Art Historical Reflections no 3. The
celebrated Rosa di Pomplona argues eloquently that innovation
in Italian art springs from the fortuitous combination of ingenious engineering
and an excellent cuisine. Great art arises from the union of opposites, ultimately the physical and the metaphysical, she says, as is exemplified in Les
Mademoiselles d’Avignon by Picasso. The act of its painting metaphorically is a form of cooking and practically of engineering: this act transforms the raw model into an object of culture. The painting itself is a sublime union of opposites
inaugurating and epitomising a new style in art.
Initiated: 3 September 2012Written by: Bert Witkamp
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Rosa notes, in reference to Bacon,
that we may indeed say that for a man who has no money it makes sense rationally to
steal a loaf of bread as that action, if successful, shall satisfy his hunger.
Similarly, it was rational for Turner to paint for the wealthy as they could pay
for his work, and they did it well. Whether the wealthy would have paid for
pictures of starving children, emaciated mothers or exploited labourers is
doubtful. It is not clear, she states, whether such opportunistic rationalism gives rise to
creative innovation.
In philosophy rationalism and
empiricism must be guided by moral principles which are not necessarily
rational themselves; or may be rational for some but not for others. “Craig,”
she concludes, “does not go deep enough.”
"As far as Von Schwaben is concerned," she continues, "his theory of physical determinism, has certain merits and demerits. Surely, the
demerits are the most obvious. How could one hold seriously, for example, that
a physically large painter would become a great
painter; or is likely to develop an appetite for large paintings, or would be
inclined towards the painting of grandiose scenes? If, however, we incorporate the
self-perception of the artist in this theory we might arrive at
something more sensible. The artist who perceives of himself as small might be
inclined to compensate for this by huge paintings; or obey
his self-perception by the painting of miniatures; or develop a predilection for grand imagery or grand subjects." She notes, however, that if a theory
keeps giving you multiple options in similar situations a label such as
“determinism” is a misfit. "I should say," she observes, "that Von
Schaben’s theory should be expanded to include the mental aspect of the body and subsequently more aptly be labelled the
Psychosomatic Theory of Innovation in Art."
Italians, according to Di Pomplona, generally attribute
innovation in art, and actually, of all spheres of human endeavour,
to two factors. The first factor is technical. It is a question of technique,
of engineering, that opens up new ways of artistic construction and hence of expression
and perception. Rome could not have been built without its engineers, she
argues convincingly. Rembrandt could do what he did because he did it in
oil paint. And, she admonishes, he could do that because he had good eyesight
and not, as Von Schwaben suggests, because he lacked good eyesight! Oil painting is painting in layers; and these
layers may have substantial thickness causing unique kinds of reflection of
light and perception of reflected light by the observer. He could not have created
these perceptions in tempera, she emphasized, though tempera also is applied in
layers; but those are thin and lack the body of an oil paint paste. This gets
us to the second factor. The second factor is the national cuisine, and more precisely that what the artist eats and drinks.
It is well known that the Italian cuisine
is excellent and that is a fundamental reason why our artists produce such
appetizing art. It’s our pasta, olive oil, chianti, not to mention the cheeses
and meats. The idea that great art is produced on an empty stomach is pure
non-sense. Good food is the basis for our physical, sensory and intellectual
well being; and our personal well-being is a precondition for our ability to do
good for others, i.e., our social well-being.
“If
there were an art of the gods” Rosa proclaims powerfully, “it would be the art of cooking, as in it all
things are combined that sustain life and make it worthwhile. It is technical,
it is sensory, it is a skill, it requires good taste, it is social; it is culture
sprung from agriculture and hence
ultimately from the land, the seasons and the cosmos.”
Readers, it is clear indeed that Rosa
speaks with the wisdom and authority of what chronologically was Europe’s
second great civilisation, the Roman Empire, and arguably its greatest state
ever. And she has more to say. The fate of Italy, she says, as of its earliest
days, has always been determined by the balance between the arts of engineering
and of cooking; of the technical and the sensory. Too much engineering is
exemplified in the philosophy of amoral political expediency named Machiavellian; too much cooking in gluttony, debauchery and hedonism. A poor state of cooking
usually leads to excessive engineering; and a poor state of engineering leads
to overcooking. Present society has too much of both; as demonstrated by excessively
engineered food and its massive consumption. The technical and the cooking need to be
in harmony. It takes two to tango. Heaven and earth, male and female, life and
death, light and darkness, saints and sinners, movement and immobility,
determinism and the random, ruler and ruled, the wise and the ignorant: one
can’t do without the other.
"Lastly," she confides, "let me tell you
a funny anecdote to illustrate the fundamental importance of multiple coinciding inspiring
forces to bring about innovation; be these contrary, supplementary or complementary. My great grandmother
was a model who posed for Picasso when he did his trailblazing work “Les Mademoiselles d’Avignon.” She, the
great grandmother, had said: “Pablo was cooked when he painted that thing
and I was raw. He was cooked to the point of double vision, and I was raw to
the point of being in my natural state. The painting is the combination of the
raw and the cooked; a sublime union of opposites inaugurating and epitomising a
new style in painting.”
