Born in 1975, Jeremy Lipking has quickly gained a reputation as one of America's foremost Realist painters, being compared to John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla - well I would'nt go that far but I do love his controlled use of colour and tone. He has a great way of using green for example, with his compositions sometimes seeming to be just about placement of areas of colour around a figure, also beautifully painted of course. There are many videos of him demonstrating his painting methods on Youtube as well as a dvd and book which can be purchased from his website: www.lipking.com. Check out his blog at www.jeremylipking.blogspot.com

The Strange World of Franz von Stuck

Wild Chase

Salome

Autumn Evening

The Sphinx

The Kiss of The Sphinx

Franz von Stuck  1863 - 1928

Sensuality

Seaside Sunset

Born in Bavaria, Germany, Franz Stuck was made a peer of the Bavarian Crown in 1905 and entered the art establishment after an early career as a co-founder of the Munich Secession, related to it's contemporary in Vienna but instead of being centred on decorative Symbolism the Munich branch was more intense, incorporating Symbolism and Expressionism. Influenced by Bocklin, von Stuck delighted in images of eroticism and femmes fatales, his most famous images being of women and snakes - surely the precursor to the work of Frank Frazetta many years later. He also painted some very moody and atmospheric landscapes.There is a book of his work published in 1995 by Taschen which is probably out of print now but possibly old copies can be bought on Amazon.