At first, the eye moves restlessly over Robert Reid's Iris and then gradually perceives it as a decorative work, masquerading as a realists painting. The picture is anchored by recognizable objects: irises that appear to cluster around the young woman, much as her shawl does, the counterpoint to the vertical slats of the fence behind her.
The square format appeared in American paintings in the late 19th century. A square canvas de-emphasizes spatial relationships and the sense of distance, while emphasizing patterns in forms and figure
The fence, likely to be white-washed in everyday life, here takes on the color of the flowers, but is it lavender or is it blue? What our eyes do when we look at this picture is what, in fact, happens within our eyes as we perceive colors. In the process of seeing colors, the chemicals in the cornea are depleted so that the eye shifts continually to enable the incoming light to fall on fresh cones.
I've mentioned recently that the ability to perceive blues is a relatively recent event in human evolution. So, it seems fitting to pair it with images of blue flowers that are often the subject of disagreement because some people see them as being lavender or purple. John La Farge (1835-1910), in his beautifully executed flower studies that aimed to capture beauty more than anatomical truth, came down on the side of blue for his iris.An unnamed critic wrote succinctly that "His flowers have no botanical truth, but are burning with love and beauty."
Among other artists, Edna Boies Hopkins, in her woodblock print, chose lavender and when the Expressionist Otto Dix painted them against a bright yellow background, the irises appear almost black. The lovely iris vase by Pierre Delbet stands out both because its iridescent glaze makes the color seem to be in constant motion and because its creator was a famous French surgeon by trade, known for his experiments with chemicals in search of antiseptics
The square format appeared in American paintings in the late 19th century. A square canvas de-emphasizes spatial relationships and the sense of distance, while emphasizing patterns in forms and figure
The fence, likely to be white-washed in everyday life, here takes on the color of the flowers, but is it lavender or is it blue? What our eyes do when we look at this picture is what, in fact, happens within our eyes as we perceive colors. In the process of seeing colors, the chemicals in the cornea are depleted so that the eye shifts continually to enable the incoming light to fall on fresh cones.
I've mentioned recently that the ability to perceive blues is a relatively recent event in human evolution. So, it seems fitting to pair it with images of blue flowers that are often the subject of disagreement because some people see them as being lavender or purple. John La Farge (1835-1910), in his beautifully executed flower studies that aimed to capture beauty more than anatomical truth, came down on the side of blue for his iris.An unnamed critic wrote succinctly that "His flowers have no botanical truth, but are burning with love and beauty."Among other artists, Edna Boies Hopkins, in her woodblock print, chose lavender and when the Expressionist Otto Dix painted them against a bright yellow background, the irises appear almost black. The lovely iris vase by Pierre Delbet stands out both because its iridescent glaze makes the color seem to be in constant motion and because its creator was a famous French surgeon by trade, known for his experiments with chemicals in search of antiseptics
1. Robert Reid - Iris, c. 1895-1900, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
2. John La Farge - Wild Roses and Iris, 1887, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC.
3. Pierre Delbet,(1861-1959) iris vase, 1896, Musee d' Orsay, Paris.
4. Edna Boies Hopkins (1872-1937) - - Iris, c. 1910, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
5. Otto Dix (1891-1969) - Iris, 1912, Kuptfestich Kabinett - National Art Collection, Dresden.
4 comments:
What a fine painting
the first painting is so lovely, i am hypnotized, the whole world has become a huge pale iris.
Jane, I just discovered your blog and love your current post on blue. We have much in common. I just started an art blog,www.ahuskofmeaning.com, and I think you'll enjoy my posts as i do yours. I'm adding you to my blog roll. Best regards and bravo. David
Robert Reid was an under-reported artist who, on available evidence, loved the color blue. It may be because our eyes have trouble pinning the color down that we are fascinated by blue flowers. Colette wrote "The creator of all things showed a certain closedfistedness when distributing our share of blue flowers." I remember reading a book devoted to blue flowers - some of which looked lavender to me. And "The Blue Flower", the last novel by British writer Penelope Fiztgerald is worth reading. Die Blaue Blume (German) was a potent symbol of the Romantic movement, origination attributed to Novalis.
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