Kunstenaars kunnen via hun overvloed aan beschikbaar werk makkelijker te portretteren zijn dan diegenen die de nakomelingen slechts een kleiner aantal nalaten, in dit geval door o. a. een brand in 1984 die huis, atelier en werken in het Turkse Ortakent verwoestte, maar wiens leven door de nakomelingen -in dit geval dochter Anita -wiens gallery in NY 75% van het beschikbare werk herbergt-een leven als kunstwerk zichbaar maakt.
Jack Martin Rogers was born in Wiltshire, UK in 1943. He studied anatomy and fine art at the Birmingham School of Art. He moved to the island of Crete in Greece in 1962, which is when he began painting his most prolific work. Rogers went through many stylistic periods, ranging from fully figurative to abstract. He died in 2001, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work. Seventy-five percent of his estate is owned by his daughter, Anita Rogers.
The boy is the artist’s younger brother, Graham Rogers. Like Jack, Graham was an avid musician. He played the piano and violin professionally and taught both instruments to students at Haileybury Imperial Service College, a major boys’ school at the time in Hertford,U.K. The artist’s portraits in particular reveal a unique ability to render both the external and internal state of his subject with equal care; he captures the reality of the flesh with as much skill as he does the psyche of the subject. Tragically, much of the artist’s work was destroyed in a devastating house fire in Ortakent, Turkey in 1984; the artist was a prolific draftsman and painter and though much was lost, much still remains today, some still bearing visible evidence of the fire. (Anita Rogers)
Asked to describe her father in brief, Anita Rogers called him “brilliant and a renaissance man,” who was a very-talented musician. “He played the lute—and made a lute—classical guitar, lute, Greek traditional bouzouki, and sang, and all to perfection,” she said. “He was completely dedicated to being an artist and committed to being a fine draftsman. He was a perfectionist and extremely hard on himself.”
Growing up, Anita Roger’s dad, who lived for his art, traveled around Greece and Turkey with Rogers (who was homeschooled) and her mom in a Volkswagen camper van. “His goal was to keep us as free as he could from being chained to a system,” she said. (interviewed by Rough Sketch, by Menachem Wecker August 2020)
Briljant muzikant, a sensitive and compassionate person and a wonderful father and husband, met daarna de opmerking: “I remember him wishing he wasn’t so sensitive, so he could put his art before family, but he could not!” Met de directe aanvulling dat hij eens 24 uur musiceerde op het Griekse eiland Kea, een gebeurtenis die begon met een Griekse priester en zes vissers die ’s namiddag een biertje dronken en naar haar vaders ‘bouzouki’ luisterden. ‘It grew from there.’
Hellas has been enchanting artists, scholars, and writers for hundreds of years. Among them were Henry Miller, was drawn from Brooklyn to Marousi, and Lawrence Durrell, raised in British India, who fell in love with Corfu. In 1962 Jack Martin Rogers, who was born in Warwickshire, England found himself pulled into the magical island of Crete, and this winter some of his paintings – mainly with Greek themes – were lovingly exhibited by his daughter at her Anita Rogers Gallery in Manhattan --Interview in The National Herald 2017,helemaal te lezen via:
Het leven als leerschool. De wereld als speelplaats. En een kunstgallerij in Manhattan waar op elke muur de getuigen ervan je aankijken.:
The first thing on the minds of visitors is determining which of the paintings filling the four walls belonged to Rogers. They appeared to reflect a variety of styles and artistic visions, with items ranging from fully figurative to abstract – but they are all by Rogers. “He spanned over 55 years” Anita Rogers said by way of explanation – but the works appear to have been created by distinct artistic personalities. She acknowledged that, and pointed out that was also the case with Picasso – “you would not know his works were by the same artist.” She added Bob Dylan was also like that musically, and Rogers admired both.' En de man die tegelijkertijd de betrekkelijkheid van het kunstenaarsgedoe inzag en dus humor als wapen hanteerde.
In addition to his fine art practice, Jack Martin Rogers created playful sketches and greeting cards for his family. The artist had a keen sense of humor - he was a fan of Monty Python and The Goon Show. This levity and wit is evident in his cartoons, many of which were damaged in the 1984 housefire. At one point, the artist’s wife, Dasa Rogers, began work on a cookbook and Jack Martin Rogers created the illustrations to accompany her recipes.
bezoek: http://www.anitarogersgallery.com/artists/jack-martin-rogers
De essentie die je als kind in het leven van alledag ervaarde, is moeilijk weer te geven met woorden. Ik kan me voorstellen dat de nagebleven werken je terugbrengen naar intense momenten die niet steeds vrolijk en geborgen hoeven te zijn maar in het geheel tekens van leven blijven, onvolkomenheden inbegrepen. Er is de kunst. Er is het leven. Er zijn de kostbare momenten waar ze samenvallen, maar zelfs het menselijk geheel van een bestaan op deze planeet is meer gebaat met toewijding en herinneringen dan met verbluffende kunstwerken die vaak die menselijke warmte wel eens camoufleren. Bij Jack Martin Rogers was het net dat ongrijpbare, het leven zelf dat je in de nagebleven werken terugvindt in de variatie en de intensiteit die ook de band tussen vader en kind zichtbaar maakt, ook na het verdwijnen van de vader. Het leven als kunstwerk met hier en daar een inkijk-of een uitkijk-raampje.
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