Jane Avril by Toulouse Lautrec 1893
Words and visual art. The combination is an old and fruitful one, not just something invented by grafitti artists. I find a lot of it in contemporary art, so here's a look back at the tradition. Posters, of course, have a starring role. The inventive compositions of Toulouse Lautrec, among the best of all poster designs, went hand in with the development of color lithography at the end of the 18th century. If you've ever pined to be part of the nightlife of turn-of-the-century Paris, like Marion Cotillard in 'Midnight in Paris', you can blame it on those lively Lautrec posters!
see the history of posters with the weblink below
see the history of posters with the weblink below
Further back, you can find the Greeks including lettering on their ceramic vessels, prompting understanding of complex stories of gods, heroes, and mythic events with what are essentially the credits. This example is a bit gory, but at least you know who's doing what.
Beautiful examples of words and art abound in Western Art. The magnificent Book of Kells, from the 9th century, is more art in words than words with art. Each vellum page, decorated heavily with color and twisting puzzles of design and Christian meaning, is a tribute to artistic imagination and invention - and courage. The Book of Kells was created during the so-called 'Dark Ages,' when European civilization was at daily deadly risk from marauders - it is thought to have been created in the Abbey of Kells, north of Dublin (where it now resides in Trinity College) though may have been created elsewhere and brought along with monks fleeing the Vikings.
page from 13th c bestiary
A bit later, in more peaceful times, words and images come together in ways that reflect increasingly worldly concerns. Bestiaries, which had a fruitful period of popularity during the Middle Ages, began as reflections of a Divine Natural World, but evolved into explorations of early science. Illustrations and descriptions may border on - or be - fantasy, but they attest to a growing human hunger for knowledge about the real world.
Speaking of fantasy, William Blake lived in a world that wasn't quite of this earth at times and he documented his visions carefully in words and images. His beautiful poem, The Tyger, is here illustrated in his unmistakeable style, a blend of realism, naivete, and charm.
It's impossible to consider words and art without including the masterful Arabic tradition, in which there is virtually no division between art and calligraphy. Non-Arabic readers don't need to struggle with the question of what is being said (often references to Allah and the Koran) to marvel at the compositions of gorgeous forms and twining shapes. This exquisite page is a contemporary example by a living calligrapher named Ozcay.
see more of his impressive work with the weblink below
see more of his impressive work with the weblink below
 Apollo and the Artist 1975 Cy Twombly Modern American artists working with imagery and words include Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol, for very different purposes. Twombly, in his wonderful series "Fifty Days at Illium" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, connects back to those Greek ceramic artists, using words and names to help tell his personal story of attachment to the Greek myths and European art. |  Coke Bottle Andy Warhol Warhol, on the other hand, makes a typically wry and witty comment on consumerism and the place of commodities in American life. |
And of course, there's grafitti - it won't go away, it's been around as long as there have been walls to write it on. The current moment of grafitti is an exceptionally creative one - you may not agree with the principle of grafitti but there's some beautiful work out there helping carrying on a long tradition of words and art.
Do you have a favorite combination of words and art? Leave a comment and tell me about it!
Do you have a favorite combination of words and art? Leave a comment and tell me about it!
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