While I was looking through my textbook for my psychology class, I came across a painting by a French artist, and I was ever so intrigued. I also remembered there was an artist I wanted to talk about during my romantic blog, but I decided not to, and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to use the painting. Both paintings were about mental illness, and mental health is such an important aspect of so many in modern-day society. But, in 1800 France, mental illnesses were feared and widely unknown. It wasn't just France that was plagued with populus sick in the head, and no one truly knew how to help, but for this post, I'll only be talking about French artists.
Tony Roberts Flury, Pinel Freeing the Insane, 1876
I wanted to start by introducing a painting that I'm not quite sure where it ended up although I know it was painted in Paris, France. I wanted to give a chance to look into the asylum where individuals were being held in cruel conditions. When one was held in an asylum they are not likely to be freed. Pinel is shown in this painting, freeing a woman at Salpêtrière hospital, which was a significant achievement at that time.
In Flury's oil painting composed in the middle of the canvas is a woman lifting her arm as she's being freed from her chains and straight jacket. There is surrounding the woman left by a group of well-dressed individuals who are not wards of this asylum. Directly next to the woman is Pinel, whose hand is being kissed by a kneeling woman. Pinel has a strong, hopeful posture as one woman kisses his hand and he frees another from what some would have considered hell. The woman in between Pinel and the subject to me looks as if she's concerned and is questioning Pinal's methods.
To the left of the woman are the wards of the asylum chained and hysteric against the wall. Immediately under the woman's hand, your eyes are drawn to a woman thrashing as she rips her clothes. It's quite a graphic scene of her laying there, and seeing the three manic women chained on the adjacent wall. An old woman in the middle of the three sits there with such a lifeless melancholic stare as she points to the woman tearing her clothes. The ward closer to the background looks enraged that she's not the one being released. The patient in the foreground, though, is my favorite of the so to speak side characters. The way she expresses her face in such a manic style while still retaining a melodic position captivates me. In front of her is a pair of feet with only one shoe attached to a woman who goes beyond the frame of the painting. I presume this woman is also being chained to the wall. I find it so unsettling that in this composition you see women being chained as a man assets their mental states. There are free women walking down the stairs in the background and many to the right of the newly free, sane woman.
Théodore Géricault,A Woman Addicted to Gambling” 1822
Gericault collaborated with Étienne-Jean Georget to create ten portraits of the mentally ill. Georget was the chief physician of the Salpêtrière, which is the asylum in Fleury's painting. These portraits were done towards the end of his life and weren't discovered until 50 years after his death. Five of the portraits have been lost, but the other five are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium.
These portraits are all quite unsettling, being that the subjects all appear to be drifting in thought as they avoid the audience's eyes. The patients whose portraits were painted look unhappy and as if they didn't want to be there. Given the melancholic stairs on the subjects' faces, you can gather they were not the ones commissioning their portraits, but had no choice but to take part in the painting. This portrait in particular stood out to me because of how plain she looks. One can not tell a person's illness based on a single photo, and in this panting, there is a simple old woman who is plagued by mental troubles. The woman in this certain portrait is a woman struggling with a gambling addiction. Gericault did his best to capture the likeness of sadness and struggle. I think he did a wonderful job collecting the likeness of his subjects in his five portraits.
Gustave Courbet, The Desperate Man, 1843–45
Courbes striking painting is located in a private collection. I wonder where in this private collection artwork is hanging because his eyes feel as if they're following you. I feel like the only suitable place for this painting is in a museum to be viewed and disgusted.
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The eyes of Courbe have truly captivated me, how wild and large they are. It's a piercing, powerful gaze from this self-portrait of the 24-year-old. In the self-portrait, you see the bust Courbe amid his insanity as he grasps his sporadic dark hair while his eyes bulge out of their sockets. He spent till his death in the studio and in this piece he's wearing what looks like to be an apron, like it's just a normal day of painting in the studio. You can see in this self-portrait how dedicated and passionate this Frenchman was about his craft. The fact that this is a self-portrait feels so much more personal than Géricault's portraitures. He painted himself as losing his mind in his work with amazing talent. I can't help but be drawn to the contrast on his wrists and right arm.
In this painting, you absorb the romantic ideas of a tortured artist. Courbe has many sketches and paintings of self-portraits he did as a self-discovery of sorts. You can see he's pushing his vanity and his ability as an artist, which I slightly admire. I feel like in painting a self-portrait you have to feel a little vain, create yourself in your own image, and that's just what Courbes did.
Fee, Elizabeth, and Theodore M Brown. “Freeing the Insane.” American Journal of Public Health, © American Journal of Public Health 2006, Oct. 2006, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1586154/.
“Géricault, Portraits of the Insane (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/becoming-modern/romanticism/romanticism-in-france/a/gericault-portraits-of-the-insane.
Gabriela, Posted by. “Gustave Courbet – the Desperate Man (1844 – 1845).” Artschaft, 7 Feb. 2018, https://artschaft.com/2018/02/07/gustave-courbet-the-desperate-man-1844-1845/.
This was a really interesting blog post. It is fascinating to get a glimpse into how mental illness was viewed during that time period. In some ways, it feels like not much has changed, but in many aspects people have made leaps and bounds in understanding and caring for people who experience mental health issues. While all 3 are intense emotionally the first 2 are particularly distressing.
ReplyDeleteHi Nelson,
ReplyDeleteTony Roberts Flury, “Pinel Freeing the Insane” is very interesting. It’s one of those paintings where a lot is going on, not just one thing. I like that.
Théodore Géricault, “A Woman Addicted to Gambling” I really liked the blank stare, the peasant looking gray clothes and the realistic likeness to a real elderly woman.
Gustave Courbet, “The Desperate Man”, I’ve seen this painting before. I’m not sure if it is because it is famous or that someone in this class has posted it before. I like this painting. The man portrayed is obviously thinking about something of great importance to himself. I like the pink cheeks. Flushed from the excitement.
All of your paintings made me think the same thing. Were these woman really insane enough to have all of their rights taken away. The one of the male painter, were his emotions considered passionate since he was a male and not crazy.
Your theme being mental illness in France was well linked. I’m not sure if you’ve ever read this but there has been ideas floating around for a while that there might be a link between depression and creativity. Links to some articles below.
“The Connection between Mental Illness and Creativity - Google Arts & Culture.” Google, Google, https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/the-connection-between-mental-illness-and-creativity/xgLyEzX8LSiCJg.
“Https://Www.verywellmind.com/the-Link-between-Depression-and-Creativity-5094193.” Google, Google, https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/the-connection-between-mental-illness-and-creativity/xgLyEzX8LSiCJg.