CRITIQUE OF THE WEEK #10

Esteban Vincente (1903-2001)

Monterrey

paper collage with charcoal on board, 26 X 38 inches, 1962

Non-descriptive collage is visual composition in its purest form. Its purpose is not to document appearances in the visible world, nor is it about conveying a literary narrative. It is not even dependent upon technical virtuosity.

Yet, it is amazing how much can be expressed and revealed by simply arranging a number of torn pieces of colored paper in a shared space. Some arrangements evoke a felt sense of time and place. Others stand as metaphors for states of emotion, psyche, and spirit.

Monterrey by Abstract Expressionist composer Esteban Vincente is a wonderful example of this non-objective visual language. Clearly, it evokes nature. The palette is warm and earthy—a dark and muddy color that approaches black, a chocolaty dark brown, a mid-tone orange/brown, a relatively cool gray/brown, and an intense, warm red. The torn shapes are entirely organic. Implied linear movements, while diagonal, align more with the horizontal than the vertical. And the papers themselves are very fibrous, again relating to nature.

figure 1

Monterrey also features the kind of see-saw, rocking rhythm often found in the landscape. In this kind of arrangement, one mild diagonal tilting from upper left to lower right is countered by a counter diagonal tilting from upper right to lower left. This tilt and counter-tilt is repeated throughout the space from top to bottom (noted by green and blue diagrammatic lines, figure 1).

figure 2

figure 3

More specifically, Monterrey's diagonals are organized around a vertical axis to the right of center (noted by black line, figure 2). Notice how many of the diagonal movements “peak” at this juncture, and how the viewer is drawn to this side of the space through their convergence. Then, to offset this right-side lean, Vincente establishes another vertical on the left side (noted by black line, figure 3) by placing a nearly white piece of paper on a vertical near the bottom and continuing this vertical through the left edge of the near-black shape above it, reaching completion in a sliver loop at the top.

We've seen how Vincente's design is satisfying rhythmically, and how pleasingly balanced the arrangement is from side to side. There's one more compositional strength to appreciate as well. Notice how the artist distributes color notes, generally in triads, around the entire space (figures 4 through 8). This movement encourages us to look at and appreciate the entire design space.

                      figure 4                                          figure 5                                         figure 6

                                                   figure 7                                         figure 8

Steven Aimone

author of DESIGN! A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists and Craftspeople (Lark Books, 2004)

CLICK HERE for information about upcoming workshops taught by Steven Aimone

The Critique of the Week written in conjunction with Katherine Duncan Aimone

author of The Fiberarts Book of Wearable Art (Lark Books, 2002)

************************************************************************

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Born in Spain in 1903, painter and collage artist Esteban Vincente's early career was spent in Madrid, Barcelona, and Paris where he spent time in the studio of Pablo Picasso. He first moved to New York in 1936 and associated with artists such as Joseph Stella, Stuart Davis, and Rockwell Kent. After spending three years teaching at the University of Puerto Rica, Vincente returned to New York where he befriended Abstract Expressionists Jackson Pollack, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, and Franz Kline, among others. He spent the remainder of his long career actively exhibiting in the United States. He taught at Black Mountain College, University of California, Yale University, Princeton University, and participated in the founding of the New York Studio School .

************************************************************************

Our sincere thanks to Linda Hyman (Linda Hyman Fine Arts, New York) for granting us permission to reproduce this image.

For more information

about this collage composition by Esteban Vincente

please visit Linda Hyman on the web at: