UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA FACULDADE DE BELAS-ARTES
THE SPECTACLE OF PAINTING
Personal development within painting and the belonging aspects
Tom Solty
Trabalho de Projeto Mestrado em Pintura
Trabalho de Projeto orientado pela Prof.ª Doutora Margarida Prieto
2021
RESUMO
Esta dissertação é sobre a experiência da pintura (a experiência de pintar) na era da pós-internet e estrutura-se nos resultados de pesquisas das sociedades educadas ocidentais. Como é que o acesso efetivo às tecnologias da informação afeta o trabalho artístico e criativo? Como é que interfere nas escolhas de cada indivíduo e no seu desenvolvimento artístico? E porque é que o processo de crescimento e de independência é tão importante para o auto-conhecimento (pessoal e artístico)? Para responder a estas perguntas e aos assuntos que lhes são inerentes é necessário contextualizar sobre qual foi a minha área de interesse pessoal nos últimos dois anos, que passei em Portugal. Portanto, minhas experiências pessoais e as respectivas pesquisas plásticas, teóricas e conceptuais sobre os vários temas que me interessam fundem-se e vêm sublinhar a investigação pela pintura como um campo de questionamento criativo e artístico. Para salientar o aspecto pessoal, tomo a liberdade de falar na primeira pessoa ao longo de todo o documento.
A investigação que se segue está ligada a uma série de pinturas que vão ser expostas na Faculdade de Belas-Artes de Lisboa entre 8 e 18 de Junho de 2021. A selecção desta série de oito pinturas é especial porque mostra o resultado do meu desenvolvimento artístico durante os últimos 2 anos, em Lisboa; reflecte os meus interesses, o desenvolvimento técnico pictórico e a minha forte ligação à pintura figurativa nos dias de hoje.
Um dos meus objectivos nesta investigação foi pensar sobre a pintura que desenvolvo e que vou apresentar. Neste sentido, apresento o leque de informações que é inerente ao meu projecto pictórico, primeiro, para documentar e reforçar as motivações pessoais que o originaram e, depois, para ajudar o leitor ou observador identificar-me como o autor destas pinturas, especificamente, e neste movimento compreender quais os temas e conceitos que me interessam.
A estrutura desta dissertação está assente em três capítulos principais. O primeiro capítulo parte de uma breve e pessoal concepção sobre a pintura e o
“espectáculo” a ela ligado. No seguimento desta apresentação, explica-se o poder da linguagem visual da Escola de Leipzig, a sua abordagem e ambição em relação à pintura
salientado duas características importantes: a narrativa e a técnica desenvolvidas por Arno Rink e Neo Rauch.
O segundo capítulo começa por focar-se em questões de ordem psicológica relacionando-as com determinadas pinturas e eventos. Nesta análise tornou-se recorrente o conceito de “autoridade” que é, portanto, analisado e desconstruído.
Igualmente indispensável é explicar algumas razões psicológicas do comportamento humano dentro de uma determinada sociedade ou como é que a arte é percebida e percepcionada ou, também, como é que nós (eu) nos compreendemos, uma vez que a produção de pintura (destas pinturas) está fortemente ligada tanto aos acontecimentos contemporâneos como à interação humana, incluindo hábitos conscientes e inconscientes. Em termos históricos, e focando o poder das imagens violentas, também cada pintura dada como exemplo na história da arte funciona como “autoridade visual”
e desempenha um papel importante. Ensaia-se, por isso, uma explicação sobre a luxúria, a procura da violência e a luta pelo poder através das imagens. O tema da violência é omnipresente. Está patente nas histórias mitológicas da Grécia antiga que nos chegam até hoje que estão entre as fontes imagéticas mais influentes da arte ocidental.
Actualmente continua-se a suspeitar das imagens – da sua veracidade e credibilidade – porque os media e as tecnologias digitais dão acesso a uma quantidade infinita de imagens de conteúdos violento a todos os níveis. Observar imagens de violência, em qualquer lugar, em qualquer momento, tem certamente um efeito na qualidade da interacção humana e na sua sensibilidade. Este segundo capítulo termina com a delimitação do conceito de “rebelião”, que pode ser visto como uma consequência do termo “autoridade” mencionado acima. No contexto desta dissertação, a rebelião é circunscrita em conexão com a (minha) pintura e com algumas ocorrências cruciais que afetam o (meu) modo de pintar e realmente constituem a (minha) abordagem visual pessoal. Neste ponto, parece-me crucial falar sobre “nudez” e “pornografia” e, numa abordagem histórica, relacionar estes dois conceitos com as minhas pinturas através de citações de Erotismo, escrito por Georges Bataille.
As palavras-chave podem parecer exageradas para uma dissertação que resulta de uma investigação ainda seminal (de mestrado) mas, como este trabalho conecta esforços e motivações internas e pessoais, as pesquisas e as investigações de outros autores e filósofos vieram estruturar o (meu) campo de interesse e este tornou-se mais
estável e objectivo. A reflexão que colmata a distância entre as (minhas) pinturas e as razões – (in)conscientes – da sua concepção, fortalece o discurso conceptual sobre trabalho artístico.
O terceiro e último capítulo é dedicado ao meu trabalho prático e às respectivas técnicas de representação, começando com a explicação do processo pictórico em termos de procedimentos, métodos e como a pintura realmente começam a desenvolver- se. A importância processual da fotografia e a relação documental e de arquivo (de imagens) é explicada e dá uma visão sobre o (meu) pensamento crítico em relação a certas atitudes e a certos comportamentos (dos outros) e como isso se reflecte nas imagens que escolho pintar.
Questionar “autoridades” e atravessar (ir para além dos) limites nunca foi visto como algo potencialmente positivo na nossa sociedade materialista e competitiva. Por isso, os conceitos de “autoridade” e de “limite” sempre me atraíram. Ultimamente posso reflectir sobre onde, porquê e como cheguei ao ponto de não fazer cedências. A lista que caracteriza uma natureza autoritária é longa e demorou anos de pesquisa a consolidar- se. Autoritária é uma pessoa convencional particular, rigidamente ligada a valores tradicionais, com tendência para julgar o mundo com base em estereótipos pré- fabricados, o seu pensamento estrutura-se em categorias estritas de bem e mal, de certo e errado, “vê” a preto e branco; o ambíguo, o subjetivo, o imaginativo ou o sensível são tidos como suspeitos. Uma pessoa autoritária submete-se de boa vontade e sem crítica à autoridade do seu próprio grupo. Procura o que é diferente para poder condenar, demonizar e punir. Acredita na exploração do homem por via de eventos misteriosos e perigosos no mundo. Pensa a sexualidade como comportamento excessivo e pensa excessivamente em sexualidade.
A insegurança e a incerteza são companheiras constantes das nossas vidas. De certa forma – neste ponto falo sobre a minha experiência pessoal – podem causar mal- entendidos e mal-estar auto-consciente e, principalmente, podem impedir alguém de ser, de se descobrir a si mesmo. No meu processo de trabalho concebo as pinturas a partir de fotografias (minhas) de situações quotidianas habituais. Decidi focar a pintura nas minhas motivações e no que são as suas fontes, de modo a mostrar o que me interessa.
De certa forma, esta investigação veio ajudar-me a refletir sobre o desenvolvimento da
pintura como disciplina artística, da pintura como trabalho criativo próprio, crítico e auto-crítico, sobre o que é ser artista e compreender o que é inerente à profissão. Por isso, expressa a importância do conceito de “rebeldia”, a potência da provocação nas imagens que pinto e que levam o observador a olhá-las com atenção porque contêm a possibilidade de uma leitura ou interpretação anárquica, que tem a sua importância.
Conectar os pontos entre as minhas pinturas, a vida quotidiana e as estruturas sociais atuais pode ajuda seguramente a compreendermo-nos melhor no contexto actual.
Palavras-Chave: Pintura figurativa, Pintura narrativa, Espetáculo, Rebelião criativa, Desenvolvimento artístico
ABSTRACT
This artistic research project addresses the sphere of painting with a special focus on figurative painting and the importance of visual narratives within my own, but also other works of art. The connection between the practical implementation and certain psychological coherences shapes the body of this thesis.
The investigation begins with the explanation of the spectacle of painting addressing a certain group of painters which go by the name of The Leipziger School.
Therefore the manifestation of one of the founders Arno Rink, is mandatory to underline the importance of visual rebellion and artistic freedom, likewise his student Neo Rauch.
This artistic work focuses on the recurring emergence of authority and its corresponding companions such as violence and rebellion. To connect personal proceedings with actual researches, the guidance of the human philosopher and psychologist Erich Fromm and Erik Erikson is a significant assistance in the following work. Pointing out the distinctive properties of actual human behavior, mostly focusing on outcomes of the western world, the declaration of the term rebellion or exposure will be explained and clarified by visual examples such as Goya´s, Gentileschi´s or Volpedo´s paintings. To bridging the gap between the theoretical research and practical operations, the last chapter focuses on my paintings, the belonging methods such as photography or documentation, and it shall demonstrate a unique commentary about the physical procedure within my artistic execution.
Keywords: Figurative painting, Narrative painting, Spectacle, Creative rebellion, Artistic development
INDEX
Resumo………
Abstract………..
Introduction: Personal appeal and the body of work
Chapter 1: Devotion to painting and practical methods The spectacle of painting and masterpieces ……….
Handcraft and development with focus on the School of Leipzig Arno Rink………..
Neo Rauch……….
Narratives in painting ………
Chapter 2: Psychological terms and the recurring emergence of Authority in the works of Goya, Gentileschi and Volpedo Quote on Authority………
Quote on Violence………..
Exposure and Rebellion……….
Quote on emancipation by Artemisia……….
Quote on Rebellion by Volpedo……….
Chapter 3: Practical work and the belonging methods
Explanation of the process……….
Photography and documentation………
Introduction to the paintings………..
Conclusion
References ………
1
2 2.1 2.2 2.2.1 2.2.2 2.3
3
3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5
4 4.1 4.2 4.3
5
3 7
11
15 17 23 25 29 32
36
39 45 53 58 62
68 69 78 82
100 103
FOREWORD
This dissertation, the belonging research and all that time I spent painting and practicing at the atelier were only feasible through my parents and their huge amount of patience and comprehension. Without their help and assurance I would barely work and live as I do now. Beside of that I really want to admit that the past two years in Lisbon and especially the time in the Atelier of FBAUL were mandatory and pioneering for my artistic path. Therefore I want to thank Hugo Castilho, Pedro Barassi, Pedro Linãres and Alberto Marques for all those good conversations, the discussions and the inspiration we shared.
To not forget the importance and guidance of my professor Margarida Prieto, who has been helping me with the following work, but also been very inspirational and helpful with any kind of suggestions within the field of painting and philosophy.
Introduction: Personal appeal and the body of work
This dissertation is about experience painting in the era of post internet and focuses on outcomes of western educated societies. How does the actual access to information technologies affects artistic and creative work? How does it interfere with certain choices regarding each individual artistic development? And why is the process of growing up and becoming in-depended so important for each ones comprehension?
To answer those questions and belonging issues it is necessary to contextualize my personal field of interest and the past two years in Portugal. Therefore my personal experiences and appropriate researches about various topics melt together and shall underline the pursuit for painting as a field of creative and artistic questioning. To underline this personal aspect, I take the liberty to speak in the first person throughout the all document.
The last two years in Lisbon and especially the time at the atelier of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon is mandatory to the following dissertation and surely marks the personal field of interest within painting. To point out what this research is about and explain the inner striving, this essay will lay out the belonging motivations, the causes and the huge impact of inspiration, which guides me on a creative and personal level to this day. Writing a dissertation about my work seemed troubling at the very beginning, due to rapid changing in my paintings like the differentiation of style. I wasn't too sure about what my exact reasons were and why do I practice certain techniques of painting, neither could I describe the connection of my practical outcomes to theoretical issues.
The importance of this work just appeared while writing and reading during the past 6 month and finally I can substantiate the narrative and the expression of my paintings.
The written paper underlines and clarifies certain characteristics of the paintings and the belonging formation, first of all to document and strengthen personal motives and second to help the reader or the observer of the paintings to consider my paintings of mine. The paperwork is integrated in three main chapters, starting with a brief and personal conception about painting and the “spectacle” connected to that, wherein it explains the power of the visual language with a focus on the School of
Leipzig1, their approach and ambition in painting and certain important characteristics, like narration and the handcraft.
In the second chapter it focuses on psychological issues in connection to the paintings and the depicted events. The recurring emergence of authority is therefore an important term to be analyzed and deconstructed. It feels mandatory to also shed light on psychological reasons for our behavior within a certain society and how we perceive not only art, but also ourselves, since the paintings are strongly connected to contemporary happenings and the human interaction between conscious and unconscious habits. Visual authorities, in terms of historical paintings and the power of violent images, are also playing a huge role. This essay explains the immense lust and the pursuit for violence and striving of power. Since the very beginning, mankind is accompanied by violence and during the epochs we attached to certain circumstances, but never really lost the appearance of evil deeds. The depiction of violence is probably as old as the painting itself. Since the Neolithic rock paintings of the early hunting cultures, bloody scenes of struggle, hunting, sacrifice or atonement can be traced through the cultural history of mankind. The theme of violence is omnipresent in the mythological stories of ancient Greece, which to this day are among the most influential pictorial sources of occidental art. We still deal with suspect depictions in the present age, where digital media gives access to endless amounts of violent content on all levels. Being able to observe violence wherever and whenever surely affects human interaction and our sensibility. Another important point in this chapter describes the range of rebellion, which can be seen as an consequence of the upper mentioned term of authority. Rebellion, as explored here, is circumscribed to the most important characteristics in connection to painting and some crucial occurrences, which affects the way of painting and actually forms ones personal visual approach. Therefore it seems also crucial to talk about nudity and pornography, its historical attempt, the connection to my paintings and quotations of Georges Bataille and his book Erotism. Those keywords may seem different and overwhelming for only one dissertation in the very beginning, but since this work connects personal inner strivings and motivations to actual researches and investigations of other authors or philosophers, the structure of the field of interest became more stable. Bridging the gap between the paintings and
School of Leipzig translated to English from the original German term Leipziger Schule
1
unconscious reasons helps us to reflect, but also to strengthen the conceptual language of ones work.
The third and last chapter is all about the practical work of mine and the belonging techniques, started with the explanation of the process in terms of procedures, methods and how the paintings actually start to evolve. The importance of photography and the relation to documentary manners is explained and gives insight about the personal relation to certain attitudes and how that reflects the implementation.
Questioning authorities and crossing boundaries was never seen as something potentially positive in our society of possessions and competition, so especially these characteristics always attracted me and lately I can reflect where, why and how I got to this point of not accepting certain arrangements. The list of characteristics that make up the authoritarian nature, whom has been identified in years of surveys is long. The authoritarian person is a particular conventional person, rigidly bound to traditional values. It has a penchant to judge the world on the basis of prefabricated stereotypes, it thinks in strict categories of good and evil, right, wrong or black and white - everything ambiguous is suspicious to it, as are everything subjective, imaginative or sensitive. It submits willingly and uncritically to the authorities of its own group. It is looking for something different, which it can condemn, demonize and punish. It believes in exploitation and dangerous mysterious events in the world. It deals in excess with sexuality.
Insecurity and uncertainty are constant companions guiding us through our lives. In some ways - at this point I talk about my personal experiences - it can cause a self- conscious misunderstanding and it can mainly stop one from being him/her self or just finding out who he/she is. Since I build up my paintings through various photographs and usual situations, I decided to focus on my motivations and the sources which actually form the type of work. In a way this essay should help reflecting me in terms of the development within painting, being an artist and comprehend the belonging identity. Meanwhile, it should express the importance of rebellion and provocative meanings which lead the observer to look at my paintings differently and convey to each reader a sense of anarchical conduction and its importance. Connecting the dots
between my paintings, everyday life and current social structures should help to be more secure about how we perceive each other in our environment today.
“One is to make others depended on oneself and to make absolute and unrestricted power over them, so as to make of them nothing but instruments, “clay in the potter´s hand”. Another consists of the impulse not only to rule over the others in this absolute fashion, but to exploit them, to use them, to steal from them, to disembowel them, and, so to speak, to incorporate anything eatable in them. This desire can refer to material things as well as to immaterial ones, such as the emotional or intellectual qualities a person has to offer. A third kind of sadistic tendency is the wish to make others suffer or to see them suffer. This suffering can be physical, but more often it is mental suffering. Its aim is to hurt actively, to humiliate, embarrass others, or to see them in embarrassing and humiliating situations. ” 2
FROMM, Erich (1941) - The Fear of Freedom, London, Farrar & Rinehart, p.124
2
CHAPTER 1
Devotion to painting and practical methods
In general the word spectacle can be an event that is memorable and therefore caused by and dramatic or extraordinary appearance. The following essay discusses the spectacle as something within the art world and in painting especially. The joy of creating something that will last is definitely connected to paragons and examples which have been displayed to ones behavior throughout the media, museums or books.
But the sheer mystical mixture out of the act of painting and the exposed visual, can make one curious about painting as a process of creation instead of its mostly psychological and historical matters. Regarding the paintings and analyzing the time in the atelier, makes it necessary to talk about the balance between working and some issues of science. Therefore the contexualition will help us and explains the connection to the spectacle itself with quotes of Hal Foster and his book Recodings - Art Spectacle, Cultural Politics, as well as the occasion of handcraft, practice and its belonging experiences. The actual focus lays on the comparison and the relation to the School of Leipzig, their painters such as Arno Rink, Wolfgang Mattheuer or Neo Rauch, whereof quotes of Carolin Modes´ dissertation called The new Leipzig School, an artist-centered analysis3, is playing a huge roll. Eduard Beaucamp and his book In the Mirror of History - The Leipziger School of painting4 is the main base for the following declaration. This chapter is largely about the field of handcraft and the spectacle of painting and movements or artists which affected personal interests and strivings within the field of painting.
Looking back and recognizing that my process of painting with oil just started two years ago, doesn’t make it easier to reflect certain happenings and actual characteristics. But deliberate the past time in the atelier of the Faculty of Fine Arts in Lisbon, can clearly point out that it was worth it coming there and working in the atelier almost every day. Not only the freedom of expression, it is very much connected to practical matters, such as building your own stretcher frame, preparing the raw linen and mixing oil colors. The exchanging of techniques with colleagues or just ones opinion about certain things was and is something that definitely represents a master in
The new Leipzig School - an artist-centered analysis translated to English from the original
3
German title Die Neue Leipziger Schule - Eine Akteurzentrierte Dissertation
In the Mirror of History - The Leipziger School of painting translated to English from the
4
original German title Im Spiegel Der Geschichte - Die Leipziger Schule der Malerei
painting. The pleasure for creating certainly begun in the theatre of Aachen, in Germany, where I was born. I was working there for more than one year helping out building the scenery and painting certain huge canvases. The treatment was very practical and so was my disposition at that time in connection to artistic works which we were doing. There was a certain time we had to finish one scenery, which for example contained a back wall of the stage by the size of 10 by 15 meters. Painting in a huge studio with two masters of painting who guided and inspired me, has been very appealing and crucial, and it shaped the beliefs of painting and art in some ways for sure. I am still overwhelmed by paintings or artworks where one can feel, see and enjoy certain elements of ability and aptitude, even if this mostly lies in the eye of the beholder. Masterpieces in museums, such as the Italian Masters, large size figurative paintings such as the “Dutch Golden Age” in the 17th century or landscapes painted by William Turner, are reasons for me to respect but also imitate several techniques, compositions or even formats.
2.1 The spectacle of painting and masterpieces
A masterpiece is the outstanding work of an artist, which is able to convince both, the critics and the addressee, and represents an extraordinary work of creativity.
The masterpiece is mostly a late work by the artist, in which he/she condenses the experience and knowledge in a special way in a work of art. The most important work, the magnum opus5, is usually masterful and just by its appearance impressive. However, there are no clear characteristics or specifications that declare works of art to be masterpieces. It is more about the fact that an artistic work is masterful in many details:
this can affect the style, the techniques and its individuality, as well as the production and it usually conducts a work that is exemplary just by its appearance. Such masterpieces can be found in the visual and performing arts, in music and in literature.
Thus every work of the arts that is tied to a creative process can ultimately be declared a masterpiece. The cultural area (area in which different ethnic groups with similar cultural assets live) of the artist is also decisive, because this cultural background and the belonging people actual define what and why some piece of work becomes a masterpiece. The works of famous artists from Giotto to Rembrandt can be a guarantee
Magnum opus refers to the greatest work of a writer, artist or composer
5
for the existence of a specific arsenal of knowledge, as well as an atmospheric resonance space for protagonists. What distinguishes their mastery is their complexity, the openness of the works of art, which operate at the heights of a style and at the same time offer semantic depths that can be read in the color palette, composition, brushwork and ultimately in the broad topic of the work itself.
“These days, I have no real interest in multiplying my publications;
instead what interests me is discovering paintings that will change public perceptions—those masterpieces lying dormant in private collections and in the storerooms of galleries and art dealers that are simply waiting to be identified. ” 6
It is a recurring fact of the art world and for cultural history itself, that certain works of art are drawn to others in contemplation: they are considered more beautiful and more valuable, qualitatively better and richer in content. As the “highlight” of a museum, they take on advertising functions and mass attention, guarantee loads of visitors and control perceptions.
COSTAMAGNA, Philippe (2018) - The Eye: An Insider's Memoir of Masterpieces, London,
6
New Vessel Press, p. 338
Giotto di Bondone (1276-1337), Ognissanti Madonna, 1310, Oil on wood, 325 x 204 cm, Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669), De Nachtwacht, 1642, Oil on canvas, 363 x 437 cm, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
As exemplary representatives of an epoch or style, they represent indispensable values of science and as “identity-creating works”. They can form the foundation of an aesthetic education. For the designation of such works of art of outstanding importance, the concept of the masterpiece has become naturalized. In the original sense of the term, it referred to a qualification that was given to obtain a master‘s title. If the masterpiece was a recognized, generally famous and overwhelming piece of work, it was exhibited and visual disposable for the viewer. 7
“We know these canons - Renaissance, modernist, etc. through what gets hung in art galleries, played in concerts, published and taught as literature or art history in universities and schools, gets put on the curriculum as the standard and necessary topics for study at all levels of the educating - acculturating, assimilating - process. ” 8
If one connects the concept of authority with that of the masterpiece, new perspectives open up. Like authorities, masterpieces stand for special qualities such as beauty, truth and order. For example, according to the greek mythology and the
TURNER, Jane (1996) - The Dictionary of Art, London, MacMillan, p. 598-600
7
POLLOCK, Griselda (1999) - Differencing the Canon, London, Routledge, p. 4
8
“Meet Vincent Van Gogh“ advertisement for an moving exhibition about Van Gogh and his life. Displayed in Lisbon during the time of the year 2020 via almost every urban advertisement method.
“Charites“ those three values and virtues of beauty, nature and fertility connects the 9 concept of a masterpiece with that of the “Charites”.
It may be connected to authorities because this masterpiece gives form to an idea of an order, of an rule (moral, ethic) and doing so instruct and inaugurate a type of heroistic behavior. This masterpiece shows us three women who represent three human qualities that must be "imitated" by the whole society. In doing so they in-fact install a kind of authority.
By taking masterpieces as masters, they exercise a central social function that stabilizes society, provides orientation and enables action, but also controls perspectives and restricts opportunities for action. The power of a masterpiece is in fact an action- influencing force to which people can behave or reject, but in any case have to react. 10 Masterpieces have been structuring aesthetic thinking and experience in the visual arts as well as in other similar fields. Their existence and the way we deal with them usually
CHARITES: The Kharites (Charites) or Graces, were three goddesses of grace, beauty,
9
adornment, joy, mirth, festivity, dance and song from the 1st Century A.D. A number of younger Kharites presided over the other pleasures of life including play, amusement, banqueting, floral decoration, happiness, rest and relaxation.
BOSCHUNG, Dietrich (2013) - The masterpiece as authority, Berlin, Wilhelm Fink Verlag,
10
p. 9
Raphael Sanzio da Urbino (1483-1520), The Three Graces, 1503-1505, Oil on panel, 17,1 x 17,1 cm, Musée Conde Chantilly, FranceCondé Unknown artist (1st-century A.D), The Three
Graces, Fresco depicting the Three Graces. From Pompeii, Italy. Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Archaeological Museum).
appear so natural that they can be perceived as a natural given fact. This phenomenon is called naturalization.
“Tension is a primary component in all forms of art, achieved by the conflict between opposing elements. It’s the tension that holds our interest. In a masterpiece, the energy created by that tension reveals a universal truth. And a masterful artist does this without the viewer knowing it. She slips the message into our collective subconscious unnoticed. A masterpiece becomes iconic when it is not only unique, but also strikes a quintessential cord. Iconic masterpieces are both ordinary and complex. Accessible to the public and widely praised by academia, they bridge the gap between popular and scholarly. ” 11
How certain works of art obtain their validity is a fundamental question, especially in art history. Whole art receptions have been written for selected individual works in order to trace the history of their praise, and find out about the belonging values such as myth and aura. Masterpieces are not only aesthetic orientation marks for elites: some works of art succeed in gaining recognition in society across the board, even beyond the boundaries of artistic or intellectual circles. In this case the painting of Picasso's “Guernica“, which is one of the works of art of the 20th century which succeeded in gaining its deserved approval, is a good example.
WEATHERWAX, Annie (2020) - Making a masterpiece, consulted at: http://blog.pshares.org/
11
index.php/making-a-masterpiece-what-writers-can-learn-from-iconic-imagery-in-visual-art/
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973), Guernica, 1937, Oil on canvas, 349 x 777 cm, Madrid, Museo Reina Sofía
In Annemarie Zeiller´s book Guernica and the Audience12 she takes the painting of Guernica as an object in order to pursue its authoritative status in the middle class. For them, the work of art gains importance primarily through the politicization of the content, but there are also important catalysts such as the active role of the artist, a change in aesthetic and political orientation between the generations and cultural differences of Europe and the USA. I talk about that because my dissertation connects some psychological issues with those examples of famous artworks, which effectuate diversity of interpretation in consideration to its social background and the physical origin. The work of art itself also offers a substrate for political agitation in image quotations that condense the emotional content of violence and pain. The author also 13 sheds light on the modern problem of defining masterpieces and how this declaration plays a role in establishing the status of the image. The result is an exemplary combination of favorable historical circumstances, artistic and institutionalized promotion, social reorientation and internal image characteristics, which Guernica anchors in the memory of a broad section of the population. 14
Les Demoiselles d’Avignon or the air bombing of the Basque city of Guernica, by the German Air Force, during the Spanish Civil War in 1937 affected Picasso to
Guernica and the Audience translated in English from the German original title Guernica und
12
das Publikum
VEGAP (2020) - Guernica as a political symbol, consulted at: https://
13
guernica.museoreinasofia.es/en/ story/guernica-political-symbol
ZEILLER, Annemarie (1996) - Guernica and the Audience, Hannover, Reimer, p. 37
14
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (1881-1973), Les Demoiselles dÁvignon, 1907, Oil on canvas, 243,9 x 233,7 cm, Museum of Modern Art, New York
prepare himself for the work of his painting Guernica. In only a few month, Picasso completed Guernica and it was exhibited at the world exhibition in Paris. At first glance, it seems to be all about death and dying. Only as soon as the eye gets used to the chaotic movements, the observer is ready to identify each figure for itself. On the far left there is a woman, her head bowed back, screaming in pain and sadness, while holding the body of a dead child. Diagonally to the right above her is the head and body of a large, white bull - the only uninjured and calm figure in the middle of the chaos.
Below her lies a wounded or dead man, his arm is severed, and in his mutilated hand he is holding a broken sword. Only his head and arms can be seen, the rest of the body is covered by the partly overlapping, partly scattered fragments of other figures. In the center of the painting is a frightened horse, with its mouth wide open, apparently screaming and pierced by a spear from above. Three more women are shown on the right: one seems to plunge into the scene, gazing at the eye-shaped ceiling lamp that shines in the middle above, her leg is greatly enlarged, as if it would hinder her escape.
Another leans out the window of a burning house, holding a lamp in her long, outstretched arm. The third woman appears to be trapped in a burning building, screaming in fear and horror. Their faces are contorted with pain, their eyes strangely removed and their mouths are open in scream. It shows how a masterpiece can be an element of denounce like in Guernica or how it can be an element of regulation likewise in the case of The Three Graces.15
2.2 Handcraft and development with a focus on the School of Leipzig
It actually took some time to recognize my personal field of interest within the world of painting. The inspiration and the demand of techniques by any other artist (doesn’t matter if him/her is an abstract or figurative painter) are important guidelines which shape the process since the very beginning. Understanding and learning more about any medium is important and satisfies ones requirement in connection to any working experience. Being able to paint light, shadow or different kind of textiles and textures in a proper way sometimes seems outdated and watching colleagues painting abstract, doesn’t make this thought less present. The appearance of handcraft and
ZEILLER, Annemarie (2013) - Picasso and the Middle-Class, München, Wilhelm Fink, p.81
15
schooling are certain important issues and definitely mark ones personal cause, even if one can convey any of those terms to the subject of abstract painting as well. In a way, figurative and narrative painting are very pleasing and observing artworks from that category can make one imitate or at least emulate certain standards. Taking time in the atelier, observing and analyzing artworks in Museums or cultivating myself just by watching documentaries about certain painters, opens up new doors and gives food for thoughts. In connection to Eduard Bordeau and his book about the “School of Leipzig”, the following research points out some interesting facts and also relatable similarities in various ways.
Since my stay in Berlin between 2014 and 2018, I am more familiar with east German history and the relation to art within the field of painting. Even if I was working in the design field, my job was all about connecting the differentiation of architecture, interior and graphic design to create, for example show rooms for certain fashion labels or design concepts for fairs and events. My employer and mentor Dirk Schumaier is an artist himself and he introduced me to various people within the field of painting, as well as the design world. While I was inspecting particular exhibitions and movements in Berlin, I could feel the tendency to figurative and objective painting. In June 2016 I was visiting the “Galerie Schwind” in Berlin, the exhibition of Arno Rink and some of his works made me suspicious about the School of Leipzig, their way of painting and one common thread: the figuration and the handling of common practice.
While abstraction was celebrated in the west of Germany, artists in the east concentrated on craftsmanship and traditional techniques. The term School of Leipzig does not describe any particular teaching method. On the contrary, the School of Leipzig shows a coexistence of innumerable styles, but across styles and generations, it stands for high artistic standards, combined with conscious social analysis and presented with remarkable craftsmanship. The first origins of the School of Leipzig are rooted in the city's art scene in the 1960s. The pioneers and teachers are Walter Arnold, Harald Hellmich, Gerhard Kurt Müller, Elisabeth Voigt, Ernst Hassebrauk, Max Schwimmer and Klaus Weber. Hans Mayer-Foreyt, Bernhard Heisig, Wolfgang Mattheuer and
Werner Tübke are counted among as the founders of the School of Leipzig . All of them 16 studied at the Leipzig Art Academy, today's University of Graphic and Book Art Leipzig (HGB), Germany. Later on all of them taught as professors and followed the typical standards of East German quality. Their unmistakable, idiosyncratic imagery made Leipzig a center of fine arts that was respected in the GDR (German Democratic Republic) and thus laid the foundation for the international reputation of the so-called New School of Leipzig since 2004. 17 18
2.2.1 Arno Rink
The following pages contain paintings by Leipzig artist Arno Rink and Neo Rauch, both works are outstanding and important for the individual process and coherent movements.
Arno Rink's paintings contrast themselves from the works of his 19 contemporaries in the color scheme and the application of light. His use of bright-dark contrast and the few signal colors, as well as his devotion to the romantic connotation related color of blue, makes it clear that he was consciously turning bis back to the socialist standards of his time. Most of the time Rink himself is in the focus of his 20 works in which he takes care about the forms and what can be signifies throughout the usage of color. There are many examples of his approach.
BEAUCAMP, Eduard (2017) - In the mirror of History, Leipzig, Wallstein Verlag, p. 20
16
New School of Leipzig translated from the original German term Die Neue Leipziger Schule
17
Idem, p. 22
18
Arno Rink was born in Schlotheim in 1940. In 1958 he began his art studies at the workers
19
and farmers faculty in Dresden and by 1962-67 he studied at the University of Graphic and Book Art in Leipzig with Bernhard Heisig, among others. Since 1975 he has been traveling to the Soviet Union and the Federal Republic of Germany, but also to Italy, India and Cuba. After an apprenticeship, assistantship and teaching at the Leipzig University, Rink received a professorship in 1979 and was finally appointed rector in 1987. In 1984 he was represented at the Venice Biennale. In 1986 he was awarded the GDR National Prize and later on Rink was re- elected as rector of the Leipzig University. He worked as Vice Rector until 1997 before he retired in 2005. His students include Neo Rauch, Michael Triegel, Christoph Ruckhäberle and Tim Eitel and count among other to the “Neue Leipziger Schule”. Arno Rink shaped a
generation of younger Leipzig painters who can be assigned to figurative painting as well. Arno Rink lived and worked in Leipzig till 2017 where he died at the age of 77 due to cancer.
MODES, Carolin (2008) - The new Leipzig School, Leipzig, GRIN Publishing, p. 30
20
“I love the characters that I paint. It is never primarily social criticism. The tradition of allegory is about beauty, the art of seduction, in the `Brecht´s` sense about vanity, violence and pain. “21
A look at his early work can reveal his influences such as his painting Song of October II22 from 1968. When Arno Rink graduated in the year of 1968, he was still obliged to deliver a piece of work that had to depict a group situation and a scene that pay homage to socialism. The painting Song of October23 is about the Russian Revolution and is anything but clearly legible. His diploma painting is a great example for the political discourse and sort of a hidden messages within Arno Rink´s paintings.
Art in the German Democratic Republic had a clear message, it should serve the system that positively depict workers' life under socialism. Arno Rink felt obliged to socialist realism in the first few years. He painted motifs from the world of life and work, but even then he was pushing the boundaries as an artist and couldn’t completely submit to the state doctrine. In a way his practical outcome does relate to my paintings and there 24 is a certain connection between independent figurative and social realistic paintings.
Arno Rink is increasingly emancipating himself from the doctrine of socialist realism. Art books about Surrealism and Salvador Dalí inspire him, and the global
Arno Rink about the work of Arno Rink, consulted at: https://www.fresko-magazin.de/wie-
21
anker-in-der-zeit/
Song of October II translated to English from the original German title Lied vom Oktober II
22
Song of October translated to English from the original German title Lied vom Oktober
23
BEAUCAMP (2017), op.cit. p. 27
24
Arno Rink (1940-2017), Das Lied vom Oktober II, 1968, Oil on canvas, 240 x 180 cm, Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig
Arno Rink (1940-2017), Das Lied vom Oktober I, 1966-1967, Oil on hardboard, 270 x 180 cm, Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr, Dresden
political situation is gaining more attention to him. Canto Libre, one of his main works, reflects the fight against the coup in Chile: Canto Libre is a title on a record by Victor Jara from 1970. Victor Jara was a Chilean songwriter and film director who died in 1973 after the Pinochet coup25. The murder caused great consternation worldwide, including artists from the GDR. In the work 26 Canto Libre Rink becomes even more definite. He paints the brutal Pinochet dictatorship in Chile without any frills. Freedom is a central issue that Rink, as a citizen of a totalitarian system, is massively concerned with. 27
His painting Terror II from 1978/79 is another outstanding work of him, which gained my attention by the composition and the movements amongst the figures. Today Rink's paintings can also be read beyond the temporal context as a painterly resistance to state violence. It seems very interesting to me that the artist takes advantage of christian symbolism too. A group of people is being displaced by faceless and uniformed units with batons and water cannons. The motives of state power and the
The coup in Chile which is more famous as the Chilean coup d´état was a military coup in
25
Chile on the 11 September 1973. The military general and head of the operation Augusto Pinochet aimed to give an end to the civilian rules and reinforce the military Government.
KASSNER, Jens (2016) - A painting reveals unfinished, consulted at http://www.jens-
26
kassner.de/leipzig/ein-bild-bleibt-unvollendet/
DÖRRE, Jan (2012) - Scout at the edge of the forest, consulted at https://www.mdr.de/kultur/
27
arno-rink-lebenslauf-100.html
Arno Rink (1940-2017), Canto Libre, 1977. Oil on canvas, 141 x 200 cm, Berlin, Staatliches Museum Berlin, National Gallery
abuse of human rights throughout oppression and violence are recurring events in Rink
´s works. Nothing really justifies the sheer mighty use of power, Rink said in an Interview in 2016 . Rink indicates moral decline and shows how the misuse of certain 28 authoritarian behavior lead to anxiety and insecurity.
“Painting or art in general is always a question of meaning. And the question of meaning - that is always an existential question, that is the existential question. In the GDR system, idealistically, we had planned something for painting. We wanted to reach people. You can - regardless of your level of education - bring pictures closer to people, reach them with art. The artist himself is not a moralizing being, but it is responsible for the paintings. ” 29
RINK, Arno (2016) - Interview with Franziska Leuthäußer, consulted at https://
28
cafedeutschland.staedelmuseum.de/gespraeche/arno-rink
RINK, Arno (2010) - Interview with Christoph Strack, consulted at https://www.domradio.de/
29
nachrichten/2010-08-22/der-maler-arno-rink-ueber-die-sinnsuche-eines-ungetauften
Arno Rink (1940-2017), Terror II, 1978/1979. Oil on wood, 160 x 255 cm, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig
2.2.1 Neo Rauch
The student of Arno Rink, who actually grow bigger then Rink himself, goes by the name of Neo Rauch . Him and other painters from Leipzig are paragons for my 30 research about craftsmanship in painting and figuration. History wise but also the international approval by Neo Rauch is one important fact that underline my statement of the accordance of figurative painting in contemporary times.
“It’s more bittersweet, like the whole life. There’s a certain taste of the limitations of our lifetime, which makes me a little bit angry sometimes and also sad. But hopefully I’m able to turn these emotions into a nice chromaticity. A painting should always be more intelligent than the person who makes it. " 31
Rauch is one of the most important artists of his generation and is considered a pioneer of the New Leipzig School. 32 His colorful and mostly large-format paintings show an influence of socialist realism as well as pop art and comics. His works are often classified as surrealist, as they depict the opposites of the real and the surreal, as well as the reality and the imaginary. In this way, Rauch creates an ambiguity that makes his works familiar and strange at the same time. In the time of 2007, the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art devotes a solo exhibition by the name para, which focuses on so-called parallel worlds or the contrast between reality and imagination. Rauch's works have so far been displayed in the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, in the Munich Pinakothek der Moderne, in the Max Ernst Museum in Brühl and in the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig. Rauch is considered the most prominent representative of the New Leipzig School. 33
Neo Rauch was born in Leipzig, Germany on the 18th of April 1960. From 1981 to 1986 he
30
studied painting at the Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art under Arno Rink and from 1986 to 1990 as a master student of Bernhard Heisig. From 1993 to 1998 Rauch worked as Arno Rink's assistant at the Leipzig Academy. In 2005 he succeeds Rink as a professor at the Leipzig University of Graphics and Book Art, where he taught until the year of 2009.
RAUCH, Neo (2019) - Interview with Paul Laster, consulted at https://
31
www.conceptualfinearts.com/cfa/2019/07/05/neo-rauch-interview/
BEAUCAMP (2017), op.cit. p.153-155
32
RAUCH, Neo (2018) - Biography, consulted at https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/neo-
33
rauch/biography
“I never wanted to change the world, neither the order of things nor my fellow citizens’ perceptions of life. I always preferred to just let the world in all its complexity impress itself upon me. I’ve tried, and I’m still trying—via a precisely-aimed reach into the immeasurable flow of things—to perform a kind of bundling. This bundling then is the artwork. ” 34
In his industrial and natural landscapes, the spatial relationships are irregular, the proportions are dynamic and the figures are caught in stages of constant movement.
Rauch hesitates to describe his paintings as surrealistic. But he does recognize the influence of dreams and fantasy on his painting. He generally understands his work as a kind of balance between different extremes, including reality and the surreal. His paintings are also influenced by socialist realism and are reminiscent of the casual graphics from his youth in the GDR. But Rauch points out that he may be influenced by Social Realism in an unconscious way, due to his heritage in the GDR (German Democratic Republic), but proclaiming any style which is connected to Social Realism, he decidedly rejects.
“Realism, yes, but not Social Realism; even my teachers were no longer influenced by this style. Politics didn’t outweigh aesthetics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig when I went there. The director of our art school said that he would avoid the influence of the Communist Party on the student. We could develop our intentions in a peaceful atmosphere, where we could concentrate on having a good time. " 35
Mentioning Neo Rauch at this point of this essay is primarily because of his approach to painting and some cogitations he admitted in Interviews or in description papers. Focusing on his great attempt of figurative painting, the belonging techniques and the balance between the imaginary and the real are the main investigations in this chapter.
RAUCH, Neo (2014) - Interview by bombmagazine, consulted at https://bombmagazine.org/
34
articles/neo-rauch/
RAUCH (2014), op.cit. Consulted at https://www.conceptualfinearts.com/cfa/2019/07/05/
35
neo-rauch-interview/
“I wouldn’t describe myself as a draughtsman because drawing just happens for me. I’m a painter and I don’t use drawings for preparing paintings. I let ideas stream through my hand to my brush or my pencil and don’t think about what I do. There’s not much difference between the way I make drawings and how I paint. It’s almost the same. ” 36
The importance of painting itself and sort of `going through an process` of creation is very relevant to Neo Rauch. The practical execution is one of the connections to the body of work of Rauch. Even though he is gaining multiply recognition on the international art market, which in other cases doesn’t matter too much, he is a person who considers himself more as an blue-collar than an artist. His humble presence and intellectual way of speaking really connects certain structures of east german schooling and outcomes of the reunification. 37
Idem
36
BEAUCAMP (2017), op.cit. p, 153
37
Neo Rauch (1960 - ), Der Durchstich, 2017. Oil on
canvas, 300 x 250 cm, Leipzig, Gallery Eigen-Art Neo Rauch (1960 - ), Abendmesse, 2012. Oil on canvas, 300 x 250 cm, Private collection
“I hope it is. The way it appears makes me also wonder if it is. I ask myself, “where did this come from? Who advised me to do it in this way and not in another?” I could describe myself as a medium. Yes, I would go as far as to say I’m a medium, not a brain-guided artist. I’m a painter, not an artist. ” 38
2.3 Quote on narratives in painting Talking Neo Rauch
Adjectives such as “narrative” or “storify” have a long history and often been used by recipients to characterize images or series of paintings. Art and art studies permeate the subject of painting narratives in so many ways, that one may wonder why there are not too many researches about that field. The earliest studies about narration and its connection to painting was done by Leon Battista Alberti and called Della Pittura from 1435. Stories and storytelling in their manifestations are natural to humans, so the discrepancy between individual life-experience and its linguistic reproduction is made up of an infinite number of simultaneous impulses. They appear to be a human necessity and are almost unavoidable. Storytelling takes up a large part of human
RAUCH (2014), op.cit. Consulted at https://www.conceptualfinearts.com/cfa/2019/07/05/
38
neo-rauch-interview/
Frame from the Film Neo Rauch - Comrades and Companions, 2017. The film is about Neo Rauch. It shows the artist in his atelier in Leipzig.
communication, it is a global phenomenon and there are no cultures without storytelling and narration. The concept of "visual narrative" is very important in my personal works and it is an outcome made by connecting inherent characteristics whit others artistic works.
“No, my paintings and drawings don’t mirror my dreams. I’m interested in simulating the mechanisms of dreaming—as if I am dreaming. I have to tune out my brain to make sure that I get into a certain stream of the subconscious. ” 39
Storytelling and the creation of an narrative painting on an artwork, is something the professor Manuel Botelho once told us about. Paintings can tell a story, but without forcing someone to pick up every part in that story. Being able to deconstruct a painting, only by someones imagination and phantasy, or just connect the conscious with the unconscious, is certainly worthwhile for the artist. Creating narratives throughout figurative paintings is exactly what Rauch is doing in his works.
Narration can be understood as a representation of a world that can be imagined and experienced, or at least as its elementary representation. In this depicted world, the storytelling is not about inanimate objects, but about actors and their actions. Figurative painting seems inconceivable without any action, since figures and objects are required and almost necessarily to its belonging painting.
Idem
39
Neo Rauch (1960 - ), Warten auf die Barbaren, 2007. Oil on canvas, 149,86 x 400,05 cm, Gallery Eigen-Art, Leipzig
“…And that is that one’s subjective unconscious can still overpower the determinist narrative of the state despite its being an unwilling subject of that state. Rauch just so happens to use the pictorial husks of the failure of German Idealism (Marxism, after all, was incubated in it) as interpreted by East German ideologues as a mirror manqué to explain the holes in his own history and the ideological uncertainty and contradictions that such voids project. ” 40
Due to the associations which are triggered by the depicted motives that Rauch choses, there is a rather constant visualization of ones past within the present of painting. This matter of narration gets strengthened by Rauch´s collage-like arrangements and the individual fragments in one painting. Myths and occults are shaping therefore his style and leading to a broad analysis of his work. Most important here is the practice of ancient, present and prospective mergence of figures and objects in his paintings. Symbolism, which encounter to the observer in various ways and motivations, justifies how narration reinforces attention and certain commitments.
“Rauch has frequently commented on the importance of dreams in his work, and documentary filmmaker, Nicola Graef has referred to the artist's characters as "sleepwalkers". There is certainly the sense here, as in dream, that representation does not evoke a clear narrative, but instead a series of unconscious imaginings brought together in nonsensical cohesion. The artist is successful in his attempts to block interpretation and to suggest that viewers "feel" pictures rather than over-try to force an understanding. ” 41
That very special sense what a image can contain or just evoke, triggers also personal motivations in painting. Its not that one frantically wants to create a narrative painting that has to interact or tell someone a special story. No. For me or others the solitary making of an artwork itself is what enriches. Everything beyond is meant to be comprehended throughout art critics or just by someone who wants to pay attention.
McGLYNN, Tom (2019) - Neo Rauch: From The Floor, consulted at https://brooklynrail.org/
40
2019/07/artseen/Aus-dem-Boden
ZWIRNER, David (2016) - Neo Rauch Artworks, consulted at https://www.theartstory.org/
41
artist/raush-neo/artworks/
That is why the example of Neo Rauch and his body of work is crucial and pioneering for my investigation and my artistic work.
"My process is far less a reflection than it is drawing from the sediments of my past, which occurs in an almost trance-like state….
I’m only in conversation with myself, with my subconscious. ”42
RAUCH, Neo (2017) - Propaganda, consulted at https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/
42
2019/propaganda
Neo Rauch (1960 - ), Skulpturen (sculptress), 2014. Oil on canvas, 280 x 210 cm, Gallery Eigen-Art, Leipzig
CHAPTER. 2
AUTHORITY AND REBELLION
Psychological terms and the recurring emergence of Authority in the works of Goya, Gentileschi and Volpedo
To create a link to the narratives within an image and therefore especially the paintings, there are two key concepts underlining this field of work: “Authority” and
“Rebellion”.
In this chapter the explanation, analyzation and construction of psychological terms, such as “authority“ will be processed and should show how we deal with certain circumstances within our society. This is important, because the body of this visual work is shaped by those characteristics. To define the craving for such strong and ambiguous bearings, whether it is about the paintings or hobby wise actions, such as Graffiti writing, the clarifications are bringing us back to the motivations and our role in the society. To strengthen and also to connect the theoretical study with the practical work, the conjunction but also the comparison of personal paintings with assertions of Erik Erikson and Erich Fromm are crucial to the following research. 43 44
Events of oppression, rejection and elimination in any society have always interested and guided me through my artistic, but also personal career. With the family from my fathers side, who flew from east Germany and headed to the west, where I was born, the story had begun. Certainly I reflect even some of those happenings to nowadays circumstances within my way of thinking and performing. The history of my family in relation to the German Democratic Republic and the difference between the east and the west by that time, made me suspicious and I remember talking to my aunts and uncles about the meaning of “freedom”, “democracy” and “boundaries”. Their knowledge and their history made me aware of my tremendous situation and how unburdened I grew up in terms of war, oppression and violence, for example. But still I
Erik Hamburger Erikson was born on the 15 of June of 1902. He was a German-American
43
developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst and very well known for his theory on
psychological development of the human being. His work about the identity crisis explains the failure to achieve ego identity during the adolescence and still remains one of the most
important psychological analyzes in modern history. Erikson died on the 12th of May 1994 in Harwich, Massachusetts.
Erich Seligmann Fromm was born on the 23rd of March 1900 and was a German social
44
psychologist, psychoanalyst and human philosopher. Beside the fact that he was a German Jew who had to escape from the Nazi regime and then settled in the U.S.A, he was one of the founders of the William Alanson White Institute which is a Psychiatry in New York City. His most important work Escape from Freedom is all bout the human urge to seek a source of authority and the need for power. His critique on the modern political system and the capitalist culture is mandatory for Fromm´s assertions and inquiries. Erich Fromm died in 1980 in Muralto, Switzerland.
