ART FOR ART'S SAKE

Today, a very decorative painting on wood by Rossetti.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Dantis Amor 1860
Oil on mahogany

This was one of three panels painted by Rossetti to decorate a piece of furniture belonging to William Morris. The subject for all three was Dante's idealised love Beatrice. Rossetti was fascinated by Dante's story - which he translated for his own publication, The Early Italian Poets (1864) - and saw in it a parallel with his own love for Elizabeth Siddall.
Dantis Amor (Dante's Love) is the central panel, symbolising Beatrice's death, which occurred between the events depicted in the other two panels, The Salutation of Beatrice in Florence and The Salutation in the Garden of Eden.

(From the Tate display caption August 2004)

The poet Algernon Charles Swinburne was a friend of Dante Rossetti and here is a rather sensitive watercolour portrait, painted in 1861.

Tomorrow I shall be posting a Swinburne poem on

http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/

I am continuing with J.W. Waterhouse - and the story from yesterday.

This painting was given the title "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows," Said the Lady of Shalott

Signed and dated lower right: J. W. Waterhouse 1915
Oil on canvas

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

"Tennyson's poem 'The Lady of Shallott' published in 1883 tells of a woman suffering under an undisclosured curse, and living isolated in a tower near King Arthur's castle.

She is allowed to see the outside world only through its reflection in a mirror. One day she glimpses the handsome knight Lancelot reflected and cannot resist looking at him directly.

The punishment that follows results in her drifting in her boat downstream to Camelot 'singing her last song,' but dying before reaching there.

Waterhouse shows her letting go the boat's chains, while staring at the crucifix, placed in front of the three glittering candles."

(Tate caption)

"The Lady Of Shallot"
J.W. Waterhouse 1888

And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right—
The leaves upon her falling light—
Thro’ the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot
The Lady of Shalott

(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci"

J.M. Waterhouse 1893
Oil on board on panel

"Looking at La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Waterhouse, we clearly see a portrayal of the Medieval woman as a femme fatale. Here, a knight appears to be rescuing a beautiful maiden, yet upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the girl is in fact ensnaring him. She possesses an alluring and dangerously hypnotic beauty, giving her power over the epitome of masculinity and strength — the knight in armor."

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.

John Keats - 1819

I am returning to John William Waterhouse with another sea painting - but not a siren!

A MERMAID
J.W.Waterhouse RA 1900

"Mermaids were a popular subject in Victorian literature and painting. This painting may have been inspired by Tennyson’s poem ‘The Mermaid’ (1830). They were seen as beautiful and alluring creatures, but also as melancholy and potentially dangerous. Half fish, half human, the mermaid longed for the love of a man but could never obtain it. Any attempt to live on land would end in tragedy.

(Royal Academy of Art Caption)

Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?

(Tennyson)

This watercolour by Dante Rossetti is interesting because Elizabeth Siddall, whom Rossetti had married in 1860, modelled for Princess Sabra, only days before taking an overdose of laudanum.

St. George is pictured washing his hands in his helmet after rescuing Princess Sabra and slaying the dragon.

St. George and the Princess Sabra
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
1862

"The tale of St. George and the Dragon begins with a dragon making its nest at the spring which provides a city-state with water. Consequently, the citizens had to temporarily remove the dragon from its nest in order to collect water. To do so, they offered the dragon a daily human sacrifice. The victim of the day was chosen by drawing lots. Eventually in this lottery, the lot happened to fall to the local princess. The local monarch is occasionally depicted begging for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon but at this point a traveling Saint George arrives. He faces the dragon, slays it and saves the princess. The grateful citizens then abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity."

A couple of days ago I posted John William Waterhouse's "The Siren".

He was fascinated by Homer's "Odyssey" and the story of the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy.

Here is his painting of the Sirens approaching Odysseus on his voyage.

Ulysses and the Sirens (1891) John William Waterhouse

"Odysseus had the sailors stuff their ears with wax. He had himself tied to the mast for he wanted to hear their beautiful voices. The Sirens sang when they approached, their words even more enticing than the melody. They would give knowledge to every man who came to them, they said, ripe wisdom and a quickening of the spirit. Odysseus' heart ran with longing but the ropes held him and the ship quickly sailed to safer waters."

It is interesting to note that Waterhouse has included SIX sirens in his painting, whereas only three are usually mentioned in ancient mythology. Homer had only TWO in his story.

Rossetti used his wife, Elizabeth Sidall (Lizzie) as a model for several of his paintings.

He painted "Beata Beatrix" as a tribute to her after her death.

Beata Beatrix circa 1864-70

"Dante Gabriel Rossetti had always idolized Dante, the author of 'Vita Nuova' in which Beatrice is Dante’s unrequited love.

(From http://preraphaelitesisterhood.com)

On my poetry blog today I have posted Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "Sea-Spell", which portrays a Siren.

I am turning to another Pre-Raphaelite, John William Waterhouse, who illustrated the same subject.

The Siren
John William Waterhouse

Note: John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 — 10 February 1917) was an English Pre-Raphaelitepainter who is most famous for his paintings of female characters from Greek and Arthurian mythology.

Waterhouse was one of the final Pre-Raphaelite artists, being most productive in the latter decades of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th, long after the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Because of this, he has been referred to as "the modern Pre-Raphaelite", and incorporated techniques borrowed from the French Impressionists into his work.

Lady Lilith

Dante Gabriel Rossetti based his painting Lady Lilith on a sonnet from his poem 'The House of Life' entitled "Body's Beauty."

"Lady Lilith sits luxuriously in a sensual environment. Her auburn hair cascades down her voluptuous frame. Her draping dress barely covers her overtly feminine form, revealing her pale shoulders, clavicle, and breasts.

As Lilith combs her hair she contemplates her own reflection in a hand mirror. Another mirror in the upper left corner reflects a tree, adding to the ambiguity and mystery of Lilith's surroundings."

Like her flowing hair and garments, Lilith is draped over a chair with white roses and poppy's framing her seductive face, but the reflection of the tree makes it unclear to the viewer whether the scene is in or out of doors.

The overt sensuality of the painting is clearly grounded in physical beauty and desire, just as the sonnet speaks of the "Body's Beauty.

In Talmudic legend Lilith was Adam's first wife. In this painting she is Rossetti's 'femme fatale', seducing young men with her feminine wiles and then encouraging them to defile themselves."

P.S. In this painting the model was again "Fanny".

This Rossetti painting portrays "The Fair Rosamund" (Rosamund Clifford), who was famed for her beauty and was a mistress of King Henry II.

According to legend, Henry built Rosamund a palace that could only be reached through a maze. He used a red cord to find his way through the maze and alert Rosamund to his arrival.

Henry's wife, Eleanor, discovered the maze and followed the cord to find her husband's mistress, offering her the choice of drinking poison or being stabbed.

In reality, Rosamund was not murdered by Eleanor, but retired to a convent where she died in 1176.

"Fair Rosamund"
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1861
Oil on canvas.

The sitter for the portrait, Fanny Cornforth, was a frequent model of Rossetti. She became his housekeeper after the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddall in 1862.

"Fanny Cornforth, moved to London from the country and made her living as a prostitute. She took a fancy to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and was reputed to have first got his attention by pelting him with peanuts in the Cremhorne Gardens.

With their help she set up a boarding house-cum-brothel and made a good living. She remained Rossetti's companion and housekeeper into old age."

Fanny in real life

"O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us."(Robert Burns)

It must be difficult for an artist to make an honest self-portrait.

He must avoid flattery and try to render a truthful likeness that brings out aspects of his character.

This self-portrait of Dante Gabriel Rosetti shows him as a handsome young man.

However, as we have seen from Shakespeare's sonnets on my poetry blog, we cannot change the effect of aging.

Here is Rossetti a little older:

And a photograph of him in later life:

"And the angel came in unto her, and said 'Hail, thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Behold, thou shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS". (St. Luke's Gospel)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Ecce Ancilla Domini ("The Annunciation") 1850
Oil on canvas
Tate Britain Gallery, London

P.S. Check out my new blog at: http://ME-TALKING.blog.co.uk

Today I am deviating from the Pre-Raphaelites to bring you this painting by Luca Giordano (1634 -1705), which continues yesterday's theme.

You may be able to identify some of the mythical characters.

The Rape of Proserpina.

I am continuing the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti with this painting of 'Proserpine', which you can see at London's Tate Britain Gallery.

Prosperpine
Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1874

Proserpina (sometimes spelt Proserpine, Prosperine or Prosperina) is an ancient Roman goddess whose story is the basis of "A Myth of Springtime".

In another version of the story, some people believe that upon her abduction, Proserpina ate only four pomegranate seeds, and she did so of her own accord. When Jupiter ordered her return, Pluto struck a deal with Jupiter, saying that since she had stolen his pomegranate seeds, she must stay with him four months of the year in return. For this reason, in spring when Ceres received her daughter back, the crops blossomed, and in summer they flourished. In the autumn Ceres changed the leaves to shades of brown and orange (her favorite colors) as a gift to Proserpina before she had to return to the underworld. During the time that Proserpina resided with Pluto, the world went through winter, a time when the earth was barren.

I am moving on (or back) from John Singer Sargent to the Pre-Raphaelites - a subject that has been suggested by Jenray.

The first artist I have chosen is Gabriel Dante Rossetti (1828 - 1882), who was the brother of Christina Rossetti and was himself no mean poet.

Here is his painting "Found":

The scene has been interpreted in several ways. Some have said the man is remonstrating with a prostitute, whilst others believe it shows a wronged husband taking his wife home.

I am inclined to believe the latter, as Rossetti wrote this verse to accompany the painting:

Ah! gave not these two hearts their mutual pledge,
Under one mantle sheltered 'neath the hedge
In gloaming courtship? And, O God! to-day
He only knows he holds her; -- but what part
Can life now take? She cries in her locked heart, --
"Leave me -- I do not know you -- go away!"

Rossetti made several attempts at portraying this subject but none, like this, were ever fully completed.

As a change from portraits, here is one of Sargent's landscapes:

Trout Stream in the Tyrol
John Singer Sargent 1914

Oil on canvas

John Singer was commissioned to paint a portrait of the 9th Duke of Marlbourough family to accompany a similar painting of the 4th Duke and his family, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Both paintings now hang in the same room at Blenheim Palace.

Here is Sargent's work:

And this is the earlier painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds of the 4th Duke and his family.

It is interesting to compare the composition of the two paintings.

I note that the 4th Duke had THREE dogs1

The Birthday (Fête Familiale)
John Singer Sargent 1887

Oil on canvas

And another dog used as a prop!

Robert de Cévrieux
John Singer Sargent 1879
Oil on canvas

Poperinghe: Two Soldiers
John Singer Sargent 1918
Watercolor over graphite pencil on paper

Note: The town of Poperinghe, today spelt Poperinge and during the War known to the British soldier as 'Pop', is about seven miles due west of Ypres.

During the First World War Poperinghe was the centre of a large concentration of troops, and there were many camps in the countryside around it.

Here is an interesting watercolour by John Singer Sargent. Not 'paint drying' - but sheets!

La Biancheria 1910
Transparent and opaque watercolor over graphite, with wax resist, on paper

Low Tide at Cancale Harbour
John Singer Sargent 1878
Oil on canvas

John Singer Sargent
Simplon Pass: The Lesson
1911

Transparent and opaque watercolor over
graphite, with wax resist, on paper

Many of you who have visited Paris will recognise this 1879 Sargent painting of the Luxembourg Gardens.

They have changed very little since his day - although, of course, the dress of the ladies has.

John Singer Sargent
After 1900

This is a rather strange painting by Sargent.

Fanny was eleven years older than her husband and here seems to be dressed like a gypsy.

Robert Louis Stevenson and His Wife
John Singer Sargent August

Oil on canvas

Here is an interesting painting of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who was a contemporary of Sargent and just five years older. They met when they were both studying in Paris.

Robert Louis Stevenson
John Singer Sargent 1887

Oil on canvas

Marionettes
John Singer Sargent 1903

Oil on canvas

Another posed portrait - with dog!

Beatrice Townsend

John Singer Sargent