Page 71 - sarah-simblet_sketch-book-for-the-artist

ERIK SATIE

French pianist and composer
for t h e piano, theater, a n d
ballet. Satie collaborated with
hisfriends J e a n C o c t e a u a n d
Picasso.H i s witty, minimalist
scores scandalized audiences

with orchestrations for the
foghorn a n d t y p e w r i t e r .
H e performed in cabarets,

dressed eccentrically, lived
a l o n e , and founded his o w n
church, of which he was the
sole member

Parcel paper Satie has drawn
this fantasy hotel using a ruler,
a conventional dip or fountain

pen, and ink on a fragment of
folded brown paper—a scrap
of everyday material that
happened to be at hand.

Eastern influence The upright

pictorial space and subject of this

image is reminiscent of Middle

Eastern and medieval European

drawing. Compare the even and

elegantly stylized order of the

many windows and the shape

of the perimeter wall to the

arrangement of details and the

shape of the wall in Babur's

Garden of Fidelity on p.50.

Composition Look how well this
drawingfitsand resonates with the
upright,narrowshape of its paper.
Onpp.56—57 we discussed how
important the shape, orientation,
andfouredges of the paper are
tothecompositionand impact of
animage.Edges are effectively
additional lines in a work. They
definespaceand pictorial balance.

Hotel de la Suzonnieres

c. 1 8 9 3 51/2 in ( 2 0 0 x 1 4 0 mm)
77/8 x

ERIK SATIE