Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania into a family of artists.. His grandfather and father were known for their public sculpture commissions, and his mother was a portrait artist. Alexander, better known as Sandy, started making small sculptures of mixed materials by1902.  The first one was an elephant. By age ten, Sandy had a small workshop. However, his parents having experienced the artist life, wanted Sandy to choose another line of work. Sandy graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey with a degree in mechanical engineering. The following inscription was written in his yearbook: “Sandy is evidently always happy, or perhaps up to some joke, for his face is always wrapped up in that same mischievous, juvenile grin. This is certainly the index to the man’s character in this case, for he is one of the best natured fellows there is.” 

Calder held several jobs as a hydraulic engineer, draughtsman, mechanic, and timekeeper at a logging camp. From the camp he wrote home to request paint and brushes to paint the mountain scenery. He started his art studies in 1923 at the Art Students League in New York City. He frequently visited Coney Island, the circus, and the Bronx and Central Park zoos. He began the creation of the “Calder Circus” (1926-1931). Over the next several years the “circus” grew to over 70 miniatures of performers, almost 100 accessories, 30 musical instruments, records, and noisemakers. Eventually the work filled five suitcases. The figures were made of wire, wood, metal, cloth, yarn, cardboard, leather, cloth, string, rubber tubing, corks, buttons, rhinestones, pipe cleaners, bottle caps, and other found objects.

Calder moved back and forth from Paris to New York from 1926 until 1933. He performed the show over 70 times. In Paris his audience included critics, collectors, and artists from the theatre, and literature, including the Parisienne avant-garde, Miro, Duchamp, Cocteau, and Leger. Paris audience members sat on bleachers made from champagne crates, and they ate peanuts. They were given noisemakers to sound when Calder gave the signal. In New York his audience included members of high society. Calder announced the acts in French or English, choreographed all the movement, gave voice to the performers and animals, played music, and created sound effects. The shows were so well received they often lasted for two hours. 

At the lower right-side corner of the display is the “Little Clown Trumpeter.” In a performance, Calder would place a balloon in the clowns mouth and then blow through the hose until the balloon burst and knocked over the bearded lady that was placed in front of him. The figures in the middle are a cowboy wearing wooly chaps, a bull made of wire and corks, a cowboy on horseback wearing a red bandana and holding his black hat, and a woman waving an American flag. A street lamp, and a dachshund fill in the left front corner. At the rear, three trapeze artists hold onto the high wire that Calder would vibrate to animate them. In case one should fall, a net was suspended beneath.

The clown (10.5’’x7’75’’x5’75’’) is dressed in a long brown coat with arms made of Yarn. Calder would strip off the clown’s clothes in layers until he was dressed in coveralls, and revealed to be a thin wire figure. The camel is a cloth sculpture sewn together and wired for stability (6.5’’x5’75’’x4’25’’). The kangaroo is made from shaped pieces of metal nailed to a wooden base on a wheel. When the kangaroo is pulled by an attached cord its legs appear to move, similar to a child’s pull toy. As a result of the success of his inventions, Calder went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in 1927, to meet with a children’s toy manufacturer. They signed a contract for his Action Toys: a hopping kangaroo, a skating bear, and a goldfish that appeared to swim, opening and closing its gills when pulled.  

 

Standing in the center ring, ringmaster Monsieur Loyal in top hat and tails points to the lion in cage. Out of the cage for a performance, the lion completed a few tricks and then sat on a pedestal. The lion then dropped a few chestnuts as if popping, which were quickly removed. Calder planned to add scent to the performance, but he found musk perfume too expensive and abandoned the idea.

 

Other attractions at the Calder Circus included a sword swallower, Sultan of Senegambia, who threw spears and axes, a belly dancer who gyrated, a horse and chariot, cows, seals, a tightrope act, dogs, and other acts from the circus and the side show. The rider on the elephant appears to an English Kings Guard wearing a bearskin hat and bright red tunic. The elephant has a tube running through its body. In a performance the tube/trunk hung down as if the elephant were drinking water, but when Calder blew into the tube the trunk raised up and spewed out small pieces of paper to  give the effect of  spaying water. 

 

 Calder included well-known circus performers in his show. May Wirth, a famous bareback rider from the Barnum and Bailey circus, performed in the center ring. “Rigoulot the Strong” was a popular performer. When Calder loosened the cord, Rigoulot bent forward and picked up the barbell with his wire-hook hands. When the cord was tightened, the figure returned to the upright position and groaned. The figure then proceeded to lift the barbell backward and over his head.

During the run of the “Calder Circus” from1926 to 1931, Calder added a new dimension to the show with a series of figures constructed of wire only (1929). After meeting Piet Mondrian in 1930 and after being introduced to totally abstract art, he wrote a letter to Mondrian stating it was “the shock that converted me. It was like the baby being slapped to make its lungs start working.” It was then that Calder began to work as he said, “Just as one can compose colors, or forms, so one can compose motions.” He began creating his “Mobiles” in 1931.

Calder gave the last performance of the Calder Circus in 1961, for the filming of Le Cirque de Calder by Carlos Vilardebo. The Whitney Museum in New York City raise $1.25 million in 1932 to the purchase the Circus. The work continues on display at the Whitney.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

Hung Liu had many talents. She was a painter, photographer, video maker, and a printer. Since 2006, several of her paintings have been chosen to be woven into tapestries. In 2004 she attended the Tamarind Workshop at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, established in 1960 to advance the art of printmaking in America. There she developed a unique style of printmaking that involved layers, also in her paintings. Hung Liu won in 2011 the SGC International Award for Lifetime Achievement in Printmaking. 

 

“Dandelion with Mallard” (2016) (32’’x31’’) (monoprint with hand leafing and hand coloring) is from a series titled Drifters. On a road trip with her husband in the summer of 2014, Hung Liu began to photograph dandelions.  Large paintings from the series are titled by location: “Deadwood,” “Little Big Horn,” and “Mt. Rushmore.” Hung Liu appreciated the fact that dandelion seeds are migratory, they cross all earth and water barriers, and then multiply in new lands. The painting and prints depict dandelions past their prime, their blossoms going to seed. Their life is ending but is regenerated by the seeds.

The familiar Hung Liu circles and drips continue in this print. She also adds a brightly colored Mallard duck, in Chinese tradition a symbol of prosperity, abundance, and good luck.

Hung Liu visited the Oakland County Library in California in 2015 to study the archives of Dorothea Lange and the other photographers of the WPA (1939-43) who documented the Great Depression in America.  “Migrant Mother” (2015) (66”x66”) (oil) was one of the first of many paintings and prints in Hung Liu’s exhibition American Exodus. She commented,“This landscape of struggle is familiar terrain, reminding me of the epic revolution and displacement in Mao’s China. Only, now I am painting American peasants looking for the promised land.” 

Although the Dorothea Lange image is familiar to most viewers, Hung Liu said she finds “true inspiration…to discover, to excavate, to peel off the layers and try to find out what was there that got lost, for there is always something missing.” In “Migrant Mother” the face is the same as Lange’s photograph, but the poses of both mother and child are slightly altered, and a background is added. The figures are placed in a room, its dreary grey-brown color resembling a tent, not a house. A kerosine lamp and a bowl are placed on the table,

To offer hope in an atmosphere of despair, Hung Liu has painted a pink square on the wall, and the image of man’s hand holding a bouquet of freshly picked daisies. Daisies are an international symbol of purity and innocence. They represent new beginnings, and they bring joy. She said, “We can adopt each other’s children, so why can’t we adopt each other’s ancestors.”

“Tobacco Sharecropper” (2017) (monoprint with silver leaf) (33”x33”) depicts a barefoot and bare legged little girl helping her father pick tobacco. Hung Liu’s introduction of metal onto the surface of the print achieves a unique multicolored, mirror-like surface that reflects light. Her art education in China included painting of Russian Icons where precious metals, particularly gold leaf, were layered onto the image to increase its spirituality. Hung Liu’s inclusion of silver and gold leaf serve the same purpose. The images of the past are not lost, but brought back from history and preserved for the future.  

Hung Liu states: “With this new body of paintings, I would like to summon the ghosts from Dorothea Lange’s brilliant [black and white] photographs…I personally identify with Ms. Lange’s photographs since I am myself an immigrant from China and was caught up in wars and famines…forcing my family to migrate elsewhere. As an American citizen, I am very passionate about how painting American subjects remind me so much of those of my homeland.”

An exhibition of Hung Liu’s work was scheduled to open on December 6, 2019, at the Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. The exhibition was abruptly cancelled in November.  Hung Liu had agreed to remove a few of her paintings that were considered too controversial, but the reason for the cancellation was suspect, permits to bring her work into China were denied. In an interview with Art News (2019) Liu stated, “The message is anti-war so I thought it was OK. When I talked with my Chinese artist friends about it, they just said one word: Hong Kong.” Hung Liu held a cancellation party on the day the show was supposed to open.

“Sanctuary” (2019) (72”x72”) (oil with gold leaf) depicts a Mexican mother and her baby boy. Hung Liu’s concern for immigrants included those Mexican, Guatemalan, and Central American migrants arriving in large numbers at the American border. She visited the Texas border and talked with and photographed many migrants. The expression on the face of this mother displays a mixture of emotions: joy, thankfulness, relief, and many more. Previously, Hung Liu painted Madonna-like figures in different forms, both Chinese and African American. In “Sanctuary,” Hung Liu placed a solid gold leaf circle behind the woman’s’ head. It is a reference to the Virgin Mary, to the Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe, to the halo always around the head of the Buddha, and it represents the sun and hope.  

Hung Liu retired from Mills College in 2014, but she never stopped working. She died on August 7, 2021 as the result of pancreatic cancer. She was 73 years old. She was an internationally respected and beloved artist, and her work was exhibited in over fifty solo exhibitions.  Memorial exhibitions continue to be scheduled world-wide. Her paintings remind us that everyone, no matter the race, religion, or place in the world, should be respected and honored. Having come from an authoritarian country, she loved American democracy. She remarked: “The story of America as a destination for the homeless and hungry of the world is not only a myth. It is a story of desperation, of sadness, of uncertainty, of leaving your home. It is also a story of determination, and—more than anything—of hope.” (Hung Liu, 2017)

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

“When I got the United States, I had already lived half my lifetime in China. I did not really think about this; I just got on with my studies and trying to make a success of my painting career…. But I always felt I should be doing more, because of the Cultural Revolution and so on.”  Since her arrival in San Francisco in 1984, Hung Liu’s paintings have dealt with the cultural history she uncovered in old photographs. “I use historical photographs, they’re already grainy and really blurry–so it’s like memory, like our sense of perception, out of focus over time.”

Another of her frequently represented themes is the struggle of so many Chinese people who were displaced as a result of disruptions caused by famine and war. “Refugees: Woman and Children” (1999) (80’’x120’’) is from a series titled Refugees. Everyone, from the very young to the very old, is affected. The old woman has become responsible for two babies placed in large woven baskets.  Sadly, Hung Liu also recognized the photograph might have depicted a mother desperate to sell her infants, not uncommon in China at the time. Her ability to communicate to the viewer sensitive facial expression is remarkable. 

To counteract desperation of the mother, she includes images of hope for the future. In China the crane and sparrows are powerful symbols of happiness. Lotus blossoms grow from the mud and muck at the bottom of ponds, but the flower rises above to bring great beauty and happiness into the world. It is a symbol of resurrection. The images of the Buddha bring a message of hope and a blessing to guide the family to a better life. Hung Liu’s emotional connection to the people, and her painting of the events, is sensitive and strong.  Viewers can easily connect to the people and their circumstances.

“Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth” (2007) (80”x80”) was the cover painting for the exhibition catalog Daughters of China. Hung Liu titled the exhibition after a Chinese propaganda film she had seen in 1948. “Arise Ye Wretched of the Earth” is a photograph of eight paramilitary women who threw themselves into the river rather than be taken prisoner during the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

 

Among the paintings in Daughters of China, several were titled “Tis the Final Conflict” (2007) (66”x66”). The paintings feature the incredibly expressive faces of individual Chinese warrior women, in groups, alone, and some with their fallen comrades. They are a compelling reminder of the terrors of war.

Hung Liu witnessed the Wenchuan earthquake in 1976 that killed 240,000 people. She painted “Richter Scale” (2009) (80”x160’’) in response to the 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 in Sichuan. The quake killed 90,000 people, including the children attending an elementary school, largely as a result of the soddy construction of the building. She was in China in May 2008 for two solo exhibitions of her work in Beijing and to paint landscapes when the earthquake occurred. 

Building materials and bits and pieces of destroyed items are piled high in this thirteen-foot-long painting. A young girl and her little sister sit amidst the devastation. White birds, like angels, fly over the debris but can do nothing. At the upper right an animal’s eye, orange and black, looks out from the pile of wood. 

Hung Liu’s exhibition titled Apsaras (2009) was installed in 2009 at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City. “Richter Scale” and other paintings of victims of the earthquake were included. Many of the portraits were simply titled Apsaras and a color. Many are of children with bandaged faces. “Apsaras – White” (2009) presents a poignant image of an old woman’s response to what she has seen. The Apsaras, the swirling female figure in blue, tries to bring what comfort she can to the grieving woman. The Apsaras is a beautiful heavenly maiden found in both Buddhism and Hinduism. The Apsaras sings and dances, a much-needed presence bringing calm and hope.

Hung Liu and her husband Jeff Kelley visited Qianshan in the summer of 2006. The province encompasses almost one thousand mountain peaks and forests where Buddhist and Taoist monasteries continue to function. Liu Weihua, Hung Liu’s beloved grandfather, was the foremost Chinese authority on the temples, stone steles engraved with carvings, caves, and carved stairways that populate the area. He photographed them for years; his book Qianshan was published posthumously in 2002. Hung Liu’s exhibition Quinshan: Grandfather’s Mountain (2013) included 14 paintings based on his photographs. “Grandfather’s Rock” (2013) (48’’x60’’) is one of her paintings. Grandfather Liu, a large stone stele from which water flows into a stone basin, and a cluster of yellow chrysanthemums, and the trees in the foreground, all carefully painted, occupy the center of the composition. The distant trees with cloudlike foliage dissolve into the sky. Hung Liu uses two styles of painting, realistic and abstract, to focus viewers’ attention on the transition from earth to sky.  

The cluster of yellow chrysanthemums, a symbolic element in the painting, represents longevity, wealth, and tranquility. The flower is native to China and important for 3000 years. The plant grows in the early spring, but does not bloom until fall. It is a popular flower in Chinese gardens, and in paintings, pottery, and poetry. It is treasured for its medical qualities.

“The Botanist” (2013) (96’’x54’’) is a portrait of Hung Liu’s grandfather. He was a major influence on her life. Liu Weihua focused his life-long study of Qianshan ecology as well as the religious shrines. Hung Liu commented, “I remember a lot of things: his face, his demeanor, his body language. He had hands that were very soft and big. So those kinds of things were very important for me as part of these paintings.”

“Silver River” (2013) is a mural Hung Liu painted on a long wall in the San Jose Museum of Art for her exhibit Questions for the Sky. The brochure accompanying the exhibition states that it is “A meditation on the fleeting nature of life and death, the work itself is ephemeral by design: it will disappear forever when the exhibition ends on September 29, 2013.” Climbing ladders and scaffolds, Hung Liu painted the mural in just one week. 

 Hung Liu painted “Sliver River” (2013) (detail) using traditional black paint in the style of historical Chinese scrolls. Her personal symbols, circles, lotus flowers, and an Asparas, are painted in color.  A video of the work in progress was accompanied by three other Hung Liu videos titled Black Rain, Candle, and Between Earth and Sky.  The videos contained photographs taken by Hung Liu each day with her iPhone the year after her mother died. 

The series of articles on Hung Liu will conclude in the next issue of the Spy.

In my work, my experience as a Chinese immigrant to the United States is quite important, and I also discovered some very important historical photographs, both in the U.S. and in China. We were never allowed to see such photographs when I was in China.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was one of the exceedingly small of group of artists known as the Impressionists in 1870’s Paris. They were interested in new scientific ideas and decided to incorporate them into their work.  Most significant was the theory of color, proposed by Michel Eugene Chevreul (1786-1889). His theory of color held that sunlight is not white, the color of paint artists used to lighten all colors.  Nor was it black, the paint artists used to darken objects.  Sunlight is composed of the colors of violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.  The proof of his theory was that the rainbow or light shown through a prism contained these colors. This understanding of the nature of light was entirely new, and contrary to the long-held convention since the Renaissance. 

When the Impressionists went outside to paint, made possible by the invention of the screw cap for paint tubes, they also became aware that water, wind, and the sun move all the time.  To catch movement, their brush strokes needed to be shorter and more visible.  Thus, the works tended to look, according to the critics of the time, messy and sketchy.  We love the works today, but they were dismissed in their day.

Monet’s career proceeded with its ups and downs, but by the late1880’s, he began to concentrate more and more on the effects of light on objects that he painted over and over at different times of day and in different seasons of the year.  The subject of the painting became more and more the colors of the light, not the object painted.  He started painting his series of Haystacks and Poplar Trees in 1891, Rouen Cathedrals in1892-93, and Water Lilies (Nympheas) from1897 until 1926.  He said, “color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”

Monet’s career provided the funds needed to purchase a home in Giverny in 1890. His interest in horticulture grew. With a group of gardeners, he diverted a stream in his backyard, and in 1899 he began a water garden, including a Japanese footbridge. He painted 250 water lilies from 1897 until 1926.

 

Monet’s first series of water lily paintings (1897-99) featured close-up views of the flowers as in “Water Lilies” (1897).  This first series was exhibited in 1900 at Galerie Durant-Ruel in Paris. From the beginning, the water lily painting had great success with the public. 

Monet’s second series of 48 canvases, including “The Clouds” (1903) (29”x41.5’’), was exhibited in Paris in1907. In this painting, the lily pond and the distant riverbank take up the entire canvas. White clouds are reflected in the moving water. 

In another painting in the second series, “Water Lilies” (1904), Monet painted the scene at a different time of day and different season of the year. In this painting the waterlilies are more colorful, and the reflection of trees on the river bank is evident. Monet wrote on August 11,1908, “These landscapes of water and reflection have become on obsession for me.”

This second series of water lily paintings was so popular that the French Government dedicated two rooms at the Musee de l’Orangerie to his paintings. Built in 1852 by Napoleon III, the Orangerie housed orange trees from the Tuileries Garden during the winter season.  Monet began the eight water lily paintings for the Orangerie in1914, and he worked on them until his death in 1926. 

By 1908, Monet’s eyesight was failing, and it worsened over time. His second wife Alice died in 1911, and he did not paint water lilies again until 1914. “Reflections of a Weeping Willow” (1916) (51.2”x79”) (Metropolitan Museum, New York City) it the result of some changes Monet made in the color palette of his paintings. He chose to paint the flowers with bright dots of color. Monet’s friend George Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France (1906-09 and 1917-20) encouraged Monet to paint larger canvases. The State commissioned 12 monumental paintings to be included in the Orangerie, and that resulted in a Paris exhibition in 1916.

The day after the Armistice (November 11, 1918), Monet offered the French State two large water lily panels as symbols of peace. He worked with the architect of the Orangerie to create two elliptical rooms to display the panels, giving the viewer the “illusion of an endless whole, of a wave without horizon and without a shore.” Monet said of his later masterpieces that they were “one instant, one aspect of nature contained in it all.”

The 82 years-old Monet developed cataracts. In 1923 he had three operations., but his eyesight was severely impaired. “Water Lily Pond, Evening” (1926) is one of his last paintings. The colors are bright and fiery, painted with passion. He wrote, “I realized with terror that I could see nothing with my right eye…a specialist…told me that I had a cataract and the other eye was also lightly affected. It’s in vain that they tell me it’s not serious, that after the operation I will see as before, I am very disturbed and anxious.”

According to Clemenceau, Monet told him in early 1926 that the paintings were almost ready: he was “waiting for the paint to dry.” Monet died on December 5, 1926. He left 22 large panels to the French State. The paintings were taken from his studio and placed in the Orangerie. The museum was inaugurated on May 17, 1927, as the Musee Claude Monet.  At Monet’s funeral, Clemenceau removed the black shroud covering the coffin and replaced it with a flowered cloth, crying “No black for Monet.”

Two statements by Monet sum up his life and his work: “I am only good at two things, and those are gardening and painting.” “My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece.”

Note:  This article is the 150th in the Looking at the Masters series in the SPY. The first article, published on April 14, 2020, was on Monet’s water lilies. That article contained only one picture of the water lilies.  This 150th article contains additional information, and more important, a greater number of pictures of Monet’s wonderful water lilies (Nympheas) paintings.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

 

 

 

Tapestry weaving expanded during the 14th Century in Brussels, Antwerp, Tournai, and Arras, towns in the Low Countries of Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg. Tapestries were extremely expensive; they were commissioned only by the very wealthy. Tapestries were hung on the stone walls of rooms to provide warmth, but also to decorate the room. At the time they were the only means to decorate walls. Designs were woven according to the instructions of the family. The designs (cartoons) for tapestries were drawn in Paris by one of the distinguished artists or workshops of the time.

The Le Viste family, Jean IV Le Viste or his relative Antoine II Le Viste, both important figures in the Courts of Charles VII and VIII of France, commissioned the six Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. Their coat of arms is prominently displayed in the six tapestries. The theme is courtly love and is based on codes of conduct for knights and married ladies developed in 11th Century France. The knight on holy crusade was honorable, courteous, and brave, and he worshipped his chosen lady as if she were the Virgin Mary. In each of the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries the characters of a virgin, lion, and unicorn are depicted. Themes of the individual tapestries represent the five senses: “Touch,” “Taste,” “Smell,” “Hearing,” and “Sight.” The sixth tapestry, “A mon seul desir,” causes the viewer to contemplate the direction of their life.

The tapestries were woven of wool and silk, with gilded threads; the background was mille-fleurs (thousand flowers) design, the popular style of the time. It was intended to represent a lush paradise garden, where all flowers grew regardless of the season, and grew in such profusion they covered the dark green grass. The background is the color rose madder. In order to teach its unschooled members, the Roman Catholic Church assigned Christian meaning to earthly objects. In the Lady and the Unicorn series, each of the animals and plants added meaning to the tapestry. 

 In “Touch” (10.3’x11.7’), both the unicorn and the lion represent Christ. The unicorn represents innocence and power. It was thought to be a gentle animal with inner strength and wisdom, but it was a fierce protector of those it loved. The horn had healing powers. A unicorn only could be captured by a virgin. The lion has a long history as a symbol of great power, bravery, and dignity. In the Old Testament, the tribe of Judah was led by King David; Christ was the heir of David, and He was called the Lion of Judah. 

The blond-haired lady wears an elaborate dark blue gown with a gold brocade inset. The hem, sleeves, and bodice are decorated with gemstones and pearls set in gold.  She wears a gem encrusted crown, and around her neck an elegant gold pendant necklace. The lion smiles at the viewer. He bears a shield with the insignia of the Le Viste family, and the lady holds onto a pole bearing the Le Viste pennant. She touches the horn of the unicorn, also wearing the Le Viste shield. The unicorn looks up adoringly at the lady. 

To lady looks to her left at a small brown monkey, chained to a weight and unable to move. Another monkey, just behind her head, wears a belt locked around its waist. Is it a chastity belt? Among other things, monkeys represented base instincts, deceit, and betrayal. Several rabbits, birds, and other animals also are present. The four trees in the four corners of the tapestry are pine (top left), orange (bottom left), holly (top right), and oak (bottom right).

“Taste” (12.3’x15.1’) depicts the lady sampling sweets from a dish held by her maidservant. The lion and the unicorn stand on their hind legs; they wear cloaks with the Le Viste half-moon insignia, and their front paws and legs support pennants on poles. The unicorn looks at the viewer. The lady’s gown is a rich gold fabric with a black brocade border. She wears the same necklace as in “Touch,” but with a simpler crown. Sitting on the train of her gown, a small white Maltese dog looks up at her. A green and yellow bird perches on her hand. The small brown monkey is unchained. The larger brown monkey sits at the lady’s feet, enjoying a sweet she has given it. Baby rabbits run around the scene. A white goat sits behind the lady’s head, a white lamb and white dog are at her left. A brown fox sits at the right side of the tapestry.  

“Smell” (12’x10’) presents the lady holding a white carnation that she has taken from the tray of flowers presented by her maidservant.  The white carnation is a symbol of purity and love. When the Virgin Mary saw Christ crucified, she cried, and white carnations grew where her tears fell. Carnations also represent fidelity to one’s destiny and in paintings the Christ Child can often be seen holding carnations. Behind her on a bench, the monkey also enjoys smelling the flowers. The lion and unicorn balance on their hind legs wearing the shields and holding the pennants. The long-legged white and gray bird above the lady is a heron, a symbol of elegance and sociability. Zeus said the heron had super human strengths, and in Christianity it represents Christ because it eats eels and snakes, symbols of Satan.

The oak tree, at the top left of the tapestry is one of the four trees repeated in the six tapestries. The oak tree has a long symbolic history. It is tall, strong, and stable, a symbol of longevity and endurance. It also represents power and justice. The tree below is an orange tree, symbolic of prosperity, luxury, and happiness. Orange trees are evergreen and live long. The fruit is the color of the sun; it is sweet and the scent is beautiful. The orange tree bears fruit and flowers at the same time, symbolic of the Virgin Mary who remained a virgin although she also was a mother.

“Hearing” (12.1’x9.5’) portrays the lady playing an organ placed on a table that is covered by an oriental rug. Her maidservant pumps the bellows. The lion and unicorn are at her side, resting on the ground with their backs to her. Both hold the poles with the pennants and listen to the music. The four trees are included, but with altered positions. The holly tree, with its red berries and sharp leaves is placed behind the lion. The sharp leaves represent the crown of thorns worn by Christ, and the red berries represent His blood. Hollies are evergreen and therefore represent eternal life. The abundance of the berries also represents fertility. The sharp leaves were believed to ward off evil spirits, witches, and bad luck.

At the top right the pine tree can be identified by its numerous pine cones.  “The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the fir tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.” (Isaiah 60:13)

The fifth tapestry “Sight” (10.2’x10.8’) finds the lady seated and holding a gilded mirror. The unicorn sits next to her, its feet on her lap. She caresses the unicorn’s neck while it admires itself in the mirror. Smiling, the lion holds the pole and standard of the Le Viste family. The oak tree and the holly tree, the rabbits, dogs, and birds fill the scene.

The sixth tapestry “A mon seul desir” (12.3’x15.5’) takes its title from the motto embroidered across the top of the elegant circular pavilion at the center of the composition. The rich blue fabric contains a flame design that may be a symbolic reference to passion.

The pavilion is surrounded by the trees, animals, and flowers that populate the other tapestries. The Maltese dog, seen on the train of the lady’s gown in “Taste,” sits upon the pillow on top of a simple wood table. The Maltese was a popular breed in the 15th Century. Symbolic of affection and devotion, dogs form protective relationships with their humans.

The lion and the unicorn hold the poles and pennants. They also hold the flaps of the pavilion, perhaps anticipating the entrance of the lady. The maidservant holds an open chest into which the lady may be placing the gold necklace she wore in each of the tapestries. She no longer wears a jeweled crown. 

Some of the possible English translations of the motto “A mon seul desir” (e.g. “to my only/sole desire,” “by my own free will,” “love desires only”) suggest the lady is faced with, or perhaps has made her choice between the life of sensuality and a life of virtue. In each of the first five tapestries, her facial expression suggests she is contemplating these sensual experiences. In the last tapestry, she smiles for the first time. We are left to speculate about her choice.

The Virgin and the Unicorn tapestries were rediscovered in a storeroom in1841. The writer George Sand (Aurore Dupin) saw them in 1844, and she wrote about them in her novel Jeanne. However, they were not rescued from the damp, mold, and gnawing rats until 1882, when Edmond Du Sommerand, curator of the Musee de Cluny, purchased them for 25,500 francs. Restored to their original beauty, they now hang in a new (2015) installation in the Cluny Museum in Paris.

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.

 

(1606-1669) was born in Leiden, Netherlands, to a prosperous middle class Dutch family during what is called the Dutch Golden Age (1588-1672). His mother was a Roman Catholic and his father was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church. He was educated in Latin School, attended Leiden University, and received training as an artist from several contemporary artists including Pieter Lastman. Rembrandt had several patrons, among them Prince Frederick Henry of Orange, a celebrated war hero, statesman, and politician.

Prince Frederick Henry commissioned a series of paintings of the Passion of Christ that Rembrandt painted between 1632 and 1646. “The Raising of the Cross” (1633) (38’’x28.5’’) was painted in the baroque style that followed the Italian tradition set by Caravaggio (1571-1610). The composition represents an effective use of chiaroscuro: specific portions of the composition are illuminated, leaving much in semi-darkness in order to heighten emotional impact. The foot of the cross is in the foreground. The cross is placed on a diagonal that also creates emotion and makes the viewer a witness to the event. The entire length of Christ’s body is illuminated by an unseen light source. The nails in Christ’s feet and hands are prominent, and blood runs from the wounds. Christ looks up to heaven. Above his head is the superscription, INRI, Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews. The Gospel of John (19:20) states it was written in three languages: Greek, Hebrew, and Latin.

At Christ’s feet, dressed in blue with a painter’s beret, Rembrandt assists with the elevation of the cross.  Light shines on the helmet and cuirass (breast plate and back plate fastened together) of the Roman soldier who kneels at the base of the cross. Two barely visible figures beneath the cross are helping. One man steadies the cross, his hands grasping the wood. The other man stands, his body at an opposing diagonal, and he strains under the weight of the cross. On horseback, a third figure wearing a white turban and gold brocade gown and holding a mace supervises the execution.  At the left of the cross, four Pharisees, who wanted Christ to be crucified, look on from the shadows. At the right, the two thieves, one standing and one bent over, await their crucifixion. The wooden handle of the shovel used to dig the hole for the cross can be seen in the light.

Rembrandt’s preparatory drawing (23.2’’x18.7’’) (black chalk and India ink wash) for “The Raising of the Cross” (1633) shows his drafting skills.  The shovel is placed in the foreground. 

Light from an unseen source illuminates the group of figures who remove Christ from the cross in “The Deposition” (1632-33) (35”x25.6”).  The elderly man in the turban and brocade gown is Joseph of Arimathea. A rich man and disciple of Jesus, he asked Pilate’s permission to remove and bury the body. Each of the four Gospels records this event. The Gospel of John (19:38-42) records that “another man named Nicodemus” helped Joseph. The younger red-haired man wearing gold and supporting Christ’s legs is most likely Nicodemus. Rembrandt may again include himself as the man in the blue suit, but this time the viewer does not see his face. Three other figures participate in this event; a brown-haired man stands just behind Nicodemus, an older, balding man holds onto Christ’s shoulder, and the third figure leans over the top of the cross and holds onto the linen cloth. The wooden arm of the cross and the post are covered with Christ’s blood. The night sky is moonless. The silhouette of a building at the right and tall trees at the left close off the background, keeping the viewer close to the event. A few other figures, mostly hidden in the shadows, stay to mourn.

Rembrandt’s oil sketch for “The Entombment” (1633-35) (12.6”x15.8”) places the event in a large cave with many people in attendance, an unusual concept. The location of the tomb is not specified in the Gospels, and artists have represented it in many ways. It is thought Joseph of Arimathea lent his own tomb for Christ’s burial.  

In the finished painting of “The Entombment” (1633-39) (36.4’’x27.6’’), Rembrandt placed Christ near the entrance of the cave. Two lanterns, one at the far right and another at the far left, illuminate the scene. Several figures, both male and female, are present. Christ’s body rests upon a stone coffin. The three Marie’s, the Virgin Mary in the black robe, Mary Magdalene, and Mary Cleofas huddle at the foot of the coffin. Rembrandt deviated from the accepted story that the Marie’s came the next morning to anoint Christ’s body and found an empty tomb. In another unique compositional element, Rembrandt depicts the entrance to the tomb as an arched opening through which Calvary Hill and the crosses can be seen.

“The Resurrection” (1636-39) (36”x26”) is another unique Rembrandt painting. A larger than usual group of soldiers guard the tomb, and are awake when the angel appears. They grab their swords, hold up their shields for protection, and are in general disarray. Glowing with a heavenly light that is the light source for the painting, the Angel hovers above the tomb. The soldier who was sitting upon the tomb is thrown off as the angel lifts the lid. Christ sits upright in the coffin. At the lower corner on the right, the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene marvel at the miraculous event.

In the Easter story, forty days after the Resurrection, Christ called his eleven disciples to go to Bethany, a village on the Mount of Olives, to witness His ascension. Judas is not included. In “The Ascension” (1636) (36”x27”) the disciples are placed in a semi-circular composition in the lower half of the painting. Peter, with white hair and beard and wearing a dark blue robe, kneels among the group. His hands are clasped in prayer and his face is turned toward Christ. John the Evangelist, the youngest of the disciples, with long blond hair and wearing white, is positioned in the foreground. His arms spread apart in wonder, and his face looks up in amazement. Next to John, a disciple dressed in orange also spreads his arms. The two figures form a semi-circle in the lower part of the composition. 

Cherubs encircle the cloud that supports the ascending Christ. Christ radiates light, as does the heaven above Him. Arms out-stretched, He looks up to the Dove of the Holy Spirit that radiates a circle of light. Christ’s arms and the folds of His robe repeat the half-circles of the composition. The trunk of a palm tree rises in the foreground at the left to enclose the composition, and its curved branches echo the bank of clouds at the right.

During his career, Rembrandt painted and made prints of numerous Old and New Testament subjects. His ability to translate a story into a work of art that touched viewers was remarkable. Little is known about his personal religious beliefs, but with a Catholic mother and a Dutch Reformed father, he was able to experience both religious traditions. Although he avoided commitment to one, he did have his children baptized. He was exceedingly popular throughout his career, although occasionally controversial. He did not die in poverty, even though he was a spendthrift. Near the end of his life, the artistic style of his era changed and his work became less popular. 

Rembrandt was a man who loved art and amassed a huge collection. He also acquired items he wanted to paint, such as the turban used in these paintings. He and his wife lived in the Jewish section of Amsterdam, and he constantly looked there for the faces of people who would best represent the religious figures that appeared in his works. Gerard de Lairesse, a Dutch painter, art theorist, musician, and poet met Rembrandt in 1665. His description of Rembrandt in1707 praises the artist: “Everything that art and the brush can achieve was possible for him, and he was the greatest painter of the time and is still unsurpassed. For, they say, was there ever a painter who by means of color came as close to nature by his beautiful light, lovely harmony, and unique, unusual thoughts.” 

Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years.  Since retiring with her husband Kurt to Chestertown in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL. She is also an artist whose work is sometimes in exhibitions at Chestertown RiverArts and she paints sets for the Garfield Center for the Arts.