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| Surprise, Surprise! Perhaps one of the most uneasy moments in human relations comes when an
art patron stands face to face for the first time with the tangible results of
his putting his utter faith and trust in an artist by granting him a commission
to create a work of art. If ever there was a "moment of truth" this is it.
Whether it is a portrait, a religious work, a sculpture, or even an architectural
effort, it's a tense, trying moment for artist and patron alike. The artist
watches the patron's face acutely. His client is just as acutely aware of his
being placed under a microscope and tries his best to conceal any negative
reaction, and as well, digs deep into his or her vocabulary and store of tact in
trying to express any negative reactions as gently and constructively as
possible. Fortunately, in most cases, the client is favourably impressed with the
artist's work, often, in fact, overwhelmed with emotion (and perhaps relief)
that the joint project appears highly satisfactory.
But there are
surprises. Art history, in fact, is full of them. Edgar Kaufmann Sr. remarked on
first seeing Frank Lloyd Wright's plans for Falling Water: "I asked for
a house by the waterfall, I didn't know you were going to build it on TOP of the
damn thing." President Lyndon B. Johnson, after leaving office, and in seeing
his presidential portrait for the first time remarked: "It's the ugliest thing I
ever saw." Pope Julius II's original commission for the Sistine Ceiling was
nothing like what Michelangelo eventually delivered (and several years late at
that). Often, as with Michelangelo, what the artist comes up with is something
very much more than his client's original, limited vision. This was certainly
the case with the sculptor, Auguste Rodin, in 1897 when he delivered is famous
bronze monument to the writer Balzac. He depicted the gnarled writer shrouded in
his bath robe, attempting to convey to the viewer the great harshness and
intensity of the moment of artistic creativity. It must have been a feeling the
sculptor knew well. The work was rejected outright even though it was a landmark
masterpiece, inching the medium to the very brink of abstract, contemporary
sculpture. It was 42 years before the monument was finally installed at the
Paris intersection Rodin had intended.
A decade earlier, a similar
reaction had dogged Rodin's equally famous bronze sculpture group, The
Burghers of Calais. Commissioned in 1884 as a memorial to six historic men
who had offered their lives to English King Edward III in exchange for his
sparing their city from destruction, the city officials had intended something a
bit more grandiose and heroic, elevated above the street on the traditional
pedestal as a patriotic symbol for the citizens of their city to "look up to."
What they got was a ragtag band of haggard, ugly old men in sackcloth with
halters around their necks, heavy folds and masses, twisted gestures, taut limbs
and faces torn with tragedy and resignation. It was heroic, perhaps, but
certainly not in the sense the then-current Burghers of Calais had intended. And
to add insult to injury, Rodin insisted the group be placed at street level
where viewers could confront their tragic forebears face to face, one-on-one.
Reluctantly, the city fathers accepted Rodin's dramatic departure from
traditional monumental sculpture, but it wasn't until 1924 that his original
vision was finally implemented. The result today, is that the group is not just
moving, but emotionally wrenching, just as Rodin had
intended.
Contributed by Lane, Jim
25 July 1999 |
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