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Vie des arts

Cinq remarques sur Burne Jones Five Notes on Burne-Jones Jean-Loup Bourget

Volume 20, Number 79, Summer 1975

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Publisher(s) La Société La Vie des Arts

ISSN 0042-5435 (print) 1923-3183 (digital)

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Cite this article Bourget, J.-L. (1975). Cinq remarques sur Burne Jones / Five Notes on Burne-Jones. Vie des arts, 20(79), 46–75.

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This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ Cinq remarques sur Burne Jones

Jean-Loup Bourget

Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) est, avec Barbu c. Imberbe William Morris, le principal représentant de la Vêtement c. Nudité (bras, jambes,...) seconde génération préraphaélite: celle qui, Armure c. Robe tournant le dos au naturalisme moralisant d'Holman Hunt, s'engage, à la suite de Rossetti, Ajoutons, en ce qui concerne la composition dans la voie du symbolisme décoratif. Consi­ du tableau, déré à la fin du 19e siècle comme un des plus Profil c. Face grands artistes contemporains, Burne-Jones subit ensuite une éclipse. Depuis quelques A la main droite, la Mendiante tient un bouquet années, la curiosité pour l'Art Nouveau ainsi d'anémones, tandis que le Roi a sa couronne que pour ses sources, et de façon plus géné­ à la main: rale, le renouveau d'intérêt pour la peinture Couronne c. Bouquet d'inspiration poétique ou littéraire, replacent Pierreries c. Fleurs Burne-Jones au premier plan. La Hayward Gallery de Londres va lui consacrer une im­ contraste qui est aussi celui de portante rétrospective'. Mécanique c. Organique 1. LA PASSION DE L'ANTINOMIE Culture c. Nature Une des toiles les plus célèbres de Burne- La partie inférieure droite du tableau contient Jones se trouve à la Tate Gallery, à Londres. un autre accessoire appartenant à la série Il s'agit du Roi Cophetua et de la mendiante royale: la lance et le bouclier (Mécanique, (1884). Un regard distrait pourrait négliger Culture). Symétriquement, la partie supérieure cette grande machine, peinte dans des tons gauche a des branchages ainsi que des arbres bruns assez éteints, sans y déceler qu'elle est fruitiers (des citronniers): Organique, Nature. construite sur une série d'oppositions assez Les deux pages qui lisent de la musique, en systématique pour être remarquable. D'abord, haut, à gauche, sont le prétexte de contrastes la double opposition qu'implique le titre même formels qui ne semblent pas signifiants, mais de la toile et qu'explicitent les deux personna­ qui font écho à la texture d'ensemble et aux ges principaux: Roi contre Mendiante, qui oppositions entre les personnages principaux: s'articule en Puissant c. Humble (ou Riche c. Cheveux roux c. Cheveux noirs (disposi­ Pauvre) et en Masculin c. Féminin. Mais la tion inverse par rapport disposition des personnages renverse ce rap­ au Roi et à la Mendiante) port et subordonne le Roi à la Mendiante: Bas Vêtement rouge c. Vêtement vert (couleurs c. Haut. Quant à l'apparence physique, on peut complémentaires) noter les antinomies suivantes: Age mûr c. Jeunesse Mais, en-dessous, les oreillers du divan inver­ sent ce contraste: Chevelure noire c. Chevelure blonde (contrai­ rement aux indications Oreiller vert c. Oreiller rouge du poème de Tennyson) La lance (en bas, à droite) oppose sa hampe Teint olivâtre c. Teint pâle 1 rouge à son fanion vert. Il n'est pas jusqu'à la L'HISTOIRE/47

1. BURNE-JONES Phyllis et Oémophon, 1870. 3. Clerk Saunders, 1861. Gouache; 91 cm. x 46. Gouache; 69 cm. 8 x 41,9. Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery. Londres, Tate Gallery. 2. Le Roi Cophetua et la mendiante, 1884. 4. L'Amour et le pèlerin, 1896-1897. Huile sur toile; 291 cm. x 136. Huile sur toile; 157 cm. x 305. Londres, Tate Gallery. Londres, Tate Gallery.

courroie du bouclier qui ne soit rouge d'un examen de ces images révélera les mêmes côté, verte de l'autre. En haut et à droite du séries d'oppositions que j'ai tenté de mettre tableau sont juxtaposés un paysage (Nature) en lumière à propos du Roi Cophetua, notam­ et un tapis d'Orient (Culture). Trois anémones ment: mauves, échappées du bouquet de la Men­ — oppositions naturelles diante, jonchent les marches en répétant le Masculin c. Féminin motif Nature (fleurs sauvages) c. Culture Cheveux c. Cheveux blonds (décor très travaillé). Cependant, les bas-re­ liefs qui circulent entre les personnages repré­ noirs ou roux sentent des animaux stylisés, orientalisants, ce — oppositions spatiales qui équivaut peut-être à une synthèse Nature- Culture. Bas c. Haut Ce recensement rapide prouve, me semble- Profil c. Face t-il, deux choses. D'abord, que la figuration de — oppositions culturelles Burne-Jones fonctionne selon le modèle de l'antinomie; le caractère systématique de cette Vêtement c. Nudité série d'oppositions ne saurait être fortuit. Cuirasse c. Haillon D'autre part, que ces oppositions n'ont rien — oppositions symboliques de dynamique (c'est d'ailleurs la raison pour laquelle elles ne sont pas immédiatement Terre c. Eau (ou Air) apparentes). Elles expriment des juxtaposi­ Rochers c. Herbes (cf. Pan et Psyché) tions plutôt que des conflits générateurs d'une éventuelle synthèse originale. Les contrastes Culture (instruments de musique, livres) c. Na­ formels (composition, couleur) sont présents, ture (branchages, buisson de roses) mais ont tendance à s'équilibrer au lieu de — oppositions de couleurs jurer. De même, les contrastes qu'on pourrait appeler idéologiques: la puissance temporelle, Il convient aussi de signaler l'opposition fré­ la richesse matérielle sont compensées par quente (mais absente du Roi Cophetua) du une situation de subordination spatiale et mo­ naturel et du surnaturel. Ainsi, dans L'Annon­ rale; inversement, l'élévation compense l'hu­ ciation, la Vierge (Nature) c. l'Ange (Surnatu­ milité sociale de la Mendiante. re); saint Georges (Nature) et le Dragon (Sur­ Un coup d'œil jeté à l'oeuvre de Burne-Jones nature). Dans Les Protondeurs de la Mer (1887, dans son ensemble confirmera sans difficulté Cambridge, Mass.), une sirène (Surnature) en­ cette analyse. Ce qui frappe, c'est d'abord le traîne un simple mortel dans le royaume nombre de tableaux mettant en scène deux glauque. Le Chevalier miséricordieux (Nature) personnages. Il suffit de citer quelques titres s'agenouille devant le Christ (Surnature) [1863, de thèmes chers à Burne-Jones: sujets reli­ Birmingham]. L'Amour (Ange-Surnature) con­ gieux comme L'Annonciation (qui implique la duit le pèlerin. A la faveur d'une suite de ta­ Vierge contre l'Ange, notamment dans la ver­ bleaux, l'opposition peut se renverser: c'est sion de 1876-1879, à Port Sunlight) ou Saint le cas dans la suite de Pygmalion (1878, Bir­ Georges et le dragon (1868, Walthamstow); su­ mingham), où Pygmalion représente d'abord jets profanes comme L'Idylle (1862, Birming­ la Nature et Galatée, la statue (Inorganique). ham); sujets mythologiques comme Pan et Puis, Pygmalion est subordonné à Galatée Psyché (1869-1874, Cambridge, Mass.) ou (Surnature). Mais, dans chaque tableau donné, Merlin et Viviane (1870-1874, Port Sunlight), ces oppositions multiples ne sont pas dans allégoriques tels L'Amour et le pèlerin (1896- un véritable rapport antagoniste: plus subtile­ 1897, Tate Gall.). (Rossetti, de son côté, affec­ ment, elles s'équilibrent, donnent l'impression tionnait soit les compositions à un seul per­ d'être des reflets dans un miroir ou dans une sonnage, soit celles à nombreuses figures.) Un eau dormante. 48/L'HISTOIRE

yeux cernés, exerce une fascination trouble. Mais cet érotisme est d'essence contemplati­ ve et non active. L'Escalier d'or (1872-1880, Tate Gall.) multiplie par dix-huit la même sil­ houette de jeune fille vêtue à l'antique, aux formes sveltes, graciles, sans hanches, au visage erotique à cause de l'ombre qui mange les yeux. Le charme vient aussi, bien entendu, du nombre des filles et de leur caractères soro- ral, comme dans les contes de fée: pluriel singulier... Confirmation du caractère figé, et à la limite interchangeable, des antinomies de Burne-Jones: il peint de préférence la jeune fille, l'adolescente, l'éphèbe, l'hermaphrodite.

4. LA SOCIÉTÉ INDUSTRIELLE On aurait pourtant tort de croire, en raison de tout ce qui précède, que Burne-Jones n'est pas un peintre de son temps. Sans parler du fait que la part du rêve peut n'être que l'en­ vers de la société industrielle (à cet égard, l'immense popularité du peintre a son époque est éloquente), il faut rappeler que Burne- Jones (et William Morris) sont victoriens dans la mesure même où ils ont tenté d'échapper à ce qu'ils considéraient comme le mercantilis­ me et le philistinisme de leur environnement. En d'autres termes, leur passion pour les arts décoratifs, le vitrail, le mobilier peint, la tapis­ serie, la céramique, ... les montre, en vérita­ bles victoriens, soucieux des rapports qu'en­ tretiennent l'art et l'industrie. On fera bien, avant de s'aventurer dans un développement de plus sur leur idéalisme, d'observer qu'ils ont été, en un certain sens, matérialistes dans leur pratique, qu'ils n'ont pas craint de prendre le mot «art» dans l'acception qu'il a dans «arts et métiers.» C'est aussi en ce sens que Burne-Jones, selon le mot de Lord David Cecil, n'est pas un «visionnaire» comme Samuel Palmer.

5. L'INFLUENCE DE BURNE-JONES L'influence de Burne-Jones sur l'Art Nou­ veau tient à la fois à son vocabulaire formel et à son souci d'unir plus étroitement l'art et l'industrie. Le sujet a été surtraité, et je me bornerai à signaler quelques points précis. D'abord, l'excellent ouvrage de Martin Harrison et Bill Waters, Burne-Jones (Barrie & Jenkins, Londres, 1973), qui consacre son chapitre final à l'influence exercée par l'artiste, ne mention­ ne pas Carlos Schwabe. Il semble pourtant clair qu'une allégorie comme Le Mariage du 5. Pygmalion, 1878 — L'Etincelle divine. poète et de la muse (1901-1902) dérive direc­ (Phot. City of Birmingham) tement des Protondeurs de la mer. Elle est bâtie sur le même système d'antinomies figées (on peut d'ailleurs imaginer que ce système, particulièrement en évidence chez Burne- Jones, devrait en fait être étendu à bon nombre de peintres symbolistes; je ne sais si le pro­ 2. LE SOMMEIL harmonie également fondamentales entre ces cédé est caractéristique de l'allégorie en géné­ L'univers de Burne-Jones est caractérisé deux ordres, complémentaires comme le mas­ ral, ou s'il exprime le rapport antagoniste par ses antinomies figées. On a souvent culin et le féminin ou comme le rouge et le vert. mais impuissant qui liait ces peintres à la remarqué sa prédilection pour le thème de la Médiévale, peuplée d'instruments de musique, société industrielle triomphant à leur époque). Belle au bois dormant (1870-1873, Ponce, Por- la Culture que dépeint Burne-Jones n'a rien D'autre part, certains dessins du Livre secret to-Rico, et 1870-1890, Faringdon), ou le fait pour heurter une sensibilité qui se juge mal (1885..., British Museum), par exemple Ciel qu'il s'identifiait au Roi Arthur endormi à accordée à son temps. Le sommeil qui fige et vagues, constituent un de ces ponts nom­ Avalon (1881-1898, Ponce, Porto-Rico). Dans ensemble les eglantines et la cour de la prin­ breux par lesquels le symbolisme s'achemine la suite du Buisson d'églantines, illustrant le cesse est le moyen d'arrêter le temps, de nier vers l'abstraction. Enfin, un rapprochement premier thème, les chevaliers, le roi et ses l'Histoire. En ce sens, la peinture de Burne- s'impose entre L'Escalier d'or de Burne-Jones courtisans, la princesse et ses suivantes, sont Jones, elle aussi, est moins un rêve qu'un som­ et le Nu descendant un escalier de Marcel pris dans la gangue de la végétation. Leurs meil. Contrairement à ceux de Fuseli ou de Duchamp (1912). Mais, pour Duchamp, il s'agit corps ont les mêmes poses d'apesanteur que Goya, ce sommeil n'est agité d'aucun cauche­ de reproduire le mouvement, que Burne-Jones les ronces qui les entourent. Encore une fois, mar. D'autre part, la peinture de Burne-Jones a passé sa vie à nier. les armures, les couronnes, les pierreries, les n'a jamais évolué. 1. Tenue du 5 novembre 1975 au 4 janvier 1976. l'exposi­ tissus précieux s'opposent à la floraison des tion ira ensuite à Southampton (24 janvier-22 février) eglantines — ou la reflètent? Triomphe de la 3. L'ÉROTISME et à Birmingham, ville natale du peintre (début mars- Nature sur la Culture? On a davantage l'im­ L'érotisme de Burne-Jones est indéniable. début avril). VA pression simultanée d'une différence et d'une La Mendiante, face au Roi Cophetua, a les English Translation, p, 74 74

As I have said above, Jean-Paul Jérôme is istic naturalism in favour of the decorative establish two things. Firstly, it seems clear that first a plastician. In this regard, he is truly a symbolism practised by Rossetti. Burne-Jones' Burne-Jones' figurative technique functions ac­ painter of synthesis. He gathers together in his reputation as a leading artist reached its height cording to a basic antinomy, a series of op­ work all the attainments of so-called abstract at the end of the 19th century and subsequently posites, which far from being fortuitous, is or figurative art. Certainly he exhibits a power­ declined. In more recent years, the fashion for quite systematic. Furthermore, that these op­ ful originality. At first sight, even, he seems Art Nouveau and the research into its origins, positions are in no way dynamic (which also not to have any roots. However, he really be­ as well as the general revival of interest in explains why they are not more immediately longs to a group of artists among whom we painting inspired by poetry and literature, have apparent). They express juxtapositions, rather might mention Braque, Gris, Matisse, Mon­ reestablished Burne-Jones as an artist of the than the conflicting elements of a potential syn­ drian, Malévitch, Magnelli, Léger or Mortensen first rank. A retrospective of his work is to be thesis. The formal contrasts are present (com­ (whom he knew in Paris). With regard to the shown at the Hayward Gallery, London'. position, colour), but instead of clashing, they pictorial, having been marked by the colour­ balance each other. The same is true of the ing of the Flemish, he was able to understand 1. The Love of Opposites quasi-ideological oppositions. Temporal power the work of Mondrian, who cleaned space. One of Burne-Jones' most famous canvases and material wealth are, as it were, counter­ Although he painted only in flat tints, he was is at the Tate Gallery in London. It is King Co­ balanced by moral subordination expressed in able to avoid the decorative that Kandinsky phetua and the Beggar Maid (1884). Painted in terms of space. Conversely, the Beggar Maid's mistrusted so much. The depth of Jerome's rather muted shades of brown, it might well es­ "elevated" position compensates for her lowly spirituality is such that he is able to do without cape the eye of the casual visitor, inattentive rank. too present or too much emphasized a ma­ to the systematic series of oppositions in its A look at Burne-Jones' work as a whole pro­ terial. He reconciles dull tones and forms with­ basic structure. Firstly, the title itself implies a vides ample confirmation of this preliminary out ever calling on the material to support two-fold opposition which is made explicit by evidence. At the outset one is struck by the him. A painter like his friend, Fernand Toupin, the two main figures: King vs. Beggar Maid. number of pictures centred around two cha­ who is the opposite of Jérôme, casts aside This again has the double articulation of Power­ racters. A selection of the titles given to the forms and lines to such a degree that he needs ful vs. Humble (or Rich vs. Poor) and Masculine artist's treatments of some of his favourite only a little material impregnated with light vs. Feminine. But the actual position of the themes will illustrate this: religious subjects and shadow on a white surface, hardly making characters in the picture reverses this relation­ such as The Annunciation (implicit are the Vir­ use of colour, for the shock to be produced. ship and makes the King subject to the Beggar gin and the Angel; cf. in particular, the 1876-79 There are no painters more complementary, Maid: Low vs. High. In terms of physical ap­ version at Port Sunlight) or Sf. George and the who by themselves alone present to us the pearance, the following antinomies may be Dragon (1868, Walthamstow), profane subjects two poles of contemporary painting. observed: such as The Idyll (1862, Birmingham), mytho­ Jerome's imagination brims over. He is full Maturity vs. Youth logical subjects like Pan and Psyche (1869-74, of creative force, possessing his craft like no Dark hair vs. Blond hair (contrary to the Cambridge, Mass.) or Merlin and Vivien (1870- other. Yet, he never needs to seduce. This evidence of Tennyson's 74, Port Sunlight), allegorical ones, for example difficult art, sometimes discordant, is the anti­ poem) Love and the Pilgrim (1896-97, Tate Gallery). thesis of seduction! In this sense Jérôme Olive skin vs. Fair complexion (Rossetti, on the other hand, tended to prefer enters painting by the narrow door. He makes Beard vs. Smooth-skinned either the one-figure composition or the very no concession. No one has a more innocent Clothing vs. Nudity "peopled" one.) A study of these pictures look. He has the severity of Ubac tracing Armour vs. Dress shows the same series of oppositions which grooves or sculpting slate. These are artists In compositional terms, we may add: were pointed out in the case of King Cophetua: who respond to Desire, who listen only to the Profile vs. Full face — Natural oppositions secret eye. If we did not know what painting The Beggar Maid has a bunch of anemones in Masculine vs. Feminine is, we would have to turn to Jérôme. Nowhere her right hand, while the King is holding his Dark hair vs. Blond or red hair is there more freedom and authenticity. It must crown on his knees: — Spatial oppositions be said that there is no common ground be­ Crown vs. Bouquet Low vs. High tween the language of words and this produc­ Precious stones vs. Flowers Profile vs. Full face tion, these surfaces where music prevails over a contrast which is also that of — Cultural oppositions everything. To tell the truth, one can com­ Inorganic vs. Organic Clothing vs. Nudity municate nothing of this universe. How can one Culture vs. Nature Breast-plate vs. Rag seize water in his fingers, or the sun through The lower right-hand corner of the painting — Symbolic oppositions his eyes? No painting, however close to nature, contains a further royal accessory: the spear Earth vs. Water (or Air) submits more precisely to its own laws, which and the shield (mechanical or cultural). Sym­ Rocks vs. Grass (cf. Pan and Psyche) are of another order. Painting obeys only its metry is obtained by the branches and the Culture (musical instruments, books) vs. Nature need to exist. Thus it demands neither subject fruit (lemon-)-trees in the upper left-hand (branches, rose-bushes) or objects. It has a hunger for space, for corner: organic, Nature. The two page boys — Colour oppositions tonalities, for harmony and for movement. It reading the musical score (above left) provide The frequent opposition (but one absent from can only give itself up to the contemplation formal contrasts which seem unimportant but King Cophetua) of the natural and the super­ of forms and allow itself to be struck by illu­ which echo the texture of the whole and the natural should also be noted. Thus, in The mination. A great deal of innocence is neces­ opposition between the two main characters: Annunciation, the Virgin (Nature) vs. the Angel sary in a painter in order that all the possibi­ Red hair vs. Dark hair (the colours of (Supernatural). In The Depth of the Sea (1887, lities should appear. The painter must be in a the King/Beggar Maid Cambridge, Mass.), a siren (Supernatural) state of waiting for possibilities. And when we relation are inverted) drags a poor mortal down into her green and meditate on one of Jerome's pictures with Red clothing vs. Green clothing (comple­ watery kingdom. The Merciful Knight (Nature) fresh eyes, we see that everything is possible. mentary colours) kneels in front of Christ on the Crucifix (Super­ In such a painting, it is life itself that always Below, however, the sofa-cushions reverse this natural), [1863, Birmingham]. Love (Angel = palpitates, always alive, in an infinite space. contrast: Supernatural) guides the pilgrim. In series of (Translation by Mildred Grand) Green cushion vs. Red cushion paintings, the oppositions can be seen to be The spear-shaft (lower right) is red in opposi­ reversed: in the Pygmalion series (1878, Bir­ tion to its green pennant. Even the strap of the mingham), Pygmalion initially represents Nature shield is green on one side, red on the other. and Galatea is the (inorganic) statue. Then Above right, a landscape (Nature) and an Pygmalion is made subject to Galatea (the Oriental carpet (Culture/Civilization) are jux­ Supernatural). However, in each individual pic­ ture, these oppositions are not ones of real FIVE NOTES ON BURNE-JONES taposed. Three purple anemones from the Beg­ gar Maid's bouquet lie scattered on the steps, antagonism. In a subtle way, they complement repeating the Nature motif (wild flowers) vs. each other, like mutual reflections in a mirror By Jean-Loup BOURGET Culture (the very elaborate décor). At the same or still water. time, the bas-reliefs 'moving' in and out be­ Together with William Morris, Edward Burne- tween the figures represent stylized animals, 2. Sleep Jones (1833-1898) is the principal represen­ oriental in inspiration, an indication perhaps Burne-Jones' universe is characterized by his tative of the second-generation Pre-Rapha- of a synthesis between Nature and Art. fixed antinomies. Attention has frequently been elites, those who rejected Holman Hunt's moral­ This rapid examination would appear to drawn to his love of the Sleeping Beauty theme 75 and to his self-identification with the Sleep book by Martin Harrison and Bill Waters Burne- jects rigid mathematical formulae in the or­ of Arthur in Avalon (1881-1898, Ponce, Puerto Jones (Barrie and Jenkins, London, 1973), de­ dering of his colour-forms, relying instead upon Rico). In the Briar Rose series which illustrates votes a final chapter to the influence exerted his intuitive sensibility. As one examines his the Sleeping Beauty motif, the knights, the king by the artist but fails to mention Carlos work, it becomes apparent that he develops his and his courtiers, the princess and her com­ Schwabe. It seems nevertheless evident that an colours and forms simultaneously; the rela­ panions are enclosed by the vegetation. Their allegory such as The Marriage of the Poet and tionships of the one with the other are too bodies have the same weightlessness as the the Muse (1901-1902) is directly inspired by completely integrated to have been imposed thorn-bushes which surround them. Once again, The Depth of the Sea. Its structure shows the one upon the other. the armour, the crowns, the jewels and the rich same system of fixed oppositions (moreover, In order to focus attention upon the formal materials contrast with the wild roses in flower although this system is particularly evident in characteristics of the colour-forms, he avoids — or does Nature reflect the sumptuousness Burne-Jones' work, it might prove a fruitful ba­ any indication of the inherent nature of the of the former? Is it her triumph over Civiliza­ sis of analysis for other symbolist painters). It is materials with which the work is executed. The tion? The impression is one rather of simulta­ difficult to say whether the technique is typical materials become irrelevant, so that it is nei­ neous difference and harmony between the two of allegorical painting in general, or whether ther possible nor necessary to identify them. orders, each equally important and as com­ it expresses the particular powerless antago­ All the forms and surfaces are meticulously plementary as the masculine and the feminine nism of these painters towards the industrial refined, and all the colours with their matte elements, or as the colours, red and green. society). In addition, some of the drawings in finish are so much a part of the forms that Medieval, alive with musical instruments, the the "Secret" book (1885..., British Museum), there is no sensation of arbitrary application society depicted by Burne-Jones contains noth­ Sky and Waves, lor example, constitute one of or subjective distraction. ing to offend a sensibility out of tune with its the many links between symbolism and abstrac­ Gradually, he has moved beyond viewing own time. The sleep which moulds together the tion. Finally, a comparison seems called for be­ the ground plane as the definitive limit of wild roses and the princess' court is the way tween The Golden Stairs by Burne-Jones and specific formal relationships. His later pieces to stop the march of time, to deny History. In a the Nu descendant un escalier by Marcel Du­ actively engage the planar ground surfaces in sense, Burne-Jones' painting itself is a sleep, champ (1912). Duchamp, however, aimed at the three-dimensional manipulations. As a re­ rather than a dream. Contrary to the works of reproducing movement, whereas Burne-Jones sult of his use of surface modulation, rotation Fuseli, or of Goya, this sleep remains untroubled spent a lifetime denying it. and skewed inclination, he eliminates the con­ by nightmares. Conversely, it is a work which notations of positive and negative, on-off, shows no real evolution. 1. From Nov. 5th 1975 to Jan. 4th 1976. The exhibition will then go to Southampton (January 24th - February figure-ground responses. The projecting ele­ 22nd) and to Birmingham, the artist's native city (March ments are no longer separated by the spaces 3. Eroticism to April). between them, but rather, are held together by We are constantly aware of a definite erotic (Translation by Eithne Bourget) them. element in these paintings. The Beggar Maid At times, we are led to a conscious aware­ gazing past King Cophetua with her ringed eyes ness of the effects of squeezed space between has a certain disturbing fascination. But it is extended parallel planes, and of the impact of an eroticism which is essentially passive. Eigh­ contrast and opposition where the axial direc­ teen times, the slender silhouette of a young tions of the individual colour-forms are ar­ girl in ancient dress descends The Golden ranged in contrary directions to one another. Stairs (1872-1880, Tate Gallery), gracile, long- RON KOSTYNIUK — STRUCTURES The manipulation of the surface of the ground limbed, with sensuous hollows around her eyes. plane may set up a spatial radiation of tipping Of course, as in fairy-stories, the sheer number and tilting not unlike the concentric ripples of these sister-figures accounts for part of their By John W. GRAHAM in a pond or the flurry of leaves in a breeze. charm, being plural and singular at the same One of the characteristics of man's evolving time. Once again, we find confirmation of the Set in a century of turbulent changes in patterns is the apparent recurrence of cycles, static, almost interchangeable, quality of Burne- every facet of man's endeavours, it is not sur­ which has led to the oft-repeated comment Jones' oppositions: he prefers to paint the prising that the lack of direction and cohesive that things have come full circle. It is a mis­ young girl, the adolescent, the ephebe, the expression should be reflected and made man­ leading impression, however. Things do not hermaphrodite. ifest in equally diverse, disorderly, and fre­ stand still, but transform progressively, sea­ quently nihilistic art. The one consistent, or­ son by season. The circle is not a circle, but 4. The Industrial Society derly, though inconspicuous development in a spiral, unwinding in a shifting and inconsis­ In spite of what has been said, it would be the visual arts which has managed to thread tent manner. In this context, it is useful to wrong to think that Burne-Jones was not a through the pervading influences and distrac­ remember that Mondrian moved to his non- painter of his day. Apart from the fact that the tions has been, and continues to be, the con­ representational compositions through an in­ dream aspect is the necessary reverse of the structed relief. creasingly conscious abstraction of the land­ industrial society (witness the painter's extra­ The constructed relief evolved in the late scape, only to return again, shortly before his ordinary success in his own life-time), it must thirties from the two dimensional kinetics of death, to the portrayal of aspects of the real be remembered that Burne-Jones (and William Piet Mondrian's paintings through the work world stimulated by the excitement of the Morris) are Victorians inasmuch as they tried and theories of the American artist Charles rhythm and patterns he encountered after he to escape from what to them was a mercantile Biederman who moved from the vision of Neo- came to America. It is also this quality of paral­ and philistine environment. In other words, Plasticism into the active and perceivable field lelism or analogue that links Ronald Kosty- their love for the decorative arts, stained glass of physical relationships of three dimensions. niuk's work to the latter-day development of windows, painted furniture, tapestries and ce­ By defining and manipulating elements project­ Mondrian and the quality that he has advanced ramics indicates that they are real Victorians ing from the ground plane, he achieved a forward across a new threshold through the with a concern for the relationship between reality between painting and sculpture, not un­ idiom of the structured relief. It is the deliber­ industry and the arts. Before enlarging on their related to kinetic art, in which spatial and tem­ ately ordered arrangement of the parts which idealism, it would be as well to point out that poral relationships require both the artist and stimulates the recollective memory. they were, in the practice of their art, material­ the viewer to participate. In his own words, Ronald Kostyniuk's prime ists. Their understanding of the word "art" was In his notes on Structurist Vision, Eli Born- concern is the creation of visual analogues to that implicit in the term "arts and crafts". It is stein states that actual light, colour, space and nature's created forms, interpreted and trans­ in this sense that Burne-Jones was not, as Lord structure, the parallel elemental qualities in lated into a nonmimetic art of geometric form David Cecil has put it, a "visionary", as was nature, burst forth to displace their static fron­ and colour interaction. Working within a diffi­ Samuel Palmer. tal representations with dynamic multi-dimen­ cult and reductive idiom, it would be relatively sional realities. It is this sense of ordered easy to fall into the trap of slavish or narrow 5. Burne-Jones' influence reality in union with nature which leads him and legalistic adherence to formal pattern Burne-Jones' influence on the Art Nouveau to explain that a child may stand before a interpretation of Structuralistic principles. movement can be ascribed partly to his formal structurist relief or a flower and respond simply However, in recognizing and accepting the fact technique and partly to his efforts to bring about and directly to the visual reality of both with­ that the processes and growth structures in a greater understanding between industry and out distinction. nature are not universal but filled with adaptive the arts. The subject has already been dealt And so it is with the work of Ronald Kosty­ variations, he has been free to work within the with very adequately, and I shall limit myself niuk. Drawing upon his background in biology relief ethic to achieve a vital rather than sterile to a few brief remarks. Firstly, the excellent and an empirical approach to nature, he re­ contemplative expressive style.