Tag: art

Henri Matisse, Breaking New Ground in Art – Astrology Musings

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Photo by Shelagh Murphy from Pexels

Henri Matisse, rival of Picasso, was one of the ground breaking artists of the last hundred years or so. He was noted for his sculpture and printmaking too.

Having first trained as a lawyer in France, he disappointed his wealthy father by taking up painting.

Meeting Australian artist John Russell in Brittany changed his life. Russell introduced him to impressionism and the work of Van Gogh.

Intensity of colour

Immediately he began to experiment with the use of intense colour, which led him to being one of the forerunners of the Fauvist movement of the early 1900s. From then on, he became ever more experimental, using large blocks of intense colour and increasingly more revolutionary styles. His extraordinary career spanned 50 years.

Astrologically, Matisse was born with expressive Leo on the ascendant, always pretty useful for a creative person who wants to make a mark.

His Moon in Sagittarius in house 5 would add a creative restlessness to his character, always open to new influences, especially from abroad. Nevertheless, with Saturn quite close to the Moon, he would always likely seek practical ways of applying that expression.

Personal drive

However, his ruler, the Sun, is found in Capricorn in house 6. Here is the ambition added to the forceful personality, the determination to apply and establish himself through hard work.

What is more, his Sun is trine a Jupiter Pluto conjunction on his midheaven in Taurus. This adds great practical opportunities and an intense drive to his career aspirations.

Practical application

The fact that he could turn his hand to more tactile work like sculpture and printmaking is shown by the Capricorn Taurus link up here.

Venus rules Taurus and his Venus is in Aquarius, hinting of his unusual, unique perspective on art. Jupiter, prominently placed and aspected, also rules his house 5 of creativity, which adds further to the mix.

Channelled energies

Though his Mercury in Capricorn shows mental astuteness, it is in exact opposition to his Uranus in Cancer in house 12 and square Neptune in Aries in house 9.

I think this indicates much mental agitation and energy, especially with Mars also not far away from Mercury. With Uranus in house 12 and Neptune involved, he might not have been consciously aware of where this agitated energy came from, but it may well have been a bonus for his creativity, inspiration and originality in art.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Light and Colour – Astrology Musings

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Photo by Daian Gan from Pexels

One of the most well known figures from the French Impressionist movement, Renoir’s birth chart has some highly interesting features.

Firstly, there is Neptune rising in Aquarius, loosely sextiling both Jupiter and Pluto.

Aquarius is often rather different, a forward thinker, though also with a conservative streak. Neptune’s nebulous, inspirational qualities placed here, will find a unique style of expression. Here is an unusual, mysterious, (and yes, impressionable), though highly inspired personality.

And Neptune is usually regarded as a feminine energy; Renoir’s depictions of females are particularly noteworthy, as if there was a deep connection to the archetype.

Light and Colour

It’s interesting to note that he preferred singing to drawing or painting when he was younger, the former being considered his greater talent. Mercury conjunct Uranus in Pisces, plus Venus conjunct Moon in Aries, may also reflect natural singing talent, as well as artistic ability. The vibrant light and saturated colour are a key character of his paintings, which also reflects the astrological symbolism.

Allied to this, his Sun trine Mars (10th house) and the Mercury Uranus conjunction (already mentioned above) in Pisces in the 2nd house, underlines his manner of needing to make a ‘secure’ living and career using his key artistic and unusual talents. He might have made a rather good poet, too, if he had shown the inclination.

Mars in Scorpio (10th) would add a determined ambition, sustained over time, an important strengthening feature amidst a lot of inspiration.

The female nude

Another notable feature, alluded to above, is the conjunction of Moon, Venus and Pluto in Aries in the 3rd house.

Here, we might speculate, is symbolised the deep, ardent love of femininity. He was indeed one of the primary impressionist painters of the female nude.

Renoir travelled quite extensively for his career, too, going to Algeria, Spain, Italy and Guernsey. Sagittarius on the midheaven with Jupiter in its own sign is an indication that travel, or exploring all avenues, will be a feature of the career.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

Astrology Bites: Monet

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My paintings are often heavily inspired by Monet.

Monet’s birth time on November 14 1840 is not known.

However, there are some interesting features showing in the chart of the day he was born: I suspect some of these fall on the sensitive angles of his true chart.

For example, there is a T square in mutable signs involving a Venus Saturn conjunction in Sagittarius, Mars in Virgo and Uranus in Pisces.

This would be a strong character forming figure, hinting at a tremendous, inventive and restless energy which finds a creative expression by way of the Venus Saturn conjunction.

Monet’s practical application of this energy made him probably the most prolific and consistent artists within the impressionist movement.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

Astrology Bites: Paul Cezanne’s 5th House

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Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The 5th house in astrology is the mundane equivalent of the sign of Leo.

It’s all about creativity, games, sports, children, and art.

The highly regarded French post impressionist painter, Paul Cezanne, had an interesting 5th house.

He has a Moon Uranus conjunction in Pisces, semi sextile (30 degree aspect) Neptune.

First Post Impressionist

Cezanne today is regarded by many as the first post impressionist. He struggled to find a new style and is thought to have inspired Picasso’s cubism.

I have had a life long love of Cezanne, his endless series of paintings featuring the bathers in geometric patterns, the equally endless series on the subject of Mont Sainte-Victoire in his home patch of Provence.

Breaking the Rules

Cezanne, though he did find it a struggle, developed a totally unique, inspired style of painting, breaking the rules.

To me, all this is very indicative of his dreamy, inspired and sensitive Piscean Moon conjunct rule breaking Uranus in the 5th house of creativity. I think he was compelled subconsciously (Pisces) to do it.

The presence of the Moon’s north node in this house too, suggests that he did follow the right course in his life, that of creativity, as opposed to heeding his father’s wishes to follow him in to the tedious world of finance and its social milieu.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019

Mary Cassatt, the ‘New Woman’ of Impressionist Art

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Mary Cassatt seated in a chair with an umbrella. Verso reads “The only photograph for which she ever posed. Courtesy of Durand-Ruel.” By Durand-Ruel –  The Frick Collection/Frick Art Reference Library Archives., Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Although born near Pittsburgh, USA in 1844, Mary Cassatt spent most of her life in France.

For someone who came to epitomise the ‘new woman’ of the time, who never married, and developed a career of their own, it is perhaps no surprise that we find Aquarius rising in her chart.

Aquarius is independent, freedom loving and likes to break new ground, yet can remain quite conservative at heart. This is shown in many aspects of her life. One of her primary subjects was women and their relationship to children, a traditional, genre.

The new feminine

Interestingly as well, we find Neptune in Aquarius in the first house. Neptune I equate with femininity and in Aquarius this is coloured by looking at it in new, independent spirit.

She clearly identified with this. Neptune’s quite tight trine aspect with Mars in Gemini in 5th house, adds much creative flair to her artistic expression. It was fellow impressionist, Degas, who introduced her to pastel and engraving, both genres she went onto master, testifying to her latent abilities.

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Mother and Child Before a Pool By Mary Cassatt – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.106_transpc002.jpg, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Professional opposition

We also find Saturn quite close to her ascendant in opposition to the Moon in Leo in the 7th house. Saturn here indicates caution and her strong moral fibre, but the opposition to the Moon reveals troubles and frustrations in her life, particularly within herself, in relationships and professional life. The Moon in Leo in itself is naturally creative and artistic.

Both the Moon and Saturn are in good aspect to Uranus in Aries in the 2nd house, further supporting her kind of organic, sensible way of breaking new ground by truly living the part of the ‘new woman’.

Creative releases

Also, Saturn’s trine to Mercury in the 5th house, shows an easy creative release for her through something which is manually dexterous, like painting. Mercury also in good aspect the Moon in Leo supports this release function through some kind of creativity.

Finally, I come to Venus, essentially unaspected in Cancer in the 6th house of work. I found this a little surprising at first, though a prominent Venus isn’t a necessarily a prerequisite for artistic ability.

Enjoying work

Venus in Cancer is tender, likes the home and family and is another symbolic representation of what she painted a lot of, women and children. In the 6th house, this is a classic indication of working artistically, or simply loving work.

Also, an unaspected planet can often ‘shout’ to be heard, so to speak. It may well have spoken to her creatively, but is this Venus also symbolic of the fact that she never married, that she was tied to her work?

So in all, Mary Cassatt may have been something of an enigma. She lived the life of a ‘new woman’, widened the boundaries of art through her involvement in the impressionist movement, yet inwardly, she retained strong moral values and a liking for tradition.

copyright Leofwine Tanner 2019