Expression of Human Emotion As an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Home , Louvre, Pierre Rosenberg, Saying Grace (Chardin)

Expression of Human Emotion

as an Aspect of

Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Mauree Grace

A Thesis submitted for the Degree of Masters of Fine Arts

College of Fine Arts

University of New South Wales

March 2009

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Supervisors

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Content

Abstract 1

Introduction 1

Personal Experience of Timelessness 3

Strategies for Conveying Timelessness in Single Figure Painting 4

Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness 14

The Single Figure 21

Conclusion 29

Painting images 31

Picture Credits 41

Bibliography 43

Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Abstract

This MFA project aims to express a particular range of emotions in an attempt to convey a sense of timelessness through a series of single figure paintings done from life. This project derives from an interest in exploring the concept of timelessness. Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin’s Little Girl with Shuttlecock, 1737, gave me the idea to convey timelessness figuratively. The project has employed some of the strategies established by both Chardin and Johannes Vermeer’s single figure paintings in relation to composition and design, colour and tone, the brush mark and the narrative. Nevertheless, the expression of stillness is vital in conveying a sense of timelessness.

Introduction

This MFA project aims to express a particular range of human emotions and also to convey a sense of timelessness through single figure painting from life. This research project has been inspired by Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin’s Little Girl with Shuttlecock, 1737. Both Chardin and Johannes Vermeer established a tradition of conveying timelessness in single figure painting. Hence, it is relevant to look at the strategies they employed. These strategies involved the basic elements of painting. That is: composition and design, colour and tone, the brush mark and the narrative. The expression of human emotion derives specifically from the creative process of mark making. For example, “the physicality of Chardin’s stroke is evocative both of caresses and of touches of reassurance”1. This expression of human emotion is a vital strategy in Chardin’s process. The process of mark making in this project aims to demonstrate emotion in a similar way. The expression of emotion is held within the composition and design that denotes timelessness.

In its broadest definition, timelessness is a state of no time - with no beginning and no ending. My interest in timelessness derives partly from

1 Siri Hustvedt ‘The Man with the Red Crayon’ Modern Painters v.13 no.1 (Spring 2000) 38

1 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting personal experience and partly from a need to contain a defined context for the figure. However, one cannot directly represent the concept of timelessness in a painting project, as it is by nature intangible and invisible. Rather, one strives to evoke a sense of timelessness through the image. In other words, this project only deals with the perception of timelessness in figure painting. The possibility of evoking this perception as with any other perception, is that the viewer may not see what the painter has intended to communicate and may not necessarily experience timelessness. The paintings in this research have not used all the methods that Chardin and Vermeer employed to convey timelessness. This project does not deal with figures in domestic interiors and figures absorbed in a common and repetitive event. Instead, the paintings in this project rely simply on the composition of the single figure in space and the expression of emotion in the figure to convey timelessness. While this focus on the emotion in the figure may not necessarily always evoke an obvious sense of timelessness, it is my hope that the viewer perceives in the single figure feelings of stillness, calm and contemplation, which to me are the human qualities that embody timelessness.

Having briefly explained the broad aims of the research project this paper then goes on to recount a personal experience that initiated my interest in timelessness. It then looks at how Chardin’s single figure work has provided inspiration and also discusses the strategies employed by both Chardin and Vermeer for conveying timelessness. This paper then emphasises how expression of emotion is vital in evoking a sense of timelessness both within Chardin and in my own studio practice. This proposition develops further to explore how human emotion that evokes timelessness can be present in a painting without needing an actual figure. Hence the term “human presence” is used. This paper looks at how “human presence” is evoked in the still life work of Chardin and Giorgio Morandi through the use of inanimate objects. The underlying argument presented here is that the expression of emotion derives from the emotion and intention of the artist’s mark making rather than the subject matter of the image. Through these discussions I want to explain how the work has developed within the tradition of Chardin and Vermeer’s

2 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting single figure painting. This research has enabled me to acquire the visual language of this tradition and apply that to the development of the MFA project.

Personal Experience of Timelessness

A driving force behind this project lies in a personal experience which brought the issue to mind. I once had the experience of slipping into a subliminal state that was akin to Marcel Proust’s “involuntary memory”. I was mending a curtain. There was a lot of material to handle so I spread the curtain on the floor. I sat on a carpeted floor on a hot afternoon whilst a friend of mine was reading newspapers at a table. Everything was quiet. Then it happened; the activity of mending a curtain on a hot afternoon brought back the memory of basket weaving and fish net mending from an ancient time. I slipped into this consciousness of ancient time where everything was forever, and still. I was aware of the immense wisdom and knowledge of the human experience. It was an experience of positive survival that lasted several seconds. I was very quiet afterwards.

This personal experience initiated an interest in exploring the idea of timelessness within painting. Nevertheless, I do not believe that through painting I can represent the specific personal experience of timelessness described above.

My interest in the single figure as a subject is inspired by Chardin’s work Little Girl with Shuttlecock. Pierre Rosenberg says that Chardin’s is “a restful world where time is suspended, a world of indeterminate duration.”2 This “suspension” of time in this work corresponds with my own aims. It was this work that enabled me to grasp that the abstract subject of “timelessness” could be expressed figuratively. It was a delight to have found Chardin’s single figure conveys a sense of the timeless. Figure painting has been a long-standing passion of mine and the

2 Pierre Rosenberg “Chardin, The Great Magician” Pierre Rosenberg; Renaud Temperini Chardin Prestel 2000, 17

3 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting exploration of the theme of timelessness has enabled me to express calm and stillness in a figural work. The question therefore is how can one evoke a sense of the timeless through single figure painting?

Strategies for Conveying Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter is examined here with a view to understanding how Vermeer achieved a sense of the timeless through a single figure. Arthur Wheelock Jr. says that the woman and her world is so familiar yet is “not exactly like reality”.3

Woman in Blue Reading a Letter Vermeer

According to Wheelock, the woman is a pyramid in the centre of the image against a flat wall decorated with a map of Netherlands. Vermeer positions the woman in a small section of a room near the window on the

3 Arthur Wheelock Vermeer & the Art of Painting New Haven: Yale University Press 1995, 7

4 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting left. The figure is vertical, coupled with the horizontal rod at the bottom of the map to create a static composition. The rectangular shape of the table, chairs and the map surrounding the woman, their limited colour scheme of blue and ochre, and their inner design pattern, all complement the static nature of the picture.4 The distinct shapes of the white wall around the woman take an active role in the composition. They are bold and simple, providing a framework for the figure and enhancing the stillness and tranquillity of the picture.5 This reveals the considerable thought that Vermeer gave to composition and design – inclusive of details like the colour of the figure, the furniture and the interior space so that all correspond and relate.

The subject is a woman who is so absorbed in reading a letter. She has no awareness of herself as being watched. Hence Vermeer, with his figure in pure profile, eliminates all idea of the subject being “posed”. Wheelock has noted that the warmth of light and the serenity of the scene draw the viewer in. However, neither the subject nor her environment welcomes the viewer into either her physical or psychological space. The furniture in front of her acts as a barrier between her and the viewer. There exists a subtle tension to pull one back and forth as one is confronted with these conflicting signals.6 With this psychological tension, Vermeer emotionally involves the viewer in the painting.

The tonal arrangement of the picture is such that the woman reading the letter is in focus. Wheelock further notes that the dark horizontal rod at the bottom of the map behind the woman draws attention to the letter she is reading. The right of the figure is in dark shadow contrasting with the bright wall on the right to accentuate the separateness of the woman. The muted tonalities of the map echo the flesh tone of the woman’s face and hair that, for Wheelock, forms a field for her emotion to expand.7 I think this is a clever arrangement: while she is quietly there, the self of the woman does not seem to be there - she is immensely absorbed in the

4 Wheelock 8 5 Wheelock 8 6 Wheelock 7 7 Wheelock 8

5 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting letter and her face and hair blend into the background. Vermeer has also removed the visibility of the brush mark on the woman’s face by applying a thin glaze.8 By doing so, the woman’s face attracts little attention; eye, nose and mouth are softly modulated perhaps to denote the quiet and absorbed state of the woman.

The light effects in this picture are not natural. According to Wheelock, Vermeer used light and shade selectively for compositional effect. The chair near the wall on the left casts two shadows while the woman standing near the wall casts no shadow at all. For Wheelock, the absence of the shadow provides a moment of great privacy and intense concentration that strengthens the psychological impact of the women’s reading.9 Vermeer brightened the wall immediately on her right as though her form radiated light. Wheelock also points out that Vermeer diffused the contour of the woman’s jacket with a light blue, to soften the juncture of her form and the wall.10 By doing so, Vermeer accentuated the impact of the tonal contrast making the figure a prime focus of attention.

The limited palate of blue and ochre is distributed throughout the picture. The ochre of the map extends to the wall below it with a tint of ochre. The blue of the jacket is repeated in the two chairs on the left and right of the picture. The wall on the upper left is tinted with ochre and blue. The dark furniture on the left bottom corner is echoed by the shade of the figure and the back of the chair on the right. Vermeer’s repeated and inventive use of blue and ochre throughout the picture is a key element in harmonising the whole.

In summary, Vermeer’s figure is placed in a static composition that denotes stillness and tranquillity. She is absorbed in reading the letter and unaware of the viewer. As such, it gives little clue as to the identity of the figure or the reason of her being there. What is more important is that the private moment of absorption seems to last forever. These

8 Wheelock 66 9 Wheelock 13 10 Wheelock 13

6 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting strategies form the basis of how my single figure painting is structured. In addition, Vermeer manipulated reality through the image to achieve the effects he desired. For example, he changed the shape and character of the woman’s jacket, adjusted the scale and colour of the map and represented light for compositional effect. These indicate that Vermeer has his attention on the effect of the picture as a whole at all times. He would have scrutinised over and over what visual impact the picture as a whole would have for the viewer. Studying these strategies has particularly changed my way of working; they free me from the habit of simply duplicating as close as possible what is in front of me when I paint. Instead, I can treat my work as an entity in its own right and pursue my aim of creating the effect of a timeless state.

Little Girl with Shuttlecock Chardin

In Chardin’s Little Girl with Shuttlecock, the girl is captured in a moment of distraction or thoughtfulness, something most of Chardin’s figures have

7 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting in common. De Montebello observed, “Part of the poetry in Chardin is the silence of his picture. He captures and holds the moment for eternity.”11

René Démoris explains that the reason why Chardin’s figures have the timeless quality is that they are represented in action, yet there is no movement.12 For Démoris, this is because they are captured at a timeless moment in their action that, very importantly, puts them at rest. It is most remarkably shown for Démoris in the paintings of a boy building a card castle, holding his breath for fear of knocking them over and of a boy fascinated by a spinning top. This precise instant of the figures being motionless when taking a pause from the activity, for Démoris, is a moment of leisure.13 This lost and still moment of ‘uninhabited time’ transcends the time taken up by the activity depicted, for Démoris, thus inducing a sense of infinite duration. Démoris concludes that the figures are caught in action, yet detached from it.14

I suppose looking at Chardin’s figures, one does not wonder what is going to happen next or expect anything else but the here and now. This here and now is infinite; it has no beginning and no end. The sense of detachment, for me, is related to Démoris’ leisure; in other words the light heartedness in an atmosphere of calm and serenity. I think the sense of detachment and the ‘here and now’ are crucial in the interpretation and the perception of timelessness. The atmosphere of calm and serenity comes from the harmonious colouration of the figure and space and the connectedness of the figure and space.

Temperini proposes that Little Girl with Shuttlecock is the most engaging work of Chardin that one can find. Temperini notes that this little girl dressed with great care, gazes into an empty space. She is predominantly milky and light blue against a mid-tone background. For Temperini the

11 cited in Stephen May ‘Chardin at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’ Antiques and the Arts, Story Archive 2000 www.antiquesandthearts.com/CS0-08-15-2000-08-35-15 2/11/2004 12 cited in Rosenberg “The Critical Heritage” Chardin 175 13 cited in Rosenberg “Heritage” Chardin 175 14 cited in Rosenberg “Heritage” Chardin 176

8 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting charm of the picture derived not from the stylistic avenue but from the feeling Chardin embedded in the scene.15 I propose that the charm derives from both the style and the feeling Chardin embedded in the scene. Without the simple and stylish composition, the image would not capture the viewer’s attention long enough to appreciate the deeper and more subtle feeling embedded in the canvas.

The Morning Toilet Chardin

Temperini also points out that Chardin does not rely on the look or the facial expression to convey the feelings of his figures. To convey emotion with expressive gestures was the academic standard of the time. As Rosenberg states, the characteristic of the period is that artists tried to catch movement, changing expressions on the face, a gesture, an attitude

15 Temperini “Compositions” Chardin 114

9 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting and position of a hand.16 According to Temperini, Chardin however, expressed feeling through the “motionless attitudes” and the placement of the body.17 This is evident in a visitor’s comment on The Morning Toilet in the 1741 Salon that there is hardly any woman upon entering the salon who does not recognise “a reference to her own person, the domestic way of life, the manner, the conduct, the routine, the morals, the emotion of her children, even her furniture and her wardrobe.” 18 It is also evident that Chardin treated the inanimate objects with the similar care he gave to the figures. Morality in this particular case is the stable world Chardin’s figures inhabit, they go about their daily routine behaving as decent members of society. As Trevor Winkfield has stated: people know their place in society and there is no presentiment.19 I am in awe of the level of skill and deliberation that Chardin applied in his depictions of the intangible quality of a stable world. I also agree with Rosenberg that the depiction of “motionless attitudes” is opposite to the expressive gestures characteristic of the time which makes Chardin’s works so unique.

Rosenberg also points out that the faces of Chardin’s figures have no individuality and no expression.20 It is clear that Chardin does not wish to draw attention to the personality of a particular individual; rather the emphasis is on the still moment, and a feeling of light heartedness. I propose that the light heartedness, as a shared experience, in a figure of a general individual is more inclined to relate to and connect with the viewer. The light heartedness as a realm away from the concrete reality is rather closer to the one of timelessness. On a more solemn note, Trevor Winkfield believes that everyone under Chardin’s brush is in a state of grace.21 I interpret this as understanding the still moment and the feeling of light heartedness as signifying a detachment from the physical. This perceived detachment invites the viewer to enter the timeless realm.

16 Rosenberg “Unknowing Subversive?” Pierre Rosenberg Chardin, English exhibition catalogue, trans. Caroline Beamish, London: Royal Academy of Arts, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art 2000, 31 17 Temperini “The Compositions” Chardin 105 18 Colin B. Bailey “Anglo-Saxon Attitudes: Recent Writings on Chardin” Chardin, English 82 19 Trevor Winkfield ‘Dear Chardin’ Modern Painters v.13 no.1 (Spring 2000) 32 20 Rosenberg “The Great Magician” Chardin 15 21 Winkfield ‘Dear Chardin’ 32

10 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Chardin’s figures are immersed in silence. I wouldn’t use the term “no expression”; rather it is contemplation or concentration as the figures are very lively. Siri Hustvedt notes that the range of facial expression among Chardin’s figures is tiny, from sober inwardness to the tiniest hint of a smile.22

How does Chardin convey his message in his work? Pierre Rosenberg relates that Chardin depicts common place scenes that do not fit into a story or a single interpretation. Chardin also avoids making reference to a specific contemporary event. Rosenberg observes that this is in contrast to Chardin’s contemporary Jean Baptiste Greuze, who selected the most charged and dramatic event for a painting. For Rosenberg, Chardin deliberately avoided the theatrical and the anecdotal event. I offer that the theatrical and the anecdotal subject matter of paintings such as the work of Greuze remain fixed in specific events that have an anchor for a specific time and a specific place.

The Father’s Curse or The Ungrateful Son Greuze

The repetitive and common event, on the other hand, can be empowered with a sense of the timeless. I explain this with the example of how one feels when performing a repetitive task: one can feel time stand still, the

22 Hustvedt “Red Crayon” 36

11 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting duration seems to last forever. Chardin’s skill in evoking a sense of timelessness rests with his selection of a moment of stillness in the midst of a repetitive and a common event.

Mathon de la Cour in 1765 conceded: “His pictures often deceive the eye.”23 It looks as though they were copied directly from nature. Actually, the eighteen-century French artist and theorist Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1715-1790) reports Chardin saying: “I have to forget everything I have ever seen, right down to the manner in which these subjects have been treated by others.”24 Cochin says it is in this manner that Chardin took up the brushes to paint his rabbit for the first time. Cochin writes, Chardin never copied what was in front of him. Chardin even placed his object in a distance so that he could not see the detail. He particularly aimed at representing the general mass, the shades and colours, the effects of light and shade.25 According to Cochin, Chardin strives for the likeness of tone and effect, which is a different system to the imitation of nature. “This is why he painted [his pictures] over and over until he had attained that toning down that an object’s distance [from the viewer] entails and built up its interrelationship with the surroundings...”26 What this means is Chardin is committed to creating unity in his image and a convincing reality for his single figure. The degree of care Chardin took in building the interrelationship of objects and figure within the picture plane creates a world of stability and peace. This carefully crafted environment engenders a particular type of person: the kind of person who is perfectly at home there.

23 Rosenberg “Magician” Chardin 14 24 Rosenberg “Magician” Chardin 13 25 Rosenberg “Unknowing Subversive?” Chardin, English 28-9 26 Rosenberg “The Critical Heritage” Chardin 170

12 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Lady Taking Tea Chardin

Siri Hustvedt has noted that Chardin makes use of repetition of colour to achieve visual harmonies in composition – for example the recurrence of reds in Lady Taking Tea, 1735. A woman takes her tea at a red table with an open draw. Reds are spotted in the thin stripes of her silk dress, in her cheeks, lips, ear and hand. The rusty tone olive in the background quietly complements these recurring reds. The reds are also offset by blue and the bluish steam from the tea. This repetition of colour and the relation of one colour to another are in no way an imitation of nature. Rather, it is an aspect of an ideal vision wherein tangible colour repetition connects one thing to another.27 Thus the human beings and the objects are related to each other in wholeness. The final result is the magical harmony so characteristic in Chardin’s work.

27 Hustvedt “Red Crayon” 36

13 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

In summary, the strategies Chardin employs to convey timelessness include depicting the single figure in a moment of inactivity, specifically a leisure moment mingled with a common and repetitive event; with little clue to the narrative and the individuality. Similar to Vermeer, Chardin does not paint what he sees but he recreates nature by producing a general impression, a unity and by using repetition of colour throughout the image to achieve visual harmony. Chardin also infuses his figure with “motionless attitude” thus the figure appears at ease in his/her domestic world. I have excluded the strategies of the figure engaged in common and repetitive events and figures situated in a domestic world as this is outside the scope of the MFA project. Stillness and calm in my single figures are the intangible qualities which I see as being similar to the “motionless attitude” in Chardin’s works. Stillness and calm I feel are also a part of conveying timelessness.

Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness

When expressing an emotional quality such as serenity, as in Little Girl with Shuttlecock or Child with a Top, Chardin evokes a sense of timelessness. By this I mean that the figures are captured in a still moment wherein their silent attitude, relaxed posture and calm expressions convey a sense of detachment – that is, a detachment from the physicality and the busy-ness of life. With this detachment the subjects arrive at a state of permanence – a state of the spiritual, unaffected by time. This permanence is where the evocation of timelessness resides.

I propose that the timelessness evoked by Chardin in works such as Little Girl with Shuttlecock and Child with a Top is achieved through the peace in the subjects. What I mean is that the peace in the subject created a detachment from the physical world as well as a momentary stillness. The stilled emotion of the human subject in the experience of suspended time conveys to the viewer an expression of timelessness.

14 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

This stilled emotion is expressed through the creative process of mark making or how it is painted; it does not derive from the subject matter or what is painted. To elaborate on this further, in the next paragraphs, I look at how Chardin’s still life work evokes a sense of human presence and particularly how examples of his figural and non-figural works, evoke a similar range of emotions. The still life work of Morandi is also discussed for the evocative nature of his brush marks. Finally, Chuck Close’s portrait is touched upon as a contrast to the human emotion in Chardin and Morandi. His lack of human emotion being due to his mechanical process of mark making.

When painting involves direct mark making by the painter that is not mechanical it can be said that the body has left its mark on the canvas. This is the case with Chardin’s works. Although Siri Hustvedt acknowledged that “the imprint may be subliminal, it is felt”.28 Human presence as an invisible element seems to be the “caress”29 that is given to the canvas by the artist in the act of making. This act of making for Charles-Nicolas Cochin is purely driven by the effect of the feelings that inspired the artist as he/she works.30 However, I do not subscribe to Cochin’s view that this technique is merely craft because Cochin himself said “I call anything that I don’t know craft”.31 This human presence that seems to come from the “caress” can only be felt or perceived. In this sense, in order to receive the invisible, we must look and look hard, “till we live the painting and for a fleeting moment become identified with it”.32

28 Hustvedt ‘Red Crayon’ 38 29 René Démoris “Chardin and the Far Side of Illusion” Chardin, English 108 30 cited in Démoris “Chardin and the Far Side” Chardin, English 108 31 cited in Démoris “Chardin and the Far Side” Chardin, English 108 32 Bernard Berenson The Italian Painters of the Renaissance 3rd edition (1st published 1952) Phaidon 1980 xiii

15 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Glass of Water and Coffee Pot Chardin

Siri Hustvedt notes that in Chardin’s Glass of Water and Coffee Pot, “we can see in the paint the presence of man who worked with intelligence and with love”. It is evident that something invisible is working here. This is the quality that made Denis Diderot remark “what magic is it?”33, and Marcel Proust articulate that “the canvases invoke a strong human presence even when they show nothing more than a few pieces of fruit and cookpot”34. Hence, Chardin has evoked a sense of human presence in his still life even though it is not figurative work. What is this quality of human presence in Chardin’s still life and how has it been conveyed? Hustvedt said Glass of Water and Coffeepot inspires in him “an almost inexpressible tenderness that is close to pain”.35 Hustvedt also said that through these recognisable objects, Chardin invented “essences of human

33 Karen Wilkin ‘The Splendid Chardin’ The New Criterion http://newcriterion.com:81/archive/19/sept00/wilkin.htm (14 Aug 2007) 34 Hustvedt ‘Red Crayon’ 35 35 Hustvedt ‘Red Crayon’ 37

16 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting dignity”.36 In summary, the human presence in this particular still life is the quality of being human: it is modest, dignified and full of tenderness.

“Touch lies at the bottom of all human experience. It is our first experience of another person, and the physicality of Chardin’s stroke is evocative both of caresses and of touches of reassurance. I am certain that these strokes made by a paintbrush lie at the bottom of Proust’s comment that in Chardin one feels the affection a tablecloth has for a table.”37

Basket of Wild Strawberries Chardin

36 Hustvedt ‘Red Crayon’ 38 37 Hustvedt ‘Red Crayon’ 38

17 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Saying Grace Chardin

For Rosenberg, Chardin has always baffled enquiry and defied description38 because of the evocative nature of his works. A particular evocative quality can be found in both his still life and figure works. André Gide wrote in 1937: “I can find in Chardin’s Basket of Wild Strawberries, for example, as profound a meditative spirit as in Saying Grace.”39 Charles-Nicolas Cochin (1780), a faithful friend of Chardin, records Chardin saying: “We make use of colour, but what we paint with is feeling.”40 This demonstrates that according to Chardin, the evocative quality, that is the emotion, derives from the process of creating the work rather than the subject matter. The process of creation is the process of painting with feeling, that is painting in a state of mind that would generate the desired feeling. This is an important method I have gained from Chardin that I have applied when working with the expression of emotion in the single figure in the MFA project. I strongly believe that the feeling evoked by Chardin’s images is exactly the same feeling that he

38 Rosenberg “Unknowing Subversive?” Chardin, English 33 39 cited in Rosenberg “Chardin, ‘The Great Magician’” Chardin 17 40 cited in Rosenberg “The Great Magician” Chardin 17

18 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting painted with. It is Chardin’s evocative brush marks that convey the same feeling of the meditative spirit, in both his Basket of Wild Strawberries and Saying Grace.

©Giorgio Morandi, 1957/SIAE.Licensed by VISCOPY, Sydney 2009 Still Life Morandi

Another non-figural painter, Giorgio Morandi also deserves mention for the human presence he imbued in his still lifes. Morandi’s still life is not just a still life, it is a thought form. By this I mean the image captures traces of Morandi’s thinking processes, e.g. the deliberately slow pace and unhurried nature are all transfixed in the image. In Still Life 1957, the composition consists of 2 vases and a bowl grouped together. The weight of the group is on the centre and towards the left. The space around the objects is equally important. The horizon line seems to divide this space into heaven and earth.

The subject matter of this painting appears to be still life objects, but it is much more about the way he handles the paint. The brush marks on the background are left visible so that one can see the way he filled the space

19 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting around the objects. One can read from the marks the direction, the speed they travelled and his “caress” which are all fixed in front of us. That is why critic Kenneth Baker interprets that looking at Morandi’s painting is a way of thinking about how we value our time.41 The human presence evoked by the brush mark is instantaneous and immediate, that is, simplicity, calmness, stillness, humility and meditativeness.

THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS, The John R. Van Derlip Fund Frank Close

On the other hand, Chuck Close’s large-scale portrait painting lacks human emotion. Close does not paint portraits from live models. Rather,

41 Kenneth Baker “Redemption through Painting: Late Works of Morandi” Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi An Exhibition Organized by the Des Moines Art Center Des Moines, Iowa: The Center c 1981 44

20 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting as Lisa Lyons concludes Close paints “portraits of photographs of his subjects - never the subject themselves”.42 His painting method is a process of transferring information from a grid photograph, square by square onto a canvas, mostly large scale.43 This is far from painting a figure. There is nothing. No signature or anything expressive from his own person through his mark making; it is rather a mechanical process. The final product is a documentation of the faces seen through a camera viewfinder; it does not contain human emotion.

In summary, the expression of emotion has to come from the emotion and intension of the artist’s brush mark.

The Single Figure

After having discovered Chardin’s working process in his single figure compositions, I was much more focused in dealing with the notion of timelessness in my own work. The study of the strategies employed by Chardin and Vermeer has helped me organise the structure of my image. The strategies I adopted are the simplicity in composition, harmonious colouration, repetitive use of colour and small and soft brush marks throughout the image. The figure stares out in a distance, is seemingly unaware of the viewer and also leaves little clue as to individuality. The format of the figure in an interior and figure engaged in common and repetitive events were not chosen as it was felt that they distract attention from the stillness and emotion of the figure. (I did experiment in two works with the figure in an interior.) I strongly believe that the stilled emotion predominately derives from the creative process of mark making. That is through painting in a quiet and contemplative state to produce the effect of stillness. I can imagine that Chardin would have done the same when he painted with feeling. What I mean is that Chardin evokes a sense of serenity through painting with a similar sate of mind.

42 Storr, Robert, Chuck Close Chuck Close: Lisa Lyons and Robert Storr Rizzoli 1987, 30 43 Storr 28

21 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Prior to the MFA project, I completed a number of self-portraits that aimed to portray different states of emotions. I felt that they did not accomplish their aim because the self-portrait invariably is recognised as a representation of the interiority and likeness of an individual. With this thought in mind, I moved away from the frontal view of a figure to avoid depicting individuality. I adopted the format of Chardin’s Little Girl with Shuttlecock because, as Rosenberg pointed out, Chardin gives little clue as to the individuality of the figure. This is done through a figure in profile and a figure absorbed in a specific moment – a moment of leisure. It is also an accepted convention that a profile view of a figure does limit the presentation of individuality44 because it restricts the emotional expression by negating an emotional reading by the viewer.

A State of Mind (Rochelle)

On the other hand, the drawing of Rochelle is about the individuality of a person. The activity of Rochelle’s mind is reflected in the face. This is made visible through the near full frontal view. She is concerned with her universe and is absorbed in a state of mind. Compare this with the latest painting of a single figure in a three quarter view and captured in a

44 Lorne Campbell Renaissance Portraits: European Portrait – Painting in the 14th, 15th & 16th Centuries Yale University Press 1990, 81

22 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting moment of stillness; the latter lacks the same degree of individuality. This is because the subject of Geoff#4 is not absorbed in his own universe; rather, he has his attention outside of himself. In other words, what creates this lack of individuality is the fact that the stillness of the figure creates a detachment from the physical world and takes the attention away from the individual.

The stillness of Geoff #4 comes from his focus and concentrated gaze outside of the canvas. My reading on his gaze and his facial expression is that Geoff #4 has his attention outside of himself. Rochelle’s gaze, although it is outside of the canvas, is unfocused and less concentrated. My reading on her gaze and her facial expression is that she is absorbed in her own universe.

Still life Figure (Geoff #4) – Detail

The aspect of individuality with which I am concerned is that of someone absorbed in his/her universe, in a state of mind. In A State of Mind (Rochelle), the individuality is emphasised because she is absorbed in her own universe. The subject of Geoff#4 is not absorbed in his own world

23 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting but caught in a moment of stillness. In simple terms, a moment of stillness is vital in conveying timelessness because the subject is not absorbed in its own state of mind. A profile view of a figure makes the detachment from the physical world much more visible than a three quarter view.

The composition of the single figure in space is predetermined. It is important to keep the image simple and to concentrate on the detached and contemplative mode of the figure. The figure is placed in a non- specific space that has no anchor in time and place; hence it seems to encourage the timeless reading of the image.

Still Life Figure (Isolda)

On two occasions, I experimented with the figure in an interior space. In Still Life Figure (Isolda) I have deliberately left the under painting showing through to denote the temporality of the physical, that is the airiness behind the curtain and the thin paint in the dark shadow on the torso of the figure. Most parts of the figure have more paint on them in contrast with the backdrop of airiness, which is thinly painted and as a result, the

24 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting figure seems more still and more permanent. This interior is unlike that of Chardin’s; it is just an airy interior space with objects merely depicted as colour and pattern.

Repetitive use of colour and a limited pallet are used to create a sense of harmony. Colours in the interior amplified the colours used in the figure. For example the yellow of the curtain, the orange on the right side of the figure and the blue chair at the lower left hand corner, all reflect the colours used in the figure. Here colour is used to unify the whole picture by repetitive use throughout the image, an important strategy in both Chardin and Vermeer’s works. The limited pallet is not the result of observation, but chosen to achieve harmonious colour effect, and as a result create a unity in the picture. This enhances the reading of stillness and calm.

Still Life Figure (Jacky)

25 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

In another experiment, I limited myself to using monochrome, that is, raw umber only as the ground and sketching the figure onto it in white. This is the only time the figure is sketched, not painted; therefore there is no room for mistakes. The only way to correct a mistake is to reprepare the ground to start again. The first under-painting is done in acrylic raw umber which has a warm tint. The second layer of raw umber is in oil, is cold and sparingly covers the surface thus allowing the warm under- painting to come through. This quality is only evident in the hair of the figure in Still Life Figure (Jacky) because of the subsequent reworking of the surface; the warm under-painting is no longer visible in the background.

Out of the monochrome experiment, only two paintings remain. There were three figure works that had to be transferred to colour as their skin tone made them look corpse like. These figures did not work perhaps because each of them was not sufficiently pleasing as a monochrome sketch.

In the start of the painting process, the canvas is covered with acrylic raw umber done with a small paint brush (no.1). The aim is to produce a field, a field that is sometimes eerie, upon which the figure is sketched and painted. This process helps to settle the figure onto the canvas and in space so that they belong to each other. So far, the warm ground that is subsequently built up from the under-painting is the preferred ground for the figure. This has been influenced by Chardin and his fondness of using warm browns as a contrasting background.45 The warm colouration along with the intimate figure and space relation is important for establishing the feeling of intimacy.

The figure is never over life size. The canvas is small enough to draw the viewer close yet still preserve a distance that is required in order that the viewer takes in the picture as a whole.

45 Rosenberg “Magician” Chardin 15

26 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Child with a Top Chardin

I have chosen the format of light figure in dark ground and I am still working towards lightening up the tone of the figure. Chardin’s Little Girl with Shuttlecock and Child with a Top are high key in tone; so much so that the head of the child in the latter painting is like a light globe. Perhaps Chardin did this to idealise his figure, to create light-heartedness and gracefulness. The figure in Child with a Top is also basking in a different light source, e.g. the head is intensely brightened from the lower left hand corner while the torso is lit up from upper left hand, and these variable light sources seem to alter the perception of what is normal so as to form part of the strategies to entice a reading of timelessness.

27 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still Life Figure (Grego)

Most of the figures are of three quarter length except the portrait of Grego which is only head and shoulder length. However, the portrait of Grego captured a light source from the top left hand corner outside the canvas emitting a crisp look about him. This is the most idealised figure because of the brilliant tonal contrast on the face. There is also a subtle contrast of warm and cool colour on his nose. In addition, the figure relates to the space around him as a whole. This is due to the fact that there is a common colour running through the figure and space.

Chuck Close comments that painting with live models can become a mean average of all experiences because they can change from day to day.46 From my experience, I enjoy working with live models. It is a slow process that can take at least twenty-four sittings. I am always conscious of my aim when I work. There were times when I could not do certain parts like the hand, the eye; I would work on something else and come back to it the next time. When I am working on the head, if it is

46 Storr 30

28 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting necessary, I will request the sitter to be still. Thus, this process is not exactly painting what is in front of me but a combination of painting what is in front of me and my aim.

The aim of evoking a sense of calm, stillness and contemplation in the figure derives from the creative process of imbuing feeling in the painting. By this I mean, painting in a particular state of mind in order to generate the brush marks that would evoke that particular feeling. It is the strokes made by a paintbrush that lie at the bottom of Proust’s comment that in Chardin one feels the affection a tablecloth has for a table. I am certain that the stilled emotion comes from the process of mark making, that is working in a slow and contemplative manner. That is why Morandi spent weeks planning the picture and more weeks thinking about how he was to paint before he actually painted. It seems to be a part of preparing himself for the right state of mind in order to convey that intangible quality through his execution.

Conclusion

According to Chardin and Vermeer, the strategies for conveying a sense of timelessness in single figure painting involve static composition, harmonious colouration and repetitive use of colour throughout the image. In addition, the figure is caught in a specific moment while involved in a common and repetitive event with no hint of a narrative. The figure is in profile and is seemingly unaware of the viewer thus providing little clue as to its individuality. Both Chardin and Vermeer do not paint what is in front of them. Rather, they manipulate formal elements as a means of expression. Hence, their images appear natural but not exactly like any particular reality. Moreover, Chardin paints his picture with feeling thus his figures in interior engender a world of stability and peace.

Painting with feeling is an important process to convey an intangible quality in the work. In other words, the intangible quality of stilled emotion that derives from the process of mark making by which the painter works simultaneously with a state of stillness.

29 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

The structure of the image in my own project derives from selected strategies of Chardin and Vermeer and focuses on expressing the stilled emotion in an attempt to convey timelessness. My work is therefore situated within the tradition of single figure compositions of Chardin and Vermeer. Without the knowledge of the tradition, the viewer may not see the work in the same light. Nevertheless, I agree with Berenson that we shall hope that the viewers look and look hard, till they live the painting and for a fleeting moment of time identify with the stillness, calm and contemplation of the figure.

30 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Eon) Oil on canvas 76cmx76cm 2006

31 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Geoff #1) Oil on canvas 61cmx51cm 2005

32 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Geoff #2) Oil on canvas 83cmx76cm 2006

33 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Geoff #3) Oil on canvas 44cmx51cm 2007

34 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Grego) Oil on canvas 60cmx60cm 2006

35 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Isolda) 46cmx61cm 2007-2008

36 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Jacky) Oil on canvas 60cmx80cm 2006-2007

37 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Kasumi) Oil on canvas 62cmx51cm 2005-2007

38 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Nikki) Oil on canvas 60cmx50cm 2005

39 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Tommy) Oil on canvas 50cmx60cm 2006

40 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Still life figure (Geoff #4) Oil on canvas 50.5cmx40.5cm 2008-2009

41 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Picture Credits

Chardin A Lady Taking Tea 1735. Oil on canvas, 80 x 101cm. Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow. Chardin. By Pierre Rosenberg, Renaud Temperini. Prestel 2000. 82

Chardin Basket of Wild Strawberries c.1760. Oil on canvas, 38 x 46cm. Private collection, Paris. 23Sept.09 http://en.easyart.com/art- prints/artists/Jean-Baptiste-Chardin-2370.html

Chardin Child with a Top Before 1738. Oil on canvas, 67 x 76cm. Louvre, Paris. Chardin. By Pierre Rosenberg, Renaud Temperini. Prestel 2000. 109

Chardin Girl with a Shuttlecock 1737. Oil on canvas, 81 x 65cm. Private collection, Paris. Chardin. By Pierre Rosenberg, Renaud Temperini. Prestel 2000. 109

Chardin Glass of Water and Coffee-pot c.1760. Oil on canvas, 32.5 x 41cm. Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Howard A. Noble Collection. Chardin. By Pierre Rosenberg, Renaud Temperini. Prestel 2000. 134

Chardin La Toilette du matin (The Morning Toilet) c.1740. Oil on canvas, 49 x 39cm. Nationalmuseum, Stockolm. Chardin. By Pierre Rosenberg, Renaud Temperini. Prestel 2000. 89

Chardin Saying Grace c.1740. Oil on canvas, 49.5 x 39.5cm. Louvre, Paris. 23Sept.08 http://underthegables.blogspot.com/2007/06/fine-art- friday.html

Chuck Close Frank 1969. Acrylic on canvas. 274 x 213cm. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The John R. Van Derlip Fund.

Greuze, Jean-Baptiste The Ungrateful Son 1777. Oil on canvas. 130 x 162cm. Louvre, Paris. 17Feb.09 http://www.myartprints.com/a/greuze- jean-baptiste/the-fathers-curse-or-the.html

42 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

Morandi Still Life 1957. Art Gallery NSW. 18Feb.09 http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/

Vermeer Woman in Blue Reading a Letter c.1663-4. Oil on canvas, 46.5 x 39cm. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (on loan from the city of Amsterdam). 23Sept.09 http://yjlee.com/vermeer/vermeer-woman-in-blue.jpg

43 Expression of Human Emotion as an Aspect of Timelessness in Single Figure Painting

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