‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice
The reception of Venetian Renaissance painters had a profound effect on the creation of a British tradition of painting and played an important role in the development of the portrait as a typically British genre. This is precisely what this article aims to explore, through the emblematic case of th...
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| Publicado en: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces, |
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| Formato: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Lenguaje: | Anglais |
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Interfaces
2024
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| Acceso en línea: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_8743 |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_8743 https://doi.org/10.4000/122dm urn:doi:10.4000/122dm en https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/8743 2024-07-20T02:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/122dm https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice Interfaces Université Bourgogne Europe info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2647-6754 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1164-6225 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces Vitacca, Sara photographie réception Watts (George Frederic) Titien Renaissance vénitienne Angleterre victorienne materialité auto-portraits pictorialisme photography reception materiality Watts (George Frederic) Titian Venetian Renaissance art Victorian art self-portraits pictorialism The reception of Venetian Renaissance painters had a profound effect on the creation of a British tradition of painting and played an important role in the development of the portrait as a typically British genre. This is precisely what this article aims to explore, through the emblematic case of the self-portraits of Victorian artist George Frederic Watts. Many of the artist’s self-portraits, in fact, explicitly engage with the tradition of Venetian art, and do so in multiple ways. On the one hand, the artist models himself on the figure of Titian, playing with the pose, the gesture, and the physical resemblance with the old master. On the other hand, Watts also aims at mastering the secrets of Titian’s painting method, which he discovered through the reading of ancient painting treatises. Thus, the relationship with the Renaissance plays a double role here, as it shapes the public and private image of the artist, but it also affects his artistic practice, and the very materiality of his paintings. This paper will also contextualize Watts’s ‘venetianism’ with that of Frederic Leighton, mid-Victorian photography, and the decadent painter Charles Ricketts, drawing a broader picture of the fascination with Venetian art in late 19th-century England. La réception des peintres vénitiens de la Renaissance a eu un impact profond sur le développement de la peinture anglaise, et a notamment joué un rôle majeur dans l’essor du portrait en tant que genre privilégié. Cet article souhaite explorer cette relation d’inspiration à travers le cas emblématique du peintre victorien George Frederic Watts. De nombreux autoportraits de l’artiste s’inscrivent en effet de manière explicite dans la tradition de la peinture vénitienne. D’une part, l’artiste joue avec la figure de Titien, à travers la mise en valeur de la ressemblance physique, de la pose, du costume. De l’autre, Watts souhaite également maîtriser et reproduire dans ses œuvres les secrets de la technique picturale de Titien, qu’il découvre par la lecture d’ancien traités de peinture. La relation à l’art de la Renaissance vient ainsi jouer un double rôle : elle façonne l’image publique et l’image privée de l’artiste; mais elle agit également sur la pratique et la matérialité même de la peinture de Watts. Le “venetianisme” de Watts sera d’ailleurs mis en lien avec celui d’autres grandes figures de son temps, de Frederic Leighton à Charles Ricketts, en passant par les photographes pictorialistes de l’époque victorienne. On dressera ainsi un tableau plus large et complexe de la fascination pour l’art vénitien dans la pratique et dans le discours artistique de l’Angleterre de la fin du XIXe siècle. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
photographie réception Watts (George Frederic) Titien Renaissance vénitienne Angleterre victorienne materialité auto-portraits pictorialisme photography reception materiality Watts (George Frederic) Titian Venetian Renaissance art Victorian art self-portraits pictorialism |
| spellingShingle |
photographie réception Watts (George Frederic) Titien Renaissance vénitienne Angleterre victorienne materialité auto-portraits pictorialisme photography reception materiality Watts (George Frederic) Titian Venetian Renaissance art Victorian art self-portraits pictorialism Vitacca, Sara ‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| description |
The reception of Venetian Renaissance painters had a profound effect on the creation of a British tradition of painting and played an important role in the development of the portrait as a typically British genre. This is precisely what this article aims to explore, through the emblematic case of the self-portraits of Victorian artist George Frederic Watts. Many of the artist’s self-portraits, in fact, explicitly engage with the tradition of Venetian art, and do so in multiple ways. On the one hand, the artist models himself on the figure of Titian, playing with the pose, the gesture, and the physical resemblance with the old master. On the other hand, Watts also aims at mastering the secrets of Titian’s painting method, which he discovered through the reading of ancient painting treatises. Thus, the relationship with the Renaissance plays a double role here, as it shapes the public and private image of the artist, but it also affects his artistic practice, and the very materiality of his paintings. This paper will also contextualize Watts’s ‘venetianism’ with that of Frederic Leighton, mid-Victorian photography, and the decadent painter Charles Ricketts, drawing a broader picture of the fascination with Venetian art in late 19th-century England. |
| author |
Vitacca, Sara |
| author_facet |
Vitacca, Sara |
| author_sort |
Vitacca, Sara |
| title |
‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| title_short |
‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| title_full |
‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| title_fullStr |
‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| title_full_unstemmed |
‘Is that not Titian?’ Echoes of Venice in George Frederic Watts’s Self-Portraits, between Self-Fashioning and Artistic Practice |
| title_sort |
‘is that not titian?’ echoes of venice in george frederic watts’s self-portraits, between self-fashioning and artistic practice |
| publisher |
Interfaces |
| publishDate |
2024 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/122dm https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/8743 |
| _version_ |
1877292352654016512 |