by Leonie Andrews

Rosalie Gascoigne

For those of you who’ve read this blog for a while the name Rosalie Gascoigne might be familiar. I have written about her work here previously.

Gascoigne was born in New Zealand 1917 and died in Australia in 1999, (she lived in Australia from 1943). Gascoigne is, arguably, the greatest Australian landscape artist of the late 20th century. The earliest part of her time in Australia was spent at Mt Stromlo Observatory, where her husband Ben, worked as an astronomer.  It was an isolated place at the time, just outside Canberra,  the capital of Australia (now on the suburban edge of the city).

Early days at Mt Stromlo c. 1944, photgraph by Ben Gascoigne

Originally Gascoigne found expression through collecting and arranging pieces of wood and feathers as she walked around the mountain. Most memorably, at a talk of hers I went to at the National Gallery of Australia,  she showed a photo of an early work made, quite literally of rabbit droppings glued to a piece of cardboard!

Later she undertook the practice of Sogetsu Ikebana, but found it ultimately limiting. She turned to using found materials, that she often collected from country rubbish tips around Canberra, as material for her constructions.

Gascoigne with her work Clouds 1, made from a found window frame and a piece of corrugated iron. Photographer unidentified.

Major works of hers are now held by the National Gallery of Australia and other state and regional institutions.

Gascoigne in 1993, photographed by Greg Weight, who clearly referenced the earlier photo of her with Clouds 1.

I recently visited the Art Gallery of New South Wales,  where I saw Gascoigne’s installation of found domestic enamel ware. This sketch is the top section of that work (in reality the cup and long handle are suspended from the top of the work’s frame).

Detail from Gascoigne’s installation,
Enamel Ware, 1976
by Leonie Andrews

Joan Mitchell, (no not the singer).

The 3rd artist I am sketching during Inktober is American artist Joan Mitchell (1925-1992), who is associated with the abstract expressionist movement. An excellent starting place to read about Mitchell and a whole slew of women working in mid-century New York, is the book Ninth Street Women, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Joan Mitchell c. 1950

Mitchell spent a large part of her career working in France, moving there permanently from America from 1959.

Based on a photo from the Joan Mitchell estate.

In 1967 Mitchell inherited money from her mother’s estate which allowed her to purchase a property in Vértheuil, close to Monet’s house at Giverny. She lived there for the remainder of her life.

Joan Mitchell,  from a photo by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Mitchell worked on a large scale, painting abstract landscapes. She was, most famously to have said to art critic Irving Sandler, “I carry my landscapes around with me.”

by Leonie Andrews

Eva Hesse, sculptor?

The next artist on my list of subjects I an drawing for the Inktober 2024 challenge, is Eva Hesse (1936-1970). Definitely one of those “if only …” artists.

Hesse explored so many new materials and ideas in the very short life she had. I was introduced to her work when I studied art as a mature age student and while her sculptures continue to engage me, I have also become a massive fan of her drawings. If you want to see what she could do I highly suggest you look for a copy of the book Eva Hesse Oberlin,  which catalogues her work  held by Oberlin College. Given this book weighs just shy of 3 kgs (2.971kgs to be precise), you may have to prepare in more ways than one to tackle her body of work.

Eva Hesse, 1963,
from a photograph by Barbara Brown.

I noticed quite a different approach in the photos of Hesse, compared to those of Lee Kranser. I can’t decide if it was to do with the age she was living in, or the age of the sitter. I also felt drawn to adding some warmer tones to these drawings.

Eva Hesse c.1959,
from a photograph by Stephen Korbet

by Leonie Andrews

Reboot

Thanks to those of you who helped with my previous posting question.  I feel I am back on track, even if it wasn’t necessarily the track I thought I might be on.

To finish off the Georgette Chen series, I sketched from a photograph of the artist in her later life. It’s so much more relaxed than her earlier studio photos. In it she’s wearing a housecoat over what appears to be an embroidered blouse that might be from one of the Slavic countries.

Georgette Chen, in later life

Chen’s biography in Wikipedia, describes a life of such interest, international travel and melodrama that it deserves a mini-series at least, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Chen 

I wanted to learn more so I ordered a copy of an oral history interview with Chen, held in the collection of the Singaporean Library and Archive. Alas it didn’t deliver. Chen was very vague, not to say quite inaccurate about a number of things, including where she was born. It’s not clear if it was failing memory or dissembling, but no particularly interesting  anecdotes were forthcoming.

My next subject is a return to the USA and that wonderful artist Eva Hesse. Sad to note that Chen, born some 30 before Hesse, outlived her by over 20 years.

by Leonie Andrews

Help wanted …

Is it possible to be ‘too respectful’ to a photograph.  I’m throwing this one open to the collective brains trust!

At the end of my 5th day of Inktober I am already questioning my approach to the photos I’m using as a source material.

I’ll show you today’s drawings/sketches to demonstrate what I mean.

My first sketch today, sticking pretty close to the original photo.

Having reached an end point with that first sketch, the outcome of which I wasn’t completely excited about, I decided to draw a way looser sketch of myself.

Self portrait

After the self-portrait I decided to go back to my previous subject and try to loosen it up. The second version now bears less of a resemblance to the original photo. However, I probably rushed this a bit too much. I would still like to see some resemblance to the source material, but I am feeling that this is probably more ‘authentic to my style’ than the first version.

Am I just copping out with a return to my preferred style? Can you suggest ways of approaching the sketches without becoming  consumed by producing ‘respctful’ likenesses?

The second sketch from the photo. I probably rushed it a bit.
The three sketches in order of drawing

Your thoughts on this matter,whatever they are, would be appreciated.