Anticipation
Book: Francis Cunningham
5 Continents Editions ($55)
March 18, 2021
A magic moment sometimes at a performance is when the curtains have parted but nothing yet has happened. One's awareness is acutely that of the stage space. The dancers, if already present, are about to be in motion - which differs from standing still. Many of Francis Cunningham's paintings and drawings give me the feeling that what is depicted is a theater's stage when things are about to happen. There will be motion. Cunningham's space is pregnant and birth will occur, so be alert. That this artist spends much time at dance performances, that he might count as a balletomane, is relevant Indeed, Cunningham has a wife (Kitty C) and a daughter (Sasha Anawalt) who are dance writers, and he has spent time sitting next to them in the theater and undoubtedly, conversing afterwards about what they saw. This is a big, heavy volume: 269 pages mostly pictures of Cunningham's art work, but also some essays and notes. Usually the objects in these pictures are depicted rather realistically, whether they are landscapes or lemons on a tabletop or nudes. Although a few of the figures are in dance poses or in action, there is a sense of pause, even in the most energetic. In the landscapes I feel that there is about to be an event - lightning or a cloudburst or just a ray of sunshine if Cunningham had waited another moment. The still lifes pulse with a foretaste of options. Cunningham was born 1931 in New York City. but the family soon moved to semirural New England. His mother, Marcia Davis Cunningham had been an artist and a couple of her works are shown. Francis, attending art classes at the Boston Museum, catches Ben Shahn's eyes with his work. He attends Harvard College, joins the Marines and in 1954 marries Kitty Ames Spalding. At the end of the 1950s, Francis studies at the NY Art Students League. Daughters are born to Francis and Kitty Cuttingham. Francis Cunningham goes to see Europe and is most impressed by something ancient, Polyklitus's sculpture Diadoumenos, which launches his own view of proportions. 1963 is the start of his serious dance going, both in New York City and at Jacob's Pillow in the Berkshires. Especially fascinating he finds Fonteyn and Nureyev's dancing and that of the Royal Danish Ballet. He is intrigued by Ted Shawn's and Barton Mumaw's dance lectures. Francis Cunningham's mature work starts in 1970, combining influences of two of his art teachers - Robert Everly Hale and Edwin Dickinson. Between 1970 and this 2020 book, Cunningham has worked a lot - making art, teaching art and writing. What precise motions will fill the spaces he keeps creating is slated to remain something of a mystery, yet intriguing for each individual who cares to take a look.
copyright 2021 by George Jackson
