Today I took the long journey to Sydney to catch the Paths To Abstraction exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. I was excited because this period in Western Art is one of my favourites, bridging the period between realism and pure abstraction.
It was pleasing to re-familiarize myself with so many old friends, works by Monet ('Haystacks') and Cezanne, woodcuts by Gauguin, references to Fauvism, Symbolism, Cubism, Futurism(enough -isms. ed) and my old buddy, Dadaism. There was a book of verse by Tristan Tzara in French and I was amused that I could remember parts of the English translation. No, I'm not smart, it's just that I once taught Dada as part of a performing arts course.
So I felt comfortable with the arty discourse that was being bandied about. Except for one concept or word I had never heard before. Rayonism. It bothered me all the way home. What was rayonism? Presumably there were artists who were rayonists with whom I had no acquaintance. Their works were displayed very near the Fauves and indeed they were quite colourful. But their distinguishing feature (I'm sure you can guess) were ray-like strokes or spikes of colour intersecting each other in a dynamic way. A short-lived movement, apparently, but one crucial to the development of Russian abstract art.
The jostling of ideas and gentle shifting of tectonics fascinates me. Maybe I should have studied art history at uni.
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