T. E. Breitenbach
Encyclopedia
Thomas E. Breitenbach is a self-taught American artist best known for his painting Proverbidioms
, a raucous and comical depiction of over 300 common proverb
s and cliché
s. He also collaborated with Jim Morrison
of The Doors
, shortly before Morrison's death, on a painting intended for use on his An American Prayer album. Breitenbach studied architecture and fine arts (in an independent study program) at the University of Notre Dame
, before leaving to become the youngest person to receive the Rome Prize Fellowship
in visual arts. Breitenbach declined the second year of the fellowship and, inspired by the castles and museums of Europe, returned home determined to build a castle-studio to house his art and eventually become a museum. During the planning stages he painted Proverbidioms and later published it.
spurred by his vision of man’s nature as being hopelessly irrational and violent. Influenced by Carl Jung
, Breitenbach's subjects are constructed using archetypal symbols
and are intended to provoke strong emotional responses from the observer. Breitenbach emphasizes that these paintings are not surrealism
, because surrealists tend to use personal and dream symbols which are not an effective form of language. He was awarded the Rome Prize
in 1973 by the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome in the visual arts category.
In 1974, Breitenbach started work on a painting of contemporary proverb
s, idiom
s, and cliché
s, after feeling challenged by a review of Pieter Bruegel's sixteenth-century painting of Dutch proverbs, Netherlandish Proverbs
, suggesting that language was particularly colorful "back then". This became Proverbidioms, his best-known work, completed in 1975 at the age of 24. This large painting illustrates over 300 common expressions like "You are what you eat", "butterflies in the stomach", "the rat race", and so on, and identifying the sayings became a kind of puzzle for his audience. Proverbidioms has been turned into a poster, jigsaw puzzle, and appeared on the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210
in a few episodes.
Breitenbach's extensive use of humor in this work was a major departure from the mood of his early paintings, though social commentary is still present in Proverbidioms, for example in the sewer pipe running into the river, and the white female vs. black male representing "I've got a bone to pick with you," a reference to both the women's and the civil rights movements. Breitenbach further maintains that much is revealed about man’s nature through the literal painting of his expressions. Therefore, the artist did not shy away from placing wise expressions such as "Don't put all your eggs in one basket", and "Many hands make light work", alongside crude ones like, "flat as a board" and "knockers". In 1980 the artist began publishing posters of this and other works. These became quite popular both for their entertainment value and for use in education.
After his marriage in 1979 and the birth of his first child, Breitenbach's paintings became particularly colorful. He blames this on the ultra-bright toys that were strewn about the house, but his painting technique also enhances this. He uses traditional Flemish oil-glazes, a meticulous process. Light penetrates the transparent paint layers, striking the pure-white gesso
panels (made of chalk and glue) and reflecting back at the viewer, creating a luminous effect.
Breitenbach went on to paint a dozen more such humorous puzzle paintings, often with specific themes (see "Major Works", below).
and offered to paint an album cover. Morrison accepted and sent Breitenbach his ideas for a triptych
,http://www.tebreitenbach.com/morrisonletter.htm along with two autographed, private editions of his poetry. Morrison liked the finished painting
and asked if he could use it on an album of poetry he was working on. This was his An American Prayer album published seven years after his death. Unfortunately, the album’s producers were not aware of Morrison’s intention to use the painting.
, on land given him by his father. The first stage was an octagon and tower, inspired by the Victorian-era book The Octagon House by Orson Fowler. Fowler recommended the octagon as an ideal and economical shape for a house. For Breitenbach, it was also suited to a castle. In 1987 he added a large studio addition. Breitenbach quarried stones (some as long as 12 feet) from a nearby creek, cut trees for lumber, and salvaged a collapsing carriage barn for beams and siding. He forged iron hardware, made leaded-glass windows, furniture, carvings, tilework, and a fresco, so that many of the arts would be represented. He intends to leave the castle and paintings behind as a museum.
s, composed film music, and written musicals, including Hieronymus a partly autobiographical story about medieval fantasy artist Hieronymus Bosch and his over-active imagination.
Proverbidioms
Proverbidioms is an oil painting by American artist T. E. Breitenbach depicting over 300 common proverbs, catchphrases, and clichés such as "You are what you eat", "a frog in the throat", and "kicked the bucket". It is painted on a 45 by 67 inch wooden panel and was completed in 1975 after two...
, a raucous and comical depiction of over 300 common proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
s and cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s. He also collaborated with Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
of The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, shortly before Morrison's death, on a painting intended for use on his An American Prayer album. Breitenbach studied architecture and fine arts (in an independent study program) at the University of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, before leaving to become the youngest person to receive the Rome Prize Fellowship
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
in visual arts. Breitenbach declined the second year of the fellowship and, inspired by the castles and museums of Europe, returned home determined to build a castle-studio to house his art and eventually become a museum. During the planning stages he painted Proverbidioms and later published it.
Periods and technique
T. E. Breitenbach’s earliest works are dark allegoriesAllegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
spurred by his vision of man’s nature as being hopelessly irrational and violent. Influenced by Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
, Breitenbach's subjects are constructed using archetypal symbols
Jungian archetypes
Carl Jung created the archetypes which “are ancient or archaic images that derive from the collective unconscious” Also known as innate universal psychic dispositions that form the substrate from which the basic symbols or representations of unconscious experience emerge...
and are intended to provoke strong emotional responses from the observer. Breitenbach emphasizes that these paintings are not surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, because surrealists tend to use personal and dream symbols which are not an effective form of language. He was awarded the Rome Prize
Rome Prize
The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
in 1973 by the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome in the visual arts category.
In 1974, Breitenbach started work on a painting of contemporary proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
s, idiom
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
s, and cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
s, after feeling challenged by a review of Pieter Bruegel's sixteenth-century painting of Dutch proverbs, Netherlandish Proverbs
Netherlandish Proverbs
Netherlandish Proverbs is a 1559 oil-on-oak-panel painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder which depicts a land populated with literal renditions of Flemish proverbs of the day...
, suggesting that language was particularly colorful "back then". This became Proverbidioms, his best-known work, completed in 1975 at the age of 24. This large painting illustrates over 300 common expressions like "You are what you eat", "butterflies in the stomach", "the rat race", and so on, and identifying the sayings became a kind of puzzle for his audience. Proverbidioms has been turned into a poster, jigsaw puzzle, and appeared on the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
in a few episodes.
Breitenbach's extensive use of humor in this work was a major departure from the mood of his early paintings, though social commentary is still present in Proverbidioms, for example in the sewer pipe running into the river, and the white female vs. black male representing "I've got a bone to pick with you," a reference to both the women's and the civil rights movements. Breitenbach further maintains that much is revealed about man’s nature through the literal painting of his expressions. Therefore, the artist did not shy away from placing wise expressions such as "Don't put all your eggs in one basket", and "Many hands make light work", alongside crude ones like, "flat as a board" and "knockers". In 1980 the artist began publishing posters of this and other works. These became quite popular both for their entertainment value and for use in education.
After his marriage in 1979 and the birth of his first child, Breitenbach's paintings became particularly colorful. He blames this on the ultra-bright toys that were strewn about the house, but his painting technique also enhances this. He uses traditional Flemish oil-glazes, a meticulous process. Light penetrates the transparent paint layers, striking the pure-white gesso
Gesso
Gesso is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these...
panels (made of chalk and glue) and reflecting back at the viewer, creating a luminous effect.
Breitenbach went on to paint a dozen more such humorous puzzle paintings, often with specific themes (see "Major Works", below).
Jim Morrison triptych
In the fall of 1970, while still at college, Breitenbach sent pictures of his artwork to Jim MorrisonJim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
and offered to paint an album cover. Morrison accepted and sent Breitenbach his ideas for a triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
,http://www.tebreitenbach.com/morrisonletter.htm along with two autographed, private editions of his poetry. Morrison liked the finished painting
The Jim Morrison Triptych
The Jim Morrison Triptych is an oil painting by American artist T. E. Breitenbach . It is a so-called "lost" collaboration with Jim Morrison of The Doors, intended for use on Morrison's An American Prayer album, and completed shortly before Morrison's death.-The Jim Morrison Triptych:In the fall of...
and asked if he could use it on an album of poetry he was working on. This was his An American Prayer album published seven years after his death. Unfortunately, the album’s producers were not aware of Morrison’s intention to use the painting.
Building a castle
In 1976, Breitenbach began constructing by hand a small castleCastle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
, on land given him by his father. The first stage was an octagon and tower, inspired by the Victorian-era book The Octagon House by Orson Fowler. Fowler recommended the octagon as an ideal and economical shape for a house. For Breitenbach, it was also suited to a castle. In 1987 he added a large studio addition. Breitenbach quarried stones (some as long as 12 feet) from a nearby creek, cut trees for lumber, and salvaged a collapsing carriage barn for beams and siding. He forged iron hardware, made leaded-glass windows, furniture, carvings, tilework, and a fresco, so that many of the arts would be represented. He intends to leave the castle and paintings behind as a museum.
Other art forms
Breitenbach has written an illustrated fantasy novel and a book of painting secrets, designed fontFont
In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...
s, composed film music, and written musicals, including Hieronymus a partly autobiographical story about medieval fantasy artist Hieronymus Bosch and his over-active imagination.
Allegorical paintings
- (1970) The Morrison Triptych http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/morrisontrip.htm
- (1970, 1985) Misused Cupid http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/misusedcupid.htm
- (1971) Know as Arc http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/knowasarc.htm
- (1971) The Crucifixion http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/crucifixion.htm
- (1972) Muchruins http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/muchruins.htm
- (1972, 1985) The Myth of the Cave http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/mythofthecave.htm
- (1974) Wings http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/wings.htm
- (1980) The Temptation of Saint Anybody http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/temptations.htm
- (2005) The Artist in His Studio: Designing Birds http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/the%20artist.htm
Puzzle paintings
- (1975) Proverbidioms http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/proverbs-o.htm
- (1977) Proverbidioms II http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/proverbs2-o.htm
- (1983) Catchpenny http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/catchpenny.htm
- (1985) Housecalls http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/housecalls.htm
- (1991) Sporttease http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/sporttease.htm
- (1992) Shakespearience http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/shakespearience-o.htm
- (1994) Eats http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/eats.htm
- (1996) Things of the Garden http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/thingsofthegarden-o.htm
- (1999) Ultimate Proverbidioms http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/ultimate.htm
- (2006) A Picture of Health http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/pictureofhealth.htm
- (2007) Proverbidioms IV: Who Missed the Boat? http://tebreitenbach.com/gallery/proverbs4.htm