A MYTHIC EYE ARCHIVES
A Mythic Eye is a journal on the stories behind artists and their art.
JULY 2008
SELF-PORTRAITS
Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-93)
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)
Piero della Francesca (1412-92)
Édouard Manet (1832-83)
Berthe Morisot (1841-95)
Edvard Munch (1863-1944)
Odilon Redon (1840-1916)
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Caterina van Hemessen (1528-87)
Marie-Denise Villers (1774-1821)
JUNE 2008
WATERSHED ART
Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II (Giuseppe Arcimboldo)
Nude descending a staircase, No. 2 (Marcel Duchamp)
The kiss (Gustav Klimt)
Luncheon on the grass (Édouard Manet)
Olympia (Édouard Manet)
The scream (Edvard Munch)
Impression, Sunrise (Claude Monet)
The cradle (Berthe Morisot)
The sleeping gypsy (Henri Rousseau)
Carnation Lily, Lily Rose (John Singer Sargent)
The girl with the peaches: portrait of Vera Mamontova (Valentin Serov)
Sunday afternoon on the island of La Grande Jatte (Georges Seurat)
The Arnolfini Marriage (Jan Van Eyck)
MAY 2008
ODILON REDON (1840-1916)
Odilon Redon: before and after
The family of the artist: Ari and Camille
Water myths: the birth of Venus
Sky myths: Daedalus and Icarus
Fire myths: The fire theft and what came after
THE ARTWORK
MYTHWORK ARCHIVES
Mythwork (April 2007- April 2008) was a one year personal journal on mythology, psychology, art, and faith.
JULY 2008
MARIE-DENISE VILLERS (1774-1821)
Young woman drawing. Marie-Denise Villers (also known as Marie-Denise Lemoine). 1801. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Like snowflakes, the human pattern is never cast twice.
Alice Childress (1920-94), writerOriginally attributed to Jacques-Louis David, art historians now credit Marie-Denise Villers with this painting and believe that it is a self-portrait. Her two sisters, Marie-Victoire and Marie-Élisabeth Lemoine, were also gifted artists. Villers painted was primarily a portraitist and her artistic output was fairly limited. Young woman drawing is her finest work.
JULY 2008
PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA (1412-92)
Resurrection. Piero della Francesca. 1460. Museo Civico. Sansepolcro, Italy. (below) detail which is a self-portrait of the artist
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
Rumi (1207-73), poet and theologianPiero della Francesca was an Italian artist who also was an accomplished mathematician and geometer. His mathematical knowledge influenced his art as evidenced by his use of foreshortening, geometric forms and innovative perspectives.
Resurrection is one of his mature works and features the artist as one of the sleeping soldiers at the feet of Christ. The painting is set at dawn, at the very moment of resurrection. The theme of new life is mirrored in the trees in the background, with the trees on the left still leafless and dormant and the trees on the right flush with growth.
JULY 2008
GIUSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO (1527-93)
Self-portrait. Giuseppe Arcimboldo. 1575. Narodni Gallery, Prague, Chechia.
When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.
Dogen (1200-53), Buddhist monk and philosopherGiuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-93) worked as court portraitist and festival organizer during the reigns of three Hapsburg emperors: Ferdinand I (1558-1564), Maximilian II (1564-1576), Rudolph II (1576-1612). He is best known for his allegorical "composed head" portraits, with Vertumnus: Portrait of Rudolph II being the most outstanding example. In this particular portrait Arcimboldo imagines his patron as Vertumnus, the Roman god of metamorphosis, vegetation and the four seasons. Rudolph II was so pleased by the painting that he granted Arcimboldo the title of Count of Palantine.
There has been speculation among art historians that these works suggest some form of mental illness. However, that theory is not very persuasive when considering the portraits within the context of the Hapsburg court and, most especially, the reign of Rudolph II.
Under Rudolphine rule, Prague became one of the foremost centers for arts and sciences on the European continent. Some of the most important artists, scientists and scholars came together to collaborate, earning Prague the designation Parnassus of the arts*. In this inter-disciplinary atmosphere, Arcimboldo flourished: painting, designing wunderkammers and hydraulic machines, creating a musical notation system using color.
Though popular in his lifetime, Arcimboldo's work fell out of fashion after his death. It was not until the twentieth century that his paintings attracted new interest, having a significant influence on the Surrealism movement and the work of Salvador Dali.
Notes
*Parnassus is a mountain in central Greece. In ancient mythology, it was the home of the Muses and the Delphic Oracle was on its slopes.
JULY 2008
CATERINA VAN HEMESSEN (1528-87)
Self-portrait. Caterina van Hemessen. 1548. Öffentliche Kunstsammlung, Basel.
For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), British writer and essayistCaterina van Hemessen is the earliest Flemish painter with surviving artwork. She was likely taught by her father who was also an artist and became a noted portraitist. The self-portrait (above) is the earliest of an artist seated at an easel. There is no surviving artwork from van Hemessen after 1554 which has caused art historians to speculate that her creative career ended with her marriage.
JULY 2008
MARY CASSATT (1844-1926)
Self-portrait. Mary Cassatt. 1878. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
I have touched with a sense of art some people – they felt the love and the life. Can you offer me anything to compare to that joy for an artist?
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)Mary Cassatt was an American painter and printmaker, part of the French Impressionistic movement and perhaps best known for her portrayals of the intimate bond between mother and child. She was born into a wealthy Pittsburgh family who placed great importance on travel as an aspect of education. By the age of ten she had already visited many of the world capitals. As a young adult, even though her parents disapproved, she pursued the study of painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The Academy was not a good fit. Cassatt felt the pace of instruction was too slow and the male faculty and students too patronizing. She relocated to Europe in 1866 to study the Old Masters on her own.
At the start of the Franco-Prussian War, Cassatt returned to the United States to live with her family. During that time, her parents provided her basic necessities but refused to purchase any art supplies. She was able to return to Europe when the Archbishop of Pittsburgh commissioned a series of paintings which required her being in Italy. Afterward she traveled throughout Europe.
By 1872 she had acquired a mature style and was studying in Paris with the patriarchal French Impressionist Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissaro. She met Edgar Degas shortly after that and his work and friendship were influential to her craft. Her success within the French Impressionistic circle continued until the ill health of her sister and her mother, who had moved to Paris in the late 1870's, prompted her to quit painting to take care of them. By the mid-1880's, her sister had died and her mother had recovered and Cassatt was painting again.
The 1890's marked the beginning of the most creative and productive period of Cassatt's life. She had broken with the Impressionistic movement, developing a style which observed life through a personal and yet unsentimental lens. This approach was particularly evident in the works for which she is best known: intimate portraits of mother and child in everyday settings. During this time, she also began mentoring other American female artists and advising collectors.
Around 1911, Cassatt developed chronic health issues and by 1914 blindness forced her to cease painting. She then became involved in women's suffrage, showing her paintings at an exhibition in support of the movement.
JULY 2008
EDVARD MUNCH (1863-1944)
Self-portrait between the clock and the bed. Edvard Munch. 1940-42. Munch Museum, Oslo.
Sickness, insanity and death were the angels that surrounded my cradle and they have followed me throughout my life.
Edvard Munch (1863-1944), Symbolist painter and printmakerEdvard Munch was the second of five children born to Christian and Laura Cathrine Munch. Munch's mother died of tuberculosis in 1868 and his favorite sister, Johanne Sophie, also died from the disease in 1877. After his mother's death, Christian raised the children in an atmosphere of religious fear, frequently instructing them that if they sinned in any way, they would go to hell without hope of pardon. Munch's younger sister was diagnosed with mental illness at a very young age. Munch himself was also often quite ill. The only one of the five siblings to marry, his brother Andreas, died a few months after the wedding. His father died at an early age as well (1889).
Throughout his life, Munch used his painting to come to terms with the death and illness which filled his childhood. The Scream (1893), his best known painting, is characteristic of his early work. In 1908, suffering from acute anxiety, he received psychiatric treatment and electroshock therapy at the clinic of Dr. Daniel Jacobson. The process dramatically altered Munch and his work. Returning to Norway after his treatment, he began to explore natures themes and his paintings were also less pessimistic and more colorful.
JULY 2008
ODILON REDON (1840-1916)
Self-portrait. Odilon Redon. 1880. Musée D'Orsay, Paris.
The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English lawyer and philosopherOdilon Redon (1840-1916) was one of the outstanding artists of the Symbolism movement. Symbolism was a multi-disciplinary arts movement, most active in the late nineteenth century, which rejected naturalism and realism in favor of spirituality, the imagination and dreams. Explaining his creative process in his journal A Soi-même (To Myself), Redon states:
I have often, as an exercise and as sustenance, painted before an object down to the smallest accidents of its visual appearance; but the day left me sad and with an insatiate thirst. The next day I let the other source run, that of imagination, through the recollection of the forms and I was then reassured and appeased.
In the first half of his artistic life, Redon was haunted by his personal ghosts, a world of darkness and death. Motifs during this period included floating eyes, decapitated heads and shackled angels. Navigating through a period of personal crisis between 1886 and 1895, Redon's art moved from a darkly-themed world of charcoals and lithographs to a mysterious world of brilliantly hued pastels and oils. In this next half of his artistic life, he still explored his extraordinary visions but his attitude toward them had radically changed. His previously morose view of life, anchored in some way perhaps to his solitary childhood, transformed into a more joyful one and this happier maturity translated on to the canvas.
The maturing of artistic work often falls within the thematic parameters of alterswerk. Alterswerk, literally latter works, refers to the final output of an artist just prior to their death. The three characteristics of alterswerk -- interest in death, recapitulation, and prophetic visions -- not only occur toward the end of an oeuvre but they also accompany the final psychological stages of life. The artworks by Redon which fall after 1905 best fit this category of alterswerk. During this period his use of color reached its zenith as he repeatedly explored spiritual motifs, such as the Buddha, Apollo's Chariot, and the death of Ophelia -- as well as a series of butterflies, flowers and boats.
In the last three years of Redon's life there were several significant events. To begin with, there was the Armory Show of 1913 which introduced American art patrons to Redon. He was not only the most represented artist in the exhibition but one of the most financially and critically successful as well. That same year, André Mellerio published a catalogue of his lithographs. This recognition late in his life continued in 1915 with two more major exhibitions: one at the John Herron Art Institute of Indianapolis and the Second Exhibition of Contemporary French Art at the Caroll Gallery of New York.
In his personal life the most significant event was his son Ari's mobilization for war (1914). This development was the inspiration for Redon's painting The cyclops.
Redon remained a quiet and intensely private artist to the end of his life. He died in Paris on July 6, 1916. The virgin, his final oil on canvas, was left unfinished.
JULY 2008
BERTHE MORISOT (1841-95)
Self-portrait. Berthe Morisot. 1885. Private Collection.
[My desire] is limited to wanting to capture something that passes; oh, just something! the least of things. And yet that ambition is still unreasonable! A distinctive pose of Julie, a smile, a flower, a fruit, the branch of a tree, and every once in a while a more vivid reminder of my family, just one of these would suffice. Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)
Berthe Morisot (1841-95) is one of the two most important female painters of the late nineteenth century, the other being the better known Mary Cassatt. Born into a refined and affluent family, Morisot took lessons in drawing and painting as a young woman. She met parental opposition, however, when she chose to pursue the craft seriously rather than as a gentile pastime.
Family members and friends served as her models. Butterfly Hunt (La chasse aux papillons) features her nieces and her sister, Edma. During the mid to late 19th Century, there were gender and class restrictions which dictated what subject matter was appropriate for a female painter. As a result, Morisot avoided nudes as well as urban scenes. However, her intimate exploration of domestic life was unusually daring for the time, as several paintings depict Edma pregnant.
The single most influential person to her personal and artistic life was Impressionist Édouard Manet. The exact nature of their alliance is unclear and continues to intrigue art historians. It is known that he helped her develop her style. Additionally, he introduced her to his brother Eugene whom she later married. Morisot, on the other hand, encouraged Manet to abandon the use of black and to utilize the brighter palette characteristic of the Impressionists. She also influenced him to practice plein-air painting.
When the relationship between Morisot and Eugene Manet began to warm, Mme. Morisot voiced her objections. She found him high-strung -- to the point of being in ill health --and too idle to make a good marital partner. Morisot's father lived a dissolute life and after a lengthy illness had recently died. For years, Mme. Morisot had nursed him and her concerns about Morisot's marriage were likely due to that. Despite her mother's objections, Morisot married Manet on December 22, 1874 in the local church, Our Lady of Grace in Passy.
I've found an honest and excellent young man who, I believe, sincerely loves me. I've entered into the positive side of life after having lived for a long time by chimeras. A letter from Berthe Morisot to her brother Tiburce (January 1875)
In 1878 Morisot had her first and only child, Julie (1878-1966) and during the eighteen year marriage, she created over 350 artistic works. That kind of productivity from a married female artist was unheard of at the time. In addition, until Manet's death in 1893, they were both active in the Parisian art and literary world, their home serving as a gathering place for artists and writers of late nineteenth century France. However, what is perhaps most telling is that in 1885, Morisot produced her first self-portraits. Up until that time, her brother-in-law, Édouard Manet, had held dominion over her image.
Toward the end of his life, Manet's health was poor. Morisot was frail throughout as well, battling her own health problems and tendency toward melancholy. By the age of sixteen, Julie was parentless. In 1893, after a prolonged decline in health, Manet died. Two years later, after nursing Julie through a case of influenza, Morisot contracted pneumonia and died. Her work did not gain significant recognition until well into the twentieth century.
JULY 2008
HENRI ROUSSEAU (1844-1910)
Self-portrait. Henri Rousseau. 1890. National Gallery in Prague.
Nothing makes me so happy as to observe nature and to paint what I see.
Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)Rousseau, a French Post-impressionist in the primitive or naive manner, was first a customs officer in 19th Century Paris. He was also a self-taught artist who only began painting extensively after the age of forty. His best known works feature jungle motifs even though he never actually traveled outside of France. His lyrical artistic gift, largely unrecognized in his lifetime, influenced such painters as Picasso, Beckmann, and the Surrealists.
JULY 2008
JOHN SINGER SARGENT (1856-1925)
Self-portrait. John Singer Sargent. 1892. National Academy Museum, New York.
A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), painter best known for his portraits
JULY 2008
ÉDOUARD MANET (1832-83)
Self-portrait. Édouard Manet. 1879. Private Collection.
You would hardly believe how difficult it is to place a figure alone on a canvas, and to concentrate all the interest on this single and universal figure and still keep it living and real.
Édouard Manet (1841-83)Though Édouard Manet never enjoyed popular acceptance and acclaim as an artist, his early masterworks, Olympia and Luncheon in the grass, were a cultural watershed that marked the advent of Modern Art and laid the groundwork for the Impressionistic movement. Both works also ignited a furious public outcry which prompted Manet to lament: The insults rain down on me like hail.
Modern art historians, attempting to explain the furor over these two paintings, look to their cultural context. During the 1860's, although it was common practice for Victorian men to seek paid sexual services, it was quite another for them to be confronted with it. One major reason Luncheon in the grass was so controversial was that many interpreted the scene as referencing the Bois de Boulogne, a large Parisian park. In 1863, when the painting was on exhibition, the Bois de Boulogne was a well-known site for prostitution. For the Parisians, it was one thing to know about the sexual activities in that park, but it was quite another to publicly reveal it. In their eyes, Manet was breaking a closely held sexual taboo.
Another significant aspect of Manet's artistic and personal life was his enigmatic relationship with French Impressionist Berthe Morisot. Over a seven year period (1868-74), Manet painted eleven portraits of her, making Morisot his most frequent model. His wife, Suzanne Leenhoff, is in only five paintings and Victorine Meurent, his model and an artist in her own right, appears in eight.
Manet produced his final images of Morisot during the time she became involved with his younger brother Eugene and then married him (1872-74). These last portraits provide a window into the intense desire and rivalry which Manet felt toward her. As the loss of Morisot neared, there was an increasing distortion of her image and departure from his usual painterly technique. This culminates in the skull-like portrait: Berthe Morisot in a mourning hat, 1874.*
After Morisot's marriage, Manet never painted her again. He died in 1883 of complications from syphilis. At his death, seven of her eleven portraits remained in his private collection.
Notes
Luncheon on the grass has its source in Judgment of Paris by Marcantonio Raimondi, designed by Raphael (1510-20).*Berthe Morisot in a mourning hat is privately owned and unavailable for viewing in the usual public databases. Through JSTOR, there is an image on p.484 of The Art Bulletin (Sept 1999) .
Life As Myth explores personal and collective mythology through written, visual and spoken arts.
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