Saturday, August 2, 2008

Art Club 10



Sidney Nolan, Leda and Swan 1960

First off, I must note that this isn't the exact same piece I saw in the gallery - the piece in the retrospective is the same colouring, from the same series, but with the bodies of Leda and the Swan muddled together, with the swan's head sticking right, and the woman's head left.  Think of the Russian double headed eagle with this red/green/yellow paint scheme.

This is the closest I could find on the internet though, and what I can comment on about this piece is 99% similar to what I would say about the one in the gallery.  That one percent different is the fact the gallery piece was perhaps my favourite work in the entire exhibition.  It just struck me again and again as I kept gravitating towards it, almost in awe.

I love the dynamism of the colours in this piece - the positioning of Leda is very suggestive, very submissive, and there seems a tinge of violence to the swan/Zeus.  This picture is all about power, at least to my mind.

I actually didn't know how much a motif Leda and Swan was in art before I went exploring (wiki/google, thank you very much), and boy there are some classic and weird ones out there - I might get onto a Leda theme later on in the thread.  Also, there is a personal edge Nolan had to his Leda paintings - he was actually attacked by swans himself as a child, and there could perhaps be a frisson of fear to the animal in these works.

Did I forget to mention I love love LOVE the colour scheme on this one?

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