Confluence of the harp and the harpist featuring: Kenyon's "The harp player (solo) 1888 and Jekphrasa's" The green harp"
Kenyon's the harp player - 1888
"The harp is the most heavenly of all instruments. Its music seems to float between the earth and the skies.” - Carlos Salzedo
When Kenyon Cox paints a gentle female harpist reaching her hands out to the strings like it's an extension of her soul, it's fair to believe it is quite heavenly to mourn, to think or to be happy through the tingles of a string. Her emotions although unclearly stated through her facial expressions wanders between the tuning peg and the bridge, letting us slowly into our own thoughts “that the harpist may be fused into her own music”.
A harpist being fused into her own music would imply a confluence as Salzedo would describe it “The harpist must become the harp; the music is not something outside, but something alive within the performer. (From Salzedo’s teachings in Harp Technique, 1919–1920s lectures). This confluence is represented in our painting “The green harp by Jekphrasa"
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Confluence
Salzedo's words " the harpist must become the harp" brings us to discuss the term " music with intentionality" Salzedo and Kenyon are two great advocators of purposeful art. In 1888 - the post-impressionism era, art evolved from capturing scenes, to capturing emotions, spirituality and psychology. The post-impressionism movement belived art shouldn't feel like peeping into a camera. When Pablo Picasso and Georges came up with the term "CUBISM" it invited freedom of perspective and artistical intention into the world of art. Cubism simply implies allowing artists to paint various perspectives of any object they see. This helped artists to be able to tweak static moments into universal messages from their own point of view. Hence, to be an artist meant surrendering yourself to allow the understanding by which you are inspired by to be expressed freely through you. A simple inferred rule from Salzedo and Kenyon's books, criticisms and teachings is : Do not make art or music if it hasn't become a part of you. Charles Bukowski, a legendary poet would say if it doesn't come bursting out of you despite everything, don't do it.
Fairly, we must also consider contemporary art, this freedom has evidently evolved into laxity and we now have "colour clashes on canvas" to please netizens instead of "messages on canvas" to influence the universe. As an artist kindly do not haunt perfection, haunt expression. Nevertheless, remember extreme comfort is a sin to your art.
Brief art description
This week's artwork The green harp symbolizes how confluence makes an art or music evergreen. The female harpist is carved into her harp and the harp is made to glow. There is a thick emotion of reverence, the female artist slightly bows and her head is adorned with flowers. This proves that only the art, only the music should exist. An artist, a musician should be willing to surrender his/her ego to permit confluence.
YouTube - New poem
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