Nymphs finding the head of Orpheus: a sketch of the nymph at the left
"This evocative oil sketch was painted as Waterhouse prepared his great 'Nymphs Finding the head of Orpheus' (private collection), signed in 1900 and exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts the following year.
The depiction of this mythic moment is unique within Victorian painting, and possibly within all of British art. Through the late 19th Century, Symbolist artists and writers had grown evermore enthusiastic about Orpheus, the greatest poet and musician in Greek myth, because he, like so many creative individuals, sang the truth and thus aroused resentment. Dismissed by his contemporaries as effeminate for mourning his wife too passionately, Orpheus was torn to pieces by Maenads after rejecting their advances. Into the river they hurled his head, which demonstrated art's immortality by continuing to sing as it floated away.
Victorian artists usually showed Orpheus singing while still alive, or rescuing his wife Eurydice from Hades. Most avoided the gruesomeness of Orpheus's demise, which instead attracted such Continental peers as the Frenchman Gustave Moreau. Indeed, Waterhouse may have been inspired by Moreau's pensive 'Thracian Girl Carrying the Head of Orpheus on his Lyre' (1866), which the Englishman surely saw on visits to the popular Musée Luxembourg in Paris. Waterhouse was also probably familiar with the recent revival of Orphism, the ancient ecstatic cult that had celebrated Orpheus as a martyr before it was absorbed by the early Christian church.
Gustave Moreau Orpheus, 1865
Waterhouse had long been fascinated with the violent aspects of ancient myth. Yet rather than presenting a physically dynamic struggle (such as 'Ulysses and the Sirens' of 1891), he imagined 'Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus' as a scene of contemplation subtly laced with horror. Orpheus's severed head constitutes the key feature, yet viewers notice the beautiful nymphs first and last, and are drawn inexorably into the picture by their compassionate gazes and gestures. A now-unlocated drawing of the nymphs (published in 1917) reveals that Waterhouse considered-and wisely rejected-more horrified facial expressions and body language. Instead, he created a picture 'more of dream than of conscious thought,' a phrase coined by critic Frank Rinder that pertains equally to other Waterhouse masterworks of this period.
The present sketch deftly conveys the girl's mix of alarm and sympathy: her eyes gaze downward, drawing her head and upper torso forward without seeming ungainly. This work also reveals how Waterhouse built up his surface, focusing most intensively on the flushed face, then on the hair and other flesh passages. (Particularly adept is the shadowing along and below the right cheek, which allows the brighter nose and shoulder cap to guide our eyes downward.) Highly characteristic are the delicate blue colouring of the garment and the lively brushstrokes in the background, especially the dark dabs at right centre that hint at the right-hand nymph." Courtesy Christie's Lot Notes: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5327298 Study by Waterhouse is included in the June 16th auction at Christie's, London: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22746#action=refine&intSaleID=22746&sid=72efb6e2-7814-4045-b2e8-1ca937902f2a
John William Waterhouse Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus, 1900
"Traditionally, Orpheus was the son of a Muse (probably Calliope, the patron of epic poetry) and Oeagrus, a king of Thrace (other versions give Apollo). According to some legends, Apollo gave Orpheus his first lyre. Orpheus' singing and playing were so beautiful that animals and even trees and rocks moved about him in dance.
Orpheus joined the expedition of the Argonauts, saving them from the music of the Sirens by playing his own, more powerful music. On his return, he married Eurydice, who was soon killed by a snakebite. Overcome with grief, Orpheus ventured himself to the land of the dead to attempt to bring Eurydice back to life. With his singing and playing he charmed the ferryman Charon and the dog Cerberus, guardians of the River Styx. His music and grief so moved Hades, king of the underworld, that Orpheus was allowed to take Eurydice with him back to the world of life and light. Hades set one condition, however: upon leaving the land of death, both Orpheus and Eurydice were forbidden to look back. The couple climbed up toward the opening into the land of the living, and Orpheus, seeing the Sun again, turned back to share his delight with Eurydice. In that moment, she disappeared.
Orpheus himself was later killed by the women of Thrace. The motive and manner of his death vary in different accounts, but the earliest known, that of Aeschylus, says that they were Maenads urged by Dionysus to tear him to pieces in a Bacchic orgy because he preferred the worship of the rival god Apollo. His head, still singing, with his lyre, floated to Lesbos, where an oracle of Orpheus was established. The head prophesied until the oracle became more famous than that of Apollo at Delphi, at which time Apollo himself bade the Orphic oracle stop. The dismembered limbs of Orpheus were gathered up and buried by the Muses. His lyre they had placed in the heavens as a constellation."
Courtesy ArtMagick Source: Encyclopædia Britannica
Two additional studies by Waterhouse for Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus
"Burne-Jones was a second-generation member of the pre-Raphaelite artists, who rejected the growing materialization of industrialized England. Instead they focused on the comparative simplicity of the medieval world and the art of Italian painters prior to Raphael. 'Earth Mother', which shows the influence of Renaissance artists like Botticelli, was painted by Burne-Jones in connection with his series of stained-glass windows representing the planets. Here is an allusion to Earth Mother's role of nurturing all life: human, represented by the child; animal, by the wolf; and horticultural, by the trees and vegetation. The snake next to the feet of Earth Mother symbolizes fertility and relates to Ceres, goddess of earth. To show earth's role in the transitional nature of water, the allegorical figure is represented holding up a blue jar that produces clouds, rain, and eventually a stream below. To create the ivorylike skin of the figures and the rich textures throughout, Burne-Jones employed the ancient technique of encaustic. The pigments are bound in a wax medium, over which the artist applied oil glazes and, in certain areas, minute touches of gold for an even more decorative effect." - JAW, Worchester Art Museum
"Emma Sandys was the sister of Frederick Sandys, and like him produced bust length portraits of women in an intense and detailed Pre-Raphaelite style. Little is known of her life, despite extensive recent research. Like her brother she was born in Norwich and lived there until 1874 when she moved to London. She exhibited in Norwich and at the Royal Academy, where she showed three female portraits, an 'Enid' and an 'Undine' between 1868 and 1874. It is difficult to reconstruct her oeuvre as her paintings are technically very similar to those of her brother and until recently have been confused with his." - Hilary Morgan
George Frederic Watts Portrait of William Morris, 1870
"The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis head into visionary territory, with a new piece by Ian McQueen. The search for the land where 'none grow old' guides the twists and turns of William Morris's 'The Earthly Paradise'. Ian McQueen's work for chorus and large orchestra evokes the poem's extraordinary world, surges with erotic charge, and conjures up Morris's magical vision of Iceland's landscape and sagas."
"Scored for a large orchestra and choir, this has been commissioned by BBC Radio Three. It is dedicated to Stephen Jackson and the BBC Symphony Chorus, to celebrate the chorus's 80th birthday. There are four movements, which refer to the life of the great Victorian poet, designer and political activist, lasting about 30 minutes.
'Earthly Paradise' will be broadcast on April 13th at around 7.45 pm [UK time] on BBC Radio Three.
Ian Mcqueen will introduce the piece live in the studio."
** Update April 13th: The broadcast will be available for seven days at the link below. The Earthly Paradise segment begins at about the 54 minute mark with interesting commentary from Fiona MacCarthy and Ian McQueen. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rwwhq
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William Morris in Iceland an article by Fiona MacCarthy LINK
The Literary Pilgrimage an article in Iceland Review LINK
LINK to a PDF file with a listing of works in the exhibition.
***************
The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK 15th September 2010 to 5th December 2010 LINK
The exhibition curators are Claudio Spadoni, Colin Harrison and Christopher Newall.
***************
A wonderful glimpse of some of the works
that are being shown in Ravenna. (The Telesanterno commentary is in Italian.)
***************
Danielle Mitzman, a British freelance journalist based in the north Italian town of Bologna, recently spoke with two of the exhibition curators. She writes, "... a major exhibition, 'The Pre-Raphaelites and the Italian Dream', has opened at MAR, the Museum of Art in the north Italian city of Ravenna. It will run until June before moving to Oxford’s Ashmolean museum in September. Appropriately a joint Anglo-Italian venture, it looks at the connection between the British Pre-Raphaelite movement and the Italian artists – as their name suggests, before Raphael - who inspired them."
** Listen to the interview at this LINK. ** (It is in English.)
"Much more than a dream, Italy was a veritable obsession for the young British artists who went on to found the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. With its "The Pre-Raphaelites and the Italian dream. From Beato Angelico to Perugino, from Rossetti to Burne-Jones", the Ravenna Art Museum (MAR), stages the first ever Italian exhibition devoted to this artistic movement.
It was in the mid 19th century that a group of British artists, guided by William Holman Hunt, rebelled against what they considered formulaic academic mannerism, choosing to take Italian painters from the medieval and pre-renaissance period (before Raphael), as reference. Of the works from this period the Pre-Raphaelites admired the brilliance of the colors used, the intensity of expression, the references to the natural world, and the spontaneous approach to art which they deemed to have been abandoned by the artists who succeeded Raphael.
The exhibition route commences with two rooms containing works by Beato Angelico, Taddeo di Bartolo and Perugino. The exhibition is divided in two sections: one exploring the Pre-Raphaelites interest in Italian painting and art; the other dedicated to the British artists' representations of the country's landscapes and historic buildings. Fascinated by Italy and its history, members of the Pre-Raphaelite Confraternity attempted to direct British painting towards more authentic and less conventional subject matter, far removed from the cliché imposed by the academies. Although, today, the works of the Pre-Raphaelites appear anything but revolutionary or ground-breaking, at the time of their creation, they provoked scandal in Victorian society, to such an extent that they are thought by many to represent the first avant-garde movement in art.
One of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite movement was Dante Gabriel Rossetti, son of an Italian immigrant, who chose the works of Dante Alighieri as one of the principal themes of his artistic discourse. The exhibition includes a series of splendid paintings by Rossetti and other, lesser known artists, inspired by the Divine Comedy and the life of Dante. Ample space is dedicated to other themes dear to the Pre-Raphaelites, such as that of the woman destroyed by unrequited, tragic or adulterous love."
John Ruskin Italian Village, 1845 (not included in the exhibit) LINK
"The passion for Italy and its artistic heritage, which animated these artists, emerges in the works of John Ruskin who, during his many journeys through Italy studied with attention the artistic treasures of the Italian peninsula, recording them in the form of meticulously accurate drawings in the conviction that, in this way, he would somehow be able to save them from degradation and preserve their beauty. Ruskin even financed the journeys to Italy of a series of artists and students from Oxford University, so that they could follow his example and realize drawings and paintings of all the most beautiful Italian monuments. The resulting collection of works is one of the most interesting aspects of the Ravenna exhibition. The exhibition concludes with Edward Burne-Jones' sketches of the mosaics realized for Rome's Church of San Paolo dentro le Mura, mosaics inspired by the Byzantine masterpieces still visible in the basilicas of Ravenna." (Courtesy: ItalyTraveller)
Dante Gabriel Rossetti Dante Designs an Angel on the First Anniversary of the Death of Beatrice, 1853
From an article by Rachel Spence about the exhibit: "Intensely romantic and spiritual, yet rooted in the language of the common man, Dante’s verses furnished the ideal subject matter. Rossetti, who was also a poet himself, both translated and illustrated many of the Tuscan’s verses. Of several watercolours on show here, the most historically significant is the earliest – “Dante Designs an Angel on the First Anniversary of the Death of Beatrice” (1853) – which brought the young painter to the attention of Ruskin for the first time. The critic hailed it as “the most perfect piece of Italy I have ever seen in my life”."LINK
(*Update April 13th ... another article about the exhibit. LINK)
Some works by Beato Angelico and Perugino.
Beato Angelico A Rome Reports TV News Agency video from April 2009
Pietro Vannucci (Perugino) A video by Ricardo G. Silveira
The photographs shown above were taken at the Groninger Museum in Groningen, The Netherlands during the Waterhouse exhibition. Copyright for the photographs belongs to: 1. 'AbAberson' 2. & 3. 'Sandori'
If you haven't seen them before, or would like to enjoy them again ...
RTV Noord shares works by Waterhouse in London before the opening of the Waterhouse exhibition at the Groninger Museum (December 2008). Na 'Fatale Vrouwen' hele tentoonstelling Waterhouse (English & Dutch - about 3 minutes long) - LINK -
Documentary about John William Waterhouse from AVRO Close Up in association with the Groninger Museum (1 April 2009). De betoverende vrouwen van John William Waterhouse The enchanting women of John William Waterhouse (English with Dutch subtitles - 52 min.) http://player.omroep.nl/?aflID=8573842
La Belle Iseult, 1858 "Bequeathed by Miss May Morris 1939" Image courtesy of the Tate Gallery, London.
"The inspiration for this painting was Thomas Malory's 'Morte d'Arthur' (1485), in which Guinevere's adulterous love for Sir Lancelot is one of the central themes. The model is Jane Burden who became Morris's wife in 1859 ... She was 'discovered' by Morris and Rossetti when they were working together on the Oxford Union murals, the subject matter for which was also taken from Malory. The painting ... is a splendid expresion of the intense medieval style prevailing in Rossetti's circle in the late 1850s, with its emphasis on pattern and historical detail. This is Morris's only completed oil painting." - courtesy the Tate Gallery
Morris wrote about Jane and the painting, "I cannot paint you, but I love you."
It is such a beautiful work, though. And so are the studies below.
I do agree with what Margaret wrote about La Belle Iseult at her blog, The Earthly Paradise: "I adore this work. While Rossetti was much better at capturing the sensuous qualities of Jane and his other models, I think Morris' painting does an incredible job of envisioning a creative, romantic space. It gives one quite the "scope for the imagination" -- don't you think?" ~ Indeed.
Drawing of Jane Burden by William Morris, 1858 Courtesy Morris Online Edition - Link
Study for 'Iseult on the Ship' by William Morris, c. 1857 Portrait of Jane Burden. Pencil and ink. Courtesy of William Morris Gallery. London Borough Waltham Forest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
According to information at the Tate Gallery website, La Belle Iseult is currently on display at the Victorian and Albert Museum in London.
William Morris was born in Walthamstow in East London on March 24, 1834 - 176 years ago today.
"When William Morris (1834-1896) died at the age of sixty-two, his physician declared that the cause was "simply being William Morris, and having done more work than most ten men." This multi-faceted man was at one time or another (and sometimes simultaneously) a designer and manufacturer of furniture, stained glass, tapestries, wallpaper and chintzes; an accomplished weaver; a pioneering preservationist; an active Socialist and social reformer; a successful poet and novelist; and in his last years, the founder of the Kelmscott Press. Yet all of these activities were of a piece, unified by several threads in the tapestry of Morris's life.
Garden of Delight
One continuity, dating from early childhood, was his love of nature, evidence of which may be found in the fond natural descriptions of his letters and poetry, the patterns of his tapestries, and the vining borders of the Kelmscott book. There was also his passionate devotion to the Middle Ages and to everything they represented; romantic Medievalism informs Morris's literary output, as well as his arts and crafts work and the books from his Kelmscott Press.
From The Wood Beyond the World
A third thread was his belief that it is impossible to separate esthetic issues from social and political ones. Morris often contrasted the social organization of the Middle Ages with the present condition of England, which led him to advocate a complete reform of industrial society. At first, he advocated an overhaul of the flawed esthetics of the age and later, realizing that such reform alone was insufficient, a thoroughgoing political revolution.
Sketch by Walter Crane William Morris speaking at a meeting of Hammersmith Socialist Society
One must also mention his conviction that it was impossible for an artist to exist outside the context of a community. Thus Morris's homes in London's Red Lion Square, Red House in Kent, Kelmscott House in Hammersmith near London, and Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire became centers of communal artistic and intellectual endeavor. Morris's talent for friendship was another continuity in his life. Though he was a somewhat solitary child, as a university student he formed enduring attachments to the Pre-Raphaelite artists Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. These close friendships influenced his choice of a life devoted to art. ..."
William Morris and his close friend Edward Burne-Jones
"William Morris was born in Walthamstow and the Gallery is housed in his former family home ‘Water House’, where he spent his formative years in the 1840s and 50s. The Gallery was established by the Borough of Walthamstow (now the London Borough of Waltham Forest) and was opened in 1950 by the then Prime Minister, Clement Attlee." - The Friends of the William Morris Gallery
"On 10 [April], the BBC Symphony Orchestra will present the world premiere of 'The Earthly Paradise', a setting of prose, poetry, and sayings by William Morris composed by Ian McQueen."
"The search for the land where "none grow old" guides the twists and turns of William Morris’ 'The Earthly Paradise'. Ian McQueen’s new work for chorus and large orchestra evokes the extraordinary world of the poet, surges with erotic charge and conjures up Morris’s magical vision of Iceland’s landscape and sagas."
Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil (completed in 1818)
A Story from Boccaccio
LIII. And she forgot the stars, the moon, and sun, And she forgot the blue above the trees, And she forgot the dells where waters run, And she forgot the chilly autumn breeze; She had no knowledge when the day was done, And the new morn she saw not: but in peace Hung over her sweet Basil evermore, And moisten'd it with tears unto the core.
LIV. And so she ever fed it with thin tears, Whence thick, and green, and beautiful it grew, So that it smelt more balmy than its peers Of Basil-tufts in Florence; for it drew Nurture besides, and life, from human fears, From the fast mouldering head there shut from view: So that the jewel, safely casketed, Came forth, and in perfumed leafits spread.
LV. O Melancholy, linger here awhile! O Music, Music, breathe despondingly! O Echo, Echo, from some sombre isle, Unknown, Lethean, sigh to us—O sigh! Spirits in grief, lift up your heads, and smile; Lift up your heads, sweet Spirits, heavily, And make a pale light in your cypress glooms, Tinting with silver wan your marble tombs.
2. John William Waterhouse Isabella and the Pot of Basil, 1907 Private collection
3. Henrietta Rae Isabella "Reproduced in colour in 'Henrietta Rae (Mrs. Ernest Normand)' by Arthur Fish, Cassell and Company, 1905." - Courtesy ArtMagick
4. Arthur Trevethin Nowell Isabella and the Pot of Basil, 1904 Museo de Arte de Ponce The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc. Ponce, Puerto Rico (Thank you to ArtMagick for sharing information about this work.) http://www.arthurnowell.com/
John William Waterhouse's painting, Isabella and the Pot of Basil, is shown above the fireplace in Rod Stewart's Beverly Hills mansion master suite. The lovely photograph (photo by Mary E. Nichols) is from a 2007 Architectural Digest piece. Link (Link to beginning of photographs from the Digest.)
“I would give anything to work at Sotheby’s,” says Stewart, who—fame aside—is a collector like any other collector. He reads auction catalogues in bed. He frets about running out of space. He always has his eye on something, though he has learned to bid with caution and from a distance. “It’s so-o-o addictive,” he says. ... The collection that gives Stewart the most pleasure is his Pre-Raphaelite paintings, which he believes to be one of the largest in the world. The heroes and heroines of his canvases are caught in various late-Victorian states of ecstasy, many of them, the singer explains, “based on the poems of Keats and Tennyson.” About a third of the collection is hung here, most dramatically on the split entrance hall stair, paintings of women on one side and couples on the other. He reminds us, "You have no idea how big those paintings are until you’re standing next to them." - Link to the text of the Architectural Digest article this is taken from.
In the posting, Alison shares something Catherine Payling, curator of the Keats-Shelley House, told her. While "searching for the whereabouts of John William Waterhouse's painting Isabella and the Pot of Basil, based on Keats's poem of the same name, she was pointed towards, of all people, Rod Stewart. An eagle-eyed expert had spotted what appears to be the painting, hanging in Stewart's Beverley Hills mansion, in an "at home" feature the singer did with Architectural Digest [May 2007]."
Alison wrote, "Whether or not it turns out to be the original remains to be seen ..."
Today ArtMagick confirmed that it is: "per Peter Trippi, Waterhouse's biographer, as far as he is aware, the original painting 'Isabella' is indeed in Rod Stewart's collection."
The work was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1907. Anthony Hobson shared the following about the painting in his 1980 publication. It first became part of the H. W. Henderson collection. (H. W. was the brother of Alexander Henderson - http://www.buscot-park.com/frameset5.html) (Also see about halfway down this page from Julia Kerr for information about the Hendersons.) The painting was purchased in 1948 by Gooden & Fox for 35gn. at a Christie's auction. A "Mrs Wigan" is then listed in the provenance - I believe this is Aline Henderson, H. W. Henderson's daughter. She married John Tyson Wigan in 1911. The painting appeared at Christie's again in 1967 and became part of the Lord Lambton collection. In 1971 it was shown at Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield UK as part of a Burne-Jones exhibition.
The art of John William Waterhouse and the Pre-Raphaelites along with William Morris, the Arts & Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and Victorian artists are special joys I'll be sharing about.
Gather Ye Rosebuds while ye may by J.W. Waterhouse ... was the inspiration for the title of my blog.
Though Waterhouse's 1908 painting was based on a poem by Robert Herrick, I was drawn to the title as a way to convey my hope to Gather together a variety of forms of beauty ... along with links to wonderful websites and blogs ... to inspire and delight.
Welcome!
A detail from Waterhouse's 1909 version of Gather Ye Rosebuds while ye may
"...to find again her childish subtlety and the keenness of her senses that can taste a scent, feel a color, and see – “thin as a hair, as thin as a blade of grass” – the cadence of an imaginary song.” Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
"Eleanora Duse (1859-1924) was the leading Italian actress whom had few peers -- including men. She nearly single handily transformed Italian theater with her astonishingly sophisticated interpretation of roles in contrast to the more stilted acting generally seen in that day." - from the John Singer Sargent Virtual Gallery (click on the photo)
.jpg)
.jpg)
Posts
