the swagger portrait review of tate gallery exhibition

7/25/2019 The Swagger Portrait Review of Tate Gallery Exhibition

1/4

The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The

Burlington Magazine.

http://www.jstor.org

The Swagger Portrait. London, Tate GalleryAuthor(s): Richard ShoneSource: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 134, No. 1077 (Dec., 1992), pp. 816-818Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/885365

Accessed: 23-06-2015 00:52 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 203.15.226.132 on Tue, 23 Jun 2015 00:52:17 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bmplhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/885365http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/885365http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=bmplhttp://www.jstor.org/


2/4
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/4

EXHIBITION

REVIEWS

54. Horfztio,

st Viscount

ownshend,

y

Peter

Lely.

1662.

221 by 129.9

cm.

(National

Museumof

Wales,

Cardiff;

exh. Tate

Gallery,

London).

55

Thomas,

stEarl

of

Leicester,

by

PompeoBatoni. 1774.241.9 by 167.5em.

(Viscount

Coke

and the

Trustees

of

the

Holkham

Estate;

exh.

Tate

Gallery,

London)

55.

54

From

the

accession

f Queen

Victoria

to the

1920s,

when

the exhibition

ends,

the

survey

declines

with

stomach-turning

acceleration.

atuousness

eigns

where

we

might

have

had fun.

Further

esearch

n

country

houses

and regional

museums

might

have

prevented

o poor

an

ending.

Dicksee

hould

ertainly

ave

ound

niche

- his

Lady

Hillingdon

(RA

1905)

or

the

highgame

ofLady

nverclyde

RA1910)

or

example.

And

Poynter's

truly

imperial

Edzard

VIIwould othaveshamed arlier

images

froyalty.

AugustusJohn's

adame

56.

Lady

Rocksavage,

y

William

Orpen.

1913.

121.9by95.3cm.

(Private

collection;

exh. Tate

Gallery,

London).

Suggia

no.77)

is

an obvious

nclusion,

f

only

or ts

size

andbluster,

utsurelyJohn's

1929

Lady

Adeane

ould

have answered

the

selector's

riteria

n

onesweep-

she s

glamorous,

hic,

alluring

and

theatrically

perched

as

well

as providing

a note

of

modernity

o

takeus

beyond

he

Edwardian

paste

opulence

f

Solomon's

arah

ernhardt

(wrecked

hough

t is)

andSargent's

Mrs

Cazalet

nd

er

Children

no.69).

The

'swagger'

convention

at

its

last

gasphaslittleto cover tsnakednessave

Boldini's

hrill

elongations

nd Sargent's

Hogarth's

purpose.

t

points

(alarmingly

early

on)

to the

flaw

at

the

heartof

the

exhibition.

Coram's

whole

personality

s

revealed

by Hogarth

s incompatible

with

true

swagger';

Wilton

defends

ts

nclusion

bycalling

t

'the

swagger

fthe

bourgeois',

again

undermining

he

premises

of

the

show's

conception.

The

very

fact

that

Coram

itsuneasily

among

he

trappings

of

grand

portraiture

ccounts

ormuch

of

the

painting's

orce

asan

enduring

mage.

He soneofthevery ew itterswhoactually

appears

o

bebusy

and

or

whomrheuma-

tism

and

liverish

mornings

ould

be

a re-

ality.

'Swagger'

ives

us the

looks

of

the

English

but rarely

heir

bodies

or

brains.

There

is

not

an artist,

writer

or

scientist

among

the

seventy-nine

exhibits,

save

William

Nicholson

byJohn

(no.76),

per-

haps

hemost

nexplicable

hoice

onview.

The

presence

mid-way

of a number

of

masterpieces

y

Reynolds,

Gainsborough,

Ramsay

and

Raeburn

works

n which

the

swagger

lement

s

present

ut

checked

by

each

artist's

nvolvement

n aesthetic

rather

han

social

concerns-

comes

as

an

enormous

elief.

But

even

here

he

context

in which they are showndetracts rom

their

composite

chievements;

he

forced,

theatrical

r camp

lements

f the

paintings

swim

menacingly

nto

view.

All

these efur-

bished

igures-

so mpossibly

all,

healthy,

confident

begin

obe irksome.

How

one

longs

ora

Mediterranean

astof

feature

ora

face

that s

witty

orracy

or

ravishing.

What

a relief

o

come

oRaeburn's

Marquess

of

Aorthampton

no.48)

with

its

unaSected

dramatic

simplicity,

or Lawrence's

Mrs

Siddons

no.53),

pensive

igure

een

ndoors

(sheltered

rom

he

trying,

utdoor

breezes

of most

eighteenth-century

ull-lengths),

even

though

her

niece

Fanny

Kemble

thought

t resembled

a

handsome

ow

in

a

coralnecklace'.

817

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


4/4

EXHIBITION

REVIEWS

XHIBITION

REVIEWS

acrobatics.

ativeartists ould

hardly om-

pete(and Millais

s quiteout

of whatever

depth

he may have

had).()nly

Winther-

halter,n the

nineteenthentury,

manages

to injectsome conviction

nto

the grand

manner

buthis authoritarian

rumpLady

Middletonno.60)

s too

competentn ex-

ecution

and dull

in subjectto allow

his

gifts o

riseabove

he surrounding

edioc-

rity.

The presence f

Tissot'song-legged

adventurer

ColonelBurnaby

no.62), gem

though t is, is an unnecessarilyeculiar

choice

whenwe

mighthavehadsome

igure

in a diaphanous

miracle

romthe

House

of Worth.

Perhapsmost

perplexing

f all

is Archbishop

andallDavidson

no.79)

by

another oreign

butler,

Philipde

Laszlo.

It maybe

a saddeficiency

n thepart

of

thisreviewer

ut

sex appeal,glamour

nd

opulence

hereseem in

shortsupply.

The

rhetorical lourish

n the Primate's

vol-

uminous

kirtsputs

one more n

mindof

AlastairSim

at a windy

moment n

St

Trinian's han

the ersatz

baroque

of ec-

clesiastical

ortraiture.

Fundamental

hanges

n society

mirrored

by successive

ew movements

n art

made

theswagger ortraitedundant. ateprac-

titioners

ouldonly

offercosmetic

urgery

when

acedwiththerigor

mortis f the

style.

Orpen'sLadyRocksavage

Fig.56)

xplicitly

recognises

oth the limitations

of grand

portraiture

nd therequirements

fa more

appropriate

mode.It is one

of the least

artificialmages

n the exhibition.

RICHARD

SHONE

* The

SwaggerPortrait.

Grand MannerPortraiture

n

Britain rom VanDyck

to Augustusfohn

1630-1930.

By

Andrew Wilton.

239 pp. with

86 col. pls. + figs.

in

b. &

w. (Tate Gallery Publications,

London,

1992),

25 (PB); 35

(HB). ISBN

1-85437-105-3 (PB):

1-85437-106-1(HB).

acrobatics.

ativeartists ould

hardly om-

pete(and Millais

s quiteout

of whatever

depth

he may have

had).()nly

Winther-

halter,n the

nineteenthentury,

manages

to injectsome conviction

nto

the grand

manner

buthis authoritarian

rumpLady

Middletonno.60)

s too

competentn ex-

ecution

and dull

in subjectto allow

his

gifts o

riseabove

he surrounding

edioc-

rity.

The presence f

Tissot'song-legged

adventurer

ColonelBurnaby

no.62), gem

though t is, is an unnecessarilyeculiar

choice

whenwe

mighthavehadsome

igure

in a diaphanous

miracle

romthe

House

of Worth.

Perhapsmost

perplexing

f all

is Archbishop

andallDavidson

no.79)

by

another oreign

butler,

Philipde

Laszlo.

It maybe

a saddeficiency

n thepart

of

thisreviewer

ut

sex appeal,glamour

nd

opulence

hereseem in

shortsupply.

The

rhetorical lourish

n the Primate's

vol-

uminous

kirtsputs

one more n

mindof

AlastairSim

at a windy

moment n

St

Trinian's han

the ersatz

baroque

of ec-

clesiastical

ortraiture.

Fundamental

hanges

n society

mirrored

by successive

ew movements

n art

made

theswagger ortraitedundant. ateprac-

titioners

ouldonly

offercosmetic

urgery

when

acedwiththerigor

mortis f the

style.

Orpen'sLadyRocksavage

Fig.56)

xplicitly

recognises

oth the limitations

of grand

portraiture

nd therequirements

fa more

appropriate

mode.It is one

of the least

artificialmages

n the exhibition.

RICHARD

SHONE

* The

SwaggerPortrait.

Grand MannerPortraiture

n

Britain rom VanDyck

to Augustusfohn

1630-1930.

By

Andrew Wilton.

239 pp. with

86 col. pls. + figs.

in

b. &

w. (Tate Gallery Publications,

London,

1992),

25 (PB); 35

(HB). ISBN

1-85437-105-3 (PB):

1-85437-106-1(HB).

lingwithwhich

Grisnvested

manyworks,

the deftness

ndwit

of hisconjuring

with

these. The siphon

of 1913

(no.26;Fig.59)

offers

not only

that inventory

of objects

later disparaged

y

the artist,but a

play

ofpictorial

ignifiersloating

reeof them:

diagrammatic

utlineswhich orm

anab-

stractpattern

of their

own,a marble

afe-

tabletop which,

arfrom

reproducinghe

polished

latness f

the motif,exaggerates

its painterliness

o display

a gratuitous

coloratura.

n the

Guitar na chair

no.31 of

the

sameyear,Gris

mpishlyplaces

at the

centreza

meticulously

endered

riangle f

chair

caning,the very

material

of which

Picasso

had usedan oil-cloth

printed

mi-

tation

for his

pioneering till life

a year

earlier.

Hereit is painted,

hus

doubling

thequality

of trompe-l'oeil

nd offering

an

injoke

for initiates.

Thoughtful

uxtapo-

sition f

paintingsrovides

urther leasure:

oneexample s

the pairing

of thetwo

1915

open-window

still lifes, Place

Ravignan

(no.47)

and The pot of geraniums

no.48),

painted

withinweeks

of eachother,as

like

andunlikeas

thesunand

moon.

Yet theproject

sa whole

eems uriously

contradictory.While n the cataloguees-

saysChristopher

reenopens

upfor resh

questioning

many

of the assumptions

n

which

prevailing

assessmentsof Gris's

cubism

have been

based,the

manner n

which the

paintings

and drawings

have

been

displayed

mplicitlyaccepts

these.

Essayson

therelationship

f Gris's

artto

his earlierwork

as a caricaturist,

r to

vernacular

isual magery

n general,

aise

timelyquestions

boutthe

cultural tatus

of

paintingandpapier-colle',

nd

showGris

exploring-

eventually,

eaffirming-

the

boundary etween

hem

withhumour nd

subtlety.

Butfor those

whohave

notread

these essays,

the exhibition

offerslittle

lingwithwhich

Grisnvested

manyworks,

the deftness

ndwit

of hisconjuring

with

these. The siphon

of 1913

(no.26;Fig.59)

offers

not only

that inventory

of objects

later disparaged

y

the artist,but a

play

ofpictorial

ignifiersloating

reeof them:

diagrammatic

utlineswhich orm

anab-

stractpattern

of their

own,a marble

afe-

tabletop which,

arfrom

reproducinghe

polished

latness f

the motif,exaggerates

its painterliness

o display

a gratuitous

coloratura.

n the

Guitar na chair

no.31 of

the

sameyear,Gris

mpishlyplaces

at the

centreza

meticulously

endered

riangle f

chair

caning,the very

material

of which

Picasso

had usedan oil-cloth

printed

mi-

tation

for his

pioneering till life

a year

earlier.

Hereit is painted,

hus

doubling

thequality

of trompe-l'oeil

nd offering

an

injoke

for initiates.

Thoughtful

uxtapo-

sition f

paintingsrovides

urther leasure:

oneexample s

the pairing

of thetwo

1915

open-window

still lifes, Place

Ravignan

(no.47)

and The pot of geraniums

no.48),

painted

withinweeks

of eachother,as

like

andunlikeas

thesunand

moon.

Yet theproject

sa whole

eems uriously

contradictory.While n the cataloguees-

saysChristopher

reenopens

upfor resh

questioning

many

of the assumptions

n

which

prevailing

assessmentsof Gris's

cubism

have been

based,the

manner n

which the

paintings

and drawings

have

been

displayed

mplicitlyaccepts

these.

Essayson

therelationship

f Gris's

artto

his earlierwork

as a caricaturist,

r to

vernacular

isual magery

n general,

aise

timelyquestions

boutthe

cultural tatus

of

paintingandpapier-colle',

nd

showGris

exploring-

eventually,

eaffirming-

the

boundary etween

hem

withhumour nd

subtlety.

Butfor those

whohave

notread

these essays,

the exhibition

offerslittle

London and

Stuttgart

Juan Gris

Art history has

treated Juan

Gris un-

fairly.

This supreme

prestidigitator

of the

representationof light

and shade

has been

consistently

overshadowed by

the repu-

tations

of his close colleagues

Braque

and

Picasso.,While

heir paintings

seem almost

never

to be out of

the limelight, many

of

Griss

most luminous

images languish

in

relative obscurity.All too infrequentlyan

exhibition offers

recompense.

The last was

seven

years ago in

Madrid;1

this time we

have the Whitechapel

Art

Gallery, its

European partners

and Christopher

Green

to thankfor

marshalling

a largeand hugely

enjoyablecollection

of the

artist'spaintings

and drawings.2

The exhibition-

at the

Staatsgalerie,

Stuttgart

from

18th

December

to 14th

February is both

com-

prehensive

and judicious

in its selection,

and contains

not only representative

works

from all

periods of

Gris'scareer as a

cubist,

including most

of his major

paintings,but

also sequencesof

paintings, drawings

and

papiers-colles

closely related

in date

or

subject; n particular,a selectionof fifteen

pictures

fromlate 1915

through mid-1916

allows

us to follow

the artist's elaboration

of three distinct

styles

of cubism within

the space

of a few months.

The result

is

richly

rewardingand, taken

together

with

searching catalogue

essays by

Christopher

Green (with

Christian

Derouet and

Karin

von Maur),3

the experience

of viewing

these

and other

worksat first

hand offers

many pleasures

and some insights.

The

greatest pleasures,

for this viewer,

were those

that are

unobtainable

romsee-

ing the

pictures n

reproduction,and

were

thus both fresh and,

at times,

surprising:

the quality

and variety

of painterly

hand-

London and

Stuttgart

Juan Gris

Art history has

treated Juan

Gris un-

fairly.

This supreme

prestidigitator

of the

representationof light

and shade

has been

consistently

overshadowed by

the repu-

tations

of his close colleagues

Braque

and

Picasso.,While

heir paintings

seem almost

never

to be out of

the limelight, many

of

Griss

most luminous

images languish

in

relative obscurity.All too infrequentlyan

exhibition offers

recompense.

The last was

seven

years ago in

Madrid;1

this time we

have the Whitechapel

Art

Gallery, its

European partners

and Christopher

Green

to thankfor

marshalling

a largeand hugely

enjoyablecollection

of the

artist'spaintings

and drawings.2

The exhibition-

at the

Staatsgalerie,

Stuttgart

from

18th

December

to 14th

February is both

com-

prehensive

and judicious

in its selection,

and contains

not only representative

works

from all

periods of

Gris'scareer as a

cubist,

including most

of his major

paintings,but

also sequencesof

paintings, drawings

and

papiers-colles

closely related

in date

or

subject; n particular,a selectionof fifteen

pictures

fromlate 1915

through mid-1916

allows

us to follow

the artist's elaboration

of three distinct

styles

of cubism within

the space

of a few months.

The result

is

richly

rewardingand, taken

together

with

searching catalogue

essays by

Christopher

Green (with

Christian

Derouet and

Karin

von Maur),3

the experience

of viewing

these

and other

worksat first

hand offers

many pleasures

and some insights.

The

greatest pleasures,

for this viewer,

were those

that are

unobtainable

romsee-

ing the

pictures n

reproduction,and

were

thus both fresh and,

at times,

surprising:

the quality

and variety

of painterly

hand-

57. Portrait

f the

artist's

mother, y

Juan Gris. 1912.

55 by 46 cm.

(Private

. .

col

ectlon;

exh. Whitechapel

Art Gallery,

London)

58.

Bottle nd lass

ona

table,byJuan

Gris. 1913-14.Oil

and papier

colle,

6 1.5

by 38.5 cm.

(GalerieJan

Krugier, Geneva;

exh. Whitechapel

Art

Gallery,

London)

57. Portrait

f the

artist's

mother, y

Juan Gris. 1912.

55 by 46 cm.

(Private

. .

col

ectlon;

exh. Whitechapel

Art Gallery,

London)

58.

Bottle nd lass

ona

table,byJuan

Gris. 1913-14.Oil

and papier

colle,

6 1.5

by 38.5 cm.

(GalerieJan

Krugier, Geneva;

exh. Whitechapel

Art

Gallery,

London)

58.8.

57.7.

81818

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

the swagger portrait review of tate gallery exhibition

Documents