Exhibition Review - Dewing's Poetic World
As we all know visiting Galleries and Exhibitions have been difficult recently so I attempted to find some shows that are related to my work, with the hope I could access them online. Not only could this mean I could return to them if needed bit additionally I could take my own time to explore the shows, collect information and react to it in a natural manner rather than trying to force an opinion straight away. I know it won’t be the same as a live reaction to a show since you can’t “feel” the work, although it’s better than ransom google pages for at least in a show the work has been curated to fit with other works of similar interests and themes.
The main theme throughout my project has been femininity and the female form, in whatever form this takes. Taking this into consideration I came across the ongoing online exhibition “Dewing’s Poetic World” located at the Freer Gallery of Art, Jefferson Drive and 12th St., SW, Washington, DC. I've never been to America before, although, with the power of the internet, I am able to travel anywhere. While Thomas Wilmer Dewing isn’t considered a contemporary artist, the aesthetics of his paintings are inspiring to me. So much can be read from his paintings beyond the first initial surface-level view. Thomas Wilmer Dewing was part of the American Impressionism art Movement who was born in Boston. I can add here that American Impressionism was a style of painting related to European Impressionism and practised by American artists in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. American Impressionism is a style of painting characterized by loose brushwork and vivid colours. The style often depicted landscapes mixed with scenes of upper-class domestic life, which links to the types of novels I read. To me, it is as if the novel has come to life on a canvas as well as visa versa. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to such themes and practises. Inspired by the novel approaches to painting modern life embodied in French Impressionism, American Impressionism adopted bright palettes and loose brushstrokes to capture the intimate beauty of everyday American life. Whether capturing the natural world or urban energy, the American Impressionists broke with the traditional expectations of academic art to usher in the first popular, modern art movement in America.1
The Smithsonian describes this online show with the following - Best known for his tonal compositions featuring a solitary female figure lost in thought, Thomas Wilmer Dewing was in reality part of an active social network of collectors, painters, and art dealers. Why do the women in his paintings appear to be passive sitters, locked in quiet isolation, when his own life was a whirl of dinner parties, dances, and theatrical performances? Archival photographs provide insight into Dewing’s dynamic lifestyle at the Cornish art colony he established with his wife, artist Maria Oakley Dewing, in New Hampshire. Exploring Dewing’s social connections reveals how his art was influenced by his friendships with Charles Lang Freer, who encouraged him to pursue Japonisme, and with architect Stanford White, who designed the elaborate frames for many of his paintings on view in this intriguing exhibition.3
Furthermore "Muted in shimmering softness, Dewing’s slender, refined figures are contemporary but timeless, aesthetic objects at once with the paintings’ harmonious compositions and tonal colour schemes. His decorative arrangements are indebted to Whistler, to Japanese art, to Renaissance portraits, and to the interior paintings of women by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. Dewing’s images transcend his own dictum that the purpose of the artist is to “see beautifully”: often haunting and ambiguous, they subtly evince contemporary anxiety about the evolving place of women in society, the decline of New England’s old social elite, and the changes heralded by urbanism, industrialism, and modernity." (Cited from Terra Foundation for American Art)3
Looking through the online gallery, I could imagine the story behind the paintings as well as the gazes involved, both passive and active.
For example -
The painter looking at the model,
The model looking at the painter,
The model looking at herself in the painting,
The audience looking at the painting (both modern and contemporary audiences),
As well as the interesting view of perhaps the museum guard who watches the audience watch the painting, which creates a triangle of the gaze (a square gaze if you include the painting looking out).
I also find the aesthetics of the painting, the romantic elements and influences interesting to learn from. The underlying tone of women in society inspires a lot of ideas relating to narratives.
Some of the works I was particularly attracted to include:
”Sappho” - 1894, “The Blue Dress” - 1892 and “The Lute” - 1904
I can see these paintings as backgrounds to weave a narrative onto. For example, when I look at “The Blue Dress” I see not only a beautiful young woman posing for her photo, but I also see a young woman, possibly a mother fondly watching over her children playing perhaps. This individual interpretation is what draws me towards this style of art, like with literature there is no one way of reading it. Furthermore looking at these paintings I found myself opening up to some questions that reflected my own work. Historically, this time period is interesting in terms of women's rights and expectations. A woman’s place was in the home, as domesticity and motherhood were considered by society at large to be a sufficient emotional fulfilment for females (Abrams). The period of the mid-nineteenth century until the dawn of the twentieth century witnessed a patriarchal male society and female dependence, with women struggling to attain social equality. Women were solely controlled by the society crafted by men and expected to act as a feminine ideal of that period.4 While it is considerably different from today's expectations and cues, there is a certain attraction like that of the paintings, that draw people in. I've read a lot of books that are set in the Victorian-esk era, with the cloche dominant hard working male and the meek feminine woman. This powerplay isn't exactly acceptable in today's standard yet, if this is true, how is it possible that these themes are frequently set in the literary world, especially that of modern novels set in a historic time? (I make this separation because contrmpory victorian novels are of course set at the time and have no hindsight of today's standards.)
Such as -
How are shadow and light is used?
How is the space used?
What is the story behind it, and does it make sense?
What emotions are being felt?
Aesthetically, I am drawn to just how pale and gentle she appears, the brush marks on the dress add a delicate fantasy level. There is also a beautiful movement caught in the dress, bringing the painting to life. It has been a while since I've artistically criticized a painting, as I've been concentrating on text work, so it was nice to change the pace up a little, especially while I'm completing my scroll influenced by the descriptions of Nana (Emile Zola). I usually brainstorm my ideas and within that nest of ideas, influences, examples and editions I attempt to find what works best to communicate my ideas. Dewing's work slides nicely between the description of women in society (the only difference between him and Zola is their materials), be that artistically edited or true to society, and the narrative within an artwork. While broad, I mean narrative in the literary sense, as it can be argued every artwork has in a way a narrative - even if the lack of narrative is the narrative itself. There is also something more on an emotional level that draws me to such themes within his paintings, although as of currently, I don't know how to put a name to it, instinct doesn't quite fit it, it draws me in regardless. If I were ever to be able to see these paintings in the flesh I imagine that attraction would only be multiplied.
1 - https://www.theartstory.org/movement/american-impressionism/
3 - https://www.wikiart.org/en/thomas-dewing
4 - http://www.aglaun.org/archives/spring-2015/prose-and-poetry/the-role-of-women-in-the-19th-and-20th-centuries-by-pamela-balanza/
Comments
Post a Comment