Art Making in Cultural Context
Artists’ Practice is a virtual storage vault full of biographical details, quasi-historical tales, lore, and true art history mysteries.
Included in the stacks are details about the art-making practices of some famous artists; the breakthrough Renaissance motifs inspired by Nero; and unusual art materials that changed the look of art history.
For contemporary artists, patrons, collectors, and art appreciators, Artists’ Practice explores how art-making methods and materials have been used to make artworks strong enough to transcend time. Most ancient artworks were not made to move through time; they stood still as their caretakers changed.
Generations took care of artworks they inherited and shared the reasons why they should pay for a storage vault. Artworks are saved because artworks connect people to their memories. Artworks are stored because people want to stay connected to their memories. Memories are the flesh of culture; and artworks are its bones.
Artists’ Practice is about the bones. Bones have a chemical composition similar to plaster, the same stuff as limestone cliffs and seashells. The materials that bind the natural world together bind artists’ materials together. For thousands of years, art media have been used to transform stone, wood, fabric, ceramics, and mosaics with pictures and patterns.
Artists’ Practice is organized into three sections:
Caves to Cathedrals
Caves to Cathedrals traces the origins of wall painting to prehistoric Aurignacian masters when the purpose of art was to remember. 5,000 years ago, goldsmiths fashioned signet rings for personal identification in Babylon. The Minoans were painting miniature frescoes on ceramic vessels. The Romans decorated everything.
Art of the Matter
Art of the Matter explores the common as well as unique art-making materials that were adapted primarily from the construction industries for use in artists’ studios. Among them are: dry wall, hematite, faience, hydraulic plaster, Phoenician dyes, and Chinese silk. To change the look of a painting, change the ground.
Methods of the Masters
Methods of the Masters highlights art-making techniques and practices that suddenly changed the way art was made, such as the introduction of panel painting into Europe after the First Crusade; how brighter colors influenced Medieval painting; and, who really painted the Sistine Chapel.
About the Author: Martha Bergman
The storage vault concept for the Artists’ Practice web page comes from an accumulation of stories left over from my book project: PLASTERED, Gesso’s Storied Past.
Even though some stories won’t fit, they are good enough stories for happy hour.
I came to my book project after COVID took me by surprise. I was happy as an art maker and art collector after a successful career as an art materials manufacturer.
I enjoyed in-depth conversations with artists, art educators, and their students about innovations in art materials and how color science has changed in the last 200 years. And I had looked forward to continuing my work. Instead of looking forward, I had lots of time to look back. I reviewed my notes from decades of studio visits and looked at my pictures and postcards from visits to ancient cultural sites.
My interest in the durability of art-making materials originated in the 1980s. I was among the founders of Gamblin Artists Colors Co., an American manufacturer of oil painting materials. Every day, we made vats of high-chroma artists’ oil paints— violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red colors at their maximum intensity. We had the opportunity to make the finest artists’ grade oil painting materials in the world, and we took it.
New York City was our largest market during two decades of incredible expansion and investment in the visual arts and artists. Pearl Paint on Canal St. was our best customer. Pearl’s CEO and godfather of the art materials industry, Allen Shefts, connected us to NYC painters when they needed technical info. Through the years, we customized oil paints and painting mediums for significant contributors to the art-making professions, including Emily Mason, Nathan Oliveira, David Hockney, Mary Josephson, Joe Goode, Jim Dine, Laura Ross-Paul, James Rosenquist, Chuck Close, Jeff Koon’s studio, Thomas Kincade’s studio, Wolf Kahn, and the Zhou Brothers among others.
Thanks to Nicole Straus for suggesting a website and Faith Emerson, web designer, for making this happen.
Martha Bergman’s recent paintings inspired by Bottticelli
To contact Artists’ Practice click here