In absentia

Another Sunday and another ‘in depth’ look at a painting in The Frick Collection with curator Xavier Salomon. This time Salomon discusses Henry Clay Frick’s favourite artwork, Velázquez’ portrait of ‘King Philip IV of Spain’ (1644) while imbibing a 50/50 (1/2 fino dry sherry and 1/2 sweet sherry – serve chilled). The episode can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8enElqa-PdA&list=PLNVeJpU2DHHR_0y_Zvgn3MgZQQFcFx2eI&index=2&t=0s

This portrait is also known as the ‘Fraga Philip’ acknowledging the town of Fraga where the picture was painted over three sittings in a makeshift studio when Philip was on a military campaign in his ongoing war against the French.  While Philip was not especially known for his military prowess, he led his troops to an important victory -the ‘Siege of Lerida’ – in this instance. This portrait of Philip, in his military dress, became a ‘stand-in’ for the king in a particularly important religious mass in the Church of San Martin in Madrid to celebrate the victory. A contemporaneous description of the portrait at the religious ceremony described how Philip: ‘revived the court, inspiring respect, love and renewed allegiance in all those who saw it in admiration, not without tears, and witnessed the tenderness the Spaniards feel for their monarchy’.

The meaning and use of portraiture are to become subjects for further discussion by Salomon in the future. However, what struck me was the value of the ‘stand-in’, even when the real object is not immediately available. This is something that has been clearly demonstrated during the pandemic with our ability to access our connections with the world (people, institutions, ideas, etc) through virtual platforms. The weekly ‘NGV Director Update’ email, which has just arrived in my inbox, is the most recent reminder.

This week I have received some suggestions from guides about ‘things of interest’. Nita Jawary forwarded a link to ‘The School of Life’ and its article on ‘The Seven Most Calming Works of Art in the World’. The way that art is considered will be familiar to those who have read ‘Art as Therapy’ by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong. Included are works by Hiroshi Sugimoto, Ansel Adams, Ludolf Bakhuysen, Claude Monet, Caspar David Friedrich, Richard Serra, and a kintsugi bowl. The article can be read at: https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/24287-2/

The NGV has a work by Hiroshi Sugimoto ‘Winnetka Drive-In, Paramount’ (1993) which resonates with the idea of ‘presence through absence’ as well as our current experience of time. Sugimoto is a contemporary Japanese photographer whose practice explores ‘memory and time’. The photograph (above) is from Sugimoto’s series ‘Theaters’ where the photographer visited American movie theatres and drive-ins during movie showings. The exposure time for each photograph corresponds with the projection time of the film – which means that the entire film is ‘saved’ in a single time-compressed image.  What we see is a blank brightly illuminated screen instead of a film with content. A number of commentators have remarked on the warped experience of time during lockdown where dates get ‘lost’ and memory becomes ‘confused’. Sugimoto provides an interesting visual analogy of this.

Monica Healy sent a link to ‘The State of Music – Episode Four’ which features The Teskey Brothers (a local Warrandyte band) performing in the Pre-Raphaelite gallery at the NGV. The episode can be viewed on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fakg7VpCLpA

And, finally, Sylvia Walsh and Anne Hunt have shared some amusing thoughts. Sylvia reminds us of the impact of the lockdown over time; whereas Anne suggests that Sidney Nolan may have the answer to protecting ourselves as we re-enter the world.