Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

Artists & Illustrators 45

LEFT Edgar Degas,

Little Dancer Aged

Fourteen Years,

1880-81, cast

c.1922, painted

DEGAS’ DEPARTURE WAS

SEEN AS IRREVERENT, BUT

IT CHANGED ATTITUDES

ABOUT NON-TRADITIONAL

MATERIALS IN FINE ART

QUATTRONE, FLORENCE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON D.C. COLLECTION OF MR. AND MRS. PAUL MELLON 1999.80.28

4

Edgar Degas, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

Years, 1880-81

Although some of the earliest artists used any

suitable materials they could find, over time certain

materials became accepted as ‘fine art’. So when, in

1881, Edgar Degas presented his sculpture of a

ballet student from the Paris Opéra, the art world was

outraged. Degas had made a wax sculpture of the

nude figure, which was normal procedure, but then

dressed it in clothing made of fabric and gave it real

hair tied with a ribbon. The unprecedented realism

and use of ordinary materials was scandalous.

Degas’ departure was seen as irreverent, but it

changed attitudes about non-traditional materials in

fine art. Thirty years later, concerned about making

their multiple viewpoints more legible, Picasso and

Braque began attaching non-traditional materials to

their Cubist images. Collage as a technique was not

new, but its use in fine art broke with tradition. Once

other artists became aware of these innovations,

many, including other Cubists, Futurists and Dadaists,

also began using elements of collage and

manufactured materials in a wide range of art.

3

Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation,

1304-06, fresco

An outstanding painter, sculptor and architect,

Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337) is recognised as the

most important Italian painter of the 14th century and

a significant model for the Italian Renaissance. Boldly

deviating from Byzantine formulae, Giotto depicted

religious stories showing human emotion and

suggestions of depth and distance. Here, mourning

over the body of Christ, the figures are presented as if

on a stage. Previous Christian art showed every figure

complete, but these overlap, conveying a sense of real

space. Giotto lacked the technical knowledge of

anatomy and perspective, however, he convincingly

created space and powerfully animated figures in his

frescoes. While to our eyes this may still appear flat

and stiff, to contemporary eyes it was revolutionary.

bronze with

muslin and silk,

98.4x41.9x36.5cm

BELOW Giotto

di Bondone,

Lamentation,

1304-06, fresco,

185x200cm,

Scrovegni (Arena)

Chapel, Padua

42 Susie Hodge.indd 45 10/04/2017 10:54