Page 29 - Studio International - January 1967

This is not to imply that they are of equal stature as art) where any kind of organization was possible, is
artists. Even less does it imply that de Staël was directly searching for the fundamental as distinct from the con-
influenced by Poussin. There is no evidence at all that he ventional visual particulars of a human body in the light.
was. His masters were Courbet, Corot, Cezanne. A link In his case the formal means are almost forgotten, and
through Corot? Perhaps. But the argument becomes what has become precious is the living truth.
somewhat tenuous. Both drawings have reached a roughly equivalent
What then do the comparisons prove ? Maybe it is degree of formalization: both are roughly equidistant
simply that by juxtaposing works by the two artists we can from appearances. But they are not proceeding in the
see each more clearly. same direction. Rather, they face each other.
Take the de Staël Nude study and look at it beside It would be a mistake to exaggerate the similarity be-
Poussin's study for the Madonna on the steps. The de Staël tween the two artists. They are sufficiently similar to
drawing in charcoal is 5 ft high and the Poussin drawing make a comparison interesting. It would be impossible,
in ink is less than 6 in. high. The effect of seeing them for example, to compare Bonnard or de Kooning with
together is to make the de Staël seem more tender and the Poussin.
Poussin more abstract than we might otherwise have What does this similarity consist of? Partly it is a
thought. Both drawings use tone in a similar way: their question of touch: almost of physical temperament. Both
light and shade build up a construction of forms, irre- were tall men, big-nosed, forcefully-chinned, with intent,
spective of the conventional limits (or outline) of each passionate eyes. But there are hundreds of other artists
unit, whether you consider the unit a finger, a foot, or a with such features in common. Two more drawings may
whole body. Both artists are concerned with movement: demonstrate the physical affinity better: de Staël's draw-
Poussin with the unified movement of his group of figures ing called Figures in an interior and Poussin's Two draped
as revealed by the light : de Staël with the movement of female figures. Both reveal a similar balance of physical
the light itself as it flows over the nude body, like water control and nervousness.
down steps. The similarity is also partly formal. Look at the two
The great difference between the two drawings is the landscape drawings (page 22). Discount the temple in
result of what preceded them. Poussin is searching here the Poussin and consider only the way both artists render
for the means to organize more and more complex move- the foreground, the receding space and the outline of the
ments within a double pyramid. The problem absorbs all forms on the horizon. Both create distance in the same
his interest—the human significance of these movements way by allowing it to unify their pen-marks.
is so much taken for granted that one might almost say As for the effect of one drawing on the other: the
it has been forgotten. Poussin here encourages the de Staël to look much more
De Staël, emerging from a formal freedom (abstract strongly three-dimensional than it does by itself, and

Poussin
Two draped female figures
c. 1626
Drawing, pen and ink
6 3/8 x 4 5/8 in.
Royal Library, Windsor Castle
(By gracious permission of
H.M. The Queen)
Extreme right
de Staël
Figures in an interior 1950
Ink on paper
15 3/8 x 9 7/8 in.
Collection: Atelier de Staël,
Paris