by John Gorman

Artwork Description

Narcissus

0.0 x 0.0

Narcisse, charcoal, 17x12cm Narcissus is lost in darkness, an indeterminate space that seems infinite. Who or what is he looking at? Where does the light source that illuminates his arm, his proudly bulging torso, his left thigh come from? We also catch a glimpse of some features of his beautiful face. But what is he sitting on, in what may be a forest, with its trunks, dead leaves on the ground or mud, moving shadows… Of course, one cannot help but compare him to Poussin’s Echo and Narcissus, but the latter work takes place in broad daylight, in an undergrowth too, however, and Narcissus is lying on the ground, damaged in contemplation of his reflection in the water. What they have in common is the superb muscular body. But the comparison stops there. And here, no call resounds to which Narcissus would remain deaf. He is camped like Courbet in his self-portraits, like the male figures (all dressed, however) in Titian’s portraits. But how did he get there, by which path(s), undressed as if preparing for a drowning and contemplating himself one last time but where? At the top of the work, however, we can see that this whole scene is a decoy, because the frame is coming to an end, and turns out to be only a set. So? Does Narcissus pose for Michelangelo by candlelight? He has the type of body that the Master drew, while his smile and enigmatic gaze also refer to the Mona Lisa and Leonardo. Not only to the Mona Lisa, but also to the master’s latest works. As well as Titian’s religious works, the golden reflections on the skin, the mystery, the nocturnal sfumato so rarely used except in these works are all present here. For an extremely disturbing work, also evoking the paintings of Géricault. The so great beauty of the silhouette, the composition that traps the viewer’s gaze, first subjugated by the human figure, then understanding that it is all staged, all this brings us back to the greatest neo-Platonic works of the Renaissance, and to the monstrosities of the sublime developed by the Romantics and by Tuner. By Cézanne at the end of the century, too. A high wonder. Delphine Costedoat

Artwork Details

Medium: Drawing Other

Genre: Figurative