Jan Haicksz Steen （1626-1679）, a Dutch actor, poet and painter, engaged the viewer with various innuendos and double entendres in his paintings about Woman at Her Toilet. Decoding the conceits introduces the viewer ...Jan Haicksz Steen （1626-1679）, a Dutch actor, poet and painter, engaged the viewer with various innuendos and double entendres in his paintings about Woman at Her Toilet. Decoding the conceits introduces the viewer to Dutch artistic astuteness and popular culture. Steen drew the observer into his picture plane through a series of emblematic vignettes. Although he raised questions about cultural mores, morality, and religiosity, none are judgmental. On the contrary, it is the viewer who might or might not articulate a moral judgment according to personal experiences. For Steen, the imagery, filled with complex conceits, is an artistic visual representation to delight the eyes, tantalize the senses, and maybe even spark the intellect.展开更多
This essay examines one aspect of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portraiture: His genre depictions where he expands the art of illusionism or magic visualization into grilli (intellectual whims) and teste composte (composite ...This essay examines one aspect of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portraiture: His genre depictions where he expands the art of illusionism or magic visualization into grilli (intellectual whims) and teste composte (composite heads). These images of reversible portraits of genre scenes, caricatural conceits, and visual puns are seen in The Cook or The Chef reversed as The Bowl of Meats of 1570 at the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm;The Vegetable Gardener reversed as The Bowl of Vegetables of 1590 at the Museo Civico “Ala Ponzone”, Cremona;and Il Frutaio, The Fruit Vendor reversed as The Basket of Fruits of 1591, at the French & Company Gallery in New York. In his imagery, Arcimboldo focuses on the paradoxical meaning of objects,“what if?” adding a sense of ambiguity and mystery to his art. Is Arcimboldo teasing the viewer with a Mannerist flare, or is he composing or implying another type of intellectual conceit? Ultimately, Arcimboldo invents a new type of genre: the emblematic humorous portrait.展开更多
文摘Jan Haicksz Steen （1626-1679）, a Dutch actor, poet and painter, engaged the viewer with various innuendos and double entendres in his paintings about Woman at Her Toilet. Decoding the conceits introduces the viewer to Dutch artistic astuteness and popular culture. Steen drew the observer into his picture plane through a series of emblematic vignettes. Although he raised questions about cultural mores, morality, and religiosity, none are judgmental. On the contrary, it is the viewer who might or might not articulate a moral judgment according to personal experiences. For Steen, the imagery, filled with complex conceits, is an artistic visual representation to delight the eyes, tantalize the senses, and maybe even spark the intellect.
文摘This essay examines one aspect of Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s portraiture: His genre depictions where he expands the art of illusionism or magic visualization into grilli (intellectual whims) and teste composte (composite heads). These images of reversible portraits of genre scenes, caricatural conceits, and visual puns are seen in The Cook or The Chef reversed as The Bowl of Meats of 1570 at the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm;The Vegetable Gardener reversed as The Bowl of Vegetables of 1590 at the Museo Civico “Ala Ponzone”, Cremona;and Il Frutaio, The Fruit Vendor reversed as The Basket of Fruits of 1591, at the French & Company Gallery in New York. In his imagery, Arcimboldo focuses on the paradoxical meaning of objects,“what if?” adding a sense of ambiguity and mystery to his art. Is Arcimboldo teasing the viewer with a Mannerist flare, or is he composing or implying another type of intellectual conceit? Ultimately, Arcimboldo invents a new type of genre: the emblematic humorous portrait.
