William Morris. Manchester
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EXHIBITION REVIEWS exhibited works, The cousin brings breakfast graphic artist and as a painter. In paint- Walter Scott's Abbotsford and of Scar- and Liebestod in the Jaegerstrasse, both of ings such as Four womenin the cafi and Self- isbrick Hall by A. W. N. Pugin, together 1922, passionate and violent behaviour is portrait with Marianne at studio window with works by C. W. Cope, William Dyce depicted against a mass of detail. In each (1930, Fig.63), he exploits the late medi- and J. R. Herbert relating either to the case the detail implies a code of behaviour eval tradition of northern Europe for its Westminster decorations or to Royal which is defied by the actions of the qualities of mystery and the grotesque. Academy historical paintings fill out this characters. In the first the room is filled The women in the caf6 remind one of the section, the centrepiece of which is Daniel with a plethora of bourgeois bedroom toothless gnomes of Bruegel and Bosch, Maclise's impressive Robin Hood of 1839 comforts: overstuffed cushions and duvet while the artist's studio in the portrait is (Madame Tussaud's), a paradigm for the with frilled edges, cupboards, cabinets engulfed by an Altdorfer landscape. The early Victorian concept of the Middle and washstand. In contrast to these well influence of this type of imagery on his Ages as 'Merry England' at its jolliest. established symbols of Gemiitlichkeitwe see work makes us aware that much of the A scene from the Life of St Frideswide of the passionate and demented behaviour of crowded, frenzied and distorted city 1859 by Burne-Jones (Cheltenham the male figure and the submission of the scenes are modern renderings of that late Ladies' College) with a Gozzoli-like blend woman. In the Liebestod, a title which mediaeval hell. Hubbuch emerges from of pigs, sunflowers and knights in armour, mocks the pathos of operatic tradition, we the present exhibition as a painter of indi- introduces the theme of the Pre- find a crime of passion enacted against a vidual distinction and as a unique media- Raphaelites' interest in mediaevalism, so background of urban commerce repre- tor between right and left, tradition and stimulated by Ruskin. His didactic sented by a bar, a brothel, a pawnshop innovation. A catalogue somewhat richer influence is seen in an instructive plaster and a hotel. The background is indicative in critical information could have pro- cast (Guild of St George) of a spiral relief of a reality in which human relationships vided an even better introduction to his from the north door of Rouen Cathedral, are commercialised, and against which work. which strikingly presages Morris's later the tragedy played out in the street seems George Tappert, another painter designs for chintzes and the borders of a hopeless and pathetic gesture. This con- affiliated to this movement, was on view at books. Source material of another type is frontation between reality and its values Leinster Fine Art (10th October to 10th examined in Victorian text books on his- and what appears to be defiant, excessive November). He too was a Berlin contem- toric dress, extensively used by the Pre- behaviour is everywhere in Hubbuch's porary of Neue Sachlichkeit and a political Raphaelites. But such works were not work. For example in Nude in Bauhaus chair affiliate of Grosz and Hubbuch's. The ex- their only inspiration, as is demonstrated (Fig.74) he juxtaposes the pared down hibition provided us with a very valuable by Jane Morris's jewel casket (Fig.78). A chrome and leather construction, a meta- insight into the diversity encompassed by hinged casket with a gabled lid in the form phor for the 'form is function' aesthetic of such a group identity. This group of of a Gothic reliquary, its painted 'panels the Bauhaus, with the uncomfortable pose water-colours and drawings showed an by Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal depict of a soft nude with a quizzical expression. affectionate side of Tappert's art, which courtly scenes of the early fifteenth His fascination with the expressive seemed almost like an updating of the century. The central panel derives from a autonomy of objects exemplified in the popular work of Heinrich Zille, concen- French miniature of 1403-08 illustrating Gramophone(Fig.75) is a synthesis of Berlin trating on charaterisation rather than on the Poems of Christine de Pisan (Fig.80), Dada's ideological emphasis on machines social scrutiny. which was studied by the artists in the and mechanical processes and the IRIT KEYNAN ROGOFF British Museum. hermetically sealed still life works of his The jewel casket is displayed in a Munich contemporaries Kanoldt and recreation of a room in the Red House, Schrimpf. Hubbuch, born and trained in one of several imaginative room settings, Karlsruhe with frequent study trips to Manchester the most notable recreating the Medi- Berlin, moved between the two geograph- William Morris aeval Court at the International Ex- ical and ideological extremes of the New This year is proving to be an annus hibition of 1862. The Pre-Raphaelite use Objectivity movement. In Berlin he asso- mirabilis for Pre-Raphaelite exhibitions. ofArthurian themes is shown both in stud- ciated with George Grosz and Rudolph After the successful Tate Gallery show in ies for the Oxford Union frescoes and in Schlichter, and through them with the the summer, an exhibition of comparable later stained glass designs. Ecclesiastical Novembergruppe and Rote Gruppe, with scope that fittingly celebrates the 150th commissions for stained glass were of great whose radical socialist and later commu- anniversary of Morris's birth has been on importance in the early years of Morris nist views he was in complete accordance. view at the Whitworth Art Gallery and Company, and the windows pro- However, when he tried to submit politi- (William Morris and the Middle Ages, 28th duced for four churches by G. F. Bodley cal drawings to Grosz and Heartfield their September to 8th December). It is highly form the subject for a rewarding audio- response was 'Not direct enough, too appropriate that this major exhibition visual show; Morris's vigorous draughts- involved'; obviously Hubbuch's art, should be mounted in Manchester, always manship is seen here to great advantage, though socially and indirectly politically a centre for Pre-Raphaelite studies, where as for example in a cartoon of 1862 for the motivated, was too preoccupied with style the energetic visitor can also see Madox Archangel Gabriel (Fig.79). and too intricate to make a popular Brown's frescoes in Alfred Waterhouse's For Morris and Burne-Jones the works political statement. Gothic revival Town Hall. of Chaucer proved a life long source of On the other hand Karlsruhe was geo- The exhibition sets Morris's concern for inspiration which culminated in the graphically and spiritually closer to the Middle Ages within the broader Kelmscott Press Chaucer,vividly described Munich, where the so called right-wing or context of the revival of interest in medi- by Burne-Jones 'as a little like a pocket neo-classical faction of New Objectivity aevalism in the nineteenth century. The cathedral'. The book gains from being was centred, whose style evolved around organisers have successfully cast their nets seen with less familiar works inspired by the transfiguration of objects into the wide in public and private collections for Chaucerian themes, particularly Burne- timeless and the universal. Hubbuch, who their exhibits. Surprises come thick and Jones's drawings for the uncompleted em- served as professor at the Karlsruhe fast in the introductory section, domi- broidery panels based on the Legendof good academy until his dismissal by the Na- nated by a suit of armour, which, with women, conceived in 1863 for Ruskin's tional Socialists in 1933, became the paintings by E. H. Corbould and F. cherished girls' school at Winnington, one founder of an independent version of the Gaudi, tells the always enjoyable story of of which shows Chaucerin his study (Fig.81), spirit of this movement and together with the debacle of the Eglinton Tournament. asleep on a canopied chair, surrounded by Scholz and Schnarrenberger, exhibited as Nearby Landseer's portrait of Queen Vic- manuscripts. A selection of Merton Abbey a regional faction in both major group toria and Prince Albert as Queen Philippa tapestries of the Holy Grail whets one's exhibitions, Mannheim 1925 and Am- and Edward III at a bal costumeat Buck- appetite for the exhibition on this theme sterdam in 1929. ingham Palace in 1842 strikes an appro- to be shown at Birmingham in March The recent exhibition covers Hub- priate note of courtly romance. 1985, while a delightful smaller item is buch's achievements both as superb Water-colours by David Roberts of Sir Morris's painted tile depicting Chaucer 803 This content downloaded from 81.130.200.251 on Fri, 19 Dec 2014 06:11:53 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 78. Jane Morris'sjewel casket, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal. Painted wood, iron frame, 79. The ArchangelGabriel, by William Morris, hinges and clasp, 17.7 by 29.2 by 17.7 cm. (Society of Antiquaries, Kelmscott Manor; exh. Whitworth 1862. Black chalk, 54.7 by 28.2 cm. Art Gallery, Manchester). (Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester). 80. Poems of Christine de Pisan. French c.1403-08. Vellum, 38.1 by 29.8 cm. (British 81. Chaucerin his study, by Edward Burne-Jones. 1863-64. Water-colour, Library, MS Harley 4431, folio 376; exh. Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester). wash, black chalk and chinese white, 134.6 by 101.6 cm. (Ruskin Galleries,Bembridge School, Isle of Wight; exh.