Sickert's Merits as a Painter (moved thread)

[revpetero]

I may be way off line here and please tell me if you feel I am.

It seems to me that people tend to let their dislike/views of PC cloud their judgement of Sickerts art.

Every artist will always have his/her critics. Walter Sickert may not be everybodies cup of tea but there is no doubting that he was a very talented artist.

Me myself I am not a fan of Picasso but I am fully aware of how talented he was.

Peter

[joesheehan]

Uninspiring

Even if you consider Sickert's work uninspiring this is no reason to relegate him to the 'second division' of art history.Sickert's influence can be seen in the work of Freud, Bacon, Hirst and the Chapman brothers. You could even argue his use of photography and media imagery mark him out as a forerunner of Pop art.
Also, artists such as David Hockney and Patrick Caulfield in reaction against the Sickert influenced art scene of their youth went on to create some of the defining works of their generation. Whether loved or hated Sickert has inspired much in the modern art world and so cannot be considered a footnote

[Natalie Severn]

I agree 100% with the above posts. Sickert is certainly not everyone"s cup of tea -I do like Picasso and find the range of work he covered terrific but some of it is pretty grotesque .Sickert while not exactly in the same class as Picasso produced work of distinctive merit and innovative style.

[Limehouse]

Joe,

Do you like Gilbert and George?

[joesheehan]

Gilbert and george

I like what I know of them which is somewhat limited. I touched upon them in relation to the Chapman Brothers while researching a previous essay for my course. I was working on some marionettes at the time and tried to draw parallels between the Chapman's manipulation of the press and Victorian era puppet shows but I was not altogether successful!! I read a bit into Gilbert and George at the time and was interested by their refusal to differentiate between their art persona and their everyday lives but I am not too familiar with their work. Is there anything you would recommend beginning with?

[Natalie Severn]

I like Gilbert and George,Limehouse. Those repectable suits play well against the batty bonker stuff they like to project.......

[Limehouse]

Hi Natalie,

Yes, I too like their personal projection in relation to what surrounds them and what they choose to paint. I am really interested in psychogeography and started to look at more of their work through my own interest in this and how it relates to the east end for people like Ian Sinclair.

Hi Joe,

Try this site:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=gilbert+and+George&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

Good luck!

[evilina]

Sickert as an artist

I have seen a couple of Sickert's paintings up close and personal. There are 2? in the Queensland art gallery collection. I have to say that i really didn't like the paintings. Now I have done some study in visual art (not too much i will admit - i majored in music and needed to pick up some extra subjects) but nowhere near enough to have an educated opinion.

I was really keen to see his paintings (I had already read 'The Final Solution') and was convinced that I would be able to see coded messages in the canves. (I really couldn't) and found them a little disturbing. I wonder if this was because i had read about him? Or if it was because the paintings are disturbing? Either way I really don't like them!

[BillyE]

Actually, it's because Sickert's work is a little disturbing that I kind of like it. Does that make me weird? Probably so. Anyway, it would be rather funny if the artist spelled his last name with an "a" rather than an "e". Then his name would be Sickart, sick art. I'm surprised some Ripperologist hasn't jumped on that tangent. Some have made greater leaps than that.