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NEO-IMPRESSIONIST
PERIOD
1933 - 1937
The period between
Skov's one year trip to France in 1933, followed by a three stay in
Denmark, and his return to France in 1937, can best be characterized as his
Neo-Impressionist period, even if there are significant differences between
his first paintings from Haute-de-Canges in 1933 - 34 and his work from Fyn
in 1934 - 35, and from Mols and Svaneke 1935 - 37. During this period his
approach to painting underwent considerable development, and in fact it may
therefore be more appropriate to look at this period as four sequential but
separate one-year stages periods. The important common denominator of his
work during this four year period, is his overall aesthetic expression
which most accurately can be described as Neo-Impressionist.
However, one comes
quickly to the realization that Skov did not then, and for that matter also
not later, actually follow any particular art movement or style in the
sense of consciously following a set of aesthetic rules or trying to
emulate the style or example of another artist. He rather went ahead to
developed his own expression in accordance with his personal inclination
and artistic instinct; and naturally this took considerably more time and
work than he otherwise would have needed for any particular aesthetic
development to fully mature within him. But from his standpoint, painting
was a personal issue. He painted because he felt a challenge and pleasure
in doing it, and he came towards it with a great deal of idealism, in the
sense that he was painting to satisfy only himself; not to develop a style
or follow the style of somebody else.
For example, Skov's
paintings from Cagnes-sur-Mer in 1929 - 30, with their often translucent
colors and patchy brush strokes, are quite close to classic Impressionism.
Whereas his work from Haute-de-Cagnes in 1934, and particularly during the
following three years in Denmark, turns away increasingly from what
Matisse, as paraphrased by Herbert Read in "A Concise History of
Modern Painting", had called the "Divisionism" of
Neo-Impressionism and more and more towards a sense of what he also called
"solidity", reflecting a wish for increased condensations of
sensations. "Immediate or superficial color sensations must be 'condensed',
and it is this condensation of sensations which constitutes a picture. This
is the first sign of the influence of Cezanne: the work of art is not
'immediate' - it is a 'work of my mind': it must have an enduring character
and content, a character of serenity...". And so it was also for Skov
at this similar point in his development, since he had started with an
expression based on the sensation of pure light, but then, as his paintings
from Fyn and Mols demonstrate, turned intuitively towards
greater condensation of the sensations and more solidity in the concept.
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