JEANNE
REYNAL
(1903
- 1983)
"I
hope to show that the medium of mosaic is not painting with stones
and not sculpture, but an art the essential quality of which is
luminosity" a quote by Jeanne Reynal in the book The Mosaics
of Jeanne Reynal. She acknowledged that the creation of Haghia Sophia,
the great church in Istanbul, Turkey, during Byzantium times is
the supreme example of architecture adorned with gold mosaic. From
then on mosaic work started to change. During the Renaissance, the
master painters designed mosaic paintings for churches and official
buildings. They buried the quality of light by putting the stones
close together and producing copies of paintings.
It
was not until Antonio Gaudi created the Parque Guell in Barcolona,
Spain in 1910-11 that the unique in mosaics was again employed.
Along came Jeanne Reynal in the early 50's to Paris. She received
conventional training by working in the studio of Boris Anrep. He
designed the floor of The Bank of England and Jeanne worked on the
project. She also was influenced by Seurat's paintings, which she
said helped to develop her concept of the direct mosaic. She also
later acknowledged the help of Ashile Gorky as a great teacher and
friend.
The
direct method consisted of working on a prepared ground where she
prepared certain kinds of cement and used found rocks, stones, shells
and ordered marble and other semi-precious stones. She did all her
own work and put down the stones in different kinds of patterns
or designs - they were sometimes just thrown down and then set in.
There was space between them and the light glittered and shown on
these portable textured surfaces. A special luminous environment
was created for the free standing space dividers and wall pieces.
Jeanne Reynal transported the imagination beyond "objects".
She made the surfaces of these tactile works breathe.
She
is in numerous museum collections: Museum of Modern Art, Whitney
Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and numerous
museums all over America. She has had many public commissions and
is in many private collections. Her work is made for posterity and
I have yet to find some-one who wants to sell these precious gems.
Jeanne
Reynal was also a patron of artists here and was instrumental in
bringing artists to America during the Second World War and saving
their lives.
Anita
Shapolsky
Jeanne Reynal, mosaic artist, was born in 1903 in White Plains,
New York, and was part of the Abstract Expressionist movement in
New York City in the middle of the 20th century.
Earlier,
she had apprenticed with Boris Anrep at the Atelier, in Paris, France
from 1930 to 1938, lived in California until 1946, and then settled
her studio in New York City.
Jeanne
Reynal explored the sensuality of surface with her work. In searching
for a means to a direct mosaic, she developed sculptures using a
variety of materials cemented directly within a large structural
form. Influenced by Arshile Gorky, Reynal did work that echoes the
fluid lines and curves that Gorky's work turned to after moving
away from cubist compositions. Her sculpture emphasizes swelling,
biomorphic shapes solidified in almost fossil-like constructions.
Commissions
1941: Frederick Thompson, California; Garden Floor, 17 x 17 feet; 1959: Ford Foundation Program for Adult Education, White Plains, New York. Rosy Fingered Dawn, 74 x 52 inches; 1960: Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell McKnight. Mural entrance piece, 72 x 48 inches; 1962: Our Lady of Florida monastery and retreat house, Palm Beach, Florida. Free-standing wall 30 x 20 feet. Paul Damaz, architect. From the office of The Reverend Brother Cajetan J.B. Baumann, O.F.M; architect, F.A.I.A.; 1962: Cliff House, Avon, Connecticut. Convex wall, 6 x 14 inches. Moore and Salsbury, architects; 1965: Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln, Nebraska. Mural: The Blizzard of ’88, 13 feet 1 inch x 17 feet 10 inches; 1966 Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln. Mural: The Planting of the Trees, 13 feet 1 inch x 17 feet 10 inches; 1967: SS Joachim and Anne Church, Queens Village, New York, Reredos, 24 x 24 feet.
