According to John Berger in his text,
Ways of Seeing
, a woman in portraiture is the "surveyor and the surveyed" (46).
1
I take some issue with this point of view, in that a man depicted also establishes a role as "the surveyor and the surveyed." The gender roles that each society and each generation assigns certainly play a part in the way the viewer interprets the male versus the female portrait. Since the focus of this unit targets the interpretation of four portraits of women, I will avoid the comparison of male and female portraits and concentrate on the characteristics of portraiture and image making, as evident in the four selected works.
This unit targets four general aspects evident in portraiture: the sitter's gesture, the clothing worn by the sitter, the environment, and any objects that might suggest qualities or attributes of the person portrayed. Each of these aspects can be both of a given time period and, at the same moment, hold a timelessness that can bridge the generations. A viewer might make cross-cultural connections, as well as reach across the centuries. It is with the goals of strengthening observation and making connections that I have started an exploration of the following images.
Joshua Reynolds
Mrs. Abington as "Miss Prue"
1771 Yale Center for British Art
When I first observed the Reynolds painting of
Mrs. Abington
at the Yale Center for British Art, I described her in my mind. Mrs. Abington was depicted as a well groomed female figure, dressed in pink and white and seated in a chair, observing the viewer over the back of that chair. Mrs. Abington's right arm rested on the chair back and her left elbow was bent to allow for her hand to move up toward her mouth; there she held her thumb to her lips. A white dog on her lap looked out through the opening in the chair back.
Knowing that Joshua Reynolds painted the portrait, I knew that Frances Abington's gaze was toward Sir Joshua and that I was only there in his stead. She gazed at him with some seductiveness, indicated by the thumb to her lips, but with the back of the chair between artist and sitter, the young woman appeared somewhat tentative and vulnerable. At the time, I moved on to other paintings and have now returned to Mrs. Abington with biographical information to inform new observations.
As written by the author of
The Life of Mrs. Abington
, Mrs. Abington and David Garrick were major names in theater during the latter half of the 1700's, Mrs. Abington becoming one of the most influential stage personalities of her day. Mr. Garrick, an actor-director who was professionally connected with Mrs. Abington, wrote the lines below for Mrs. Abington to recite on stage.
-
"In parliament, whene'er a question comes
-
Which makes the chief look grave, and bit his thumbs,
-
A knowing one is sent, sly as a mouse,
-
To peep into the humour of the house:
-
I am that mouse: peeping at friends and foes,
-
To find which carry it…the ayes or noes."
2
Although Mrs. Abington may have been playing a role, the words hinted at the actress' off stage personality as well. Spoken a few years after the portrait, Mrs. Abington had proven herself to be quite "sly" and definitely a "knowing one" in her negotiations in the evolution of her career, from street peddler to theatrical leading lady and to a fashion trend-setter.
Mrs. Abington, born Frances Barton, not only took advantage of opportunities, but also created them. She was born into poor circumstances and yet rose to wealth and fame. Frances Barton worked her way from street peddler to milliner's servant to become a woman of education and means, who spoke both French and Italian. With earnings, Miss Barton enlisted the services of a music instructor and then married the music master, a move that she later regretted.
3
Once on stage, Miss Barton (later Mrs. Abington) quickly established a reputation for her skill as a comic actress, as well as for her sense of fashion. "As Mrs. Abington grew popular, her husband showed signs of jealousy"…."by common consent they parted."
4
As a force to be reckoned with, Mrs. Abington bought her husband off, paying him a pension to remain out of her life. With the strength of her personality and stage presence, Mrs. Abington rescued a failing Dublin theater company and established a style copied by ladies of fashion… "it became quite the rage to wear articles bearing her name."
5
Frances Abington returned to the London stage and, at the height of her career held the power to have work both written and re-written for her. Mr. David Garrick wrote in one of his many communications, "Dear Madam-I altered the epilogue merely for your ease and credit" and "I leave it wholly to your own feelings to decide what to speak or what to reject."
6
With the above biographical information in mind, I returned to the portrait to re-assess some of my first impressions. By 1771, Mrs. Abington's mode of operation had proven to be one of a person in control of the events in her life therefore the tentative quality of the pose disappeared in my new interpretation. The seductive quality of her hand to mouth position remained, but her forward leaning body took command over the chair back blockade that protected the more vulnerable Mrs. Abington of my earlier interpretation. The faithful lap dog took on an irony, since Mrs. Abington had discontinued her marital relationship, banishing her husband from her society.
In researching Mrs. Abington's life, I found it of some interest that a portrait of her theatrical peer, David Garrick, by Angelica Kauffman (1764) preceded the Reynolds painting of Mrs. Abington (1771). In each case, the painter was of the opposite sex and in each case a chair was utilized as a significant property in the composition. Aspects of each sitter's gesture echo each other. The two works provide the perfect duo for a warm up session to compare and contrast their impact*.
Frederick Sandys, 1829-1904, British
Grace Rose
1866 Yale Center for British Art
Aptly named
Grace Rose
, the subject of the 1866 portrait is surrounded by roses and is in the act of arranging them, be it rather distractedly. Sandys incorporates the Victorian language of flowers and jewelry in the Grace Rose portrait. The text from
Jewellery in the Age of Queen Victoria
includes the following information to help bridge the gap between the common knowledge of symbolism then and our contemporary understanding: "The 'keeper' ring above her wedding ring on the fourth finger of her left hand is set with an unusually fine and large turquoise for true love."
7
The roses signify the qualities of 'love' and 'beauty' "with the combined white and red roses meaning 'unity'"
8
The white of the dress lends a purity and innocence to the subject, adding to the multiple symbols surrounding Grace Rose, depicting her as a model Victorian lady.
The description of the work by the Yale Center for British Art highlights that Sandys included "the armorial shield and crest in the top right of the picture" with the "Rose family motto: Constant and true." This motto holds a touch of irony due to the connection between jewelry and bonds; with a bracelet considered 'a token of slavery'.
9
Grace Rose, who wears a golden bracelet that resembles a shackle on her right wrist, seems to have had little choice but to remain "constant and true".
"During the 1860s, as an awareness of the arts filtered into the lives of the new collectors and patrons, they increasingly socialized with artists on an informal footing."
10
Frederick Sandys numbered among the younger artists, in Dante Rossetti's circle. Rossetti was a leader in the Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic Movements. Grace Rose was the sister-in-law of James Anderson Rose, Rosetti's lawyer and an art collector
11
, helping to establish a close circle of artists, friends, business associates, and patrons.
Stephen Calloway, author and Victoria & Albert Museum curator, introduced the emergence of Aesthetic Movement in the museum's video on the topic. Mr. Calloway reflected upon the Great Exhibition of 1851, stating that "a lot of people at that time felt that what was on show there was somehow ugly"… "that beauty had got lost."
12
The Aesthetic Movement emphasized the importance of art in everyday life and "this notion that beauty should inform everything we do, all the ways in which we live, is absolutely crutial."
13
Grace Rose embodies the concept.
It seems important to note, at this point, that these first two portraits represent British artists and the latter two American artists. Although the two cultures share language and other characteristics, differences remain, differences noted two decades following in the Grace Rose portrait in Manners and Social Usages by Mary E.W. Sherwood. Mrs. Sherwood wrote that in America the language of flowers, evident in the Sandys' portrait, had become "rather an echo of the stock market than a poetical fancy".
14
The desire to show off wealth by the purchase of flowers, especially out-of-season ones, replaced the beauty of Aesthetic Movement and the roses of
Grace Rose
. This prompted Mrs. Sherwood to write, "The economy which is a part of every Englishman's religion could well be copied in America."
15
Walt Kuhn, American, 1877 – 1949
Chorus Captain
1935 Yale University Art Gallery
Unlike the theatrical personality of Mrs. Abington and without the intense visual beauty of Grace Rose, the subject of the
Chorus Captain
views her own inward world rather than sets her gaze outward toward us, or toward Walt Kuhn, her portrait artist. The chorus captain sits in darkened surroundings, in a slouch, exposed to below the navel, "her scanty costume – particularly the strip of cloth at the bottom that looks as if it could be pulled away – reveals her vulnerability."
16
Like Grace Rose her eyes avert our eyes, but unlike Grace Rose, the chorus captain seems to look inward rather than outward and appears haggard and tired, with only the superficial trappings of beauty…jewelry and feathers, with artificial rosy cheeks. Walt Kuhn depicts an "odd sense of melancholy, even exhaustion, on the face of the dancer in
Chorus Captain
".
17
Unlike either of the previous portraits in this unit, the subject of this work comes to the viewer without a name to carry her away from anonymity.
The prettiness of the pink and white costuming of Mrs. Abington, taking charge in her theatrical role has become a sad juxtaposition of costume and mood in the portrait of this performer. "The tension between the sitter's private mood and her public role lends the portrait its evocative quality."
18
The sitter brings the viewer into the portrait, not by her gaze, but in sympathy.
Walt Kuhn experienced success as a professional artist, during his lifetime, with a one-man show at a Madison gallery in New York. In addition, Mr. Kuhn participated in organizing the influential Armory Show of 1913. The artist's professional success continued through his first retrospective in 1939. By 1940, "eccentric behavior" added to the poor health that had started in 1925 and, in 1948, Kuhn was institutionalized." "Kuhn's last years are marked with tragedy and remain a mystery."
19
The portraits created during the latter years of his career reflect the sadness, for "Behind the faces of Kuhn's performers, lies a haunting reminder of life's inescapable hardships."
20
Kerry James Marshall, American, b. 1955
Untitled
2009 Yale University Art Gallery
For final image, Kerry James Marshall, painted the anonymous subject with her gaze set upon us, as viewers. The subject has taken charge of the painting process and relegates Mr. Marshall to the role of one of the viewers. Although as anonymous as the chorus captain, the subject in Mr. Marshall's portrait is a powerful figure. The artist confronts the troubled history of African Americans in this country in his portrayal of the ebony figure that dominates the canvas. As Kerry James Marshall stated in the PBSArt21 first season segment on "Identity", Marshall uses his portraits to "reclaim the image of blackness as an emblem of power" and to do this he features "emphatically black figures" that establish a presence that is "amazingly beautiful and powerful".
21
As stated in the exhibition catalog for the 2010
Embodied
show at the Yale University Art Gallery, the subject of this work turns to face the viewer, "disturbed during an act of self-portrayal".
22
We are met in shallow space. This anonymous artist confronts us literally at her outskirts, within reach of her flowing and full-length skirt. The shape of her oversized palette, "which suggests the continent of Africa", reinforces the subject's powerful presence and the "in-your-face quality"
23
of the portrait.
In reflecting on the progression of the four portraits, I find it striking that this last image depicts the most commanding figure, a figure without the barrier of chair or flower arrangement, as in the first two portraits, or with the world-weariness of the Chorus Captain by Kuhn. Instead, Mr. Marshall's subject looks at us, as she uses her Africa-shaped palette to create her own portrait and take charge of her own image-making. Although Marshall's subject lacks full control of her destiny, since the self portrait follows a paint-by-number approach, still the figure remains a strong confrontational figure with her eyes fixed in our direction.