''Deux Nus'' (''Two Nudes'', ''Two Women'' and ''Dones en un paisatge'') is an early
Cubist
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
painting by the French artist and theorist
Jean Metzinger
Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
. The work was exhibited at the first Cubist manifestation, in Room 41 of the 1911
Salon des Indépendants
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
, Paris. At this exhibition the Cubist movement was effectively launched before the general public by five artists:
Metzinger,
Gleizes,
Le Fauconnier,
Delaunay and
Léger. This was the first exhibition during which artists, writers, critics and the public at large encountered and spoke about Cubism.
[Daniel Robbins, 1985, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, Jean Metzinger: At the Center of Cubism, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press] The result of the group show is a ''
succès de scandale
''Succès de scandale'' ( French for "success from scandal") is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek o ...
''.
The following year Metzinger's ''Deux Nus'', titled ''Dones en un paisatge'', was exhibited at
Galeries Dalmau
Galeries Dalmau was an art gallery in Barcelona, Spain, from 1906 to 1930 (also known as Sala Dalmau, Les Galeries Dalmau, GalerÃa Dalmau, and Galeries J. Dalmau). The gallery was founded and managed by the Symbolist painter and restorer . The ...
, ''Exposició d'Art Cubista'', in Barcelona, 20 April through 10 May 1912 (cat. 45). This was the first
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
art exhibition in Spain.
Judging from stylistic similarities with works such as ''
Nu à la cheminée
''Nu à la cheminée'', also referred to as ''Nu dans un intérieur'', ''Femme nu'', and ''Nu'' or ''Nude'', is a painting by Jean Metzinger. The work was exhibited in Paris at the Salon d'Automne of 1910, and the Salon de la Section d'Or, Galeri ...
''—exhibited in Paris at the
Salon d'Automne
The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
of 1910—and the fact that ''Two Nudes'' was exhibited in the spring of 1911 (18 March - 1 May) at the Salon des Indépendants, the painting is believed to have been painted during the latter half of 1910 or the outset of 1911.
Metzinger's ''Deux Nus'' (''Two Women'') is in the permanent collection of the
Gothenburg Museum of Art
Gothenburg Museum of Art ( sv, Göteborgs konstmuseum) is located at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It claims to be the third largest art museum in Sweden by size of its collection.
Collections
The museum holds the world's finest collect ...
(Göteborgs konstmuseum), Sweden.
Overview
Jean Metzinger appears to have placed aside his
Divisionist
Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of ...
style in favor of the faceting of form associated with analytic Cubism around 1908 or early 1909.
[''Jean Metzinger in Retrospect'', University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press, pp. 9-23] A resident of
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
early on, Metzinger frequented the
Bateau Lavoir
The Bateau-Lavoir ("Washhouse Boat") is the nickname of a building in the Montmartre district of the 18th arrondissement of Paris that is famous in art history as the residence and meeting place for a group of outstanding early 20th-century artis ...
and exhibited with
Georges Braque
Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...
at the
Berthe Weill
Berthe Weill (Paris 1865 – 1951) was a French art dealer who played a vital role in the creation of the market for twentieth-century art with the manifestation of the Parisian Avant-Garde. Although she is much less known than her well-establi ...
gallery. By 1910, the robust form of early analytic Cubism of
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
, Braque and Metzinger (''Nu à la cheminée, Nude'', 1910) had become practically indistinguishable.
[Daniel Robbins, 1985, ''Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, Jean Metzinger: At the Center of Cubism'', University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press]
Instead of depicting the two nudes in the foreground, the rocks and trees in the background, from one point of view, Metzinger used a concept he wrote about for the first time in ''Note sur la peinture'' (published in ''Pan'', 1910), of 'mobile perspective' to portray objects from a variety of angles, resulting in a multitude of image fragments or facets. In ''Two Nudes'' the models are captured from multiple spatial view-points and at successive intervals in time shown simultaneously on the canvas.
[Joann Moser, Cubist Works, 1910–1921, p. 43, 1985, Jean Metzinger in Retrospect, The University of Iowa Museum of Art (J. Paul Getty Trust, University of Washington Press)]
Art historian Patricia Railing writes of Metzinger's ''Two Nudes'':
In ''Two Nudes'', Metzinger has treated the human body, trees and rocks in exactly the same manner. They are differentiated only by size, or by emphasising planes, from which the Russian term, plos'kost, plane surface, comes directly from the French, surface plane (in distinction to the curved plane). Metzinger sees everything as cubic multiples with which he "builds", as it were, stacking them, interlocking them, and bonding them together. Thus he creates a total environment where figures and setting make up a pictorial unit. ..Although not particularly apparent due to the haziness of the contemporary photograph of Metzinger’s ''Two Nudes'', such a linear framework was the fundamental ordering principle of his painting and it can be seen clearly in his 1911 canvas, '' Tea Time / Le Goûter''.
The similarity between Metzinger's work of 1910 and that of Picasso is exemplified in his ''
Nu à la cheminée
''Nu à la cheminée'', also referred to as ''Nu dans un intérieur'', ''Femme nu'', and ''Nu'' or ''Nude'', is a painting by Jean Metzinger. The work was exhibited in Paris at the Salon d'Automne of 1910, and the Salon de la Section d'Or, Galeri ...
''. Though less so in ''Two Nudes'', both pictures merge the model with the environment, blurring the distinction between background and foreground. Metzinger, however—in contrast to the extreme faceting, simultaneous views and multiple perspective—has rendered his elegant nudes with grace; the tall and slender models expressing tenderness towards one another (with a hand placed on the shoulder).
[Mark Antliff, Patricia Dee Leighten, ''Cubism and Culture'', Thames & Hudson, 2001](_blank)
/ref>
Mathematical and philosophical inferences known to have been essential aspects of Metzinger's work had little in common with the paintings of Picasso or Braque. Metzinger's interpretation targeted a wide audience—as opposed to private gallery collectors—exhibiting in abundance an underlying idealism, a temporal reconstruction of dissected subjects based on the principles of non-Euclidean geometry
In mathematics, non-Euclidean geometry consists of two geometries based on axioms closely related to those that specify Euclidean geometry. As Euclidean geometry lies at the intersection of metric geometry and affine geometry, non-Euclidean geo ...
. These inferences were compelling because they offered a stimulating and intelligible rationale for his innovations—consistent with contemporary intellectual trends in literature; notably with the Abbaye de Créteil
L'Abbaye de Créteil or Abbaye group (french: Le Groupe de l'Abbaye) was a utopian artistic and literary community founded during the month of October, 1906. It was named after the Créteil Abbey, as most gatherings took place in that suburb of Pa ...
group and Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson 's philosophy.[David Cottington, ''Cubism and its Histories'', Manchester University Press, 2004](_blank)
/ref>
In ''Two Nudes'', Metzinger depicts motion, not of the subject matter relative to the observer as the Futurists
Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...
would later portray, but by successive superimposed images captured by the artist in motion relative to (or around) the subject matter. The Chronophotography
Chronophotography is a photographic technique from the Victorian era which captures a number of phases of movements. The best known chronophotography works were mostly intended for the scientific study of locomotion, to discover practical informa ...
of Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...
and Étienne-Jules Marey
Étienne-Jules Marey (; 5 March 1830, Beaune, Côte-d'Or – 15 May 1904, Paris) was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer.
His work was significant in the development of cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation, cinema ...
. Muybridge's sequential photography of movements broken down frame by frame produced in the late 19th century depicting such as ''Females (nude)'', an animation showing two nude women kissing, were known in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. Muybridge often traveled to Europe to promote his work and he met Étienne-Jules Marey in 1881. His freeze-framed images evoked time and motion.
The 1911 Indépendants
In the spring of 1911 the artists soon to be label Cubists made sure they were shown together by infiltrating the placement committee. Le Fauconnier's role as secretary of the salon facilitated the goal of hanging their works together. The result created a scandale. Until then, works hung in alphabetical order of the artists names. In ''Salle 41'' were placed the works of Metzinger, Gleizes, Léger, Delaunay, Le Fauconnier and Marie Laurencin
Marie Laurencin (31 October 1883 – 8 June 1956) was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian Avant-garde#:~:text=The avant-garde (/ˌ,art, culture, or society., avant-garde as a member of the Cubism, Cubist ...
(at the request of Guillaume Apollinaire
Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish descent.
Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...
). In room 43 hung works by André Lhote
André Lhote (5 July 1885 – 24 January 1962) was a French Cubist painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also active and influential as a teacher and writer on art.
Early life and education
Lhote was born ...
, Roger de La Fresnaye
Roger de La Fresnaye (; 11 July 1885 – 27 November 1925) was a French Cubist painter.
Early years and education
La Fresnaye was born in Le Mans where his father, an officer in the French army, was temporarily stationed. The La Fresnayes were ...
, André Dunoyer de Segonzac
André Dunoyer de Segonzac (6 July 1884 – 17 September 1974) was a French painter and graphic artist.
Biography
Segonzac was born in Boussy-Saint-Antoine and spent his childhood there and in Paris. His parents wanted him to attend the military ...
, Luc-Albert Moreau and André Mare
Charles André Mare (1885–1932), or André-Charles Mare, was a French painter and textile designer, and co-founder of the Company of French Art (''la Compagnie des Arts Français'') in 1919. He was a designer of colorful textiles, and was one o ...
.[Kubisme.info, Salon des Indépendants](_blank)
/ref>
This exhibition, taking place in Paris at Quai d'Orsay, 21 April through 13 June 1911, involved more than 6,400 paintings. In room 42 was a retrospective exhibition of Henri (Le Douanier) Rousseau, who died 2 September 1910. Articles and reviews were numerous and extensive in sheer words employed; including in Gil Blas, Comoedia, Excelsior, Action, L'Oeuvre, and Cri de Paris. Apollinaire wrote a long review in the 20 April 1911 issue of L'Intransigeant.
Henri Le Fauconnier's ''Abundance'', 1910–11 (Haags Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag), partly due to its large size and partly to the treatment of its subject matter caused a sensation. This painting was soon bought by the Dutchman art critic and painter Conrad Kickert (1882-1965), who was secretary of the Contemporary Art Society (Moderne Kunstkring
Moderne Kunstkring (Modern Art Circle) was a progressive artists' club and society of Dutch artists founded in 1910 by the painter and critic with Jan Sluijters.Chilvers, Ian and John Glaves-Smith. ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art''. ...
). In 1934 he donated the painting to the Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag.
According to Gleizes, the public is outraged by the representation of subject matter as cones, cubes and spheres, resulting in the obscurity of the subject matter. The predominance of sharp geometrical faceting and the fact that a group of artists are all working in similar directions, gives rise to the term 'Cubism'. Although this and similar terms have been used before in artistic circles (usually in relation to the works of Metzinger, Delaunay and Braque), this is the first time the use of the term becomes widespread.[Peter Brooke, ''Albert Gleizes, Chronology of his life, 1881-1953''](_blank)
/ref>
Roger Allard, in his review of the 1911 Salon des Indépendants, writes of Metzinger and his ''Two Nudes'':[Roger Allard, ''Sur quelques peintre'', Les Marches du Sud-Ouest, June 1911, pp. 57-64. In Mark Antliff and Patricia Leighten, ''A Cubism Reader, Documents and Criticism, 1906-1914'', The University of Chicago Press, 2008, pp. 113-122]
Last year, Jean Metzinger caused an excessive degree of alarm. In carefully considering the canvas of his that caused the scandal ['Nu à la cheminée
''Nu à la cheminée'', also referred to as ''Nu dans un intérieur'', ''Femme nu'', and ''Nu'' or ''Nude'', is a painting by Jean Metzinger. The work was exhibited in Paris at the Salon d'Automne of 1910, and the Salon de la Section d'Or, Galeri ...
'], I found that the most daring possibilities were only barely indicated, and that one ought to be grateful to this poet for certain reserve in applying Stéphane Mallarmé, Mallarmism to painting.
In any case, the poetic, and hence instructive, feature of his art has since become sharper. I confess I am very sensitive to the precious charm that surrounds his two figures of nude women. This canvas exudes a real intimacy, thanks to the integration of the setting into the principal strokes, common in Vuillard, for example. (Roger Allard, 1911)
Related works
File:Jean Metzinger, c.1908, Baigneuses (Bathers), illustrated in Gelett Burgess, The Wild Men of Paris, The Architectural Record, Document 3, May 1910, New York, location unknown.jpg, Jean Metzinger
Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, 1908–09, ''Baigneuses'' (''Bathers''), illustrated in Gelett Burgess, "The Wild Men of Paris", ''The Architectural Record'', Document 3, May 1910, New York, location unknown[Gelett Burgess, ''The Wild Men of Paris: Matisse, Picasso, and Les Fauves'', Architectural Record, May 1910](_blank)
/ref>
File:Jean Metzinger, c.1905, Baigneuses, Deux nus dans un jardin exotique, oil on canvas, 116 x 88.8 cm, Colección Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza.jpg, Jean Metzinger
Jean Dominique Antony Metzinger (; 24 June 1883 – 3 November 1956) was a major 20th-century French painter, theorist, writer, critic and poet, who along with Albert Gleizes wrote the first theoretical work on Cubism. His earliest works, from 1 ...
, c.1905, '' Baigneuses, Deux nus dans un jardin exotique (Two Nudes in an Exotic Landscape)'', oil on canvas, 116 x 88.8 cm, Colección Carmen Thyssen-BornemiszaBaronesa Carmen Thyssen, ''Bañistas: dos desnudos en un paisaje exótico''
('' Two Nudes in an Exotic Landscape''), 1905-06, by Jean Metzinger, exhibited in ''Gauguin y el viaje a lo exótico'', Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
The Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum (in Spanish, the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza (), named after its founder), or simply the Thyssen, is an art museum in Madrid, Spain, located near the Prado Museum on one of the city's main boulevards. I ...
, Madrid, 9 October 2012 - 13 January 2013
File:Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) - Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach.jpg, Paul Gauguin
Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
, 1892, ''Deux Tahitiennes sur la plage'' (''Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach''), oil on canvas, 90.8 × 64.8 cm (35.7 × 25.5 in), Honolulu Museum of Art
The Honolulu Museum of Art (formerly the Honolulu Academy of Arts) is an art museum in Honolulu, Hawaii. The museum is the largest of its kind in the state, and was founded in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke. The museum has one of the largest single col ...
References
External links
Jean Metzinger Catalogue Raisonné entry page for ''Deux Nus (Two Nudes)''
Agence Photographique de la Réunion des musées nationaux et du Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées
{{Cubism
Paintings by Jean Metzinger
1910 paintings
1911 paintings
Portraits of women
Painting controversies
Nude art
Paintings of Montmartre