Artist: Ernst Wilhelm Nay-
Die Graue Stadt 1942
Link: http://www.artnet.com/artists/ernst-wilhelm-nay/die-graue-stadt-le-mans-a-X0aTCtx5LPfi_NRht3Abwg2
Formal Analysis: This work is super random and difficult to read. It is a lot of colors, designs, and shapes that all come together to create one random picture. You really don’t know what this work of art is when you look at it. It has a lot of green, yellow and white shapes that you can’t seem to grasp what the image actually is. The work is super textured. When staring at this photo, you can almost get frustrated while looking because you can’t figure out what the artist is trying to tell you.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/ernst-wilhelm-nay/
Iconographic Analysis: Nay was admitted to the Berlin Art Academy in 1925 and quickly became the master student of Realist painter Carl Hofer. Nay’s early expressionive paintings found success, but it was short lived. Like many avant-garde artists of the time, Nay’s modern work was rejected by the German National Socialists and in 1937 was included in “Degenerate Art,” the notorious anti-modernist exhibition. Maybe everything that he learned in his past contributed to what art he did in the future.
http://www.kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/news/9878
Contextual Analysis: In 1940, Nay was drafted into the German army as a cartographer and later traveled to France, while his art studio in Berlin was bombed. I think that maybe since he went through a lot during his lifetime and having so many works of art that meant so much to him and then they all burnt down, I could imagine that it could ruin your whole life. He was also in post world war 2 time and has seen a lot in his life time.
Paragraph 3: This work of art is so aggravating because I cannot figure out what it is. It has no form of being anything that is real so I feel like the artist did not even know what he was doing while doing this art piece. I think it may relate to what he had going on in life at the time. It may have taken some time to do this, but then again it could have been something that came unexpected as well. I do not believe that this painting or whatever you want to call it, has a purpose at all. I do not see anything of this work of art that has any purpose in any way. I think that is why I cannot make myself like it.
Paragraph 4: I guess I can see where someone would think this piece of art is pretty or “unique”. Maybe the randomness of this picture would mean a lot to someone. It could relate to people on not just an artful level but it could relate to people on a personal level that means something than just a picture to some people. Maybe other people think that the artist worked hard to create this like so. People may also like it because of its color and lines that it takes to form this. I still personally do not like this picture because it doesn’t mean anything to me and I think it is a pointless picture that was just thrown together to create something.
Art is not always to be taken literally, or seriously. Art is also not always meant to be relatable or understood. Sometimes art is created through emotion. Life happens, and instead of expressing how one feels through something easily understood, like a portrait, the artist reacts through brush strokes how they feel. Emotions are complex, misunderstood, often unclear, but sometimes art is not for you, it is simply something the artist did for themself.
That’s a good point – perhaps the artist was working something out personally and this was a way to share the complexity of his feelings. Without imagery it’s hard for us to relate but the choices the artist made with the colors or brush strokes help us emotionally empathize with his possible intent.
I agree that painting is random and difficult to read I also do not find this painting interesting. Your correct though others might find it interesting for the same reason I dislike it.
When I see paintings like this where it just seems like the artist just took the paint brush and threw paint on the canvas and just created something I don’t see where the Art is either. Maybe this was created unexpectedly and he was getting some emotions or anger out and this is what he feels like on the inside, who knows. But I definitely agree with you on this not having any purpose, or maybe any that we can see. Like what is this portrait when trying to explain?
The lack of imagery always makes non-objective work more challenging than other types of work but this does not mean that it is without content or meaning. We have to be more open to the potential expression of the most basic choices made. Certain colors can evoke memories or emotions and some of the shapes may suggest forms that we associate in personal ways. The idea behind this and any non-objective work is to keep an open mind and try to empathize with the perspective of the artist. From what you learned about his past, it might be that the struggle to find identity or expression in a regimen (as an artist, specifically) that did not permit such things would have led to feelings of repression and a need to be bold and aggressive to make a statement. Some see this work and others from this period as being an outcry against the war itself.