Spring 2011 | Page 20

Although encaustic was something which fascinated antiquarians and historians , it did not become popular until the development and widespread diffusion of electricity in the 20th century . Mexican muralists were among the first to revive the technique , as well as French spiritual artist Georges Roualt , in the first half of the 20th century . In pre-war America , Karl Zerbe and David Aronson were known as artists who investigated and experimented with encaustic . This period did not have the antiquarian passion of a previous generation , but nonetheless did see the publication of a landmark book on encaustic , which was to be crucial for modern artists curious about the method — The Painter ’ s Companion , A Basic Guide to Studio Methods and Materials ( 1949 ) by Reed Kay .

In post-war America , Jasper Johns began to experiment with the method for his “ Target ” series , and in the years following , artists such as Robert Rauschenberg , Mimmo Paladino , Roy Lichtenstein , and Julian Schnabel made it an integral part of their practice .

In the 1980 ’ s and 90 ’ s encaustic became the “ bestkept secret ” of emerging artistic media , with artists such as Joanne Mattera , Paula Roland , Tony Sherman pushing the medium to its limits in abstract , figurative , and mixed-media directions . Today encaustic has become one of the most popular artistic media , with artists discovering an endless potential for layering and process . Artists like myself have been astonished by encaustic ’ s capacity for rendering optical reality in a way which evokes Xenephon ’ s depiction of Socrates visiting the atelier of Parrhasios : “ Is not painting , Parrhasios , a representation of what we see ?”[ 1 ]

Tony Sherman

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Francisco Benitez , The Voyage 18 ” X24 ”

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