Collage, magic scissors & Smartoons / Smartiples
Contents
- Collage
- Silver Scissors exhibition 1970
- Art Book 1972
- References
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1. Collage
Martin Sharp learnt the art of collage from his mother, and he pursued and developed it throughout his life. It was a significant element of his art. There were two public manifestations of his love of collage in the form a London exhibition held in 1970 and, arising out of that, a small illustrated book issued in 1972. The following deals with those two events, though the topic of collage in Sharp's work is a much bigger topic than that presented here.
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2. Silver Scissors exhibition 1970
An 4 page invitation to the opening of the Smart Martin and His Silver Scissors exhibition on Friday, 6 March 1970 at the Sigi Krauss Gallery, 29 Neal Street, Covent Garden, London, was printed in an edition of 1000 signed and numbered copies. The illustration below is of copy 25/1000, signed SM rather that the usual MS.
The exhibition featured Sharp's small collage works which were a surrealistic amalgamation of famous works of art, such as the shoes from Rene Magritte's Philosophy in the Boudoir 1947 juxtaposed with Vincent Van Gogh's landscape Wheat Field with Cypresses 1889 as the background. This image, and some of its variants, later featured on the cover and within his 1972 publication Art Book.
The invitation illustrated above is also an introduction to the exhibition and partial description thereof, though not referring specifically to any individual works on show. Some of the text from the invitation is presented below.
SMART
Sharp Martin and his Silver Scissors
Artoons
Dedicated to Jo, my first teacher.
You have the dubious honour of being invited, lured to the .... pssst ... private view of this Public Exhibition to Witness with you very Own Eyes this Breath Taking New Move in the "Art Game"
It's On! Friday 6th March from 5pm at Sigi Krauss Gallery 29 Neal St Covent Garden 836-2662
Give by Cow Gum / Images by Magritte, Van Gogh, Bacon, Gauguin, Matisse, Lichtenstein and Others .... Cut from publications by Thames & Hudson, Skira, Marlborough, Tate Gallery ... and Others .....
This is what the critics say: "A real slice of art" Philippe von Mora, "This is certainly a cut above the average" Richard 'Play Power' Neville, "Not be be missed ...." Anon
"Works" in Progress - The "Smartooist" is at present preparing an exhibition of "Paintings" hoping these will be published in a large art book so he will then be able to "Artoon" his own paintings !!!!!!!!
Photo of the Smartoonist by Youlden of Chelsea
Sharp Martin - Biography Born in the 20th Century. He studied collage under the tutelage of his mother. His first work in this field being a primary school project on food. In a matter of years he turned his hungry scissors from "Saturday Evening Post" to glossy art books.... This unprecedented move led to his first exhibition of "Artoons" at the then little known "Sigi Krauss Gallery" in London, 1970. Before long "Artooning" had spread through the solar system and became the major visual language. In the words of the Artoonist himself ... "Its all in the game."
Yes! Anyone can do it! Why buy one when you can do it your own! ... pssst ... Prices on application /
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3. Art Book 1972
On 4 December 1972 Australian artist Martin Sharp and the London firm of Mathews Miller Dunbar published a small book of collaged artworks simply titled Art Book. Within its 38 pages were colour reproductions of works by Sharp which juxtaposed images by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh and Rene Magritte. Sharp took colour reproductions from store-bought art books and utilised a pair of sharp scissors to cut and paste the elements of the classic paintings into collages. Prior to this Sharp's art had been a mixture of black and white cartoons and multicoloured psychedelic graphic designs, as seen within the Sydney and London editions of OZ magazine, and posters such as his famous Bob Dylan Blowing in the Mind for Big O Posters of London. Elements of collage had existed in his work since his earliest days as an artist in the late 1950s, strongly influenced by his mother's work in that medium. The Art Book was also a reflection of Sharp's abiding interest in the history of art; of his primary artistic influences; and of his skill as a collagist. In a later 1977 article entitled 'Those Silver Scissors' by Australian artist and commentator Elwyn Lynn, a number of works from Art Book are referenced, as is the process of their creation and the context.
Sharp appears to have commenced production of this series of small collages around 1970, and featured them in a number of exhibitions, in both London and Sydney. The Art Book arose out of this. Works from the book are reproduced below, with a discussion of their origins where such information is known. Additional collages not included in Art Book but part of the series are also referenced.
In 2018 a copy of the book from the collection of Sharp's OZ magazine colleague Felix Denis was sold. It contained an inscription from the artist.
In association with the publication of the book on 4 December, an exhibition of framed works similar to those included in Art Book was held in London.
The following is a description of individual works featured in Art Book.
1. Front cover. Magritte / Vincent Van Gogh. Original works featured include the shoes from Rene Magritte's Philosophy in the Boudoir 1947. The Van Gogh landscape in the background is Wheat Field with Cypresses 1889.
2. Vincent Van Gogh. The simple juxtaposition of two copies of Van Gogh's Self-Portrait 1889.
3. Giorgio de Chirico and Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's Starry Night 1889 features in the upper background. The foreground is a version of de Chirico's Piazza d'Italia 1913.
4. Rene Magritte and Vincent Van Gogh.
It featured a background based on the Australian Charles Conder's painting A Holiday at Mentone 1888.
A variant of this image was used in the printing invitation to the publication party held on 6 December 1972.
25. Goya and Whistler.
Other Works
Other collage works by Sharp from this period that are known but were not featured in Art Book, include:
38. Van Gogh and Water Tower. Another of Van Gogh's many self portraits was used in the following collage, which features work by the artist and Australian Jeffrey Smart's The Water Tower 1968.
39. Footloose Magritte in Van Gogh Territory. Reproduced in Elwyn Lynne (1977). Similar to the image on the cover of Art Book.
40. Manet / Magritte, collage, 17 x 22 cm. Sold by the Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, 1986. Leonard Joel, Melbourne, 6 December 2017. Combination of Edouard Manet's The Fifer and Rene Magritte's The Month of the Crowd. Possible also the work elsewhere titled Magritte's Metaphysical Piper.
41. Van Gogh's Last Painting with Gaughin Dish.
42. Rene Magritte London 2013, collage on paper, 47 x 62 cm.
43. Baconian Billiards.
44. Les Demoiselles de Mentone - refer description above in connection with item #24.
45. Icarus.
46. Blue Boy in Broken Hill. Exhibited in the Yellow House, Sydney, 1971. Combination of work by Australian artist Russell Drysdale and Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy.
47. Tucker Magritte 1970, collage, 14 x 19 cm. Combination of art by Australian artist Albert Tucker and Rene Magritte.
51. A variation of this collage, in pen and ink, was produced by Sharp during the early 1970s.
52. This image was reproduced in black and white within the 1977 Elwyn Lynn article Those Silver Scissors. It was most likely a lithographic print or original ink drawing.
53. Vincent Van Gogh. Works include Van Gogh's Chair 1888 and a section of his Self-Portrait With Easel 1888 on the lower right corner. Sharp produced a number of variants featuring Van Gogh's chair. These include the following:
54. This work was titled My only inspiration is imagination / Vincent's chair in the Starry Night 1969 and was a multicoloured silkscreen print on perspex.
55. Another variant (above) was a 1971 collage entitled Vincent's chair in Magritte's imagination.
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4. References
Lynn, Elwyn, Those Silver Scissors, Quadrant, February 1977, 45-47.
Sharp, Martin, Sharp Martin and His Silver Scissors, Sigi Krauss Gallery, Covent Garden, London, 1970, 4p.
-----, Art Book, Mathews Miller Dunbar, London, 1972, 38p.
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Last updated: 4 October 2024
Michael Organ, Australia
Been following your blog on & off since you began Michael & just catching up now .. You have provided amazing accounts & info on
ReplyDeleteMartin’s art .. Thankyou .. Can anyone tell me how to acquire a copy of his Art Book other than ebay ? Would love to have in my collection
Cheers