Webbready

This is the next (albeit slightly abridged) entry in from my London notebook. This is easily one of the longest entries from this journal, because I had to give my impressions of various paintings in both the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery. Please be aware that all impressions of artwork described in this piece are products of an untrained eye and a head full of ignorance. I implore any readers to remember that I was not then, and am not now, a knowledgeable student of the visual arts. This is evident from the words to follow below.

January 13, 2000

This morning we traveled through the slight rain from the Crescent Hotel to Russell Square, then we took the Tube from there to Leicester Square, and walked a short distance to Trafalgar Square. Along the way, we saw what had to be the largest flock of pigeons I’ve encountered in my life. Dr. Adam told us about the history of the square and the statues. One tidbit I remember is hearing of how Charles I’s statue disappeared after his execution then “magically” reappeared after Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth was dissolved. After this, we walked up the square and entered the National Portrait Galley. This is where the real day began.

As a group, we were instructed to pay attention to the paintings of the Bloomsbury group specifically, but once I entered the museum, I was amazed at the selection of art in general. I first went to the display of the Later Twentieth Century Gallery. For years, the National Portrait Gallery had a rule that would not allow them to obtain a portrait until the sitter’s death. Now, this rule has been changed, allowing the Gallery to show the pictures of living people.

One of the paintings of this section which caught my eye was a portrait of Viv Richards — a personality unknown in the United States but apparently well known in this country. What caught my attention was how similar this painting was in many regards to the portraits of (and by) the Bloomsbury group. The paining was composed of many different color tones, colorful like many impressionistic paintings. The background was also made of several different colors, but the colors contrasted with the foreground figure of Richards. His face is very indefinite and if I had proof, I would accuse the artist, William Bowyer, of attempting and succeeding to imitate the Bloomsbury style…

I wandered about the gallery…and made my way upstairs…On the top floor I was absolutely stunned by the wonderful portraits, surprised by both how the quantity and the quality of the portraits. Almost all of them easily rivaled the detail of a photograph, capturing the way light falls on clothing so realistically one could swear it was beyond the feat of humans to do such a thing. It is hard to keep in mind the fact for all of these portraits, people posed for extended periods of time. From even a study of Samuel Johnson by James Barry to a portrait of the Sharp Family, not one painting in this section failed to show terrific lighting effect and painstaking detail, whether the number of people in the painting was one or fifteen.

The Death of the Earl of Chatham portrayed the death of (who else?) the Earl of Chatham, William Pitt, in 1778. Dark edges and colors dominate the perimeter of the paintings, representing the encroaching shadow of death. John Singleton Copley, the artist, also did a wonderful job of making Pitt ghostly white among the red robes of those surrounding him. The color that “should” have been in the earl’s face because he “should” be healthy is instead distributed to the robes, their vibrance growing with the incredibly wan Pitt. All of this is with the detail of the portrait, the expressions, and the attire.

Among the portraits on the top floor, one was able to catch my eye. A pre-Bloomsbury portrait of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Caroline of Brunswick, has some of the characteristic of a Bloomsbury portrait. First, there is a high contrast with the background. Also, the dress and the skin were not made up of a single color, but the colors gave an impression of an even tone. Even the sharpness of the picture is slightly less than in most portraits.

A quick look at my watch informed me that I had little time to gaze at the portraits if I wanted to reach those of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hurriedly, I ran down the stairs to the first floor. In haste, I passed a portrait of Queen Victoria, one that even a glimpse of it was more than I could ever dream. Once at the “Bloomsbury” corner, I found four objects: three paintings and a bust. The bust of Vanessa Bell was by Marcel Gimond, and like the Bloomsbury portraits features of her face remained indefinite.

Duncan Grant painted George Mallory’s portrait, one done in a somewhat impressionistic style. It looked as if the brush were tapped on the canvas instead of swept across the canvas. There were many different colors in the face, but when viewed from a distance, the skin retained an even skin tone.

Augustus John painted a portrait of Lady Morells, a painting which was a cross between the portrait style after the Renaissance and the more recent impressionist, Bloomsbury style. The painting tended to have a dark green theme with most colors of the painting being very near that part of the spectrum. Yet the painting also had a soft focus and seemed to be painted using quick brush strokes.

Duncan Grant also painted a self-portrait before he incorporated impressionism in his work, which served as a contrast to his portrait of Mallory. This was a very dark portrait in terms of color, and had many of the traditional elements of a portrait. Still, it was not as detailed as the portraits I had seen earlier…

…I took a look at the Bloomsbury group, or at least the portraits in that sector before leaving the National Portrait Gallery. After eating lunch I headed for the National Gallery, where I was left on my own. There were so many paintings to write about and so little time to write about them. I will list the paintings I visited by their number on the list.

#1 The Wilton Diptych (Artist: Unknown)

I don’t have much to say about this work of art, even thought it has four sides, two for each panel. The painting on the inside is medieval (pre-Renaissance) in its flatness, but it is not lacking in detail. The sky is gold and one of the blue-clad characters held up the Red Cross, the symbol of Saint George, the patron Saint of England. On the back there was a goat (or lamb) with a collar on it and what appeared to be a coat-of-arms.

#2 The Battle of San Romano (Artist: Paolo Uccello)

The colors of this painting were sharp and contrasting, especially for a battlefield. There is an attempt to add depth to the painting, but for the most part it retained a flat, side-on viewpoint.

#3 The Baptism of Christ (Artist: Piero della Francesca)

What struck me at first was how pale the figures were in the pictures. There was a lot of color in this painting, especially in the wings of the angels.

#4 Cartoon: The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist (Artist: Leonardo Da Vinci )

When I first saw this one, I was surprised. I had thought a cartoon would be a doodle of some sort, but I found out a cartoon was a full-size preparatory study. In other words, this is the base sketch and while it is rough, it shows the realistic sense of perception that Da Vinci had and how he could put it into his paintings was miraculous.

#5 The Doge Leonardo Lorenden (Artist: Giovanni Bellini)

The first of the finished, highly realistic portraits on this list, the blue background caught my attention immediately. I also learned that a doge was the head of the Republican oligarchy of Venice.

#6 Bacchus and Ariadne (Artist: Titian)

At last, I come to a painting that I have a lot to write about. While I did not notice any particular artistic qualities to take note of, I liked how Titian was able to draw our focus onto the two characters on the side. Normally, the focus of most paintings is either in the middle or split evenly on both sides. The artist was able to bring our attention to the principal characters, who were both on the left side, without excluding the drunken band that follows Bacchus.

While I am not familiar with the story of Bacchus and Ariadne, the painting alone tells the story all to well, or at least the version Titian portrays. Ariadne, walking on the shore, searches endlessly for someone special (in this case, Theseus). She looks off in the distance when she turns her head to find Bacchus. The two catch sight of each other, for an instant ignoring the worries and cares behind them. They both turn toward each other, Bacchus away from his train of drunken followers and Ariadne away from the seas and her lover. It is the moment, the moment of first sight which is compelling that for a brief instant, nothing else matters.

#7 Equestrian Portrait of Charles I (Artist: Anthony Van Dyck)

It can be argued that the central figure in this portrait is the horse, not Charles I. While Charles’ head is a stark contrast with the dark background, if not for the glint of his armor, his body would blend into the background. On the other hand, the horse appears every bit as regal as Charles and in fact shares some of his characteristics, While the horses legs blend in the dark background, the rest of the body can be easily seen. However, the inscription on the tree and the servant on the right who hands Charles his helmet proves otherwise. Charles is indeed the focus of this painting, but the horse is a very, very close second.

#8 Le Chapeau de Paille (Portrait of Susanna Lunden) (Artist: Peter Paul Rubens)

This portrait has a softer focus then most, giving the viewer the feeling that this woman is larger than life. The color palette in this painting is limited to varying degrees of five colors — grey, black, white, blue, and red. Nothing bright, nor any color not listed, is used with this painting in more than trace amounts.

#9 Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife (Artist: Jan Van Eyck)

An interesting blend of styles this portrait is. It has many of the “flat” qualities of Renaissance paintings, yet there is some depth and an incredible amount of detail.

#10 The Ambassadors (Artist: Hans Holblein the Younger)

Unlike most portraits, there is a high amount of contrast with the background as in Holbein’s other exhibited painting, A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling. Everything, from the detail of the objects to the accuracy of the lighting is incredible, of course. The painting is very rich in color, especially in the attire of the two gentlemen (one is Henry VIII) and the objects in the background. These objects include a lute, two globes, and a sheet of music. It is known that Henry VIII did write his own music, but I wonder if there isn’t another meaning. Perhaps this indicated that Henry VIII was a “Renaissance Man.”

In the middle of the painting, a distorted skull lies between the two men, almost unrecognizable if looked at straight on and seemingly out of place. When one goes further and further to the right, as if circling the picture, the skull beings to look increasingly normal. To stretch and skew an object in such an accurate manner without the aid of a computer graphics program is nothing short of remarkable.

(There is no entry for #11, as it was a painting that I was unable to find. This painting was Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at Age 63.)

#12 A Young Woman Standing at a Virginal (Artist: Jan (Johannes) Vermeer)

In this painting there are three primary colors — blue, white, and gold. Numerous examples of this are the blue and green patterned floor, the blue chair, the white wall, the blue and white dress with gold trim, and the gold frame around the painting on the wall. If the Cupid painting on the wall represents love, then this is a cool (blue — also rational for this color), pure (white), and valuable/refined (gold) love.

#13 The Hay-Wain (Artist: John Constable)

This is a painting of a midday scene with a wagon in some water. None of the figures are sharp, but instead one is left with the indication that he or she is looking at the scene from afar. There is no focus, at least not on a person. The entire scene reveling in its green theme is the focus — the whole, not its parts.
#14 The Fighting Temeraire (Artist: JMW Turner)

In this painting, in which an old battleship is set against a setting sun, blue yellow and brown are the main colors. Unlike many paintings in the gallery, there are no visible humans or humanlike creatures. Instead, the old battleship itsef is the focus, spending its last day at sea.

#15 The Toilet of Venus (Artist: Diego Velazquez)

One of the few nudes in the gallery, the young Cubid holds up a mirror for Venus. Beauty is literally in the eye of the beholder, as Venus looks at her own reflection. As in Le Chapeau de Paille byt Rubens, the focus is deliberately softer than most, conveying the ideal of beurty without truly actualizing the foal. The rosy figures of Venus and Cupid contrast stronngly against the reddish-pink curtain, the green wall behind them, and the dark cover Venus lies upon.

#16 Bathers at Asnieres (Artist: Georges Surat)

Several features of this painting grabbed my attention, beggining with the wonderful bright colors. The bodies of the people, on the other hand were extremely pale with all faces either away from the viewer or partially hidden. Lastly, in the clothing, there were dots of different colors to make up another different color, like in the Sunday comics.

After looking at all these paintings, for some reason I felt truly exhausted and took the Tube home — or at least back to the hotel. It was later than I expected (I did not get back until past six o’clock), but I made it in one piece and in good enough condition to write this entry.