Supper
circa 1902
This painting exudes
more of a feast for the eyes than an actual meal. The paint strokes and colours
put together form a visual dessert: from the bulbous, succulent fruit to the
woman's elegant allure, everything appears sweet in tone and texture.
But is all as sweet
as it seems? Underneath the folds of the table cloth, whisped about like a soft
mousse, seems to be caught a violent wind. Something powerful, possibly deep
sentiment, created these folds. Layer upon layer, the structure of this painting
resembles that of a many-tiered mille-feuille
- not only in composition but in meaning, too. We think that we see a simple
scene involving a woman seated at a table, but in noticing subtle details such
as her fan or the fallen orange, it becomes necessary to delve beyond this
superficial impression. We must question why she bears such confidence in her
stature and stare? Why she is dressed entirely in black, but with suggestive
curves and tendrils of hair falling against her white neck, leading our eye along
the contours of her nearly-naked bosom? And above all, why she sits at an empty
table - when that which is in the foreground appears fully set? Question after
question we lose ourselves in faint possibilities, and the work inevitably
becomes more complicated than it first appeared.
This is the nature of
art, however. If we study it for too long we may lose its original message. Art
does not have to be understood in order to be interesting, and it does not have
to follow an ideal in order to be beautiful. In this case, Bakst teases us
through the woman's curious stare and surroundings, leaving us a bit baffled.
