ArtWay

ArtWay An online publication fostering fresh encounters with art. Part of The Kirby Laing Centre

This beautiful meditation on Christ’s sacrificial death combines many facets of the gospel, not only in what it portrays...
25/08/2025

This beautiful meditation on Christ’s sacrificial death combines many facets of the gospel, not only in what it portrays but how it portrays it, and even the circumstances of its creation.

Read Nigel Halliday's meditation on Michelangelo's 'Pietà'

https://www.artway.eu/posts/michelangelo-pieta

Francis Hoyland has had a long and impressive career as an artist; one that has spanned over 70 years.This conversation ...
09/07/2025

Francis Hoyland has had a long and impressive career as an artist; one that has spanned over 70 years.

This conversation with Jonathan Evens contains pearls of wisdom, especially for artists who engage with religious themes.

Read more at ArtWay.eu

"And if you were to meditate from morning to evening, from evening to deepening midnight; you would never comprehend, ne...
07/07/2025

"And if you were to meditate from morning to evening, from evening to deepening midnight; you would never comprehend, never fathom the unknowable hereafter!... Which is only ever sacred intuition, to be seen and recognized only in belief." – Caspar David Friedrich

The idea that Friedrich’s turn to landscape reflected a turn away from Christianity is widely held. James Romaine challenges this narrative, arguing that, from the very beginning, Christian art had two streams, one narrative-oriented and the other meditative. Friedrich’s art belongs to the second type. While his art rarely depicts overtly religious narratives, Friedrich expanded the parameters of the history of Christianity in the visual arts.

––> READ MORE
https://www.artway.eu/posts/caspar-david-friedrichs-sacred-intuition

Images:
Caspar David Friedrich, A Walk at Dusk, c. 1830–1835, oil on canvas, 33.7 × 43.2 cm.
Caspar David Friedrich, Monk by the Sea. 1808–1810, oil on canvas, 110 × 171.5 cm.
Caspar David Friedrich, Cross in the Mountains, c. 1806, brown ink and wash over pencil on wove paper, 64 × 92 cm.

This set of three abstract photographs by Laurence Gingery were created to represent the Holy Trinity; from left to righ...
16/06/2025

This set of three abstract photographs by Laurence Gingery were created to represent the Holy Trinity; from left to right: the Holy Spirit, God the Father and God the Son. The three photos are actually the same image rotated 90 degrees in different directions, re-sized, cropped and manipulated with photo editing software to show different intense primary colours.

The original image was shot through a balcony window and represents several buildings and an orchard. There was a freezing rain that day that created the water ripple texture seen in the photos. The ice that formed on the outside of the balcony window allowed the naturalistic scene to take on the abstract qualities of flowing shapes.

Read the full meditation on ArtWay: www.artway.eu/posts/lawrence-gingery-holy-trinity

In this week's meditation, Otto Bam turns our attention to Arent de Gelder's "Jacob's Dream" and its surprising theologi...
17/04/2025

In this week's meditation, Otto Bam turns our attention to Arent de Gelder's "Jacob's Dream" and its surprising theological insight:

De Gelder is often disregarded as a minor artist who carried on the style of Rembrandt long after it had fallen out of fashion, this painting proves to be the product of a formidable imagination.

(Read the full meditation here: https://www.artway.eu/posts/arent-de-gelder-jacobs-dream )

The composition is unique amongst depictions of Jacob’s dream. There is no ladder or stairway reaching up to heaven, as we find, for example, in William Blake’s depiction. Instead, De Gelder achieves an astonishing synthesis of the natural landscape and the heavenly vision.

Notice how Jacob is placed uncomfortably on a rocky terrace that looks like steps. So De Gelder’s stairway does not lead to heaven but to a tree—one that has the rough shape of a cross. Taken as such, “Jacob’s Dream” becomes a profound meditation on Christ’s fulfilment of the covenant, the offspring of Jacob in whom all nations are blessed: he became man (formed from the dust of the earth) and ascended Mount Golgotha to the cross, revealing himself as the true stairway reconciling heaven and earth.

As Christ tells Nathanael in John 1:51:

“You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The way to heaven is the way of the cross. And this is the journey we are invited to undertake when we remember Christ’s journey to the cross.

An Epiphany meditation by James Romaine: "This beautiful painting of The Adoration of the Magi, from the collection of t...
06/01/2025

An Epiphany meditation by James Romaine: "This beautiful painting of The Adoration of the Magi, from the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., was begun by Fra Angelico and principally painted by Fra Filippo Lippi. Although scholars have not conclusively identified which of these artists is responsible for each figure within the painting, we can recognize a distinction of visual language in comparing the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph. Mary’s face has a serene, almost otherworldly, composure that we find in other depictions of the Virgin by Fra Angelico. But Joseph has the particular features of an individual, this reflects a method developed by Fra Lippi.

One of the immediately striking aspects of this depiction of the arrival of the magi to worship the infant Christ is the painting’s shape. This type of circular painting is called a tondo. The tondo format became particularly popular in 15th-century Florentine art. Working in the tondo format challenges the artist to adapt their composition into a circular shape. However, Fra Angelico and Fra Lippi have turned this problem to their own advantage. They have masterfully employed the tondo shape to propel the viewer’s eye around the circumference of their composition, thus following the journey of the magi."

Read more: https://artway.eu/artway.php?id=1369&lang=en&action=show&type=imagemeditations

You are invited to join us for an online event to celebrate the launch of ArtWay’s new website!After months of hard work...
16/09/2024

You are invited to join us for an online event to celebrate the launch of ArtWay’s new website!

After months of hard work, we are delighted to announce the launch of ArtWay’s new website on Thursday, 19 September. Hear from ArtWay’s Editorial Advisor, Laurel Gasque, as she unpacks the multifaceted history and legacy of ArtWay. Editor-in-chief of ArtWay (English), Otto Bam, will share the vision of ArtWay and talk about the future of the arts and faith more broadly, as we step into this exciting new era.

Register here: https://kirbylaingcentre.co.uk/events/

In our latest post, Ydi Coetsee Carstens writes, "In this painting by South African artist Gideon Nel, each form is lovi...
27/05/2024

In our latest post, Ydi Coetsee Carstens writes, "In this painting by South African artist Gideon Nel, each form is lovingly selected, each hue considered, every reference deeply meaningful. This is evident in all of Nel’s work, and particularly this work, titled in Afrikaans 'Die Saaier, 136' ('The Sower, 136'). Resembling a screen print, the painting is in fact acrylic on canvas, drawn free hand and carefully painted with a brush. The border is painted in white acrylic. Seen up close, the brushwork is evident, which allows one to imagine the artist meticulously colouring each plane to its utmost edge...
Incarnational art, like this work, asks to be experienced with the whole body. I was reminded of this when I first saw 'The Sower, 136' in person. Unlike an AI generated image, this image breathes materiality. Where the artist’s brush meets canvas like this, a visual song is heard. invites the viewer to sing along, to playfully discover the layered significance of the work, or simply enjoy its visual unity. It involves a give and take between viewer and artist which artificially generated artworks cannot replicate."

One playful discovery to be made in Nel’s painting is the reference to Vincent van Gogh’s The Sower, painted in 1888, and now part of the Emil Bührle Collection in Zürich, Switzerland..."

Read the full meditation: https://artway.eu/artway.php?id=1346&lang=en&action=show&type=imagemeditations

Gideon Nel, 'Die Saaier, 136' ('The Sower, 136'), acrylic on canvas, 100 x 100 cm.

“My subject matter tends to always be about where I find myself in relationship to my life’s journey: a relentless need ...
06/05/2024

“My subject matter tends to always be about where I find myself in relationship to my life’s journey: a relentless need to find spiritual meaning in a world that tends to gravitate towards chaos and the absurd.

This sculptural quest of mine brings into play many recurring motifs in my work, such as hands, spheres, eggs, bird forms, cruciforms, lecterns, boats, fish, chairs, trees, clouds, snakes, the abacus and others. Although these are all familiar objects, when seen together in various arrangements, they create new synergies that will inspire contemplation in those engaging with them.”

Read the full interview with South African sculptor Gert Swart (GERT SWART's ART PAGE.), now on ArtWay.eu: https://artway.eu/artway.php?id=1344&lang=en&action=show&type=current

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