Art History Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies University of Helsinki IDEAL AND DISINTEGRATION DYNAMICS OF THE SELF AND ART AT THE FIN-DE-SIÈCLE Marja Lahelma ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki, for public examination in Auditorium XV, University Main Building, on 7 February 2014, at 12 noon. Helsinki 2014 Cover illustration: Detail of fig. 21. ISBN 978-952-10-9728-7 (pbk.) ISBN 978-952-10-9729-4 (PDF) Unigrafia Helsinki 2014 CONTENTS Contents ........................................................................................................................ 3 Abstract......................................................................................................................... 5 Preface and Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 7 List of Illustrations ....................................................................................................... 9 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 13 1 The Self as Art ....................................................................................................... 30 Cogito Ergo Sum? ...................................................................................................... 30 Expressing the Inexpressible ...................................................................................... 35 The Creative Imagination ........................................................................................... 41 Albert Aurier and the Symbolist Work of Art ............................................................ 47 Indeterminacy, Processuality, and Dematerialization ................................................ 60 2 Seeing Beyond – Pekka Halonen ........................................................................... 76 Seeing and Knowing................................................................................................... 79 Blindness and Inner Vision ........................................................................................ 86 Closed Eyes ................................................................................................................ 91 The Art of Seeing Beyond .......................................................................................... 94 3 Lure of the Abyss – Edvard Munch ..................................................................... 111 The Swan and the Ideal ............................................................................................ 115 Orpheus and Other Disembodied Heads .................................................................. 124 Symbolism of Surface and Depth ............................................................................. 135 4 The Self as Subject and Object – Ellen Thesleff ................................................. 148 Unconscious Creativity and Imaginative Perception ............................................... 152 Psychology, Occultism, and the Modern Subject ..................................................... 160 The Self as Other: Hysteria and Ecstasy .................................................................. 165 3 Cosmic Reverie and the Oceanic Feeling ................................................................ 172 5 Photographing the Soul – August Strindberg ...................................................... 184 Strindberg’s Self-Portraits........................................................................................ 186 Experiments with Art, Science, and Magic.............................................................. 189 Photographic Subjectivity ........................................................................................ 197 6 The Self and the World ....................................................................................... 210 Everything Out there is Within Me .......................................................................... 210 Munch’s Frieze of Life and the Creative Process .................................................... 214 The Horror of Existence ........................................................................................... 219 The Great Relief by J.F. Willumsen: Liberation or Recurrence? ............................. 225 Impossible Masterpieces .......................................................................................... 237 Conclusions: Dynamics of the Self and Art ................................................................. 241 Bibliography............................................................................................................. 246 4 ABSTRACT This study examines the dynamics of the self and art in the context of the Symbolist art and aesthetics of the fin-de-siècle. The purpose is to open new perspectives into how the self and its relationship with the world were understood and experienced, and to explore how these conceptions of selfhood suggest parallels with questions of art and creativity in ways that continue to affect our perceptions of these issues even today. The decades around the turn of the twentieth century were a period of intensifying preoccupation with questions of subjectivity as the coherence and autonomy of the self were constantly being threatened in the rapidly modernizing world. This issue is examined through an analysis and discussions of artworks by the Finnish artists Pekka Halonen and Ellen Thesleff, the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, the Swedish author and artist August Strindberg, and the Danish artist Jens Ferdinand Willumsen. The artworks are considered as active participants in the discourses of the period and as sites of intellectual and artistic reflection. Self-portraits are the most obvious products of artistic self-examination, but the highly subjective attitude towards art indicates that in a way every work of art can be perceived as a self-portrait. Symbolism, therefore, constitutes a point in art history where old definitions of self-portraiture were no longer sufficient. Art came to be understood as a form of knowledge and a source of truth. Hence, the creative process turned into a method of self-exploration motivated by an attempt to transcend beyond everyday consciousness in order to achieve a heightened perception of the self and the world. At the same time, the focus of the artwork shifted towards an immaterial space of imagination. Hence, the work of art was no longer understood as a finite material object but rather as a revelation of an idea. The constant need for self-exploration was also related to an ever increasing questioning of traditional religiosity and a subsequent interest in religious syncretism, as well as in various mystical, spiritual, and occultist ideologies, which affected both the form and content of art. Subjectivity is often perceived as one of the defining features of Symbolist art. However, due to the content-oriented approach, which until recent years has dominated art historical research on Symbolism, the meaning of this subjective tendency has not been properly analysed. Although the emphasis on subjectivity obviously had a great impact on the content of the new art, which became increasingly concerned with mythological and fantastic material, it also worked on a more abstract level affecting the ways that the meaning and status of art were understood. The approach taken in this study is based on an idea of the interconnectedness of form and content. Through this critical perspective, this study takes part in an international current of research which seeks to redefine Symbolism and its relation to modernism. 5 6 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A research project is a continuous process that has no clear beginning and no end. I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember, and in that sense this has been a lifelong endeavour. More specifically, perhaps, the origins of this particular study can be seen to reach back to my early years as a student of art history at the University of Helsinki. At some point – I do not remember exactly when and why – I came across the writings of the Finnish art historian Salme Sarajas-Korte. The way that she was able to integrate literary, scientific, philosophical, religious, and mystical ideas in her studies of Symbolist art made a lasting impression on me. I embraced this model because it enabled me to bring together my different fields of interest and it also gave me a whole new perspective into art and its place and meaning in the world. Ever since this early encounter my work has circulated around questions of Symbolism, modernism, identities, theories of art at the fin-de-siècle, mysticism, the interconnections of art and science, and so on. Through these themes I also came into contact with Professor Riikka Stewen and Juha-Heikki Tihinen, who encouraged me to continue on the path that I had discovered, and who later also came to be the supervisors of this thesis. I am immensely grateful for their wisdom and insight which has guided me through this lengthy journey, and for their friendship which has made it so much more enjoyable. My warmest thanks are also due to all my teachers at the University of Helsinki. I feel especially indebted to Professor Ville Lukkarinen for his many helpful comments, and for the wonderful collegial atmosphere that he created in his seminars. In addition, I must thank Professor