Mortality Naomi Jennings – O’Toole
The Ambassadors 1533 Hans Holbein
Hans Holbein the Younger (Hans Holbein der Jüngere) was a German and Swiss artist who lived from 1497 to 1543. He is referred to as "the Younger" to distinguish him from his father, Hans Holbein the Elder, an accomplished painter of the Late Gothic school. Holbein predominantly worked in a Northern Renaissance style and is best known for his talent for painting portraits.
Hans (right) and Ambrosius Holbein, by Hans Holbein the Elder, 1511
Self-portrait (Hans Holbein the Younger), 1542
At the start of his artistic career, Holbein worked in Basel, Switzerland where he painted murals and religious works, as well as designing stained glass windows and printed books. Here, he made a significant contribution to the history of book design. He also painted the occasional portrait, such as his painting of the humanist Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, and in doing so made his impression as a skilled portraitist. When the reformation reached Basel, Holbein gained reformist clients and so began to paint satire and propaganda while still serving traditional religious patrons. In 1526, he travelled to England in search of work, with a recommendation from Erasmus. He quickly uilt a high reputation for his unique blend of the Late Gothic Style, along with artistic trends from Italy, France and the Netherlands, as well as by Renaissance humanism. This influence resulted in a combied aesthetic that was uniquely his own. By 1535, he was King's Painter to King Henry VIII. In this role, Holbein produced not only royal portraits but designs for jewellery, plates and other precious objects. His portraits of the royal family and nobles are a record of the court in the years when Henry was asserting his supremacy over the English church. After Holbein‘s death in 1543, some of his work was lost but much was collected, and by the 19th century, he was recognised among the great portrait masters. Holbein's art has sometimes been called realist, since he drew and painted with an almost photographic precision. His portraits were renowned in their time for their likeness and many famous figures of his day, such as Erasmus and More, were painted. Within his paintings Holbein often embedded layers of symbolism, allusion, and paradox, which adds to his reputation. In the view of art historian Ellis Waterhouse, his portraiture "remains unsurpassed for sureness and economy of statement, penetration into character, and a combined richness and purity of style"
This painting was created with a political purpose – to respond to the Reformation of Christianity. Martin Luther, a German professor of theology and a monk, was a seminal figure in forming the Protestant branch of Christianity. While many reformers attacked the corruption within the Catholic Church, Martin Luther challenged the theological roots of the religion. He nailed his protests to a church door in Germany in 1517, addressing the perversion of the church’s doctrine of redemption and grace.
In his Ninety-Five thesis, Luther insisted that the Pope had no authority over purgatory and that the doctrine of the merits of the saints had no foundation in the gospel; he argued that scripture alone is authoritative (sola sciptura) and justification is by faith (sola fide). Additionally, the invention of the printing press in the 15 th Century allowed the bible to be printed in multiple languages, thus people could read the Bible in their vernacular language, rather than relying on Catholic priests to read it to them in Latin (which few people understood anyway). In England, the Reformation was also caused by Henry VIII’s desire to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. Pope Clement VII refused to allow this, in accordance with Catholic laws so Henry VIII repudiated papal authority and established the Anglican Church, naming himself as the head. This allowed him to divorce his wife and remarry Anne Boleyn. Holbein painted ‘The Ambassadors’ to spread his opinion about the Reformation; he included still life objects often seen in vanitas paintings, such as a globe, a lute and a book, to portray the negative consequences that would come with the reformation, and to try to discourage it.
The man on the left is Jean de Dinteville, the French ambassador staying in England to ‘keep an eye’ on Henry VIII as he breaks apart from the Catholic church. He is dressed in the most popular fashion of that era, similarly to the King’s own style, with satin, fur and velvet materials. This presents Dinteville as not only wealthy, but fashionable too, and these fabrics are painted with amazing degree of accuracy and clarity that was typical of the Northern tradition. This flattering representation of Dinteville could have been because Holbein admired his career success and wanted to portray this in his portrait, or just because Dinteville was the one that commissioned this painting and it was typical of artists to adulate their commissioner. The composition of Dinteville’s body enhances his characterisation; by placing his arm as resting on the table next to him, Holbein suggests he is relaxed and confident. He also positions Dinteville’s body so that his upper torso is turned towards us, which exaggerates the width of his shoulders and thus emphasises his masculinity. His feet are stepping towards the viewers too, suggesting Dinteville is turning to interact with us. The dagger clasped in Dinteville’s hand could be a reference to the political turmoil in England at the time, a symbol emphasised by his position as an ambassador. It is inscribed with the number 29- the age of Jean de Dinteville. This emphasises his success as a young man. His importance is also shown by his size; full length portraits were usually only for diplomats, members of royalty or upper class families or anyone with extraordinary amounts of power and influence. Holbein painted this as life size, not only to represent Dinteville’s status but because larger paintings were seen as more impressive, and demonstrated the skill of the artist. After creating this painting, Holbein was employed by the royal family as the main artist of the court.
The man on the right is Georges de Selve, a friend of Dinteville’s and also an ambassador. The two men are characterised in opposite ways; where Dinteville is painted in regal, expensive clothes, Selve is shown wearing less colourful and more humble clothes. His clothes are not decorated with fur or embroidered detail, but have a pattern of friar’s knots, a typical symbol of the Franciscan virtues of the clergy. This could have been an accurate depiction of Georges de Selve, who was a modest priest as well as an ambassador, or simply a way of emphasising Dinteville’s own wealth. Selve’s own body position mirrors that of Dinteville’s which creates a symmetry to the painting. Their bodies also frame the still life compositions in the centre of the painting. Georges’ arm is resting on a book, which creates another contrast between the persona of him and Dinteville- the knife indicates the active life and the book alludes to the contemplative life. This may have been a way for Holbein to present the two different perspectives that ambassadors, and other politicians, may have had towards the political conflicts in England at the time. Selve’s stance also seems more reclusive than Dinteville’s step towards us, thus showing that Holbein used both composition and objects to present personality. The contrast between the active life on the left and the contemplative life on the right is not the only hidden meaning to this painting. The still life composition in the centre is similarly divided into two; the upper table holds objects used to measure and record astronomy, for example a torquetum (an astronomical instrument), a sundial, a quadrant and a celestial globe; the lower table shows objects that are representative of earthly pleasures, such as music (demonstrated by the lute and the lutheral hymnal) and the acquisition of knowledge (shown by the open books and folded maps). Therefore the painting acts almost as a grid, with the active and passive on the left and right, and the upper and lower sections showing the celestial and terrestrial spheres. Holbein may be using this grid composition to evoke the viewers to question the different aspects and attitudes to life, in the similarly subtle way as vanitas paintings.
Distortions The lute is fore-shorted, not at a horizontal or vertical angle, but diagonally. This distortion makes the object appear shorter than it naturally would be, thus the illusion of it receding strongly into the background is created. Foreshortening gives the painting a dimension the objects would have in real life. Lutes were traditionally used by artists to practise foreshortening, as seen in the sketch on the right. The skull is also distorted, but in a different way to the lute; Holbein used anamorphic perspective to artificially stretch the skull so that the viewers of the painting could only see the skull if they viewed it from the side. This creates a contrasting relationship between the skull and the rest of the objects, so that you can’t see the skull when you can see the other elements but you can see the skull when you can’t see the other elements. Thus, a viewer must choose whether to look at a clear skull and its distorted surroundings or a distorted skull surrounded by clear subjects. This means the painting can send two messages- looking at the majority of the painting shows us earthly achievements, wealth and knowledge, or looking at the skull acts as a memento mori, reminding us of the inevitability of our death. Although being two different types of distortion, the angle of the foreshortened lute is the same angle as the stretching skull. This means that between the two objects, one creates a reality of our world and one creates a surreality, thus suggesting that what we see is not always all there is, and not always the full truth.
Artist practicing foreshortening on a lute
The skull as seen from the side
The background of this painting is beautifully detailed and hyper-realistic. The green curtain has an elegant pattern that is typical of the French style and emphasises the wealth of Jean de Dinteville. Hidden behind this curtain there is a crucifix in the top left corner. The positioning of this crucifix behind the curtain suggests that acquiring expensive material possessions (like this curtain) may distract us from our religion. In comparison to the expensive cloth, complicated instruments and luxurious fabrics that are positioned in the centre of this painting, Holbein could be commenting on our tendencies as humans to focus foremost on earthly possessions, with religion being a secondary concern. This could also be a reference to Henry VIII focusing on his desires to divorce rather than his religious duty and vows of fidelity in marriage. The two men are standing on a oriental floor with a mosaic pattern which Holbein has painted in perfect lineal perspective. This is a reference to an actual floor in Westminster Abbey, extraordinarily famous for being “the finest ever attempted in Britain� and ranks amongst the best floor in Europe for its intricacy. The geometric pattern is known as cosmati, meaning it is a diagram of the macrocosm (the cosmic order). Holbein may have chosen this floor (assuming that everybody would recognise it) to add to the grandeur of his painting, a way to complement the status of the two men. It could also act as a symbol of mankind gaining knowledge of astronomy, similarly to the torquetum, the sundial and the quadrant in the still life compositions.
Despite technically being a portrait, this painting has a still life arrangement within it. Similarly to the Dutch vanitas still life paintings, the objects hold implicit allegorical meanings. For example, the torquetum, the sundial and the quadrant are "an array of instruments and apparatus for mastering the heavens and gaining precise knowledge of time and place” which represents mankind’s search for knowledge. The globe symbolises the desire to travel and gain diplomatic power over other countries. It shows Europe in the most prominent position, and Africa below it, a possible reference to Europe’s exploration of the globe and their colonisation of Africa. The 15 th and 16th Centuries were known as the Age of Discovery, with the Great British Empire beginning in the late 16 th Century, so this would have been an obvious reference at the time. This may seem like a celebration of Dinteville and Selve’s achievements at first, and what human beings in general had historically achieved, but when viewed in relation to the other objects (such as the skull and the crucifix), it appears as though Holbein is actually pointing out the limits of earthly life, of earthly vision and of man’s knowledge in comparison to the importance of religion. Hence, this reminds us of the inevitability of death and the promise of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, and suggests that we humans should be focusing more on our religion than our achievements on earth (which will be worthless to us in death). Placing this meaning into the context of 1533, Holbein may be demonstrating the importance of religion in this time of political unrest and the futility of Henry VIII reforming the Church for his own benefit. The lower shelf of objects contains many representations of music and the pleasure of listening to it. However, music is sometimes a symbol of transience because each note played is only short lived, only lasting as long as the sound waves. The most noticeable object is the lute, due to its clear relation to music. This lute has a broken string which we can only see due to Holbein’s skill of painting with high-pitched clarity. This may symbolise the discord in England at the time, and may even suggest that the political state of the country is as fragile as a single string. The hymn book is also a symbol of music with a deeper meaning, as the hymn inside it was written by Martin Luther who was an active member of the Protestants.
After having looked at The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger, I have decided to explore further into still life vanitas paintings, similar to the vanitas Holbein constructed in the centre of his painting. Vanitas paintings are a category of symbolic works of art associated with the still life paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries in Flanders and the Netherlands. The noun vanitas is Latin for "emptiness“ (derived from vanus, meaning empty) and thus is used to refer to the traditional Christian view that the pleasures we feel during earthly life is empty and worthless. These paintings were often painted to be displayed in the homes of middle class families, and served as a reminder of Biblical teachings. This was a popular form of art, despite still life paintings being classed as the lowest of art genres because society was transitioning, becoming more involved in science and spending less time in church. Vanitas paintings were useful for keeping Christian morality in mind as the word "vanitas" derives its prominence from the Ecclesiastes, and in the Vulgate 1:2; 12:8 the verse is rendered as Vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas. Vanitas themes were common in medieval funerary art, with most surviving examples in sculpture. By the 15th century, these could be extremely morbid and explicit, reflecting an increased obsession with death and decay and the overlapping motif of the Memento mori. From the Renaissance such motifs gradually became more indirect and, as the still-life genre became popular, found a home there. Paintings executed in the vanitas style were meant to remind viewers of the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death. They also provided a moral justification for painting attractive objects. The Dutch Golden Age encompasses most of the seventeenth century, during which the Dutch ‘Old Masters’ began to prevail in the art world, creating a depth of realistic portraits of people and life in the area that has hardly been surpassed. The Golden Age painters depicted the scenes that their discerning new middle class patrons wanted to see. This new wealth from merchant activities and exploration combined with a lack of church patronage shifted art subjects from biblical to the mundane, which was a major innovation. Still lifes of items of everyday objects, landscapes, and seascapes reflecting the naval and trade power that the Republic enjoyed were popular. The large group portrait is also a standard subject: often of a militia guild or civic organization, such as Rembrandt's Night Watch. While both Rembrandt and Vermeer fell out of favour in their own times, they have become the standard by which the world judges Holland's Old Masters. Now, this era of mastered art is reflected in many museums and buildings in Holland's countryside and cities. The Rijkmuseum and Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam are both housed in buildings from this era, and contain many artworks of the great Old Dutch Masters.
Allegory of Vanity 1632 - 1636 Antonio de Pereda
Antonio de Pereda was born in 1611 in Valladolid, Spain. He was exposed to art from an early age as his father, mother and two brothers were all painters. After the death of his father, Pereda went to study under Pedro de las Cuevas in Madrid where his skill attracted the attention of Giovanni Battista Crescenzi. This, in turn, brought Pereda to be noticed by the monarchy who hired him in commission to decorate the Buen Retiro Palace. After the death of Crescenzi in 1635, Pereda was expelled from the court. Instead he turned to focus on still lifesuch as 'Saint Albert of Siciliy' (c. 1670, Museo del Prado, Madrid) and the 'Allegory of Vanitas' (c. 1634, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna)- as well as historical paintings like the Relief of Genoa (c. 1635) which was painted for the Salรณn de Reinos of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid as part of the same series as Velรกzquez's Surrender of Breda. Pereda began to take commissions from religious institutions which led him to produce a vast array of works centred around the theme of religion, often featuring biblical events like the immaculate conception, the adoration of the magi and the sacrifice of Isaac. However, the most impressive of his works are his vanitas paintings, where he uses the image of the angel (alongside still life objects) as symbols to show the disappointment of life and the futility of chasing material possessions and social status.
Pereda uses chiaroscuro in his vanitas paintings; he positions the light source as coming from the left, while leaving the background in darkness. This creates subtle atmospheric perspective and creates a dramatic mood. It also creates shadows on the right side of each object, thus defining its shape. This is typical of oil paintings that use chiaroscuro because the underlying principle is that solidity of form is best achieved by the light falling against it. This use of lighting also gives Pereda control of where the viewer’s eyes are initially drawn to because we are attracted to the lightest part of a painting. In “Allegory of Vanity” , the first element I noticed was the face and hands of the angel, and the objects she is holding in them. The composition of this painting is visually pleasing; the main subject (the angel) is placed in the centre third of the painting to ensure this is the thing we notice first. The rest of the subjects frame the angel, for example the two tallest objects on the table (the candlestick and the clock tower) are placed at either end of the painting, thus creating a sense of unity between them. It also makes the painting more symmetrical which balances out the composition. Smaller objects, such as the coins and the necklaces, trail across the bottom of the painting. This makes the viewer’s eyes follow their path around the whole painting, taking in everything and ultimately coming back to rest on the focal point.
The Symbol of the Angel Vanitas paintings were often produced to be hung in the homes of middle class families and used allegorical references to spread messages of morality. This was important in a time where going to Church was becoming less popular because it was a more interesting and aesthetic way to teach Christian principles. As Catholic Christian symbols, angels represent a spiritual, celestial being, superior to man in power and intelligence. In the Scriptures the angels appear as God's messengers. Therefore to a 17th Century religious society, using an angel as a way to send a moral message to the viewer would act as a reminder to the Church’s teachings. The fact that she is holding a globe in her hands suggests that she is reminding us that God is the one with divine power over the world, therefore human’s desire to gain supremacy over the world is useless. The face and body of the angel are painted with a careful modulation of colour hues; this, as well as the careful blending of paint, gives her skin a soft, delicate appearance. Divine beings were usually depicted this way in Baroque paintings to characterise their youth and immortality. This not only adheres to the belief that “angels never die“ (Luke 20:36), but also creates an implicit distinction between the symbolism of the still life objects (which hold connotations with death and the passing of time). Therefore Pereda may be using the angel to remind his intended viewers of their own mortality. Pereda depicted the angel as life-like, to an almost photographic degree of accuracy. He painted the angel’s dress with ruffles and folds in the fabric in the typical manner of art in the Spanish Golden Age. This makes the angel seem more realistic, because the fabric falls as it naturally would in movement. This may be because his message is more effective if the viewers feel as though the painting is realistic, because if the angel is real then it suggests that the prospect of their death is similarly realistic and therefore imminent.
The skull is one of the most powerful features of this painting. As a customary symbol in art, skulls have a long and varied history of use with multiple overlapping interpretations. Skulls are most commonly seen as a representation of death, which evokes the viewer to think about their own mortality. They may also be used as a sign of fear or caution, which aligns with the purpose of vanitas to warn people of the dangers of wasting their life in futility. Skulls are effective at portraying messages as they naturally stand out to us. Humans can so easily recognise skulls because our brains have a specific region for recognising faces- it is so attuned to finding them that it can see faces in a few dots and lines. Skulls also display a degree of neoteny (a childlike appearance) due to their large eye sockets, which is also noticeable to humans because of our natural inclinations to find eye contact. The skulls are resting on a stack of a couple of books. Their faded colour and bent spines suggest that they are well read. Alone, they may be a symbol of knowledge and the importance of being well-read however Pereda’s choice of composition, having positioned the skulls on top of the books, implies that death is more powerful than knowledge. He suggests that the pursuit of an education is futile because it is only as temporary as life itself.
In addition to skulls and books, Pereda includes small treasures, such as coins, necklaces and perfume. These are used as symbols because they are typical objects that don’t have any practical value; they are just material possessions with superficial value. This indicates that the owning of such objects, as well as the acquisition of them (the cards suggest gambling), is as pointless as education.
The hourglass, gun and candle all relate to mortality; the hourglass is a clear representation of time running out, in which the sand is a metaphor for our time in life running out; the gun has clear connotations with war and violence, thus informing the viewer that things that shorten lives (such as battles) are no service to humanity; the candle may symbolise the passing of time because the flame will eventually become extinguished (as it is in the painting) and turn to smoke, just as our bodies will die and turn to ashes.
The angel is holding a portrait of the Emperor Charles V and balances it on the globe. With her other hand she points to somewhere off the northern coast of South America. Since Charles was dead when the picture was painted, this may be a reference to the fact that Charles’s dominion over the New World availed him nothing against death. This further reiterates the teachings of vanitas paintings.
Still Life With Mask 1650-1655 Hendrick Andriessen
Andriessen was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1607. When he was 30 years old, Andriessen joined the Guild of St. Luke, a guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. The guild was a popular way for artists to gain an apprenticeship and then become qualified to sell art to the public. Andriessen was known mainly as a still life painter with most of his work falling into the category of Vanitas. Andriessen’s paintings date to a period of brutal civil wars in England and the end of the reign of Charles I. The objects in many of his vanitas paintings allude to contemporary events and the political issues of his time, indicating that Andriessen created paintings with specific purposes. One of his most famous works, an oil on canvas called ‘Vanitas Quiet Life’, is believed to be a reference to the death of King Charles I who was beheaded in 1649. As seen on the left, his painting appears to have these political references in the crown, sceptre and medal of St. George (the patron Saint of England). Supporting this idea is another inscription, stating that despite "all the king's gold, fame and triumphs, his rule was repressed and his regal pomp gave way in the last hour." Whether intended for a Catholic or Protestant viewer, these allusions to the crumbling English monarchy would have had special resonance in the 1640s and their aftermath. Andriessen painted the majority of his works using oil paint on canvas, which allowed him to manipulate and blend the paint to create realistic tonalities. Another recurring theme throughout his work is subtle chiaroscuro- most of his vanitas paintings feature a dark, dimly lit background with grey or brown colours which contrasts with the brighter, warmer colours he uses in the foreground. Often he will use a background of a stone wall, either with the still life arrangement on a table or set into the wall, to create this darkness. Occasionally Andriessen also uses bubbles as a symbol of transience, where most other painters use subjects like food or a clock to remind us of time. Despite following the usual conventions of Flemish Baroque still life paintings, these features make Andriessen’s work recognisable.
This painting, similarly to Pereda’s Allegory of Vanity, combines many objects holding implicit connotations in order to portray an allegorical meaning to the viewer. The Dutch Vanitas still life symbolises memento mori; how vain and insignificant human concerns are and therefore how important it is to turn to God. The term comes from the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.�
In art, flowers are used to symbolise life and growth. However in vanitas art the flowers are usually cut and fading, acting as a metaphor for our own life fading away. The falling leaves suggest they have fallen off the cut flowers, much like leaves falling off a tree in autumn after they die of the cold. Although this has a morbid meaning, it is natural and biological, thus unavoidable. The leaves are scattered in a way that draws our eyes around the rest of the objects, subtly framing them.
The main subject amongst the arrangement of objects is the mask- Andriessen portrays this to us by naming his painting after the mask. Additionally, he places the mask within the source of light to ensure it is highlighted. This brightness contrasts with the dark background which further draws our attention to the mask. Faces show expression and expression reveals emotion, therefore faces can show a wide range of meanings. As masks are created to hide these, they are commonly associated with deception, possibly to disguise your identity or to hide your emotions. This suggests that the artist wishes to portray deception as futile in death, because you cannot deceive death. Rather than being elaborately decorated, the mask is plain and painted with a careful moderation of skin tones. This suggests realism because it so closely resembles a face, but because Andriessen shows us the emptiness behind it, the realism serves more as an emphasis of the lack of people than a representation of them.
This painting features a monochromatic colour scheme, using tones of grey, brown and beige. This gives the painting a solemn mood which is effective for representing a serious subject.
Foreshortening is created by the positioning of the candlestick. By making this object appear shorter than it really is, an illusion of it receding strongly into the background is created. This maximises the depth and dimension of the painting, which makes the still life look more realistic.
Similarly to previous painting, the still life objects includes a globe, although the globe is positioned in the background rather than in the hands of an angel. This is often a symbol of power and travel, and can represent human’s travel and diplomatic work. Its position in the background makes us question whether or not imperial power is as important as we think it is; the skull that is placed in the foreground implies that death should be on the forefront of our mind, not power.
The bubbles are painted with careful shadowing and highlights, painted to such a high level of accuracy that they appear at a photographic level of realism. As we look at the bubbles, we anticipate them popping, emphasising their short-lived nature. For that reason, the bubbles may be a metaphor for the transience of human life.
The bubbles are scattered in a way that spreads them across the empty part of the painting. This use of composition leads our eyes across to this part of the painting to, where without the bubbles we may have only looked at the objects on the right.
The majority of objects are on the right third of the painting and the mask sits on the bottom right power point (where the bottom line and right line intersect). Following the rule of thirds in composition creates a more attractive image.
Still Life of Food and Drink 1631 Willlem Claesz Heda
Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680) was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands. He lived during The Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history (roughly spanning the 17th century) in which Dutch military, trade, science and art were among the most powerful in the world. The art produced during this time shared many characteristics with the Baroque style in other parts of Europe, such as chiaroscuro, continuous overlapping of elements and themes of death. This Baroque influence on Dutch art is known as Caravaggesque. Although Claesz produced some figure subjects early on in his career, he is most renowned for his Still Life paintings, of which the earliest dated example is a “Vanitas” of 1621. His most characteristic works include compositions of glass and metal vessels, often arranged on a table alongside food subjects, such as oysters, a half-peeled lemon or a blackberry pie, through which he demonstrates his skill for accuracy and realism. In most of his work he uses a limited colour range; silvery greys, golden yellows, earthy browns and olive greens. This is unlike the typically bright colours used in Baroque art, which suggests Claesz was more concerned with making his paintings look natural than dramatic. His skill in realism is best shown in his manipulation of light, and his paintings often feature smooth, shiny surfaces such as pewter, silver or brass tazze. He often depicted the same objects in different paintings, which became known as ‘banquets’ or ‘breakfasts’ due to the recurring themes of food and drink. These paintings not only represented a literal presentation of the food which the upper-class of the time would consume but they would be a religious reminder to steer clear of one of the seven deadly sins – gluttony. Due to the Reformation of Christianity in the 16th Century, where Protestants studied their faith from the Bible rather than from religious paintings, church art became virtually non-existent. Instead, the Dutch middle-class and successful mercantile patrons became the driving forces in buying art. This may be why Dutch vanitas paintings have a more monochromatic colour scheme than its Italian influence, who mainly produced theatrical art for the Catholic Church.
This painting features a limited colour range as it only uses greyish monotonous colours. This creates a serious mood. The lemon is painted with brighter tones which makes it the most noticeable subject of the still life. During the 17th Century, lemons and other citrus fruits were a sign of wealth. The humid climate required to grow citrus fruits were not available in northern Europe (including the Netherlands where this painting was produced) so lemons had to be imported from hotter countries. Transportation was undeveloped, making imports extremely expensive. Lemon was also used in those days to improve the taste of wine. Instead of making it appear fresh and juicy, the lemon is portrayed as drying out and growing old therefore it may be used to represent a waste of money. Alternatively, the lemon could embody deceit. The bright colour of lemons suggest that they are as sweet as many other citrus fruits, but the flesh is actually sour and bitter. The lemon has a plate all to itself, so it is not blocked by other objects. This shows its significance as a vanitas symbol. The peel curling down and over the table makes an appealing composition because it draws our eyes down it and we can appreciate its form. However the peel hanging off the edge of the surface, as well as the knife and string of the compass, creates a subtle sense of unease because we anticipate the objects tipping and consequently falling off the table.
The precision in painting the wine glass demonstrates Claesz’s skill in imitating the varied qualities of different light-reflecting surfaces.
For this painting, Heda painted a plain, softly illuminated background which gave a fleeting appearance that the objects in the foreground were floating.
Subtle chiaroscuro is used in this painting, a method typical of oil paintings in this era. This contrast between light and tone creates drama, which makes the painting more noticeable. This painting is distinguished by its subdued, close tonal harmonies. A limited colour palette allows Heda to pull the focus on the various textures within the painting, rather than on bright colours. The dim sheen of the pewter plate and the gloss of the upturned silver tazza contrast eachother.Â
The subject of food was often used because banquets usually refer to the culture of sumptuous luxury, but in the context of vanitas art, it can refer to the sin of gluttony. These elaborate compositions express a sense of selfsatisfied complacency, while at the same time give symbolic warnings that over indulgence has its own set of issues
Similarly to the previous still life paintings, this has a symbol of transience; the bubble in the wine is in the centre of the liquid and, as we know that bubbles will rise, we know that it will soon break the surface of the wine and disappear. Claesz may have painted the bubble halfway through its rising motion to create apprehension, which works in conjunction with the unease created by the objects hanging over the edge of the table. Thus the objects are composed to unify the mood that the artist has intended to create. Claesz positions the tazza lying down, allowing him to demonstrate foreshortening and in turn creating a realistic sense of 3D space. The circular shapes in this painting, seen in the round plates, curves on the lemon and pie, the circles in the candlestick, wine glass and bubble give the painting a softness- sharp edges are more jarring to look at. Even the edges of the table are covered with a smooth cloth. This is appropriate for paintings made to be hung in family homes because they must look aesthetic in order to be bought.
Vanitas 1640 Harmen Steenwijck
Harmen Steenwijck, also known as Harmen Steenwyck, was born in Delft around 1612; this birth year is a rough estimate based on the appearance his first painting in 1633. He became an artist alongside his brother Pieter Steenwijck, when their father Evert sent them to learn painting from their uncle, David Bailly, in Leiden. It was here that he became an active painter, and now he is renowned for his Dutch Golden Age still lifes. His painting An Allegory of the Vanities of Human Life is currently on display at the National Gallery, London. His work follows many of the conventions of vanitas paintings, using the typical compositions style of cluttered, overlapping objects placed in the centre of the painting; the use of chiaroscuro and raking light; including subjects of skulls, fruit, food, flowers, shells, reflective objects, musical instruments, etc. He often uses ivy, for its symbol as an evergreen of eternal life, and also as a way to draw our eyes across the composition, because it trails across the table and links the objects together. Thus, Steenwijck’s work is effective at following the vanitas genre, but equally distinguishable in his own unique style.
Symbolism To 17th century merchants, the nouveaux riches of the Dutch Golden Age, collecting luxury items and utensils to show off their wealth and lifestyle was a competition. They revelled in exotic animals and shells from the East Indies, priceless glassware from Venice, porcelain from China, silver and gold from Antwerp. Thus shells and similar objects were often used in vanitas paintings as a way to question the morality of the desire to gain wealth. Shells can also signify pilgrimages and saints, when in religious contexts.
The candle represents the passing of time and the brevity of existence because the nature of a flame is fragile. It also creates a sense of anticipation, as we know that the flame will extinguish and turn to smoke soon. A burning candle can also represent faith in God.
The skull is another reminder of death, known as a momento mori. Steenwijck placed this alongside a sword, a typical symbol of war, to allow the viewer to make the link between fighting earthly wars and death, and thus question whether or not war is worth dying for. Swords can additionally symbolise power, protection, authority, strength and courage. It is phallic, (with the sheath representing the female reproductive parts) and many paintings with soldiers, swords and women in the painting had the sexual overtones within their meaning.
The glass vase is positioned as lying down on the table, facing the viewer. Here, we can see Steenwijck’s skill at foreshortening, which effectively creates 3D space within the painting. The lower pipe is also foreshortened for this same effect. In the context of the Dutch Golden Age, tobacco would have been different to modern blends- much more potent an pure. Thus it would have held associations with pleasure, and may have been included in the still life to question the usefulness of the pursuit of earthly pleasures. Furthermore, the two pipes are positioned in a way that subtly resembles a crucifix; this could be a hidden reminder (to those that notice the cross shape) of the importance of religion.
In the typical style of Dutch vanitas paintings, Steenwijck uses chiaroscuro to create aspects of realism within the painting. The objects on the table are rendered as solid and detailed forms where you can see their shape. The skull is painted with a careful modulation of colour hues; the left side is shown illuminated which creates a strong contrast with the right part of the skull, and the eye sockets, that are in shadow. This is typical of oil paintings that use chiaroscuro, where the underlying principle is that solidity of form is best achieved by the light falling against it, suggesting the roundness of the form. This chiaroscuro creates such a realistic effect that it almost imitates the trompe-l’œil technique. Chiaroscuro is also a way to add a sense of drama to a painting, because the darkness of the shadows creates a subtle sense of suspense. The red cloth on the left side of the table adds to this theatrical mood, due to the colour red being associated with energy, danger and strength, as well as passion, love and desire. This is why red fabrics are often used in Baroque art. Steenwijck directs the light source as coming from the top left side of the painting, at a sloping angle. This illuminates the objects, while keeping the lower surface of the table and the background in darkness. Thus, the viewers’ eyes are drawn to the centre of the painting, because we naturally se the brightest part of an image first. This suggests Steenwijck used light to create a framing effect.
Dutch Still Life in Plastic Richard Kuiper
After having looked at a range of vanitas paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, I wish to explore works by contemporary artists that reflect the memento mori theme. Still life, as a particular genre, began with Netherlandish painting of the 16th and 17th centuries. Early still-life paintings, particularly before 1700, often contained religious and allegorical symbolism relating to the objects depicted. Still life was classed as the lowest genre of art, and artists would often use them to practice their use of colour, composition and other formal features. Despite this, still lifes were extremely popular with buyers and would often be hung in homes. The notion of the still life has been continued to present day. Due to the development of technology, artists are able to extend still lifes beyond the traditional two dimensional art forms of painting and into mediums like photography, sculpture, performance and installation. Contemporary artists also convey more modern themes, and can use still lifes to reflect on contemporary issues. For example, the photographer Richard Kuiper produces still life portraits that resemble the Old Masters of the 17th century. At first glance they appear to be paintings, but upon closer reflection you discover that the subjects are all made of plastic. Instead of a tablecloth, Kuiper uses a plastic bin line; a plastic water bottle is used instead of an elegant brass goblet and an inflatable fish, complete with valve, replaces a real one. Richard Kuiper sees the dichotomy in his work: on the one hand, he admires the material of plastic, the invention of the everlasting. On the other, however, his compositions serve as a reminder of our environmental impact. His work is renowned and is displayed at exhibitions in galleries worldwide, including the Netherlands, Moscow and Florence.
Feathers symbolize the virtues of hope, faith, and charity (in religious works), and they represent freedom (by enabling flight) and the heavens. The feather is next to an inkwell, suggesting it is used as a quill. Implicitly, this refers to knowledge because an inkwell would have been common on writing desks. The skull undermines the importance of education because knowledge cannot transcend death. This was a typical symbol in vanitas paintings, seen in works like ‘Still Life with a Skull and a Writing Quill’ by the Dutch artist Claesz (below).
Kuiper adheres to the conventions of vanitas paintings by concealing allegorical messages in his objects. However, due to its contemporary nature, they could hold different meanings to their Dutch origins. For example, a bubble would traditionally hold connotations with brevity because of their short-lived nature. Dutch artists would typically use bubbles in their vanitas compositions in order to make the viewer anticipate them popping. Thus, bubbles remind us of the passing of time and our own inevitable death. Kuiper, on the other hand, subverts this meaning by making the bubble made of plastic. Plastic is renowned for its durability as a material, hence the artist makes a bubble that can never pop. This represents the issues of using plastic, because it transforms something that is naturally fragile, and makes it everlasting. The artist puts the bubble next to the mouse, and makes the mouse interact with the bubble. The mouse, being a very fertile animal, became used as a symbol of lechery and destruction. It was often known as the “devileater” that destroys the root of life. Perhaps its meaning is altered by its position to the other objects; usually the mouse would be expected to pop, or ‘destroy’, the bubble but, as it is made of plastic, this cannot be done, thus subverting the meaning of a traditional symbol of destruction. This in turn emphasises the everlasting nature of plastic.
The violin was a common symbol of music and the pleasure humans feel when listening to it. These were used in vanitas paintings to suggest these pleasures were insignificant when compared to death, and that we should be focusing on devoting our lives to religion rather than earthly pleasures. Hence, musical instruments were used to reinforce the religious messages typically associated with vanitas art. Similarly, St. Augustine stated in his work “De Musica” that the musical tone discernible to our ears comes from God – “the founder of all things.” Often musical instruments were showed with a broken strong, such as the lute in Holbein’s ‘The Ambassadors’, to symbolise discord. However the instrument in Kuiper’s photograph is made of plastic so it is less fragile than a string. Again, Kuiper is subverting the typical meanings of the traditional vanitas symbols as a way to draw our attention to the material of plastic.
The trophy stands as the tallest object in the composition. This, and its brassy, reflective surface, draws our attention to it despite it being in the background. We can clearly see a figure of a man brandishing a sword, which shows us that the trophy is a reward for fighting. As both trophies (a symbol of gaining status and earthly achievements) and swords (a symbol of war and death) are a common subject seen in vanitas paintings, Kuiper combines these to make an object with a dual meaning. The candlestick is positioned lying down but, where it would have traditionally been showed facing towards the viewer, this is shown at a side angle. Perhaps this was because Kuiper thought it would make a more harmonious composition if shown from its side, or it could be at this angle to accentuate its circular shape. This complements the circles across the rest of the photographin the compass, candle dish, inkwell, etc.
Kuiper trails a green ribbon across the bottom of the table. This draws the viewer’s eyes across the composition and links all the objects together. He may have chosen the colour green to imitate the ivy that Dutch artists would have traditionally used around the still life objects or trailing down the table. For example, Andriessen used evergreen leaves to complete his composition in his painting ‘Still-life composition’ (shown below). The ivy was used to evoke the symbol of time, because it is an evergreen, thus representing eternal life. This contrasts with the nature of human life, which is shortlived and will not last like an evergreen plant.
Kuiper uses composition, as well as objects, to portray allegorical meanings. In 17th Century vanitas paintings, arranging objects in a triangular shape (for example, a tablecloth arranged in a triangle) stood as a symbol for Christ’s life, death and resurrection. The triangle, in the form of the pyramid with its point upwards, is a sign of the Holy Spirit or the Trinity all through Christian still life symbolism. Alternatively, an inverted triangle (pointing downward) is an ancient symbol of femininity, being representative of female anatomy and the womb. However Kuiper only utilises the symbolism of Christianity to reflect the traditional influence of religion on art.
The darkness of the background and the dull colours create a sombre mood. The colour scheme consists of black, grey and brown, as well as a dark, muted green. The only bright colours come from the reflections of the brass objects. This staid colour palette is appropriate for presenting a serious message about the impact of plastic on the environment. It is also effective at imitating traditional Dutch vanitas paintings, that used darkness to model three-dimensional forms, often to dramatic effect. Despite this being an oil painting technique, developed during the Renaissance, Kuiper recreated the effect of chiaroscuro in his photography by positioning a light to the upper left. This shows his skill in manipulating his medium to create the intended effect.
Classic Still Jeroen Luijt
Jeroen Luijt was born in October 1978 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For the first 8 years, he lived in Heemstede, a small village about an hour away from Amsterdam. When his father got a new job, Luijt moved to the south of the Netherlands to a small village near Den Bosch. Here he finished Elementary and High School. In 1999, he left to return to Amsterdam where he went to college and studied Computer Science. During college and at the fraternity he joined, Luijt was always busy making photos, claiming that he “never left the house without my camera”. After 2 years of studying Computer Science, Luijt dropped out and went to work for a year for a publisher. He later went back to college to study Interactive Media, which was more practical and allowed him to develop his skills in marketing, communication and web design. Luijt then moved to New York for half a year to work as a web and graphic designer. While working on photography projects, he is chiefly inspired by still life compositions; “I love all photography, but momentarily I enjoy still-life photos the most, because I can set it up, walk away, change the setting again, adjust the light;. Sometimes this is a process of days.” His work has since been displayed internationally, most recently at ‘ART.FAIR’ in Cologne
Similarly to Kuiper, Luijt creates still life compositions that are heavily inspired by 17th Century vanitas paintings. He uses the medium of photography to transition the memento mori theme to a contemporary audience. Initially, Luijt explored the vanitas movement by recreating some paintings, such as the still life composition by Francois Bonvin (below). As he was using a camera instead of a paintbrush, Luijt what somewhat limited by his medium; for example, the pumpkin that is the main subject of this still life is not identical to that in Bonvin’s original painting. Luijt also had to substitute the peaches for apples, most likely because he didn’t have any peaches to photograph. However, photography allowed him to represent some aspects of the still life more realistically. The silver cup is more accurate in its proportion than in the painting, where the rim is slightly asymmetrical. Luijt was also able to use studio equipment to create and adjust the light source to create chiaroscuro as dramatically as he wanted. To create light with this painterly feel, Luijt says “Good lighting is very important. So with different lights you get different effects. It takes a lot of time to setup good lighting. And post processing is also a big part of the work.” His skill with manipulating light, as well as the time he spends doing this, creates photographs with a high resolution and refined clarity.
Luijt later began to create his own still life compositions, rather than replicating them. He used conventional symbolism in his photography as a way to portray underlying messages; for example, in the piece above he uses a shell, a sword, a flower in a vase, a candle, a peeling lemon (similarly to Claesz’s ‘breakfast’ paintings), a golden egg, etc. However not all of these objects hold the same meanings as their traditional Dutch counterparts. When describing this photograph, Luijt presented this as a “self portrait” because some objects have personal, rather than religious meanings: “some of the items have the original symbolism and some have a more personal symbolism. The lemon stands for ‘Sour Love’ , the pepper for my temper, the candle stands for light and darkness in life. The shells have the meaning of the Hermit (I’m not a hermit, but more of a lone ranger). The silver cup I got at my birth. The tulip is our national flower, Because it’s white it also stands for forgiveness. I can’t be mad with someone for long. The golden egg is ingenuity, the knife for courage and the pipe… bad habits, but enjoying life.”
This photograph is called ‘Classic Stilll’ because Luijt based it heavily on the 17th Century still life paintings; he said “I love the old masters and their symbolism. So I tried to create something myself. So first you try to find what kind of objects you have in your house which can be used in the setting and sometimes I go to the flea market and stroll around for hours looking at all the stuff, and thinking if I can use it in one of my photos. But all the objects have to tell a part of the story.”
Skulls are a symbol of death, which evokes the viewer to think about their own mortality. Skulls may also be used as a sign of fear or caution, which aligns with the purpose of vanitas to warn people of the dangers of earthly pleasures. The skull is placed on a book, which alone can represent knowledge however this meaning is subverted by Luijt’s choice of composition. By positioning the book underneath the skull, he suggests that death is more powerful than knowledge and so the pursuit of an education is futile.
The candle was a popular symbol in vanitas paintings and was used so commonly it could be considered a key feature. When burning, candles can indicate the passing of time or faith in God. When extinguished, they can symbolise death, the loss of virginity, and the corruption of matter.
The ornamental plate shows wealth and luxury, because it is so beautifully decorated. This represented the culture of middle class Dutch society, that always sought to gain more material goods. Plates were also common in the ‘breakfast’ or ‘banquet’ genre of still lifes. The knife on top of the plate is an average kitchen knife without meaning but, when placed in proximity to the skull, it makes a darker meaning of death and aggression. In addition, a knife is a phallic symbol and the latent image of male sexuality. Nuts in general can represent toughness due to their hard outer shell, but walnuts in particular are a potent symbol of masculinity. While often the nut is thought of as endurance to hardship, breaking open a nut can also be a good omen. If the nut is healthy or tasty inside, it can represent breaking through the hardships. Alternatively, if the inside is rotten or bitter, than this may symbolise fear and possibility of hard work not paying off. However Luijt shows these nuts as hidden inside their protective shell, suggesting safety and security.
The lute is a typical symbol of music and the pleasure we get from listening to it being played. It also symbolises the brevity of pleasures, because a musical note only lasts as long as it is played. In turn, this represents the ephemeral nature of life. It is overturned which makes it difficult to discern, suggesting discord.
Luijt used shells because they are the remains of once-living animal, hence they are a symbol of death and frailty. Large shellfish represent the duality of nature and are a symbol of lust (one of the deadly sins). The dice represent gambling, another sin and earthly pleasure. The key is used as a symbol of security. These small objects are scattered across the table, so they interact with each other, so their meanings overlap.
New Vanitas Jeroen Luijt
After Luijt created his portfolio of ‘classic stills’, inspired by the traditional Dutch vanitas paintings, he moved on to his series called ‘new vanitas’. These photographs are an exceptional transition from baroque to contemporary art, as he uses modern mediums, reflections, negative space and bright colours to modernise the photographs, while still retaining the traditional objects of still lifes. Widewalls magazine called his ‘New Vanitas’ series “a fresh look at the [vanitas] concept, in which he juxtaposes skulls with abstract arrangements and geometric compositions. Otherwise, his classical food still lifes are as precise as them, really making us wonder if we’re looking at a photograph or an Old Masters painting.”
The majority of this photograph is in darkness, mimicking the tenebrism that many Baroque artists used. Occasionally called dramatic illumination, tenebrism is a style of painting using profoundly pronounced chiaroscuro. Violent contrasts of light and dark are used and large areas of darkness usually become a dominating feature of the image. The technique was developed to add drama to an image through a spotlight effect and is more melodramatic than chiaroscuro, a broader term which describes variations of light and tone to enhance the illusion of three-dimensionality. This darkness is effective for the theme of this photograph because it creates an ominous mood. The term tenebrism comes from the Italian word tenebroso, meaning dark, gloomy and mysterious. This achieves a mood of stillness and tranquillity, rather the reverse of the melodramatic impression that Spanish painters intended, and I think this is more relevant to the subject of death than a dramatic representation. This is because Luijt’s photographs present us scenes after death, whereas Spanish painters often depicted somebody dying, with death dramatically approaching them. Additionally, reminding us of our mortality in a calm, rather than dramatic manner is similar to the tranquil still life paintings that Luijt was inspired by. The mirror cube has an interesting effect on the light pattern in this photograph; when looking at the skull, it seems as though the light source is coming from where the viewer is standing, because the front is illuminated. The forehead, cheekbones and bridge of the nose are the brightest parts, with the light diffusing across the rest of the skull. This would have been achieved by placing the skull out of the shot, and illuminating it separately to the cube. However there is a beam of light coming at an angle towards the mirror, which both reflects back and extends the path of light. This is an effective way at drawing our attention to the mirror, encouraging us to look into its depths. The emptiness of this links to the theme of death as there is nothing to experience after you have died. Mirrors are an appropriate subject for this photograph because putting a beam of light between two mirrors will cause them to reflect each other infinitely, and death is similarly an infinite experienceonce you have died, you will always be dead.
The use of colour is significant in this photograph; the main feature (the skull) is in calm, almost dull colours of brown and grey, which contrasts highly with the bright blue of the surface of the table. This is a subversion of the usual conventions, which typically use the brightest colours for the main subject, however it is still effective at drawing our attention to the skull. Luijt may have used dull colours for the skull to represent it as gloomy, harrowing and foreboding; a bright colour may have drawn attention to it but would have made the skull seem bright and inviting, which would have been the opposite impression that the vanitas genre aimed to create. Blue is a colour we usually associate with the sea and the sky, which in turn makes it a colour of serenity and tranquillity. This especially relevant to greenish shades of blue, such as teal or aqua. However Luijt uses a cooler shade of blue which has a tendency to evoke feelings of sadness. Luijt uses a skull as the main subject, and skulls are the ultimate symbol of death and mortality and are used across all forms of art. As a customary symbol in art, skulls have a long and varied history of use with multiple overlapping interpretations. Skulls are most commonly seen as a representation of death, which evokes the viewer to think about their own mortality. They may also be used as a sign of fear or caution, which aligns with the purpose of vanitas to warn people of the dangers of wasting their life in futility. Skulls are effective at portraying messages as they naturally stand out to us. Humans can so easily recognise skulls because our brains have a specific region for recognising faces- it is so attuned to finding them that it can see faces in a few dots and lines. Skulls also display a degree of neoteny (a childlike appearance) due to their large eye sockets, which is also noticeable to humans because of our natural inclinations to find eye contact. In Dutch vanitas paintings, the skull was usually the most prominent object within the still life composition, often including ‘Skull’ in the title of their paintings, so it is appropriate for Luijt to draw similarities with the works that initially inspired him. My next intention is to research further on pieces of art that feature a skull because I think they are one of the most striking visuals the Dutch artists used. I wish to continue my focus on contemporary artists, because it stays relevant to modern contexts.
Andy Warhol Skulls 1976
Andy Warhol was born in August, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He first became interested in drawing at the age of 8, when he contracted a rare disease of the nervous system called Chorea- also known as St. Vitus’ Dance. He was left bedridden for months and it was during this time that his mother, who was a skilful artist and embroiderer, gave him his first drawing lesson. When he recovered. Warhol continued this pastime, as well as taking up photography in a makeshift darkroom he set up in his basement at age 9. His father recognised Warhol’s artistic talent from an early age and, when he died, stated in his will that his life savings were to pay for his college education. That same year, Warhol began at Schenley High School, and upon graduating, in 1945, he enrolled at the Carnegie Institute for Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) to study pictorial design. Upon gaining his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1949, Warhol moved to New York City to pursue a career as a commercial artist. Warhol started working with Glamour magazine in September, and went on to become one of the most successful commercial artists of the 1950s. He won frequent awards for his uniquely whimsical style, using his own blotted line technique and rubber stamps to create his drawings. In the late 1950s, Warhol began devoting more attention to painting, and in 1961, he debuted the concept of "pop art"—paintings that focused on mass-produced commercial goods. In 1962, he exhibited the now-iconic paintings of Campbell's soup cans. These small canvas works of everyday consumer products created a major stir in the art world, bringing both Warhol and pop art into the national spotlight for the first time. British artist Richard Hamilton described pop art as "popular, transient, expendable, low cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, big business." As Warhol himself put it, "Once you 'got' pop, you could never see a sign the same way again. And once you thought pop, you could never see America the same way again.“ Warhol's other famous pop paintings depicted Coca-cola bottles, vacuum cleaners and hamburgers. He also painted celebrity portraits in vivid and garish colours; his most famous subjects include Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger and Mao Zedong. However, in 1968 Warhol was shot by Valerie Solanas, an aspiring writer and radical feminist, becoming seriously wounded in this attack. He spent weeks in a New York hospital recovering from his injuries and underwent several subsequent surgeries. As a result of the injuries he sustained, he had to wear a surgical corset for the rest of his life. Some art historians have linked Warhol’s repeated use of the skull as a motif in his work of this period to the near-fatal shooting in 1968. Others have suggested that Warhol’s interest in the skull as a motif stemmed from his desire to evoke the human condition. Cutrone once commented that to paint a skull ‘is to paint the portrait of everybody in the world’ (quoted in Foster 2001).
Skulls comprises six canvases, which are displayed together in a vertical grid of three rows of two. Each panel reproduces the same photographic image of a human skull resting on a flat surface and seen from a slightly raised point of view. The black and white photograph on which Skulls is based was taken by Ronnie Cutrone, then one of Warhol’s assistants. Cutrone positioned the skull on a trestle table, resting it on a piece of plywood covered in white paper in front of a blank studio wall. Warhol instructed him to take several photographs while changing the position of the light source in order to cast a variety of dramatic shadows. This is similar to the chiaroscuro used by Dutch painters in the 17 th Century, who used this as an oil painting technique because the underlying principle is that solidity of form is best achieved by the light falling against it. According to Vincent Fremont, who worked with Warhol in various roles from 1969, Warhol was very interested in the shapes of these shadows and was delighted with the image used here. The forehead and cheekbone stand out brightly while the eye sockets and other recesses are in deep shadow. Skulls was made in Warhol’s New York studio, known as the Factory, on unstretched canvas that had been rolled out flat on the studio floor. Although he had a large number of staff working for him, during the period when this work was made Warhol also employed an assistant named Rupert Smith to help specifically with screen-printing. Synthetic polymer paint, a fast drying alternative to oil paint, was used as the background onto which the image of the skull was screen-printed. Although the subject of this print is macabre, Warhol chose to present them in vivid colours of red, yellow, blue, and purple. This may be to undermine the seriousness of such a morbid subject, and instead make it approachable. Warhol had close experiences with death so it is possible he created this in a bright mood as a coping strategy for the stress he experienced. The varying colour combinations are complimentary, such as the peach and blue, which creates maximum contrast and maximum colour stability; some are analogous, such as pink and orange, which creates harmony; or feature a single colour, such as red and black. The latter colour combination is the most striking in my opinion because black makes a colour seem brighter and the area it occupies seems larger. However in the top image, where red is combined with white, it dulls the colour. The image below shows how the brilliance of a colour is exaggerated when against a complementary colour and lifeless when with an analogous colour. Warhol chose to create this series of skulls with various colour combinations perhaps to explore the different effects of colour, according to basic colour theory. This contrasts with the repeated image he uses in these prints, however this is effective at drawing our attention to his variations of colour; if he used different images in this print instead of a repeated motif, it could be too overwhelming. He also includes two greyscale versions of the skull, one completely colourless and one with a small hint of green around the shadows. This makes the coloured prints more attractive in comparison.
A colour wheel showing complimentary and analogous colours.
Andy Warhol Self-Portrait with Skull 1978
After he was shot and critically injured in 1968, Warhol became even more obsessed with the theme of death than he had been previously. Following this, it was ten years before he returned to self-portraiture and when he did, the skull, a traditional symbol of mortality, featured heavily. His reflections on death are shown in other works of his, such as ‘self-portrait strangulation’. The inclusion of a skull suggests he was working within the ‘memento mori’ tradition, which aims to remind us that we shall all die. This holds a link to the vanitas paintings by the Dutch Golden Age painters, except they were produced as a reaction to society changing their values from religion to science where Warhol produced these as a representation of his own personal experiences with death. Therefore the Dutch ‘memento mori’ paintings acted as a comment on the society at the time, where these act as a comment on Warhol’s personal identity. The subject matter can be compared with Warhol’s Death and Disaster series of 1962–3 in which he enlarged and displayed images of violence, notably car accidents, suicides, police brutality and even tainted cans of tuna. Warhol appropriated source material from newspapers and police photo archives and used the silk screen as a means to mechanically repeat these lurid images across broad swaths of canvas However, the self portraits here are staged- we can see someone positioning a skull on his shoulder for a deliberate effect; this composition creates a stark contrast between the living and the dead, with the skull placed directly next to his own head. Warhol’s monotonous repetitions of the same banal image have a disturbing effect, as though it forces us to acknowledge the subject of death, which we mostly ignore. This could be a reflection of Warhol being forced to acknowledge his own mortality after almost dying. It is easy to think we are invincible, and closeness with death very commonly changes perspectives on life. Repeating an image can desensitise us to its harrowing content, or emphasise it; it can be interpreted either way depending on the viewer.
Warhol’s penetrative gaze and slightly open mouth imitate the expression of the skull. Keeping the expression the same, and using a skull that is the same size as his head, makes it seem as though Warhol is highlighting the similarities between the living and the dead, thus reminding the viewers that there is only flesh and other internal organs separating the skull from the exterior, so it is as though we are always close to death without realising. By interacting with the skull, it seems that he is interacting with death itself as skulls are the most transparent and common symbols of mortality. The Religious Art of Andy Warhol (by Jane Dagget Dillenberger) states that the artist’s own encounters with death, such as his sickness as a child, the early death of his father and his near-fatal shooting has influenced the nature of Warhol’s work. This heightens the feeling of tension in this portrait.
The photograph was printed onto silkscreen and stretched over a canvas, over which Warhol used acrylic paint to add extra detail. The background is broken up by violent, black brush-strokes which act as a framing device and enclose the image. This creates a visual harmony, and draws our eyes to the centre of the portrait.
Dillenberger also questions the representation of the skull within Christianity, mentioning that the skull often appears at “the foot of the cross”. However Warhol subverted this and placed the skull at the same level as his own, or, in other photographs he took during the process of developing his image, on top of his head; in Dutch vanitas paintings, the skull was positioned on top of an allegorical symbol, such as pile of books, to show that the power of death was stronger than the power of knowledge. Similarly, the position of the skull affects its meaning and here it seems Warhol is showing death to be as much a part of life as life itself.
The red background is appropriate for the theme of death because red is a colour associated with passion and vitality; the deep shade reminds us of blood, and thus our mortality. This is reinforced by the monochromatic colour scheme, because when the colour range is subdued we can focus more on other formal features, such as the composition and the symbolism.
The prints by Warhol follow the same style; being colourful, his work easily attracts attention and the colours often reflect the mood of the image. For example, deep shades of red are prominent in his work representing death because red is associated with the most powerful emotions, like passion, lust and fear. Many prints have a monochrome colour scheme, which allow the colour to stand out in all its intensity and the connotated meanings of this colour become stronger. If not monochromatic, the prints feature complementary colour combinations which is a common convention of pop art. Another repeated feature of Warhol’s work is the bluntness of his subjectsin the work I have researched, he has presented a taboo subject (death) emphatically and objectively, without praise or condemnation but with overwhelming immediacy. This is significantly different to the paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, which presented our mortality to us hidden behind symbols and allegories. Though pop art was criticised for rejecting both the supremacy of the “high art� of the past and the pretensions of other contemporary avant-garde art, pop art closely reflects the social situation and thus can be considered iconoclastic,
I intend to create poster designs inspired by my research of vanitas paintings and contemporary versions of the memento mori theme. Exhibitions commonly use posters to advertise their exhibitions and encourage more people to view their gallery. The design, layout and colours used in these posters are usually reminiscent of the style of art in the gallery. For example, this poster from the Karachi School Of Art features bold colours and block shapes, suggesting that the art featured in the exhibition could be Minimalism or Pop Art. Before I start designing my own exhibition poster, I will research posters made for other exhibitions in order to find inspiration.
The text in this poster is interesting as it is partially faded in some letters and more saturated in others. The letters also overlap which makes it easier to read, as it flows better. The word “four” stands out because it is the only word that is in colour, and I think this was chosen to make the play on words more noticeable.
The font is clear and modern; it would be too confusing to use a more elaborate style font as well as the colour fading and overlapping effect. The background is also just a plain white colour so the text can stand out against it, even the faded letters. This is a sophisticated use of lettering.
The logos of the institutions are placed at the bottom of the screen, along with the contact number, address and email address. This is because they aren’t as important and won’t be noticeable unless somebody is specifically looking for them, however they are still important enough to be included on the poster.
The title is colourless but still looks effective because of its alternation between black and white for each line. The font is basic so it is easy to read.
This poster’s main feature is its incredibly simplistic design. The images are almost like pop art because they are simplified and undetailed. They use a single colour for each picture (yellow for the mouse and red for the camera) which gives them a quality of graphical design. The poster uses pictures that relate to art, though it places focus on the tools that are used to create art rather than images of art itself, such as paintbrushes and pencils. This links with its theme of creation as the exhibition wants to show student work.
The background is a dull beige colour, which may have been used to create a contrast with the bright colours in the images. However I think this is ineffective for a poster design as it looks unattractive.
Similarly to the previous designs, the font is simplistic which makes it clear to read and not draw attention away from the image. The use of uppercase lettering makes the text seem to shout, therefore people are more likely to read it.
These posters differ from the previous two because they use an image and enlarge it so it is the main focus of the poster. This seems very appropriate for advertising an artwork display. I like this feature and intend to use this in my own design.
This poster is very colourful. I think this is effective at catching people’s eyes as they walk past because of its bright and contrasting colours, as well as the subject being a face which naturally draws attention. This exaggerated use of colour is continued to the text; the sub-title is written in green to compliment the colours used in the image.
The gallery information and times are at the bottom of the page as people usually read from top to bottom, so the advertising text is placed at the top to ensure it is the first thing to be read, and then information at the bottom when people are already convinced to view the gallery.
The photograph is placed at the top of the poster because it is the most important part, and the photographer wants us to notice it first. It also reflects the subject of the photograph, as the sky is typically represented as above.
This poster uses only monochrome shades of black and white. Although bright colours are usually used in posters because they catch the eye, this poster keeps the colours simplistic so that it reflects the monochrome photography that is being displayed at the exhibition. I think the intense use of darkness that is used in this poster creates a dramatic effect, which makes it overall more attractive. I intend to mimic this effect in my own poster because I want it to be just as noticeable.
The font is thin and simplistic; it doesn’t draw attention away from the main image. The information provided is also minimal, such as the address, dates and opening times.
This design contrasts the black and white image with the vividly colourful glitch.
This poster is for a gig at the Music Pasadena Festival 2014.
The majority of the image is in black and white and I think this works well to emphasis the bright colours of the glitch; the poster may have been too busy if all the original colours were kept.
The sculpture is positioned with its arms outstretched and limbs distorted. This suggests a sense of movement, which is ironic because the figure is clearly a marble sculpture. The dance creates an expression of desire to move, and this is complemented with the glitch because this also implies movement, but of pixels. This is reassured by the glitched font, because it shows they are moving too.
There is minimal information in this poster design so it is not effective at informing, but is definitely eye-catching. I like the design of the glitch and will explore this in my own design processes.
The artist has placed a blue circle behind the head of the figure. This somewhat resembles religious art, where circles were used to represent halos and thus present the figure as a deity. The blue in the circle is also the same blue as the font which work together to create a cohesive design.
The poster uses blue and yellow colours (complementary colours) which make the poster harmonious and attractive.
The poster is interesting because the figure has its face concealed by the glitch. This makes the poster more intriguing, because the viewer will wonder his identity.
For my first poster design, I used the protagonist in a painting by Antonio de Pereda. This was to practice the glitch effect on photoshop. Although the painting by Pereda has a small vanitas arrangement, consisting of basic objects like a skull, a book and a crucifix, I used the protagonist as the main subject of my first poster design because I think he accurately represents the reaction to vanitas. He is clutching his chest, a body language usually associated with emotional suffering, and I think this is the most dramatic part of the painting as it focuses on the human condition. In the posters I looked at, the one with the person in was the most noticeable to me. The chiaroscuro and black background create a shadowed, mysterious mood which additionally makes the painting more melodramatic. The red fabric around the subject’s waist and the red feathers of his helmet adhere to the conventions of Baroque art, where red is a common featuring colour, due to its associations with passion, anger and love. These features work together to create an eye catching image. Pereda used a range of tones of reds and blues, which I found useful for the glitch effect because I could mirror the colours of the painting in the glitch. To create this effect, I used a glitch technique on Photoshop; I used images of glitches and the image of the protagonist, adapted them using the Adobe System tools, and then animated the final outcome so I could practice my techniques. This was useful for exploring a new way of creating digital effects for posters and animation. However I think that without the symbols of vanitas paintings it doesn’t reflect the memento mori theme enough for me to develop further. To view the animation, hover over the image and press the play button.
For my other poster design, I decided to use an image of a still life arrangement because I think the vanitas paintings allow people to draw many varying interpretations from the same image. I chose to use the dispersion technique on Photoshop because the way the dispersive shapes spread across the image imitates the way bubbles were used in classical vanitas paintings. Hendrick Andriessen’s ‘Still Life with Mask’ features bubbles that are scattered in a way that spreads them across the empty part of the painting. This use of composition leads our eyes across to this part of the painting and makes the overall structure more harmonious. I chose the painting ‘Vanitas’ by Harmen Steenwijck because of its use of raking light; I thought I could use the dispersion and spread it across the painting, following the direction of the light. Therefore my photoshop effect would complement the existing composition of the original painting, without altering it too much that the dispersion overwhelms the still life arrangement. To create the dispersion around the skull, I experimented with different paintbrushes and stamping brushes until I found a pattern that I liked. With further practice, I dispersed the other elements of the painting. I used a colour drop from the tones used in other elements of the painting, such as the red cloth and the beige of the skull, to ensure that the image maintained the same colours and tones as found in the original painting by Steenwijck. Finally, I animated my this dispersion by converting each layer into a ‘Smart Object’ and then transforming them so that the dispersion flows away from the subject, in line with the light source. . I also tried this technique on Pereda’s ‘Allegory of Vanity’ and similarly made the dispersion move in the direction of the raking light, but made it break away from the objects the angel was touching, so that it seemed as though she was making the dispersion move herself.
For my next design, I decided to use a face as the main subject because I thought it was effective in the ‘Wall and Light’ exhibition poster I studied earlier. However I created my poster digitally rather than with painterly mark making because this enables me to create a glitched effect. I used a symmetrical face that had features to perfect ratios and proportions because I thought a face with irregularities would cause people to focus more on those than the glitching. I used a skull as a key subject in my glitch because of its significance as a symbol of death in vanitas paintings. The image of the skull was from a secondary source and I cropped it to just the left side of the face, so that it represented the duality of life and death. I think this is effective because it means that the skull is present, but in a subtle way, just like how our mortality is always present with us, but we don’t always keep this in mind. Initially I included a crown, because it was a popular symbol in vanitas paintings and was used in paintings like ‘Vanitas Still Life’ by Hendrick Andriessen (c. 1650). However during my photoshop process I thought it didn’t work in harmony with the other elements. The final image is colourless; I chose to manipulate colour in my glitch animation as a process, so that it starts with natural skin tones, which then glitches with the bright, technological colours. This creates a stark contrast, which then becomes subdued when I add a hue/saturation layer on photoshop. I chose to do this so that it appears at the same time the skull starts to flicker in, and I chose a cool blue tone because this colour is associated with dying, coldness and emptiness. I think this was effective with the photography by Luijt and links well with the allegorical meanings of the skull. I chose to include the skull as half of the subject’s face to suggest an x-ray, as if the viewer can see behind the flesh, and this serves as a reminder that death is within all of us. This was inspired by my previous research and links well to my final exhibition ideas. The image I used for the woman’s face was from a secondary source, and this was useful for my first attempt at this photoshop technique, however I will use my own photography to collect material for the final design.
Hover over the image and press the play button.
I intend to make my final poster design using the glitch technique. In my analysis of images I have looked at the passing of time in art, and how time will always lead to our death. Today in the media controlled world that we live in, the moving image is the dominant medium, hence I think that glitches in information are similar to the passing of time in art. I felt this was more relevant to the theme of “moments� than a dispersion technique because a glitch is short and quick. I also preferred the glitch technique because it allows me to focus on a face for the subject, through which I can incorporate a skull, and I think this more eye-catching than a still life composition. I wanted to use primary sourced images so I took some photographs of this model. I chose her as my subject because she has naturally high cheekbones and a defined bone structure, which complements the skull I will use in my glitch. I asked her to wear blue because I have been using this consistently in my previous designs due to its associations with death and sombre moods. I took photos in a variety of shots; some of the torso and some of the bust. I think the close-up photographs will be more useful for my glitch animation because there is more focus on the face, which is where the glitch will centre.
To create my final design, I selected the most appropriate image from my photoshoot and pasted it into Adobe Photoshop. Then I used an image of a glitch, inspired by my research of poster designs, and added that in a layer above. I used the same glitch image as in my previous glitch design because I thought the colours in it could complement any image, as it includes each primary colour. I found this image was small, so I replicated it and put it in the upper and lower parts of the image. I didn’t want to stretch it to cover the entire poster because it would have pixelated and consequently affect the quality of the poster. Additionally, having the glitch in two parts means the face is not covered and this is more effective at making an appealing poster design because it maintains the eye-contact the viewer will make with the subject. I erased the black background of the glitch using the eraser tool, varying the softness, opacity and flow settings, so that only the colours were showing. I made the colours of the glitch less saturated in this design because bright colours looked too vibrant over a white background, though they worked well in the previous glitch with a black background. Throughout my development, I have been using blue as a colour to reiterate the mood of death, because I think that cooler tones of colours are more reminiscent of death than warm colours, which symbolise vitality. I duplicated the layer of my subject and then added a cooling filter. This makes my subject look deathly. I preserved the luminosity because I think the poster looks better with a clear, white background than a tinted one. Next, I used an adjustment tool to alter the hues of my poster. For this, I used hue 176 of blue. To distort the image, I duplicated the layer of the subject and used a shear tool to play around with the image until I found a distortion that I liked. I only stretched the image horizontally because the glitch lines are horizontal, and so I don’t think it would have looked as though the distortion was happening in correspondence with the glitch if they were in different directions. To make this distortion appear in bars, I added a new layer and coloured it grey with another filter. Then I placed a halftone pattern over this layer and adjusted it so that it appeared in stripes rather than dots. At this stage, I decided that more glitch would make the poster more attractive, as it looked quite bare.
Next, I used altered the colour range to select all the highlights in the image. Then I used the layer mask icon to convert the layer of horizontal bars to a layer mask over the duplicated layer of the subject. However I didn’t like how this turned out, because the colour range selected the background more than the foreground, so I selected the shadows instead and then made those into the layer mask. This meant it was the subject that was divided into bars. I then used the selecting tool to delete some areas of this layer of bars and chose areas that framed the glitch patterns. I also duplicated a layer of the glitch and changed the blending options from ‘normal’ to ‘subtract’, so that in my animation there can be a variation of colours. I added another layer and used a colour filter to make it grey, at a 50% opacity. Then I used the same technique as before to create the horizontal bars, but this time much thinner. I altered the blending options to subtract to complete this layer. I think this will work well in my glitch animation, but not for the poster; the white background provides more contrast for the colours, thus emphasising their saturation. Finally, I added the image of the skull that I used in my previous glitch animation. Again, I positioned it so that it only covered half of the face because I think this was effective in my previous design. I used the eraser tool to blend this with the face and then a dark paintbrush to create shadows. I adjusted the glitches and layers to find the one I liked best, and then used this as my final poster design.
Once I had created the image for the poster, my next step was to add other elements of posters, such as font, information and logos.