Page 54 - Studio International - November 1972

held to have meant in the past, we are getting a time when allegories of Kingship were acted occasions which stimulate such feelings depend
fresh grip on our time. out. Only at the end does he return to his upon the social convention to which he is
Each of the four titles that launch the series starting point, the sad expression. This it accustomed. It was, I think, Bertrand Russell
pose a different type of problem. Mrs Lavin's seems was a deliberate casting of the King into who pointed out that if nakedness were the
study of Piero's Flagellation is a highly the fashionable condition of Melancholy which fashion it would cease to excite us, and women
specialized piece of iconographic detective work: was considered the hallmark of great and wise would be forced, as they are in certain savage
she is proposing a new interpretation for the men who had given themselves over to the tribes, to adopt clothing as a means of making
picture and for the three mysterious foreground contemplation of truth. themselves sexually attractive; and exactly
figures in particular, and her investigations I hope that later titles in this series will not be similar considerations apply to literature and
touch on almost every conceivable aspect of the limited to 'masterpieces'. The strength of the pictures.
picture. Dr Strong has little to say about the idea is that it allows for a fresh look at the The Kronhausens' Erotic Art (the first
Van Dyck portrait of Charles as a picture. His intersections of art and culture, places where volume of two on the same theme) stems from
essay is an elegant reminder of what Kingship usage is the prime concern and not necessarily the 'First International Exhibition of Erotic
meant in the hey-day of the 'II year tyranny'. history's verdict on quality. q Art', which took place in public museums in the
John Gage's Turner poses perhaps the most ANDREW FORGE cities of Lund, Sweden and Aarhus, Denmark,
complicated problem of all in that what Turner in 1968, and is based on the private collection
was doing was only vaguely understood by even Wanks for nothing of the authors, who are psychologists. It
his nearest contemporaries. The importance of Erotic Art: A Survey of Erotic Fact and Fancy includes examples from a wide range of sources,
Joel Isaacson's Monet study is that he virtually in the Fine Arts by Phyllis and Eberhard epochs and cultures and is in a real sense a
recreates a lost painting and in doing so is able Kronhausen. 312 pp. with 41 colour and 400 public statement of the authors' predilection and
to throw a lot of new light on Monet's monochrome plates. London: W. H. Allen. artistic tastes. The text includes a statement by
development in the 186os. 1971. £6.30. the authors regarding the distinction between
Reading these four studies is to be reminded pornography and art, and the criterion they
again of the way in which images continually Eroticism in Contemporary Art by Volker choose is that the more a picture contains
shift their meanings. When Thackeray saw Kahmen. 282 pp. with 4 colour and 349 evidence of interpretative, creative elaboration,
Rain, Steam and Speed at the Academy of 1844, monochrome plates. London: Studio Vista. the closer it is to art. But where does one draw
he reviewed it as a tour de force of descriptive £5.80. the dividing line ? Unfortunately, the authors
illusionism. The train really was going at 5o mph Eroticism in Western Art by Edward Lucie- provide no answers. There are photographs of
and 'the reader had best make haste to see (it), Smith. 287 pp. with 29 colour and 244 visitors to the Lund exhibition, interviews with
lest it should dash out of the picture, and be monochrome plates. London: Thames and the director of the museum where the exhibition
away up Charing Cross . . .' At the end of the Hudson. £1.5o paperback. was held and with several artists, and comments
century Signac was enthusing about the picture by the general public; but it is difficult to glean
in completely different terms : 'These are no European Erotic Art by Francis Carr. 123 pp. any substance from these, since the population
longer pictures, but aggregations of colours, with 76 monochrome plates. London: Luxon is a self-selected one. The illustrations are
quarries of precious stones, painting in the most Press. £2.75. plentiful, diverse and interesting, and include a
beautiful sense of the word.' Neither It is interesting and may be significant to note substantial number of works by lesser-known
commentator had been able to grasp the true that these four art books specifically dealing continental artists. There are sections on
intention, as Gage sees it, which was primarily with erotic themes should have appeared Western Art, Primitive Art, India, China, and
as an allegory of the forces of nature. In fact it is recently in rapid succession. It is perhaps Japan, accompanied by brief texts, which do not
only now, thanks to writers like Gage and useful first of all though, to look at what it really do justice to the illustrations, which are
Laurence Gowing, that we are coming to form a means to label a work of art as erotic. Terms marvellous, despite the fact that most are in
clear picture of the ingredients of Turner's like erotic, pornographic and obscene, are often black and white.
style and of the extraordinary blending of used indiscriminately and interchangeably Dr Kahmen in his book Eroticism in
naturalism, allegory, reportage and art- without any thought as to their exact meaning; Contemporary Art, published originally in
commentary that goes to make up the great and it does not help matters that there are some Germany in 1971, suggests that an erotic work
Turners. A shift of a completely different kind important sourcebooks where these topics do of art is a work created from an initial sexual
is wittily documented by Roy Strong when he not even merit a listing (e.g. Oxford Companion to impulse, which is an extremely loose criterion
draws attention to the way in which the King's Art). Nevertheless reasonably rigid definitions indeed. This seems to justify inclusion of
expression in Van Dyck's portrait has been read of these expressions are important and serve a illustrations of splits in pieces of paper, an
as some sort of premonitory comment on his useful purpose, for if there is no general exhaust pipe, and other unlikely images. The
death. Those melancholy, indrawn features agreement as to what the label 'erotic' expresses, book is divided into three sections : symbols,
seem to know, and yet this is obviously a one cannot study 'eroticism' in any way. likenesses and associations, and Kahmen relies
projection on our part, since Van Dyck had been Looseness of definition leads inevitably to loss of heavily on Freudian theory to analyse his
dead for eight years when Charles was executed, precision about the subject matter, and to the chosen visual material. The text communicates
and at the time the portrait was painted the impossible situation that anything and little because it tries to explain too much by
King was secure and happy. Perhaps he just everything could be described as erotic. using a limited theory. In fact, Freud himself
looked like that ? Other portraits don't agree. It is the reviewer's contention that the term chose not to interpret the symbolic meaning of
Strong builds up a complicated, many-layered erotic should be reserved for all graphic, most works of art; as Professor Grombrich says,
picture of the Kingly image which had, also, to sculptural, literary (and even auditory) symbols for him were for the consulting room.
be a likeness. He was an Imperial Prince, material that induces, at least occasionally, Mr Lucie-Smith's Eroticism in Western Art
St George, a Neo-Platonic lover, an Arcadian some degree of conscious sexual response in the also labours symbolism at the expense of
hunter, Mars to the Queen's Venus (the reader or viewer. By necessity the definition providing valid comments and criticisms of the
relationship between the two implying Pax), the must be statistical, since all manner of things illustrations, which incidentally, are very well
Monarch by Divine Right which meant a God have been sources of sexual arousal to a few reproduced. His insistence on emphasizing a
on his own, the father of the people. All this is persons. Of course, the frequency with which a picture's covert 'message' instead of its
established through reference to the courtly person experiences sexual arousal depends aesthetic appeal is unfortunate, and the
literature and in particular to the masques of the upon his own physical condition, whereas the impression one gets from reading the book is
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