My idea of a master's work . . . Fortunino Matania

[comix4fun]

 

One poster asked what impact Matania's art must have had during WW I. My guess is not that much (especially with photographs and newsreels capturing more than realistic illustrators could), and undoubtedly a lot less than the fine art movements like Dadaism that rebelled against the established order amidst the horrors of war. And, less than 50 years after his death, he and his work have largely been forgotten while the artists and art movements of that period certainly have not.

 

 

 

If only he'd thought of the GIANT DOTS!!!

 

:yeahok:

 

If only he had thought of signing a urinal with a fake name and calling it art, as Duchamp did during the war. That may seem stupid to the Joe Sixpacks of the world who will claim it's all a pseudo-intellectual scam, but it has managed to profoundly influence art, culture and thinking in the decades that followed. Matania may have been able to outdraw Duchamp with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back, but history has decided which was the highly skilled draftsman and which was the true artist.

 

 

Sometimes a stunt is a stunt regardless of how well it's remembered.

 

People tend to remember the more outrageous stunts....some may even confuse that with some spark of inspiration.

 

History remembers people for all sorts of reasons. It's not just the talented, skilled, or artistic. History remembers hacks and talents alike. The same can be said of Hannah Montana, Cheech and Chong, and the Television show Survivor. The more outrageous, the more different, the more likely to be remembered.

 

I don't know if history is remembering Duchamp as "the true artist" moreso than Matania or just remembering him because it was something memorable. Of course I know plenty of pseudo-intellectuals that could talk themselves into thinking being mugged on the street was "compulsory performance art".

 

So it's the eye of the beholder I guess.

 

 

 

[comix4fun]

 

One poster asked what impact Matania's art must have had during WW I. My guess is not that much (especially with photographs and newsreels capturing more than realistic illustrators could), and undoubtedly a lot less than the fine art movements like Dadaism that rebelled against the established order amidst the horrors of war. And, less than 50 years after his death, he and his work have largely been forgotten while the artists and art movements of that period certainly have not.

 

 

 

If only he'd thought of the GIANT DOTS!!!

 

Now, don't go upsetting Gene and his love of giant ben-day dots.

 

 

I have a lot of respect for those dots...just a small dot and it soothes my aching muscles.

 

Wait...Ben DAY dots?

[Terry Doyle]

One poster asked what impact Matania's art must have had during WW I. My guess is not that much (especially with photographs and newsreels capturing more than realistic illustrators could), and undoubtedly a lot less than the fine art movements like Dadaism that rebelled against the established order amidst the horrors of war.

 

Also came across the following . . .

 

One of the most accomplished realistic illustrators and artists of his time, his wartime work was immensely popular and appeared in nearly every major newsmagazine, Allied, neutral and Central Powers alike. Literally tens of millions of readers saw wartime events through the medium of Matania's weekly illustrations and, as such, he played an important role in defining people's mental image of what Great War battlefield scenes and soldiers looked like.

 

 

[delekkerste]

OK, you win - he used to be more important and admired than he is now. And his work is definitely better than anything in Saddam Hussein's old art collection. More than that, though, you'll have to convince me.

[comix4fun]

OK, you win - he used to be more important and admired than he is now. And his work is definitely better than anything in Saddam Hussein's old art collection. More than that, though, you'll have to convince me.

 

 

 

I have a feeling in about 50 years most of the people we think are important and admired will elicit a "huh" from the youth of that day.

[Terry Doyle]

OK, you win - he used to be more important and admired than he is now. And his work is definitely better than anything in Saddam Hussein's old art collection. More than that, though, you'll have to convince me.

 

Convince you?

 

Ah, Gene, I know what a brick wall is . . . and I'm not about to bang my head against it.

 

. . . perhaps some giant benday dots?

 

 

 

[delekkerste]

That's gorgeous, Terry - who's the artist?

 

 

[Terry Doyle]

That's gorgeous, Terry - who's the artist?

 

 

 

Chap that goes by the name of A. Hack

[comix4fun]

That's gorgeous, Terry - who's the artist?

 

 

 

Chap that goes by the name of A. Hack

 

 

Well he better take that scan down...I've hit CTRL+C and I am starting to feel all "transformative"....

[Terry Doyle]

OK, you win - he used to be more important and admired than he is now. And his work is definitely better than anything in Saddam Hussein's old art collection. More than that, though, you'll have to convince me.

 

 

 

I have a feeling in about 50 years most of the people we think are important and admired will elicit a "huh" from the youth of that day.

 

 

How could anyone ever say "huh" to a beauty like this:

 

 

Nooooooooooo!!!!

[markseifert]

Terry -- Do you have any links / further info re his Edgar Rice Burrows novel illustrations?

[Aman619]

Interesting that Matania made his name for his newspaper illustrations of he trial of thecTitanic sinking.

[Terry Doyle]

You might like to try this link:

 

http://www.erbzine.com/mag2/0253.html

 

Extract from one of the pages:

 

Fortinino Matania’s Art

 

A Brief Review by David Adams

 

 

 

This is a brief, personal view of this great artist, as the work in depth has already been done in Burroughs Bulletin, New Series No. 10, April 1992 where we find a great, definitive and well illustrated article by Robert R. Barrett called, “Fortunino Matania, R.I. -- The Last Victorian” and an interview with the artist conducted by Frank Westwood.

Barrett informs us that Matania “exhibited nearly every year at the Royal Academy and The Royal Institute of Art, and his paintings were usually depictions of Roman life and customs.” This fact confirms my first impressions of his work, which led me to wish that he had created a series of drawings and paintings for “I Am A Barbarian.” His depictions of architecture, costumes and weapons all have the flavor of ancient Rome, which makes him the perfect artist for many of ERB’s novels, which have the same Roman atmosphere lurking in the background of his many worlds.

 

The thing that is most striking about Matania’s art is its startling realism. His almost photographic style retains the quality of the engravings of the old masters, whic h is often so precise that one gets the impression that his pictures were created by a method of collage. For example, the cover illustration for the Dover edition of “The Pirates of Venus and Lost on Venus” shows a girl in the arms of a winged man that one might well imagine combined the wings of a bat, the head of an American Indian, and the limp body of a girl with arms twisted to accommodate the cut-and-paste method. It’s not that this is not an effective picture -- indeed it is very well conceived -- but the image is so graphically startling that it appears to have been done by another method than by painting alone.

 

Matania’s art looks old-fashioned to us today. Barrett informs us that “During his life, Matania remained aloof from every enthusiasm that the impressionable art community might be smitten with: post-impressionism, symbolism, expressionism, cubism, surrealism. For all of these ‘schools’ he had an austere and pragmatic scorn. One will find no trace of these ‘isms’ in any of his work. For him, they might well have never existed.”

 

For this reason alone, Matania might well be the perfect Burroughsian artist, for the literary style of ERB remained similarly in the backwaters of the 19th Century. The literary critic always runs into a brick wall when he tries to compare ERB’s work with his contemporaries simply because he was an anachronism who continued to write like a Victorian despite his many enthusiasms for modern inventions and discoveries.

 

We might easily imagine Matania illustrating the works of Jules Verne, H. Rider Haggard or H.G. Wells, for this is the genre of early science fiction that is most like the works of Burroughs. Indeed, many of Matania’s pictures look as though they had been lifted directly from illustrations for works by Verne, Haggard or Wells.

 

If J. Allen St. John had not done all of his famous work for ERB, we might well be singing the praises of Matania as his greatest illustrator. Had Matania been given the early commissions that St. John obtained, we might well have an entirely different view of ERB’s work -- one that more firmly tied him to a classical past and much closer to a graphic realism

[Aman619]

Goes to show that the source of what one reads is a great influence over what you read. This article revolves around Matanias ERB work, but the one I found was from a Tianic relented site. I inferred that the Titanic relation was historically relevant. Had I only read yours, I'd think Burroughs made him famous..

 

Sigh.

[Terry Doyle]

The Burroughs extract was in direct response to Mark.

[Terry Doyle]

Here's a link to news of a forthcoming Matania retrospective:

 

http://www.bookpalacebooks.com/acatalog/Book_Palace_Books_Drawing_From_History__The_Forgotten_Art_of_Fortunino_Matania_55.html

[Terry Doyle]

Interesting that Matania made his name for his newspaper illustrations of he trial of thecTitanic sinking.

 

 

 

Wonder how many people here recognize that Titanic picture? Before I knew anything about the artist, I do remember seeing this somewhere before.

[markseifert]

Wonder how many people here recognize that Titanic picture? Before I knew anything about the artist, I do remember seeing this somewhere before.

 

It reminds me of a Schomburg cover, with all the portal windows and details carefully attended to, and little text descriptions throughout.

[Terry Doyle]

One poster asked what impact Matania's art must have had during WW I. My guess is not that much (especially with photographs and newsreels capturing more than realistic illustrators could), and undoubtedly a lot less than the fine art movements like Dadaism that rebelled against the established order amidst the horrors of war.

 

Also came across the following . . .

 

One of the most accomplished realistic illustrators and artists of his time, his wartime work was immensely popular and appeared in nearly every major newsmagazine, Allied, neutral and Central Powers alike. Literally tens of millions of readers saw wartime events through the medium of Matania's weekly illustrations and, as such, he played an important role in defining people's mental image of what Great War battlefield scenes and soldiers looked like.

 

 

My thanks to everyone here who responded to my Matania Art Day, and the reaction that ensued.

 

Some of the comments here had prompted me to do a bit more research into the artist and has helped me uncover quite a few interesting facts.

 

The idea that Gene suggested, that an artist's depictions of the Great War would have little impact on the general public (at that time) led me to discover that Matania's illustrations had a great deal of impact, and played a very important part in the role of reporting.

 

Furthermore, I have now discovered, although photography and newsreels were an available technology, censorship appears to have curtailed their use.

 

Some more extracts from a further internet search . . .

 

War correspondents appointed

 

In 1915, Kitchener yielded to political pressure by allowing newspaper reporters onto the Western Front, and the first six war correspondents were appointed to GHQ in France. Writing under a pool system for publication in the national press, wearing uniform, heavily controlled by army escort officers and official briefings, with multiple layers of censorship in France and Britain, and subject to the policies of their own newspapers, these men were never in a position to criticise the conduct of military operations, or even to report them very accurately.

 

Whatever their own opinions, like most soldiers they were minor players trapped in a complicated hierarchical structure. The most famous of them, particularly Philip Gibbs of the Daily Chronicle, earned the respect of both politicians and generals for their insights, often delivered behind the scenes. But like their employers and the army itself, they saw their job as part of the war effort.

 

The same improvements in lenses, chemistry and metallurgy that made the artillery of World War One possible also provided for a new generation of lightweight cameras, starting in 1897 with the Pocket Kodak. The Daily Mirror in 1904 became the first newspaper to make regular use of half-tone photographs, which dominated its front page and set a new fashion in mass circulation newspapers.

 

Again, in strict military regulations, cameras were forbidden on the Western Front, but a few soldiers carried them and took photographs which later appeared in local newspapers. Photography also had obvious military applications, and some photographs taken by the survey companies of the Royal Engineers on the Western Front were also released to the press.

 

The first two official press photographers to be attached to GHQ arrived in early 1916. Like the war correspondents, they wore uniform and were subject to much the same restrictions, although the nature of their work meant that they frequently got into the front lines. Later in the war the Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders also appointed their own photographers on the Western Front. These photographs were offered for sale to newspapers, where they supplemented the older tradition of line drawings and engravings. Official war artists were also appointed during the course of the war.

[Terry Doyle]

A selection of Matania's World Wart I illustrations . . .

 

 

The task of observing artillery fire is one of the most difficult and trying which our soldiers have to perform. The observation post is often located in a shattered house, almost on the point of collapse. The approach to such posts is tedious and extremely perilous. The observation post depicted is a sand-bagged cottage, so battered by shell-fire that it trembled with every step one took.

 

The men live in entire isolation, without being able to move, sometimes not even to speak beyond a whisper, with difficulty keeping themselves in equilibrium on the insecure floor; many of these ruined houses, some fortified inside with sand-bags, other standing only by a miracle. It is not always possible to use all the rooms because some are almost collapsing and others are too much exposed to the enemy, being generally near the firing line.

 

The officers endeavour to embellish these tragic surroundings, using a few pieces of remaining furniture, decorating the walls with war trophies, maps or with photographs of their dear ones.

 

 

The searchlights showed the Germans advancing straight on the Allies, a few hundred yards to the south of Zonnebeke. The attacking troops were exclusively composed of the Prussian Guard. Suddenly the German ranks opened and the machine-guns appeared. The situation was critical, and the British general immediately gave the order for a bayonet charge.

 

A colonel dashed forward at the head of his regiment crying, " For honour and England". The opposing front ranks met in a terrible shock, and the bayonets frequently went home at the same moment. This hand-to-hand combat lasted for an eternal half-hour, and the troops, on both sides fought with the grimmest determination. Before the irresistible onslaught of the British soldiers the Prussian Guard reeled and broke.

 

 

It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and between Le Cateau and Landrecies, and a party of wounded soldiers were resting on the floor of a small church over which the Red Cross flag was floating.

 

A German shell burst open the door, smashing the beautiful pillars and moulded stonework, and further shells continued to burst upon the building, and so the wounded men, bearing as best they could their more severely wounded comrades along with them, fled to a more sheltered spot.