Museums a Modern Interpretation of History Painting

Entered in the Manning Art Prize it was selected for hanging in 2009 by the Director of the Manning Regional Art Gallery, Sue Mitchell. Entered in the Stanthorpe Art Prize 2010 the painting was again selected by John McDonald one of Australias most respected art critics. Entered in the Art Scene Today January 2010 Art Competition it was selected as a finalist by Margaret Weber (US based print maker and curator).

The inspiration for this painting was an eight week tour through The Netherlands, Belgium and France. The paintings, architecture and museums (including art galleries) had a strong impact on me.

The painting itself started when I picked up a brochure at the Musee de Beaux Arts Dijon. The Musee is undergoing renovations and the brochure explains why and how the work is to be done. The cover image consisted of a small boy closing a door, though this could also be interpreted as opening the door. I was very taken by that image and began trying to conceive ways to use that motif in a major painting.

At the Sens Musee I encountered another work that quite stunned me, by Georges Rochegrosse it was large and imposing but unknown to me. I have been unable to locate a photo of it in any publication. The central theme of the image was the stream of people enraged at the Emperor that appears to be being led to his execution. That aspect of the image did not interest me but the idea of a central flow of figures was very interesting and it appears in my painting. Compositionally the flow ends at two figures in the foreground, a street musician and a boy that is facing the viewer and obviously high as a kite, my end of the flow is similar but is in the painting for different reasons.

The final part of my composition came from an aspect of my trip that some might find unusual. I had photographed the French war memorials that I encountered in every town, the intention being to create a book that will tie these statues together and place them in an art context. At Esterssac I encountered a figure that was full of  vigour and emotion, I would not say it was the best memorial but the figure was very stirring, something like a figure by Lebrun or David.  This figure fits perfectly as the flow end in my composition in company with a street musician.

The story that I wanted to convey consists of the desire of all past generations to be remembered, the tendency of youth to forget or distance itself from the past, the passage of a group of people into the past when they have existed in living memory, and finally the connection between moments of revelation that enable the past to talk to us.

The story could not be wrapped up in a modernist painting, to do this would deny the credibility of the past generations that want to be remembered and place my story outside future interpretation. In short I wished to make a painting that could be appreciated by all generations including the dead.

I made a single compositional drawing to test out what had been floating in my mind for four weeks during my travels. The sketch fell into place and in large part except for the central stream of the image it was what became the painting.

In essence the painting is a stage set with a centrally placed wall broken by a half opened double door in the centre of the scene. Beyond the door a narrow street goes almost directly away up an incline. At the top of the hill a building terminates the street and a small area of sky appears hemmed in by the taller buildings of the street. On the viewers side of the doorway is a tiled floor.

The actors in this scene are composed of three groups. The central group is composed of two boys, one stands on the viewers side of the doorway facing away from the viewer, the other faces that boy from the other side of the doorway and his face is visible to the viewer. This group represents the moment of revelation between the past and the present, the ambiguity of the action of the living embodies the power of they have to disregard the memory of the dead.

The second group are two large figures standing on the viewer side of the wall flanking the boy from the first group, of these figures the right side is moving towards the doorway, while the other stands applauding the doorway and the action around it. These figures represent the dead that are passing into history or beyond living memory. The street musician is taken from the Rochegrosse painting but could just as easily have been adapted from a Bastien-Lepage image that is very similar. This figure memorialises the ability of performers in the modern world to be remembered beyond their life span. The other figure is the statue from Esterssac, and it represents the last remnants of WWI survivors who wish to pass into history even if they are comparatively anonymous and forgotten as individuals.

The third group are the more anonymous figures beyond the doorway. They stream back up the street each attempting to attract attention. They come from a variety of settings and times. I particularly liked the presence in Rochegrosses painting of a single negro in the centre of his street scene, I included this figure to emphasis the European focus of my own historical knowledge and that of my intended audience. Other figures are taken from favourite paintings that I saw during the tour.

After drawing up the image on the canvas using a graphite pencil I set to painting. The image is the painting on about day three. The central figures are roughed in to provide an anchor point for everything around them. The doors are intended at this stage to provide a counter point between the central figures and what is on this side of the doorway. An early issue is how to deal with the light, it is the come from both sides of the door, this adds a complexity to the composition that I will work through slowly during the process of the painting.

I'm being quite tentative at this point blocking in some of the musician to get a sense of balance across the canvas (to explain the soldier is already quite strongly in my mind and I don't need to paint him in yet).

The central figures are painted so that the face contains a lot of emotional content but does not look quite alive (in fact a little dead might better describe it).

The woman behind is intended to look as near to perfect as possible, opalescent white skin, well formed face and body. She brings life back into the people beyond the doorway, removing the otherwise chaotic sense of tension in the crowd.

The soldier goes ahead as planned, he is a bit flat and the back pack etc is not in. This part of the figure gives me a good reference of how to build up the central figures in the remainder of the crowd. The tiles on the floor are brought up so the surface is complete but without shading and edging detail.

At this stage I want to force a separation between the figures in front of the doorway and those behind it. This is achieved by darkening the doors and improving detailing on the door lock. The effect now leaves too much emphasis on the figures in the mid back of the crowd. The musicians Tamborine is made larger and her arm position is altered.

The painting at this stage is considered complete. Detail on the tiles is added along with shadows. The musician is detailed and enhanced to make the drapery more a contributor to the direction of action. The blonde boy has changes made to and around him to separate him from the dark haired boy. The soldier is fully detailed and the shadow, volume enhanced to provide a sense of forcefulness/ purpose/ urgency. The doors are darkened again. The crowd is placed in shadow at the mid way point to separate the rear of the group. The walls are darkened slightly with a touch of blue to enhance the pink of the lady in the centre.

Entered in the Manning Art Prize it is selected for hanging in 2009.