Scene Two
Seeing (studio, grid and perception)
“To see an object is either to have it on the fringe of the visual field and be able to concentrate on it, or else respond to this summons by actually concentrating upon it. When I do concentrate my eyes on it, I become anchored in it, but this coming to rest of the gaze is merely a modality of its movement: I continue inside one object the exploration which earlier hovered over them all, and in one movement I close up the landscape and open the object.” Maurice Merleau-Ponty 62
In the Japanese artist Ritsuko Hidaka’s video Pythagorean Audio Guide, she posed a number of questions to me while I was viewing a Victorian painting that portrayed a building and a garden. 63 Her questions concerned the way the viewers perceived various sizes and distances in the painting. I was questioned, for example, about the distance between the gate and the front door, the height of a tree, the height of the windows, etc. In my answers, I used my experiences of real doors, trees, windows and buildings as reference points. Eventually she asked a question that awoke me from my illusion: “What is the distance between you and the door?” And I found myself tumbling headlong out of the painting. 64 In this way it became clear to me that the pictorial space was related to the room I found myself in.
It is significant, then, that the space I believed I had fallen into was the department of European Painting in any classical art museum, a public space on whose walls a collection of historical paintings from the Middle Ages to Modernism were presented and stored. The National Gallery in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre, the Galleria degli Uffizi and Nationalmuseum in Stockholm are just a few examples of the same model, whose form was created in the 18th and 19th centuries. Like other spaces where things are on display, for example department stores and the modern press, the museum (in this case the European model) deals mainly with the presumption that their viewers are passive. 65 In fact I fell into the room of the South London Gallery, a contemporary art space, which is where I was questioned and filmed. Although not a museum, I felt that due to the nature of this picture, standing in front of it recreated a classic museum situation. In the museum space paintings are presented as framed, restored, exhibited and preserved, and carry many narrative layers about their history and origins. Here they are shown as fine art, separate and distinct from characteristics that are traditionally associated with artefacts, such as function, skill, craftsmanship, or as objects that are seen to be of magical or ritualistic significance.
;)
;)
62 Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge Classics, reprint 2003, p. 78.
63 The title of Hidaka’s work was Pythagorean Audio Guide. The paintings which were on display on the wall depicted some local buildings. In order to get the actual measurements of the building, Ritsuko Hidaka visited the location, and sometimes went into the house and measured the windows and so on, or in the case of public buildings, she obtained the architectural records from the local government office. The show was Summer Collection ’97, South London Gallery. I am referring to a video with interviews with people who looked at one of the paintings showing one of these buildings. One was thus observed while trying to see [to see what?]. Most of the artists who took part in the same exhibition as Hidaka appeared in her video; I was one of the artists. Link: www.southlondongallery.org/doc...
64 The artist claimed that Japanese viewers would have related their estimations to the surface of the canvas. So the illusion of falling out of the painting would never have arisen in a Japanese context.
65 Chantal Georgel writes in her essay ‘Museum as a Metaphor in Nineteenth-Century France’: “The press, the museum, and the department store can thus be understood to have played complementary roles within a single ideological system. The association between seemingly disparate institutions that I am suggesting here is justified not so much by external similarities of vocabulary or display, or by similarities between spatial organization of the journal (the visitor/reader peruses the halls of the museum just as he or she peruses the table of contents…); it is justified most of all, I would argue, by the strong complementarity of their functions. The museum, the department store and the press, all born during the century of industry, were each in their own way and in complementary fashion ‘machines’ of capitalism. While the department store offered its clients the pleasure of consuming the products of private accumulation, the press sold its readers the pleasure of accumulated information – an image of mastery that justified the title of ‘museum’ and, indeed, represented the ideal museum. For its part, the museum allowed the visitors symbolically to possess objects that were inaccessible – objects that could neither be bought, since they were inalienable, nor fully understood, except by an elite of amateurs or art appreciators – and as such invested with high cultural prestige”, from Museum Culture: Histories, Discourses, Spectacles, editors Daniel J. Sherman and Irit Rogoff, Routledge, London, 2001(first published by Regents of the University of Minnesota, 1994), p. 119.
Åsberg, Stig
Page: 20(a.)
after-image
Page: 5, 5(a.), 26, 32, 34, 40, 48, 49, 55, 56
Akerman, Chantal
Page: 3, 3(a.), 57(a.)
Alberti, Leon Battista
Page: 27
Angelo Giorgio, Cardinal
Page: 19, 19(a.)
Armitage, John
Page: 51(a.)
Art Institute of Chicago
Page: 32
Arvidsson, Kristoffer
Page: 35(a.)
Ashburton, Lord
Page: 19(a.)
Bätschmann, Oskar
Page: 33(a.)
Bal, Mieke
Page: 8(a.)
Barton, Judy (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
Baudelaire, Charles
Page: 44
beat, the
Page: 44
Beckett, Samuel
Page: 39
Bellini, workshop of Giovanni
Page: 28
Bierstadt, Albert
Page: 17
Bjurström, Per
Page: 19, 19(a.), 33, 57, 57(a.)
Blaugrund, Annette
Page: 17(a.)
Bonaparte, Lucien
Page: 19(a.), 41(a.)
Bosch, Hieronymous
Page: 40
Brealey, John
Page: 19, 19(a.)
British Museum, London
Page: 22, 22(a.)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Page: 45
Bryson, Norman
Page: 2, 2(a.), 8, 8(a.), 27(a.), 44(a.)
Butler, Judith
Page: 48, 48(a.), 49
Calaresu, Melissa
Page: 9(a.)
Calefato, Patrizia
Page: 43, 43(a.)
Cavalli-Björkman, Görel
Page: 19(a.)
Cederström, Gustaf
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Certeau, Michel de
Page: 53
Cézanne, Paul
Page: 39
Church, Fredric Edwin
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Claude Glasses
Page: 5, 12, 18, 51, 54
Claude Lorrain Mirror
Page: 10
Claude Mirror
Page: 5, 10, 11, 18
Claudian
Page: 11, 14, 14(a.), 15, 17, 41, 41(a.), 53, 56
Claudian gaze
Page: 17
Claudian light
Page: 14
Claudian model
Page: 14, 14(a.), 15, 41(a.)
Cohen, Ernst
Page: 8(a.)
Constable, John
Page: 25(a.), 41(a.)
copy
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 20, 22, 25, 26, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 34, 38, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.), 44, 48, 51, 55, 57
copying, act of -
Page: 31, 51
copyist
Page: 26, 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 44
Courbet, Gustave
Page: 34(a.)
Crary, Jonathan
Page: 13, 13(a.)
cruising
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 44(a.), 49
Dahlbäck, Bengt
Page: 20(a.)
Degas, Edgar
Page: 44
Dercon, Chris
Page: 51(a.)
Düsseldorf School
Page: 15
Dughet, Gaspard
Page: 27
Dunwell, Frances F.
Page: 16(a.), 17(a.)
El Greco
Page: 2
Elster, Madeleine (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31, 34, 38, 44
Fabiani, Bardo
Page: 43(a.)
Fahlcrantz, Carl Johan
Page: 14, 15
Ferguson, John "Scottie" (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31
Ferrier, Maïten de
Page: 32
Field, Cyrus
Page: 17(a.)
framing
Page: 7, 33, 35, 51, 54
Fraser, Andrea
Page: 40(a.)
Fredlund, Björn
Page: 8(a.), 19(a.)
Fried, Michael
Page: 28(a.)
Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 46, 46(a.)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Page: 24
Gallerie Brunner, Paris
Page: 19(a.)
Gardner, Jack
Page: 29(a.)
gay
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 48(a.)
gaze
Page: 4, 5(a.), 8, 9, 13, 17, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27(a.), 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 42, 44, 44(a.), 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54
gender
Page: 30, 43, 48(a.), 49
Georgel, Chantal
Page: 24(a.)
Gilpin, William
Page: 9, 9(a.), 12, 12(a.), 16, 16(a.)
Giori, Cardinale
Page: 22
Goldfarb, Hilliard T.
Page: 28(a.), 29(a.)
Gombrich, Ernst Hans
Page: 25(a.), 48(a.)
Gordon, Douglas
Page: 30(a.)
Grünewald, Matthias
Page: 2
Grammel, Sören
Page: 30(a.)
Granath, Olle
Page: 4(a.)
Grand Tour
Page: 9, 14, 32, 35(a.)
Grate, Pontus
Page: 37(a.), 41(a.)
Gray Mirror
Page: 10
Great Chain Overlook, The
Page: 5
grid
Page: 24, 25, 25(a.), 26, 37, 38, 44, 46, 47, 49
Guerrilla Girls
Page: 40(a.)
Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden, King
Page: 18
Hansen, Constantin
Page: 8(a.)
Harriss, Joseph A.
Page: 32(a.), 40(a.)
Hedén, Karl-Gustaf
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.)
Herrmann, Bernard
Page: 30(a.)
Hidaka, Ritsuko
Page: 24, 24(a.)
history
Page: 1, 7, 15, 18, 19, 20(a.), 21, 24, 26,32(a.), 35, 41(a.), 44, 46, 47, 48, 55, 56
Hitchcock, Alfred
Page: 30
Hockney, David
Page: 11(a.)
Holger, Lena
Page: 46(a.)
horizon
Page: 25, 27, 35, 38(a.), 41, 52, 53, 54, 56
Hudson River Highlands
Page: 16, 16(a.), 17(a.)
Hudson River School
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Page: 28, 29(a.)
Isakson, Karl
Page: 39
Kennedy, Randy
Page: 45(a.)
Kitson, Michael
Page: 22(a.)
Købke, Christian
Page: 8(a.)
Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Kopp, Céline
Page: 42(a.)
Krauss, Rosalind
Page: 25, 25(a.)
Kulick, Don
Page: 44, 44(a.), 49
Kunstverein München, Munich
Page: 30(a.)
landscape, Arcadian -
Page: 9, 35
landscape, cultivated -
Page: 16
landscape, designed -
Page: 10
landscape, Dutch -
Page: 10
landscape, lost -
Page: 16
landscape, national -
Page: 9, 14, 15
landscape, Nordic -
Page: 15
landscape, pastoral -
Page: 21, 34, 35
landscape,pictorial
Page: 14
landscape, Roman -
Page: 11
landscape, Romantic -
Page: 52
landscape, Swedish -
Page: 14, 15
landscape painter
Page: 5, 14, 17, 19(a.)
landscape painting
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
Landscapes, Ideal -
Page: 9, 9(a.), 22(a.), 33(a.), 35, 40, 41(a.)
Landscapes, Imperial -
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Langdon, Helen
Page: 11(a.), 33, 33(a.), 57(a.)
Lawler, Louise
Page: 40(a.)
Lefebvre, Henri
Page: 27
Lenbach, Franz von
Page: 30(a.)
Liber Veritatis
Page: 21, 22, 22(a.)
linguistic matrix
Page: 25
Lorrain, Claude
Page: 2, 4, 4(a.), 5, 8, 8(a.), 9, 10, 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18(a.), 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 21(a.), 22, 22(a.), 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 27, 28, 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 35, 36, 36(a.), 38, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42(a.), 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57(a.)
Louvre, Paris
Page: 24, 32, 32(a.), 40, 44, 44(a.)
Lyberg, Louise
Page: 32(a.)
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm
Page: 35(a.)
Maillet, Arnaud
Page: 12(a.)
Malsch, Friedemann
Page: 28(a.)
Manson & Woods, London
Page: 8(a.)
Martin, Elias
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Matisse, Henri
Page: 39
memory
Page: 7, 11, 17(a.), 20, 30(a.), 31, 35(a.), 41, 41(a.), 43, 51
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
Page: 24, 24(a.), 27, 27(a.), 39, 39(a.), 55, 55(a.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Page: 17(a.), 24
Metz, Philip
Page: 30(a.)
mimicry
Page: 5, 6, 34, 40, 47, 49, 51
Mitchell, W.J.T.
Page: 11(a.), 14, 14(a.), 28(a.), 38(a.), 48(a.)
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Page: 20, 40(a.)
Molvidson, Martin
Page: 46(a.)
Mulvey, Laura
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica
Page: 41, 41(a.)
museum
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8,18, 19, 20, 20(a.), 23, 24, 24(a.), 25,26, 27, 28,29, 29(a.), 30, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 33, 34, 36,38, 40, 40(a.),42, 42(a.), 43, 44, 44(a.), 45, 46, 46(a.), 47,49, 50, 51
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Page: 45, 45(a.)
National Gallery, London
Page: 24, 41(a.)
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8(a.), 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 20(a.), 24, 27, 32, 32(a.), 37, 38, 41(a.), 46, 47, 48(a.), 55, 57(a.)
nature
Page: 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 33, 34, 39, 43, 47, 48, 51, 57
Newman, Michael
Page: 51, 51(a.), 52, 52(a.)
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Page: 8
Nilsson, Håkan
Page: 48, 48(a.)
Nordic Light
Page: 15
Nordqvist, Per
Page: 14
Novak, Kim (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
original
Page: 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 8, 14, 18(a.), 19(a.), 20, 22, 25, 25(a.), 26, 29(a.), 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 46, 46(a.), 47, 48, 48(a.), 49
painting, historical -
Page: 6, 24, 30, 35, 41(a.)
painting, landscape
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
painting, lost -
Page: 26
painting, process of -
Page: 39, 57
Palazzo Riccardi, Florence
Page: 19(a.)
Pehrson, Mathias
Page: 18(a.)
perspective
Page: 11, 18, 27, 27(a.), 33, 44
Persson, Helena
Page: 8(a.)
Petterson, Åke
Page: 18(a.)
Phelan, Peggy
Page: 5, 39, 39(a.)
Phillips, Tony
Page: 27(a.)
pictures journey
Page: 8
Picturesque
Page: 5, 9, 9(a.), 10, 10(a.), 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 14, 16, 17, 18
Pollock, Jackson
Page: 48(a.)
Pordenone, Bernardino Licinio da
Page: 28(a.)
Poussin, Nicolas
Page: 9, 27, 33, 33(a.), 40(a.), 41(a.)
Prado Museum, Madrid
Page: 41(a.), 53
Röthlisberger, Marcel
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 21, 21(a.), 22(a.), 34(a.), 35, 35(a.), 36, 36(a.), 37, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.)
Rørbye, Martinus
Page: 8(a.)
Raphael
Page: 36
Rebekah
Page: 4(a.), 5, 15, 16, 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 37(a.), 38, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55, 57
recognition
Page: 2, 8, 28, 38, 39, 40
Rembrandt van Rijn
Page: 19(a.)
restorer
Page: 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21
Rossholm Lagerlöf, Margaretha
Page: 9(a.), 22(a.), 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 41(a.)
Rubens, Peter Paul
Page: 41(a.)
Sandberg, Ragnar
Page: 39, 39(a.)
Sandrart, Joachim von
Page: 36, 57
Sarto, Andrea del
Page: 30(a.)
See and Seen
Page: 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 29(a.), 44, 47, 49, 50, 54
seeing, act of -
Page: 27, 43, 49, 54
seeing, moment of
Page: 21, 48, 54
seeing, process of -
Page: 5, 26
seeing, way of -
Page: 7, 9, 14, 18, 39, 51
shepherd
Page: 4(a.), 19(a.), 22, 33, 35, 42
Shiner, Larry
Page: 40(a.)
spectator
Page: 11, 11(a.), 13, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 38(a.), 41, 43, 44, 50, 53
Stewart, James (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock))
Page: 30
Stewart Gardner, Isabella
Page: 28, 29, 29(a.), 49
Storrie, Calum
Page: 44, 44(a.)
tourist
Page: 5, 7, 9, 9(a.), 10, 13, 18, 54
translate
Page: 2(a.), 11, 19(a.), 26, 39, 46
translation
Page: 1, 18(a.), 19(a.), 27(a.), 39(a.), 55(a.), 57(a.)
Turner, J.M.W.
Page: 11
US Military Academy at West Point, New York State
Page: 5, 16, 17, 18, 54
vanishing point
Page: 11, 27, 51, 52
Vertigo
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31, 38, 44
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Page: 43
viewer
Page: 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 24(a.), 26, 27, 28, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41(a.), 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54
viewing, act of -
Page: 13
viewing, conditions of -
Page: 44
viewing, modes of -
Page: 13
viewing aids / instruments
Page: 10, 13, 48
Warner, Deborah Jean
Page: 10, 10(a.), 12, 12(a.)
Williams, Raymond
Page: 7, 7(a.), 10, 10(a.)
Wittgenstein
Page: 48(a.)
Wood, Marjorie 'Midge' (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 31