Post-Impressionism

Author(s): Richard Shone

Source: The Burlington Magazine , Jan., 1980, Vol. 122, No. 922, Special Issue Devoted to
Sculpture (Jan., 1980), pp. 77-81
Published by: (PUB) Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/879882

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 CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS

roundel (No.22); but in both cases much sound banal. For this reason also I hope posed in this magnificent exhibition.
would obviously have depended on the that visitors who are seeing three of the
position in a room which such pictures Waterloo portraits at close quarters for OLIVER MILLAR

were originally designed to fill. Inevitably the first time will turn up Mr Levey's
in such an exhibition some pictures are Burlington Lecture.' In the notes on the
hung too low. This is particularly true of individual pieces in the exhibition Mr Post-Impressionism
such full-lengths as Nos.33,35,37 and 38; Levey has printed a great deal of com- This is a curious exhibition. It was ob-
and many of the smaller portraits must mentary by contemporary journalists, so viously conceived as a great crowd-puller
have hung at first over tall and fairly or- one has the illusion of seeing a portrait including, as it does, works by some of th
nate fireplaces. Occasionally one finds for the first time and of reading about it most popular painters in existence,
Lawrence's basic draughtsmanship at in the next issue of the Literary Chronicle painters whose personalities and
fault, chiefly in his duller formal pieces: or Akermann's Repository. This emphasis biographies are sometimes known well
George Stonestreet (No.16) or Sir Henry on a sense of period - and a most sparkl- beyond their works. To set up a large
Halford (No.45), the first not really sit- ing period it was - will nowadays evoke a room crammed with pictures by Cezanne
ting in his chair, the head in the other not warm response; but it is not all that long (Fig.112), Gauguin (Fig.116), Van Gogh
entirely happily fitted on to the body. ago that one of my predecessors described and Seurat is a fait accompli of stage
Even in the neo-Hogarthian Thurlow, Carlton House, constructed and enriched management and an eye-warmer of
with its magnificently painted head, the by Lawrence's chief patron, as 'a monu- universal appeal. We cannot be too
hips and thighs are very skimpily treated ment of ostentatious bad taste'. grateful to the Royal Academy for
and there is no real understanding of how The drawings illustrate on a smaller gathering them together for their Winter
this ponderous figure is actually sitting. scale Lawrence's precocity (Nos.53 and Exhibition (to 16th March 1980). Con-
These are weaknesses which must in- 56), his weaknesses in composition and sidering the treacherous difficulties of
evitably be noted in the oeuvre of a balance (No.55) and the emptiness one showing such artists- anxious security
painter who drove himself so relentlessly, notices in some of the larger canvases officers confront one at every turn - the
whose achievement is in other respects so (No.71). The drawing of Countess Academy (and its valiant supporters
remarkable, and who is so seldom dull. Rzewuska (No.81) is fearfully distorted, IBM) can only be congratulated.
If, by setting out the first room as he did, the profile obviously drawn from life and Visitors to whom Post-Impressionism
Mr Levey throws before us just the right the torso added later and in a pose which means just those names mentioned above
challenge, so the selection of portraits for hardly fits. In such elaborate drawings as (and Toulouse-Lautrec perhaps Fig.119)
the last room bears out all he claims for the Wellesley sisters (No.77) the contrast will feel of course handsomely rewarded
Lawrence. It is hung with portraits which between the over-worked heads and the for their interminable queueing. But
show him as endlessly receptive and rather kind- vacuous forms below is disturbing what will they make of the bulk of an ex-
ly evolving new and varied designs, each and points to some rather ghastlyhibition Vic- of over 400 exhibits of which only
one carefully thought out for the sitter, torian after-effects (although the method about 10 per cent constitutes work by
the genial Nash (No.47), yet another is an inheritance perhaps from Edridge thoseorperennial favourites? Certainly they
dominating old lady (No.46), the ex- Downman). The drawing of Boswell will be bemused and perhaps insecure in
traordinarily modern Lady Skipwith (No.58; Fig.104) is very funny; and the their reactions. Most people need a good
(No.51), an over-bred young Bourbon double portrait of Emilia Boucherett and deal of guidance - especially when they
(No.44), the patrician ladies (Nos.48,50; her doll (No.59) is enchanting. The finest come face to face in an exhibition of Post-
surely almost the last great portraits in drawings are the serious portrait-heads: Impressionism with work by Levy-
the 'Van Dyck' tradition) or the in- Westall (No.61; Fig.105), Fuseli (No.62), Dhurmer, Stott of Oldham, Gwen John
credibly daring Calmady Girls (No.41). Julia Angerstein (No.68), Mrs Wall (Fig.113) Cazin, Cottet and some unpar-
This is the portrait, admittedly on a small (No.72), Samuel Rogers (No.79) or the donable Germans - painters generally
scale, in which Lawrence's unflagging Duchess of Wellington (No.76; Fig.106),familiar only to art historians and
sense of movement is most obviously surely a 'must' for the jacket of the next dealers. Without the catalogue some of
displayed; and liveliness of glance and paperback edition of Sense and Sensibili-the rooms appear confusing, though in-
movement is perhaps the most striking of ty. An unexpectedly French note is struck fact painters, groups and off-shoot
Lawrence's gifts. It lends latent energy to in the chalk drawing of Mrs Angersteinmovements are quite carefully assembled
a formal image such as the Bishop ofnursing a child (No.74). in individual sections.
Durham (No.31); it gives to the smallest Especially interesting are four ex- Visitors to whom Post-Impressionism
portraits, such as Nos.34 or 36, a uniqueamples of the life-size drawings in black means a good deal might feel equally
sense of gaiety and life; and endows the and coloured chalk on canvas: confused by the inclusiveness of the ex-
noblest portraits, such as No.28, with a Nos.75,78,85, and the almost entirely
hibition, representing, as it does, many
wonderful panache. Lawrence's greatest unknown 84 (Fig.107). The painters importanceto whom the names Van Gogh
gifts, however, were in the handling of of such studies in Lawrence's and eyes
Cezanneiswere anathema, who never
clear.
paint and in the use of colour. In both he Nos.84 and 85 were in the artist's studio warmed their hands at French fires and
is surely unsurpassed in the British School at his death and so were comparable are only present as having worked after
and in both he was as inspired at the end, careful studies, all equally close to the the Impressionists rather than in reaction
as at the beginning, of his career. The painted image, of other prominent sit- against them. What is particularly in-
details of a costume or a uniform were to ters: Princess Charlotte, William IV, the
teresting here is that the familiar pillars
him never a chore to be handed over to Duke of Angoulkme, Blficher, Charles X, of Post- Impressionism developed
an assistant, but a continual source of in- the Emperor of Austria, and the King of alongside Impressionism, deeply in-
spiration; and the richness of texture is as Prussia. It has not been made clear by fluenced by its precepts and methods
exciting as the design in so remarkable an Kenneth Garlick or Michael Levey whatand, although reacting against it, they
image as Mrs Wolff. Mr Levey stresses in stage they represent in the making of aoften remained enamoured of the work of
his Introduction the combination of good portrait. Did they precede or succeed the Renoir, Monet and Pissarro (all of whom
nature, hard professionalism, romantic painted likeness? If, as is more likely, theyare in the exhibition). Several painters in
imagination, and nervous energy which came first, were they copied on to the the show never went beyond Impres-
lie behind Lawrence's portraits. canvas and was the sitter expected to takesionism as the 'ne plus ultra' of modern-
For all his obvious greatness, Lawrence up the same position? This is perhaps one ism, even though their working lives con-
is not an easy painter to write about; and of the more interesting problems to betinued well into this century. Every few
a reviewer's task is not made easier by Mr years art history, in the strictest sense, at-
Levey because his own introduction to the tempts to throw new light on old
catalogue is so brilliant that almost movements - it extends and (occasional-
anything written at the moment will'Vol.CXVII[1975], pp.194 ff. ly) contracts them, re-interprets and, re-

79

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109.
108. Family in an Orchard, by Thto van Rysselberghe. 1890. 115.5 by 163.5 cm. (Kr6ller-Miiller Peasan
Museum,
Otterlo; exh. Royal Academy of Arts). dated 188
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111. Autumn Landscape

110. The Blessing of the Boats, by Maurice Denis. c. 1895. 75 inby Surrey, by 80
Jan Toorop,cm.
c. 1890. 63 by Uosefowitz
76 cm. (Stedelijk Museum;
collection; exh. Royal Academy of Arts). exh. Royal Academy of Arts).

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112. Standing Nude, by Paul Cezanne. 1898/9. 92.5 by 71 cm. (Private 113. Portrai
collection, U.S.A.; exh. Royal Academy of Arts). 60.5 by 38 c
Arts).

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114. Nude with clasped hands, by Pablo Picasso. 1906. 96.5 by 75.5 cm. (Art 115. Woman standing beside a
Gallery of Ontario; exh. Royal Academy of Arts). Balustrade with a poodle, by
Paul Ranson. c.1895. 85 by
29.5 cm. (Collection A. G.
Altschul; exh. Royal Academy
of Arts).

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 CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS

evaluates on the basis of new information

Breton subjects of 1888-92, in Denis One of the strongest impressions gain-
coloured by prevailing intellectual and
(Fig.110), in Signac (Fig.118) and some ed by the show is the extraordinary varie-
social currents. Little fresh information
of the minor pointillists - Van ty of subject matter. The Post-
about the Post-Impressionists is offered in
Rysselberghe's stunning FamilyImpressionists
in Or- raided all kinds of literary
this exhibition although some unfamiliar
chard (No.410; Fig.108) and Van de and visual traditions; themes and emo-
works add to our knowledge of certain tions virtually unexplored in European
Velde's Blankenberghe (No.423) its emp-
painters. Novelty is offered only by
ty the
sands eaten by sunlight. I slightly painting make their first appearance.
broadness of the selector's view of Post-regret the absence here of a picture by the Contemporary poetry and music, ancient
Impressionism. While one can argue Belgian Georges Lemmen, close associate myths from Greece to the South Seas, ex-
about the representativeness of the show of Van de Velde and Toorop (Fig.111). tensions of nineteenth-century realism as
until the end of time, the desire to And in this context of omissions I would well as re-interpretations of familiar sub-
broaden our conception of the movement have made a plea for the inclusion of jects - all these are present and con-
is not in doubt. Simon Bussy, fellow-student with Matisse tinuously interactive. Direct communica-
But to some people this will seem likeof Moreau; some of his early portraits and tion is the keynote, whether through the
begging the question. At the risk, nervous impact of raw colour, the il-
large Nabi-esque women out of doors
however, of being a skeleton at the feast,
would have looked perfectly in place herelumination of subjects too taken for
I would seriously question the choice not and also formed a link with the English granted or the images' psychological ap-
only of pictures by artists whose placesection. peal (look, for example, at Vallotton or
here is assured, but by artists who seem to By picking and choosing one can have Vuillard and their spiky, absolutely right
have been dragged in by the scruff of a glorious time - from Seurat's melan- domesticity). And dealing with these un-
their neck. It was obviously difficult to choly, granite-like seascapes to an en- familiar emotions demanded a technical
demonstrate the now-familiar 'crisis' in
thralling selection of early Vuillards. Thefertility which presaged so many innova-
Impressionism of the early 1880s, though
Pont-Aven group and its associates form tions of the new century. It is something
the one artist who felt it more painfully
one of the most striking concentrations of of this feeling which adds excitement to
than most, Pissarro, is well represented in
pictures in the exhibition. They were the appearance in the last room, as we
his pointillist phase (Fig. 109). In the miraculous years when painters of return to France, of the Fauvists and ear-
catalogue John House dwells on thegenerally in- indifferent gifts were briefly in-ly Picasso (Fig.114). Although they con-
creasing importance of studio composi- spired to do their best - Meyer de Haan's clude the exhibition, we can take the
tion (as against work in the open-air) in
Le Pouldu (No.134), Serusier's The measure of Post-Impressionism by what
the painting of the maturing Impres- Downpour (No.189; Fig.117) and the they promise for the future.
sionists. Perhaps one or two examples of
touching Great Expectations (No.289) of
indoor subjects too might have Forbes-Robertson. The mention of an RICHIIARD SHONE

strengthened the point. Renoir's later English name returns me to an earlier

work is poorly shown though his debt,point at - of painters dragged in by the
London
a given moment, to Cezanne is made scruff of the neck. It was perfectly right For to
those not exhausted this month by
fruitfully apparent. It was probably right show how French Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism, London offers three
to omit that quintessential Impressionist, fared abroad but I feel the selectors have shows of exceptionally fine French pic
Alfred Sisley. But one could point to been relentlessly tolerant. More sensibili- tures of the late nineteenth and twentieth
several pictures among much late, in- ty and less historical relevance in choos- centuries. The superb gathering at
ferior work where he can be seen reform- ing among the painters outside France Lefevre was mentioned and illustrated
ing his approach in line with Renoir and(and some of the more conservative ones
last month. Wildenstein have mounted a
Monet. I am thinking particularly of cer-
inside) would have made for less painful
stock exhibition of superlative quality.
tain Seine landscapes of the mid-80s and viewing and more coherence. Because Marquet, Dufy and Bonnard are most
the later series of the church at Moret. certain painters took their themes from fully represented, Marquet with several
And how interesting it would have been Breton life, it is no reason to include serene land and seascapes and the lovely
to see one of those landscapes (sometimes them willy-nilly in the exhibition. And Corniche de Marseille (Fig.122). He is a
with tremendously energetic skies) while in one agrees that a painter like Ensorpainter who never makes too much noise
relation to Van Gogh's Fishing in Spring is rightfully here, the showing of seven and yet appears increasingly impressive
(No.96) or his Snowy Landscape (No.99). works is excessive (C6zanne has nine) through the knowledge of his limitations
Given the difficulties of international especially when three or four of them and are the suave and delicate expression of
loans, it is not easy to say much of interest
nearly as appalling as Corinth's The his gifts. There is a Fauvist Dufy, a synop-
about the main room of big shots. Suffi-Childhood of Zeus (No.245) hard by. tic and colourful jetty; there are good ex-
cient to say that the wall of Gauguins And is the Italian room is saved only by the amples of Berthe Morisot, Boudin and
splendid - from the Edinburgh Martini- overpowering scale of Pellizza's The S6rusier a rare bird in London
que Landscape to the Contes Barbares of Fourth Estate (No.376). There are quitegalleries. Rarer still is Gustave
1902, the year before his death. a few paintings which only add to theCaillebotte, represented here by a
Gauguin's influence is seen throughout clutter on walls already at bursting point dashing view of a banana plant,
the exhibition - from the sinuous line of
(some of the hanging is rudimentary) spreading luxuriant leaves over his
Nabis decoration (Fig.115) to Derain's paintings by Maurin, Legrand, Guillou,garden lawn. At the new Daylan Gallery
spectacular La Danse (No.74) and Gore'sSargent, Lavery, Chabas, Leech. This is (Bruton Street, to mid-February) there is
overt tribute Gauguins and Connoisseurs not to say that these pictures are a less coherent selection of twentieth-
(No.3017. The extraordinary intelligence necessarily uninteresting; but they add century pictures, the cream of which is a
of the man, his acute borrowings andnothing very profitable to even the broad brooding, geometric Kandinsky; and
powers of assimilation, his wit and conception of Post-Impressionism there are good examples of L6ger,
mystery, his ability to keep his surfaces adopted here. The choice of Whistlers Laurencin and Chagall. If only the pur-
flat yet continually animated - all this does less than justice to his dominant chasing policy of public collections were
comes through in a marvellous series of position in the period covered but the more flexible, there are pictures from
pictures (fourteen are shown). As is to be Sickerts and Steers, familiar though most these three shows that could only bolster
expected, C6zanne seems rather isolated, of them are, gain immeasurably from this and enhance their walls.
though Gauguin's Martinique Landscape There is a nice connection between the
(No.83) offers connections and Bernard's unusual context. And a last grumble --
surely some mention might have been two exhibitions currently at the Fine Art
Bathers (No.18) is a direct homage. It is made of the Russian Ballet with its direct
Society. The memorial show of work by
often the case that the characteristics of a visual impact on painters in the years
Ethelbert White (to 21st December) in-
movement are most clearly seen in its 1909 to 1912, the year in which the cluded five studies for monographs pro-
lesser painters in Bernard's pioneering exhibition concludes. duced by Cyril Beaumont of individual
80

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116. Four Breton Women, by Paul Gauguin. 1886. 71 by 90 cm. (Bayerische 117. The Down
Staatsgemildesammlungen, Munich; exh. Royal Academy of Arts). cm. (Collection Mlle H. B
Academy of Arts).

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119. Portrait of M. Delaporte at the

118. The Dining-room, by Paul Signac. 1886/7. 89 by 115 cm. (Kr~ller-Miiller Jardin de Paris, byexh
Museum; Henr
Academy of Arts). Toulouse-Lautrec. 1893. 76 by 70 cm. (Ny Carlsberg Glypt
Copenhagen; exh. Royal Academy of Arts).

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