ART FOR ART'S SAKE

IMPORTANT NOTICE

2009-11-20T10:01:56+01:00

REVISED SCHEDULE

I now have SIX blogs on the Internet and I am beginning find them a struggle to manage on a regular daily basis.

They are taking too much of my time away from other interests, so I have decided to cut down the frequency of posts.

My two personal favourites are http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/ and http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/ and they will continue on 5 days of the week, Monday to Friday.

The others will appear less frequently, as I find interesting things to add.

There will be no posts on any of the blogs at weekends.

I am extremely grateful to the small group of loyal followers who have added brilliant, witty and relevant comments over the past few years.

Please continue to do so.

Time is precious for us all and my re-scheduling may help you as well as me.

Thank you all for your continued support.

Colin (kendrive)

The next post on this blog will be on Monday, November 23rd.

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RESTING

2009-11-19T10:16:09+01:00

Here is another domestic scene from Waterhouse.

A laundry girl takes a break to stretch and relax.

"Resting"
J.W. Waterhouse 1890

(Click on image to enlarge)

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GOOD NEIGHBOURS

2009-11-18T10:23:02+01:00

Here is an interesting domestic scene depicted by Waterhouse.

He might have called it "Over the garden wall"!

Good Neighbours
John William Waterhouse 1885

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A STUDY

2009-11-17T08:40:06+01:00

The Flower Picker
J.W. Waterhouse 1900

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IN THE SPRING TIME, THE ONLY PRETTY RING TIME

2009-11-16T09:08:40+01:00

There is no story, myth or legend to accompany this pastoral scene by Waterhouse.

Perhaps it is just from his imagination.

A Song of Springtime
John William Waterhouse 1913

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ADONIS

2009-11-15T09:51:05+01:00

The Awakening of Adonis
John William Waterhouse 1900

"In Greek mythology, Adonis was a youth of remarkable beauty, the favourite of the goddess Aphrodite.

Traditionally, he was the product of the incestuous love Smyrna (Myrrha) entertained for her own father, the Syrian king Theias.

Charmed by his beauty, Aphrodite put the newborn infant Adonis in a box and handed him over to the care of Persephone, the queen of the underworld, who afterward refused to give him up.

An appeal was made to Zeus, the king of the gods, who decided that Adonis should spend a third of the year with Persephone and a third with Aphrodite, the remaining third being at his own disposal.

Adonis became an enthusiastic hunter, and was killed by a wild boar during the chase. Aphrodite pleaded for his life with Zeus, who allowed Adonis to spend half of each year with her and half in the underworld.

The central idea of the myth is that of the death and resurrection of Adonis, which represent the decay of nature every winter and its revival in spring."

(Encyclopedia Brittanica)

So perhaps in this painting Adonis is being awakened from death and not, as I originally interpreted it, from sleep.

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ARIADNE

2009-11-14T10:41:33+01:00

Have you ever been to the Greek island of Crete? If so, I hope you had the opportunity to visit Knossos to see the reconstructed Minoan palace, the reputed home of the Minotaur.

I have visited it twice but, although I descended into the Labyrinth, I never saw the Minotaur, Theseus or Ariadne.

Ariadne
John Wiliam Waterhouse 1896

Ariadne was the daughter of King Minos of Crete.

Minos commanded Daedalus to build a Labyrinth, a house of winding passages, to house the bull-man, the Minotaur, the beast that his wife Pasiphae bore after having intercourse with a bull.

Minos required tribute from Athens in the form of young men and women to be sacrificed to the Minotaur.

Theseus, an Athenian, volunteered to accompany one of these groups of victims to deliver his country from the tribute to Minos.

Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and gave him a thread which he let unwind through the Labyrinth so that he was able to kill the Minotaur and find his way back out again.

(N.B. As always, click on the image to enlarge)

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TRISTAN AND ISOLDE

2009-11-13T12:15:43+01:00

Here is a brilliant painting by Waterhouse. Aren't the colours wonderful?

Tristan and Isolde Sharing the Potion
John William Waterhous 1916

The tragic love story of Tristan and Isolde has been told and retold through various stories and manuscripts. It takes place during medieval times during the reign of King Arthur.

Isolde was the daughter of Angwish, King of Ireland. She was betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall.

King Mark sent his nephew, Tristan, to Ireland to escort Isolde back to Cornwall.

Tristan, a noble knight, was given his name, which means "sorrow", because of the loss of his mother at his birth.

Before leaving Ireland, Isolde's mother gave a love potion to Isolde's handmaiden, Brangraine, with strict instructions to keep it safe until they reached Cornwall.

It was then to be given to Isolde on her wedding night. Sometime during the voyage, Isolde and Tristan drank the potion by accident and fell forever in love.

She went on to marry King Mark, although continuing to love Tristan.

You can read more of the tragedy at: http://www.angelfire.com/me2/legends/

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ESTHER

2009-11-12T07:23:44+01:00

I am back to Waterhouse's portraits and this is of his wife, Esther, who was a talented artist in her own right.

Esther Kenworthy Waterhouse

Date: circa 1885
Medium: Oil on canvas

Out of interest, here is a photograph of Esther - one of the few that were taken.

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AESCULAPIUS

2009-11-11T03:59:42+01:00

"A Sick Child brought into the Temple of Aesculapius" (1877) by John William Waterhouse

Aesculapius In Greek mythology, Aesculapius, son of Apollo, (often referred to as the god of medicine or healing) was a Greek healer who became a Greek demigod, and was a famous physician. His mother, the nymph Coronis, a princess of Thessaly, died when he was an infant. Aesculapius was the most important among the Greek gods and heroes who were associated with health and curing disease.

Apollo is said to have entrusted the child's education to the Centaur, Chiron. who taught Aesculapius the arts of healing.

Aesculapius, when grown, became so skilled in surgery and the use of medicinal plants that he could even restore the dead to life. Hades, ruler of the dead, became alarmed at this and complained to Zeus, who, fearing that he might render all men immortal, killed Asclepius with a thunderbolt. Among the children of Aesculapius the best known are his daughters Hygeia and Panacea.

Asclepius, or Aesculapius as he was known to the Romans, was revered as a divinely inspired physician. Shrines and temples of healing known as Asclepieia were erected throughout Greece where the sick would come to worship and seek cures for their ills.

Harmless serpents were kept in these temples of healing, lovingly tended by Asclepiu's daughter Hygeia, the personification of health. Snakes were held sacred by Asclepius and he himself was thought to sometimes appear in the form of a snake. Patients who saw snakes in their dreams believed that the god of healing himself had come to their aid.

The ancient symbol of Asclepius is a knotted wooden staff around which a mystical snake is coiled. The staff of Aesculapius with a coiled serpent became the traditional symbol of medicine. Today it represents the modern medical profession, and is a symbol of health and wisdom. In Genesis, Moses held up a serpent on a staff as an example of Christ, to heal the Jews.

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THE ENCHANTED GARDEN

2009-11-10T05:37:19+01:00

Here is one of Waterhouse's last paintings.

He had been suffering from cancer for some time, and in 1916 while he continued to work on The Enchanted Garden he was approaching the end of his journey.

He died on 10 February 1917, before the painting was finished.

Christopher Wood wrote, "The painting makes a fitting epitaph, for what is the work of Waterhouse if not an enchanted garden?"

His art continues to bring joy and inspiration to so many.

The Enchanted Garden
J.W. Waterhouse 1916

'He created this haven of warmth in the winter of his life, but almost unwittingly imbued it with a deeper meaning.

Past the Dantesque guardian at the entrance, the snow is falling on the steps: it gathers on the entablature above the rounded Renaissance arches which evoke the Italy of his birth, and a few flakes are seen against the shadows of the arcade.

But in the garden the roses bloom; one of the girls bends to inhale their scent, and the poppies presage a quiet oblivion. Roses and snow together sum up the duality of desire and restraint in all his work, and because poetry was ever-present in his life, he must also have had Tennyson's Arthur in mind, and 'the island-valley of Avilion, where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow. Nor ever wind blows loudly'.'

(Anthony Hobson, J. W. Waterhouse, Phaidon 1989}

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APOLLO AND DAPHNE

2009-11-09T08:27:37+01:00

Yesterday Waterhouse presented us with a wood nymph and today he brings us another tree figure - Daphne.

The interesting story behind the painting is from ancient Greek mythology.

John William Waterhouse
Apollo and Daphne - 1908

The curse of Apollo, the god of the sun and music, was brought onto him when he insulted the young Eros for playing with bow and arrows.

Apollo was a great warrior and said to him, "What have you to do with warlike weapons? Leave them for hands worthy of them. Behold the conquest I have won by means of them over the vast serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of the plain! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle with my weapons."

The petulant Eros took two arrows, one of gold and one of lead. With the leaden shaft, to incite hatred, he shot the nymph Daphne and with the golden one, to incite love, he shot Apollo through the heart.

Apollo was seized with love for the maiden, and she in turn abhorred Apollo. In fact, she spurned her many would-be lovers preferring instead woodland sports and exploring the woods.

Her father demanded that she get married so that she may give him grandchildren. She begged her father to let her remain unmarried.

He warned her saying, "Your own face will forbid it."

Apollo continually followed her, begging her to stay, but the nymph continued her flight. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened and helped him gain upon Daphne.

Seeing that Apollo was bound to catch her, she called upon her father, "Help me, Peneus! Open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger!"

Suddenly her skin turned into bark, her hair became leaves, and her arms were transformed into branches. She stopped running as her feet became rooted to the ground. Apollo embraced the branches, but even the branches shrank away from him.

Since Apollo could no longer take her as his wife, he vowed to tend her as his tree, and used his powers of eternal youth to render her ever green. Since then the leaves of the Bay laurel tree have never known decay.

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WOOD NYMPH

2009-11-08T10:45:49+01:00

One traditional symbolic meaning of the female nude is a Nature spirit. One of these, the Hamadryad, represents a stand of oaks.

The Hamadryad is noble, robust, and fertile, full of potential: She oversees the health and wisdom of her trees. The trees are a domain - a place - a graceful, wild, wise, and magic place where people go to meet God, to meet themselves. Hamadryads were depicted as Nature's seductive playmates; humans partook of their pleasures, solace and wisdom.

Hamadryads perish when their trees die, or suffer when their trees are defiled - their context destroyed, they lose their purpose. Because of rampant overdevelopment, our endowment - the Nature Symbols - is being systematically disembodied, along with Nature itself.

(Alzofon Art Institute: Explanatory Comment)

A Hamadryad

John William Waterhouse 1895

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HE JUST GETS BETTER

2009-11-07T04:01:53+01:00

This painting by Waterhouse illustrates the poem 'Echo and Narcissus by Ovid.

Echo was a nymph. She was in love with Narcissus but he became so enamoured with his own reflection in a stream that he was fixated by the image, and Echo wasted away through unrequited love, all that remained was the 'echo' of her voice.

To punish Narcissus he was transformed into a flower of the same name by the gods.

Echo and Narcissus
John William Waterhouse 1903

"One year Narcissus, the son of Cephisus, had reached sixteen and might seem both boy and youth.

Many youths, and many young girls desired him. But there was such intense pride in that delicate form that none of the youths or young girls affected him.

One day the nymph Echo saw him, driving frightened deer into his nets, she of the echoing voice, who cannot be silent when others have spoken, nor learn how to speak first herself.

By chance, the boy, separated from his faithful band of followers, had called out "Is anyone here?" and "Here" Echo replied. He is astonished,
and glances everywhere, and shouts in a loud voice "Come to me!"

Flat on the ground, he contemplates two stars, his eyes, and his hair, fit for Bacchus, fit for Apollo, his youthful cheeks and ivory neck, the beauty of his face, the rose-flush mingled in the whiteness of snow, admiring everything for which he is himself admired. Unknowingly he desires himself,"

(Ovid)

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DIOGENES

2009-11-06T12:37:51+01:00

"Diogenes of Sinope, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, was a Greek philosopher, born in Sinope (modern day Turkey) about 412 BC.

He was exiled from his native city and moved to Athens, becoming a beggar who made a virtue of extreme poverty.

He is said to have lived in a large tub, rather than a house, and to have walked through the streets carrying a lamp in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man.

He eventually settled in Corinth where he continued to pursue the Cynic ideal of self-sufficiency: a life which was natural and not dependent upon the luxuries of civilization.

Believing that virtue was better revealed in action and not theory, his life was a relentless campaign to debunk the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt society." (From Wikipedia)

DIOGENES
J.W. Waterhouse 1905

In Diogenes we again see the force of the aesthetic ideal on Waterhouse.

Diogenes, an ancient ascetic philosopher dressed in dull rags, contrasts heavily with the richly decorated, colorful, frivolous looking young ladies on the steps.

Yet, amidst the accurate classical architecture and symbolically
constructed costumes, Waterhouse places strangely Japanese parasols.

Indeed, it appears as though Waterhouse may have chosen this round sun shade to echo and contrast with the circular tub in which Diogenes sits.

Comments

THE MAGIC CIRCLE

2009-11-05T10:07:55+01:00

"Miracles, magic and the power of prophecy are common themes in Waterhouse's art. This is one of his earlier works, and reflects his fascination with the exotic.

The woman in this picture appears to be a witch or priestess, endowed with magic powers, possibly the power of prophecy.

Her dress and general appearance is highly eclectic, and is derived from several sources: she has the swarthy complexion of a woman of middle-eastern origin; her hairstyle is like that of an early Anglo-Saxon; her dress is decorated with Persian or Greek warriors.

In her left hand she holds a crescent-shaped sickle, linking her with the moon and Hecate. With the wand in her right hand she draws a protective magic circle round her.

Outside the circle the landscape is bare and barren; a group of rooks or ravens and a frog - all symbols of evil and associated with witchcraft - are excluded. But within its confines are flowers and the woman herself, objects of beauty."

(Tate Britain)

The Magic Circle 1886
John William Waterhouse

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WILL YE NO COME BACK AGAIN?

2009-11-04T09:59:58+01:00

Painted by Waterhouse in 1900, this picture was given to the Artists War Fund, in support of British casualties of the Boer War, which had begun the previous year.

350 artists donated works, which were exhibited in the Guildhall, London before being auctioned by Chrstie's for £12,000.

The girl is drinking a toast to the departing warriors, whose ships can be seen in a mirror in the background.

Do I detect that she is pregnant?

DESTINY
John William Waterhouse

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MY SWEET ROSE

2009-11-03T20:17:39+01:00

John William Waterhouse: My Sweet Rose (a.k.a 'The Soul of a Rose') - 1908

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet;"

d Juliet)

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GATHER YE ROSEBUDS

2009-11-02T13:46:42+01:00

John William Waterhouse 1909

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

Robert Herrick

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IT'S TIME TO CALL IT A DAY

2009-11-01T06:36:09+01:00

After the Dance
John William Waterhouse 1876

The party's over
It's time to call it a day
They've burst your pretty balloon
And taken the moon away
It's time to wind up the masquerade
Just make your mind up the piper must be paid

The party's over
The candles flicker and dim
You danced and dreamed through the night
It seemed to be right just being with him
Now you must wake up, all dreams must end
Take off your makeup, the party's over
It's all over, my friend.

(Nat King Cole)

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DANTIS AMOR

2009-10-31T09:38:43+01:00

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)

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SWINBURNE

2009-10-30T09:50:46+01:00

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/

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I AM HALF-SICK OF SHADOWS

2009-10-29T08:50:03+01:00

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.

Comments

LADY

2009-10-28T08:20:09+01:00

"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)

Comments

LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI

2009-10-27T09:10:06+01:00

"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

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MERMAID

2009-10-26T07:42:28+01:00

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)

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ST. GEORGE AND PRINCESS SABRA

2009-10-25T11:08:33+01:00

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."

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ULYSSES AND THE SIRENS

2009-10-24T11:06:06+02:00

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.

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BEATA BEATRIX

2009-10-23T09:11:22+02:00

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.

In 'Beata Beatrix', Rossetti paints Elizabeth Siddal as Beatrice, merging his love and Dante’s into one.

Rossetti painted several versions of this painting and there are subtle changes in each version. In one version, there is a white dove bringing Beatrice a red poppy. In another version the bird is red and the flower white. The poppy is significant due to the fact that Lizzie died of a Laudanum overdose. Laudanum is an opiate which is derived from poppies."

(From http://preraphaelitesisterhood.com)

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THE SIREN

2009-10-22T07:53:53+02:00

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

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli.

Sailors who sailed near the cliffs were lured by the Sirens' enchanting music and voices to wreck their ships on the rocky coast.

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.

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