This might not look like the most organised work environment but my dissertation is beginning to emerge from the mountains of research material. Top tip: if you want to avoid enormous volumes of reading, steer clear of the Impressionists and possibly even 19th century art in general! I have now written the introduction and first chapter and was pleased (relieved!) that my tutor liked these so there will be few amendments necessary and I can steam ahead with chapter 2. It seems particularly important to get this first stage ‘right’ as of course it sets the tone and direction for the rest of the work; it also builds confidence to know that I am making some valid points and that my argument so far hangs together. Just need to make sure I continue in the same vein whilst also tying all the ends together as I progress - this is definitely the hardest part of the process - making sure I write a progressive, cohesive piece rather than 3 tenuously linked essays.
"We cannot ignore the fact that the terrains of artistic practice and of art history are structured in and structuring of gender power relations"
— Griselda Pollock, ‘Modernity and the Spaces of Femininity’, 1988
Apart from seeing all the inspiring pictures in the Morisot exhibition in Paris, I was incredibly excited to come across this mirror at the entrance:
Owned by Morisot, it is the very same mirror that she portrayed in The Psyché:
The Psyché, 1876, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
I then went into the exhibition and saw The Psyché ‘for real’! It is a beautiful picture to stand in front of and like Portrait of Madame Hubbard it has striking luminosity. In fact, I hadn’t realised until this point that daylight streams in from both sides of the picture as there are windows on either side of the mirror.
Now I am back in gloomy, rainy England, the sunny few hours spent in the French capital feel quite surreal. Here are some more photos to prove I wasn’t dreaming!
Notre Dame:
and opposite, the quirky English bookshop, Shakespeare and Co:
and of course, that icon of Paris, La Tour Eiffel:
Yesterday I went to Paris for the day with my husband to see the Berthe Morisot exhibition at the Musée Marmottan.
It was such a treat to be in this lovely gallery space with so many paintings that I have studied and appreciated. As always, it was humbling to realise that no reproduction can ever be a substitute for standing in front of the original. In the case of Morisot, many critics, past and present, note the ‘luminosity’ of her work and until yesterday I had not really understood exactly what this meant. Her use of whites and greys is particularly ‘luminous’ and I loved the way this gave certain images depth and also brought them alive in a totally unexpected way. A good example was this image:
Portrait of Madame Hubbard, 1874, Ordrupgaard, Copenhagen
As a reproduction, this picture is rather flat and dare I say uninteresting. In real life it has exactly the ‘luminosity’ the critics mention: the whites shine and beautifully represent the qualities of diaphanous fabric whilst the red details on the fan form a perfect contrast, dramatic and alluring.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I have not read much yet but this book promises to be engrossing and page turning. Already I have been on a roller coaster of grief, laughter, outrage and historical insight. I love looking forward to curling up with such a well told story - a welcome distraction from the dismal weather we have and a nice contrast to all the art history I am also reading!
Yesterday I took time out to visit Pashley Manor Gardens in East Sussex. Every year they hold a tulip festival in April/May - what a joy! Despite all the recent wind and rain, these resilient flowers looked fabulous and really lifted the spirit with their vibrant colours and sculptural shapes.
And some of my favourites were these lovely orange flowers….
Best of all the garden acts as a gallery for pieces of sculpture; this one reminded me
of what I want to do once the sun comes out to stay….
But in the meantime, I am back at my desk….
"Dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of the psyche"
— Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Fashioning the City: Paris, Fashion and the Media by Agnès Rocamora. I was fortunate to hear Agnès give a paper at the recent Associations of Art Historians annual conference and was inspired to read her most recently published book (2009). I am hoping that it will provide me with some useful background material to the second chapter of my dissertation which will focus on women’s participation in consumer culture in nineteenth-century Paris.
After the distractions of the Easter break I have finally settled down to more dissertation writing in the last few days. It is always surprising how disruptive even a few days away can be to the writing process…. It is now a familiar experience so I have learnt not to panic; I simply have to keep plugging away which usually involves re-reading various articles and notes in order to get back into the flow. I had positive feedback on my first submission to my tutor so I am now getting ready for the second submission which will be my first chapter and an outline introduction. This first chapter is now just over 4,000 words so I am happy with that - it’s amazing how only a year ago I would have baulked at the idea of being able to produce so many words in a relatively short period of time so I guess I should note the progress I have made and give myself a pat on the back! I am still mindful of the need to produce 18,000 words in total but am very much taking a ‘one step at a time’ approach in order to stave off unnecessary anxiety. What I have found is that basing my chapters around individual paintings gives me structure and focus; Chapter One is all about this work:
Berthe Morisot, The Psyché, 1876, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.
