by John Gorman

Artwork Description

Bacchanalia

0.0 x 0.0

Bacchanalia study 2, 30x30cm, black pencil, pulp paper This bacchanal, in black and white, is completely different from Watteau’s Fêtes galantes, and rather evokes Goya’s witchcraft scenes, if not in form, at least in spirit. In the foreground, a voluptuous female silhouette, defined by a line that is either thick or very thin and blurred, seems about to slump over the group, she is seen from behind, and her croup is pierced by an evil arrow. Her rare hair is emaciated, as if she were half bald, and her body hangs in the void, except for a fine bumpy line which may evoke a moving ground. Behind her, in the centre, we can see the puffy face, with revolting eyes, of another female figure, her left arm totally abandoned and her breasts. On the left, another woman is tilted over, her arm hanging down, her face with her mouth wide open, seemingly suffering from the throes of agony or the abyss of alcohol. A being of indeterminate sex seems to either hold her down in her fall, or to have strangled her, with his wide slug-like arm. In the background in the centre, two indistinct heads and a vigorous arm emerge from this confusion of bodies, while on the right stands the disturbing silhouette of a man with the head of a bird, threatening. All these worshippers of a dyonisiac or satanic cult mix and intertwine, fragments of bodies also appearing here and there. The deep black and dull white make this drawing look like an old photograph. Little realism though! The lines, all different, the absence of a frame, the delicacy of the line and its variety, the changing textures, everything here is masterfully orchestrated and gives rise to a scene of immense beauty, despite its highly terrifying character. Delphine Costedoat

Artwork Details

Medium: Drawing Other

Genre: Figurative