Style Imitating Art: “Mask Still Life III!”

Style Imitating Art…

Welcome to Style Imitating Art which comes from Salazar, Shelbee, and me. You can think of this series as fashion meets art museum! SIA challenges people to find inspiration in different art works, create looks based upon that art work, and share them with the curator for that piece. Shelbee is this week’s curator with a colorful and eerie piece of art. I hope you enjoy this post, the information, and my interpretation.

How it works…

Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration piece of art and posts the image on their blog. We then invite others to interpret that art work through their style. The following Monday, we share our outfits. The curator shares submissions the following Wednesday on her blog. I chose this week’s art work for this round of Style Imitating Art. If you’d like, you can read why she chose it here. Please send your photo to Shelbee by Tuesday, November 5, 2024 by 10 pm EST (shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com). Style Imitating Art is an interesting way to inspire your outfits. You can see a few of my looks here, here, here, and here.

About the artist…

Hans Emil Hansen was born on August 7, 1867 near the village of Nolde in Burkal, Southern Jutland, Denmark. Hans grew up on a farm but quickly realized farming wasn’t for him. After studying to become a woodcarver and illustrator, Hansen worked in furniture factories as a young adult. In 1889, he was admitted into the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe. From 1892 until 1898, Hansen was a drawing instructor at the school of the Museum of Industrial and Applied Arts in St. Gallen, Switzerland. At that point, he left his job to finally begin his life as an independent artist.

A little more…

After being rejected by the Munich Academy of Fine Arts in 1898, Hansen spent the next three years taking private painting lessons while visiting Paris as well as investigating the current Impressionist movement at the time. In 1902, he married Ada Vilstrup, a Danish actress. A move to Berlin introduced Hansen to collector Gustav Schiefler and artist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. It was at this point, the artist became known as Emil Nolde, adopting the name of his birthplace.

Still more…

Nolde appeared to be a bit of a rebel in many ways. In 1906, Nolde was invited to join a revolutionary expressionist group, Die Brücke (The Bridge) in Dresden. That lasted about a year. Next, he was a member of the Berlin Secession from 1908 to 1910. He was then kicked out because of a disagreement with the leadership. While in Berlin, Nolde visited the Völkerkundemuseum. This museum now holds over “500,000 objects and is one of the largest and most important collections of works of art and culture from outside Europe in the world (source).” Nolde would be heavily influenced by the exhibits from the Global South and made over 120 drawings. In 1912, his work, Man, Woman, and Cat was a result of studying King Njova’s throne, “Mandu Yenu.” Controversy surrounded the throne as it was brought to Germany from Cameroon in a slightly altered state. Nolde exhibited with Wassily Kandinsky’s Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) in 1912. He was beginning to get famous and make money.

Expressionism…

It’s important to understand the importance of Expressionism in Nolde’s life. This art form is a modernist movement. In 1910, Czech art historian Antonin Matějček said, basically, Expressionism was the opposite of Impressionism. The term refers to an “artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person.” Nolde became known for his color choices, primarily golden yellows and deep reds. His brushwork was another hallmark of his painting style. Later, his watercolors would contain “vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.”

“Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.  Expressionist artists have sought to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality (source).”

Even more…

Nolde’s art was included in the Degenerate art exhibition in 1937. This exhibition was organized by the Nazi Party as a means of showing what kind of art was unacceptable to…you guessed it…Adolf Hitler. Degenerate art was defined as works that “insult German feeling, or destroy or confuse natural form or simply reveal an absence of adequate manual and artistic skill.” Even though his art was included, Nolde was a racist, anti-Semite, and a staunch supporter of Nazi Germany. From the early 1920s, Nolde became a member of the Danish section of the National Socialist German Workers Party. He expressed his negative, anti-Semitic opinions about Jewish artists and considered Expressionism to be a distinctively Germanic style, a view shared by Joseph Goebbels.

Degenerate art…

Hitler’s rejection of all forms of modern art (AKA degenerate art) led to the Nazis officially condemning Nolde’s work. Even though his art had been popular and purchased by many, it was now a subject of disgust. The Nazi government removed a total of 1,052 of his works from museums. This was more than any other artist and were exhibited in the Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) exhibition. Nolde even appealed to Gauleiter Baldur von Schirach in Vienna. After 1941, he was banned from painting, even in private. It was during this time, Nolde began to produce hundreds of watercolors. He hid these and called them, “Unpainted Pictures.” Nolde wrote in 1942:

“There is silver blue, sky blue and thunder blue. Every color holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus. To a person who has no art in him, colors are colors, tones tones…and that is all. All their consequences for the human spirit, which range between heave to hell, just go unnoticed.”

A bit more…

Following World War II, Nolde was honored with the Pour le Mérite which is an order of merit. Prior to 1842, this honor “was awarded strictly as a recognition of extraordinary personal achievement, rather than as a general marker of social status or a courtesy-honor, although certain restrictions of social class and military rank were applied. The order was secular, and membership endured for the remaining lifetime of the recipient, unless renounced or revoked (source).” In 1942, King Frederick William IV included sciences, humanities, and arts.

Finally…

Even as the world in general and the art world in specific recognized Nolde’s successes with color, Expressionism, and watercolors, more and more people began to talk about his commitment to Nazism as well as the relationship between his politics, anti-Semitism, and his degradation of non-Jewish adversaries as Jews to his art. This has led to closer examinations of the inclination of art historians (after WWII) to downplay those Nazi leanings and his anti-Semitism. It appears Nolde’s reputation may be under the proverbial microscope. Nolde died in Seebüll which is now part of Neukirchen on April 13, 1956. The Nolde Foundation at Seebüll was created that year. A museum dedicated to his life and work also opened in 1957. Ironically, some of his works were looted by the Nazis and are now being returned to their rightful owners.

About the art work…

“Mask Still Life III” was painted in 1911 and is oil on canvas. It measures 29 x 30.7 in (74 x 78 cm). It is on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO. Each mask, in different bold colors and striking brushwork, exhibits different emotional characteristics from “the sinister and sardonic to the grotesque and enigmatic (source).” Using that source, you can read much, much more about this art work.

My interpretation…

I know many of you are probably scratching your heads trying to figure out how this rather subdued blue and white outfit fits the art work. When Shelbee sent us this piece, I had no idea what I would do with it. Then, I found a dress with many of the bright colors contained in “Mask Still Life III.” When I started researching Nolde, however, I just couldn’t go forth with that idea. Instead, I decided to go with colors found in the Israeli flag, blue and white. I purchased this skirt a couple of summers ago from Talbots, but it didn’t fit. I kept it as a “goal piece.” I added an old merino cardigan from Garnet Hill in blue and off-white. As a nod to the art work, I threw on a very old orange-y knit top from Coldwater Creek. It has scalloped lace at the bottom of it. So, this is my defiant interpretation of our art work.

The Lewk!

Keeping with the blue and white theme, I selected this cuff with blue topaz stones as well as the silver one from Kendra Scott. The earrings and blue topaz cuff are from my days buying jewelry on eBay. The dark stones in the earrings are actually blue topaz rather than the darker stones they appear to be. The weather was warm the day we took photos so I went with sandals. I’m going to keep wearing sandals for as long as I can. These are very old Jambu sandals. I sure wish they’d come out with sandals similar to this. I literally wore my first pair of Jambu wedges out!

Wrap it up, Marsha!

This is probably the most political post I will ever write. I don’t, for one single second, understand all the nuances of the problems in the Middle East. But, I do understand what anti-Semitism is even though I’m a Christian. And, I just couldn’t do a cute little outfit based upon the work of someone who espoused those kinds of feelings. I actually had a hard time smiling through the photo shoot. So, can we talk? Do you have concerns with artists of any kind who are problematic? If so, how do you handle that? Do you think we should ignore artists’ actions in lieu of their products? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as quickly as I can.

Don’t forget…

If you want to be included in the Style Imitating Art round up, send Shelbee your photo by 10:00 pm EST Tuesday, November 5th. Photos of everyone participating will appear on her blog on Wednesday, November 6th! If you’re interested in join us, consider all of your options…the colors, the figures, the chaos. You could be a rebel along with me! Come on, give it a try! I think you’ll love it!

Thank you!

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.

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Where you can find me:

Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style,  Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!

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