Frank Brangwyn

Frank Brangwyn

Wine

circa 1909

    This picture perfectly illustrates the joys of laziness. For some, with the help of alcohol, doing absolutely nothing brings about an amazing feeling of satisfaction - which is what this young worker is experiencing. In his mind he is the epitome of coolness. Consider his gestural swag; his grope around the shapely wine vessel; and the strategically-placed clump of grapes resting in his lap. This man is a modern Bacchus.

     Brangwyn's style elucidates well the theme of drunkenness: his lines and strokes of oil paint literally quiver and drool across the canvas. About to nod off into a solid sleep, the main figure sees everything doubled and swaying to the movement of his own instability. We, too (the viewers), sense this instability as we take in the claminess of his taut body and the rich summer-time haze, typical of late evenings and warm rains and breezes. Brangwyn's works never seem to be entirely dry, but always a bit wet as if just completed. His wine vessel in particular has a lucent quality that almost rivals the infamous jugs of Diego Velázquez.

     These men are rough. Their faces and forearms are burnt with laborious months under the heavy sun while their torsos, having been protected, retain a fresh, pink whiteness. With unkempt hair and sweat-stained clothes they form a picture of the everyday. They exude a completeness, a satisfaction, that is often overlooked in common jobs. 

Tiziano Vecellio

Tiziano Vecellio (Titian)

Ranuccio Farnese

circa 1542

     Not even a teenager, Ranuccio poses like an adult. His stare is important: his eyes, the slight flare of his nostrils and his pursed mouth give the impression that he is overwhelmed with the prospect of what he is posing for, and that it has stupefied him into a slight trance.

      Titian placed the strongest light directly on the boy’s upper half. It accentuates the gleam of his costly, possibly silk, red chemise as well as his fresh complexion. His blushed cheeks and large ears place him in the context of childhood - a stage that, judging by his strict posture and conventional clothing, he has been forced out of too early. The sharp contrast between the high finish of his clothing and the blackness of the background and of his large overcoat could be interpreted as a kind of vacuum: one that is sucking away the innocence and childish spirit from a twelve-year-old who had no choice but to submit to the contorted rules of the ecclesiastical world.

     It is sad to see someone young aged in such a rapid way. For the sake of religion Ranuccio must have been harvested like a seed from birth to assume the title of Cardinal, which happened not long after this portrait was commissioned. One wonders whether he experienced childhood at all.

Károly Ferenczy

Károly Ferenczy

Valér ágyban

circa 1888

     There is something vaguely familiar with this oil painting. The gentle colours and the unbalanced layout remind one of Jean-Édouard Vuillard’s Entrance to the Garden (circa 1903), or his Seamstress with Scraps (circa 1893). Both pictures involve a soft patterned wallpaper set into the background (to give the eye an area on which to rest without distraction), as well as a figure who appears bent over in concentration, not acknowledging the viewer. Ferenczy’s young boy, by contrast, actually faces the viewer but remains in his own world, perhaps in a land of fairy tales judging by the large picture book that dwarfs his small head. The delicate porcelain cow on his side table reflects the daylight on its shiny hide, and its white lustre acts as a small continuation of the whiteness surrounding Valér, like a puff of cloud. Set near the window a similar clump of white is found in Seamstress with Scraps, giving the scene a sense of the outdoors by allowing the sunlight to warm a large portion of the seamstress' interior workspace.

     Notice that the receding position of Valér’s bed guides the viewer’s eye into the back corridor, focusing on the second strong source of outdoor light. Entirely wooden, this interior is made soft by the warm colours of the well-worn carpet and by the plushness of the child’s sheets. Like a tram car, his bed seems to be creeping out the picture frame at a gathering speed, about to enter the land that only children know how to enjoy.