The Last Strokes: Ranking Artists’ Final Masterpieces
Aug 25
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I was talking to Lola, one of our editors, the other day and we were discussing how hard it is to come up with good blog topics at times. She mentioned a couple of great ideas, one being looking at final paintings by some artists. I loved the idea, so I took it and ran with it. However, in true Jhazzy fashion, I added a bit of a twist to it. I decided I would rank the artists selected. How did I decide on these artists? Very arbitrarily. These are some of the greats, though. Let’s look at the final paintings of Van Gogh, Monet, Klimt, Basquiat, and Kahlo.
#5. Water Lilies by Claude Monet - Monet was raised in Normandy and is viewed as a key figure in the Impressionist movement. He often depicted landscapes, people, and everyday scenes (think lots of plein-air paintings—which are paintings done outside). Towards the end of his life, he primarily focused on a specific water lily pond.
The lily pond was in his garden in Giverny. Monet had an idea to create the grandes décorations, a circular installation designed to envelope viewers in an expanse of flora and nature, including the water lily. In the image shown, “lilies bloom in a luminous pool of green and blue that is frothed with lavender-tinged reflections of clouds. Thick strokes in darker shades seep into the left panel, while on the right, sky and water are gently swallowed by an expanse of reddish-green vegetation” (The Museum of Modern Art).
The reason that I ranked this painting the lowest is not because I’m an impressionist hater, I promise. Of the five, this one spoke to me the least. I like the colors in the painting, but I did not feel a great connection to it as a whole. I don’t know that I quite get water lilies from this, either. However, I admire Monet, his work, and his contribution to art.
#4 Tree Roots by Vincent van Gogh - van Gogh was born in 1853 and he was a Dutch painter, as well as a teacher, preacher, and missionary. When he worked among coal miners, he started to draw more seriously. He was influenced by Japanese prints and Impressionists.
The painting depicted here, Tree Roots, includes lots of bright colors and is a bit abstract. However, you can see trees and roots when you really look at the painting. Apparently, the work was not entirely completed. According to the van Gogh museum, “It is probably Van Gogh's very last painting. Andries Bonger, the brother-in-law of Vincent's brother Theo, described it in a letter: 'The morning before his death, he had painted a sous-bois [forest scene], full of sun and life.'"
The reason that this is fourth on my list is because I’m not a huge abstract person, but I am a fan of van Gogh’s work. In fact, I went to the van Gogh pop up museum when it was in Atlanta. I love the use of colors here and all of the trees. I find it interesting that the title focuses on the roots.
#3 Riding with Death by Jean-Michel Basquiat - Basquiat lived a short life, dying at the age of 27 in the 1980s. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and his mother encouraged him as an artist, enrolling him as a junior at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He also attended a private school specializing in art, and he spoke several languages.
This painting, Riding with Death, is a simple composition with a brown background, white bones, and a red and black person riding on the bones in the foreground. The image comments on racism and social issues: “The composition itself is thought to be inspired by a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci titled Illustration for his thoughts on Virtue and Envy in which he depicted a naked woman sitting on a skeleton on all fours” (Singulart).
I ranked this one third because I like how the skeleton is looking at the viewer and the simplicity of the composition. I love the use of red here—red is always an eyecatching color in a composition to me, especially when used in the center or foreground of a painting.
#2 Viva la Vida, Watermelons by Frida Kahlo - Kahlo was a Mexican artist who painted lots of self-portraits and used very vibrant colors in her artwork. She suffered from polio as a child and focused on painting as she recovered from various ailments. Throughout her life, Kahlo painted about 200 paintings and over 50 of them were self-portraits.
Viva la Vida, Watermelons, shown here, is a vibrant look at watermelons in various forms. According to Fridakahlo.org, “Kahlo put the finishing touches on her watermelon-themed painting just a few days before her death in 1954.” Viva la Vida means long live life.
I love how this image shows the watermelon in various forms because it makes me think of the phases of life. Also, I love it because of the vibrant colors and when I think of watermelons, I often think of a hard exterior but a juicy, sweet interior. I think life offers both hardness and softness. Sometimes, we have to break through the hardness to reach the good interior. That may be oversimplified, but I hope you understand what I’m getting at.
#1 Lady with Fan by Gustav Klimt - There’s a bit of controversy here because another painting of Klimt’s was found recently that was thought to be lost. So, it seemed that either of these could be the last one. Klimt was an Austrian painter, born in 1862. He was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Succession Movement. He painted a lot of women and his paintings can be quite erotic, in some cases.
I am going to talk about the Lady with Fan painting, but I do want to briefly mention the painting that was recently found. The Portrait of Fräulein Lieser was discovered after it vanished nearly 100 years ago. It reappeared in a private collection and could sell for a pretty penny.
Now, on to Lady with Fan. In this image is Dame mit Fächer. She is a bit exposed, as you can see;her fan is covering her, but her garment is hanging off her shoulder. You can see Asian influence within this artwork: a crane, a phoenix, etc. Klimt owned some Asian robes before they were destroyed by a bombing.
I chose this as my number one because I love all the colors used, the details, and the confidence of the woman. I find her unnaturally elongated body fascinating. The painting is in true Klimt fashion, and it’s very captivating. There could be an argument that it’s voyeuristic. Some historians say he paints his women with confidence and in celebration. Others say this can be seen as objectification. I will leave that as a conversation for another day, but it certainly does make you think and look at all the aspects of the painting.
So, that’s my very arbitrary, slightly biased, totally personal ranking of these final masterpieces. Maybe you agree, maybe you think Monet should’ve taken the top spot. Either way, I hope it inspires you to look at these works not just as paintings, but as the last creative conversations these artists left for us.
Sources:
https://www.metmuseum.org/essays/claude-monet-1840-1926
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80220
https://www.nga.gov/artists/1349-vincent-van-gogh
https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en/collection/s0195v1962
https://www.fridakahlo.org/viva-la-vida-watermelons.jsp
https://artsandculture.google.com/entity/gustav-klimt/m03869?hl=en
