NEW YORK—Immediately upon the artists convening for the 2019 NTD International Figure Painting Competition, the community was abuzz with excitement for the next competition and the prospect of furthering a mission to advance art through “pure beauty, pure kindness, [and] pure authenticity.” Then a pandemic struck, and wars followed. It would be years before enough artists could travel again so that the next round could be held.
On Jan. 15, the 6th NTD International Figure Painting Competition (NIFPC) convened, with an exhibition of 60 paintings from 54 finalists at the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue and 12th St. Works will be on display through Jan. 19. As a competition highlighting traditional painting, the works were required to be done in oil paint and showcase a mastery of the human figure.
Attendees of the opening ceremony included artists who had participated several times and newcomers alike, such as Alexandra Telgmann from Germany, who had heard about the NTD International Figure Painting Competition just last year.
“This competition is focusing on beauty, which is what I love about it—the beauty of humanity and the beauty of art,” she said. “I love that there will be a new, increased awareness for this kind of art, and also for the artists.”
Ms. Telgmann felt the event was a rare and precious thing. In Germany, she explained, the focus in on abstract art, which leaves her few platforms to share her work.
A specialist in ocean scene painting, Ms. Telgmann submitted a work featuring her daughter swimming in the North Sea. To hold a beautiful pose under water is no easy feat, she explained. Luckily, Ms. Telgmann’s daughter is a trained ballerina with the strength to hold herself with as much poise underwater as on stage. The artist took some 800 photos while following her daughter underwater, capturing various moments of light, bubbles, breath, and movement to later harness in a still painting meant to evoke the calm motion of the living ocean.
“There are a lot of different opinions about art in society. For me, it is to show beauty, kindness, and increase with it an awareness for nature, the human person, and breath, to create a moment in time that’s special,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that are not so nice in the world. So on the other side, we need people to show beauty again, because this is what people are longing for.”
Mr. Telgmann was moved to tears upon reading founding jury member professor Kunlun Zhang’s preface to the competition, which was posted near the exhibition’s entrance.
Mr. Zhang is known as a man of devout faith; once a famous contemporary sculptor in China, he had a great change of heart toward studying, mastering, and restoring the path of traditional art after gaining faith. He credits this influential mission to champion beauty to what he has learned and understood of beauty, life, and the universe after taking up the spiritual practice of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong. The spiritual practice teaches the three principles of truth, compassion, and forbearance.
Artists came into this world with a mission, the professor said, and many may have since forgotten that due to the multitude of human desires and pursuits so readily available in society. But over the past 17 years of this competition, he has felt encouraged by the growing group of pure-hearted artists who participate because they want to pursue beauty, kindness, and authenticity again.
Ken Goshen, who submitted “Portrait of Alexandra” and “Portrait of Alan,” said the mission of the competition is important to the broader art community.
“People who look at classical art and say [that] those of us who choose to commit ourselves to it and to devote ourselves to it and to practice it are somehow stuck in the past are misunderstanding what it takes to build a future,” Mr. Goshen said. “If we want to build a future that is wise, we have to build it on the shoulder of giants.”
Building on the Shoulders of Giants
While exceptional oil paintings from significant art periods remain, the intricacies of technique have been lost, or, having fallen into disuse, are little known and hard to acquire. The week of events between the exhibition opening and the closing awards ceremony generally includes itinerary items like discussion sessions, workshops, and this year a guided tour at the Met Museum and Yale University Art Gallery.
Alessandra Marrucchi from Italy has been painting for nearly 50 years and said she has great appreciation for great technique. At age 23, she began studying at Studio Simi in Florence; it was the only studio of its kind at the time, as post-modernism, which pursues non-traditional art, was pushing full steam ahead. Ms. Marrucchi wanted to learn basic anatomy and how to work with oil paints. She studied directly under Nerina Simi, daughter of studio founder Filadelfo Simi, and the curriculum included three years of charcoal study before students were allowed to even pick up a brush. Oil painting was done with only oil in pigment and no other additives, and students would work from live models who held the same pose for two weeks before moving on to the next.
Today, there are several other studios in Florence pursuing a traditional path, Ms. Marrucchi said, and it’s no wonder they’ve chosen Florence as a home as it houses a multitude of gems from both Classical and high Renaissance periods for study.
“When you go to the museum, you don’t know why but there are some pictures that give you so, so much. So, I would like to do the same,” she said. “I try to find the beauty inside the people, the beauty, the serenity, the soul. I know that the world has many fights, many bad things, but when I paint, I like to look, to try to find everything that is good.”
Ms. Marrucchi submitted a self portrait, titled “A Self-Portrait with Pearl Earrings.” At age 72, she said, this meant looking honestly at herself, accepting her various complicated feelings about aging, and painting the wrinkles that perhaps weren’t there earlier, but finding and highlighting all the good in herself all the same.
“Of course, I’ve changed a lot. But it’s a necessary change,” she said with a laugh.
Below are some of the finalists’ paintings now on exhibit.
From The Epoch Times
