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STILL-LIFES -
1953
1953
During the early to
mid nineteen-fifties, Skov devoted a substantial amount of time and effort
to studies of the intrinsic relationship between the depicted objects and
their surrounding space; and he continued to base his work on the fusion of
elements from both Analytic Cubism and Synthetic Cubism, melding them into
a comprehensive Neo-cubist idiom. In doing this he tested and worked with a
number of pictorial factors including the articulation of space using
vectors and intersecting planes and inducing spatial uncertainty into the
design and depicted objects in order to liberate the viewer’s own
creativity to expand the visual perception. The still-life format, an
enduring challenge and also a principal tool of study for many generations
of painters, seemed particularly well suited for these purposes, not only
due to the use of well known, every-day objects, but also to the liberty it
provides for rearranging the motif in order to accommodate the artist’s or
paintings’ changing needs. In a still-life, any degree of visual complexity
can be structured, and it allows for resolving or emphasizing any desired
pictorial treatment of the stylistic elements, composition, color or
spatiality, as well as of the overall expression.
About half of Skov’s oil paintings from 1953 were
still-lives composed of household objects taken from the kitchen, living or
dining rooms; often including fruits, fruit-bowls, bottles, fish, pans,
water jugs and coffee pots. However, he also continued to work with ceramic
decoration, and in connection with this work he painted a series of
canvasses enlarging on the same motifs of fishes and birds that he had
already developed in ceramic glazing as miniatures. These now appeared in a
larger format emphasizing the spatial treatment.
For three months
during the early part of 1953, Skov worked with ceramics decoration at
Graa’s workshop in Copenhagen. The arrangement was simple: Skov paid for the materials and
ceramics and could work as he pleased at no cost. This work was exhibited
at a one-man show held during the fall at Gallery Oerskov which presented
his most recent decorative ceramic plates and bowls accompanied by about
two dozed contemporary drawings.
There is
considerable evidence of internal interaction between his paintings and
ceramic decorative work from this period including, certainly,
a commonality of motifs and, more significantly perhaps, his
approach to
the visualization of space and his continued simplification of the
objects.
Several short series of paintings of fish and birds illustrate this
very clearly, regardless of their otherwise considerable differences in the
artistic approach.
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