There’s a fantastic collection of Altarpieces at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, including a nearly fully intact altarpiece called The Coronation of the Virgin with Saints.

These works of art came out of christian churches generally in the 14th and 15th centuries, with the tradition beginning during the 11th century. Frequently these paintings were made of multiple panels called diptychs, triptychs or polyptychs. However, fewer and fewer of them remain in tact, as they were broken apart and sold to collectors. The Coronation of the Virgin with Saints, seen above, is quite remarkable because it’s nearly a complete altarpiece.

If religion isn’t your thing, it’s still easy to appreciate the spectacular beauty of these panels. The imagery of the saints are typically painted more flat in nature, as opposed to rounded and three dimensional. This period of art is known as the late Middle Ages and was financed primarily by the church. The purpose of the ‘flat’ image, was to force the viewer to focus on the more godly aspect of the paintings, as opposed to the sexier fleshier painting that would dominate the Renaissance Period that  followed.

One of the more beautiful features of these panels is the gold leaf that has been used over the wood panels, as well as on some portions of the paintings themselves. The fragile gold leaf was applied over a reddish clay that provided an adhesive surface, followed by burnishing (rubbing with a hard tipped instrument). ‘Punches’ (metal rods) were also used to stamp the surface of the gold leaf, giving  additional patterns and textures. This was especially effective when creating the delicate haloes surrounding the heads of holy figures.  It’s difficult to fully appreciate the gold leafing in photos, so if you live in LA, or are here on vacation, be sure to add the J. Paul Getty Museum to your to do list.

J. Paul Getty Museum

Mark Grotjohn: 50 Kitchens is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

When I walked into this massive installation I thought to myself, what cool screen prints. I love Op Art (optical illusion art) and this exhibit was fantastic with its use of color. Then I discovered that these weren’t prints at all, but color pencil drawings… say what! How many hours did it take to create each one of these? I discovered that  these drawings were done over 5 years between 2013 – 2018, which is  about 1 drawing per month. That’s some serious  commitment to your artistic process.

Grotjohn’s created his first Butterly composition to meet the dimensional specifications of a wall in his kitchen. The subsequent 50 chromatic drawings explore pairs of radiating colors, like Grass Green and Canary Yellow, or Tuscan Red and Chartreuse. From an art history point of view, Op Art ( a mid 1960’s artistic movement)  was traditionally created in black and white, giving the viewer the impression of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibrating patterns, or of swelling and warping. These colorful drawings absolutely give the viewer that same experience.

Personally I love a modernist aesthetic, and to see a sterile white room with a stainless steel skylight and ample day light, make for an amazing viewing experience. It forces the viewer to take in the radiating color. That said, I’d love to see a smaller installation of say 3 to five drawings on colorful walls from the opposite end of the color spectrum. What do I mean by that?  Imagine a rich verdigreen wall with orange drawings on it, or a deep purple wall with yellow drawings on it. This contrasting technique would make the drawings absolutely jump off the wall. Would it be a restful experience, no.  On the contrary, all that color would keep your eye moving around the room.

There’s only about 2 weeks left to see this installation. If you’d like to learn more about it, click here: LACMA