Nina Guidry

Survey of the Arts II
15 April 2015
Waterhouse and The Lady John William Waterhouse was a Romantic painter whose style harked back to the Pre-
Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB) of the mid-nineteenth century. He encompassed elements from the Impressionist art movement of the late nineteenth century to create hauntingly beautiful images in oils on canvas. Three such creations manifested from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s The
Lady of Shalott. This poem, written in four parts, is based on Arthurian legend of an innocent young woman confined in a tower by a curse. She lived on an island overlooking Camelot. Her curse is such that she could not look directly upon Camelot. She viewed the outside world through a mirror in her quarters. Waterhouse painted the three oils in reverse chronology to the poem. In this essay, his composition, balance, use of light, color, movement and symbolism will be discussed. The Lady of Shalott (1888) references Part IV of the poem where she escapes the island by boat only to pay for the brevity of her freedom with her life. She and the boat are the main focus of this painting. Her porcelain skin, flowing red hair, virginal white gown draw eyes to her before slowly drifting over the boat. This scene is balanced by the view of hills through a break in the wooded background. The folds in the fabric of her gown, swallows in flight, and the play of light on the water create a sense of movement. Something was happening. A decision was being made as evidenced by the sorrowful, yet resigned expression accepting her fate. Her right hand loosely held the last bind to the island in the form of a mooring chain. The use of low-cast natural evening light to give the scene a sense of realism is in keeping with the PRB tenet of Guidry 2 truth in nature. Painterly brushstrokes of the reeds and water provide Impressionistic elements using light and color to create mood and feeling. Split-complementary color use of red, red- orange, and red-violet help to bring the young woman and tapestry forward in the frame. Green in various shades and tones provide a serene, other-worldly backdrop and gives dimension to the picture. Symbolism of the circular vignettes woven into the tapestry depict what the lady witnessed of life through her mirror. The care from which it was woven is abandoned when she draped the tapestry over the edge of the boat to dredge in the water. One fallen leaf rested on her dress. One of three candles remained lit. A funereal crucifix and rosary near the prow where a lantern is dimly lit lends to the fulfillment of the curse of impending death. The lantern and boat are symbolic of crossing over the River Styx to the afterlife in Greek mythology. Broken reeds added to the sense of a situation beyond hope of repair. Two swallows low in flight near the reeds speak symbolically of resurrection in Christianity. The Hebrew word for swallow is deror.
It means liberty/freedom. The lady’s last journey down the river towards Camelot and her unknowing love, Lancelot, gave her freedom from her walled prison but cost her life. The PRB themes of unrequited love, beautiful women fallen in distress, and realism mixed with mythology/literature echo throughout this painting. This a large work measuring approximately sixty by eighty inches. The second painting in the series is titled “The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot” (1894).
It is taken from Part III of Lord Tennyson’s poem which references when the lady first views
Lancelot directly. The split-complementary color scheme is also prominent in this painting. The use of red, red-violet, and red-orange in the background helps focus attention on the lady, again dressed in a white gown that is heavily tinted in pale rose. Along with the flushing on her cheeks, it denotes how taken with Lancelot she is in that instant. She arose from her seat and swirled to view him directly as he passed outside her window. She spun so hastily that she became Guidry 3 entangled in the yarn she was weaving. Movement is emphasized by the draping of her dress, stance, and having gotten entwined in the yarn. The entwining also is symbolic of her restriction and confinement in her tower on the island. The viewer witnesses through her mirror what the lady has seen firsthand. The background is Impressionistic in style. The attention to detail that Pre-Raphaelites espoused is absent. The room is dimly lit. A real sense of her dark and limited existence up to that time is perceived. She is illuminated by natural light from the window she turned to face. The lighting brought her to the fore and made her feel less a part of the confinement dictated by the curse. It is a reversal of roles which draws the viewer into the work. The vignettes have changed, too. The faces look at the lady and towards the viewer.
Even though the lady is from Arthurian legend, Waterhouse gives her believability by placing her in a realistic setting and painting life into her and the space she occupies. The artist added religious reference in the form of an oratory with figures of the holy family at the rear left of the work. There is no religious reference in the poem until the end when Lancelot asks God to have mercy on the lady so it is the artist’s preference to add in Christian symbols. This work measures
70 by 47 inches in size. “I Am Half-Sick of Looking At Shadows” (1915) is the third painting Waterhouse created of the lady. It is from Part II of Lord Tennyson’s poem. The lady is gazing in her mirror, hands interlocked behind her head, watching a newlywed couple outside of her window. She feels her isolation more keenly. Her facial expression is one of contemplation and longing with a growing sense of frustration at being kept in the shadows. Waterhouse emphasizes three balanced viewpoints. One draws the viewer through the room to the mirrored image of Camelot down river from her island. The loom with tapestry is at the left side, ever present and a reminder of how she must live and record life passing her by. The lady sits, stretched back in her chair, on the right. She is clothed in red which gives her prominence and advances her forward in the Guidry 4 painting. Her skin is pale and reinforces her isolation away from sunlight. The other two scenes become more accessories in her story than scene stealers. The light is most intense in this painting. The viewer sees more details, especially of what is on the floor in the foreground. It helps delineate the room as a real space which she occupies. There is no other-worldly feel to this work. The circular pattern atop the windows echoes the repetitiveness of her daily existence.
She looks at the world through her mirror and weaves what she sees, longing for freedom from her social isolation. Movement is relegated to the view she sees in her mirror. People move across the bridge in the background while newlyweds go for a walk in the foreground. This work is large and measures approximately 100 by 73 inches. John William Waterhouse died in 1917. He left behind a collection of works that did not receive the recognition that the mid-nineteenth century Pre-Raphaelite painters experienced. He was a romantic painter that borrowed from the PRB and Impressionists alike. His most widely known and iconic work is The Lady of Shalott (1888). He captured the essence of Alfred, Lord
Tennyson’s poem using balanced composition, realistic settings, natural light, emotive expressions, posture, movement, vivid color, and symbolism.

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