|
PRISMATIC
NEOCUBISM
1955 - 1956
During the latter
part of 1955, Skov began a series of paintings and studies constructed over
irregular grids of black vector-lines joined together in nodes. These
vectors served several functions simultaneously. They provided the contours
of the depicted objects, defined the outlines of the subdivided, prismatic
elements of the space surrounding the objects, and also tied together the
overall composition into a single unit. The round, black nodes defined the
point of intersection of the lines, thereby tieing down the intersecting
surfaces indicated by the vectors into a single plane, resulting in turn in
a visual effect similar to that of upholstery buttons tugging down the
leather on a stuffed sofa. Besides, these nodes interrupt the free sweep of
the viewer’s eye along the vector lines arrest, if even for only the
briefest instant, resulting in a distinct visual experience.
In these paintings,
the triangular and trapezoid planes located between the vector lines which traverse
the pictorial space, in many cases appear to develop concave and convex
curvatures pushing the space forward towards the viewer. The viewer’s
perception of the composition’s spatiality thus becomes governed by this
structural scaffolding, against which the objects appear to fight with the
pictorial space itself in order to emerge as the dominating visual reality
of the painting. The technique used for these “vectorial” paintings appears
entirely original and the visual effects unique and interesting. Examples
of this series of paintings include “Still-life with Roman Bust, Fruits and
Potted Plant” and “Roman Bust with Turkish Coffee Pot”, both practically
monochrome, one in black, white, grey and the other in green and blue.
In continuation of
this series of paintings, perhaps as a result of the vector design becoming
increasingly angular and crystalline in appearance, Skov painted a number
of still-lifes during late 1955 and 1956, emphasizing the prismatic
character of the composition as well as of both the objects and their
surrounding space. The motifs are quite varied and include flowers, vases,
coffee pots, tables with flasks, pitchers and a life-size Roman bust, often
together in different combinations.
In these series of
paintings, the three-dimensional space comes alive almost as a
multi-facetted solid with embedded objects that themselves, for the most
part, are prismatic in nature. In contrast to the previous vector
compositions, the prismatic series of paintings are richly polychrome and
in several instances provide some of the strongest color effects anywhere
in Skov’s oeuvre.
|