Iconography in the Work of John Singleton Copley - Term Paper Example

?Running head: John Singleton Copley Iconography in the Work of John Singleton Copley: Watson and the Shark Insert Insert Insert Instructor’s Name 23 September 2011 Iconography in the Work of John Singleton Copley: Watson and the Shark Introduction The field of art has been in existence since the prehistoric times. It is a way of communicating some ideas or views the audience. It provides the artists with the humble opportunities to emotions and feelings about a given subject or some event. Portraiture is one area of art that has historical significance. It involves the creation of some artistic images of persons through painting or through photography. The image is intended to convey some messages to the viewers through its facial expression. The pictorial likeness of the face of the image is of utmost concern (LightPoseGuide, para.3). It could also be kept in some gallery to pass some information onto the future generations. As such, it is necessary that the artist design a portrait that has some facial expression. The image should be natural to enable the observer develop a logical eyesight towards the intended meaning. Iconography is concerned with the symbolic nature of the portraits or any other artistic images. It is the study of the themes expressed in visual arts and their hidden meanings (Straten, 3). It involves identifying and providing a description of the contents of a given portrait. This then leads to an interpretation of what the contents imply in relation to the subject of the work (Straten, 3). This paper presents an iconographic examination of Watson and the Shark, a piece of work by John Singleton Copley, the eighteenth and nineteenth century American artist who later moved to London where he died. The symbolic nature of this and other works by the artist is examined. The artist is seen to have brought a significant impact on the nature of the American and British portraiture. John Singleton Copley’s Background John Singleton Copley is an American painter born in Boston in 1938 of an Irish immigrant into the US (Olga’s Gallery, para.1). At the age of ten, his father died and the mother, Mary Singleton Copley, was married to another man by the name Peter Pelham in the same year. The stepfather contributed significantly to the early education of Copley. He was a teacher as well as an engraver, and so Copley learned a lot when he worked at the stepfather’s shop. While working there, he learned various skills involved in engraving and developed relations with various painters in Boston (Olga’s Gallery, para.2). The stepfather also died within three years and Copley was forced to continue learning the art of engravings on his own. Copley began to paint portraits at the tender age of fifteen years. Even though these early works were seen to be immature with no proper facial expressions, the efforts of the artist could not be mistaken owing to his tender age (Olga’s Gallery, para.3). The artist borrowed elements from works from America and Europe. He interacted with more artists from Europe and other parts of the world that led to rapid development in his artistic skills. He was invited to various exhibitions in the colonial America and Canada, most of which he turned down. In 1766, Copley attended the exhibition of the Incorporated Society of Artists, where he gained fame among the public in England (Olga’s Gallery, para.8). His first work presented at the exhibition impressed different people and he was accepted into the society of artists in the country. The artist had further creative and innovative developments and moved to various counties with his home based in London. He developed portraits of important persons in the colonial New England. Most of his works are kept in the National Gallery at Washington, D.C. Copley later died in his home in London in 1815 following a stroke (Olga’s Gallery, para.21). Watson and the Shark, 1778 The works of Copley could be a regarded as an important milestone in the American portraiture. Ideally, the portraits should depict some scenario that is familiar to the viewers. Just like the other forms of art, portraiture is a way of expressing the feelings and emotions of the artists about a given subject. The paintings should appear natural with a proper facial expression. However, this was not achieved in the American portraiture during the colonial period. The subjects of these earlier paintings were stiff an unnatural with little or no facial expression (Floryan, para.2). It was difficult for an average observer to derive a meaning out of these paintings. The works of Copley were superior to the works of other artists before and during his time. It has been observed that ‘his subjects appear to inhabit a three-dimensional world instead of resting shallowly on the canvas, they seem natural, effortless, and have distinct personas’ (Floryan, para.2). The paintings of the artist have gained fame due to their proper facial expression that enables the viewers to understand and interpret the contents of the work. It has been pointed out that Copley began the artistic works as early as the age of fifteen. He made portraits of various groups of individuals including family members, friends, religious leaders, as well as politicians. One of the works of the artist was Watson and the Shark, a portrait that was developed in 1778. Copley developed this famous painting when he was living in England (Art History, para.1). John Singleton Copley (American, 1738-1815). Watson and the Shark, 1778. http://0.tqn.com/d/arthistory/1/0/J/v/poel_mma_1109_02.jpg The main subject of this painting was Sir Brook Watson (1735-1807). It is based on Watson’s encounter with shark, one of the largest sea predators. The incidence occurred in 1749 when the subject was at the age of fourteen. Watson was attacked by the sea monster when he went swimming peacefully at the port of Havana, Cuba (Cholesterol Advice, para.3). The tiger shark attacked the teenager more than once and eventually cut his foot at the ankle before rescuers attacked and killed it (National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2). Watson had been working as a crewmember in one of the trading ships before this encounter with the shark. He was rescued by another crew that happened to be around when the scene occurred. The members of the crew fought with the sea monster that would not let its prey go so easily. Even through, the victim sustained serious injuries especially in the rear body parts, the crew managed to get him off the shark. His leg was later amputated and he lived to witnessed various achievements in life. He served at different positions and in different countries including Canada, with the wooden leg (Cholesterol Advice, para.3). His survival in the hands of shark greatly contributed to his later achievements like rising into the position of the Lord Mayor, London (Cholesterol Advice, para.1). It was considered as a symbol of adventurer who had survived a serious attack, and so Watson opted to capitalize on this image (Cholesterol Advice, para.4). The desire to exploit the image led Watson to contract John Singleton Copley to develop a painting that described the whole encounter with the shark. The whole task was not quite easy due to a number of reasons. Firstly, it involved a recollection of the event that occurred almost three decades before that particular time. Secondly, even though the artist had been to various parts of the world by this time, it was not clear whether he had been to the named harbor in the Islands of Cuba. Perhaps, the artists had not even seen the named sea creature. Developing this work would then rely on his imaginations and imitations from other people’s work about the harbor or the monster. He had to imagine the shape of a sea creature that has attacked a person and is fighting other rescuers as well. All the same, the artist accepted the contract and developed three versions of the painting of the 1949 event. Several elements can be identified in the painting describing the event. In the foreground is a crew, several individuals in some sea vessel. Just beneath the sea vessel is a naked person halfway submerged in water. The naked person is some short distance from a huge sea creature, possibly a shark. The creature has its mouths wide open as though it wanted to swallow some prey completely. One man among the crewmembers is seen to strike onto the monster with some weapon, most probably a spear. Two other fellows try to reach the hands of the naked man as the others aboard provide support. The background of the image shows some large sea vessels like merchant ships as well as landmasses. The water beneath the naked person appears to be colored. The observed elements have various implications. The naked individual is Watson, who had gone swimming peacefully before the misfortune happened. He appears to raise his right hand helplessly struggling to reach the crewmembers, his rescuers (National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2). His right leg seems to be paralyzed and is submerged in water. This depicts the injuries that he had sustained on the lower part of the right leg. He is able to lift the left leg onto the water surface. The individuals in the sea vessels depict the crewmembers that came to his rescue. The crew appears to include individuals from different races. Americans appear to be in the crew owing to the fact that the crew was launched from a merchant ship from Boston (Art History, para.1). There is also an image of a black man among the crewmembers. The others are possibly Britons. The crewmembers have had different reactions to the incidence. While the others are courageous enough to face the monster, some of the members are greatly frightened and seek protection from the peers. One man is seen as fighting the monster using a spear. In fact, he appears to be holding onto the creature to restrain its movement towards wounded Watson. The magnitude of injury sustained by Watson is not visible since it is covered beneath the water. However, water is colored beneath the vessel between Watson and the sea creature indicated that the victim was bleeding following the attack. The huge creature here depicts the shark that attacked Mr. Watson. The shark has its mouth wide open and appears to be very fierce. This shows that it has been in a war and is still struggling to hold onto its prey. The shark also appears to be experiencing pain due to attack by the rescuers. However, the image of the sea creature shows that the artist had blurred idea about the creature. This is evidenced by the block shaped head that the artist has adopted for the shark. It also has an eye that faces upwards. The image in the drawing is closer to a whale than it is to a shark. The background of the painting shows that the incidence occurred at a port with the actual scene some distance into the sea. The other sea vessels that have anchored at the port are seen at some distance towards the land. Despite the stated shortcomings of the painting, the artist managed to bring forth facial expression of the event that occurred in the past, in an unfamiliar setting. The scene had resemblance to other historical works. For instance, it had a close relation to the biblical story of Jonah who was ferried inside a whale to Nineveh, contrary to his will Conclusions It is important to acknowledge that the works of John Singleton Copley had significant contributions to development in portraiture and the field of art during his time. The challenges that are faced by the players in this field are evident. However, in the challenging situations that require artists to develop imaginary works based on certain story, it would be convenient to make use of some existing works that may relate to the scenario. It is desirable to make the work appear as natural and appealing to the eye as possible. Copley succeeded in most of his works due to the facial expressions that his images had. Works Cited Art History. Watson and the Shark, 1778. 2011. 24 September 2011. http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/american_stories_met_lacma/poel_mma_1109_02.htm. Cholesterol Advice.1749 - Shark attack on Brook Watson. 2011. 24 September 2011. http://cholesteroladvice.hubpages.com/hub/1749-Shark-attack-on-Brook-Watson Floryan, Meg. John Singleton Copley. 2011. 24 September 2011. http://smarthistory.org/john-singleton-copley.html LightPoseGuide. The Rules of Good Portraiture.2011. 24 September 2011. http://www.lumitouch.com/benstudiotutorial/rules.html National Gallery of Art Washington. American Art: Selected works of art from the tour. 2006. 24 September 2011. http://www.nga.gov/docent/school/pdfs/american.pdf Olga’s Gallery. John Singleton Copley. N.d. 24 September 2011. http://www.abcgallery.com/C/copley/copleybio.html Straten, Roelof. An introduction to iconography. Second ed. London: Routledge. 1994. Read More