Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres 1780
- 1867
Ingres was steeped in the academic tradition. He became the defender of a rigid classicism, seeing himself as a history painter, the highest goal of academic art. He saw himself as a conservator of good doctrine, not an inventor. Portraiture he thought of less importance, but by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognised as his greatest legacy.
I came across a paper titled Drawings by Ingres by Louise Burroughs, Assistant Currator of Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum. It focuses on seven pencil drawings by Ingres. Of these I have picked the following of interest.
Below is Portrait of a Lady Seated, by J. A. D. Ingres. Dated 1814. Ingres appears focus on the face in terms of ‘finishing’ the drawing by adding some tone. Whereas the rest of the drawing relies solely on line. To me this has the effect of directing my eye to the face alone and almost disregarding the rest of the drawing. I don’t think this matters – its just what happens when I look at it.
Ingres was steeped in the academic tradition. He became the defender of a rigid classicism, seeing himself as a history painter, the highest goal of academic art. He saw himself as a conservator of good doctrine, not an inventor. Portraiture he thought of less importance, but by the end of his life it was Ingres's portraits, both painted and drawn, that were recognised as his greatest legacy.
I came across a paper titled Drawings by Ingres by Louise Burroughs, Assistant Currator of Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum. It focuses on seven pencil drawings by Ingres. Of these I have picked the following of interest.
Below is Portrait of a Lady Seated, by J. A. D. Ingres. Dated 1814. Ingres appears focus on the face in terms of ‘finishing’ the drawing by adding some tone. Whereas the rest of the drawing relies solely on line. To me this has the effect of directing my eye to the face alone and almost disregarding the rest of the drawing. I don’t think this matters – its just what happens when I look at it.
To digress a little. What interested me most from this paper was the struggle the artist had in drawing a study of for the Portrait of Louis Francois Bertin (1766-1841), by J. A. D.
Ingres. Drawn in I832. See below:
Bertin was the owner and publisher of an influencial publication in whose pages
literary and artistic talent was welcomed and encouraged. The subject was himself a great admirer of the arts and a warm friend to artists.
Ingres was enthusiastic about the commission. After deciding on the pose, (not being the final pose above) innumerable sittings, sketches were made and the painting begun. That the
sketching process gave the artist trouble is indicated on initial sketches by the much rubbed
drawing of the head inserted in the paper where another must have been cut out. Perhaps Ingres was too
anxious-perhaps his early dissatisfaction with the sketch unnerved him. In any
case, after many days had been spent upon it, Ingres in despair was obliged to
confess to Bertin that all their time had been wasted, that the portrait was
past reclaim and would have to be commenced anew. Bertin was understanding and they agreed to a breathing spell before trying
again. One day during this breathing
space, Ingres observed Bertin seated, leaning slightly forward in his chair
with his hands out-spread on his knees, engrossed in conversation. Instantly
the artist was filled with confidence and took the first opportunity to whisper
to Bertin: "Come pose tomorrow. Your portrait is done." The sittings
were resumed, and within the month one of the artist's most successful
portraits was completed.
The reason
this story interests me is that even for artists such as Ingres that posess
such great artistic and technical skills, sometime is it take more than that to
inspire a drawing. I also read that
Ingres would usually complete a drawing in four hours, taking one and a half
hours in the morning and then two and a half hours in the afternoon. But that he would also have lunch with the
subject of his drawing and this way would manage to see them as they naturally
are and not in any particular pose. A
particular mannerism or stance can really capture the person being drawn and
its important to take this into account, to know something of your model, when
drawing them in order to get a true likeness.
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas 1834 – 1917
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas 1834 – 1917
Degas specialised in scenes of
contemporary life in his time, including dancers, entertainers and women at their toilette.
His drawings show that he only sought to master his technique; he experimented with various media including pastel.
I have chosen the following three images by Degas which I like and which demonstrate clearly his drawing style. I see a connection here with the previous work I mentioned by Giacometti, ie that Degas really focuses on the subject and keeps working and reworking the image to get the feel of the action or moment. I like the idea of studying and working an image rather than the aim being to produce a final picture. These types of drawings show more about the process the artist goes through and by being able to see the workings it helps the viewer enter into that process.
I have chosen the following three images by Degas which I like and which demonstrate clearly his drawing style. I see a connection here with the previous work I mentioned by Giacometti, ie that Degas really focuses on the subject and keeps working and reworking the image to get the feel of the action or moment. I like the idea of studying and working an image rather than the aim being to produce a final picture. These types of drawings show more about the process the artist goes through and by being able to see the workings it helps the viewer enter into that process.
In this image I love Degas' use of pastel which is simple and bold.
