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拍品專文
FITZGERALD WAS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT EXPONENTS OF VICTORIAN FAIRY PAINTING, AND WAS REPRESENTED BY MORE WORKS THAN ANY OTHER ARTIST IN THE EXHIBITION DEVOTED TO THIS SUBJECT AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY LAST YEAR. IRISH BY DESCENT, HE WAS BORN IN LONDON, THE SON OF WILLIAM THOMAS FITZGERALD, A POET. HE SEEMS TO HAVE HAD NO FORMAL TRAINING, BUT BY 1845, WHEN HE WAS TWENTY-THREE, HE WAS EXHIBITING AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY, WHERE HE SHOWED REGULARLY UNTIL 1881; AFTER THIS THERE WAS A LONG AND UNEXPLAINED INTERVAL UNTIL 1902, WHEN HE SHOWED ONE MORE PICTURE FOUR YEARS BEFORE HIS DEATH. CONTINUING TO LIVE IN LONDON, HE ALSO SUPPORTED THE BRITISH INSTITUTION, THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF PAINTERS IN WATERCOLOURS, AND THE SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS, TO WHICH HE SOUGHT ELECTION IN 1864. OTHER WORKS WERE SHOWN AT THE MADDOX STREET SKETCHING CLUB.
ALTHOUGH FITZGERALD IS BEST KNOWN TODAY FOR HIS FAIRY SUBJECTS, HIS RANGE WAS IN FACT MUCH WIDER. HE IS OFTEN SAID TO HAVE EARNED HIS LIVING BY PORTRAITURE, ALTHOUGH NO EXAMPLES SEEM TO BE RECORDED. IN THE 1850S HE WAS ONE OF THE MANY ARTISTS AT THIS TIME WHO FELT THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRE-RAPHAELITES; CHRISTMAS, A PAINTING SHOWN AT THE R.A. IN 1858 AND SOLD IN THESE ROOMS ON 2 NOVEMBER 1990 (LOT 274C), IS A CASE IN POINT. HIS OWN CHARACTERISTIC STYLE OF PAINTING, EXEMPLIFIED BY THE PRESENT PICTURE, DID NOT EMERGE UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DECADE.
IN THE 1860S AND 1870S FITZGERALD CONTRIBUTED FAIRY SUBJECTS TO CHRISTMAS NUMBERS OF THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS. IN THE LATE 1860S, IF NOT FOR LONGER, HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GOTHIC REVIVAL ARCHITECT WILLIAM BURGES, WHO BOUGHT HIS WORK AND COMMISSIONED PANELS FOR HIS PAINTED FURNITURE. BOTH MEN WERE TRUE ECCENTRICS, WITH A COMPARABLY FANTASTIC VISION.
MOST OF FITZGERALD'S FAIRY SUBJECTS SEEM TO BE HIS OWN INVENTION. OFTEN FEATURING BIRDS AND SMALL ANIMALS AS WELL AS FANTASTICALLY ATTIRED INHABITANTS OF THE FAIRY KINGDOM, THEY HAVE A HALLUCINATING QUALITY, AS IF THEY WERE THE PRODUCTS OF DRUG-INDUCED DREAMS. SOMETIMES THE SLEEPER IS ACTUALLY SHOWN, SURROUNDED BY THE PHANTASMAGORIA OR HIS OR HER LULLED BUT TEEMING BRAIN. THE MOOD IS FREQUENTLY SINISTER OR THREATENING, AND IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT FITZGERALD DID NOT KNOW THE WORK OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH.
THE PRESENT PICTURE IS UNUSUAL IN THAT IT HAS A LITERARY SOURCE, ILLUSTRATING ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SCENES IN A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM (ACT III, SCENE 1). OBERON, KING OF THE FAIRIES, SEEKING TO PUNISH HIS WIFE, TITANIA, FOR REFUSING TO SURRENDER A CHANGELING BOY WHOM HE WANTS FOR HIS PAGE, MAKES HER FALL IN LOVE WITH THE OAFISH WEAVER AND AMATEUR ACTOR BOTTOM, TO WHOM HE HAS GIVEN AN ASS'S HEAD. CARESSING THE MONSTER, SHE COMMANDS HER FAIRY ATTENDANTS TO WAIT ON HIM, WHILE PUCK, OBERON'S MISCHIEVOUS HENCHMAN WHO HAS PROCURED THE FLOWER 'LOVE IN IDLENESS', THE JUICE OF WHICH HAS INDUCED HER DELUSION, LOOKS ON IN AMUSEMENT:
BE KIND AND COURTEOUS TO THIS GENTLEMAN;
HOP IN HIS WALKS, AND GAMBOL IN HIS EYES;
FEED HIM WITH APRICOCKS AND DEWBERRIES,
WITH PURPLE GRAPES, GREEN FIGS, AND MULBERRIES.
THE HONEY-BAGS STEAL FROM THE HUMBLE-BEES,
AND FOR NIGHT-TAPERS CROP THEIR WAXEN THIGHS,
AND LIGHT THEM AT THE FIERY GLOW-WORM'S EYES,
TO HAVE MY LOVE TO BED, AND TO ARISE;
AND PLUCK THE WINGS FROM PAINTED BUTTERFLIES
TO FAN THE MOONBEAMS FROM HIS SLEEPING EYES:
NOD TO HIM, ELVES, AND DO HIM COURTESIES.
A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM, LIKE SHAKESPEARE'S OTHER PLAY WITH A SUPERNATURAL DIMENSION, THE TEMPEST, HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAIRY PAINTING IN ENGLAND. NEARLY EVERY ARTIST WHO CONTRIBUTED FELT ITS INSPIRATION: PIONEERS LIKE REYNOLDS, ROMNEY, FUSELI, DANBY AND BLAKE; VICTORIAN EXPONENTS OF THE GENRE IN ITS HEYDAY - DAVID SCOTT, RICHARD DADD, NOEL PATON, ROBERT HUSKISSON AND OTHERS; AND ILLUSTRATORS SUCH AS ARTHUR RACKHAM AND WILLIAM HEATH ROBINSON WHO CONTINUED THE TRADITION WELL INTO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE SUBJECT OF TITANIA AND BOTTOM FOUND TWO PARTICULARLY REMARKABLE INTERPRETATIONS, BOTH OF WHICH WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KNOWN TO FITZGERALD. HENRY FUSELI TREATED IT ABOUT 1790 IN A PAINTING ENGRAVED FOR ALDERMAN JOHN BOYDELL'S FAMOUS SHAKESPEARE GALLERY (TATE GALLERY, LONDON), WHILE EDWIN LANDSEER CHOSE IT AS HIS CONTRIBUTION TO A SET OF PAINTINGS ILLUSTRATING SHAKESPEARE WHICH WAS COMMISSIONED FROM VARIOUS ARTISTS BY THE GREAT VICTORIAN ENGINEER ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL (NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE). THIS PICTURE, WHICH GAVE LANDSEER PLENTY OF SCOPE FOR PORTRAYING ANIMALS, WAS EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1851.
UNUSUAL THOUGH THE PRESENT PAINTING IS IN FITZGERALD'S OEUVRE, THERE IS AN UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MORE TYPICAL WORKS. JUST AS HE OFTEN SHOWS HALLUCINATORY VISIONS OF FAIRIES OR FIGURES EXPERIENCING SUCH VISIONS IN DREAMS, SO HERE HE DEPICTS TITANIA AND BOTTOM BOTH LIVING OUT A FANTASY UNDER MAGICAL INFLUENCE.
ALTHOUGH FITZGERALD IS BEST KNOWN TODAY FOR HIS FAIRY SUBJECTS, HIS RANGE WAS IN FACT MUCH WIDER. HE IS OFTEN SAID TO HAVE EARNED HIS LIVING BY PORTRAITURE, ALTHOUGH NO EXAMPLES SEEM TO BE RECORDED. IN THE 1850S HE WAS ONE OF THE MANY ARTISTS AT THIS TIME WHO FELT THE INFLUENCE OF THE PRE-RAPHAELITES; CHRISTMAS, A PAINTING SHOWN AT THE R.A. IN 1858 AND SOLD IN THESE ROOMS ON 2 NOVEMBER 1990 (LOT 274C), IS A CASE IN POINT. HIS OWN CHARACTERISTIC STYLE OF PAINTING, EXEMPLIFIED BY THE PRESENT PICTURE, DID NOT EMERGE UNTIL THE FOLLOWING DECADE.
IN THE 1860S AND 1870S FITZGERALD CONTRIBUTED FAIRY SUBJECTS TO CHRISTMAS NUMBERS OF THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS. IN THE LATE 1860S, IF NOT FOR LONGER, HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GOTHIC REVIVAL ARCHITECT WILLIAM BURGES, WHO BOUGHT HIS WORK AND COMMISSIONED PANELS FOR HIS PAINTED FURNITURE. BOTH MEN WERE TRUE ECCENTRICS, WITH A COMPARABLY FANTASTIC VISION.
MOST OF FITZGERALD'S FAIRY SUBJECTS SEEM TO BE HIS OWN INVENTION. OFTEN FEATURING BIRDS AND SMALL ANIMALS AS WELL AS FANTASTICALLY ATTIRED INHABITANTS OF THE FAIRY KINGDOM, THEY HAVE A HALLUCINATING QUALITY, AS IF THEY WERE THE PRODUCTS OF DRUG-INDUCED DREAMS. SOMETIMES THE SLEEPER IS ACTUALLY SHOWN, SURROUNDED BY THE PHANTASMAGORIA OR HIS OR HER LULLED BUT TEEMING BRAIN. THE MOOD IS FREQUENTLY SINISTER OR THREATENING, AND IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT FITZGERALD DID NOT KNOW THE WORK OF HIERONYMUS BOSCH.
THE PRESENT PICTURE IS UNUSUAL IN THAT IT HAS A LITERARY SOURCE, ILLUSTRATING ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS SCENES IN A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM (ACT III, SCENE 1). OBERON, KING OF THE FAIRIES, SEEKING TO PUNISH HIS WIFE, TITANIA, FOR REFUSING TO SURRENDER A CHANGELING BOY WHOM HE WANTS FOR HIS PAGE, MAKES HER FALL IN LOVE WITH THE OAFISH WEAVER AND AMATEUR ACTOR BOTTOM, TO WHOM HE HAS GIVEN AN ASS'S HEAD. CARESSING THE MONSTER, SHE COMMANDS HER FAIRY ATTENDANTS TO WAIT ON HIM, WHILE PUCK, OBERON'S MISCHIEVOUS HENCHMAN WHO HAS PROCURED THE FLOWER 'LOVE IN IDLENESS', THE JUICE OF WHICH HAS INDUCED HER DELUSION, LOOKS ON IN AMUSEMENT:
BE KIND AND COURTEOUS TO THIS GENTLEMAN;
HOP IN HIS WALKS, AND GAMBOL IN HIS EYES;
FEED HIM WITH APRICOCKS AND DEWBERRIES,
WITH PURPLE GRAPES, GREEN FIGS, AND MULBERRIES.
THE HONEY-BAGS STEAL FROM THE HUMBLE-BEES,
AND FOR NIGHT-TAPERS CROP THEIR WAXEN THIGHS,
AND LIGHT THEM AT THE FIERY GLOW-WORM'S EYES,
TO HAVE MY LOVE TO BED, AND TO ARISE;
AND PLUCK THE WINGS FROM PAINTED BUTTERFLIES
TO FAN THE MOONBEAMS FROM HIS SLEEPING EYES:
NOD TO HIM, ELVES, AND DO HIM COURTESIES.
A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM, LIKE SHAKESPEARE'S OTHER PLAY WITH A SUPERNATURAL DIMENSION, THE TEMPEST, HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF FAIRY PAINTING IN ENGLAND. NEARLY EVERY ARTIST WHO CONTRIBUTED FELT ITS INSPIRATION: PIONEERS LIKE REYNOLDS, ROMNEY, FUSELI, DANBY AND BLAKE; VICTORIAN EXPONENTS OF THE GENRE IN ITS HEYDAY - DAVID SCOTT, RICHARD DADD, NOEL PATON, ROBERT HUSKISSON AND OTHERS; AND ILLUSTRATORS SUCH AS ARTHUR RACKHAM AND WILLIAM HEATH ROBINSON WHO CONTINUED THE TRADITION WELL INTO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE SUBJECT OF TITANIA AND BOTTOM FOUND TWO PARTICULARLY REMARKABLE INTERPRETATIONS, BOTH OF WHICH WERE ALMOST CERTAINLY KNOWN TO FITZGERALD. HENRY FUSELI TREATED IT ABOUT 1790 IN A PAINTING ENGRAVED FOR ALDERMAN JOHN BOYDELL'S FAMOUS SHAKESPEARE GALLERY (TATE GALLERY, LONDON), WHILE EDWIN LANDSEER CHOSE IT AS HIS CONTRIBUTION TO A SET OF PAINTINGS ILLUSTRATING SHAKESPEARE WHICH WAS COMMISSIONED FROM VARIOUS ARTISTS BY THE GREAT VICTORIAN ENGINEER ISAMBARD KINGDOM BRUNEL (NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, MELBOURNE). THIS PICTURE, WHICH GAVE LANDSEER PLENTY OF SCOPE FOR PORTRAYING ANIMALS, WAS EXHIBITED AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY IN 1851.
UNUSUAL THOUGH THE PRESENT PAINTING IS IN FITZGERALD'S OEUVRE, THERE IS AN UNDERLYING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS MORE TYPICAL WORKS. JUST AS HE OFTEN SHOWS HALLUCINATORY VISIONS OF FAIRIES OR FIGURES EXPERIENCING SUCH VISIONS IN DREAMS, SO HERE HE DEPICTS TITANIA AND BOTTOM BOTH LIVING OUT A FANTASY UNDER MAGICAL INFLUENCE.