Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York
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<strong>of</strong> Moreau's works is vague and mysterious. He was not concerned with a<br />
naturalistic depiction <strong>of</strong> the landscape, and the strange terrain <strong>of</strong>ten increases<br />
the mystery and the surreal nature <strong>of</strong> the image. Such barren, unrecognizable<br />
and <strong>of</strong>ten inhospitable environments heighten the impression <strong>of</strong> a world remote<br />
from the increasingly engineered landscapes <strong>of</strong> fin-de-siecle France. <strong>The</strong><br />
accompanying dusky, reddening sky where the sun casts a dying light, and the<br />
autumnal or twilight charms so common in Moreau's work, are a perfect backdrop<br />
to the sense <strong>of</strong> a demise <strong>of</strong> an ancient order so poignantly felt by Moreau's<br />
most ardent admirers, the elegant upper-class <strong>of</strong> the Faubourg Saint-Germain.<br />
We read in Against <strong>The</strong> Grain that Gustave Moreau's art ravished<br />
des Esseintes with "unceasing transports <strong>of</strong> pleasure. "15 "Moreover, the artist<br />
seemed to have wished to mark his deliberate purpose to keep outside centuries<br />
<strong>of</strong> history; to give no definite indication <strong>of</strong> race or country or period."16<br />
<strong>The</strong> counter-reality Moreau continuously painted correlated perfectly with the<br />
overriding desire <strong>of</strong> the late 19th century decadents to distance themselves<br />
from the common horde, from the influx <strong>of</strong> science and technology, and from<br />
their pr<strong>of</strong>iteers.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> Moreau's guiding aesthetic principles was la belle inertie<br />
(beautiful inertia).!7 This quality <strong>of</strong> calm enigma dominates Moreau's reuvre.1t<br />
is especially apparent in Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864). <strong>The</strong> implicit violence<br />
and passion <strong>of</strong> the moment are transcended by the reserve and poise maintained<br />
by the painting's two main subjects. "<strong>The</strong> mysteriousness at the core <strong>of</strong><br />
Oedipus and the Sphinx (1864) derives from a characteristic he derived from<br />
Michelangelo and employed for the first time in this work: the use <strong>of</strong> static<br />
figures whose staring expressions suggest they are lost in thought or dream."!8<br />
Moreau strove to avoid the direct portrayal <strong>of</strong> base passions. <strong>The</strong> characters<br />
in his paintings populate an imaginary frozen world, where even the most<br />
tragic or violent moment fails to break through the wall containing their emotions.<br />
<strong>The</strong> eclectic mix <strong>of</strong> influences apparent in Moreau's work further contributes<br />
to the otherworldliness <strong>of</strong> his paintings. It is <strong>of</strong>ten impossible to pinpoint<br />
a time or place in history. <strong>The</strong>re are many points <strong>of</strong> reference, but they do .<br />
not combine to a conclusive whole. Often only the written narrative or the<br />
painting's title serves to clarify the image in the viewer's mind. Moreau accompanied<br />
many <strong>of</strong> his paintings with a commentary (written for his deaf mother),<br />
and these notes have proved invaluable. <strong>The</strong> painting Salome Dancing Before<br />
Herod (1876) is a major example <strong>of</strong> the accumulation <strong>of</strong> a number <strong>of</strong> eclectic<br />
sources. In preparing for this work, Moreau's already voracious imagination<br />
had been "stimulated by prints in the museum catalogues and archaeological<br />
publications which he looked through in the print room <strong>of</strong> the Louvre."19<br />
Salome's bejeweled attire is "reminiscent <strong>of</strong>Indian deities."20 <strong>The</strong> statues <strong>of</strong><br />
ancient Gods, the black panther, Herod's jewel-encrusted throne, and the pal-<br />
60<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Criticism</strong>