2020-06-01_The_Artists_Magazine

(Joyce) #1

8 Artists Magazine June 2020


Prime ANATOMY OF A PAINTING


The primary lightin
Tattered and Torn comes
from above. A contemporary
source claimed that Kappes’
subjects lived on the top floor
of the building, which explains
the skylight. By spotlighting
the gesture, Kappes endowed
the subject with a theatrical
presence, even implyinga
sort of ritual performance.

o


neofthepleasuresofwriting
forthisspaceistoresearch
talentedartistswhoarenow
allbutforgotten.Ona recentvisitto
theSmithCollegeMuseum,I found
amidcanvasesbyoldmastersa fine
paintingbya NewYorkartistnamed
AlfredKappes(1850–1894).Kappes
wasknowninhisday—hewasalmost
madea fullNationalAcademician—
buthisworkhassincefalleninto
near-totalobscurity.Scouringthe
internetforbiographicalscholarship
isa largelyfutileendeavor.
Here’swhatI learned.Thesonof
a Germancarpenter,Kappessuffered
froma disablingailment.A contempo-
raryaccountcrypticallynoted,“The
battleoflifehasbeenfoughtbyhim
withoutallies.”Heseemstohavehad
littleformalarteducationandwas
workingasanillustratorfornational
publicationsbeforetheageof20.
Kappesalsopaintedforexhibition
andshowedoilsandwatercolorsin
NewYorkandBoston.Hewaselected
anAssociatetotheNationalAcademy
in 1887 andwasofferedfullmember-
shipin1894,butdiedbeforehecould
submittherequireddiplomapiece.His
familyneverrespondedtorequests
fora representativework.

Kappes’acceptance—ornear-
acceptance—asanAcademicianwas
basedonhispaintingsofAfrican-
Americanlife.Hemaintaineda studio
ina tenementbuildingandusedhis
neighborsasmodels.Kappes’depic-
tionsofpeopleofcolorwereneither
condescendingnorsugarcoated.He
wascapableofoutrage;onepainting
intheSmithCollegecollectionofan
apparentlyhomelesswomanistitled
IsThisLifeWorthLiving?
Thecanvasthatstoppedmeinmy
tracksinthecollectionwasTattered
andTorn. Itportraysanelderlywoman
lightinga pipe.Instraitenedcircum-
stancesandraggedclothing,she’s
seenattendingtoa mundanetask
withmonumentaldignity.Thesubject
isanonymous,theartistonlyslightly
lessso.Togethertheycontrivea mem-
orableimage.

Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer
to art magazines and teaches at the
Art Students League of New York.

Seeing Dignity


in the Mundane


ALFRED KAPPES painted his neighbors
in a New York tenement building.

by Jerry N. Weiss

Tattered and Torn
by Alfred Kappes
1886; oil on canvas, 40x

Kappes’ Tatteredand
Torn tells two stories.The
first is the lighting ofthe
pipe. The larger narrative
is that of his neighbors’
urban existence livedin
the shadow of poverty.

Leaning forward slightly,an
elderly woman stands and holds
a pipe in her left hand anda lit
match in her right. Her ageis
suggested by details of the hands,
neck and head, and in the gaunt
complexity of bone and muscle.
She couldn’t have held sucha
pose for more than a moment,so
Kappes would have had touse
additional visual references.

Kappes placed the woman’s
figure at the left, as if caughtin
the moment before she walks
out of view. The focus is onher
portrait and the gesture ofher
hands, each illuminatedin
front of a darkened cornerof
the apartment. Behind herand
to the right, light enters
through a window and reveals
two seated men engagedin
intimate conversation.

Kappes’ depictions of people of color


were neither condescending nor sugarcoated.

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