RSSThree Faces
18 Dec 2008 Comments Off
in Art, Discussion, Movies
As you know, noted actor Paul Newman passed away recently. Newman had been married to actress Joanne Woodward from January 1958 until he died.
They weren’t your standard version of a Hollywood couple. In fact, at the time of his death, they had lived in Connecticut for many years.
While many of you are very familiar with Mr. Newman’s work as an actor; Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and The Color Money are some of his best known films and readily come to mind. I think only some of you may recall that Joanne Woodward is an Oscar winner herself.
She won an Oscar for Best Performance by Actress in 1958 for her role in The Three Faces of Eve. This was the story of a 1950′s Georgia housewife who was brought to a local psychiatrist. Her symptoms – headaches and an occasional blackout. The 1950′s doctors hadn’t the same amount of knowledge and prescription drugs that today’s MD’s have, so that when three distinct and different personalities emerged from the same person, it was a newsworthy event.
It was also a spectacular role for an actress, and Ms Woodward walked off with the Oscar. She played a mousey housewife (Mrs. Eve White), a sultry and sexy seductress who called herself Eve Black, and a sensible modern woman who called herself Jane.
It was a dream role, and brought into focus not only mental disorders and illnesses, but made men think of how the women in their lives also played multiple roles like wife, best friend, and lover; all hopefully without acting.
My topic is not really this movie, or is it about mental illnesses like Multiple Personality Disorder. The reality is that everyone of us had a mother, every female was a daughter, and women fulfill the roles of friends and lovers all over the world. All of these are possible and are so no matter how brief the time frame was. Men tend to see women in a variety of ways such as a parental figure, a boss or an employee, a sexual partner, a rival, a friend, a daughter, or as a sister. Of course there are variations of all of the above, and the ageing process has a role in that.
But once you remove the trimmings created by environment, economics, and social order we can safely ‘categorize’ our loving partners into three main subsets: tradition has them as WIFE, MOTHER, & LOVER. In short if you marry a woman, you’ll end up with all three. Given that, it is no surprise to see that in ART, and more often than you might think, we can find the three faces of women, who obviously are not all named Eve, but are all descendants of the first Eve. I’d venture to say that it was no coincidence that the title role in Ms. Woodward’s Oscar performance was called Eve.
In art we see many examples of this. Album covers, pop art, or iconic stone idols are often portrayed in threes. This album cover (above) is from the Australian musical group Vespers Descent. And the album’s title? 3 Faces of Eve.
The next one is obviously light-hearted and is the work of Artist Sonya Paz. And the work below is from the Functionalartist, yet another version of The Three Faces of Eve.
The stone idol is The Three Faces of Shiva.
One more? How about this artful bed quilt. ?
I think there’s a pattern here. And if there’s not a pattern in the art world, we can at least agree that there’s a pattern within this article.
Chinese artist Yanqun Xue paints in the style of Classic Realism. His paintings are almost exclusively of women. Not surprisingly he has three categories for his works: Nudes, Girls, and Portraits. Expressed in other terms, those categories become clearer. Nudes are still Nudes. Girls are clothed but relaxed either by themselves or at play with other girls. And Portraits are formal where the women are looking their very best, and hope that this is how other see them.
Nude 216
Nude 205
Since we all know what Nudes are, let’s begin with them. Actually I think these are the least interesting of his works. Even though the nude models all have wonderful bodies, none of the poses are dynamic, nor do we see much in the way of detail. It’s like he’s trading with us – I’ll paint them without clothing, and you can expect the least amount of detail.
Before The Painting
The Afternoon
As for Girls, we might also call them Traditional Girls. These women are not in modern dress. But don’t let that stop you.
The Music
The Earth No. 4
Please note the rich blues and deep red.
The Sound of Bamboo
I also call to your attention the sharp creases of the lady’s garment in The Sound of Bamboo.
The Dancer
The Folding Fan
Finally, notice how detailed the Portraits are – for example, the intricate lace patterns in The Dancer and The Folding Fan . Or the delightfully patterned chaise lounge in Lili.
Lili
The wonderful design of Christine‘s dress along with the wood trim of the sofa and the curtains behind her.
Christine
A Lady In The Picture
I also like the elegance of a Lady in the Picture as well as the sophisticated silk dress that Linda wears along with the white chair that she is seated on.
Linda
These works of Art are indeed Yanqun Xue’s three style modes and are a wonderful tie-in to our theme of three faces. I guess you can see the skill and heart that went into creating these works. Bringing them to your attention is our pleasure. Thanks for visiting.