Literature and the Visual Arts

[Epistemophile]

I am interested in the ways in which literature and visual arts have affected each other, especially in the 20th century. I would be very glad if members of this forum dropped by to share their ideas/thoughts on the intersection between lit. visual arts. References to specific texts relevant to this topic would be much appreciated. Which novels are inspired by lives of painters? Which poems are major examples of ekphrasis? Which paintings deal with literary figures? These are some of the questions I am looking at. It would be very kind if these issues are taken up by members.

[Des Essientes]

Frederick Turner's painting of the grove at Nemi inspired Sir James Frazier to investigate the history of the weird priesthood that held sway there and this caused him to write the incredibly rich "The Golden Bough" a work that in turn inspired much more literature, not the least of which being Robert Graves' investigations into ancient religion "The Hebrew Myths", "The Greek Myths" and "The White Goddess".

[Emil Miller]

The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham is a must read for anyone who wants to know why artists paint.

[stlukesguild]

One of the major directions taken by Modernist painters was a move away from narrative and anything that spoke of the "literary". When I was in art school, the terms "narrative", "literary" and "illustrative" were all considered insults. Music, actually, became far more influential upon painting. Walter Pater, in the chapter entitled "The School of Giorgione" from his classic on aesthetics, The Renaissance argued in favor of Art pour l'Art... argued that arts, like something deemed as trivial as fashion, should strive toward becoming a "end in themselves" as opposed to a "means to an end". The "meaning" should exist solely within perception... within that which strikes the ear or the eye as opposed to this being interpreted by the intellect and deciphered for "meaning".

Pater continues, "It is the art of music that most completely realizes this artistic ideal, this perfect identification of form and matter. In its ideal, consummate moments, the end is not distinct from the means, the subject from the expression... Music then, and not poetry, as is so often supposed, is the true type of measure of perfected art.

Many artists were indeed attracted by this idea. They were fascinated that music could employ a palette of sounds: different notes, different instrumental colors, different combinations of each... and achieve an artistic "meaning" without ever needing to stoop toward the mimetic. In other words, Mozart's Clarinet Quintet has "meaning"... and yet it never sounds like something other than a collection of abstract sounds. The meaning exists within the work as a whole and not in its reference or mimicry of some external (non-musical) subject. Paul Klee, who had a great love of music, was greatly intrigued by this idea, and created some of the earliest wholly abstract paintings that still resonate strongly with an audience:

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/images/h2/h2_1987.455.12.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/190/475921998_36e718ba52.jpg

http://download.kataweb.it/mediaweb/image/brand_espressonline/2009/12/02/1259754123083_paul-klee-fuoco-di-sera.jpg

http://bacteriasnomeio.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/paul_klee_1934.jpg

Ironically, Klee was himself one of the most poetic of artists when it came to titling his paintings. The last three paintings (above) are entitled Ancient Sound, The Fire at Evening, and Blossoming... all of which are powerfully evocative... and literal.

One can follow the impact of music on the visual arts of the 20th century and explore the impact of the spontaneity and improvisation of jazz upon the American painting of the period, Abstract Expressionism... but I'll turn to your focus upon links between literature and the visual arts of the century.

Perhaps one of the greatest literary influences was Art pour l'Art movement of the late 19th century. This would include writers such as Theophile Gautier, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Valery, Stéphane Mallarmé, Marcel Proust, the Comte de Lautréamont, J.K. Huysmans, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, etc... The Art for Art's Sake movement argued that the work of art should be judged purely upon artistic or aesthetic grounds... not upon non-artistic, external concerns such as morality, theology, social issues, political issues, etc...

With the 20th century it was recognized that one could no longer expect the audience of art to share one common universal mythology or common narrative. As the audience for art began to include individuals that were not members of the aristocracy or the intellectual "elite", it could no longer be presumed that this audience shared a knowledge of a common mythology/narrative where the audience for the Renaissance and Baroque painter certainly were well educated in the narratives of the Bible and the Greco-Roman myths and were immediately able to recognize who was who in a painting based upon their well-known attributes (clothing, etc...). 20th century theorists and artists recognized that the artist could no longer rely upon the audience sharing this common knowledge... something T.S. Eliot mourned in The Wasteland. Thus Modernism took the notions of Art pour l'Art further... building upon Walter Pater's suggestion that like music, art should become an "end in itself". This dominant aesthetic philosophy of Modernism, known as "Formalism", argued that elements such as subject matter, narrative, the artist's intent, or the artist's biography were of secondary concern. What was central to the merit of a work of art was solely that which could be seen: the form. Judging art solely upon form allowed one to compare art objects from vastly different cultures or objects with vastly different intent.

Another major literary influence upon Modernist art was the writing of Emmanuel Kant (and his numerous followers). Kant made a number of arguments concerning the question of "beauty". Perhaps most importantly, he in many ways codified the notion that intellect... the mind... was more important than perception... or the bodily senses. These two opposing forces became attached to sexuality: man being equated with the intellect, rigorous thought, and culture and women with emotions, the decorative, and nature. It was argued, for example, that the traditionally "beautiful" is so highly seductive that it overwhelms rational thought. The most extreme example of this was woman. A beautiful woman was seen as so likely to short-circuit the male rationale that he could not make logical, rigorous aesthetic judgments.

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lftxdpDUC61qzn4kzo1_500.jpg

William-Adolphe Bouguereau was the president of the French Academy. He was a masterful painter of the nude. He was also the president of the French Academy who opened the doors to female painters, and was well known for his charity or willingness to help out less fortunate artists. He was also the man most vilified by the Modernists. For years his paintings molded away in deep storage. Bouguereau was successful and wealthy during the early years of Modernism when the Impressionists struggled for recognition. The Impressionists were undoubtedly far more innovative or experimental in terms of form... and as such they were embraced by Modernist theory. But no one could ever point out what exactly was bad about Bouguereau's paintings. Kant and others would have suggested that it was solely the beauty of the women in the painting that we admired... not the rigorous and innovative form of the painting itself. By comparison, one couldn't suggest that with a painting of a woman by Picasso...

http://img.artknowledgenews.com/files2011mar/Picasso-Nude-Woman.jpg

... or Matisse

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_soH7cndosc8/TBi_YcGH_6I/AAAAAAAABr4/WwdmwhOZagY/s1600/matisse_nude.jpg

... that our judgement was likely clouded by the beauty of the woman. But then what of Ingres...?

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzc9ae8Q3X1qiletdo1_500.jpg

or Velasquez...

http://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/o/orpheuse/20120310/20120310004905.jpg

... or nearly any of the Old Masters for that matter.

Modernists could never really answer this question... but they remained steadfastly suspicious of "beauty".

Another area of literary influence upon art was that of Surrealism. At the heart of the Surrealist movement in Paris were the poets, Andre Breton, Paul Eluard, Aimé Césaire, Robert Desnos, Louis Aragon, etc... Surrealism was profoundly intrigued by anything contrary to the rigorous intellect and logic of Kant... they embraced the irrational, the fantastic, the subconscious, dreams, fantasies, etc... Among their predecessors they counted E.T.A. Hoffmann, Edgar Allen Poe, Guillaume Apollinaire Theophile Gautier, the Marquis De Sade, the Comte de Lautréamont, Gerard de Nerval, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Valery, Stéphane Mallarmé, Marcel Proust, J.K. Huysmans, Walter Pater, Oscar Wilde, etc... They are linked with the poets of 20th century Spain such as Miguel Hernandez, Federico Garcia Lorca, Vinciente Aleixandre, Antonio Machado, Rafael Alberti, etc... Among the artists influenced by Surrealism we can count Salvador Dali:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YNesqqSuDF0/TaebhQiMSTI/AAAAAAAAAAU/Z960uZYHRVA/s1600/Metamorphosis_of_Narcissus.jpg

Giorgio de Chirico:

http://filosofiaprimeira.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/de-chirico-song-of-love.jpg?w=584

Max Ernst:

http://www.dailyartfixx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/The-Robing-of-the-Bride-Max-Ernst-1940.jpg

Yves Tanguy:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lgnpY9yFPb8/TwhIGiMKVdI/AAAAAAAADDg/bbwCcX63y5E/s1600/yves-tanguy-multiplication-of-the-arcs3.jpg

Joan Miró:

http://www.cicagi.it/public/moduli/appunti/immagini/surrealismo/sur6.jpg

... and dozens of other artists... including Picasso.

For the instance of a single artist influenced by literature I would recommend you look into the work of Joseph Cornell. Joseph Cornell was a completely "self-taught" artist who lived in the vicinity of NYC for the whole of his life. He could not paint or draw or sculpt. Rather he his entire career was spent in the creation of collage and assemblage... quite often shadow boxes. He was always a collector of bric-a-brac and began to create artistic object in order to entertain his mentally challenged brother. His collage and assemblage fall within the tradition of Surrealism... but he was never a member of the Surrealists nor interested in becoming a member. His works were profoundly influenced by 19th century French literature ( Theophile Gautier, the Comte de Lautréamont, Gerard de Nerval, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Valery, Stéphane Mallarmé, Marcel Proust...), Emily Dickinson, Ralph waldo Emerson, certain contemporary poets of the Symbolist and Surrealist strain, the opera, the theater, the ballet, etc...

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-SoapBub.jpg/30348085/Artist-Cornell-SoapBub.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-2.jpg/30348071/Artist-Cornell-2.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-3.jpg/30348073/Artist-Cornell-3.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-Egypte.jpg/30348077/Artist-Cornell-Egypte.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-Medici.jpg/30348082/Artist-Cornell-Medici.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-Pharmacy.jpg/30348083/Artist-Cornell-Pharmacy.jpg

http://art110.wikispaces.com/file/view/Artist-Cornell-Untitled.jpg/30348091/Artist-Cornell-Untitled.jpg

Cornell was one of the most fascinating and poetic artists of the 20th century... and as such he has been the subject of numerous literary homages... ranging from poems to poetic meditations to art history. I highly recommend...

http://covers.openlibrary.org/w/id/164501-L.jpg

Dore Ashton's A Joseph Cornell Album which explores Cornell's influences as well as poetic homages to Cornell by the poets Octavio Paz, John Ashbery, Stanley Kunitz, and Richard Howard.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTZbK_mmuVX10CFF-5f_TmDL6N4o1VZRvQq631Ta2qCopR3NsU-lzhfl32A

Joseph Cornell: Master of Dreams- Diane Waldman

and especially...

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWjvbfEOzyCYA1D6139P1mv_hY7cziX xKrAhJ7SoHrBIgAhjwcFaFWNwJY

Dime Store Alchemy... an exquisite poetic homage and meditation by the contemporary American Surrealist poet, Charles Simic.

A few thoughts to keep you busy.:biggrin5:

[JBI]

The works of Henry James have been compared to impressionist painting. His convoluted weird sentences are compared to the creation of objects within impressionist work.

Michael Ondaatje in In The Skin of a Lion plays with both the work of cubists and the work of Caravaggio (particular his technique of Chiaroscuro).

[ChicagoReader]

There are several portions of William Carlos Williams' Paterson which deal with ekphrasis, not to mention his influence in the imagist movement. As a whole, Paterson does some very interesting things with image, I'd recommend it, though I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much if I hadn't read it for class.

[stlukesguild]

http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/181711-L.jpg

Another fascinating merger of art and literature is Mario Vargas Llosa's In Praise of the Stepmother. The novel alternates between chapters dedicated to the overall narrative, with chapters dedicated to the sexual fantasies of the main characters... each of which is inspired by a painting reproduced as part of the text.

[Alexander III]

For a specific instance, in Hemingway's A Moveable Feast ( a memoir of his time in paris in the 20's) he recounts that he learned to write descriptions of landscape from Cezzane. He would go to various museums almost daily and gaze upon and study cezzanes landscapes for hours, and then in his writing he would try to emmulate them.

I would suggest looking at the first chapter of A Farewell To Arms, which is purley a description of the norther Italian countryside during the great war, and then looking at some of cezzanes landscapes, while form is uttlerly different, the same artistic inspiration or sources is clearly present in both works, and affects the imagination of the spectator with that same force of beauty and genius.

[stlukesguild]

The 19th century has a lot of links between artists and writers. Zola, Pater, Baudelaire, William Morris, John Ruskin... among others... wrote extensively on art. For literature inspired by Cezanne, I like Zola's L'Œuvre (The Masterpiece, 1886). In this novel, Zola presents the tale of a failed painter... a thinly veiled portrait of his childhood friend, Cezanne. Zola also writes some real revealing criticism of Cezanne. Zola left Aix-en-Provence for Paris where he rapidly established his reputation and became a figurehead among the literary bourgeoisie and organized cultural dinners with Guy de Maupassant, Joris-Karl Huysmans and other writers at his luxurious villa in Medan near Paris. He was highly successful, wealthy (better paid than Victor Hugo), sophisticated, etc... When Cezanne joined him in Paris, the painter (in spite of his wealthy father) insisted upon playing the part of the crude, vulgar country bumpkin and belligerent bohemian lacking in any and all social skills. Cezanne was so successful at ostracizing himself from the world of the arts that it wasn't until shortly before his death that a retrospective of his paintings in Paris proved to be a revelation and the spark needed by Picasso and Braque for the development of Cubism.