THE WHITE SOFA

ROME

A.A.R. ( no P !)

American Academy in Rome

A.A.R. 

Entrance Fountain

During my stay as Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome, Elizabeth and I lived in an apartment in the main building ( McKim, Mead & White) called 'Il Cortile'. It's name is due to the fact that it overlooks the central courtyard (cortile), but , for that matter  many other apartments had similar views. I guess someone figured that's was the view.

Courtyard

Then, as now, rarely do I paint in Italy, I draw. Pencils and paper are immediate and less cumbersome than paints, easels, etc.  So I draw in Italy and paint when I'm back in my studio.

 APPARTAMENTO IL CORTILE

The apartment was clean and simple with white walls and wooden furniture. Dominating the living room was a white sofa set against the white wall, white on white. A Balthus poster hung on the wall, it seemed to fit. The only color was the red of the cotto floor. I completed the drawing there, but as I was working on the painting back in my studio in the States I couldn't remember the color of the tiles. I knew it was red, but what red?

The White Sofa
James Aponovich
pencil on paper


I needed to return to Rome to paint. This time we rented an apartment in our favorite 'Rione' ( neighborhood) known as Monti.

MONTI

Monti is next to the ancient Roman Forum. Its name back then was Suburra and it is where ordinary people lived. In order to keep the rif-raf out the Emperor built a wall separating 'them from us'. When Rome burned under Nero it was Suburra that burned, not the Forum. Anyways, now it's a vibrant, totally cool neighborhood with great shops, cafes  and nightlife. It's here that I hope to finish the painting....
Time will tell.

White Sofa ( in progress)
James Aponovich
oil on panel. 16" x 20"






Copyright 2015 James Aponovich
{week 41}

THE SWALLOWS OF PANICALE

The Italians call them Rondine and they arrive early in April. Everyday, from dawn to dusk there are hundreds of them over town screeching and flying at incredible speeds, clearing the sky of bugs. Hundreds...maybe thousands of birds.

Early Morning Light, Panicale
Johnny Apodaca
gouache on paper, 3"x3", 2015

THE PERIL OF PLEIN AIR

Artists who work in open air ( plein air) are constantly subject to the extremes of weather...raining? day is over, windy?....find shelter. too cold?...wear gloves, too hot? sweat a lot. These are the obvious elements that concern the outdoor painter and determine whether the day os successful or not. But, there is one thing that most people don't consider...the "gifts" that are dropped by the birds, thousands of birds. I have had more than one drawing 'improved' by the Rondine. So when the birds are screeching and the temperature is rising, I seek the comfort of the studio, look around for an interesting object, add a supporting cast of fruit.....and....

Terracotta Pitcher and Pears, Panicale

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 10"x 7", 2015

This is a pencil study for a painting yet to come. But, you have to hand it to those plein air painters out there in the bush.

 Bravo, Johnny! and Thank you.

{week 40}

copyright 2015 James Aponovich

copyright 2015 Johnny Apodaca

A STAY AT IL FALCONIERE {Tuscany}

Il Falconiere ( hotel and restaurant)

On the train leaving Rome we had the misfortune of sitting behind a newly wedded  American couple

on a honeymoon.

Them:    "Yeah, like we're going to Florence for a week and then we're driving to Tuscany n' stuff. We're even going to take a cooking class at that Antinori place!"

Me:     "Nice, You both like to cook"

Them : "No"

Me:   "Buona Fortuna"  ( good luck)

THE DAYS OF WISTERIA AND WINE

A cooking class is work, if cooking is your passion then it is enjoyable work, but work it remains. As a gift from my wife Elizabeth I was given a private cooking class with Executive Chef Richard Titi at the Relais & Chateau Restaurant Il Falconiere outside of Cortona in Tuscany. You can see Cortona from Panicle but we decided to spend a couple of days there.

Sparkling wine

I had always heard of Il Falconiere and the restaurant has earned a michelin star.  Chef /owner Silvia Baracchi is a driving force behind the kitchen and is the face that greets guests every day. Her husband Riccardo tends to the world class wines that are produced from grapes grown on  the estate.

And then there is Giocco

And a resident falcon.

THE COOKING CLASS

The class was about three hours long and covered 4 courses. It was an absolutely terrific experience. I don't know what my final grade was but I am now a confident pici maker....many secrets. 

DRAWING AT IL FALCONIERE

Petunias at Il Falconiere

James Aponovich

pencil on paper,  9" x 8"

In Italy, Elizabeth and I are constantly drawing. Drawing enables you to organize space in order to capture the essential aspects of place in ways a camera cannot. Often , the drawings remain in the sketchbooks but others transmigrate and find themselves transformed into paintings on the easel. That is winter work.

MOUNT AMIATA

The Falcon and Mount Amiata

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 10" x 8"

Mount Amiata is a dominate visual anchor to Southern Tuscany. Pope Pius II ( Piccolomini)

recognized this when he built the Renaissance city of Pienza. The mountain stands alone and in many ways it reminds me of Mount Monadnock in New Hampshire. Here, at Il Falconiere, there seems to exist an intentional visual conversation between the estate and the distant mountain. So, as we were sitting at dinner with the sun setting we could see the lights of Montepulciano across the Valdichiana Valley with Mount Amiata glowing....Magic.

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

HOLLOW HOUSES

AT ALDO'S:

A43: " Ciao Massimo!"

Massimo: " Ciao James! Come stai?"

A43:   "Va bene. Massimo, I keep seeing abandoned farmhouses all around the countryside. Are they                           empty because of taxes? If not, why?"

Massimo:   "No, it's not taxes...It's just, how do you say...tastes change. Young people want new
                   houses, not in the country."

ROVINE (Ruins)

Rovina, Casalini ( in progress)
James Aponovich
pencil on paper


I seem to be attracted to the farmhouses in Italy that have been abandoned to time and nature. Perhaps I find empathy with them due to the fact that often I feel like a rovina myself.

Rovina, Podere Poggio del Lago
James Aponovich
pencil on paper


As you drive try Umbria and Tuscany the landscape is dotted with these grand Fattorie sitting in the middle of fields. I wonder where are the English and Americans who want their own Romantico Under the Italian Sun?

Rovina, Panicarola ( in progress)
James Aponovich
pencil on paper



As you look closer, you find the answer. We, who are "from away", want not an Italian farm but our 'vision' of an Italian villa. The ground floor of most farms here were for animals. It takes a long time to get that smell out. The staircase (scalette) is on the outside and it leads to
the second floor ( piano nobile).... heat and running water? Probably not. Electricity?
In other words........

" With enough money you can make water run uphill."
                                                -Italian proverb

So, if your vision is a villa in Italy with sweeping views and an infinity pool, you can find it and with enough time and money make it. Just be aware that at the end of the day, it will be nice, but is it Italian?



{week 34}
Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

DRAWN TO ITALY

LAGO TRASIMENO

Lake Trasimeno is the third ( or fourth?) largest lake in Italy and it dominates northern Umbria. It is only a drop of what it once was, it once stretched from Arezzo in the north to Spoleto in the south. Leonardo Da Vinci proposed linking the Tiber and the Arno to the Lake so there could be navigable commerce between Rome and Florence. He was full of big ideas, rarely realized. The Lake is quite shallow so the water is often  turquoise green. Unlike lakes in New England,no vacation house dot its shores, only fields and a few marshes.

The name is derived from the legend a failed (what else) love affair between the nymph Agilla, who was born in nearby Agello, and Trasimeno, son of the god Tyrraene. As their union was impossible, they threw themselves into the lake that now bears his name.

Isola Polvese from San Feliciano

James Aponovich

pencil on paper, 9" x 14"

The largest of the three islands that seem to float around on Lake Trasimeno is Polvese. It is largely uninhabited now but its history goes back to before the Etruscans. During the 13th Century, a fortessa (castle) was built on the south side of the island by the Knights Templar. Later, on the other side a monastery ( Orvieitan) was constructed and both ruins still stand. It once housed hundreds of people but malaria  drove them out. Napoleon wanted to drain it.

All I know is when you see the emerald Polvese sitting in the turquoise water....magic happens 

{ week 33}

Copyright2015 James Aponovich

THE LURE OF DRAWING IN ITALY

James Aponovich

sketchbook

"Idle hands are the devils tools."

                           - Puritan proverb

Q.  I've noticed that you do a lot of drawing in Italy, what gives?  Are they studies for paintings?

                                                                                  - Roberto C., Toronto

A. I don't crochet so it keeps me busy.

DESIGNARE

Drawing is active meditation or it can be likened to a dancer taken class daily or a pianist playing scales. With drawing, you sit yourself down in front of something and you must digest a lot of information. Somethings are discarded as superfluous, others are emphasized. The minds eye  edits and the hand puts it on the paper. Tools are simple, pencil and paper, but it is not easy.

Podere Poggio del Lago (abandoned farm / ruin)

James Aponovich

Due Pini  ( Two Pines)

James Aponovich

Today, Elizabeth and I went to Bagno Vignoni in the Val D'Orcia. It's a tiny Medieval Spa known since Roman times. A large Piscina (pool) dominates the piazza which was constructed by The Medici's. Lorenzo D'Medici himself came to the pool in an effort to alleviate his gout.

 It is one of the most charming spots for a light lunch. While we were sitting there at a small enoteca, I did what I so often do in Italy, I drew.

Bagno Vignoni

James Aponovich

{week 32}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

FLORENCE IS BURNING!

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 16" x 20"

Florence fears death by water ( the Arno), not fire. But, as the year 1500 approached Florence was swept with Apocalyptic fever, many feared the Final Days and Resurrection were close at hand. This was brought to mind as I applied a wash of red ochre ( curiously called Burnt Sienna), to my drawing on panel. The wash creates an overall tone and makes the surface easier to paint on. Back to Florence, then

THE MAD MONK FROM FERRARA

Portrait of Savonarola

Fra Bartolomeo

His name was Girolamo Savonarola and he was born in Ferrara in 1452. Girolamo was an introspective boy, gloomy and pale with a large nose and piercing eyes. It was said that he fell in love with a Strozzi girl, the daughter of a Florentine exile. She firmly rejected him, he looked into the mirror and decided to dedicate his life to God, rigid austerity and sermonizing. he would have not made a very good dinner guest.

BONFIRES OF THE VANITIES

Fra Angelico
The Damned (detail)
San Marco

San Marco, interior

He became a Dominican monk and eventually ended up at

 San Marco in Florence, the City of God ( and the Medici's). He preached against what he saw as the physical excesses of the day and he proclaimed that God spoke through him to foretell the end of time. Thousands flocked to his sermons even though he spoke in a high pitched voice, heavy with Ferrara accent. They believed every word. He formed his own version of the Revolutionary Guard 

called the ' Blessed Bands'. Children in white robes and short hair would carry olive branches and red crosses and walk about the city collecting expensive clothing, jewelry, profane books and paintings ( the  Vanities) and build mounds of 'stuff' in the Piazza della Signoria and set it ablaze to singing and bell ringing ( the Bonfires). Even the painter Botticelli succumbed to the fervor and threw some of his paintings into the flames. Savonarola also condemned the Papacy for its rampant corruption. Rome was not pleased, in particular the corpulent and lascivious Borgia Pope, Alexander VI.

Fresco from San Marco

Fra Angelico

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."

                                              - Chinese proverb

Had Girolamo read this in his fortune cookie, he would have known his own demise was coming. The pope had excommunicated him and Savonarola saw and praised the invading French army under Charles III as the hand of God punishing the Italians. He was loosing his popularity, even his supporters turned on him. He was arrested, tortured and, along with two of his fellow monks, burnt to death in the same Piazza della Signoria where he held his Bonfires of the Vanities. Today, a plaque is set on the spot where he was exected. It is a strange sight to watch tourists walk over it, eating gelato.

UPDATE ON THE FLORENCE PAINTING

Florence ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil and oil on panel, 12" x 20"

{week 29}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

WINTER LIGHT

VITA BREVIS

Q. I am outraged! I have been following your pet 'project' for awhile and all I am seeing are insipid pictures of flowers, candy, sticky notes and now a pineapple swan ! Hello! Wake up! Wht aren't you addressing the urgent social issues of economic inequality, our stagnant political structure,pervasive racial prejudice and racism's by-products, world hunger and disease?

                                                                                 - Alyssa M., Cambridge, MA

A. I thought I was.

ARS LONGAS

Calla Lily

James Aponovich
From the Sketchbook, pencil on paper


" Flowers are very hard to paint, much harder than faces or landscapes."
                                                             -Alex Katz, Pop Artist


THE UNCOMMON CORE

When Beth and I were asked to write an e-book for the California school system entitled, How To Read A Painting, I knew that we had our work cut out for us. The book was directed at the seventh grade. I once taught the seventh grade and in fact I was once a seventh grader myself. I knew it as a difficult transitional time in life. The clarity of the childhood vision was clouded over by the way things were 'suppose' to be. It soon became apparent what we were saying to them applies to adults as well. We were trying to explain how to not just look but to see and then see deeper. To wit, may I introduce........



THE AMARYLLIS

I usually paint flowers in the summer or fall when they are in bloom in our garden. The Amaryllis is an exception, it must be painted in winter light.

In my studio


I found an old, exhausted canvas lying around the studio that just had a light wash of a garden scene sketched on it, I knew that it was going nowhere so I covered it in an Iron Oxide ( black) giving me a dark ground. The shape of the canvas seemed appropriate, it's the Golden Section, more or less.

I began painting the flowers all prima, directly onto the dark ground, no room fro error. I had marked where the pot was to be and a small section of the table.


DIALECTIC / DIALOGUE

I have said before that when I use a cloth in a painting, it is to balance what is happening in the other parts, by texture, form and color. Because I had no room below the table to establish the cloth, I placed it on top of the table, in back of the pot, in what I call "the sleeping cat position." ( I once painted a sleeping cat into a still life ).

 I chose a brocade fabric with colors, if combined, would result in the same color of the flowers. I hesitate from calling it 'salmon', it doesn't seem right to use the color of the raw flesh of a fish to describe a petal of a flower....or maybe it does.

Amaryllis Flowers ( detail)
James Aponovich

The flowers are what you look at first, they are the stars, the lead singer. The cloth is there for support, the back up singers. I need to bring the eye up and down to both. I could paint water drop on the stem, but before I do that I've established a value gradation in the background, lighter at the bottom, darker at the top, nine values in all.

Amaryllis ( in progress)
James Aponovich

Now, to keep the lower part interesting, I've used some artistic 'smoke and mirrors'. The left side of the cloth is lighter against the background while the right side is darker against the same background, also before I paint the flower pot, the left side of the cloth is darker against the pot while the right side is lighter. There is a constant manipulation of value to keep the eye moving. but maybe the painting is a bit boring and uninspired. Perhaps its time to bring in......
The Greek Chorus

To Be Continued.


{week 23}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

CASTING A LONGER SHADOW (part III)

The Sevigalla Madonna
Piero della Francesca
Urbino, Italy

For awhile it was quite fashionable while touring Tuscany to engage in cultural pursuits,judging from the lines to see Michelangelo's David ( a.k.a. Naked White Guy), I guess it's still sort of true. If you belong to a certain 'set' and are more adventurous, you embark o the"Piero Trail", seeking out frescos by Piero della Francesca, in situ. They cannot come to a museum near you, so you must go to where they were painted. After all you must do something between that last caffe doppio in the morning and your first sip of Chianti Riserva in the evening. It becomes somewhat of a life list game.......How many Piero's have you seen?

Federico da Montefeltro 
Battista Sforza
Piero della Francesca
Uffizi, Florence

As an introduction, the trail begins in Florence at the Uffizi. Federico and Battista from Urbino sit in the middle of the room, husband and wife in profile in front of an imaginary landscape. They are paintings on panel and critically many feel these are lesser works, charming, as they say. But, to me they are splendid, there is an instant clarity of form and a real sense that these figures sit in air ( sfumato). Piero manages to paint atmosphere in front, around and in back of the figures. He paints the invisible. This was a big deal at the time when the Renaissance was abandoning gothic flatness. Take a quick look around and then onto the first stop.....


AREZZO, CHURCH OF SAN FRANCESCO

Legend of the True Cross ( detail)
Piero della Francesco
Church of San Francesco, Arezzo


Leave Florence and head east on the Autostrata ( S1) and you will soon arrive at Arezzo, a gritty thug town. The city was heavily bombed by the Allies during World War II, so much of its presumed charm has been lost. Make your way to the Church of San Franceso, walk past it and try to find the          
ticket office ( Bigletteria) and hope that its open. Return to the church and you'll see the fresco cycle of The Legend of the True Cross. Don't forget your binoculars, you'll need them. O.K. Next stop.....


SAN SEPOLCRO, MUSEO CIVICO

The Resurrection
Piero della Francesca
Museo Civico, San Sepolcro

As you drive east from Arezzo, the landscape changes, more resembling northern New England. You emerge to a large plain, Anghiari is to the north and further east is Borgo San Sepolcro, the birthplace of Piero himself. Here you will see The Resurrection, a painting that Aldous Huxley
 referred to as, " The greatest picture in the World." ( I wonder what Trevor F. would think of that!).....
Onward!


MONTERCHI

Madonna del Prato
Piero della Francesca

Quick! grab a bite at a Tavola Calda, no time to sit, we still must 'do' Urbino, but first we have a pregnant Madonna to visit.
I don't know ..... you know how far Urbino is? Anyway, it's almost 'Happy Hour' back at the villa and we do have reservations for dinner at Cibreo.... well...maybe next time.
Siamo Stanchi!  ( we're tired!)

The spirit is willing
but
the flesh is weak

Madonna and Child with Four Saints
Piero della Francesca
Clark Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts

Don't fret! Back here in the U.S.A. you can find a handful of Piero's, Washington, D.C., New York City, Boston, and right here at nearby Williamstown, MA.  This is why we came here, to the Clark.  It is what is called an easel painting and it probably hung on a wall to the right of a window.
 How do we know?........ The angel is casting a shadow.



~~~~~~~~~~

Il Duomo and Campanile,  Florence (in progress)
James Aponovich


"This is insane, this is insane."
                                                -Tom B., appliance repairman

He might be correct. More on this later.




{week 21}
Copyright 2015 James Aponovich

Casting A Long Shadow (part II)

CASTING A LONG SHADOW

(part II)

Il Duomo ( in progress)

James Aponovich

pencil on panel, 12" x 17"

To: Aponovich 43

Re: Piano Criticism

Ref # : Blog #19

Q.  I am troubled by your last posting concerning Renzo Piano's stunning completion of the Fogg Museum at Harvard. Renzo has managed ( brilliantly) to unite the Crimson Trinity of The Busch-Reisinger and The Sackler Collections into the original (faded) Fogg to create an ethereal, unified masterpiece. I have admired his achievements at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston as well as The Pierpont Morgan here in New York. He is truly a genius of our age and he has my imprimatur.
    To my surprise, I have discovered that your work is in the collections of quite a few museums, or as you so glibly refer to them as"zoos." You are not a critic and have not had any such training. Should't you just stick to your dabbling and leave the critical analysis to professionals?           
                                                                               -Trevor F., Manhattan

A.   I seem to recall that once upon a time, many, many years ago, Apollodorus of Damascus and Hadrian had a similar conversation, it led to unpleasantries. So, all right, lets leave Renzo The Magnificent behind, but allow me one more shot. This time with a guy from The Land of the Rising Sun in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts at...

                                                     

THE STERLING and FRANCINE CLARK INSTITUTE

If you drive west from Peterborough along The Mohawk Trail ( Route 2) you will eventually come to Williamstown, Massachusetts, the home of the Clark Institute ( Museum). Again, we with with our friends, Bob and Sylvia. Williamstown seems to be a serene New England college town and was endowed with a considerable personal art collection that was amassed during the early part of the Twentieth Century by the Clark's ( Singer sewing machine fortune). 

The original building is some fifty years old and starting to show it's age ( who's not?). So the Trustees raised a whole bunch of money and commissioned the Japanese Architect Tadao Ando to transform it and thusly us. The problem is............

After you park your car, it is not evident where in the world the entrance is... maybe it's a Japanese thing. What you do see are 'art mark' walls of granite extending in various directions, although, by following one I did manage to find a bathroom. After some exploring, we finally entered the admissions building, a large airy space with glass walls that contained one desk, the admission desk and the architects gift shop. Stairs led down to 'the special exhibitions space', ubiquitous cafe and bookshop. To me I felt like I was in the basement, which I was.

BETTER LIGHT CONTROL I THOUGHT

or

MAYBE JUST AN AFTERTHOUGHT 

The Weight of Water

But, step outside to the utter tranquility. Two enormous but shallow pools reflect one another and are harmoniously set into the landscape ( Landscape Architect, Reed Hilderbrand), rounded stones cover the bottom, the sky is reflected on the surface, talk about 'in situ'! Sylvia mentioned that the people on the far side looked like figures in an architectural drawing......I replied,"Believe me, they are."

It all makes you almost forget why you are here........the art!

Coming up next week:

The Outside May Be Pretty

But

It's Whats Inside That Counts.

{week 20}

Copyright 2015 James Aponovich