The Masterpiece

 By Martin Sercombe

 

“This artistic manifestation, with its rigorous denial of chromatic texture or overt symbolism, offers a compelling deconstruction of the human condition within the post-modern zeitgeist. The total absence of visual or sensory components, and refusal to allude to the socio-political struggles of our era, reveals a deep-seated existential angst that permeates all of contemporary culture.

By challenging the viewer's preconceived notions and subverting traditional artistic tropes, this work invites a profound introspection into the core of our being, forcing us to confront the inherent contradictions and uncertainties of our existence. Its sublime beauty and minimal conceptual framework makes it a truly transcendent example of contemporary art, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression and offering a new paradigm for the future of creative endeavour.” 

Professor Ursula Christensen, University of the Arts, New York

Woman with Medallion

By Glen L. Bledsoe

Last November agents of INTERPOL raided the home of Luigi Tracino, an Italian long suspected of possessing a number of purloined paintings including Vermeer's "Het concert" stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. While the famed Verneer sadly was not among the recovered masterworks authorities were surprised to find a painting by Eyk Van Jenz titled "Woman with Medallion" heretofore only known from descriptions in the journal of Henk Saefert, one of Van Jenz's many students, from the late 1400's. The painting itself historians believed had been burned in a fire in the town of Haafsdorf in what is now Germany in the early 17th century. How the painting survived and where it has stored since is a bigger mystery still.

Henk Tollmann one of INTERPOL's art theft experts said, "The painting appears to be in good condition for its age. As to its authenticity I will leave it up to the experts."

Indeed the painting has caused controversy since photographs of it first began to appear in the media. While the rendering of the woman in the painting appears to be very much in the style of Van Janz, the pendant hanging around her neck has caused some to declare it a hoax. Pictured on the pendant is a portrait of what appears to be 20th century pop star Elvis Presley.

Those who believe the painting to be authentic claim that the similarity between the portrait on the image and Elvis is a coincidence. Others claim that it is a master forger who is having a bit of fun with the public.

Either way the controversy has elevated the status of the painting beyond what might be expected without it. The painting will go on the auction block at Christie's in the spring where bidding is expected to start at US$70 million but could bring in much more.

The Madonna of Indianapolis

By Glen L. Bledsoe

The Madonna has been depicted in a number of ways over the centuries. Initially she was painted using a technique called egg tempera, which is pigment ground into egg yoke, thinned with water and applied with short strokes. About the time of Jan Van Eyck a new technique blossomed that incorporated a layer of egg tempera painted beneath successive layers of oil glazes. This lent flesh tones a vibrant, life-like quality never seen before. Early Renaissance painters used green underpaintings which when pinkish flesh tone glazes were applied over the top created cool shadows when modeling lights and darks in human figures. A painting in the collection of the Portland Art Museum entitled "The Green Madonna" provides mute testimony to the care needed when cleaning old paintings.

While paintings are by their very nature meant to exist as long as possible they do age, and the aging adds value. Not only historic but the aging produces even more beautiful colors as the glazes grow more transparent allowing light to pass through and bounce back from the white of the gesso or lead white base paint. Also layers in old paintings react with one another and create a much-desirable, fine cracked effect called "craquelure."

Rare among the aging effects of oil paintings, however, is the aging of the Madonna herself. The accompanying reproduction of a painting entitled "The Madonna of Indianapolis" (provenance unknown) serves as probably the finest example of this phenomenon. The painting currently is in the hands of a private collector, but the image can be found in many gift shops that offer postcards when traveling to such vacation spots as Tampa, Florida; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

 

The Marriage of Arnold Finley

 By Glen L Bledsoe

The Marriage of Arnold Finley painted by Eyk Van Jens circa 1433 has been the subject of little controversy since its discover in an attic of an abandoned home in Amsterdam more than 150 years ago. Most art historians view it as a simple picture representing the matrimonial bond between Arnold and Marie Finley. However more recently a group of speculative phenomenologists have proposed that it is the first record of what is called iPhone Brain Swap Syndrome (iPBSS). This occurs when two people (usually teens) share the tangly bits of iPhone earphones and due to the circuitry of the iPhone their conscious minds momentarily switch bodies. While the couple in the painting do have a certain vacant look on their faces they most certainly are not wearing a shared iPhone earphone. The technology hadn’t even been invented then and most people in those days used flip phones.