Just as the words slipped from her mouth, the Bride on the other end of the line had allowed me to step into her vision for the Day Of:
When Théodore Géricault painted the Raft of the Medusa, he intended to express a disheartening moment in history, and it leaves you with a taste of disgust for the reign of Louis XVII. The story tells of a shipwreck on the coast of Africa set adrift for dead. Dismembered bodies litter the foreground, waiting to be swept away by the surrounding waves, creating a rich, linear perspective. By following the contoured lines of the bodies, one can almost climb over them reaching the tip of the shirtless man waving in salvation to be rescued.
*Géricault, Théodore. The Raft of the Medusa, 1818-19. Oil on Canvas. France, Paris: Musée du Louvre
Delacroix, Eugène. Women of Algiers in their Apartment, 1834. Oil on canvas. France, Paris: Musée du Louvre.
A vision of Delacroix; sultry Moroccan women in mysterious corners sitting around staring into the cold and stiff air brought over by the French in their attempt to colonize.
French Romanticism was held tightly between a brutal time in neo-classicist history and Impressionism. This short-lived love affair was not as Romantic as one might think given the narratives behind the paintings executed during this time. Nonetheless, and to my pleasant surprise, the Bride had understood and appreciated the rich, lively colors embraced by the emotions wrapped around the canvases.
Moreau, Gustave. Fairy and Griffon, 1876. Oil on canvas. France, Paris: Musée National Gustave Moreau
Now, not all stories in French Romanticism depict such gruesome narrative. Gustave Moreau, although of questionable mental health for living with his mother his whole life, had the thick, frivolous brushstrokes a Bride hopes to see painted on her tablescape. An attempt to bridge the gap between reality and dream painted through Symbolism.
Let’s take this darker palette and add Modern. Modern Romanticism.
Now, the word Modern had proved to be misleading - Modernism is not considered present-day or current. Modernism was a style-period which flourished at the cusp of Paris’s illustrated stage for alcoholism and poverty through dancing and prostitution - La Belle Époque. Inching bit by bit up those torturous but charming steps in Montmartre, Modernity becomes the breath of fresh air Parisians had been waiting for.
*Zadkine, Ossip. Vénus, 1922-24. Acacia.
Paris was the fertile breeding ground for Modernism in the 1870s where artists were attracted to the simplicity and elongated elegance seen in African sculptures. In homage to his inspiration, Tete 1912 had a strong connection to African culture. Amongst the artists whom mirrored these features was Russian artist, Ossip Zadkine, with his sculpture of Venus.
*Modigliani, Amede. Jeanne Hébuterne, 1919, oil on canvas. NY: MET. *Modigliani, Amede. TÊTE, 1911-12. Limestone. NY: MET.
In Modernism, perspective no longer had rules. Modigliani had revolutionized this since Vasari’s bible on perspective during the Italian Renaissance. The modern world, squeezed between the chaos and Baudelaire’s art of living, had given the art world the freedom it chased. Modernism, derivative of all style elements, had successfully captured the importance in French Romanticists’ rich color palette while incorporating elegance in clean, sharp lines.
As I come up for air and catch my breath, the Bride’s carefully chosen words had allowed me to meander my way through the corridors of her vision.
Something tasteful, perhaps in the white cube - a gallery, no - a contemporary museum. Yes, a museum, how fitting. Maybe The Bass would be best to accentuate those darker winter colors in contrast to the elegance and sophistication beaming from the walls. I’ll have to keep thinking.
Modern, Romanticism.
Wedding at The Bass. Photography by PS Photo