Domestic Interiors – Artists and their work
Hugh Buchanan is interested in the very detailed architectural style of interiors of houses and he usually paints with watercolours. They are houses belonging to people from privileged backgrounds. I did read somewhere that he has even been asked by royalty to do paintings in a similar genre for them.
The paintings are generally people-less. He often chooses really unusual angles to feature in his work. This example exemplifies that, and it feels a little austere. There is an essence of loneliness and ‘days gone by’. We feel someone has just left the scene.
However, it is a well observed study of a windowsill and the light and shadow at play around it. I love the boldness of the light and shade and how the shade really does create and reinforce the architectural forms. The reflection of the window on the floor and wall gives us information about something unseen and adds to the grandeur of the scene. The hint of a Roman style column in the middle top reinforces the grandeur.
It is not just ‘any’ windowsill. However, there are bare floorboards and an undressed window, (no curtains). It clearly has some sort of blind which must be pulled right up. The simple addition of the blind cord, and the importance given to it in naming the painting after it, sets it in a modern time and space.
It is not a homely painting, and I wonder why this building seems empty, was it an office maybe… but then why THIS book on the chair. It is not one you would expect to find in an office, as it clearly is an old, and probably valuable book. However, the painting feels cold and functional. The outline of the very ornate and again, probably valuable, chair shape highlighted against the dark shadow is very clever. It makes you question why is it so dark behind the chair when clearly there is a lot of bright light coming in through this window.
His range of colours here are muted, with a hint of warmth in the sun-kissed, but uncarpeted bare wooden floor. There is an air of melancholy about this painting.
His viewpoint is really interesting, making the most of a variety of angles. The chair faces towards us. Is he enticing us in to sit in the sun and look at this old book, with this compositional device.
This second painting, (Light on Pictures) at first glance looks like a sepia toned photograph. The palette is limited and muted but, in contrast to the previous example, there is so much detail and a sense of still-existing opulence, rather than the melancholy ‘had better days’ atmosphere of the previous one.
This is a household of plenty, of fine dressing, of privilege, of dinner parties and of someone else (a cleaner) who will clean all these fancy wares. This is amplified by the glimpse of chandelier, the heavy fancy drapes at the window and the Roman style busts, where at least one is on a plinth of its own. These are not everyday ornaments found in everyday homes! It has a feeling of a Victorian residence with the ‘clutter’ on the shelves and the ornate frames and pictures. It is clearly a house in contemporary times though, indicated almost solely by the electric lamps visible in two places.
This picture does feel like we are inside the home of a particularly affluent family with a heritage that can be traced back, no doubt to some of the pictures and paintings of family members that are sure to be on this wall.
It is exuberant, but is it tasteful? The clutter and feeling of holding on to the past is not to my taste. It has an atmosphere of being static, stuck in the past and holding onto it firmly which in turn creates a claustrophobia for me as the viewer.
The busy left side of the painting is counterbalanced by the negative space of the window, which in turn is reflected off the mirrors on the left-hand side creating a unity to the painting.
The viewpoint is from a standing position, and you feel he must almost be pressed up against the wall.
This painting is almost an opposite of the frenetic interior of the previous painting. It has a tranquil calm and lots of unanswered questions.
It is a modern painting, but it is also timeless. It looks like an old house, suggested by the farmhouse style door on the right and the square framed ‘interior’ windows, but then looking at the door on the left it seems like it belongs to a different townhouse style building. The cardboard box is the only real indicator of a more modern life. The light seems to be daylight rather than any electrical lighting.
I am first struck by the gentleness of the colours, whites, greys, soft blues and hints of purples to create depth and shadow, and thus form. Why are the doors and windows open? Why is the box open and on its side, and what is the focus on squares and cubes?
Puzzlingly, as if to confuse further, an old fashioned instrument, a lute hangs on the wall. An old-fashioned tin enamelled jug is in the foreground and a pottery one is on an occasional table further back into the painting. The ambiguity is fascinating.
In a similar, but different painting he continues his fascination with the cardboard box and old fashioned objects within them. The colour palette is very similar, and yet it is only the cardboard boxes that make it more contemporary. How long have cardboard boxes been around for?
What is puzzling about this is that the boxes themselves seem to be standing in free space. The box in the middle is certainly a prime focus. It is a different colour and has more presence than the others. This draws our attention to its one content, a heavy lead weight. It is in a space above the ceramic bottle below and already the sides of that tall, thinner cardboard box are beginning to buckle. Have we caught the moment in time before this middle tower causes the rest to fall? Would we expect the weight to smash the ceramic bottle below it? I like how his art raises more questions the more you look at it. It is interactive in that.
A quotation from Charles on the Royal Society of British Artists website has an equally puzzling quote from him referring to his art which says:
‘… the cube container form has been connected with the cube/earth symbol in Plato’s Timaeus.’ This at least tells us that the dominance of the cube shapes in his paintings are of particular significance to the artist.
‘My paintings are an unashamed and joyous celebration of life, a passionate defence of beauty and domestic harmony, steeped in the English Romantic tradition.‘ (www.hugogrenville.com)
The use of ‘shape, pattern line and colour’ aim to make his paintings ‘timeless’. Apparently they are not true paintings of real scenes, but rather an amalgam of reality and imagination.
This feels busy and feels like summer captured in a picture. A lightly dressed figure lounges of the settee and the door is wide open. The lamp, the outfit and haircut of the girl indicate a contemporary setting. There is no question that this artist has been influenced by some of the Matisse interior paintings. He has not held back with his use of colour. It seems to shimmer in the summer heat. Distance is represented through the window where the detail and intensity of some of the colours diminish.
Many of the objects in the picture are just shapes but there is enough information and context to have a good guess at what the objects might be.
I could not find out much about this artist other than that he describes himself as a portrait painter, who sometimes paints still-lifes.
He talks of ‘shying away’ from the ‘conventional portrait’. Initially he sought to make ‘timeless portraits’ but then came to realise the importance of ‘… time and place and the specificity of the figure …. I began to realise that it was only through the minute observation and depiction of the individual that the wider statements …could be possible.’
Looking then at this very detailed, minutely observed portrait of a family in modern times, in a slightly older but classy suburban home, we can learn so much more about them than a ‘conventional portrait’ might allow us. We see an indication of their socio-economic status. We see suggestions of extended family. Are the people in the foreground in a relationship and is it their house? Both look comfortable and at home.
A trail of books on the floor leads the viewer through to the other room. Similarly books are piled on many surfaces and chairs and in the bookcase behind the seated man. Books, but no sign of technology. No TV, computers or other electronic devices. There are electric lamps and the people wear modern clothing.
Who is the man arriving? He must have called out of made a noise and yet no-one is acknowledging his presence. There is a child through the far room in a school uniform, talking with another person who looks a little bored. There are many questions about the dynamics in this.
The sense of depth is very successful. The images and details blur slightly as they recede into the distance. Compare the foreground rug detail with the one further into the painting. The artist has made good use of the one point perspective device to create the sense of distance. The warm coloured furniture, rugs and wooden floor are balanced by the cool blue-purple walls
It is a busy and yet relaxed scene. The house is tastefully furnished and yet there is a suggestion that academia is more important than interior design. The thin, not voluminous, functional curtains hang limply against the window frame and yet the four seated people have all taken their shoes off before they came in the house.
It is a story wanting to be read, and one that we want to make sense of. It draws the viewer in.
This vibrant art of a domestic interior captured my attention immediately. I am naturally drawn to pattern and colour. Decent says of his own work that it is: ‘concerned with colour, composition and texture’
In this painting he mainly uses a palette of yellows, oranges and browns with bursts of blue and pink to make a statement and draw our eye. It is clearly the inside of a room with a fireplace and a mirror above reflecting the window behind the viewer.
It is an exciting painting that creates a vibrant atmosphere. There is still ambiguity in some of the things we are looking at. Texture can be seen in the back wall which makes it look like wooden panels. There is repetition in the foreground with similar cylinder shapes arranged in a straight line, on a table…somewhat reminiscent of an Elizabeth Blackadder composition.
Perspective is flattened and challenged. There are seemingly two distinct areas; the back wall and the fittings associated with that, and the table adorned with vessels in the front. The band in the middle seems to be an area of floor whose purpose is to separate the foreground and background with a horizontal band. This makes the painting feel more abstract and more pattern like by design. The sense of three dimensionality and form is played with and flattened.
It is hard to date this to representing a particular era, other than again recognising the electric light lamp and roof lampshade.
What kind of house is it and for whom? This is less clear. It seems Bohemian and perhaps a little rustic.
This next artwork by the same artist has many similar features. The tables are at the front, nearest to the viewer, and then a horizontal space, suggested rather than seen, between the tables, and once again, the fireplace and back wall.
The perspective of the tables is exaggerated and we can see the contents of a bowl of fruit. This contrasts with squashed ellipses of jugs on the other table. Again pattern and colour are significant aspects of this equally vibrant work.
A warm friendly, welcoming and bountiful atmosphere is created with the set table, and the flowers, the red colour of which is echoed in the distant fireplace. The blue cool area at the top left of the picture raises some questions. Is it just part of the room that disappears around the corner and the blue represents the distance and shadow of that part of the room?
The final couple of paintings I wanted to include are by John Lidzey. These are real, earthy and gritty paintings, reinforced by the colours and blotchy painting style.
This first one is largely monochromatic with green plants representing life in the house. The artist leaves a range of mark making visible which adds to the atmosphere.
Lidzey’s obiturary in The Guardian says: ‘There was a great sincerity in the man, as in the art. Both were quietly convincing.’
This second painting, Old Bathroom (w/c) is another gentle painting making the most of light and shadow to create form, somewhat like Buchanan’s intentions, but creating a very different ‘softer’ effect.
It has similar earthy tones as the first painting, reflecting a gentle comfortable life-style. It is not a luxurious environment, but has the feel of a room in an everyday home. It is clearly a house of the twentieth century, which is highlighted through the fixtures and fittings, especially with the shower handle at the head of the bath. It is animated and brought to life through the beautiful light and shimmering painterly marks. A room in all its natural glory, honest and real with washing drying over the bath and a broken bath panel. These are both very sensitive paintings.
What have I learned
- I began to appreciate what a wide range of styles representing Domestic interiors there are.
- The images I found that caught my attention most worked on a muted and limited palette.
- A range of angles create visual interest
- Acknowledge and represent the impact of light and shade, allowing it to help create form. This is a very effective visual device to increase interest.
- Putting characters in a room can increase the sense of a story trying to be told.
References
DECENT, Martin (2000), ‘Room at Giverny’, [online] BridgemanEducation.com. Available at: https://www.bridgemaneducation.com/en/search?filter_text=Martin+Decent
[Accessed 28.8.19]
DECENT, Martin, (2019), ‘Martin Decent Peak District Artist’, [online], Martin Decent Artist. Available at: http://www.martindecent.co.uk/about_the_artist.htm [Accessed 3.9.19]
HARDAKER, Charles, ‘Charles Hardaker NEAC RBA’,[online], Royal Society of British Artists. Available at: https://www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk/artist/charles-hardaker/. Accessed 3.9.19
HARDAKER, Charles, (1965), ‘Still Life: Vertical Structures, Three Times Three’ [online],Tate Gallery. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/charles-hardaker-1247. [Accessed 3.9.19]
GRENVILLE, Hugo, (2015) ‘A Sunday In Summer’, [online], Bridgeman Images. Available at: https://www.bridgemaneducation.com/en/search?filter_text=Hugo+Grenville%2C+A+Sunday+in+Summer Accessed 4.9.19
GRENVILLE, Hugo, (2019), ‘Hugo Grenville’, [online], Hugo Grenville. Available at: http://www.hugogrenville.com/about/artists-statement/ [Accessed 3.9.19]
LIDZEY, John, ‘Early Morning at Dell’ , [online], Bridgeman Images. Available at: https://www.bridgemaneducation.com/en/search?filter_text=John+Lidzey. [Accessed 3.9.19]
LIDZEY, John, ‘Old Bathroom (w/c)’, [online], Bridgeman Images. Available at: https://www.bridgemaneducation.com/en/search?filter_text=John+Lidzey. [Accessed 3.9.19]
LIZDEY, John, ‘Celebrated watercolour painter who sought truth in the detail’ by Ian Collins, [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jul/09/obituary-john-lidzey . [Accessed 8.9.19]
YORKE, Vincent, (2019) ‘Vincent Yorke’, [online], Vincent Yorke. Available at: http://www.vincentyorke.co.uk/index1.html [Accessed 4.9.19]
YORKE, Vincent (1996), ‘Christchurch Hill’, . Bridgeman Images. Available at: https://www.bridgemaneducation.com/en/search?filter_text=John+Lidzey. [Accessed 4.9.19]
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