Buy Art - Art Review, Studio by Tirza Freund

Painter - Tirza Freund

Studio,
Oil on Canvas
90x100cm, 2003

The well-known Israeli writer Dan Tsalka once wrote that during the process of creation, every artist must feel the presence of the old
masters and strive to win their approval. This is exactly what happens here. What Dan Tsalka stated in an abstract sense has become
reality in Freund’s work: the studio is filled with books about art. Their presence is as strong here as that of the Madonna and of Christ
on the cross in a devout Catholic’s home. There is, first of all, the pile of books on the table. Rather than merely lying there, those books
are watching the artist’s reflection in the mirror. The books form an obstacle, slowly taking shape and standing between the artist - who
must be standing somewhere between us and the books – and her painted image, which is also her painting image in this case. In other
words, in order to paint herself as a painter, the artist has to scale a small tower of great masters.

The same formation symbolically appears on the table. One piece of red fruit is 'looking' into the mirror just like the artist herself; but it
is also looking at a raised version of itself on the overturned bowl on the right. In the middle, perhaps on its way to becoming higher and
rounder – and definitely clearer – it has to “climb over” the yellow pieces of fruit. A huge ocean of black tablecloth is separating the 'self'
from the 'artistic self'.

The same drama is repeated on the table, this time hinting at a way to solving the difficulty. Freund places a 'balance' on the table: to the
right there is a book of reproductions by Rembrandt, while to the left lies the mirror with her own reflection. We are facing a much-desired
comparison. Rather than claiming, 'I am Rembrandt', the painting declares, 'That is where I should be going.' Look again at the two pieces
of red fruit. Consider the raised one as Rembrandt and the other one, practically rising out of the mirror next to the painter’s reflection, as
Tirza Freund herself.

The reflection in the mirror is not an allusion to one of Rembrandt’s portraits. In my opinion, it alludes to Velazquez’s Las Meninas.
Something in the positioning and especially in the angle of the way the brush is held reminds me of the great Spanish painter’s
positioning in his famous Las Meninas. If my hunch is right, we can see the mirrors of Velazquez and Freund as holding a conversation
similar to the one between Freund’s mirror -representing the artist herself – and Rembrandt’s book -representing the great master.
This painting depicts not only the studio but leaving it as well and the process of mental 'preparation' towards the very act of leaving.
The painting presents to both artist and viewers the problem of finding a personal voice, the unique identity of the artist against the
background of the great examples surrounding her. To be able to paint, the artist must detach herself from the picture, leave the studio,
look inside herself despite the beautiful 'distractions' both around her and in her memory. The moment of reflection in the mirror is the
very moment of leaving the studio. All of a sudden, the mirror turns into some kind of opening through which Tirza Freund is led to the
painting and through the painting - to herself.