Tag: Weng Collection

Composition: Some Thoughts

Composition is, by definition, the act or process of “arrangement into specific proportion or relation and especially into artistic form.”  This can apply to written and visual arts, and other areas as well.  Composition can be practical, it can be adventurous.  Whatever it is, it is the individual’s sense of design.

One of the most challenging areas of composition is deciding how much is enough?  That will be dependent on a number of things – what are you trying to express?  In the old days, when photography did not exist, detail in Western art was much appreciated.  Being able to capture realistically an object or person was highly prized.  Detail was also valued in Asian art, but differently; scrolls made for a visual adventure, section by section, as can be seen in part of Long Scroll of Sesshu below, unlike the more limited flat surfaces of books.

Besides hand scrolls, multiple scrolls, such as this one presented in the Weng Collection’s catalog, hung side-by-side, created a larger work with individual panels, such as the triptych of Western art.

With photography, realistic and intimate recording of details became possible, and simplification and interpretative exploration began in the visual arts.  Zen in the east influenced ink painting because of its simplicity and focus of the moment in which the painting or calligraphy was produced.

Simplicity may have multiple levels.  A single line or movement may be repeated.  Details can also be within those elements.  For instance, in a garden, a curved walk may be the most dominant visual detail, but within that curve may be found many details, such as rocks or leaves or plants.

Simplicity by itself may fail.  Placement of elements in that simple composition need to be considered.  The most common compositional element discussed in photography is the Rule of Thirds.  If you are unfamiliar with the rule, draw a tic-tac-toe grid:  this is the Rule of Thirds.  Where the lines intersect is where you should consider placing the subject of interest.  Placement of subject in each of those four intersections gives a different energy to each picture.  Using this same precept prevents placement of horizontal or vertical focal subject in the dead center of the picture.

A picture or painting based solely on horizontal and / or vertical elements is tedious.  In this mix something needs to break this up.  Diagonal lines, shapes such as circles or triangles, or curves are compositional elements which add visual interest.  Balancing all of these can create a visually dynamic composition, but too much or wrongly placed, these same elements may destroy an otherwise compelling composition. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider colors, contrast, and scale.  These, too, impact the final image.

How the eye is led to the focal point of the image is key to good composition.  This can be called framing.  In photography, placement of objects in the foreground is common.  Shadows and bright areas are other ways to accomplish the directional sense in a composition.  Combine these with diagonals or curves, and the eye is led along a visual path to the area of interest.  In photography, this can be a bit of a challenge, but with cropping and airbrushing, distractions can be minimalized or removed.  In painting, these elements are far more easily avoided.

In photography, the natural world continually gets in the way.  We have all taken portraits of people with things protruding from their heads.  Painting a portrait, this is much less likely to happen.  Avoiding these distractions can be a challenge, simply because the photographer can be very focused on the subject.  However, as one progresses in understanding composition, these become more than obvious, and easier to avoid.  What is more subtle is an awareness of color.  For example, a person in a blue jacket against a background similar in shade (degree of blackening) or color may be more difficult to assess.  Similarity in color is called a merger. This is where an understanding of contrast is important.

Contrast may be high or low.  High contrast images display few shades of grey; low contrast studies contain many.  If you are not sure about this, take a color photo or paint a picture, and then change it to black and white in your photo editing software.  It becomes much more apparent when you do this.  Short scale / high contrast subjects can be very dynamic, and often this is more easily seen than the subtleties of long scale / low contrast subjects.  Long scale subject matter can be very beautiful, but if there is a lack of adequate contrast compositionally and in adjacent areas, a weak picture may result.

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In the four weeks since I started my photography class, my sense of framing a photograph has changed, as has my sense of color and composition.  More than anything, though, I have become more aware of light and shadow.  I’ve always liked the shimmering of light through leaves – as much as I love the rustling sounds – but now I find myself looking at shadows in general.  Our next assignment is to use light – flash, strobe, whatever – in different ways, such as diffusing it or bouncing it or reflecting it.  Of course, YouTube comes to the rescue on that note!

This short course has shifted my perceptions, and I am looking forward to seeing how it plays out in sumi-e.  Today, my studio will lose its tenant, and I am looking forward to some quiet and privacy and being able to use my space again.  My brushes and ink await.

The Weng Collection and Chinese Garden at the Huntington Library

I have a fairly decent knowledge of different time periods in western art history, and some familiarity with many forms in which it is produced.  I’ve worked with oils, acrylics, watercolors, done etching, stone lithography, and other forms of printmaking.  Being familiar with techniques gives an appreciation of the process the artist goes through to create a work.  I’ve also studied art history a bit, and know what occurred in what time and place, understand the evolution of styles, and can recognize a fair number of renown western artists.

Studying Chinese painting is very different because there is not the cultural context of brush and ink, nor a sense of the symbology of many of the subjects.  To the western eye,  it has been written, much of the painting and ink art of Asia is not understood.  I’m inclined to agree, because although I love the elegance and simplicity of sumi ink painting, my cultural background and training can make the art of Japan and China at times difficult to appreciate.

The Weng Collection – “Treasures Through Six Generations – at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, was eye-opening.  Spanning about 900 years in time, from the 1200s to present day, calligraphy and paintings, large (a 53′ scroll) and small, filled a couple of rooms.  There wasn’t so much that it was overwhelming, but enough to appreciate a sense of time and history in Chinese painting.   It was through this continuum of paintings that I got a sense of history and development, as well as an appreciation for the symbolism, the individuality expressed within traditional subject matter, and, I think, a sense of Chinese cultural time.  I was able to look at a painting and recognize how it was done – the movement of brush and ink, the addition of color.  Brushwork and style was recognizable, as both fine line and more spontaneous styles were shown.  The calligraphy was beautiful, ranging from “letters home” to loved ones, to a large, magnificant scroll of “hu” – tiger.

Newly completed in 2008, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance is nearby the exhibit.  After leaving the exhibit, we wandered down the hill, and into a grove of pine trees – so like the ones depicted in the scrolls in the exhibit, and so like the ones shown as samples in The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting. From there, a setting of young black bamboo.

The grove leads to the ponds and streams which have numerous koi, trees (willows and native oak), pavilions, and bridges.  The eye is led here and there.  Details small and large wait to be noticed. Architecture, plants, and water create a living handscroll.

The Weng Collection, the Chinese garden, The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, and my monthly Chinese painting class have conjoined into a single experience.  Somehow, I understand the history of Chinese painting better – nearly a millenia of tradition has been seen (and who has touched these paintings?  who made them?  who unrolled them in lantern light to enjoy them?) – a garden of trees and flowers, an earthly aesthetic – a “how to” book that is about 500 years old, and still being printed – and finally, doing the brushwork myself, as generations have before.

The catalog which accompanies this exhibit is well worth the 25.00 price – I know I will continue to enjoy this exhibit long after it leaves the Huntington. It gives the history of the collection, and detailed information about the work displayed. These pictures will give a sense of the contents.

If you ever have the opportunity to see this exhibit, go! And if you are in the Los Angeles area, visit the Huntington Library. The grounds are incredible. The gardens are beautifully laid out, one leading to another. We went on a Friday, had a picnic on the lawn (you cannot bring food into the gardens), and wandered through galleries, gardens, and had a peaceful time. In four hours we could not see enough. We shall return!

Excursion: Treasures through Six Generations

Tomorrow I will be heading down to the Huntington Library with a friend.  This is a rather pleasant, serendipitous excursion because while in South Pasadena, at Gus’s, I saw a poster for this exhibit, Treasures through Six Generations:  Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Weng Collection. In the back of my mind I thought it would be worthwhile seeing, but not sure if I could organize my life enough to get to it.  The biggest intimidation factor is I just don’t like driving in L.A. traffic!  I’ll be meeting up with my excursion buddy in the valley, and as I am driving the first half, chauffering will be provided the rest of the way.

The Weng Collection has an interesting history behind it.   According to the press release of Feb.23, 2009 from Huntington:

The history of the Weng family and their art collection reads like an epic novel, mirroring the tumult of 19th- and 20th-century China and its ensuing diaspora. Assembled primarily in the second half of the 19th century, the collection is legendary not only for its superb selection—it contains masterpieces of brush and ink spanning 900 years—but also for the remarkable individuals who have been responsible for its formation and safe-keeping. The works of art have survived repeated dynastic changes, protracted warfare, and journeys across continents, remaining almost miraculously unscathed under the care of this family.

The Weng collection has been in the same family for six generations, beginning with Weng Xincun (1791–1862). Xincun’s son Weng Tonghe (1830–1904) and the collection’s current owner, Wan-go Weng (b. 1918), are particularly celebrated for their remarkable achievements.Weng Tonghe, the family patriarch who formed the nucleus of the collection,was a preeminent figure in late Qing China.He rose to prominence when he placed first in the 1856 metropolitan exams for the jinshi degree and became a zhuangyuan (“First Scholar of the Nation,” as Wan-go Weng likes to say). Weng went on to tutor two emperors, Tongzhi (r.1862–74) and Guangxu (r. 1875–1908). The latter studied with him for a total of 24 years and regarded him as his closest adviser. In addition, Weng also held some of the highest positions in the government. He is remembered in history as the leader of the pro-war faction during the Sino-Japanese war in 1894–1895 and, through his introduction of the radical reformer Kang Youwei (1858–1927) to Guangxu, for his early influence on the emperor’s Hundred Days’Reform in 1898.

Weng Tonghe’s collection was passed down to Wan-go Weng, who brought it to the United States in 1948. Wan-go Weng is himself a modern-day Renaissance man—filmmaker,poet, scholar and civic leader—whose English films and publications on Chinese history and art have been widely influential among both scholars and general readers. Under his leadership in the mid 1980s, the New York–based China Institute rebuilt its reputation as one of the leading centers for the promotion of Chinese culture in the United States . . . .

The gardens at the Huntington Library are renown.  There are themed gardens, such as a Chinese one which is a perfect parallel for the Weng exhibit, a Japanese garden, a desert garden, a Shakespeare garden, and more.  If you want to see what is in bloom, for instance, this month, you can click here.

I’ve lived in California most of my adult life, within close proximity of the Huntington – never more than 100 miles – but this is my first trip, and I’m as excited as a kid going to Disneyland!