2020-06-01_The_Artists_Magazine

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.