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Domesticity and Masculinity in 1950S British Painting

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Domesticity and Masculinity in 1950S British Painting Domesticity And Masculinity In 1950s British Painting Gregory Salter PhD University Of East Anglia School Of Art History And World Art Studies August 2013 Abstract This thesis examines how men experienced domesticity in the 1950s in Britain and analyses the role that artistic representations play in the expression and formulation of this masculine selfhood in this context. It considers domesticity at this historical moment as an inherently flexible concept: one that takes in the private spaces of the home as well as more public realms and aspects beyond it, and includes a variety of relationships, both familial and non-familial. At the same time, it highlights the social structures surrounding domesticity in Britain at this time – exemplified by the policies and aims of the welfare state and post- war reconstruction, and their reflection in institutions and social beliefs – particularly their assumptions about specific gender roles, particularly in relation to masculinity, in the context of the family, sexuality and work. As a result, my thesis examines how four male artists operated in this context – as individuals negotiating particular identifications of masculine selfhood within their own private and unstable conceptions of domesticity, in relation to, and sometimes at odds with, the public social structures in Britain around them. It focuses on the art of four male artists working in Britain in the immediate post- war period: John Bratby, Francis Bacon, Keith Vaughan and Victor Pasmore. By placing their work in a wide social and cultural context, including social history, sociology, psychoanalysis, literature, and the popular press, this thesis significantly expands the academic work on modern art in Britain after the Second World War. Furthermore, it begins to interrogate and expand on the relationship between art, domesticity, selfhood, and, more broadly, everyday life. By focusing on the ways in which art and life interact in the work of these artists, it argues that artistic representations, for these artists at this historical moment, serve as ways to negotiate the unstable and seemingly impossible task of selfhood, within the expansive, fluctuating realms of domesticity. 2 Contents List Of Images 4 Acknowledgements 8 Introduction 10 Chapter One: “Someone To Paint”: John Bratby and Domesticity 36 Chapter Two: Abject Intimacy: Francis Bacon and Domesticity 82 Chapter Three: “We Set Up Our Own World”: Keith Vaughan and Domesticity 123 Chapter Four: “Designing From The Inside”: Victor Pasmore and Domesticity 179 Conclusion 237 Bibliography 243 3 List Of Images Figure 1: John Bratby, Interior With Jean, c. 1955, oil on board, 122.2 x 99.3cm, private collection, page 37 Figure 2: John Bratby, Courtyard With Washing, 1956, oil on board, 122 x 172.7cm, Birmingham Museums Trust, page 44 Figure 3: Claude Monet, Femmes au Jardin, 1866, oil on canvas, 255 x 205cm, Musée d’Orsay, Paris, page 47 Figure 4: John Bratby, Three Self-Portraits With A White Wall, 1957, oil on board, 241.9 x 196.9cm, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, page 52 Figure 5: John Bratby, Jean At The Basin, 1955, oil on board, 125 x 82cm, private collection, page 58 Figure 6: John Bratby, Jean On The Sofa With A Teddy, 1954, oil on board, 99.1 x 73.7cm, Hartnoll collection, page 67 Figure 7: John Bratby, Jean And Still Life In Front Of A Window, 1954, oil on board, 122 x 108cm, Southampton City Art Gallery, page 72 Figure 8: John Bratby, Jean In Bed, 1954, oil on canvas, 50.8 x 76.2cm, private collection, page 74 Figure 9: Caravaggio, Medusa, 1597, oil on canvas mounted on wood, 60 x 55cm, Uffizi, Florence, page 75 Figure 10: Jean Cooke, John Bratby, 1954, oil on canvas, 122 x 91.4cm, Royal Academy Of Arts, page 79 Figure 11: Jean Cooke, John Bratby, 1962, oil on canvas, 130.8 x 61cm, Royal College of Art, page 80 Figure 12: Francis Bacon, Two Figures, 1953, oil on canvas, 152.5 x 116.5cm, private collection, page 83 Figure 13: Francis Bacon, Man In Blue IV, 1954, oil on canvas, 198 x 137cm, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, page 89 Figure 14: Francis Bacon, Man In Blue I, 1954, oil on canvas, 198 x 137cm, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, page 90 Figure 15: Francis Bacon, Figure in a Landscape, 1945, oil on canvas, 144.8 x 128.3cm, Tate, London, page 99 4 Figure 16: Francis Bacon, Two Figures in the Grass, 1954, oil on canvas, 152 x 117cm, private collection, page 110 Figure 17: Francis Bacon, Study For a Portrait of P.L., No. 2, 1957, oil on canvas, 152.5 x 119.5cm, Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection, University of East Anglia, page 118 Figure 18: Keith Vaughan, Assembly Of Figures I, 1952, oil on board, 142 x 116.8cm, Sainsbury Centre For Visual Art, University Of East Anglia, page 125 Figure 19: Photograph of man draped in fabric, originally from Dick’s Book Of Photos, c. 1941, page 127 Figure 20: Photograph of Keith Vaughan’s brother Dick with nude male figures at Pagham, originally from Dick’s Book Of Photos, c. 1941, page 128 Figure 21: Photograph of male figure lying on the shingle at Pagham, from Dick’s Book Of Photos, c. 1941, Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery and Museum, page 131 Figure 22: Photograph of two men at Highgate Ponds, c. 1933, from Dick’s Book Of Photos, c. 1941, Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery and Museum, page 131 Figure 23: Two photographs of figures on a diving platform, from Dick’s Book Of Photos, c. 1941, Aberystwyth University School of Art Gallery and Museum, page 132 Figure 24: Keith Vaughan, Camp Construction, 1941, pen and ink and wash on paper, 21.5 x 27cm, private collection, page 135 Figure 25: Keith Vaughan, Breakfast In The Marquee, 1942, pen and wash on paper, 15 x 19.5cm, private collection, page 135 Figure 26: Keith Vaughan, Potato Peeling, 1942, pen and wash on paper, 20 x 28cm, private collection, page 136 Figure 27: Keith Vaughan, Winter Woollies, 1941, pen and ink and wash on paper, 20.3 x 27.3cm, private collection, page 136 Figure 28: Keith Vaughan, sketch of two male figures from his journal, c. May 1944, Tate Gallery Archive, TGA200817/1/21, page 145 Figure 29: Keith Vaughan, Fishermen and Bathers, 1951, oil on canvas, 76.2 x 127cm, private collection, page 147 5 Figure 30: Keith Vaughan, Two Figures By A Boat – The Wanderings of Odysseus, 1937, oil on board, 40 x 51cm, private collection, page 152 Figure 31: Keith Vaughan, Interior with Nude Figures, 1949, oil on canvas, 71 x 91.5cm, private collection, page 163 Figure 32: Keith Vaughan, Theseus and the Minotaure, 1950, oil on canvas, 152.5 x 203cm, Dr Mark Cecil Collection, page 168 Figure 33: Keith Vaughan, Lazarus, 1956, oil on board, 110.5 x 81.2cm, private collection, page 176 Figure 34: Victor Pasmore, Lamplight, 1941, oil on canvas, 63.5 x 76.2cm, Tate, London, page 180 Figure 35: Victor Pasmore, Nude, 1941, oil on canvas, 61 x 50.8cm, Tate, London, page 186 Figure 36: Auguste Renoir, La Baigneuse Blonde, 1882, oil on canvas, 90 x 63cm, Gianni Agnelli Collection, Turin, page 188 Figure 37: Victor Pasmore, Interior with Reclining Women, c. 1944-46, oil on canvas, 113 x 284cm, private collection, page 191 Figure 38: Victor Pasmore, The Evening Star: The Effect Of Mist, 1945-47, oil on canvas, 76 x 101.5cm, private collection, page 198 Figure 39: Victor Pasmore, Riverside Gardens, Hammersmith, 1944, oil on canvas, 45.7 x 61cm, Arts Council Collection, page 203 Figure 40: Victor Pasmore, Square Motif: Green and Lilac, 1948, oil on panel, 23 x 33cm, private collection, page 213 Figure 41: Victor Pasmore and Richard Hamilton, An Exhibit, 1957, first presented at the Hatton Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, page 222 Figure 42: Victor Pasmore, Plan for the south-west area of Peterlee, 1962, page 225 Figure 43: Photograph of a pram outside a two-storey detached house in Peterlee, from Architectural Review, February 1961, p. 97, page 226 Figure 44: Photograph of children playing on a modernist ‘play sculpture’ designed by Peter Daniel in a courtyard off Avon Road in Peterlee, from Architectural Review, February 1961, p. 93, page 226 Figure 45: Victor Pasmore, Apollo Pavilion, 1970, page 234 6 Figure 46: Pasmore’s Apollo Pavilion after it had fallen into disrepair, c. 1980s, page 234 Figure 47: Gilbert & George, Angry, 1977, mixed media, 302 x 252cm, Kröller- Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands, page 238 7 Acknowledgements I would not have been able to carry out this research without a studentship from the Arts And Humanities Research Council - I am extremely grateful for their support and feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to spend three years researching a subject that I am passionate about. This thesis would not have been possible without the advice, encouragement and support of my supervisor, David Peters Corbett. I cannot thank him enough for his suggestions and guidance throughout the researching and writing of this thesis, his good humour and tolerance when I occasionally veered off track, and his help in navigating all the new and unfamiliar challenges that come with doing a PhD. Being able to study in the school of Art History and World Art Studies at the University of East Anglia has been a tremendous privilege, and I would like to thank the staff there for their support – particularly Sarah Monks, who offered advice and encouragement throughout the process, and Beverley Youngman, whose help and complete know-how has been invaluable during my time at UEA.
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