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Clouds of Beauty: A Quadrant Interview with Artist Sam Francis
Sam Francis has been a prominent figure in the international art world for over forty years. His paintings, drawings, and graphic work have enjoyed wide critical acclaim and are found in the collections of major museums the world over. Equally at home in Japan and Europe as in the United States, his art is filled with a distinctly “universal,” or in the languague of Jungian thought, “archetypal” resonance, deep and mysterious symphonies of color that tell us the story of the human heart. His are works for the soul, colored dreams that suggest but do not force, reveal but do not expose. And, above all, his work is beautiful.
Abstract Art and the Unconscious — James Wyly
Like modern depth psychology, the type of modern art we now call “abstract” or “nonobjective” began to appear in Europe around 1900. Many critics, if only intuitively, have sensed a relationship between them, and attempts to explain abstract art as a manifestation of society’s psychological difficulties are far from uncommon.
My purpose here is different. I do not wish to use psychology to demystify abstract art, but rather to suggest that both are about the same mystery. I would suggest that both are manifestations of a shift in our collective perception of how we deal with our universe, of how we relate to the unknowable depths of the psyche. …
Women as Mythmakers Revisited — Estella Lauter
The following essay began conventionally enough when, having agreed to present an academic paper on “Women as Mythmakers” at the Women’s Caucus for Art meeting in February 1989, I encouraged the conference organizers to place a call for additional papers in the WCA newsletter. Beyond this, I have serendipity to thank, in that twenty-two artists, instead of submitting academic papers, sent slides of their work. The opportunity to test my earlier thinking about women and myth seemed too good to pass up, so I decided to describe as accurately as possible the mythmaking activity in this artist-selected sample of visual art, most of which had been completed in the late eighties. …
Interpreting Abstract Expressionism: Notes Toward a Hermeneutic for Historians of Art — Francis V. O’Connor
Of all recent American art movements, Abstract Expressionism is most often recognized as being open to psychological interpretation. The statements and experience of the artists involved, and the highly symbolic content of their creations, demand a hermeneutic capable of revealing meanings that transcend the literal. What follows is intended to prompt thought and discussion concerning the interpretation of Abstract Expressionism (and perhaps the visual arts in general). The material is presented as notes toward a theory of art and psychodynamics. …
Meaning in Art — Stephen A. Martin
C. G. Jung was a psychologist of the symbolic image. He cared little for whether an image was “artistic” or not. For him, all images were equally valuable expressions of psychological meaning; each revealed something of the mysterious workings of the human psyche. Art historical and formal considerations were secondary, if not extraneous, to the image’s symbolic and psychological import.
Given this distinctly psychological perspective, Jung was always attentive to the inner experience of the artist and to the artist’s creative process. In general, he understood an artist to be one of two types — either “psychological” or “visionary” …
A Letter from Berlin: December 22, 1989 — Hans Dieckmann
Dear Friends: Today as the Brandenburg Gate opens, I am writing the letter you asked me to send you for Quadrant, giving my impressions of the amazing events in Berlin and their effect on the collective and individual psyche, particularly here in the West. In Berlin itself there is no end to the joy and enthusiasm we feel. Each day brings something new. In fact, the news broadcasts on TV and radio are much more exciting than any made-up thriller could be, so that we hardly get away from our televisions and radios. But I have no need to emphasize this. You in the United States have surely heard in detail about the enthusiam that has greeted the fall of the Wall, which had seemed so permanent that we took it for granted, or, at least, were entirely accustomed to living with it. …
Anselm Kiefer: The Artist as Alchemist — Jay Sherry
Anselm Kiefer was born in 1945, the year following Germany’s defeat. He took as his first artistic challenge the confrontation with those “fearful dreams” and “evil spirits” that had been repressed during the postwar years. His first major work was the photo series Occupations, done in the late 1960s, in which he invited — and received — condemnation for posing in a fascist uniform, arm erect in the Nazi salute, in various locations ranging from the grandiose (the Colosseum) to the banal (a bathtub). …
About Anselm Kiefer: Excerpts from a Conversation with Curator Mark Rosenthal
One of the more innovative curators in the art world today, Mark Rosenthal organized the influential and successful exhibit of Anselm Kiefer’s work that traveled the United States from its opening at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1987 to its closing at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1988. Among his other important projects was the award-winning American exhibition of the work of Jasper Johns at the 1989 Venice Biennial. Art historian, consultative curator at the Guggenheim Museum, and former curator of Twentieth Century Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Mark spoke with Quadrant about Anselm Kiefer, personality and artist. …
In Memoriam: Dora Kalff (1904–1990) — Frank Coit Johnson
The death of Dora Kalff in January of this year is a great loss to the Jungian community, both because of her inspired contribution to Jungian psychology through her unique application of sandplay to clinical use, and as a personal friend and mentor to many who have known and admired her spirit and been supported in their own lives and work by her enlivening presence. Whereas most analysts of her generation concerned themselves solely with adults, Frau Kalff extended the boundaries of Jungian psychology in her inspired work with children, following always her own path, a feminine path, one less noticed and less followed. In tribute to my own personal memory of her courage, candor, energy, and gracefulness of spirit the following article is respectfully dedicated. …
The Wisdom of the Dream: A Documentary Film in Three Parts, Directed by Stephen Segaller. Reviewed by David Morgan
The Wisdom of the Dream, a three-part film about the life and work of C. G. Jung, was featured at a day-long event held at the Symphony Space in New York City on Sunday, October 29, 1989. The three parts, “A Life of Dreams,” “Inheritance of Dreams,” and “A World of Dreams,” were interspersed with commentary by Robert Johnson with additional commentary by Stephen Segaller and Merrill Berger, Ph.D. …
Book Reviews
A Response to Demaris Wehr’s Review of The Wisdom of the Psyche — The Reverend Nancy Wright.
Power and Politics: The Psychology of Soviet-American Partnership— Jerome S. Bernstein. Shambhala Press. 1989. Reviewed by Anthony Stevens.
An Art of Our own: The Spiritual in Twentieth Century Art — Roger Lipsey. Shambhala Press. 1988. Reviewed by Gail Gelburd.
A Guided Tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung — Robert H. Hopcke. Forward by Aryeh Maidenbaum. A C. G. Jung Foundation Book. Shambhala Press. 1989. Reviewed by Michael Vannoy Adams.
A Time to Mourn — Verena Kast. Einsiedeln: Daimon Verlag. 1988. Distributed by the C. G. Jung Foundation. Reviewed by Susanne Short.
The Plural Psyche: Personality, Morality and The Father — Andrew Samuels. Routledge. 1989. Reviewed by Harriet Gordon Machtiger.
The Borderline Personality: Vision and Healing — Nathan Schwartz-Salant, Ph.D. Chiron Publications. 1989. Reviewed by Seth Isaiah Rubin.
Drugs, Addiction and Initiation: The Modern Search for Ritual — Luigi Zoja. Translated by Marc Romano and Robert Mercurio. Sigo Press. 1989. Reviewed by David Dan.
The Lyre of Orpheus — Robertson Davies. Viking Penguin, Inc. 1988. Reviewed by Carol Savitz.
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