Saturn Neptune: Whose Art is it Anyway?

I came across a programme on the BBC recently; some 'experts' trying to decide whether a portrait had been painted by Lucien Freud. So far, so normal. Except Freud himself had denied it. Curious, I carried on watching, despite my incredulity. Since when did the critics have so much power they could contradict the artist himself?

Well, it seems that Freud's utterings on the matter had been contradictory and there was a chance it was an early painting which he preferred to disown; and this was indeed the experts conclusion. Interesting, I thought, wondering whether this decision would still stand had Freud been alive, and forgot about it. You can read about it here:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/jul/17/bbc-painting-lucian-freud-denials-fake-or-fortune

And then a week later I read that the artist Peter Doig was being taken to court over a painting which its owner insisted had been painted by him, but about which Doig said he knew nothing. 

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/peter-doig-chicago-trial-painting-602942

A pattern seemed to be emerging,  one I guessed had to with the Saturn Neptune square that's been morphing reality this year. Saturn and Neptune together, particularly in hard aspect, can make it hard to distinguish fantasy from reality. Boundaries dissolve and certainties get washed away with the tide.

What seems to be happening with these paintings is that their authorship (Saturn) is in doubt (Neptune). Neptune (art) and Saturn (experts) are at odds (square).  In Doig's case, Saturn (corrections officer) and Neptune (artist) are squaring off, literally. With Saturn in Sagittarius we see attempts to define the truth of the matter, but with Neptune in Pisces, that truth is elusive, whether through lies, half-truths or secrets, 

What makes Doig's case so interesting is that his Venus is in Gemini, the sign of the twins, ruled by Mercury the trickster, and the whole case revolves around the supposed existence of another man named Peter Doige, (with an 'e' ) of a similar age, living in the same area at the time in question. 

If the owner of the painting can prove that Peter Doig did indeed paint the work in question, he stands to gain millions by its sale. But why would Doig deny authorship if he did indeed paint it? Prosecution claim that Doig is trying to hide the fact that he was in a correctional facility as a teenager, but the defence lawyers have provided proof of the other Doige's existence and his stay in the facility where the painting was bought. This Doige died in 2012, shortly before the painting turned up at a gallery for valuation. 

The case seems cut and dried in favour of Peter Doig, but the judge has apparently taken the painting away with him while he decides on his verdict. Despite the hard evidence (Saturn), even the judge (Saturn) seems confused (Neptune). 

So what is actually happening here? Are we entering an era when the word of an author can be denied by anyone with a more convincing argument? Where the truth is fluid according to what is at stake. Where the business of art overtakes the making of art and the true authority (the artist) is usurped by the self-appointed authority (the dealers)? Or is it simply a matter of an elaborate tale woven by a man with something to hide? The whole thing is a hall of mirrors and it'll be fascinating to see what the judge eventually decides.

Saturn Neptune folks. Welcome to the Crazy House.

The Hall of Mirrors, Lady From Shanghai.
Orson Welles, archetypal trickster and teller of tall tales.

Irish Artists: Harry Clarke

I've been researching irish art and poetry recently, trying to find some inspiration for a painting on 1916 which I've been assigned for a competition. Politics and political art is not my forte, so I decided to go hunting those parts of irish culture that do thrill me.

And I was looking again at Harry Clarke, who lived at the time, and his fantastical illustrations and stained glass windows.  Harry was a Pisces Sun with a Virgo Moon. I knew there had to be Virgo in there somewhere, given the level of detail and precision in his drawings, and what a beautiful expression of Pisces his art is.

Pisces rules the realm of archetypes, of fairy tales and mythology, spirituality, dreams and the unconscious, everything and all that lies beyond and moves human life. It's colours are the deep blues and greens of the sea. Pisceans often get lost in the enormity of the currents moving their life, but in Harry's case his Virgo moon drove him to craft something tangible from those currents.  To bring heaven down to earth. So how apt that he is probably best known for the stained glass windows he designed, not just for churches, but for secular buildings too.

He was also a celebrated illustrator of fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Perrault, and the tales of Edgar Allen Poe.  Interestingly,  the work for his first commission of illustrations, for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was destroyed during the Easter Rising.

So, I have a beginning.

Saturn in Sagittarius - nailing your feet to the floor

'Settle to your life now, where certainty abounds'.

St Sergius the Builder,  Nicholas Roerich

I spend a lot of time wondering and worrying about the future. With a Sagittarian Venus in aspect to Jupiter that's hardly surprising, but it's only recently I realised how much stress it actually causes. Saturn is currently in Sagittarius and has recently transited both those planets. All of  a sudden I began feeling calm, settled to where I am and what I'm doing, such an alien experience I had to sit down and work out why.

The boundless optimism and horizon scanning of Sagittarius actually takes up a lot of energy. And when so much of one's energy is projected into imagination and potentiality it leaves little for the everyday mundane tasks that are, let's face it, the foundation of our lives. We miss what is right under our noses because we are constantly plotting and planning and searching for something better, new or more exciting.  (Also one of the reasons Sagittarians get such a bad reputation in matters of the heart.) And while we are busy looking for what's coming we don't see our life going by without us.

When Saturn transits Sagittarius it places boundaries on that sign's expansiveness. And the house of your chart which contains Sagittarius is where you will feel it. If you're used to bounding ahead, prepare to be slowed down. If you resist the process all you'll get is frustrated and stressed. Take a while instead to consider the beauty and the benefits of what is here, now, all around you. Yes, the mountains out there are beautiful, but so is the garden here.

If it's your 3rd house, instead of wishing you were living somewhere else, stop and appreciate the place you are in now. See what can be manifested here, instead of longing for pastures new. In your 7th, it's about the friends and relationships you have now and what you can contribute and commit to them, rather than searching for new ones. In your 10th, firm up your career responsibilities and see how you can work smarter, instead of expanding or moving on. And so on.

If you can do this, in whatever area of your life this transit is happening, once Saturn moves on to Capricorn in two years time you'll find your life expanding for real, building on what you've been able to put in place now. Get your foundation right, and everything else will follow.