Mona
Hi I'm confused by the meaning of '' the vigor and the incredible energy the re-workings were'' in the below context. Would you tell me what the speaker is trying to convey by saying '' the vigor and the incredible energy''. Is he trying to say how difficult the ACT of reworking was? Or is he actually telling how ENERGY and ENTHUSIASM had been applied to create the paintings that he was trying to rework? The text: That X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared photography, and chemical analysis -- tools used to probe works centuries old -- are now being employed on more recent art confirms that modernism has entered history. They not only help conservators understand how a work was made but, when sensitively deployed, can help them recover the living artist from the evidence of the mute painting. Such an approach is much in evidence in the exhibition ''Mondrian: The Trans-Atlantic Paintings,'' on view at the Busch-Reisinger Museum through July 22. The paintings they are, begun by Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) in Europe and completed in New York, were scrutinized using the latest scientific techniques. In this case, technical analysis revealed something unexpected in the character of the notably reserved Mondrian. ''What really surprised me,'' Mr. Spronk recalled, ''was the VIGOR and the incredible ENERGY, how laborious these re-workings were and to what length Mondrian went to attain these paintings' serenely abstract works.
Mar 1, 2021 7:44 PM
Answers · 8
2
For information, these are the type of paintings they are (from Wikipedia). I think 'reworking' refers to the fact that they were started in Europe then Mondrian did more work on them in the US. It could also mean that these were similar to earlier paintings, but done in a slightly different way. Vigor and energy probably refers to the look of the paintings. They are bright and leap out at you. Spronk is just commenting on the paintings, he didn't do any work on them.
March 1, 2021
2
Hello Mona, in my humble opinion the correct answer is your second you mentioned "how ENERGY and ENTHUSIASM had been applied to create the paintings that he was trying to rework". The reason is in the sentence before "technical analysis revealed something unexpected in the character of the notably reserved Mondrian". Therefore, the VIGOUR and ENTHUSIASM is referred to the original artist Mondrian not to the one who reworked the painting, Mr. Spronk. I hope my analysis could help you.
March 1, 2021
1
After thinking about the text some more and focusing on the meaning of “re-work” in this context. I think he means that by using those mentioned techniques, they were able to discover that he “re-worked “ his painting, meaning he re-did them over and over until he felt that he “attained” the serenely abstract work he was looking to achieve.
March 1, 2021
1
To me, the overall meaning of the process is not very clear. Yes, VIGOR and incredible ENERGY, mean that a lot of efforts and maybe care was done to produce the paintings. What’s not clear to me is the meaning of “re-work” and “ attain “ in this context Hope someone else might shed more light on this Good luck
March 1, 2021
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