Isabella Daly 225075 – New College Swindon 66528
Critical & Contextual Studies A2 Exam Question – Sun Part 2
The next piece that I will be looking at is yet another painting by Leighton this time an unfinished painting titled ‘Clytie’ painted in 1895 at a size of 65 x 53in in oil on canvas, before I even get into even analysing the painting of any sort, one of the most important things about this piece is that it was not only one of the last major statements of Victorian High art but it was also the last major piece that Leighton worked on before his death and was even placed on an easel at the head of his coffin followed by being exhibited at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition of 1896 to commemorate him and how much of an impact he had amongst other painters and artists. Before even looking into the piece itself we can see that this small snippet of the narrative that we are experiencing is considerably different from that of the previous piece. In Hesperides we had this warm, very relaxed and calm image that was very peacefully, and while this piece is depicting using a highly similar colour palette, there’s so much more feeling and passion present (due to a number of reasons that I will later delve into) which I find to be almost ironic considering as this was the final work he was creating, almost seeming like this piece is a representation of the great loss it is to the world that this artists has moved on and left this world as we know. The subject for this painting is taken yet again from Ovid’s ’Metamorphoses’ , in this narrative we have the nymph Clytie (our figure in this painting) who is heartbroken due to being rejected by the sun god Apollo and as a result isolates herself for nine days in the wild watching the sky as her un-recuperated love drives his chariot across the sky. During this time she neither drank nor ate, and as she began to wither away she started to become rooted into the earth and take the form of a flower. In this specific moment captured we see Clytie in this morning process of calling out to to the sky where her beloved is.
Whereas in the previous painting the warm colour palette used help created an easy and peaceful atmosphere, it has instead been used here to create an emphasis on the drama and passion present throughout the piece. The specific time of day that has been used to be represented in this image in sunset, a time of day that is typically associated with beauty where people look up to the sky in awe at the world, this relates back to Apollo and how to Clytie, he the idea of perfection and beauty to her. The use of the technique of aerial perspective has one again been used within this peace as commonly used technique for when the sky and landscape are used within painting and in this case is used to but a strain on the idea of the darkness and negativity that Clytie is experience due to heartbreak, how to her, Apollo was literally ‘the light of her life’ and how she has little hope without him. The darkness also being a metaphor for her hopelessness and bleak future of withering away to the very edge before her transformation take place and her life will never be the same with her freedom being taken away. The way in which the sky and clouds have been painted relates to this and almost gives a physical depiction to the way in which her soul will be released out of her human vessel and into the of the flower, the loss of her sanity. Along with giving a visual representation to not only her feelings but the lack of sound from her cry that we can envision her making as she’s in this stance. This also really helps heighten the level of drama that’s present within the image as well as creates a strong connection between between the figure and the viewer regardless of the fact that we’re not even making a connection between her.
Even the direction of which the figure is positioned has an impact upon the piece, the fact that she is facing the left hand side behind her, gives us the indication that she’s holding onto the past and is stuck here, she’s not letting go and moving onwards with her life, further putting weight on the fact her future is lost. Her stance of pleading to Apollo can relate to this as well, like she’s accepting this fate and it’s what she wants. The fruit being placed on the right hand side displays this as well with how she refused to eat and drink, yet the sustenance for her to consume is right beside her and how she herself is actively choosing against this rather than actually being uncontrollably deprived as well as informing us more of the narrative that’s being taken place within the painting. Although as I’ve previously stated when I looked more into the movement of Aestheticism that it’s predominantly about appreciating the beauty and craftsmanship of the artist, this doesn’t take away from the fact that a subject matter for each piece is still required. Now while they colour just paint pieces of still life, this really wouldn’t work into the genre as the movement isn’t about depicting the everyday. Now, while the inspiration of mythology is something that depicting the everyday. Now, while the inspiration of mythology is something that has been present within art for hundreds of years, certainly not being unique to the Victorian age being also highly prevalent in the Renaissance. That being said, the treatment of the way in which these myths have been manipulated are somewhat different to one another, while Renaissance artists focussed on compositions comprising of numerous figures with feelings of passion and excitement. Where as I’ve previously spoken about, Victorian artists chose to display scenes of a far more personal nature and intimacy that reflect upon the individuals, as well as far more idealised subjects which therefore somewhat leads to more of an understanding as to why the theme of mythology was repeatedly used as the Greeks favoured this concept of beauty as well.
Mythology was a highly prominent genre for Leighton’s work and what’s really interesting is that actually isn’t the first time he has depicted a piece from this narrative, but rather this is a preparatory to the painting of the same name painted in 1890-2 (dimensions unknown). Unlike the piece I’ve just looked at, focuses’ more on the dramatic landscape of the piece as opposed to the character of Clytie where the nymph is depicted as only a small figure in the right hand corner of the piece kneeling own before the statue of Apollo that is barely visible due to being painted in the shadows almost. Perhaps this is to further symbolise just how insignificant and small Clytie is to Apollo, especially seeing as his domain is in the sky which he has to oversee. Like that of the previous painting though, the sky has once again been shown at this gorgeous brief and passing moment of the sun setting, just before the day comes to a close and night falls. There’s this breathtaking setting before Clytie yet still she crouches in mourning, which could be an indication into just how delirious Clytie is, she’s so lost and heartbroken she can’t even fully embrace the beauty that’s before her that naturally any other human would be captivated by. The way in which the clouds move upwards and to the left, to the opposite side to which Clytie is positioned and then forming into this intense burst of where the sun is setting to the far left of the canvas by the horizon could actually be displaying two different things: the first being the intense hurry of Apollo leaving Clytie, trying to escape and not wanting anything to do with her. While the other could be more so focussing on Clytie and being a visual representation of how she’s feeling with this intense burst of emotion that causing her to be stuck in the moment, preventing her from moving forward, something that I mentioned of being an element shown in the follow up piece to this.
All the paintings I have thus far looked at have been in relation to that of mythology that in some way also reflect that of the sun with all of by the artist Leighton, also have this strong influence on the idea of the sun through the settings that all of these have been depicted in with the next piece I’m going to look at focus’ on this concept rather than that of mythology. Given that there’s so many captivating works that are categorized within this movement still relating to that of the title of my original question, I don’t want to close myself off and limit myself away from all these other works. The piece shown to the left that I’ve specifically chosen to look at next is titled ‘A Sleeping Girl’ by Albert Moore painted in 1875 in oil on canvas with a support of 12 x 8.8in and a frame of 22 x 19 x 2.6in, depicting exactly as the title indicates, a young woman in a state of slumber in the summertime. Almost immediately this piece reminds me to that of ‘The Garden of Hesperides’ with the figure shown to the far right who she, herself is also captured in a sleeping state. This personally isn’t an unusual subject matter for Moore though as his paintings frequently feature young women of beauty in a delicate fashion with clothes of a classical style both as finalised big pieces like this and smaller, less perfected painting as well, many of which were completed between the mid 1870s and 1880s, some of which are said to have potentially acted as preliminary studies for the larger pieces such as this piece. This piece is a clear and accurate depiction of work that’s produced under the movement of Aestheticism with a lack of narrative that has been instead replaced with the focus on technique via the use of line, colour, and pattern where even the figure is positioned in this angular gaze locking pose that makes her seem as if she’s been arranged and positioned just like another object within this setting.
This piece is such a positive and accurate example for the true understanding of the Aestheticism movement for a number of different reasons, with the inclusion of a number of elements that were favoured by many artists who were apart of this genre with the classical drapery used, the far eastern vase and fan, the exotic animal skin rug, the patterned bohemian style cushion showing that across the whole composition every detail has been considered with there being a clear representation of the theme across the work showing on just one level amount of thought and consideration that has come into play. This isn’t all though, this piece also creates a great emphasis on the craftsmanship and the raw skill that Moore has in depicting accurately all the objects that I’ve mentioned above which he achieved through both the tedious and meticulous process of building up the paint on the canvas with incredibly thin layers that is definitely paid off in the resulting appearance of these wonderfully balancing tones of delicacy and intimacy that only works at complimenting the composition even further to create a breathtakingly peaceful work that somehow works at removing all of the viewers other thoughts and stresses and has the viewer caught in a feeling contentedness, similar to the feeling of great awe that the landscape piece Clytie evoked. One specific example of this great attention and skill can be shown within the blossoms portrayed within the piece that depict compelling levels of realism in the blossoms that have been precisely rendered, making the overall piece more than just a decorative panel. By doing this it allows Moore to incorporate the use of brighter colours that not only livens up the work while also drawing more attention to and complimenting the other cooler, neutral colours that have been used.
What’s also interesting about this piece is that it also demonstrates some of Moore’s only personal interest and fascination with classical sculpture that came about from a combination of a trip to Rome over 1862 to 1863 alongside numerous hours spent in London's British museum studying the Elgin marbles. This strong interest then reflects within this piece with the amount of care and effort that’s been put into this piece, especially in areas such as the draping fabric of her outfit where the almost glistening translucent fabric that’s been so accurately depicted with each fold that shimmers when be caught by the light was only achieved after numerous studies of nudes, clothed figures and draped fabric in order to gain a true understanding of how these different elements realistically react together visually. Another thing to take note on is the actually pose that our sleeping figure is in, the way the her head is gently resting from being encircled by a so perfectly angled arm that almost seems like her finger tips are ever so delicate touching the flower that sits behind her ear. This then leads to the whole body being in a reversed ‘S’ formation that actually works at making the transition from having this be a piece of narrative to instead a piece of design that fits with the genre by which this painting is classified into Aestheticism where the beauty of the piece itself is by the thing of most importance.
The next piece that I will be looking at is by the most dramatic and outstanding out of all the piece that I have looked at so far and is titled ‘The Roses of Heliogabalus’ by Sir Lawrence AlmaTadema in 1888 at a size of 52 x 84in in oil on canvas. Now while this piece is absolutely breathtaking with it’s obscene amount of detail, before I can home in and starting look at the numerous intricate details of this piece, I first need to gain more of an understanding of the context of the work. The painting itself depicts the Emperor Heliogabalus at a banquet where his guest are being suffocated by a shower of rose petals for his own amusement, however, in original format of the tale in Latin it states “violets and other flowers” but instead Tadema chose to use roses as during this period they were considered to be symbolic of sensual beauty, corruption as well as death which not only links back to this being a piece of artwork in the Aesthetic movement but also as another way too create an emphasis on the highly dramatic situation that’s being taken place of the sadistic insanity of this emperor with his desire for this but also to display the negativity of the guest dying as a result of this in a way that is by no means gruesome or clearly torturous. which therefore might be unclear to understand upon first glance. However, this was by no means an easier route to go down by deciding to create this piece with roses instead as during the time when the painting began it was winter, so naturally there were no roses around for Tadema to use as a reference, so instead he ordered roses from the French Rivera every week until its completion so he could create a realistic interpretation fully showing of his level of skill for which he became famous for.
The young emperor himself (who gained this role as merely a young teenage boy) is shown towards the back of the piece draped across a couch shown in a robe of gold and a tiara that gives us a good idea of his desire and importance for beauty, which is why he makes such wonderful subject matter for creating a piece of aestheticism artwork as he himself believed in its values and ideals. His obscurity in actions and demands doesn’t stop with the scene that is taking place before us. In his short life (due to his assassination) and reign as emperor he is said to have married at least five women, one of whom was said to be a former vestal virgin. He also referred to a male charioteer, Hierocles as his “husband” and supposedly married another male athlete in a public ceremony in Rome. Alongside this in some accounts its said that he offered a considerably large sum of money to whomever was able to make him a women where he frequently wore make up, removed body hair as well as wore wigs to enable him in prostituting himself, first in taverns and brothels, then later out of the imperial palace. Taking a closer look at his face this only heightens the peculiarity of this man as the sombre look on both his face and some of his other guests that are positioned around him juxtapose this idea of how the emperor ordered this for his own amusement when he gives no indication of enjoyment nor pleasure within his face a he looks still and emotionless. The scene as a whole has been so lavishley decorated across the whole piece, from the architecture and the excessive detail and skill that has been put in areas such as the mother-of-pearl couch that our emperor reclines upon down to how every figure is shown with a piece of seemingly expensive jewellery which only portrays the message even more so of how this is a piece of a decorative nature. Every single part of the composition has once again been considered like that of ‘Sleeping girl’ to ensure that the audience gains full knowledge of remarkable craftsmanship that Tadema has, both in the sense of the physical process of painting but also that of the mental process he has to go through with compositional planning, and conveying his intention.
Another thing to mention is in the background positioned behind the emperor, a young woman is playing the double pipes whist dressed in drapery of the dapped skin of a leopard which actually the traditional appearance of a Maenad, the followers of Dionysus, the god of wine who were often said to be in a state of ecstatic frenzy through dancing and intoxication. Dionysus’s statue can actually be seen behind all the reclining figures in the background, shown with a leopard at his feet and embracing his lover Amepelus who ended up being metamorphosed into a grapevine. Due to Tadema’spersonal strived for perfectionism, even this very statue is based off of reality and can be found in the Vatican Muesum.This mindset of which he possess makes an understanding that’s so undeniable as to why he so perfectly fits under the movement of Aesthetisicm as every ideal that make it up correlates to Tadema’s own thoughts and feeling regarding to be (him) being an artist. Given that Dionysus was the Olympian good of wine, festivity, dancing, theatre, madness and wild frenzy who was normally either depicted as older, bearded god or in a contrastingly different young, effeminate way which make sense given that not only is our emperor Heliogabalus as we’ve already discovered represents an aesthetic of effeminacy himself as well as partying and partaking in activities that are consideredto be somewhat more of a bizarre nature, like that of the scene we have taking place in this very painting. The result of this creates an even greater solidity in the amount of care that Tadema has taken at producing a convincing work that has the continual consistency running all the way through it, even in the tiniest of details.
Another element that is most notable about his work is the vibrant and beautiful colours in which he uses to depict to his work from the more obviously pink roses in their varying shades to the bright green clothes that the older figure in the bottom right who stares at Heliogabalus is wearing and the wonderfully executed marble pillar that’s situated behind him. His use of colour that increased in its brightness became heavily influenced in response to him moving to London, the home in which he would spend the rest of his life where he became friends with most of the Pre-Raphaelite painters. Going back briefly onto the subject of the marble pillar, after Tadema completed the work “The Education of the Children of Clovis” in 1861, In Belgium, his teacher Leys had been considerable critical over his treatment in the way he depicted the marble, comparing it to that of “Cheese. The effects of this resulted in Tadema took this very seriously and made a great commitment to improve his technique, so much so that it lead to him being the world’s most foremost painter of marble and granite which can be demonstrated within this piece. With how dramatic and lively this piece is, regardless of the all the flowers falling around, one area that I can’t help but have my eyes repeatedly have drawn over to is the female figure in the bottom right hand corner who makes this somewhat intense and engaging eye contact with the viewer whereby there’s no way she can be mistaken for just staring off in our direction is most definitely looking with intent. Matched with this as soon as I take my eyes away from hers they are then instantly taken to the intricate snake bracelet that she wears on her left arm. In my opinion this seems almost as if this was deliberately executed by Tadema as a was of highlighting the sinful ways of the Emperor Heliogabalus as well as the event of this piece.