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Lot Essay
Greeting the viewer with ice-blue eyes, her mouth slightly open, lips apart, as if caught by surprise, the Siren’s haunting song is about to begin. One hand poised on the strings of a lute while the other grasps a long bow to draw it slowly across the instrument's bridge, to release a tune to accompany her melody. Resting against the picture plane, her body partially hidden by the frame's edge, the background view only of flat, clear waters, this alluring figure both confronts and confuses the viewer. Does she wear an elaborately brocaded dress? Could those really be silver, scaled fins that wrap around her back? Is this a minstrel maid or indeed a mermaid? The viewer cannot escape the surprise of this work which, in its highly detailed, decorative beauty and fantasy, demands exploration. One becomes captured within the grotto, caught in the Siren's spell and Maxence's mastery of magical painting.
Edgard Maxence was a favoured pupil of Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He was particularly influenced by Moreau, who allowed his pupils to develop their own inherent talents while at the same time guiding their focus to the genres he valued most highly. With this consideration, one can see the influence of Moreau’s painting of the nymph Galatée (fig. 1.), watched over by the giant Polyphemus – an artistic adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphosis. In Moreau’s painting, we see an incredible attention to detail. Galatea, who has taken refuge in a cave too narrow for the giant to enter, is a pearl gleaming in its setting. The change in scale between the two figures is repeated between Galatea and the tiny nereids almost invisible in the lacework of aquatic plants and coral. The vegetation looks supernatural but was derived from drawings meticulously copied from a book of marine botany in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, where Moreau had registered as an unofficial student in 1879. Notably, this painting hung in Moreau’s last participation in the Paris Salon of 1880, just as our painting by Maxence would be exhibited 20 years later in the Paris Salon of 1902. Equally, similarities with the coral features in our painting can be drawn with Moreau’s earlier Venus sortant de l'Onde (Venus rising from the sea) (fig. 2.).
Considering history painting one of the noblest forms of art, Moreau expected his most gifted students to 'not forget that art must uplift, ennoble, improve moral standards... art can lead to religion.... which uplifts the soul and guides its working toward an ideal beauty and perfection' (as quoted in P-L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, London, 1977, p. 219).
Maxence's Sirène, dressed in strands of pearls and coral beads all create a sense of otherworldly beauty. The mystical creature faithfully serves many of the Symbolists' most significant tenants. The influence of the Quattrocento, highly revered by Moreau, is revealed in the Siren's nuanced expression and her well-modelled form particularly recalls the mythological maidens of Botticelli's Birth of Venus (fig. 3) or Primavera.
Meanwhile, the mottled rocks, dripping seaweed, and strings of beads reveal the Symbolist passion for exotic decoration.
Yet Maxence did not limit himself to finding artistic direction only in the Symbolist ideals of his teachers. Many of the most intricate details of the Siren's craggy sea cave, elaborately braided hair-style and decorated tail are created from the artist's careful study of Breton liturgical costumes in the church of Saint-Nicolas of Nantes, his birth city. The artist was so compelled by the seaside area that he would return in the late 1890s, establishing a studio in La Bernerie-en-Retz, where he could observe first-person the daily life of Brittany and its denizens. As such, Maxence found inspiration for his aesthetic not only in the highly brocaded cloth of the church collection but also in the countenance of the Breton people themselves; the artist discovered that models from small villages provided a specific, timeless beauty of fair skin, amber hair, and clear features. In works such as Portrait of a Young Woman (fig. 4), heavy cloaks and embroidered costumes are worn by a quietly beautiful woman placed in a mysterious landscape of ancient rocks and rugged plains. Paired together, Portrait of a Young Woman and Sirène suggest that Maxence was never a slavish follower of Symbolism's insistence of feeling over fact; instead, he employed highly detailed decorative surfaces and high finishes to explore and embellish iconic images of local history.
Indeed, Maxence was fascinated with local legends, in which Christianity mingled with ancient Celtic folklore (though long under the control of France and influenced by French traditions, Brittany had retained its Celtic influence since the 6th century). As with his Spirit of the Forest (fig. 5) and its disconcerting composition of winged women surrounded by Byzantine aureoles of light and swirling smoke, Sirène reveals an intense awareness of ancient myths and medieval Breton legends. Living on the coast, treacherous waters cost many lives, and a great number of local legends tell that 'on the shores of the Channel are numerous grottos or caverns which the Bretons call houles, and these are supposed to harbour a distinct class of fairy. Some of these caverns are from twenty to thirty feet high, and so extensive that is unwise to explore them too far. Others seem only large enough to hold a single person, but if one enters he will find himself in a spacious natural chamber' (L. Spence, Legends and Romances of Brittany, New York, 1997, p. 75). The inhabitants of these secret grottos known as Morgans, or Sirens, particularly liked young, strong fishermen. While seated alone on rocks, or reefs, near whirlpools, they would entice lonely sailors with their song, pulling them to their death or to eternal capture in underwater palaces made of coral, pearls and diamonds.
Variations of the legend involve an aspect of Christianity: many stories reveal sea fairies to be rebellious angels sent to earth to expiate their offences against heaven. In its iconography, Sirène could easily serve as an illustration for any of these tales, as Maxence sets this dangerous beauty in a rocky grotto waiting to seduce the unsuspecting. The pale and subtle grey-blue of her upper body and the flower and fern pattern of her tail suggest that this Siren has just applied the magic salve that transforms her from half fish to woman, turning scales into flesh, and fins into dress fabric, as described in the ancient tale of The Fisherman and the Fairies (Spence, op. cit., pp. 80-1). The fairy creatures would appear in a series of works Maxence completed in the early 1900s from his Little Fairy to The Fairy of the Grotto, Lady Dragonfly, and most dramatically Sirène - all exploring the mythical, beautiful creatures of the water.
The importance of these fairy creatures extended beyond their beauty. Ancient myths enjoyed a serious revival at the turn of the century, when various schools of thought redirected the modern world to look back at an idealized Golden Age or the idyllic lore of the Middle Ages. 'Portraits' of mythological creatures such as the Siren were not meant to be a complete narrative but a starting point for the imagination, a way to bring out what was hidden in the subconscious. The fierce monumentality of Sirène suggests that one part of that hidden feeling might be fear and intimidation of female power.
Finally, the present work exemplifies Maxence's allegiance to the last phase of Symbolism in which the French Symbolists incorporated a new understanding of Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics. Sirène, in fact, recalls the major works of Burne-Jones and Rossetti celebrated for the magnetic charm of the figures and dreamy suggestiveness of the backgrounds.
Edgard Maxence was a favoured pupil of Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris. He was particularly influenced by Moreau, who allowed his pupils to develop their own inherent talents while at the same time guiding their focus to the genres he valued most highly. With this consideration, one can see the influence of Moreau’s painting of the nymph Galatée (fig. 1.), watched over by the giant Polyphemus – an artistic adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphosis. In Moreau’s painting, we see an incredible attention to detail. Galatea, who has taken refuge in a cave too narrow for the giant to enter, is a pearl gleaming in its setting. The change in scale between the two figures is repeated between Galatea and the tiny nereids almost invisible in the lacework of aquatic plants and coral. The vegetation looks supernatural but was derived from drawings meticulously copied from a book of marine botany in the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle, where Moreau had registered as an unofficial student in 1879. Notably, this painting hung in Moreau’s last participation in the Paris Salon of 1880, just as our painting by Maxence would be exhibited 20 years later in the Paris Salon of 1902. Equally, similarities with the coral features in our painting can be drawn with Moreau’s earlier Venus sortant de l'Onde (Venus rising from the sea) (fig. 2.).
Considering history painting one of the noblest forms of art, Moreau expected his most gifted students to 'not forget that art must uplift, ennoble, improve moral standards... art can lead to religion.... which uplifts the soul and guides its working toward an ideal beauty and perfection' (as quoted in P-L. Mathieu, Gustave Moreau, London, 1977, p. 219).
Maxence's Sirène, dressed in strands of pearls and coral beads all create a sense of otherworldly beauty. The mystical creature faithfully serves many of the Symbolists' most significant tenants. The influence of the Quattrocento, highly revered by Moreau, is revealed in the Siren's nuanced expression and her well-modelled form particularly recalls the mythological maidens of Botticelli's Birth of Venus (fig. 3) or Primavera.
Meanwhile, the mottled rocks, dripping seaweed, and strings of beads reveal the Symbolist passion for exotic decoration.
Yet Maxence did not limit himself to finding artistic direction only in the Symbolist ideals of his teachers. Many of the most intricate details of the Siren's craggy sea cave, elaborately braided hair-style and decorated tail are created from the artist's careful study of Breton liturgical costumes in the church of Saint-Nicolas of Nantes, his birth city. The artist was so compelled by the seaside area that he would return in the late 1890s, establishing a studio in La Bernerie-en-Retz, where he could observe first-person the daily life of Brittany and its denizens. As such, Maxence found inspiration for his aesthetic not only in the highly brocaded cloth of the church collection but also in the countenance of the Breton people themselves; the artist discovered that models from small villages provided a specific, timeless beauty of fair skin, amber hair, and clear features. In works such as Portrait of a Young Woman (fig. 4), heavy cloaks and embroidered costumes are worn by a quietly beautiful woman placed in a mysterious landscape of ancient rocks and rugged plains. Paired together, Portrait of a Young Woman and Sirène suggest that Maxence was never a slavish follower of Symbolism's insistence of feeling over fact; instead, he employed highly detailed decorative surfaces and high finishes to explore and embellish iconic images of local history.
Indeed, Maxence was fascinated with local legends, in which Christianity mingled with ancient Celtic folklore (though long under the control of France and influenced by French traditions, Brittany had retained its Celtic influence since the 6th century). As with his Spirit of the Forest (fig. 5) and its disconcerting composition of winged women surrounded by Byzantine aureoles of light and swirling smoke, Sirène reveals an intense awareness of ancient myths and medieval Breton legends. Living on the coast, treacherous waters cost many lives, and a great number of local legends tell that 'on the shores of the Channel are numerous grottos or caverns which the Bretons call houles, and these are supposed to harbour a distinct class of fairy. Some of these caverns are from twenty to thirty feet high, and so extensive that is unwise to explore them too far. Others seem only large enough to hold a single person, but if one enters he will find himself in a spacious natural chamber' (L. Spence, Legends and Romances of Brittany, New York, 1997, p. 75). The inhabitants of these secret grottos known as Morgans, or Sirens, particularly liked young, strong fishermen. While seated alone on rocks, or reefs, near whirlpools, they would entice lonely sailors with their song, pulling them to their death or to eternal capture in underwater palaces made of coral, pearls and diamonds.
Variations of the legend involve an aspect of Christianity: many stories reveal sea fairies to be rebellious angels sent to earth to expiate their offences against heaven. In its iconography, Sirène could easily serve as an illustration for any of these tales, as Maxence sets this dangerous beauty in a rocky grotto waiting to seduce the unsuspecting. The pale and subtle grey-blue of her upper body and the flower and fern pattern of her tail suggest that this Siren has just applied the magic salve that transforms her from half fish to woman, turning scales into flesh, and fins into dress fabric, as described in the ancient tale of The Fisherman and the Fairies (Spence, op. cit., pp. 80-1). The fairy creatures would appear in a series of works Maxence completed in the early 1900s from his Little Fairy to The Fairy of the Grotto, Lady Dragonfly, and most dramatically Sirène - all exploring the mythical, beautiful creatures of the water.
The importance of these fairy creatures extended beyond their beauty. Ancient myths enjoyed a serious revival at the turn of the century, when various schools of thought redirected the modern world to look back at an idealized Golden Age or the idyllic lore of the Middle Ages. 'Portraits' of mythological creatures such as the Siren were not meant to be a complete narrative but a starting point for the imagination, a way to bring out what was hidden in the subconscious. The fierce monumentality of Sirène suggests that one part of that hidden feeling might be fear and intimidation of female power.
Finally, the present work exemplifies Maxence's allegiance to the last phase of Symbolism in which the French Symbolists incorporated a new understanding of Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics. Sirène, in fact, recalls the major works of Burne-Jones and Rossetti celebrated for the magnetic charm of the figures and dreamy suggestiveness of the backgrounds.