VFA Small Gems; Episode #15

VFA, Episode #15
2021年6月16日

They say good things come in small packages….so we are dedicating our video and accompanying catalogue to “Small Gems.”

 These small works create a symphony by merging colors, space and light all in scale. Scale is not dependent on size and shows that the smaller end of the spectrum can most certainly contain expansive strength. Smaller works pull our eyes at first into their space, asserting themselves within……a kind of intimate glance into a private world. Perle Fine stated that “a skilled artist can achieve “impact” even at the size of a “postage stamp.”

 In 1936 the American Abstract Artist Group was founded based on the foundation of purely American abstraction. Artists such as Charles Green Shaw, George L. K. Morris, Balcomb Greene and Eugene Gallatin created small works on the aesthetic level of Paul Klee who was simply the last genius of small abstraction. These artists revolutionized American abstraction with a powerful intimate presence. It is difficult for an artist to work small as a great work of art is essential in all its parts and contains nothing that can be subtracted from it and working in a small scale actually may improve it. In abstract paintings from the 1950’s “BIG” held center stage, however, small in a scaled manner also can be just as powerful and more intimate and not necessarily precious. It is a difficult task indeed to execute action and gesture in a small scale without it turning to into a messy composition.

 Robert Motherwell stated that “It is possible to paint a monumental picture that’s only ten inches wide, if one has a sense of scale, which is very different from a sense of size.”

 Our collection of twenty-four “Small Gems” are all highly aesthetic intimate passages into the private worlds of each artist. However small, each has an intuitive flow of sophistication. Once again, we are presenting you a glimpse of what we are striving to accomplish by revealing our outlook and passion through a road more and more less traveled in today’s art scene.

 Thank you for watching so please stay tuned as we will continue to have interesting ideas and subjects coming soon.