![]() No fewer than four songs address the biography dustup by carping about the drawbacks of fame, and while “Goldfish Bowl” suffers from a failure of perspective-Morrison isn’t exactly prime tabloid fodder, no matter what he thinks-other songs are small masterpieces of cantankerousness. But his new album, “What’s Wrong with This Picture,” finds him in a brighter mood: the melodies are tight, the vocals are energetic, and the subject matter transcends his usual muzzy nostalgia for nineteen-fifties Belfast. At least we know his work afforded him a comfortable living.īut, while Zoffany had a chameleon-like aptitude for adapting to his surroundings - though certainly not trying to blend in or camouflage himself - it's his work while on sojourns to Italy (1772-1779) and particularly those in the section called A Passage to India, that are just standouts both for their composition, complexity and ambitiousness.įrom his portrait of "Asaf-ud-daula, Nawah Wazir of Oudh" to the intricate "Colonel Mordaunt's Cock Match," one can almost feel the senses piquing as they must have for the artist.Morrison, always a difficult personality, has been almost impossibly truculent in the past few years (he recently tried to block the publication of a new biography). His attention to detail, his use of color, all make one scratch one's head as to how this artist was underappreciated. It wasn't until art historian Ellis Waterhouse, in 1953, identified Zoffany as an artist of "real distinction."įrom his early paintings at the start of this exhibit to his politically charged paintings later in life (notably "Plundering the King's Cellar at Paris"), there is a sense of adventure, Zoffany taking full advantage of both his studies and his travels outside England, which he considered his home after moving there in 1760. His competition was stiff: Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, George Stubbs. Worse, it was said that his reputation may have suffered by "reason of the many badly drawn, badly composed and stiff little pictures which have frequently, without any reason, been assigned to him," according to author George Charles Williamson. You might say Zoffany (1733-1810) - whose given German name was Johannes Josephus Zauffaly - was rather like those great actors who get nominated for an Oscar for their role of a lifetime the same year everyone else does. Yet, even though he was a member of the prestigious Royal Academy, and his portraiture shows the technical skill of a great talent, he, as Martin Postle, assistant director for academic activities at the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, and the exhibit's curator, writes, "was reduced to a cipher." In fact, the name of the exhibit could have been "Societies" - plural - observed. Like many artists of his time, Zoffany was heavily inspired by his travels. His " Thomas King as Touchstone in 'As You Like It'" not only captures the character vividly and complexly, but also gives a hint of what's to come in his Indian work. Robin Simon, visiting professor at University College, London, writing in the catalog, intimates, that Zoffany manages to out- Hogarth William Hogarth, his predecessor in the best in theater art category. ![]() " Elizabeth Farren as Hermione in 'The Winter's Tale'" is a stunning, large-scale work which manages to capture both the person behind the role and the theatricality of the character herself. Some of his more fascinating paintings are those he did of theater subjects in his early years in London, particularly the actor David Garrick, with whom he became fast friends and gained entry to the English stage.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |