The Art of Lockdown - Esther

Art is doing lockdown pretty well. Even before everything closed, galleries were “opening” online. There has been a rash of new podcasts, TV repeats of art history programmes, online classes, TV classes, art clubs, art challenges & free virtual gallery tours. People are being encouraged to “get involved.” We are learning about art by imitating famous works. There’s even a diploma course in Egyptian hieroglyphs & if I wasn’t working, I’d be tempted to enrol. Gloriously, there are Bob Ross reruns. The BBC is running life drawing classes. Companies & museums are exploiting the internet for all it’s worth to keep the visual arts relevant & important & to keep the people engaged. There’s a new pop-art-esque explosion of art being made by the public, regardless of technical ability.

Artemesia Gentileschi, "Self Portrait"

Apart from music, cookery & a little extra gardening, it doesn’t seem like the purveyors of other cultural pursuits are making as much headway. Having said that, there are limits. Not everyone has or can afford instruments or ProTools. You can’t get all the ingredients for cooking something new right now & you’re not allowed to go & fetch them as frequently. You may not have a garden. Or you may have hayfever.

“Art” though, seems more inclusive, more accessible.  After claiming not to be a snob last week, I put “art” in inverted commas because in all honesty, we’re tinkering about with the meaning of ART, the definition & purpose of ART. Without discipline or honing a craft, without an idea behind the work but simply trying out a medium or subject for the first time, we may argue about whether it is ART.

But the enjoyment & wellbeing that can arise from artistic endeavours is clearly more important right now & ambassadors for art have cleverly tapped into that. Plus it keeps kids “busy.” Of course, other activities are available & not everyone has an interest in finger painting or making their own play dough.

Paul Gaugin, "Vincent van Gogh Painting Sunflowers"

Whilst stuck at home there are other pastimes to adopt if you’re fed up of cutting up old magazines in the name of creating a new surrealist collage masterpiece & in that spirit, I’ve compiled a list of works depicting some of the world’s current favourite & permissible hobbies.

1) Pieter Janssens Elinga, “Reading Woman”

Apart from the incredibly uncomfortable looking chair, this painting represents heaven: peace, quiet, shoes kicked off & a decent amount of light. As far as I’m concerned reading is the greatest way to spend lockdown without killing brain cells.

2) Banksy, “Television Head Dance”

For those of us that like our telly (especially with so much ART on right now) we may well evolve into this. I’m fine with it. Little emphasis is put on the importance of Art as a distraction. Sure, like TV it can educate, but sometimes it just takes our minds somewhere else. When times are hard, do what’s easy.

3) Daniel F. Gerhart, “Winter Warmth” 

I know it’s approaching summer, but these impressionistic strokes of paint describe comfort & happiness. You may have a cat or other companion animal, you may not but if you’re lucky enough, having time to spend with them & the people you possibly live with is a luxury. Or a nightmare.

4) Giacomo Balla, “Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash”

…& if you have a dog, you’re no doubt walking him or her like crazy. Once a day. Allegedly. They say dogs reflect their owner & everything about this painting bears that out. The motion, the frills, the repetition – who is walking whom here?

5) Lytras Nikophoros, “Knitting Monk”

This painting really speaks to me. As an avid knitter, it was important to run around gathering as much yarn stash as possible as lockdown loomed. The monk concerned is so beautifully rendered, completely present in his work. & if he’s anything like me, he’s swearing in frustration that he’s dropped another stitch.

6) Gustave Blache III, “Cutting Squash (Leah Chase)”

Blache even portrays the heat & smell of this kitchen. Can you still get squash in your local supermarket? 

7) Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier, “Young Man Writing”

Apparently some people are journaling, others therapeutically writing the story of their lives in lockdown. In a comfortable room & plenty of light, the young man in question looks anxious enough to be living in difficult times but should he be touching his face?

8) Nikolai Astrup, “Rhubarb”

As I said, fine if you have a garden, even if rhubarb seems to grow everywhere in Scotland (& evidently Norway), but I love the sweeping composition & colours of Astrup’s gentle painting.

9) Elizabeth Elkin, “Humanity Drowning in Technology”

One wonders what the artist will be thinking right now, let along painting with things as they currently are. Whatever people say about social media & digital technology, it is no doubt a lifeline for some at the moment, whilst allowing others to continue their jobs.

10) Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, “The French Bed” 

Yeah, come on…don’t pretend the possibility of inflated birth rates in 2021 hasn’t occurred to you too…

11) Gustave Caillebotte, “Portraits in the Countryside”

Sewing is most definitely not my thing. I am as useless as a pigeon with sixteen thumbs when trying to sew. But the women here, doing what’s presumably regarded as “women’s work” look competent, patient & almost social distancing according to government regulations in a perfectly composed painting. There’s a chance the police may break this up shortly.

12) Gary Erbe, “Take Five”

   

Funnily enough, ProTools not shown…

13) Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “Drinking Youth”

He clutches that bottle as if his life depended on it & looks as if he might wink out at the spectator at any moment. One of my favourite lockdown occupations. Brain cells are overrated anyway.

Of course, the true art of lockdown is staying well, emotionally & physically. Whatever makes us happy, whatever we enjoy, we should (legally) try to do plenty of it…& that includes doing nothing. As with the other trials of life, who we turn out to be at the other end depends on how well we can make the most of it now. Look after yourself.

& know that Art will still be there for you.

Ernest Meissonier, "A Painter"


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