Francis K. Fong : The Arts and Sciences Blog by Francis K. Fong

The Peter and Sascha Fong Collection in New York City

2011-05-04T09:42:00.000-07:00

This Post is under construction.

The Peter and Sascha Fong Collection in New York City consists of a group of six oil paintings and two black-and-white pencil drawings.

Fig.1. The Artist's Young Bride Margareta on Her Wedding Day

This painting, with a van Gogh hanging on the wall and a Vermeer jar, mahogany chair back and the partially hidden window, was the author Francis K. Fong's very first attempt at portraiture in oil, circa 1999.

The likeness of his young bride, aged 20, fresh off the Ocean Liner Stockholm from Stockholm, Sweden, and the realism of her yellow dress and the bouquet she holds give testimony to Fong's lifelong love for doodling in black and white from age 6 on.

The reason he never before attempted a portrait in oil was his concern over his inability to use colors. The concern was borne of Fong's "disagreement" with his painting teacher at Princeton Univcersity. The teacher wanted Fong to use paint thinners and layers of glazing. But Fong rejected the teacher's method. An undergraduate chemistry major, he knew well the harmful effects of the volatile organic solvents. Also, he argued, the teacher's method was "too cumbersome." It would be a lot simpler and, certainly a lot freer, to use the oils straight from the tubes. If need be, he thought, why not use Titanium White to dilute the pure colors? Among other things, the painter would be able to show off his skills at running the brush strokes on his canvas, otherwise unobtainable had one used paint thinners.

It turned out that concern was misplaced. Before he did the painting, he read up - like all aspiring students in painting - on complimentary colors. Here the purple drapes set off the yellows in Margareta's hair and dress. The blues in the jar contrast the oranges and reds in the window and the chair. Altogether the final result is not as amateurish as he'd feared.

The child Peter in "Peter and Martha," and the lanscape, "A Swedish Lake," Figs.2 abd 3, depict the

Fig.2. Peter and Martha

Fig.3. Parked Boat on a Swedish Lake

the Fongs' tranquil life with their three children at their homestead in West Lafayette, and Margareta's childhood haunts in her native homeland.

Fig.4. The rock at Homewood in 1978 (left) and today (right)

The large rock, by which Peter was petting the children's pet kitten, Martha, in 1978, today remains unchanged, Fig.4. In place of Peter and Martha, we now have a family of deer visiting us every spring and summer.

But the children are grown up and have left Homewood. In Fig. 5, Fong did a black-and-white drawing of a scene of Peter's wedding to Alexandra "Sascha" Pitchler in 2006.

Fig.6. Sascha and Peter's Wedding Day

Fig.6. Wedding Church

Fig.7. The Pacific Coast Near the Hearst Castle, California

On this painting, Fong demonstrated his early theory of painting in oil, which was to paint with the oils straight out of their tubes. Here he abandoned altogether the use of even his brushes. He smeared the skies and certain parts of the waters with various shades of blues mixed with Titanium White. Nearly a decade later, he discovered van Gogh more than a century ago used the same method of painting, i.e., using tubes of oils instead of brushes on a clean canvas.

Fig.8. The Little Prince for Chloe

Fig.9. Francis after Vincent

Francis K. Fong's "Self Portrait by the Bay, Annapolis," 2003, a Painting Lesson after van Gogh for Exacting Likenesses in Portraits

2011-03-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

A method after van Gogh for painting likenesses

The painting, "Self Portrait of Francis K. Fong by the Bay, Annapolis," is important in that, after completing it, the author Francis K. Fong moves in directions away from complete dominance under van Gogh's influence.

In this work, the author followed van Goah's procedure for drawing the subject before painting him. Also, he adopted van Gogh's method for exacting likeness, complete with the patterned strokes for shading, in drawings and paintings, and in the latter by use of different primary and secondary colors. In addition, although it's not clear if van Gogh used the practice, the author would first sketch out his likeness with pencil and, then, paint over this black and white drawing.

Members of the Roulin family were favorite subjects for van Gogh's portraits. In an earlier article,
Fong discussed his development in new directions as a portraitist after a comparative study of van Gogh's paintings of the baby Marcelle Roulin. Here, this article focuses on van Gogh's 1888 painting of "Postman Joseph Roulin in a Cane Chair, Three-Quarter-Length" after his drawing of "Joseph Roulin, Head."

Joseph Rolin, a detail of "Joseph Roulin, Sitting in a Cane Chair, Three-Quarter-
Length," 1888, oil on canvas 32 x 25 3/4", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

"Joseph Rouling, Head," 1888, reed quill pens and brown ink and black
chalk, 12 3/8" 9 5/8", The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

In 2003, Fong drew a "Self Portrait of Francis, Head," before fashioning after this drawing the painting in oil, "Self Portrait by the Bay, Annapolis." The procedure for achieving the likeness in full color, which the author thought was a newly minted practice for no reason other than he had not seen other artists use it, is rather straightforward.

"Self Portrait of Francis, Head" 2003, pencil on paper

The drawing was first compared with a photograph to make sure the likeness is satisfactory. The original photo used in the comparison is not to be found. So, here, Fong uses a photo of the author taken on February 19, 2011, by his granddaughter Sophia Sandholm, age 4.

"Farfar (Grandfather) Working on His Laptop," 2011, Sophia Sandholm, Age 4

Fong then transferred (copied) the pencil drawing onto a blank canvas, and painted over this drawing - much like a child's filling in the colors in a coloring drawing book. The likeness is readily captured in the resulting portrait in oil. To complete the "Self Portrait of Francis K. Fong by the Bay, Annapolis," he then added a starry night over the bay at Annapolis, MD. The oranges in the face set off the blues and purples of the night skies. The yellow highlights in the face bring out the three-dimensionality of the sculptured features.

"Self Portrait, A Warm Evening in Annapolis," 2003, oil on canvas, 18" x 20"

The occasion shown in this self portrait was a stroll by Fong and his wife, Margareta, and their youngest son, Peter, by the Annapolis Bay after a dinner celebration of Margareta's 60th birthday.

Unbeknownst to him at the time he developed the method of painting over a black and white likeness, the procedure was apparently practiced by ancient masters. One example is given below.

Madonna and Child, 1487, Pilippino Lippi (Metropolitan Museum, NYC)

In the fall of 2010, Filippino Lippi's 1487 masterpiece, Madonna and Child, (Metropolitan Museum) was taken to conservation for examination and treatment. Characteristic of the exquisite work of this artist - the son of painter Fra Filippo Lippi and the pupil-assistant of Botticelli - is the way the rich palette set off the delicately described features of the Madonna, shown as a young mother tenderly holding her curious infant.

Black and white drawing under filipino's Madonna and Child

Examination of the picture with infrared reflectography reveals hidden details about its creation. Brush with ink was used to draw the basic details of the figures, arrange the composition, and establish deep shadows and dark passages. The contours of Mary's facial features probably follow a cartoon the artist employed repeatedly in his workshop. When it came time to paint Mary, Filippino adjusted the angle of the head, bending it slightly closer toward the infant.

"The Secret" by Francis K. Fong : A Picture Essay on Beauty and Van Gogh's Paintings of Augustine and Marcelle Roulin

2011-03-05T11:28:00.000-08:00

"The Secret: Portrait of Margareta and Francis K. Fong, a View of Pittsburgh Skyline from Mount Washington," 2011, oil on canvas, 24" x 30"

Introduction

The author Francis K. Fong finished a painting on March 3, 2011, which he christened "The Secret." The purpose of this article is to use this painting to analyze Fong's technique for oil painting in portraying beauty.

Self-taught (mostly influenced by Vincent van Gogh), Francis was not without knowledgeable teachers willing to share their experience with him. As a freshman at Princeton, he took lessens in oil painting from a young painter, presumably an artist of some promise. Unfortunately, he soon got confused with all the terpentine thinning procedures. He rebelled, insisting on painting straight from the tubes without diluting the oils by solvents. His career as an art student was cut short as a result.

During the holiday season of 1998-99, Margareta, his wife, bought him a series of painting lessens at the local art museum.

Again, his insubordination got in the way. During the second lesson, Fong not only refused to use paint thinners, he objected to the teacher's admonition to use brushes that are "too large." An even more serious disagreement was the use of colors. Francis believed that, in oil painting, one should avoid using commercially available blacks, like lamp black or ivory black. Such blacks look dead. He insisted that more alive blacks can be obtained by mixing Vandyke brown and ultramarine blue. A range of "alive hard blacks," from "bluish black" to "blackish brown" are thus obtainable. He also theorized that, for "soft blacks," one might try mixtures of Vandyke brown and cerrulean blue.

Fong's second attempt at being an art student was again cut short. The teacher was abhorred by the insolence on the part of Fong, who had not done a single painting in his life.

One lesson the author learned is, there are no fixed rules in original work. In the making of things of beauty, rules are there to be broken, creatively. Observers of his work readily recognize the influence of van Gogh in Fong's earlier studies, of landscape and portraiture. Fong painted "The Secret" in an attempt to understand his own development, as much as in art as his personal growth his career as a scientist. Instead of copying the 19th century master, he assimilates certain aspects of van Gogh in developing a style of painting to make beauty. To enable this development, he attempts to understand van Gogh's development as an artist as reflected by his paintings of the baby Marcelle Roulin (1888).

The Title - An Overview

"The Secret" is, to date, Fong's most challenging attempt at placing people and still life subjects admist a panoramic view of a large U.S. city, of rivers, bridges, skyscrapers and distant neighborhoods.

View from Mount Washington

Prior to its completion, earlier versions of the picture were variously called "The Trimont," or "The View from Mount Washington," or "A Golden Sunset Over Pittsburgh," or "A June Sundown over Mount Washington and Pittsburgh." The background of this painting is the skyline of Pittsburgh, shown from a slightly different angle from Mount Washington that typifies the "Trimont Panoramic View."

Point State Park Foundtain

One reason Fong settles on the title, "The Secret," is as follows explained. The work depicts a late June afternoon in Pittsburgh, the city of three reivers which join in confluence at the Point State Park fountain. The cityscape and the distant hills beyond are golden, lit by the setting sun. Frank and Margareta at an imagined cocktail party at Trimont, are surrounded by people engaged in polite conversation. Below, on Margareta's right, is the Point marked by its fountain and, on Fong's left, are the rooftops of upscale restaurants that line Grandview Avenue on Mount Washington. Behind them is the skyline of Pittsburgh bordered by the rivers, Allegheny from the north and Monongahela from the south. The Ohio River begins at the Point, flowing to the west. Margareta whispers under her breath a secret to Frank, who appears to be mildly surprised, or perhaps a little scandalized.

There is a second, more subtle, origin of the title. The painting memorializes an event in late June of 2006. At that time, Fong had then recently recovered from his many ailments and hospitalization of 2005-06, ready to embark on a mission that was not readily disclosable, not even to Margareta and the immediate circle of his family and friends.

A June Sunset Over Pittsburgh Skyline

Four of the five tallest buildings in Pittsburgh are shown in this painting. The tallest structure, which is seen towering above the rest of the skyscrapers, is the U.S. Steel Tower. Completed in 1940, it has 64 floors. It is the fourth-tallest building in Pennsylvania; 35th in the United States.

Pittsburgh's skyline bathed in a late June sundown

The second tallest biulding is the BNY Mellon Center with 54 floors. The tallest building constructed in the 1980's, it was originaly called the One Mellon Center.

The third tallest structure is the PPG Place with 40 floors. Constructed in 1984, a year after BNY Mellon Center, PPG Place is, to this writer, the most eye-catching sight of Pittsburgh's skyline. The complex, which rests on 5.5 total acres including a 1-acre plaza, has 231 total spires shared across its six buildings. The neo-gothic style of the complex, particularly that of Building One, the principal structure, was chosen to bridge the architectural gap among the many styles in Pittsburgh, from the old gothic Cathedral of Learning (Univervisty of Pittsburgh) to the international style of the Westinghouse Building.

The fourth tallest building is the Fifth Avenue Place. Although it has only 31 floors, its spire reaches 616 ft above ground, only 19 ft lower than the 635-ft tall PPG Place, 1 ft taller than the fifth tallest building, One Oxford Center, a 45-floor skyscraper that stands outside the painting to the right.

Starry Night : A View from Mount Washington

As a companion piece, Fong began a work entitled, "Starry Night Over Pittsburgh." This work is in progress, shown below - unsigned.

Starry Night - View of Pittsburgh Skyline from Trimont, 2011, oil on canvas, 18" x 20"

Of interest is a comparision of this picture with "The Secret." First, Oxford One Center, which is in the latter painting, stands prominently to the right of PNY Mellon Center. Except for Fifth Avenue Place, which is also known as the Highmark Place, three of the four taller buildings, the U.S. Steel Tower, PNY Mellon Center and the PPG Place, are readily recognizable by the lights that outline their respective forms. The pyramidal top of the Fifth Avenue Place is lit on its sides. It appears on the left in "Starry Night" as a single upright lighted rod. The illusion is a result of lining up one of the lit sides with the tall lit spire. The remainder of the pyramid below the spire is merged in the dark of night. Grandview Avenue, now solitary after the business hours, glows warm in orange and gold, as does Interstate 376, the Penn-Lincoln Parkway on the north shore of the Monongahela.

Bridges Near Downtown Pittsburgh

The bridge on Fong's left is the Fort Pitt Bridge, a steel, double decker bowstring arch bridge that spans the Monongahela River near its confluence with the Allegheny River in downtown Pittsburgh. It carries Interstate 376, which concurrently runs as Interstate 279, between the Fort Pitt Tunnel and Pittsburgh.

Photo of Fort Pitt Bridge

Fort Pitt Bridge, a Detail of "The Secret"

It lands on the north shore of the Monongahela in downtown Pittsburgh. The traffic shown is the busy eastward-bound Interstate 376, headed for Forbes Avenue, where the University of Pittsburgh and its many hospitals are located, and beyond to Oakland, home for Carnegie Mellon University.

To Margareta's right is the Point and the bridges spanning the Allegheny between downtown Pittsburgh and North Shore. They include the Fort Duquesne Bridge, the identical Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Street

Photo of the Point and Bridges Spanning the Allegheny

Bridges, and the Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge.

The Point and Bridges Across the Allegheny

The Fort Duquense Bridge is nearly a twin of the Fort Pitt Bridge on the opposite side of the Point. It is also known as "the bridge to nowhere" due to delays in construction which left the northern end of the span hanging in midair for many years. From Pittsburgh downtown across the Allegheny, at Exit 1c, it accesses via the Infantry Division Memorial Highway (Route 65) the Heinz Stadium, home of the Steelers. A short walking distance from Heinz is the Rivers Casino. Parking at Rivers is free; but on football weekends, patrons of the Casino are required to pay a $20 garage fee. They have to show proof of their gaming in order to get that $20 refunded.

The Rivers is a world class casino with pleasing interiors adorned by sparkling lounges. Unfortunately its slots are tight, reportedly the tightest in the country. The blackjack game is better than the casinos in Indiana: the dealer stops hitting at soft 17, and the casino offers the "surrender" bet. Rivers also offers attractive surroundings at its Grandview Buffet. The food selection is large, and the dining area is graced by a panoramic view: Mount Washington across the Ohio River and, to its left, a glimpse of the Fort Duquesne Bridge from downtown Pittsburgh across the Allegheny.

Views from Rivers Casino: (A) Fort Duquesne Bridge and (B) The Trimont

The Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Street Bridges are named after Pittsburgh's prominent citizens, Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson, respectively. They are three identical self-anchored suspension bridges. The Fort Wayne Railroad Bridge runs between nearby Hope Street on the right descending bank of Allegheny River and near the Eleventh Street on the left descending bank of the Allegheny. It carries two tracks on upper deck; its lower deck is not used.

Transitions from Conditions of Light to Shadows

In order to paint the effects of the setting sun, two color schemes for the skyscrapers were devised to show transitions from the conditions of light at the upper floors of the skyscrapers to lower floors in the shade.

Two color schemes for Pittsburgh's skyline at sundown

The choice of the color scheme on the right, as the warm orange yellows of the sun abruptly turn to the chilly purple shadows, reflects the overall color scheme for the distant neighborhoods, where the green yellows of the hill tops descend into the darker tones of sap green.

Influences of Two Masters

Fong began doing portraits a little more than a decade ago. Shunned by his teachers, he learned from van Gogh and Vermeer. The Dutch masters' influences are readily discernible in his 2000 painting of a young "Margareta on Her Wedding Day."

"Margareta on Her Wedding Day," 2000, Oil on Canvas, 20" x 18"

Touches of Vermeer are seen in the yellow dress, the flower bouquet, the large jar on the table, the colored window complex behind the curtains, and Margareta's silken hair and fair skin. Van Gogh's influence is seen undisquised in the brush strokes of the drapes and a copy of his flower painting on the wall.

In time, Fong developed his own style. Compare, for example, the young girl of 2002 and the woman in "The Secret."

Comparison : (A) 2000 portrait of Margareta and (B) Current Work

The smoothness of the thin oil layer of the 2000 painting (you can see the grains in the canvas) is replaced in the 2011 double portrait by a free-flow of brush work, in a multiplicity of primary and secondary colors. In this current work, whatever the influence of van Gogh in Fong's design of the skies, it's hard to find anything in Margareta's portrait identifiable as having its origins in that source of influence.

Van Gogh's Creative Process of Uglification

Among other things, Fong is unable to fathom Van Gogh's rationale when he, for example, painted Augustine Moulin holding her baby girl Marcelle, the version at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. No baby can possibly be that ugly!

"Augustine Roulin with Baby," 1888, Oil on canvas, 25" x 20", Van Gogh

Compare further Augustine Roulin's hands (by Van Gogh) with Margareta's in "The Secret."

Comparison : (A) Augustine's hands in "Augustine Roulin (La Berceuse)," 1889, oil on canvas,
36 1/2" x 28 5/8", (B) Margareta Fong's hands in this work

It would seem reasonable to suggest that Fong does not compare unfavorably with Van Gogh, when it comes to painting human hands. But even while Margareta's hands, which hold a gin martini on the rocks with lemon twist, show long years of a pampered life, could it be that van Gogh painted Augustine's to look like animal claws in order to show Augustine's as a product of long years of toil and suffering, the likes of which are foreign to readers of this blog? We'll come back to this question after completing the discussion on Fong's making of "The Secret."

Interactions That Make "The Secret" Work

Two versions of Fong standing next to Margareta in "The Secret" were painted and compared. The one on the right (Design B) is preferred over that on the left (Design A).

Two Designs, A and B, showing interactions between Frank and Margareta

Design A is in want of interactions between Frank and Margareta. They stare in different directions, as if each were unaware of the other's existence. On the other hand, Design B suggests that something is going on between them. Margareta whispers something, like, "Don't look, but do you know ...?" His eyebrows raised in surprise, Frank keeps his line of sight away from Margareta as though she had not said something of intrigue that arouses his interest. There is material for gossip, for secret communication; hence "The Secret."

In making Design B, Fong found something wrong with his figure in A. His right arm appears uncomfortably short in comparison with his left. Also, the folds in his jacket are stiff and unnatural. Design B incorportes Fong's corrections.

Fleshing Out the Skull : Margareta

Fong also noticed a number of deficiencies on Margareta's face in A. The changes are shown in the comparison below.

Changes made : from A to B

The deficiencies in A are as follows: (1) Margareta looks as if she is "staring," (2) her hair appears to be a little coarse, (3) her right ear, in the shade, appears to be too sharply demarcated from her right cheek, and, (4) the protruding skull above the left cheek bone appears to be too pronounced. All of these defects would seem to be minor; Vincent would be unlikely to care about any further renovations. However, they contribute to an overall appearance of something amiss. Fong calls the process of retouching the portrait "fleshing out the skull."

The renovations are made as follows: (1) The "staring" was corrected by darkening the upper 1/4 of the irises under the darkened upper eyelids; (2) the hair is retouched using different shades of blonde - varying mixtures of cadmium red, lemon yellow and titanium white - from reddish to lemon yellow to white - with the darks in the hair made up of varying mixtures of dioxazine purple and lemon yellow; (3) shading the right ear with full-strength flesh tint; and (4) defining an outline for the bone structure around and below the left eyebrow area with a line in full-strength cerrulean blue.

Further fleshing out Margareta's skull, Fong restructured her eyes by adding details to redefine the arches of her upper and lower eyelids, thereby delineating the (pink) fleshy parts that go with the outer and inner lids.

Eyes and nose jobs on fleshing out Margareta's skull

Finally, to provide definition to the contours of Margareta's nose, Fong adds, below the yellow point at the peak of her nose, a faint light line in white to join the summit to the base of her nosal septum.

Fleshing out the Skull : Frank

The skull effect on portrait subjects

Margareta's skull, marked by her cheek bones, plays a part in capturing her likeness. The skull under Frank's facial features takes on an even more prominent role in his self-portrait. His cheek bones, the areas around his eyebrows and eye sockets form two semicircles, extending upward in confluence at the forehead. Fong's skull provides the underpinnings of his expressions. The skull is the immoveable foundation for modeling his inner feelings, of joy, of fear, or surprise.

(A) Reference portrait; (B) with mouth puckered; (C) with raised eyebrows

With (A) as the reference point, puckering Frank's mouth produces an expression of irritation (B). Beginning with (A), raising the eyebrows gives him a look of surprise. Expression (C), of course, is adopted for "The Secret."

Still Life

The flowers at the lower right corner consist of commonplace red and yellow lilies, some in bloom, others in buds, highlighted by an assortment of white and purple-violet dots of unknown species put together by the local florist. On consulting Margareta, Fong added two Indiana wildflowers, the Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) and Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum).

Indiana wildflowers arising above a commonplace bouquet

The additions not only remind him of the Indiana roots of the expanding Fong clan in this country, they serve to break up the unremarkable monotony of the rooftops.

Distant Allegheny Shores

The important Pittsburgh bridge, the Veterans Bridge, which carries Interstate 575 Crosstown Boulevard, disappears from the painting beyond the distant shores of the Allegheny shown.

Distant Allegheny Shores, a detail

The Veterans Bridge continues on north to the interstate highways that span the East and West Coasts of the United States.

Skies as Canvas for Abstraction

Fong loves to use the skies as a canvas for painting abstract designs. Here, the setting sun illuminates the left-slanted clouds in yellow, white and gold. The pattern is punctuated by the right-leaning corsscanvas caligraphic stroke in orange and red.

Right-leaning crosscanvas caligraphic stroke punctuates pattern of left-slanted clouds

Abstraction in gold

Above is shown the beginning and ending of the crosscanvas caligraphy in gold, orange, white and yellow.

Van Gogh's Baby Marcelle and Unraveling of "The Secret"

In 1888, Van Gogh painted baby Marcelle Roulin, potentially the ugliest baby in a known work of art. Conventional rules of beauty applied to humans have remained unchanged throughout history.

Rules of conventional beauty : The Metropolitan Baby Ruolin (1888) vs. Baby Fong (December 2010)

Van Gogh advanced his art of painting by learning how to draw. Painting the likeness of his sitter was no doubt as easy a task for Vincent as for the author. Van Gogh's 1888 painting of his mother's likeness is proof.

Van Gogh's capture of his mother's likeness

Therefore, one might suppose that van Gogh on purpose distorted the looks of the Roulin baby to make her ugly. Unfortunately, Fong is unable to unravel the secret of ugliness making in a creative process.
Not a single question has been raised as to why the baby girl Marcelle looks like an escapee from hell. Instead, the "furrowed brow and jowled cheeks of the baby Marcelle" are praised as "carry[ing] an aspect of van Gogh's mature figures, roughly marked by life."

Fong rejects this praise. No aspect of van Gogh's mature figures measures up to the ugliness of the Metropolitan Marcelle. Among the most tortured look of the post-impressionism artist's "mature figure" is his 1889 self portrait with his cut right ear. Like Vincent's portrait of his mother, the detailed portrayal of the subject showed that it took the artist considerable time in laying out the subject's features. The pained, vacant stare is dignified, not ugly. Moreover, it is a reasonable likeness of van Gogh in a rare photograph by Victor Morin.

1986 Photo of van Gogh by Victor Morin

van Gogh's dignified look of pain and suffering

Babies are difficult to paint. The techniques for painting adult faces are not readily applicable. The Metropolitan Marcelle is ugly, presumably because van Gogh did not know how to paint the infant girl. The proof is that he tried a second time, in late 1888 or early 1889, the same Augustine Roulin holding her baby Marcelle. This second painting is at the Philadelphia Meseum of Art. It is obvious that months after van Gogh painted the Metropolitan Marcelle, he still did not know how to paint the baby's features. He simply blurred them out rather than making Marcelle ugly again. The Philadelphia Augustine and Marcelle clearly shows that van Gogh took more time to complete the painting than he did the earlier, ugly Metropolitan picture.

"Portrait of Madame Roulin and Baby Marcelle," 1888-89, oil on canvas, 36 38" x 28 15/16"

Still in a third try, van Gogh in December of 1888 managed to do better, in a solo portrait of Marcelle Roulin. Unfortunately, van Gogh had not yet mastered the techniques suitable for capturing Marcelle's baby features.

van Gogh's third attempt at painting baby Marcelle

Vincent's failure to capture the likeness of a baby, in light of Fong's analysis of his technique for "fleshing out the skull," can be stated in two short sentences: (1) Babies and young children have faces that are padded by baby fat. (2) The spatial relationships of the features of their skulls are, as a result, not quite as discernable as those of adults. Therefore, it would seem reasonable to suppose that, the experts, who see a higher purpose in van Gogh's failing to capture baby Marcelle's likeness in the Metropolitan painting, are not painters themselves.

Gustov Klimt's 1907 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer is a thing of great beauty. It took three years of fulltime work. Even its time-consuming move to the Austrian Museum on New York City's Museum Mile made history in motion.

Klimt's masterpiece on display in New York City

By contrast, van Gogh in his letters to his brother, Theo van Gogh, at times spoke of his finishing a portrait "in one sitting." Often his rapid motion in painting produced works of striking originality. But to make portraits of quality, like his mother's portrait and his self portrait with a cut ear, it takes time and detailed planning. To test this theory, Fong attempted a number of quick versions of "The Secret." They were ugly and unworthy of him as an artist.

One of several ugly versions of "The Secret"

If Beethoven could have composed the Battle Symphony (Wellington's Victory, Op.91), a work of questionable quality, why couldn't van Gogh have painted a bad portrait? Why are the experts blind to this possibility?

Time will tell if correct answers to these questions provide a common ground for unraveling the author's mission in painting "The Secret."

Francis K. Fong's Oil Paintings of Historical Buildings : The Ivy Tech Campus Art Collection

2010-10-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

While an undergraduate at Princeton University, the author Franics K. Fong took a few lessons in oil

Self Portrait: "A Warm Evening at Annapolis," 2003, oil on canvas, 18" x 20"

painting. Unfortunately, he disagreed with his teacher's painting method. A chemist by training, he disliked the use of organic solvents as paint thinners. Instead, he preferred the use of full-strength oils straight out of the manufacturer's tubes. He used titanium white as dilutent for other colors. He abhorred the use of blacks like ivory black or lampblack, opting instead to mix different portions of secondary colors such as varying mixtures of van dyke brown and ultramarine blue to make cool and warm shades of blacks. He likes to use complimentary colors to bring out brilliantly contrasting pure primary and secondary colors. The result is that his oil paintings are bright and vibrant. His training in the making of art was acquired in his boyhood years.

This is his first attempt to display his works online; as such, this blog must be considered as one under continuing construction.

First Snow on Nineth Street Hill

Of interest are his early works, mostly pencil drawings done on some trains or airplanes on his travels, which are in the collection of Tage Kjellroier, in Almunge, Sweden, some 20 miles to the north of Uppsala. These works will be photographed and displayed on this blog at a future date.

"First Snow on Nineth Street Hill," 2002, Oil on Canvas, 16" x 18"

More readily availble are the two early oil paintings in the Ivy Tech Campus Art Collection in Lafayette, Indiana. The first, shown above, is called "First Snow on Nineth Street." It was done over a 4-day span after the Christmas Holidays of 2002-03, along with two other oil paintings by Fong of historical buildings in Lafayette. This group was completed hastily in order to meet the deadline entry date for an early January, 2003, nationally sponsored competition on "Buildings on the National Historical Registry." The "First Snow on Nineth Street Hill" won the First Prize, although the companion work shown below is more to Fong's and many others' liking. "First Snow" captures the soft green ambiance of a gentle snow fall, the first of the 2002-03 holiday season. The little mansion sits on the Nineth Street Hill in Lafayette, Indiana, home of the late Mr. and Mrs. Cable Ball. Ball was the founding partner of the Ball and Eggleston law firm in Lafayette.

Nightfall on Courthouse Square

"Nightfall on Courthouse Square," 2002, Oil on Canvas, 24" x 30"

A second painting by Fong in the Ivy Tech Campus Collection is the more ambitious work, "Naightfall on Courthouse Square." The scene is one of the 19th Century courthouse structure at the center of Lafayette, bordered by the 3d, 4th, Main and Columbia Streets. The second of the group of three done in the 2002-03 holiday season, the painting was modeled after a photograph taken on the evening after Christmas day, 2002. On that day rain fell and moistened the 4th and Main streets to reflect the lit Northeast facades of the magnificent building. Fong uses here complimentary colors to bring about the luminescent effects: the yellows of the bell tower decorations are made blinding against the bluish purples of the night sky; the red purples of the street lamps and their reflections dance against the yellows of the remaining lights and reflections surrounding the courthouse. No blacks are used (they are too dull). The darkest of the darks is a 1:1 mixture of Vandyke Brown and French Ultramarine. This work remains Fong's favorite piece to the date of this posting.

Evening Vespers at St. James

"Evening Vespers at St. James," 2003, Oil on Canvas, 30" x 24"

The third of this group of historical buildings is "Evening Vespers at St. James." Completed on the day the submission deadline was due for the national competition, Fong was unable to enter this work on time. Thereafter, it was never displayed at any public showings, because the pastor of St. James purchased the painting for its congregation before the oils had dried on the canvas. As it turned out, the church was unable to raise the funds for the purchase, and the painting was returned to Fong's private collection. It now hangs in the dining room of the Fongs' residence in West Lafayette, a constant reminder of that intense and interesting holiday season of nearly a decade ago.

Both "Vespers at St. James" and "Nightfall at Courthouse Square" depict night scenes; but the two paintings summon forth emotions of polar opposites. In sharp contrast from the chilly tones of ultramarine blue of "Nightfall," the night skies in "Vespers" carry over the warm, orange-gold glow of the brightly lit church entrance.

Daggers of Illumination, a detail of "Vespers"

Fong conveys this carry-over by the daggers of illumination, providing a sense of urgency and, at the same time, that of serenity and peace to the faithful.

Radiationless processes in molecules and condensed phases / edited by F. K. Fong

2010-03-12T05:34:00.000-08:00

Radiationless Processes in Molecules and Condensed Phases
Edited by Francis K. Fong

Format : Book

Description Berlin : Springer-Verlag, 1976.
xi, 360 p. : ills., diagrs. ; 24 cm.

ISBN 3540078304

Series Topics in Applied Physics ; v. 15
Full contents Indexes.
Notes Includes bibliographical references.

Subjects Crystal lattices.
Molecular theory.
Relaxation (chemical physics)

Other Authors Fong, Francis K., 1938-
Diestler, D. J., 1941-

Light reaction path of photosynthesis / edited by Francis K. Fong

2010-03-12T05:14:00.000-08:00

Light Reaction Path of Photosynthesis
Edited by Francis K. Fong

Published:Berlin ; New York : Springer-Verlag, 1982. Format:Book Physical Desc.:xi, 342 p. : ill. ; 25 cm. Language:English Series:Molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics ; ISBN:0387113797

9780387113791 Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents:Free energy change for quantum storage in photosynthesis / F.K. Fong

Phycobiliproteins, molecular aspects of photosynthetic antenna system / Hugo Scheer

Structure and excitation dynamics of light harvesting protein complexes / G.S. Beddard and R.J. Cogdell

Photooxidation of the reaction center chlorophylls and structural properties of photosynthetic reaction centers / A.J. Hoff

Triplet state and chlorophylls / H. Levanon and J.R. Norris

The chlorophyll triplet state and the structure of chlorophyll aggregates / R.H. Clarke

Synthetic approaches to photoreaction center structure and function / M.R. Wasielewski

Light path of carbon reduction in photosynthesis / F.K. Fong.

Berlin / Heidelberg / New York (Springer) 1982 . - Molecular Biology, Biochemstriy and Biophysics, 35. Format: 25 x 17 cm, OPbd., 342 S., komplett in Englisch, mit 118 Abb., umfangr. Stichwortverzeichnis, Literaturangaben, Vordereinband am oberen Rand leicht gestaucht, nicht entwidmeter Bibliotheksstempel u. Signatur auf Vorsatzseite, sonst sehr guter Zustand.

Theory of Molecular Relaxation: Application in Chemistry and Biology, Wiley Interscience, 1975, 314 pages, Author, Francis K. Fong

2010-03-03T02:18:00.000-08:00

Theory of Molecular Relaxation: Application in Chemistry and Biology, Wiley Interscience, 1975, 314 pages (Illustrated), Author, Francis K. Fong, with original dust cover.

For sale by the author Francis K. Fong: The one and only original authographed copy

$550 (Please write Francis K. Fong through his Google Profile.)

Publication Date: 1975-01-01

Language: English

Format: Book (Illustrated)

ISBN - 10: 0471265551

ISBN - 13: 9780471265559

Review by Harold Friedman, State University of New York, Stoney Brook

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Theory of Molecular Relaxation : Francis K. Fong (Book, 1975)
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Theory of Molecular Relaxation : Francis K. Fong (1975)
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Theory of Molecular Relaxation : Francis K. Fong (Book, 1975)
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Books by Francis K. Fong

2009-12-10T01:05:00.000-08:00

Francis K. Fong is the author and editor of three research monographs on photosynthesis and related topics:·

Theory of Molecular Relaxation: Application in Chemistry and Biology, Wiley Interscience, 1975, 314 pages, Author, Francis K. Fong. Review by Harold Friedman, State University of New York, Stoney Brook
Radiationless Processes in Molecules and Condensed Phases, Springer, 1976, 360 pages, Editor, Francis K. Fong.
Light Reaction Path of Photosynthesis, Springer, 1982, 342 pages, Editor, Francis K. Fong.

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