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 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT 'I hereby grant the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archiveand to make availablemy thesis or dissertationin whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the 350 word abstract of my thesis in Dissertation Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral thesesonly). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digitalcopy of my thesisor dissertation.' Date a-r. h, P.7 AUTHENTICITY STATEMENT 'I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalentof the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversionto digital format.' sisned ..''..U'1*cUl*^.'. Date Jr. ORIGINALITY STATEMENT 'I hereby declarethat this submissionis my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educatlonalinstitution, except where due acknowledgementis made in the thesis.Any contributionmade to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere,is explicitlyacknowledged in the thesis. I also declarethat the intellectualcontent of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expressionis acknowledged.' 'Date...........*.'f, f , O 7 Supervisors Andrew Christofides Paula Dawson 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.