20th Century Art and the Practice of Drawing

New Zealand painters of the mid-20th century, who were influenced by the modern movement, looked to the European modernism of Cezanne, Picasso and Matisse. Although at the time they might have been considered by the public to be radical iconoclasts, Matisse and Picasso were really the last great representatives of the western tradition of painting that sought to depict and interpret the recognisable physical world. The real rupture with tradition came in the form of pure abstraction, which renounced that physical world. The first abstractions were painted around 1910, but neither Picasso nor Matisse ever painted a truly abstract picture. And, no matter how distorted or simplified their painting of a figure or object might be, it was the result first of intense and imaginative looking, recorded through drawing.

The practice of drawing was fundamental to their art. Usually these drawings were systematic studies toward a major oil painting or sculpture. Occasionally though, a drawing expressed everything that the artist sought, and he or she realised that this could not be added to. In fact, sometimes when we view drawings alongside a finished oil painting or sculpture of the same subject, we find that the drawings possess an intensity - where every mark is made to count - that is lacking in the more impressive works, which may have been worked over at length. Matisse and Picasso were aware of this and deliberately tried to get more of the 'energy' of drawing into their paintings. Some of their best works look like painted drawings.

New Zealand modernists too, were convinced of the continuing importance of drawing to the practice of painting. In this topic you can see drawings by artists such as Rita Angus, Toss Woollaston and Charles Tole, as well as some of their paintings.

Most artists develop a characteristic manner of drawing that reflects their artistic temperament. An artist's mark-making is a kind of graphic signature that you can learn to recognise through looking closely. Sometimes it's obvious. For instance, you are unlikely to mistake the drawings of Rita Angus for Toss Woollastons.

Sometimes these drawings are the merest suggestion of an idea or image, which the artist might return to for further elaboration. Sometimes they are meticulously rendered 'likenesses', and seem complete in themselves. Sometimes we can sense an analytical mind circling a subject for its possibilities, rather like a composer toying with variations on a musical theme.

Drawing can also be likened to the artist's 'laboratory', where experiments in technique and approach take place. That is why we can often tell a lot about an artist's creative process by studying their drawings. If you are an artist, yourself, you will know that some things 'work' for you - or come naturally - and others do not. Some skills can be persevered with and mastered but, equally, you have to know when an image feels 'forced' and looks over-worked. Drawing is a good way of finding these things out because the results cannot be fudged. You cannot hide or disguise the marks you make. But, because there is less at stake (you can easily turn the page and start again! ), you can afford to take risks and experiment when drawing - which is part of its beauty.

Barnett, Gerald. Twentieth Century Art and the Practice of Drawing. Discover: Te Kohanga Taonga, updated June 29 2002. URL: http://discover.natlib.govt.nz