This essay analyzes a sampling of Xavier Gonzalezs paintings and murals, and examines the connections between Gonzalez and Pablo Picasso through journals and notes by Gonzalez himself.
Gonzalezs career as an artist spanned decades, during which he explored many different types of media. His watercolors draw upon a Cubist legacy and integrate geometric elements within his realist subject matter. Gonzalezs murals for the New Orleans Lakefront Airport feature sweeping scenes of flight that capture the modern experience. The murals represent the apex of Gonzalezs career as an artist working in public spaces, though they later faded into oblivion as the airport lost its luster. Gonzalezs later paintings from the 1940s and 1950s engage emotionalism and humanism, and operate on multiple levels of meaning.
From Gonzalezs own notes, one can gain insight into how the influences and observations of Pablo Picasso aided him to define his work and his approach to art in general. Both natives of Spain, Picasso and Gonzalez shared an aversion to reading about or critiquing art. Instead, Gonzalez relied on his observations of other artists, such as Picasso and his wife Ethel Edwards.
In lieu of a definitive biography or catalogue raisonné of Gonzalezs art yet to be written, this essay should serve as starting point for further Gonzalez research to be undertaken in the future.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-04152009-161334 |
| Date | 17 April 2009 |
| Creators | Katayama, Erika |
| Contributors | Mark Zucker, Darius A. Spieth, Justin St. P. Walsh |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-04152009-161334/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached herein a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below and in appropriate University policies, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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