Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Art Eyewitness Review: Beatrix Potter at the Morgan Library & Museum

 

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature


Morgan Library and Museum
February 23 to June 9, 2024

Reviewed by Ed Voves
Original Photography by Anne Lloyd

During the summer of 1966, an exhibition opened its doors to crowds of appreciative Londoners. Thousands of people lined up to see the exhibit, presented by Britain's National Book League. So many came that police officers had to be summoned to handle crowd control.

The books highlighted in the popular London exhibition had little in common with contemporary best sellers. Lady Chatterly's Lover, Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold were definitely not the stars of the National Book League show. Instead, the exhibition highlighted the exploits of a rabbit named Peter, Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Hunca Munca and Tom Thumb, "two bad mice."  



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Gallery view of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, showing early editions of The Tale of Tom Kitten and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck

The creator of these delightful animal characters - and many more - was a proper Victorian lady, born a hundred years before. Now, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) had returned, the toast of "swinging 60's" London.



Rupert Potter, Portrait of Beatrix Potter, ca. 1892

Beatrix Potter once again is on center stage in a centennial exhibition. This time, the occasion is the celebration of the Morgan Library and Museum's opening as a public institution in March 1924. 

The choice of a Beatrix Potter exhibition to lead the Morgan's anniversary presentations might seem a bit surprising. The Morgan is legendary for its medieval manuscripts, Rembrandt etchings, works by William Blake, etc. But Bunny Rabbits?

Visitors to the Morgan have only to walk through the door of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature to see how fitting this wonderful exhibition is to launch Morgan 100. In recent years, exhibits at the Morgan have celebrated the lives of Charlotte Brontë, Emily Dickinson, J.R.R. Tolkien and other beloved authors. This tribute to Beatrix Potter follows in their worthy footsteps.

Prominently displayed near the entrance of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature are several framed letters. These are arrayed beneath a large-format rendering of cursive hand-writing, duplicating Potter's salutation in one of the letters.

"My dear Noel" the gallery heading reads. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
             Gallery view of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, showing                 picture letters written by Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, ca. 1890's

The letters, dating to the 1890's, are part of a trove of eleven letters written to a little boy named Noel Moore and one to his sister, Marjorie. These illustrated missives are among the most precious documents in the Morgan's collection, donated to the institution in 1959.

Noel and Marjorie Moore were the children of Potter's former governess, Annie Carter. Potter maintained close relations with Carter after she married. Noel (1887-1969) was five-years old and recovering from scarlet fever when he received an eight page letter filled with details about Potter's pet rabbit, named Peter Piper. 

Potter revealed her vivid imagination and her power of observation in her description of Peter Piper, "Whatever the shortcomings of his fur, and his ears and toes, his disposition was uniformly amiable and his temper unfailingly sweet."

Potter elaborated on the Peter Rabbit theme with a later picture letter (as she called them) to Noel. Brimming with imagined incidents and marvelous drawings, the outline of "tale" began to take shape. 

My dear Noel, I don't know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were - Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail - and Peter. They lived with their mother in a sand bank under the root of a big fir tree... 

Encouraged by Annie Moore, Potter used this letter as the template for a story about the fictional Peter Rabbit. In 1901, after being rejected by eight publishing firms, Potter's illustrated story of the naughty bunny was privately printed in an edition of 250 copies. The following year, The Tale of Peter Rabbit was finally published by Frederick Warne and Co. and quickly became a huge, global success.  




Beatrix Potter,
Drawing of Peter Rabbit from the Tailor of Gloucester endpaper,1903

Beatrix Potter would go on to write and illustrate twenty-three "tales" which have sold over 250 million copies, quite an increase from the 250 of the privately published first edition. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
picture letter written by Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, April 11, 1892

The success of Potter's "tales" seems less astounding when one studies her accounts of people, places and - most of all - animals in the Morgan Library letters. Potter wrote to Noel Moore in a direct, appealing way that children can comprehend and enjoy without feeling "talked-down-to" by adults. 

Potter complemented her facility in writing for youngsters with pictures which integrate insightful detail with a sense of "childlike" wonder. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Detail of a picture letter from Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, ca. 1890's

A visitor to the Morgan exhibit could linger at the display of Potter's letters for a very long time and be thrilled at being able to see them, so rarely are these fragile works-on-paper placed on view. But there is so much to see and enjoy in this exhibition that the temptation of focusing exclusively on Potter's delightful picture letters needs to be resisted.

The vast majority of the paintings, drawings, photos and artifacts on view in the Morgan galleries, come from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Without the letters to Noel and Marjorie Moore, Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature has traveled to other museums. With the Morgan's Potter letters included, it is a "once-in-a lifetime" exhibition.

The Morgan/V&A exhibition chronicles Potter's entire lifetime. Potter was much more than an author/illustrator of endearing children's books - though the tremendous success of her "tales" needs no apologia. 



Beatrix Potter
Drawing, magnified studies of a ground beetle, about 1887

Beatrix Potter, Drawing of a Walled Garden, Ees Wyke, Sawrey, ca. 1900 

An accomplished student of natural science, a gifted landscape artist, an "environmentalist" before the word was created, a successful farmer and animal breeder, Potter achieved much in a long and active life. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Beatrix Potter's Walking Stick and Farm Clogs

Indeed, it was Potter's close study of nature and unsentimental appraisal of animal life  which grounded her "tales." An ever-present note of realism pervades these stories. Potter's bunnies and other animal protagonists court disaster, especially when they forget the inherent dangers of their seemingly idyllic world.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)
 Studies of a Rabbit’s Head (Benjamin Bouncer) by Beatrix Potter, 1890

Potter was also a savvy, business entrepreneur. She quickly grasped the importance of designing books of a small size which would fit "children's hands" and parent's disposable income. Her publisher wanted to try a line of bigger, more lavishly illustrated books - and thus more expensive - but Potter resisted and she was proven correct. Sales revenue from the child-friendly books soared.

Potter was willing, in some respects, to experiment with innovations in book design. One of my favorite objects in the exhibition is the first edition of The Tale of Miss Moppet. It was designed in a panorama format, with the pages unfolding in an accordion-like fashion. The story of Miss Moppet's unavailing effort to "bag" a mouse develops sequentially like the frames of a silent movie to the delight of young readers. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Gallery view of the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition, 
showing the first edition of The Story of Miss Moppet, 1906



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Detail of The Story of Miss Moppet, 1906

The experiment was not a success. Booksellers disliked the format. The Tale of Miss Moppet unfolded from a wallet casing, rather than conventional book covers. This did not suit perusal in a bookstore, especially if the customer did not buy the opened book!    

Much more effective - at least eventually - was the  revolution in product merchandising which Potter initiated. Today, almost every children's book, movie, television series, etc. spawns a vast array of related toys, clothing and "knick-knacks" of every description. This phenomenon traces its lineage to The Tale of Peter Rabbit, as can be seen in the current displays of the Morgan's gift shop.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Display of merchandise related to Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature 
 at the Morgan Library & Museum gift shop 

Almost as soon as The Tale of Peter Rabbit hopped onto the best-seller chart, Potter sensed an opportunity for exploiting success. She designed a charming plush-animal version of Peter in his stylish blue jacket. A German firm beat her to the draw with a cheap copy which somehow evaded British copyright law, much to Potter's annoyance. 

Potter successfully countered the German domination of the toy market with a constant stream of gift items based on the characters of her tales like this adorable Jemima Puddle-Duck.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Jemima Puddle-Duck doll, ca.1925

Beatrix Potter succeeded in nurturing the rare combination of childlike sensibility  toward animals and nature with a sure-handed grasp of business practice  and an impressive facility with scientific research. How she did so, is not easily presented, even in an art exhibition of exceptional insight like the brilliant show at the Morgan.



Ruppert Potter, Beatrix Potter, aged 15, with her dog, Spot, ca.1880–81

Potter was a "daughter of privilege." Her wealthy parents lavished every form of elite upbringing which the Victorian Britain had to offer: a governess, private tutors, art lessons frequent vacations all over the British Isles. She was treated as the "angel of the house" but expected to remain so. No encouragement was given to develop her abundant talents by way of higher education or a career.

During her early years, up to 1897, she kept a diary, encrypted in a code of her own devising. It resisted all attempts to decipher until 1958. After eight years of effort, Leslie Linder discovered the key to her alphabet and was able to translate the diary. Linder, it must be noted was also the collector of 2,400 drawings by Potter, manuscripts, photos and family memorabilia which he later donated to the V&A.

The decoded diary reveals how, with fortitude, Potter strove to create a life of her own. She was determined not to remain "the angel of the house" as her parents very much wanted her to be. They even resisted her marriage plans when she became engaged to her publisher, Norman Warne in 1905. Sadly, Warne died before they could be married. Recovering from this tragedy, Potter married a lawyer, William Heelis, years later in 1913, living quietly and happily "ever-after."



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Photo of Beatrix Potter by an unknown photographer, ca. 1940

Potter, hugely successful as a children's author, reinvented herself as a farmer and sheep breeder during the years between the two World Wars She used the profits from her books to amass 4,000 acres of some of England's most beautiful and fertile countryside in the the Lake District. These she donated to Britain's National Trust at her death in 1943.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) 
Gallery view of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature,  
showing a recreation of the decor of Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's home

Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature brilliantly surveys these later-stage triumphs of Potter, even evoking her famous country home, Hill Top, in a special display. 

Another important consideration about Beatrix Potter's legacy, not mentioned in this otherwise outstanding exhibit, is the way that the Potter's visionary appraisal of nature helped shape the war aims of Britain during World War II.

A  famous poster from the war reflected Potter's art and ideals, even if the setting is the South Downs rather than her beloved Lake District.This reverence for the fields and hills of home rather than rage and a desire for revenge, motivated Britain's people to fight on to victory.



Frank Newbould, Your Britain: Fight for It Now (South Downs), 1942 


Beatrix Potter, View of Monk Coniston Moor, 1909

Writing shortly before her death, Beatrix Potter put into unforgettable words - which the Morgan exhibition prominently displays - which sum-up the wellspring of her life, her "tales" and her legacy as a protectress of nature:

"I do not remember a time, when I did not try to invent pictures and make for myself a fairyland amongst the wild flowers, the animals, fungi, mosses, woods and streams, all the thousand objects of the countryside; that pleasant, unchanging world of realism and romance, which in our northern clime is stiffened by hard weather, a tough ancestry, and the strength that comes from the hills.”

 ***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                                  

Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd

Introductory Image: Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) Mrs Rabbit Pouring out the Tea for Peter while Her Children Look On, 1902-1907. Linder Bequest. Museum no. BP.468. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition, showing early editions of The Tale of Tom Kitten and The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck.

Rupert Potter (1832-1914) Portrait of Beatrix Potter, ca. 1892. Given by Joan Duke. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition, showing picture letters written by Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, ca. 1890's. Collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) Drawing of Peter Rabbit from the Tailor of Gloucester endpaper,1903. Linder Bequest. Museum no. BP.460. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024)  A picture letter written by Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, April 11, 1892. Collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Detail of a picture letter written by Beatrix Potter to Noel Moore, ca. 1890's. Collection of the Morgan Library and Museum.

Beatrix Potter (1866–1943), Drawing, magnified studies of a ground beetle (Carabus nemoralis), about 1887. Linder Bequest. Museum no. BP.257. © Victoria and Albert Museum / London, courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd

Beatrix Potter (1866–1943), Drawing of a walled garden, Ees Wyke (previously named Lakefield), Sawrey, ca. 1900. Linder Bequest. Museum no. BP.238. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Beatrix Potter's Walking Stick and Farm clogs. Walking Stick: Wood, glass 35 1/16 × 1 9/16 × 1 5/16 in. (89 × 4 × 3.4 cm) Frame: 890 × 40 × 34 mm (89 × 4 × 3.4 cm) On loan, courtesy of The Beatrix Potter Society 2. POT480a -b L2024.1.1 Charlie Brown Clogs 1920 Wood, iron nails, leather: 4 3/4 × 10 1/4 × 3 7/8 in. (12 × 26 × 9.8 cm) The National Trust – Hill Top and Beatrix Potter Collection

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Studies of a Rabbit’s Head (Benjamin Bouncer) by Beatrix Potter, August 1890. Pencil on paper:22 1/16 x 16 18 x 1 3/8 in. (56 x 40.9 x 3.5) Linder Bequest BP. 261

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition, showing the first edition of The Story of Miss Moppet, 1906. Printing ink, paper, cloth: Mount: 2 3/4 × 72 1/16 × 4 1/2 in. (7 × 183 × 11.5 cm) Victoria and Albert Museum Linder Bequest NAL 3804100505406

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Detail of The Story of Miss Moppet, 1906.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) View of the gift shop of the Morgan Library & Museum, showing merchandise related to the Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature exhibition.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Jemima Puddle-Duck doll, ca.1925. Manufactured by J.K. Farnell & Co. Ltd. Mohair body, cotton hat and shawl, felt beak and feet, glass eyes 7 7/8 × 9 7/16 × 3 15/16 in. (20 × 24 × 10 cm) Courtesy of the Frederick Warne Archive

Ruppert Potter (1832-1914) Beatrix Potter, aged 15, with her dog, Spot, about 1880–81. Linder Bequest. Museum no. BP.1425. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Photo of Beatrix Heelis (Potter) by an unknown photographer at Castle Cottege, Sawrey, ca. 1940. Collection of Princeton University Library. #1005.144

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2024) Gallery view of Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, showing a recreation of the decor of Hill Top, Beatrix Potter's home. 

Frank Newbould (1887-1951) Your Britain: Fight for It Now (South Downs), 1942. Lithograph poster. Imperial War Museum collection.                                            

Beatrix Potter (1866–1943) View of Monk Coniston Moor, 1909. Watercolour over pencil sketch: 178 mm x 253 mm. Linder Bequest. Museum no. LB.541. ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London / courtesy of Frederick Warne & Co. Ltd

                                                                                                                                                                                



Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Art Eyewitness Book Review: Julia Margaret Cameron: a Poetry of Photography

 

Art Eyewitness Book Review: 


Julia Margaret Cameron: a Poetry of Photography
Bodleian Library Publishing/University of Chicago Press
279 pages/$75.00

Reviewed by Ed Voves

As Christmas presents go, the large box camera given to Julia Margaret Cameron in December 1863 was a gift to cherish - by Mrs. Cameron and by art lovers ever since.

A camera in 1863 was a most unusual choice for a Christmas gift. More of a "contraption" than a life-enhancing device, cameras were bulky and difficult to use. Taking photos required 12 x 10 glass plate negatives and potentially hazardous chemical solutions, the "wet collodion process", to develop pictures.

"It may amuse you, Mother, to try to photograph during your solitude at Freshwater." 

The holiday greeting from her daughter and son-in-law, who had selected the gift, seems more concerned with the "empty-nest" syndrome facing Mrs. Cameron than any idea that she might make her mark as a photographer. A devoted mother of six grown or adolescent children, Mrs. Cameron now had plenty of time to devote to a new pastime.


Julia Margaret Cameron,
A Story of the Heavens (Freddy Gould & Elizabeth Keown)1866 

Julia Margaret Cameron did not regard the box camera with alarm or as passing fancy. Cameron was an intelligent, cultured woman. Her sensitive features had been captured in an 1850 portrait by the noted painter, G.F. Watts, who was to play a prominent role in her photographic career.



George Frederic Watts, Julia Margaret Cameron, 1850-52 
                                                         
We will never know if Cameron's daughter and son-in-law suspected the extent of her artistic abilities. Prior to December 1863, the 48-year old "gentlewoman" had experimented printing from the negatives of photographer-friend, Oscar Gustave Rejlander. But, upon opening her Christmas present, Cameron's life was truly transformed. 

"From the first moment," Cameron wrote, "I handled my lens with a tender ardour and it has become to me as a living thing, with a voice and memory and creative vigour.".



The life and photographic career of Julia Margaret Cameron are the subject of a magnificent, large-format volume published by the Bodleian Library of Oxford University and distributed in the U.S. by the University of Chicago Press. Julia Margaret Cameron: a Poetry of Photography is a book to treasure, the next best thing to enjoying an exhibition of Cameron's photos.

At this point, it should be noted that the Bodleian volume is not a complete record of Cameron's oeuvre. Gaps in the story of Cameron's embrace of photography result from the content of what is known as the Taylor Album.

In 1930, the Bodleian Library received a collection of 112 original Cameron photographs bound in a scrapbook-like volume. This impressive assemblage of photos was donated by the daughter of Sir Henry Taylor. A close friend of Cameron's husband, Taylor was a confidente and supporter of her as well. Taylor's "serious, unyielding" expression, complemented by a flowing-beard, made him an ideal model (as we will discuss) for Cameron's  photography. 


Julia Margaret Cameron, Henry Taylor, 1864 

The bequest of the Taylor Album to the Bodleian Library made many of Cameron's greatest works available to scholars. However, the album contained no examples of her sensitive, late-life photos of the people of Ceylon, modern-day Sri Lanka. Cameron took these photos during the late 1870's, when she accompanied her husband back to Ceylon, where he owned coffee plantations. She died and was buried in Ceylon in 1879.

This caveat aside, Julia Margaret Cameron: a Poetry of Photography is a compelling testament to Cameron's "creative vigour." The insightful text by Nichole J. Fazio cogently discusses Cameron's efforts to "ennoble photography." A lover of Renaissance painting, Cameron grasped the potential of photography to achieve the status of high art. 

"I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me," Cameron wrote, "and at length that longing has been satisfied."

"At length" was, in actuality, an astonishingly short interval between Cameron's initial attempts to take a photo and her breakthrough "first success."

After a mere three weeks of experimentation, Cameron created a portrait of a young girl, Annie Philpot, which was to prove a major contribution to the development of photography.

The picture of Annie Philpot differed from the sharp, stiff exactitude of mid-Victorian photography. The background of Annie was out-of-focus. Deep pools of shadow shrouded the girl's eyes. It was more a portrait of a passing moment in a child's life than a meticulous record of her features.


Julia Margaret Cameron, Annie (Annie Philpot), 1864 

In her autobiographical essay, Annals of My Glass House, Cameron recalled the magic moment when she glimpsed the image on the 12 x 10 inch glass negative.

"I was in a transport of delight. I ran all over the house to search for gifts for the child. I felt as if she entirely had made the picture. I printed, toned, fixed and framed it, and presented it to her father that same day." 

Another print of Annie was inscribed, "My first success with photography."



Julia Margaret Cameron, G.F. Watts, 1864
                                                                                   
Cameron was fortunate in having the painter Watts as an appreciative friend and mentor. Watts brought a "fresh pair of eyes" and an open mind to the appraisal of Cameron's photos. Watts wrote to Cameron:

Please do not send me valuable mounted copies ... send me any .. defective unmounted impressions, I shall be able to judge just as well & shall be just as much charmed with success...

Watts also posed for Cameron for several early attempts to invest photography with symbolic content, notably Whisper of the Muse, 1865. Cameron made two versions of the photo; the first (below), stressed the ineffable moment of inspiration. The second was a more distinct portrait of Watts, though the configuration of the photo was essentially the same.



Julia Margaret Cameron, Whisper of the Muse, 1865

Many of the experts of the professional photographic "fraternity" were not so obliging as Watts. Cameron was harshly criticized for her "imprecise" focus and "sloppy" technique. 

In fact, smudges and an occasional finger print did find their way onto some of Cameron's negatives. But Cameron was driven to radical experimentation. She sought to summon the spirit, the very souls, of the people being photographed onto the images she created.

In approaching photography from a spiritual perspective, Cameron drew on the ideals of the "sublime" which lay at the heart of Romanticism. Nicole Fazio writes:

The invisible presence of the sublime may be what leaves such an impression upon viewers of Cameron's work. She capitalizes on the capacity of her medium to make visible the real as it exists before her lens, but at the same time infuses her most successful images with a sense of that which exists just below the surface.

Cameron's astonishing facility to use the camera lens to capture what "exists just below the surface" is manifest in her portraits of individual people and of models posing to illustrate religious and poetic-themed topics. A contrasting look at two similarly posed photos, dating to the same time, 1866-67, is very revealing.



Julia Margaret Cameron,
 Mrs. Herbert Duckworth/Julia Jackson, 1867 

The first is a portrait of Julia Jackson, Cameron's niece and god-daughter. It is a haunting image of a young person facing her future, the "great unknown" of life.

Julia Jackson married Herbert Duckworth in 1867. After his tragic, early death in 1870 - and a long period of Victorian mourning - she married Leslie Stephen in 1878. Their daughter, Virginia, born in 1882 would bear a striking resemblance to her mother. In Cameron's photo of Julia, we can see a glimpse of the face and the intellect of Virginia Woolf.



Julia Margaret Cameron,
 Portrait of Christabel (May Prinsep)1866 

Cameron's model for Christabel was another favorite sitter, May Prinsep. Here Prinsep posed as the protagonist of the unfinished narrative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The "lovely lady" Christabel falls under the malign spell of a sorceress, an enchantment brilliantly evoked by the "soft" focus of Cameron's photo.

Interestingly, May Prinsep also posed for Cameron as the youthful St. John, the "apostle whom Jesus loved" in an even more "imprecise" picture (with a finger print at the top edge of the photo)!



Julia Margaret Cameron, Head of St. John (May Prinsep), 1866 

Both of the photos of Prinsep - and of the portrait of Julia Jackson - reveal how the manipulation of a camera lens can leave much to  the viewer to consider and decide. Cameron orchestrated the composition of these remarkable photos but left the last adjustment of the lens, the final focus, for us to make ... in our mind's eye.

If Watts acted as a valued mentor, Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886) came close to the role of collaborator in Cameron's efforts to "ennoble" photography.  As well as being an important official in the British Colonial Office, Taylor was a serious poet and playwright. His early life had been shattered by family tragedy, thus making him sensitive to the lives of others. Cameron regarded him with emotions close to hero worship.

Taylor's venerable face proved a perfect "canvas" for Cameron's character-probing portraits. But Cameron was interested in far more than representative facial features. With Taylor and other "high minded" individuals, she declared her aim to record "the inner as well as the features of the outer man."

To visualize the inner/outer nature of humanity, Cameron planned to use photography to illustrate incidents and episodes showing noble thoughts and sentiments translated into practice. Cameron aimed to depict scenes from the Holy Bible and English literature, thus "combining the real and the ideal and sacrificing nothing of the Truth..."



Julia Margaret Cameron,
 Prospero and Miranda (Henry Taylor and Mary Ryan), 1865 

Taylor posed as a pensive King David, Prospero in Shakespeare's The Tempest and Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet. Two servants from the Cameron household were cast as Taylor's co-stars, Mary Ryan as Miranda and Mary Ann Hillier as Juliet.

With only a year of experience in photography, Cameron was taking an audacious step forward and she might-well have stumbled. But she did not. 

Instead of trying to rival large scale allegories like Rejlander's vast photo montage, The Two Ways of Life, Cameron made a virtue of simplicity. Two figures, expertly juxtaposed with faces and (in the case of Miranda) figures emerging from the the shadows create an indelible image. 

If Cameron's Biblical and Shakespearean scenes seem "dated" today, they do so in a manner similar to "dated" movie still photos of the early decades of the twentieth century. This implies that the "look" of Cameron's photos was decades ahead of their time and have a cinematic quality to them - true on both counts!

Following the success of these 1865 images, Cameron posed models from her circle of family, friends and servants to illustrate characters and episodes in Alfred Lord Tennyson's poems. Some of the Arthurian group photos were problematical. In a bit of a gaffe, Cameron used British Army dragoon helmets for the headgear of Arthur and Lancelot.


Julia Margaret Cameron, Call, I Follow, I Follow, Let Me Die, 1867 

For the most part, however, Cameron's photos illustrating The Idylls of the King and other Tennyson poems are as vivid today as they were in the 1860's and 70's. Whether it is the searching look of "May Queen" Emily Peacock which introduces this review or the dramatic profile of Mary Ann Hillier as the Arthurian heroine, Elaine, these are images which grip the heart and mind - and don't let go.

Over the course of a little over a decade, Cameron took more than 800 photos - a sensational achievement. But in 1875, the year Emily Peacock posed for ‘For I’m to be Queen o’ the May...', Cameron's photographic career came to an effective end.

The Cameron family fortune was based, as we have seen, on coffee plantations in Ceylon. The task of managing these distant plantations was never easy, requiring occasional trips by Cameron's husband. The 1870's were a decade of world-wide economic woe and the Camerons fell deeply in debt. Although Charles Cameron was 80 years of age and in poor health, he determined to return to Ceylon in 1875. Julia, aged 60, faithfully, if reluctantly, accompanied him.



Henry Herschel Hay Cameron, Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1873
This image does not appear in Julia Margaret Cameron: A Poetry of Photography

Julia Margaret Cameron knew that she was unlikely ever to return to England. When she departed for Ceylon, she took her faithful box camera with her - and a coffin.

The Idylls of the Queen of British photography were over. But the legacy of Julia Margaret Cameron remains, in the way we look at the world and attempt to "arrest" its beauty with the lens of a camera. 

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved   

Cover art, courtesy of Bodleian Library Publishing/University of Chicago Press                                                                     

Introductory Image:

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879 ‘For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, Mother, I’m to be Queen o’ the May, (Emily Peacock) 1875. Albumen print: 35 x 27.5 cm. From Illustrations to Tennyson’s Idylls of the King and Other Poems, vol. 2, 1875. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.18. no 2

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) A Story of the Heavens (Freddy Gould and Elizabeth Keown), 1866. Albumen print: 25.4 x 19.7 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 71r

George Frederic Watts (British, 1817-1904) Julia Margaret Cameron, 1850-52. Oil on canvas: 24 x 20 in. (610 x 508 mm.) National Portrait Gallery, London. NPO 505046

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Henry Taylor, 1864. Albumen print: 25.4 x 19.6 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 6r

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Annie (Annie Philpot), 1864 (Inscription: ‘My first success’). Albumen print: 19.1 x 13.5 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 20v

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879)  G.F. Watts, 1864. Albumen print: 25.4 x 19.7 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 71r

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Whisper of the Muse (George Frederic Watts), 1865. Albumen print: 26.7 x 21.2 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 70r

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879)  Mrs. Herbert Duckworth /Julia Jackson, 1867. Albumen print: 25.2 x 19 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 23v

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Portrait of Christabel (May Prinsep), 1866. Albumen print: 25.4 x 20.2 cm. Oxford,  Ashmolean Museum WAHP48555

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Head of Saint John (May Prinsep), 1866. Albumen print: 32.7 x 27 cm. Oxford, Ashmolean Museum WA2009.184

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Prospero and Miranda (Henry Taylor and Mary Ryan), 1865. Albumen print: 31.6 x 26.6 cm. Oxford, Bodleian Library, Arch. K b.12. fol. 13r

Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815-1879) Call, I Follow, I Follow, Let Me Die (Mary Ann Hillier), 1867. Carbon print: 35.1 x 26.7 cm. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Henry Herschel Hay Cameron (British 1852-1911) Julia Margaret Cameron, c. 1873. Albumen Print. 244 x 203 mm.  National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG P696.

Friday, January 26, 2024

Art Eyewitness Essay: Art and the Hundred Years War

 

Art Eyewitness Essay: 
Art and the Hundred Years War


Text by Ed Voves
Original Photography by Anne Lloyd

Jean d'Aire cheated Death twice.

One of the protagonists of The Burghers of Calais, Jean d’Aire was immortalized, along with his compatriots, by Auguste Rodin in a monumental sculpture group. Created during the years, 1885 to 1895, The Burghers of Calais has become a powerful testament to the folly of war.

Jean d’Aire first escaped death’s clutches in 1347. He and five fellow leaders of the French city of Calais were granted a last minute reprieve from execution by the warlike king of England, Edward III. Six hundred fifty-four years later, a portrait bust by Rodin of Jean d’Aire was salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.



  Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Auguste Rodin's imagined portrait of Jean d'Aire, 
a detail of Rodin's The Burghers of Calais

The story of the Burghers of Calais is one of the most memorable incidents of the Hundred Years War, 1337-1453. As recounted in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart,  Jean d'Aire and his fellow burghers, with nooses clinging to their throats, offered their lives to save Calais from destruction. 



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2019)
 Detail of The Burghers of Calais at The Rodin Museum, Philadelphia

Expecting death, the Burghers walked grimly through the gates of Calais to hand the keys of the city to King Edward III. This is the moment sculpted so  memorably by Rodin in clay and then cast in bronze.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2019)
 View of The Burghers of Calais at The Rodin Museum, Philadelphia

Moved by the Burghers' display of courage and fearing God's wrath, Queen Philippa of England begged for the six men to be spared.

According to the conventions of Medieval Europe, the courage of the Burghers of Calais and the compassion of Queen Philippa exemplified the ideals of Chivalry. In the endless war that followed, Chivalry would be sacrificed along with an estimated two million lives, killed in battle or by disease and starvation.

The Hundred Years War began as a rivalry between the Valois family of France and the Plantagenets of England. Both claimed to be the legitimate heir to the throne of France. This quarrel between the two French-speaking dynasties was complicated by the break-away efforts of the powerful Duchy of Burgundy, which joined forces with England against France during the 1420's. 

From a typically medieval dispute over royal pedigree, the Hundred Years War escalated into one of the most significant conflicts of world history.

The military campaigns of the Hundred Years War fostered the development of gunpowder weapons, bombards and culverins, able to demolish castle walls with devastating artillery salvos. In order to provide the financial resources to pay for these cannons – and for “cannon fodder” – the French and English monarchs implemented new methods of taxation and government organization. Unwittingly, the royal rivals created the matrix of the modern nation state.

One of the most remarkable features of this bloody, century-long, struggle is the lack of accurate visual documentation of its world-shaping episodes. The great artistic revolution of the 1400's, which we now call the Renaissance, did not extend to the battlefields in France.

Apart from portraits of the kings of France and England, we lack reliable images of most of the leading protagonists, including Jean d'Aire and the other Burghers of Calais.

A fascinating example of the pictorial "black hole" in the story of the Hundred Years War is the illuminated manuscript known as The Bedford Hours. A miniature illustration shows the formidable English commander, John, Duke of Bedford, praying before a blue-caped St.George. Historians believe that the facial features of St. George are based on a death-bed portrait of King Henry V, victor of Agincourt. But we can't be sure of this.



A miniature from The Bedford Hours prayer book, 1430,
 showing John, Duke of Bedford, praying before St. George

Incredibly, there is no contemporary portrait of Joan of Arc. Celebrated - and vilified - during her short life (1412-1431), this courageous young woman’s actual features are a blank canvas.


Clément de Fauquembergue,

 Representation of Jeanne d'Arc in the Register 

of the Parlement de Paris, May 10th, 1429


A drawing of Joan of Arc, dated May 10, 1429, was based on verbal “hear-say.” It was sketched in the margin of a note book by Clement de Fauquemberque, clerk of the Parlement of Paris. Since Paris was controlled by the English in 1429 – and many local officials had switched sides to join them - de Fauquemerque’s sketch of Joan may well be a hostile caricature.

All of the images of Joan of Arc, Christian saint, symbol of French patriotism and martyr of Women’s History, belong in the same Gallery of Imaginary Portraits as Rodin’s memorable depiction of Jean d'Aire and the Burghers of Calais.

Why bother to discuss the lack of images of a long-ago war? There are three reasons for considering the Hundred Years War in Art Eyewitness.




  Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Emmanuel Frémiet's Joan of Arc (1890),  
 on display near the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The first reason is personal. My grandmother came from northeast France, as did Joan of Arc. Two sculptures related to the Hundred Years War are on view in Philadelphia, my hometown. One of them is a copy of The Burghers of Calais, the other of Joan of Arc mounted on her charger. Both have shaped my thoughts on life and war for many years.



I have also been motivated by the recent publication of Triumph and Illusion, the fifth and final volume of The Hundred Years War by British historian, Jonathan Sumption. Researched and written over a period of 43 years, this is the definitive account of the war, massive in scope and incisively narrated. 

Sumption, who is one of Britain’s leading trial lawyers, knows how to argue a case based on the evidence. His verdict on the Hundred Years War – victory for France, England’s defeat, decisively shaping each nation’s society and institutions – commands respect.

The third and most compelling reason is the constant report and rumor of war throughout our twenty-first century world. War in the Ukraine, wars in the Middle East, nations threatening and mobilizing for war at other crisis points – war, everywhere war.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2021)
 Detail of The Burghers of Calais at The Rodin Museum, Phila. 
The figure at right represents Andrieu d' Andres

If ever there was a need to stop and reflect on the meaning of The Burghers of Calais, Joan of Arc and the Hundred Years War it is now.

Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais and the statue of Joan of Arc, which I mentioned earlier, were commissioned as a result of another war. This was France’s shocking defeat by Germany in 1870-71, which involved the seizure of the province of Lorraine where Joan had been born. 



  Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Emmanuel Frémiet's Joan of Arc, 1874, 
 created in 1890 for the city of Philadelphia

In 1872, the French government commissioned Emmanuel Frémiet (1824-1910) to create a monumental statue of the medieval heroine. Joan, the Maid of Orleans, was being called upon to spark a revival of French national pride.


Frémiet approached his task with zeal and artistry. He meticulously replicated fifteenth century armor and chose a young woman from Domrémy, Joan’s village in Lorraine, as his model. Astride her warhorse with banner waving, the bronze (later gilded) Joan of Arc was placed on a pedestal in 1874, at the Place des Pyramides in Paris.

Frémiet created a second version of the statue for the city of Nancy in France and then, in 1890, for Philadelphia. There was a strong affinity for French culture in Philadelphia in the late 1800’s. The statue of Joan was placed at a prominent site near the city’s zoo. After the Philadelphia Museum of Art was built, the statue was relocated to Kelly Drive, adjacent to the museum.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 View of Emmanuel Frémiet's Joan of Arc, Kelly Drive, Philadelphia

Frémiet’s Joan of Arc was a statue which every ardent French patriot or an American Francophile could approve. But there were problems with selecting Joan as a symbol of French nationalism. A related work of art, created around the same time, revealed the difficulty of adapting medieval history to suit modern circumstance.

Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884) was a native of Lorraine. When the Germans seized Lorrraine, along with Alsace, in 1871, the shock was profound. Bastien-Lepage set to work on his visual rendering of the Joan of Arc saga, but his approach was very different from Frémiet’s flag-waving fervor.

The keynote of Bastien-Lepage's painting was religion. Bastien-Lepage came from a pious Catholic family, as had Joan. He chose to depict Joan at the moment when three saints - St. Michael, St, Catherine and St. Margaret - appeared to her, urging her to lead the French armies against England. 

What is more, Bastien-Lepage, France's most promising Realist painter, chose to include St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret in the picture.



Ed Voves, Photo (2022)
 Jules Bastien-Lepage's Joan of Arc, 1879

When Bastien-Lepage unveiled Joan of Arc in 1879, he was chagrined at its reception. Instead of a chorus of approval, the huge oil-on-canvas received faint praise in some circles of the French cultural establishment and damnation in others. Critics denounced the work for its inclusion of ethereal beings in a real world setting. This was a polite way of saying that Bastien-Lepage was mixing religion with politics.

From the time of the 1789 Revolution, the French Republic espoused a markedly secular approach to nation building. The Roman Catholic religious establishment was regarded with deep suspicion by left-wing political groups and occasionally subjected to hostile action, including the 1871 Paris Commune revolt. 



Ed Voves, Photo (2022)
 Gallery view of Bastien-Lepage's Joan of Arc at The Met 

By emphasizing Joan of Arc's religious background, Bastien-Lepage struck a nerve. The French government refused to buy the painting. Instead, an American collector, Erwin Davis, purchased it in 1880 and it was later bequeathed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The effort to foster French patriotism with Frémiet's statue of Joan of Arc and the controversy regarding Bastien-Lepage's version set the stage for one of the greatest of all artworks dealing with the theme of war: Auguste Rodin's The Burghers of Calais.

Rodin was one of several sculptors competing for a prestigious commission from the city government of Calais, the modern embodiment of the fourteenth century burghers. The town fathers wanted a single statue of the leader of the Calais burghers, Eustache de Saint-Pierre. Naturally, they wanted Eustache to be perched on a pedestal.

Rodin won the commission and, being Rodin, determined to do it his way. First of all, he envisioned the sculpture in democratic terms. All six burghers of Calais would be portrayed. No pedestal.


 
Anne Lloyd, Photo (2019)
 View of The Burghers of Calais at The Rodin Museum, Philadelphia

Rodin's commission called for him to submit two models or maquettes. The first gave a nod toward the initial idea of a single, heroic figure of Eustache de St. Pierre, positioning him leading the other five in a brave progress toward their meeting with Edward III.

The second model, upon which the finished work is based, revealed a complete transformation. Rodin now showed a leaderless group. The burghers, including a  haggard-looking Eustache de Saint Pierre, are united by fear as well as a sense of duty. Each man is shown, striving in his own way to act with courage, as basic impulses of self-preservation threaten their resolve.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Auguste Rodin's imagined portrait of Eustache de Saint Pierre

The city commissioners of Calais were appalled when they beheld the second model. They communicated their displeasure to Rodin in no uncertain terms, stating "this is not how we envisaged our glorious citizens going to the camp of the King of England. Their defeated postures offended our religion..."

Rodin refused to back down and eventually the city commissioners, following in the footsteps of the medieval burghers, asked for peace terms. But it was not an unconditional surrender. They insisted on a pedestal and Rodin obliged them.

Officially, Rodin based his position on his well-known antipathy to the "law of the Academic School." While this was no doubt true, Rodin's real motivation was a bold plan to do what few sculptors had ever done before. He aimed to depict doubt, indecision, uncertainty and fear in the faces and emotions of human beings who were attempting, at the same time, to be brave - and not sure if they will succeed.



Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Gallery view of Rodin's The Burghers of Calais at The Met 

Rodin movingly described his vision of the burghers of Calais as conflicted heroes:

I have … threaded them one behind the other, because in the indecision of the last inner combat, which ensues, between their devotion to their cause and their fear of dying, each of them is isolated in front of his conscience. They are still questioning themselves to know if they have the strength to accomplish the supreme sacrifice ...

Rodin's words ring true. I am fortunate to be able to spend a good bit of time in the company of Eutache de St. Pierre, Jacques and Pierre de Wiessant, Jean de Fiennes and Andrieu d' Andres. Both in the outdoor setting at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and in the Petrie Sculpture Court at The Met, study and reflection on The Burghers of Calais is one of the most soul-satisfying activities I know.

 


Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023)
 Auguste Rodin's imagined portrait of Pierre de Wiessant

Rather than comment further myself, i will defer to the wisdom of Kenneth Clark.

In his masterful book, The Romantic Rebellion, Kenneth Clark wrote of The Burghers of Calais:

It is comprehensible to anyone who will pay attention: the dramatic element is inherent, not additional; and the burghers, in every movement, give sculptural form to the feelings of common humanity.

Our common humanity. That is what we see in the tense, twisted bodies and anguished faces of the Burghers of Calais. Into their contorted limbs and questioning eyes, Rodin poured the sufferings of generations of soldiers and non-combatants of the Hundred Years War - and by extension of all wars. 

This brings us back to Jean d'Aire and the second time he "cheated the hangman." 

One of greatest modern collectors of Rodin's art was B. Gerald Cantor, founder of the Cantor-Fitzgerald brokerage firm.  Cantor had been lavish in donating many works by Rodin to museums, including The Met. It was Cantor and his wife, Iris, who gave the magnificent Burghers of Calais, shown above, to The Met in 1989.

After Cantor died in 1996, approximately 300 Rodin casts were still owned by his firm. In the "museum in the sky" in the 105th floor, North Tower, office of Cantor-Fitzgerald, many  of these Rodin bronze casts were on display on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Three Rodin works from the Cantor-Fitzgerald collection were rescued from the rubble and wreckage of that unspeakable tragedy: two of The Three Shades, a small scale cast of The Thinker (which quickly "disappeared"), and a dented bust of Jean d'Aire.



The bust of Jean d'Aire survived the 9/11 disaster, "crash-landing" to earth to remind us of the common humanity of the 658 staff members of Cantor-Fitzgerald who perished. He "survived" to remind us, too, of the precious gift of our humanity. 

"Death be not proud." 

So John Donne wrote and so Jean d'Aire, Burgher of Calais, continues to bear witness.

***

Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved                                                   Original photography, copyright of Anne Lloyd, all rights reserved

Introductory Image: Anne Lloyd, Photo (2022) Detail of Auguste Rodin's The Burghers of Calais, showing Jean d'Aire and (at left) Eustache de Saint-Pierre.

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884–95, cast by the Alexis Rudier Foundry, 1919-21. Bronze: 6 feet 10 1/2 inches × 7 feet 10 inches × 6 feet 3 inches (209.6 × 238.8 × 190.5 cm) Philadelphia Museum of Art. Gift of Jules E. Mastbaum, 1929

Unknown artist (French, 1400’s) Miniature of John, Duke of Bedford, praying before St George; from The Bedford Hours. British Library, Held and digitised by the British Library.         https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John,_Duke_of_Bedford_(detail)_-_British_Library_Add_MS_18850_f256v.jpg

Clément de Fauquembergue (French, 1400’s)  Représentation de Jeanne d'Arc dans un registre du Parlement de Paris, May 10th, 1429. Centre Historique des Archives Nationales AE II 447 (X1a 1481 fol. 12r.), Musée de l'Historique de France (Hôtel de Soubise)  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeanne_d%27Arc-Fauquembergue.jpg#/media/File:Contemporaine_afb_jeanne_d_arc.png

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Emmanuel Frémiet’s Joan of Arc, 1890. Gilded bronze: (height) 15 ft., (width) 4 ft, 8 in., (depth) 7 ft. 4 in. Granite base: (height) 8 ft. 4 in. (width) 5 ft. 6 in. (depth) 10 ft. Commissioned by the French Centennial Committee of Philadelphia and the Fairmount Park Art Association. Owned by the City of Philadelphia.

Ed Voves, Photo 2022 Jules Bastien-Lepage’s Joan of Arc, 1879. Oil on canvas: 100 x 110 in. (254 x 279.4 cm) Gift of Erwin Davis, 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Art #89.21.1   

Anne Lloyd, Photo (2023) Auguste Rodin’s The Burghers of Calais, modeled 1884–95, cast by the Coubertin Foundry, 1985. Bronze: 82 1/2 × 94 × 95 in. (209.6 × 238.8 × 241.3 cm) Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gift of Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, 1989