a Copy of Michael Parkes Stone Lithograph Catalogue

Transcription

the World of
Michael Parkes
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Stone Lithography, A Love Affair
After much thought I have decided to release some of my own personal collection to
the collectors around the world who appreciate this marvelous technique. With the
rare exception, all of these stone lithos are from my personal collection and are my
artist proofs that I have saved through the years. I hope you enjoy them as much as
I have enjoyed creating them.
Notable artists of the 19th and 20th century, such as Picasso, Giacometti, Toulouse Lautrec, and
Miró have worked in stone lithography. In 1982, I wanted to attempt, at least once, to create a stone
lithograph. What turned out to be only an experiment became a journey of many years.
What is so exciting about lithography is its flexibility. It can be as unique as the artist who is willing
to learn the rigors of the technique. It is not in any way the mere reproduction of a work made earlier
in the artist's studio. When the artist starts his design on the litho stone, it is the stone that dictates
how the process will continue. The process has so many possibilities that the excitement comes from
following the path the process takes you along. If the idea is there, the technique can be found. If the
printer has an understanding of the old techniques, then a mistake or a flaw in the stone can become
a doorway to an even better idea.
The desire to create is fundamental to the artist and the act of creation is a metaphysical experience.
Painting for me has been a means to describe, record, and explore the universe around me and my
relationship with it. It has been, however, my 30 year love affair with stone lithography that has helped
me most to define this metaphysical journey. —Michael Parkes
Dante
Gift of Wonder
Beatrice
“As human beings, we limit our sense of perception to what is generally comfortable
and present in everyday life. In limiting our perceptions to suit our individuality, we
miss the vastness of other perceptions and the doors they represent. Though we have
been conditioned to perceive nothing except our own world, this does not mean we
cannot enter other realms.” —Michael Parkes
On Front Cover: The Garden | 2003 | Original Stone Lithograph | 39.5 x 26.5 inches
The Letter
2005 | Original Stone Lithograph | 32 x 23.5 inches
Q:How did stone lithography
develop as an art form?
Sacred Fire I
1995 | Original Stone Lithograph | 19.75 x 29.5 inches
Sacred Fire II
a: The truly artistic use of the
lithographic technique came
into its own just before the
turn of the 20th century. The
art dealer, Ambroise Vollard,
encouraged a generation of
artists to work in the new
medium. Cezanne, Bonnard,
Redon, Renoir, Gauguin,
Munch, Rouault, Manet,
Vuillard all experimented with
the possibilities of lithography.
But was the work of Toulouse
Lautrec, however, that more
than any other changed the
approach of lithography for
20th century artists. He worked
ceaselessly to understand the
printer's skills and invented
techniques that artists use in
color lithography today. Angel Affair
Going Nowhere
Q:What is so special about
lithographic stones?
a: These stones have a presence. Some
print-shops keep a record of who has
used each stone, and a particular
stone may have a tremendous
lineage. If you're very fortunate,
you might come across a stone that
was used by Whistler, ToulouseLautrc or Giacometti. The Court Painter
2002 | Original Stone Lithograph | 21 x 33 inches
The best lithographic stones in
the world come from one valley
in Bavaria, and the supply is now
effectively quarried out. This
Bavarian limestone is about 160
million years old and some of these
stones in europe have been in
lithograph workshops for over a 100
years. They are, on average, about
4" (10 cm) thick. They are extremely
heavy and a hydraulic easel is needed
to move them about. The bigger they
are the more fragile they are and can
crack easily if not handled properly.
The bigger the stone lithograph, the
more difficult it is to print.
The Frog Collector • The Seahorse Collector • The Egg Collector • The Puppet Collector
Danae
1992 | Original Stone Lithograph | 32.5 x 25 inches
Night & Day
1992 | Original Stone Lithograph
40.5 x 29 inches
Jeanne D’ Arc
Oasis
Summer
The Secret
Pale Swan
25.25 x 17.75 inches
Q:What appeals to you about
stone lithography?
a: Its’ flexibility. The process
entails going prepared with
an idea and then during the
process of printing, all sorts
of things can happen: a color
is printed too strong, an
imperfection in the stone starts
to show up, the first etch is too
weak or too strong…so many
things can happen. Because
the paper is wet throughout the
whole process, there is a time
limit in getting the edition out
and you are forced to go into a
zone of making quick decisions,
one right after another.
Sometimes it works and other
times it doesn't. You have, if
you are lucky as I was, master
printers who can help with
the techniques that they have
learned from their masters and
by trial and error of decades
in the profession. The sense
of possibilities is tremendous.
But the unpredictability is
also tremendous. It truly is a
living process where so much
creative energy is generated and
exchanged. Beatrice Alone
27.25 x 21.75 inches
Anubis
Rainbow Sphinx
Moon Harp
The Riddle
29.5 x 21.75 inches
29.5 x 19.75 inches
37 x 28 inches
The String Game
The Chess Game
Concerti Vivaldi
Savitri
28.75 x 21.75 inches
Q:What do you mean by
‘living process’?
a: The process is a bit like life
in that you can never go back
again. At least it is so with my
printers. You can try and correct
a mistake, and sometimes make
an even better image, but there
is no erasing or eliminating
what has been printed. Once a
color is printed, it is erased from
the stone and another color is
prepared for the next print. As
the days go on, the paper begins
to subtlety shrink because of the
drying process, thereby causing
registration problems. This is
particularly difficult with my
stone lithographs as I usually
have an average of 10 colors per
image. And my images are
very detailed! As in life, it is this constant
unknown ahead of me during
the process of printing a stone
lithograph that I find most
exciting. And an edition must
be finished within 5 to 6 days of
printing if the paper is to stay
wet. Printing starts at 7 am and
goes until 5pm. The printers
go home but I need to stay and
prepare the next color on the
stone, usually into the early hours
of the morning. Sadly, one of my printers has
died, the other one is not in
good health, and I am getting
to the age that I do not have the
stamina that it takes to do a stone
lithograph. But as I look at my
collection of stone lithographs,
I can feel each sheet carries in
it some of the energy put in the
process to create it. And so the
energy of this creative process
does continue in each and every
stone lithograph's image. I
will always be grateful for the
dedication of Helmut and Peter,
my master printers, to allow
these works of art to come alive.
Diamond Warrior
Mayan Spring
1987 | Original Stone Lithograph | 30 x 22 inches
Dawn
Q:How do the drawings that you have been doing recently relate
to the stone lithographs that you have done in the past?
a: When I realized that after 30 years, my relationship with stone
lithography was coming to an end, I was devastated. It had
become such an important part of the overall creative process for
me. In effect, it had taught me a unique way to draw. My drawings
now are a way of continuing, in some part, my relationship with
stone lithography because I use the same technique on the vellum
drawings that I would have done on stone. Because, indeed,
my introduction to drawing on vellum came about when I was
learning the stone lithographic process. The transparency of the
material enables the artist to see where each color is to be placed
and its’ approximate effect.
Q:The drawings have such a sense of calm and order, even when
there is action, how is that achieved?
The Key
a: I have always been fascinated with the period of the Renaissance, especially while studying the
drawings of these great masters. Their drawings represent the thought process by which the viewer
can better understand how the final decisions are made in a master work. That is why they are so
appealing to many. Renaissance drawings suit my personal interest in art because it is as if they
put down a ground work of calm, or silence, before they started dealing with their subjects. And
I believe, to some extent, if you break down their compositions mathematically you will find the
‘sacred numbers’ of the Ancients and see that this is true. The Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’
and the knowledge of the ancient past, particularly the sacred mathematics, was being rediscovered
and used in all of their arts.
The Golden Serpent
25.5 x 17.75 inches
The Golden Salamander
28.25 x 21.25 inches
Cleopatra
Angel That Stops Time
34.75 x 24 inches
A Gift for the Disillusioned Man
1990 | Original Stone Lithograph | 26.25 x19.25 inches
Winter
The Mask
Aditi
1990
Original Stone Lithograph
38.5 x 26.75 inches
Persepolis
Spring
Ex Libris
11 x 12 inches
Creating Eve
The Promise
Returning the Sphere
Aurorima Dreaming
Ballet Mistress
Summer Memories
32.25 x 23.75 inches
27.5 x 18.5 inches
29.5 x 19.75 inches
The Creation
Running the Bath
Rain
28 x 19.75 inches
Q:Michael, you were born in the State of Missouri, studied at the
University of Kansas, and taught drawing, printmaking, and
art history for four years. What motivated you at the age of 26
for you and your wife to change everything and go to Europe
and Asia?
a: I had always had two loves in my life…art and philosophy.
After graduate school and some time of teaching art, I
realized that although I had certain technical skills, I had
neither the ideas nor the motivation to continue as an artist.
So the obvious decision was to pursue my second love,
philosophy, (particularly Eastern philosophy). My great
fortune was that I met a girl that shared not only my love of
these two subjects, but had the courage to drop everything
and pursue our journey of discovery in philosophy wherever
that would take us. So for the next four years we traveled and
studied. In our youthful naiveté and enthusiasm, we wanted
to try to find not only the source of the great religions, but
the source of everything! Unfortunately reality brought us
back to earth when money ran out or illness intervened and
ultimately we returned to Europe for a break.
Q:I know that you live in a magical village on the
Mediterranean Sea in Spain. What made you decide to
settle indefinitely in Spain in 1974?
a: We were in India when our daughter was born 1974 and
the need for some stability in our lives brought us back to
Europe to a village in Spain where we had visited a couple
of years before. Spain was under the dictatorship of Franco
at that time but it had two advantages, inexpensive living
and sun most of the year. In later years, when I eventually
started to paint again, I realized that we had a third reason.
We had chosen a place with the most wonderful yellow light
for any artist to work.
Q:When did you start painting again?
a: Maria and I tried numerous jobs to make a living in Spain
until a fortuitous coincidence brought me back to painting.
Within a short period of time, I met a Spanish painter who
helped me begin to think about painting and a gallery
owner who was interested in having some paintings for
his new gallery. The two things together, plus the fact we
were perpetually out of money, helped me to decide to give
painting a second try. This was when I realized that our time
of study and travel had given me the basis for a new way of
looking at creating art. I began to try to visually translate the
philosophical explorations of previous years. Also I started
experimenting with stone lithography at this time.
Q:Considering your rapid international recognition and success
from that point and which continues through the writing of
this interview (35 years later) what would you attribute to this
great success?
a: My success was anything but rapid! There were many years
of painting from one small exhibition to the next, trying
to understand and to define how I could translate abstract,
philosophical concepts into visual reality. There were
many disasters in those early years that are best not to see
the light of day! Slowly, by 1980, I began to feel a bit more
comfortable in handling these broad esoteric concepts in
visual form. And when that happened, it seems that I began
to gain an audience.
Q:Why have you succeeded where so many have failed?
a: The study of philosophy in its broadest terms should go
to the core of our existence and ask those fundamental
questions that are the basis of every religion. Because my
studies continue to this day (and I continue to ask those
core questions), it is the basis for my art work. So to simply
say, it is the content behind the paintings that give them
value, not the technique, as there are many artists that have
the highest of technical skills but may have little to say.
Ultimately, my view of art is that I am story teller and the
story is a vast and deep landscape of an interior world that
we all share…no easy challenge.
Q:Because of the complexity in space and time of the many
historical influences which you have been able to fuse in your
work with such an amazing naturalness, you truly have an
individual style that is uniquely your own. Your landscapes
cannot be pinned down to a geographical location, your
figures cannot be placed in any period of art history. Can you
explain a bit more about that?
a: What you have described is very intentional. The
costuming, the landscapes and even the figures themselves
are designed to create a kind of limbo where the viewer
has to ask, ‘Where am I?’ Even though there are certain
historical references in my images, the symbols are
intermixed from different time periods to produce a
collective effect or dream state. Because I want the figures
in my work to represent a certain energy, or state of
consciousness, I do not use live models.
Q:Yet your art gives us a feeling of identification with
contemporary reality. What is unusual is that the images and
figures are from another world, whose interpretation is left up
to us. How can your work feel so contemporary when you are
dealing with subjects from the distant past.
a: The one thing that I have realized is that if I am truly
connecting with archetypal symbols in my work, they apply
to everyone and everyone responds on some level. Of course,
to get the balance of the symbols right each time is virtually
impossible. So the exciting thing about making art is the
constant challenge of creating a window through which
the viewer feels comfortable enough to step this unknown
space. And once you are in that space, there is the strange
sensation that you have been there before or there is some
personal connection.
Q:It is tempting to speak of a dream world with you, if it were
not for the fact that your dream world surpasses all our
dreams in audacity, freedom and insistency. The visible
reality is there but it is not the familiar reality we know. How
would you refer to your world?
a: The big misunderstanding is the idea that our collective
dream world is an illusion. It may be our strongest reality.
The confusion is that the many symbols that we identify
with come from different states of consciousness and
therefore are somewhat difficult to decipher. My sole
intention in my images is to try to find a sequence, or
combinations of symbols, that invite the viewer into a
space that seems foreign and at the same time, strangely
comfortable. Because that space, in reality, is their own.
About Michael Parkes
Michael Parkes is the world’s leading magical realist painter, sculptor, and stone
lithographer. His decades of success as a fine artist stand out in the art world, where
fewer than 1% of artists ever achieve success in both the primary and secondary
markets. Parkes’ works are collected by celebrities, private collectors, and galleries
around the world, and his body of work stands for the ages. That being said, Parkes’
continues to create new works, all of which are widely sought after.
Place in Art History
John Russell Taylor, art critic for the London
Times and art contributor to The New York
Times, says: “Compare
[Parkes] with even the best
of them, such as Mobius
of Theo van den Boogaard,
and the difference is
immediately apparent. His
technique is more painterly,
his imagination much less
tied within the confines of
narrative. In fact, narrative
is the last thing one thinks
of, confronted with one
of Parkes’ images. Parkes,
like Alma-Tadema, has
developed outstanding skill
in the rendering of veined
marble and the textures of
various fabrics as they cling
to or fall from the curves
of his remote yet inviting
female figures.”
“With Parkes we may
be reminded, now of some Victorian, now of
Botticelli, now of Tiepolo, now (though much
more infrequently) of Goya. But all of these,
though Parkes has undoubtedly observed them,
have been absorbed into an entirely modern
sensibility. If we were looking for a twentiethcentury stalking horse, we might well look to
Surrealists like Dali and Magritte.”
“There is one important distinction, however.
In Surrealism, there is always a sense of stress
and [the] blues beneath the smooth and soigné
surface. Maybe there was a touch of that in Parkes
at the beginning of his latest phase: the clowns
and dwarfs could seem threatening, not all the
animals had their claws safely sheathed. But
Parkes always seemed to be at least hankering
after calm and tranquility,
and in his latest works he
has achieved it.”
Personal History
Parkes could draw even
before he could read and
write. He was an only child,
raised in Canalou, Missouri,
a typical American Midwest
town in the fifties. He
attended art school where
he met the woman, artist
and musician to whom he
remains
married
more
than three decades later,
Maria Sedoff. Parkes taught
college level Art History
as the young couple made
their way in the Vietnam
era. Parkes has been a
serious and lifelong student
of spirituality and esoterica. Together in the
seventies, Michael and Maria set off on a spiritual
journey where they found excellent teachers and
a lifelong passion for India. Returning to Spain
soon after their only daughter was born, Michael
and Maria worked together to form a financially
stable venture in art, beginning with humbly
making and selling leather belts to tourists
to achieving the internationally prestigious
recognition as a master that Parkes enjoys today.
Parkes remains humble and as much like your
favorite neighbor as the sage weaver of myth
and dreams whom we know through his art.
Michael and Maria enjoy their life in Spain.
On Back Cover: Wein | 1993 | Original Stone Lithograph | 39.75 x 28 inches
The
Stone T rea su r y
of
Michael
Parkes
Michael Parkes stands alone in his
mastery of Hand-pulled, Hand Crafted
Original Stone Lithographs. This
world-class artist has produced the
most stunning and complex images
that span over 30 years with over 100
highly sought after individual editions.
Michael Parkes has captured a world
that is rare and beautiful in this
complex and unique art form. The
most successful images in the long
and storied career of Michael Parkes
are coming to an end. The Stone
Lithographs are now a piece of history
and are becoming increasingly rare.
Michael Parkes has used his creative
mind and amazing drawing skills
to etch and draw on each and every
stone a piece of living history. He
has devoted his love and creativity to
this very special medium in each and
every Stone Lithograph. His complete
involvement is unique and amazing in
the time that is required and skill that
is demanded.
We are fortunate that Michael Parks
is releasing his personal collection of
rare and previously sold out images.
There never has been, and never will
be, an artist that has succeeded in this
medium as Michael Parkes has. His
love affair with Stone Lithographs can
now be shared with collectors all over
the world.
© 2011 Michael Parkes all rights reserved. www.theworldofmichaelparkes.com

a Copy of Michael Parkes Stone Lithograph Catalogue

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