The Persistent Appeal of Tradition
By Tom Wachunas
“No poet, no artist of any art, has his
complete meaning alone. His significance, his appreciation is the appreciation
of his relation to the dead poets and artists. You cannot value him alone; you
must set him, for contrast and comparison, among the dead.” ― T.S. Eliot, from
The Sacred Wood
“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but
the preservation of fire.” ― Gustav Mahler
EXHIBIT: ALLIED ARTISTS OF AMERICA – 100 YEARS, at
the Canton Museum of Art (CMA), 1001 Market Ave. N, Canton, THROUGH JULY 19,
2015
As a student of
both art history and studio painting in the early 1970s, I was intrigued to
learn that somewhere along the labyrinthine journey of 20th century
Modernism, the subject matter of visual art had become liberated (some would
say rudely so) from representations of the visible or natural world. My studio
classes had become increasingly less instructional in the actual craft or technique
of painting as our critique sessions had morphed into heady discussions (at
times diatribes) about aesthetics.
One significant
result of my collegiate painting experience was not so much learning how to
paint per se, but rather how to see,
which in turn evolved into my own explorations of non-objective abstraction.
Along the way, I confess to “going through a phase” of real disdain for the
formal conventions of rendering “irrelevant” subjects such as landscape, still
life, and portraiture. Mea culpa. But time wounds all heels, and my youthful
disparagements of “old fashioned” art were eventually quelled by a renaissance
of favorable attitude regarding traditional contents and techniques. Suffice to
say I can appreciate a Rothko and a Rembrandt, a Pollock and a Poussin, a de
Kooning and a da Vinci with equal fervor.
I tell you this
not as part of a critical “review” as such, but rather as a subjective backdrop
to my deep appreciation of the overall scope of this stunningly mounted CMA
offering. It was conceived by Gary Erbe
(see my review of his concurrent show posted here on May 5), president emeritus
of Allied Artists of America, among this nation’s most prestigious visual art societies
now celebrating its 100th year. While appropriately subtitled “A
Dazzling Celebration of Contemporary American Art,” it would be a mistake for
viewers to expect a comprehensive state-of-the-American- visual arts survey.
There are simply too many trends and bold, complex experiments (many of dubious
worth) afoot in today’s art milieu to make that claim.
I do find it interesting that of the more than
60 member artists represented here from around the country, there’s nary a
piece that could be called wholly non-objective, though there are works in
varying stylistic degrees of abstraction. That said, the reigning spirit in this impressive
gathering of paintings, drawings and sculpture is one of sublime, even jubilant
homage to accessible (i.e. recognizable) realities. Think of it as a spectacular
tribute to representational imagery by a group of eminently accomplished
artists. They’re clearly engaged in an elevated remembrance of, and dialogue
with, historic – indeed precious - values of superior craft, exquisite formal
and compositional sensibilities and, yes, remarkable beauty.
Allied Artists of
America. Here’s to their next 100 years of upholding such traditions.
PHOTOS, from top: Absolutely Free, pastel by Peter
Seltzer; Portrait of Autumn,
graphite, by Yuka Imata; Vases and
Vessels, pastel by Leslie Lillien Levy; Last
Light of Day, oil by Thomas Valenti; Mixed
Emotions, watercolor by James Toogood