Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.
–John Calvin
Some things never change, right? The French theologian John Calvin wrote this nearly 500 years ago and it certainly holds true today. We are experiencing it firsthand with ample evidence being demonstrated over the weekend.
I am just going to leave it at that this morning. No further comment except to say that eventually all false idols and false prophets experience a fall and it is seldom a pleasant one.
Frantisek Kupka – The Black Idol (Resistance) 1903
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“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
― Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956
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Cautionary words from a man who experienced the results from a nation that went in the direction in which we seem to be moving. Much like yesterday’s post, a warning that we shall reap the amplified consequences from the evil we have sown with the silent compliance contained in our acceptance of it.
There’s so much to be done lately. Who would have thought that painting could be a hectic occupation? That’s not how they show it in the brochures! Anyway, here’s a post from several years back with the addition of a video showing the work of another artist, Frantisek Kupka, who slipped unseen through the radar for many people, myself included. The scope of his work and the way in which he maintains such a high level throughout is fascinating. Take a look.
Frantisek Kupka was another one of those supremely talented painters from the late 19th/early 20th century who is little known outside the world of museums these days. You probably won’t stumble across a Kupka calendar or mousepad. But when I see the scope and quality of his work I wonder why he hasn’t made that leap. I know I hadn’t heard of him when I first came across his work in a book of Symbolist paintings. I saw this image shown here, Resistance or The Dark Idol, and was immediately struck by the tension and drama in its mysterious setting. I was surprised when I saw his other work that was beautifully colored and striking in other ways.
Kupka- The Yellow Scale (1907 Self Portrait)
Frantisek Kupka was a Czech painter who was born in 1871 and died in 1957 in France. His career saw his work move from the early symbolic work to pure abstraction. In fact, Kupka is considered one of the founding members of the group, Abstraction-Creation, that set off the abstract movement. While I found much of his abstract work beautiful, it was the early work that really pulled me in. It was obvious that he could have worked extraordinarily well in any style he chose. But his relative anonymity remains a mystery to me. Perhaps he never had that one iconic image or series that became associated with his name. Monet’s water lillies. Van Gogh’s starry night. Gauguin’s Tahiti. Whistler’s mom.
I don’t know the whys behind this. But his talent is no mystery at all. It is evident in every piece I have come across.
Frantisek Kupka was another one of those supremely talented painters from the late 19th/early 20th century who is little known outside the world of museums these days. You probably won’t stumble across a Kupka calendar or mousepad. But when I see the scope and quality of his work I wonder why. I know I hadn’t heard of him when I first came across his work in a book of Symbolist paintings. I saw this image shown here, Resistance or The Dark Idol, and was immediately struck by the tension and drama in its mysterious setting. I was surprised when I saw his other work that was beautifully colored and striking in other ways.
Kupka- The Yellow Scale (1907 Self Portrait)
Frantisek Kupka was a Czech painter who was born in 1871 and died in 1957 in France. His career saw his work move from the early symbolic work to pure abstraction. In fact, Kupka is considered one of the founding members of the group, Abstraction-Creation, that set off the abstract movement. While I found much of his abstract work beautiful, it was the early work that really pulled me in. It was obvious that he could have worked extraordinarily well in any style he chose. But his relative anonymity remains a mystery to me. Perhaps he never had that one iconic image or series that became associated with his name. Monet’s water lillies. Van Gogh’s starry night. Gauguin’s Tahiti. Whistler’s mom.
I don’t know the whys behind this. But his talent is no mystery at all. It is evident in every piece I have come across.
Redtree Times 