Dear Artist,
Over the past months there have been a few letters from artists with remarks about the situation in the Middle East. My first instinct was to leave the political stuff out of these letters and our Painter’s Keys service. As you may have noticed we have published a few and then gathered representative letters and published them into two separate response sections. If we include “one liners” there were about 20 who were “pro-war” and 300 who were “anti-war.” In another 10 it was difficult to tell. The heartfelt anguish of artists has brought both eloquence and rancor to our pages. The percentages are interesting.
Massacre in Korea, 1951
Oil on canvas
1.1 m x 2.1 m
by Pablo Picasso (1881- 1973)
On this dawn of another war most artists of our community are against it. Our “anti-wars” are higher than in international polls. Despite the silent majority, it looks to me as if many artists see war as a failure of creativity. As well as honouring beauty and goodness, art is a process that thrives in times of peace. Peace and the wish for it are in the hearts of artists. In spite of elements of shock, ugliness and deconstruction that are currently evident in some art, creativity is generally a builder. Creativity does not normally destroy or kill. Furthermore, creativity implies dialogue. Mankind enters a wasteland when dialogue breaks down. Dialogue is reduced to rhetoric and posturing. Simplistic “good and evil” visions get promoted. Both sides claim God to be on their side. But artists have an eye for truth. I believe that the nature of our work and our creative philosophies give some of us a kind of historical perspective. What’s disappointing to many is hearing “the same old stuff.”
A Bottle and a Newspaper, 1912
Collage
by Pablo Picasso
One of the more striking letters that we included in our responses was entitled “Art knows.” It described the recent cover-up of Picasso’s Guernica, in the foyer of the U.N. when Colin Powell was to go on camera. The painting depicts the horrific results of the Nazi bombing of a Spanish town during the Spanish Civil War. “Not appropriate,” was the reason given. There were instances of similar cover-ups, silencing of poets, denials of the freedom of information. But there, under that shroud, lost to sight, was everything that we artists honour. To let our great and our humble speak. To be seen. To make our contribution. That day, and others, there was a realization of another type of death. We do not like that. Art knows.
Best regards,
Robert
La Guerre (The War) (1951)
Pen and wash
by Pablo Picasso
PS:”Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
(Ozymandias, King of Kings, by P.B. Shelley)
Esoterica: Artists are reporting distraction and lack of concentration. Some are stuck on the tube. These are sad times. We have a number of war letters in reserve — both pro and con. If you would care to add your voice, please do.
This letter was originally published as “Artists’ Requiem” on March 21, 2003.
(SG note) There were many reader responses to the original letter. (In 2003, when this letter was first written, the collective sharing of opinions and also the spreading of misinformation on social media was in its infancy — it would be another year before Facebook was launched, in 2004.) Of the responses my Dad received, he wrote, “My studio assistant Carol Ann Prokop worked practically all day on Friday assembling the material seen here. My sincere apologies if your correspondence was left out. Part of the reason for this is that when ideas are similarly expressed we often take an earlier correspondence. All letters are carefully archived. In no way were anonymous letters discriminated against. Some letters, I’m afraid, were hugely long, and had to be cut down. Thanks for writing.” You can read your 2003 responses to war, here.
Guernica, 1937
Oil on canvas
3.49 x 7.77 m
by Pablo Picasso (1881 – 1973)
Guernica
by Glen/Pam Knowles
Guernica, 1937, 12′ x 25′ ft. is considered one of Picasso’s greatest paintings, and one of the most important paintings of the 20th Century. It was originally commissioned for the wall of the (Republican) Spanish Republic’s Pavilion at the Paris World Fair. As Picasso was considering various themes, Franco’s planes, displaying German swastikas, wiped out the Basque town of Guernica and over 2000 people died. Spurred to action, Picasso completed the project in two months. The terror and fear of these abstract symbols are among the most dramatic ever created by Picasso. Several years after the work was painted, a Nazi general was visiting Picasso’s studio and noticed a sketch for Guernica on his wall. The general remarked, “Oh! So you are the one who did that!” Picasso shot back, “No, you are.”
Have you considered a Premium Artist Listing? With each letter, an artist is featured at the bottom of this page. The Premium Artist Listings are a means of connecting artist subscribers through their work. Proceeds from each listing contribute to the production of The Painter’s Keys.
Featured Workshop
Permission to Paint Expressively Series Session 1
June 27-30, 2022
Join Ellie Harold for “Expressive Painting: Color from the Inside Out.” Do you struggle with color? For chromophobics or anyone who would like greater freedom in their use of color, this workshop focuses on activating and applying your innate color sense. Content, process and lightly structured exercises allow you access to a wider range of color expression in the safe space of Ellie’s studio, located only 3 blocks from Lake Michigan near Sleeping Bear Dunes. “Expressive Painting: Color from the Inside Out” has the potential to transform not only your art but your life! Details and registration at www.EllieHarold.com.
Among the Reeds, 2022w/c on canvas
16 x 20 inches
Featured Artist
There are two elements in my artistic development that contribute to my work daily:
– I fell in love with water medium early, and will continue to learn from it for as long as I paint. No one really masters watercolour; it remains a thing apart, and therein lies its beauty.
– About six years into painting, I discovered alternative watercolour surfaces (canvas, board and collage), with the result that I rarely paint on paper any more. Each surface presents different challenges and different rewards, and I find myself shifting from one to another according to the mood and subject of each piece.
27 Comments
Thanks Sara. Still a great letter regarding current events, even if the location (and aggressor) is different. I haven’t seen a single artist newsletter that hasn’t mentioned the toll this is taking. I know I couldn’t really write mine, and just shared my sketchbook – it truly did kill the dialogue. To better times.
This was a meaningful letter you wrote. I have been wondering if others felt the way I do these days. My art seems meaningless compared to what is happening and could potentially happen. I feel so helpless and painting seams so trivial at this time. It makes me remember the lines that Nero fiddled away as Rome burned.
How very topical. Some things really never change. It is ALWAYS old men in position of leadership that send young men to die for them and their greed, while the cowardly leadership sit behind their desks and send out orders to kill…and it doesn’t seem to matter who they kill.
I understand your despair: covid isolation and grief, climate catastrophes burgeoning, and now Ukraine (and many others, etc.) I lost my motivation for a while.
This quote from Kristi Nelson has helped me:
“When my eyes fill with wonder and my heart with love or joy, I do not betray my concerns for the world — I nourish my capacity to attend to them.” Painting is that for me.
Jessie’s comment leads me to take this direction in responding to this topic, I’d like to say, a ‘beautiful’ article, but, it breaks my heart–war! There is a war in Ukraine. There has been war before. But there is a war each and every day. A war in our neighborhood. A war at home. A war in our own homes. Sadly, these wars have been with us since the beginning of time. We have heard ‘private’. We have heard ‘ what will the neighbors think?’ We have heard ‘men don’t cry’ And on and on. We see school shootings. We see alcohol stores. We see cannabis stores. Why? Why a need? They say we become our environment. That we cultivate our environment. I’ll set the scene in your mind for you. Picture a grocery store with a man in his 60s sitting on a bench by the exit door along with a few people around him that he hasn’t seen in some time. In broken English he says: “I have four children. One is a dentist. One is a lawyer. One is a doctor. And one is happy.” Are you happy? How is your self-esteem? As a writer I receive many letters from India, PNG (Papua New Guinea), the continent of Africa and so many. So many corners of the world. For most who live there, they think of the United States and Canada where I live as being well off. Yes, we are rich with resources. But are we well off? Happy? For the most part our North American customs and traditions are: (1) Get a good job (2) Get a nice house (3) Get a nice car
So here we are. We get that good job. We get that nice house. We get that nice car. But then are we happy? Oh, they (the system of marketing and sales) forgot to tell us that won’t really make us happy. Our parents didn’t drill into our heads to be happy. They told us “get a good job. Then you’ll be someone.” When we think of Mother Teresa. Do we think of the sweet ride (car) she had? Or are we saying: “man her house was the bomb” (which means for us older folks: wasn’t it something?). Do we remember her? And all her great values? And for what principles she believed in and stood for? And we talk about happiness. Like an unrecognized commodity.
“Houston, we don’t have a problem. Earth, we have a problem. Anger. Hatred is all around us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A new self-healing spacecraft must be developed by us. One with precision pieces of engineering. Engineered with hope, joy, and kindness to our fellow man. One that makes all spirits fly.” Why is the UFC so popular? Before that it was the WWE. All this anger. It goes far back to when the gladiators fought. Killing each other in the coliseums. Thumbs up he lives. Thumbs down he dies. Why? Why do so many enjoy this? Perhaps we aren’t happy with our spouse. Our boss/workplace. We were bullied in school. So much anger and hatred placed upon our souls. We can’t fight back, but it is good to watch. We can release it this way. But it is all wrong, isn’t it? So often these emotions enter into our daily lives. They seep into our relationships. Our parenting. Our being. Our legacy. At the start of each new year most make resolutions. Maybe this year we should keep it simple. This year I’m going to instill happiness into my parenting. This year I’m going to be happy. This year I’m going to learn how to be truly happy. Returning to Jessie’s comment, I strongly suggest to those that I mentor. To those that I’m around is your art should say something. It should be profound. It should make a profound impact upon a viewer, a listener, a reader. As an example I share Laura Hosaluk’s work. I’d like to direct you to this page, and one particular work titled: “Promise Land” https://laurahosaluk.com/paintings-earlier-works/ There is around war going on. Sexual assault. One in three women will be sexually assaulted in their life time. One in six men will be sexually assaulted. As I write this letter someone is being sexually assault. Laura Hosaluk again tackles that theme in her work ‘Mr. Fix it’ https://laurahosaluk.com/ How do we resolve war? Well… it certainly isn’t staying ‘private’. It certainly isn’t ‘men don’t cry’. It certainly isn’t ‘what will the neighbors think’. We need to open people. Let our work open up. Diane Saulnier’s comment:
” It is ALWAYS old men in position.” It is time we talk about those ‘old men’. What is it about, really? Power? Greed? Control? That old man wants ‘stuff’ because he has been taught that will make him happy. Make him a success. He has been fed a lie. We all have. Time we change the culture. Change the dialogue. A big house is a sign of failure. Not success. A expensive car is a sign of failure. Not success. A successful person. A person that has peace within doesn’t need anything. When we can change the culture & dialogue to this–wil alll be on the road towards peace. If you are interested in exploring this further my website is loaded with material like this. That if read, if embraced, not only will our art say something, our life will.
As always, love is the way.
Miles Patrick Yohnke
I understand your despair:, covid, climate catastrophe, Ukraine (and many others, etc.) I lost my motivation for a while.
This quote from Kristi Nelson has helped me:
“When my eyes fill with wonder and my heart with love or joy, I do not betray my concerns for the world — I nourish my capacity to attend to them.” Painting is that for me.
I understand your despair: covid isolation and grief, climate catastrophes burgeoning, and now Ukraine (and many others, etc.) I lost my motivation for a while.
This quote from Kristi Nelson has helped me:
“When my eyes fill with wonder and my heart with love or joy, I do not betray my concerns for the world — I nourish my capacity to attend to them.” Painting is that for me.
My 90 year old mother is both distraught and furious about what is happening in Ukraine. “It is 1939” she keeps saying and she fears for us all. She keeps the fear at bay by being creative, making and mending on her sewing machine. Creative pursuits may help keep us sane as world events unfold this year.
My 98-year old mother-in-law, in Finland, remembers 1939 all too well; my late father-in-law bravely fought against the invading Soviets. Knowing Finnish history, when Putin invaded Ukraine, I knew I’d seen this movie before. Tragically, we now have cruise missiles and nuclear weapons – which Americans and the rest of the world failed to address over the years. With these weapons and climate change, the human race has perhaps finally done it to this beautiful planet.
Speaking only for myself, speaking only for myself:
As an artist, I feel I am under a spiritual, philosophical, psychological and historic obligation to understand things like war from the lens of context.
This requires me to do the research, often outside my ideological comfort zone, often away from mainstream media/news. This requires me to question heavily the current narratives. This requires me to question my government, my governors, my own political leanings. This requires me to learn and know the histories of the parties involved, beyond what mainstream media tells us.
Does this practice require that I chose a side?
Not at all. I don’t view things from a myopic binary.
Does this practice make me pro-war?
By no means. I am adamantly anti-war.
Does understanding how such things happen make me a heretic or force me to capitulate my values?
Not at all. The practice of compassion is one of understanding, of putting aside one’s preconceived notions, ideas, beliefs, in order to understand the other.
I feel context and understanding outside the narratives being fed to us, gives us the lens in which we can say what needs to be said, do what needs to be done –either at the canvas or the ballot box or in the streets — to insure a more peaceful and humane future.
Thanks for this post.
Peace.
Thanks for this response Terri to a very important letter.
“How” not “what” we think and do is important. Yours is an orientation of opening up, not shutting down, into a narrow polarised stance within the constricted bandwidth of the current narrative that belies complexity. People who open up, are creative people and are not so easily manipulated. Keeping the mind open and compassionate is an act of great courage, and often the first thing to go when people feel threatened and afraid, yet it is this kind of courage that is needed to end wars, not the might of right.
Thanks for this post.
One love.
xc
Totally agree.
I did not know about Guernica being covered up. I believe this actually makes it MORE noticeable. It is akin to the pulling down of statues and monuments. I can relate to the post above by Terri. Prayers and peace .
“The Beautiful offers us an invitation to order, coherence and unity. When these needs are met, the soul feels at home in the world. ( John O’ Donohue)For me this says my job now is to work and share what I create for creation is life, love and connection. I cannot be in Ukraine or the 27 other war plagued spots on this planet but I can do this a bit. I believe that what we do matters whether we know it or not. Beethoven last 4 string quartets are very grounding.
Artists believe in the dignity of the humane. We believe in the value and merit of ALL peoples.
What Putin is doing is inhumane; what Trump supports is inhumane. Putin and Trump want to divide for
their own selfish selves; they are anti-art. They are soul-less. They are INDEED criminals too. We
must state and affirm these facts.
I ask myself, will this action benefit the many or the few? This gives me an answer regarding this war, and any war. I feel awful seeing pictures of this war but realize putting out this energy is counter-productive at least to my way of thinking. So do things to keep my spirits up and look for ways to help without pulling my mood down (as much as possible. I am not immune) so that I can help the collective consciousness keep a higher vibration. Humans have better potential than this.
Amen, Sister!!
Thank goodness we who do have art as a grounding stability to get through the trials of life are able to do just that, paint. Sitting and staring constantly at the atrocities of war on tv is not healthy. Painting is. Paint for ourselves, paint to donate to help the people of Ukraine, paint. That’s important, and nothing to feel guilt over, paint.
We are at a turning point in our history. No one wants war especially WWIII. However, the atrocities that are being committed under the Putin seige of terror can not be overlooked. The Ukranian people are suffering. They are losing the battle. If they lose, we all lose. NATO must be applied in this case even though they are not officially part of NATO. I really believe Russia will persist into other countries if they are allowed to take over Ukraine. When I was young during the 60’s I remember only too well how the Vietnam crisis caused a divide in the country and sometimes among family members. It was wrong then and this war is wrong now. Since then we have had multiple engagements that were also wrong. I am not hawkish at all but I do want my grandchildren to be able to live in a peaceful world and to know that we as Americans did everything we could to sustain our democracy and those that wish to live in a democracy. We must help Ukraine now. Putin must be stopped now. Painting yellow sunflowers on a blue cloth is not enough.
The article is perfect for this time of President Putin’s ultra morbidity, another pathological male dictator.
I was most fortunate that on February 1st 2007 to be allowed to enter the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, at 6.00am. The museum’s curator took me and just two other journalists to the upper gallery where Picasso’s Guernica was. I was an invited automotive press broadcaster at the time and guest of Mercedes Benz Smart Car brand. They had arranged this exceptional opportunity. I was reviewing at the time the about to be launched new version 3 Smart ForTwo Car. Mercedes Benz chose Madrid for its ‘Young intense culture and creative open-mindedness’.
As an art student of sculpture, I had only ever seen Picasso’s Guernica in books and it didn’t resonate. Standing in front of this spectacle, the scale of the painting is perfect, I was simply transfixed and felt I was actually in the configuration, experiencing the carnage smells, senseless violence, and pain. That man’s inhumanity to man through warfare carries across the centuries, the same negativity of destruction is immeasurable. Guernica is a message one of so many paintings and sculptures that communicates all that is the worst with mankind. What a shame President Putin couldn’t have stood in front of this work. Perhaps in retrospect it probably wouldn’t even speak to him.
I am impressed with how you expressed so many feelings about war and its effects on the world. You brought out the depth without taking us down any pointless dead end roads.
Lack of creativity is not the cause of conflict.
Greed for Power is what causes war.
“The love of money is the cause of all evil” HS
I paint the Creation
Hear hear.
Jessie’s comment leads me to take this direction in responding to this topic, I’d like to say, a ‘beautiful’ article, but, it breaks my heart–war! There is a war in Ukraine. There has been war before. But there is a war each and every day. A war in our neighborhood. A war at home. A war in our own homes. Sadly, these wars have been with us since the beginning of time. We have heard ‘private’. We have heard ‘ what will the neighbors think?’ We have heard ‘men don’t cry’ And on and on. We see school shootings. We see alcohol stores. We see cannabis stores. Why? Why a need? They say we become our environment. That we cultivate our environment. I’ll set the scene in your mind for you. Picture a grocery store with a man in his 60s sitting on a bench by the exit door along with a few people around him that he hasn’t seen in some time. In broken English he says: “I have four children. One is a dentist. One is a lawyer. One is a doctor. And one is happy.” Are you happy? How is your self-esteem? As a writer I receive many letters from India, PNG (Papua New Guinea), the continent of Africa and so many. So many corners of the world. For most who live there, they think of the United States and Canada where I live as being well off. Yes, we are rich with resources. But are we well off? Happy? For the most part our North American customs and traditions are: (1) Get a good job (2) Get a nice house (3) Get a nice car
So here we are. We get that good job. We get that nice house. We get that nice car. But then are we happy? Oh, they (the system of marketing and sales) forgot to tell us that won’t really make us happy. Our parents didn’t drill into our heads to be happy. They told us “get a good job. Then you’ll be someone.” When we think of Mother Teresa. Do we think of the sweet ride (car) she had? Or are we saying: “man her house was the bomb” (which means for us older folks: wasn’t it something?). Do we remember her? And all her great values? And for what principles she believed in and stood for? And we talk about happiness. Like an unrecognized commodity.
“Houston, we don’t have a problem. Earth, we have a problem. Anger. Hatred is all around us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. A new self-healing spacecraft must be developed by us. One with precision pieces of engineering. Engineered with hope, joy, and kindness to our fellow man. One that makes all spirits fly.” Why is the UFC so popular? Before that it was the WWE. All this anger. It goes far back to when the gladiators fought. Killing each other in the coliseums. Thumbs up he lives. Thumbs down he dies. Why? Why do so many enjoy this? Perhaps we aren’t happy with our spouse. Our boss/workplace. We were bullied in school. So much anger and hatred placed upon our souls. We can’t fight back, but it is good to watch. We can release it this way. But it is all wrong, isn’t it? So often these emotions enter into our daily lives. They seep into our relationships. Our parenting. Our being. Our legacy. At the start of each new year most make resolutions. Maybe this year we should keep it simple. This year I’m going to instill happiness into my parenting. This year I’m going to be happy. This year I’m going to learn how to be truly happy. Returning to Jessie’s comment, I strongly suggest to those that I mentor. To those that I’m around is your art should say something. It should be profound. It should make a profound impact upon a viewer, a listener, a reader. As one example I share Laura Hosaluk’s work. I’d like to direct you to this page, and one particular work titled: “Promise Land” found at: laurahosaluk.com/paintings-earlier-works/ There is around war going on. Sexual assault. One in three women will be sexually assaulted in their life time. One in six men will be sexually assaulted. As I write this letter someone is being sexually assaulted. Laura Hosaluk again tackles that theme in her work: ‘Mr. Fix it’ at laurahosaluk.com How do we resolve war? Well… it certainly isn’t staying: “private.” It certainly isn’t: “men don’t cry.’” It certainly isn’t: “what will the neighbors think.” We need to open people. Let our work open up. Diane Saulnier’s comment: ” It is ALWAYS old men in position.” It is time we talk about those ‘old men’. What is it about, really? Power? Greed? Control? That old man wants ‘stuff’, because he has been taught that will make him happy. Make him a success. He has been fed a lie. We all have. Time we change the culture. Change the dialogue. A big house is a sign of failure. Not success. A expensive car is a sign of failure. Not success. A successful person. A person that has peace within doesn’t need anything. When we can change the culture & dialogue to this–will all be on the road towards peace. If you are interested in exploring this further my website is loaded with material like this. That if read, if embraced, not only will our art say something, our life will.
As always, love is the way.
Miles Patrick Yohnke
I think of Goya’s Disasters of War, executed b/t 1810 and 1820. Surely the fact that photo-journalism was not yet the way war was covered or depicted, meant that graphic artists motivated to risk their lives and get the truth out were there more as witnesses, rather than in their studios watching the news on television, or listening to it on radios.
I also think of Käthe Kollwitz 1867-1945, whose soul-rending drawings of loss of sons rival any depiction ever made throughout time, of wars. She would have lived through both world wars.
The premise that art primarily is a product of times of peace is I think shaky. Artists produce, if they are productive, no matter their circumstances or the state of the world, but distraction can be very destructive, no question, and not everyone in our modern society can resist the onslaught against their discipline to stay focused on extracting their own vision as events unfold around us.
I want to add to the above comment that I think there is little question we are increasingly numbed.
The school shootings, the killings continually of black men by police, and the wars, which represent massive profits to the military industrial complex: countries like the US and Switzerland, two of the world’s highest-producing arms manufacturers delivering to both sides in the conflict, thus profiting inordinately and starting wars whenever their economies need stimulation.
Forgive the cynicism, and my information may be outdated, but I think there are good reasons why artists today are not producing works like Guernica and Käthe Kollwitz’s drawings and sculptures.
War has become normalized, as have police brutality and school shootings. The power of the NRA lobbies in America and the military-industrial complex are heavily embedded.
But I think many will agree that cracks are beginning to appear; whether in time to prevent the annihilation of what we know as life, through climate change…?
We’re hoping for miracles now, for our children and grandchildren, and it’s so hard to conceive that those most endowed with wealth seem so unable to see the big picture—unable to visualize what their greed will mean for their own grandchildren.
How could the destruction of the Amazon with all its yet undiscovered secrets for cures for every disease that presents to man (so interesting that that is the case—that nature has provided the cures for all things, and the pharmaceuticals have been exploiting them endlessly), and yet now the plan under Bolsonaro appears to be to burn the entire miracle down to put through a highway that I suppose per him will improve tourism to Brazil—or, and in collusion with what other “world leaders”…
Obviously the removal of all ancient forests from so many parts of the world with the result of desertification and total destruction of indigenous cultures whose knowledge will be unrecoverable is underway: wood to build luxury homes, while it’s available, and destruction of cultures, but truth informs and spreads.
I’m with you 100% Penelope. I enjoyed your comments. You may be interested in these two poems and two articles I wrote? Just cut & paste please. And your most welcome to share. In fact, it is encouragement–thank you!
salmonstudio.wixsite.com/yohnke/post/the-hope-depot
salmonstudio.wixsite.com/yohnke/post/hail-mary-soap
salmonstudio.wixsite.com/yohnke/post/the-end-of-war
salmonstudio.wixsite.com/yohnke/post/the-grey-owl-challenge-1
As always, love is the way,
Miles Patrick Yohnke