EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
Sexing the Canvas: Art and Gender
Jeanette Hoorn, The University of Melbourne
 |
C O U R S E L E C T U R E Gainsborough's Portrait of Karl Friedrich Abel Notes taken on September 7, 2016 by Edward Tanguay |
•
Portrait of Karl Friedrich Abel
•
Hunting Art Gallery, San Marino, California
•
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
•
a portrait of a musician as a man of sensibility
•
Karl Friedrich Abel
•
German musician who trained under Bach
•
one of the last great virtuosi of the viola de gamba
•
seen at desk poised over a musical score
•
presented as the consummate musician, active in his profession
•
although seated, appears as a dynamic 18th century gentleman
•
beautifully dressed in a fine fabric of subtle brown or gold
•
he is correcting or writing a musical score
•
one which he might perform on his viola de gamba which rests on his knee
•
he is the epitome of respectability and success
•
a man at the peak of his powers
•
Gainsborough
•
presents a grand figure from the world of music
•
harmonious and compositionally rhythmic
•
evocative of musical composition itself
•
communicates an allowance of excessive emotion when it comes to music
•
himself had an affinity for the violo
•
organized chamber concerts
•
Gainsborough's friend Henry Dudley Bait
•
Gainsborough always plays his violo to the feelings
•
Gainsborough often expressed he was free of the labors his portraits required of him
•
vibration was one of the paradigms of the culture of sensibility
•
"The Sense of Hearing" (1716)
•
Philippe Mercier (1691-1760)
•
a French painter and etcher, who lived principally and was active in England
•
born in Berlin of French extraction
•
studied painting at the Akademie der Wissenschaften
•
Hume emphasized the harmonic possibilities of the nervous system
•
comparing the affections transmitted by humans to the sounds of musical instruments
•
listening to music was part of the culture of sensibility
•
immoderate and excessive emotion were not encouraged
•
but made an exception for the visual and performing arts, allowing
•
a plausible enthusiasm
•
a reasonable ecstasy and transport
•
in relation to architecture, paintings, and music
•
Gainsborough paints Abel, his loved friend, though the codes of a gendered sensibility
•
Abel is powerful, professional, and active
•
sitting astride his chair with his legs apart
•
he leans forward in his chair
•
his bow resting at a steep angle at his thigh
•
his right hand poised over the sheet of music
•
is poised in a moment of concentration
•
conveyed through his subtle facial expressions
•
this image is one of a man of sensibility
•
the style of which would have been unthinkable for a woman of his class
•
Abel asserts masculine sensibility and authority in a subtle way
•
as he looks out of the picture plane, addressing the viewer with his gaze
•
his Pomeranian rests by his feet
•
she has almost as much importance in the composition as Abel's famed musical instrument
•
presenting an image of companionship, harmony, and mutual support
•
here we see a great musician at ease with his dog
•
it is difficult to determine if the spirit of the figure, the clearly marked meaning of the face, the correctness of the dog, or the richness of the chair cover deserve the highest commendation
•
as in other paintings
•
Gainsborough uses the image as a means of illustrating the sensibility that included in its gambit of cohabitation with domestic animals and their treatment