The forgotten Studio: Art, Maidens of the sea

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Art, Maidens of the sea

This weeks Art Sunday is entitled 'Maidens of the Sea’. This is in appreciation of the lovely jewelry Mel the mermaid sent to me.

Top picture; The Little Mermaid (Danish: Den lille havfrue) is a statue of a mermaid in Langelinie, Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, the small and unimposing statue (with a height of 1.25 metres (4 ft) is a Copenhagen icon and a major tourist attraction.

The statue was commissioned in 1909 by Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg, who had been fascinated by a ballet about the fairytale in Copenhagen's Royal Theatre and asked the primaballerina, Ellen Price, to model for the statue. The sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue, which was unveiled on 23 August 1913. The statue's head was modelled after Price, but as the ballerina did not agree to model in the nude, the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, was used for the body.

Edmund Dulac

First of the paintings are the Original illustrations by Edmund Dulac drawn for Andersons classic fairy tale ‘’The little Mermaid’’, in the Stories from Hans Christian Andersen’ ; published in 1911;

The little mermaid by Hans Anderson; Written between the lines of this fable about personal sacrifice was a far more personal story. Many scholars believe that this story is probably Andersen’s most autobiographical work. The writer had a history of falling in love with people he could not have. This tale of unreciprocated love could well be his own; shortly before he wrote it he experienced unrequited love when Edvard Collin, a love interest, did not return his affections and married someone else. Andersen’s disappointment is the basis for The Little Mermaid.”

Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac, October 22, 1882 – May 25, 1953) was a French book illustrator. Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse. He also studied art, switching to it full time after he became bored with law, and having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He spent a very brief period at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1904 before moving to London.

In London, the 22-year old Frenchman was picked up by J.M. Dent and given a commission to illustrate Jane Eyre. He then began an association with the Leicester Gallery and Hodder & Stoughton; the gallery commissioned paintings from Dulac which they sold; the rights to the paintings were purchased by Hodder & Stoughton, who used them as illustrations in illustrated books, publishing one book a year. Books produced under this arrangement by Dulac include Stories from The Arabian Nights in 1907, with 50 colour images; an edition of William Shakespeare's The Tempest in 1908, with 40 colour illustrations; The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in 1909, with 20 colour images; The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales in 1910; Stories from Hans Christian Andersen in 1911; The Bells and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe in 1912, with 28 colour images and many monotone illustrations; and Princess Badoura in 1913.
Dulac became a naturalized British Citizen on Feb 17 1912.

Next; 'Andromeda' and 'Naiads of the Sea' by Gustave Dore

The story of Andromeda.

Andromeda, daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia had boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids, and Poseidon offended had sent a sea monster to ravage the country. The monster could be diverted from utter destruction of the land only by Andromeda's being offered to him and accordingly, she was chained to a rock on th seashore. She was rescued however, by Perseus who passed by on his return from decapitating Medusa. He killed the monster and turn her uncle and others, who opposed his marrying the maiden in to stone by exposing the head of Medusa. Perseus, Andromeda, Cassipeia and even the monster were dignified by being turned into constellations. The sea monster is Cetus.

'Naiads of the Sea'

Another Gustave,

this time Gustav Wertheimer an Austrian Artist.

1847 – 1902

His specialty was; Figures, Marine, Mythology & Saints
These two are called

''Kiss of the wave'' and ''Kiss of the siren''.

Herbert James Draper
(1863 – 22 September 1920)

He was an English Classicist painter whose career began in the Victorian era and extended through the first two decades of the 20th century. Born in London, the son of a jeweller named Henry Draper and his wife Emma, he was educated at Bruce Castle School in Tottenham and then went on to study art at the Royal Academy. He undertook several educational trips to Rome and Paris between 1888 and 1892, having won the Royal Academy Gold Medal and Travelling Studentship in 1889. In the 1890s he worked also as an illustrator, settling in London. In 1891 he married his wife Ida (née Williams), with whom he had a daughter, Yvonne. He died of arteriosclerosis at the age of 56, at his home on Abbey Road.

His paintings ''The foam spirit''

and ''the water nymph''

Yesterday, as I was putting this together a ballet happened was playing on TV. It happened to be The Little Mermaid'. Seems like a perfect way to finish. The prima ballerina of the San francisco Ballet Yuan Yuan Tan plays the mermaid; she brings something pretty special to the performance.

The final video is the same ballerina, Yuan Yuan Tam, dancing a contemporary piece called ‘After the rain’ on a specially erected platform on the oceans edge.

Scene from John Neumeier's ballet The Little Marmaid

The Prince - Tiit Helimets
The Littlelittle Marmaid - Yuan Yuan Tan
The See Witch - Davit Karapetyan
The Poet - Lloyd Riggins
Coreography by John Neumeier
Music by Lera Auerbach
Conducted by Martin West
San Francisco Ballet
2011

delete reply

esoterika713 wrote on Feb 26, edited on Feb 26

Wow, the art is fantastic and the history behind Hans Anderson is fascinating. I didn't know that he had loved and lost. That's sad.
I love looking at the art from that time period. It reminded me of my childhood reading those stories.
If you like Mermaids there is an excellent movie called Local Hero.It is a comedy too. But, that's all I will say because I don't want to give too much away in case you haven't seen it.
:)