London : Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1886.Spielmann also noted the “French flatness” of Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott. Peter Henry Emerson, “Ricking the Reed,” photograph from Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads by P.H. Like the Lady herself, Waterhouse turns away from an art of the cloistered life and towards an art that engages with optical effects. Whereas the early PRB were inspired by the bright jewel tones and minute details of medieval illustrated manuscripts and tapestries, Waterhouse took his inspiration from the plein air (open air) methods of the Impressionists, replacing jewel tones for the atmospheric silvers and greens of a cool English day. The Lady’s tapestry, which drapes over the boat, seems to further highlight the difference between Waterhouse and the PRB. Whereas Millais’s reeds maintain their physical integrity and rich detail when viewed up close, Waterhouse’s reeds lose some of their convincing illusionism and dissolve into obvious brushstrokes (even more apparent when you see the paintings in person!). Convincing illusionism in reeds (detail, left), Sir John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851-52, oil on canvas, 762 x 1118 mm (Tate Britain, London) and more evident brushstrokes in reeds (detail, right) John William Waterhouse, The Lady of Shalott, 1888, oil on canvas, 153 x 200 cm (Tate Britain, London)We can see the difference if we compare the reeds of Millais’s Ophelia (left) with that of Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott (right), positioned in analogous parts of the composition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |