The Arnolfini Portrait: Revealing Interest in the Mundane

The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck (Netherlandish); 1434; oil on oak panel.
Location: London, England; The National Gallery.

        The Arnolfini Portrait has a few different names, but they are all related. While this name is what it is commonly referred to as, there is no definitive answer to whom this painting actually depicts. It is thought to depict Giovanni di Arrigo Arnolfini and his wife Giovanna Cenami, but it was more recently discovered that this couple did not marry until several years after Jan van Eyck's (the painter) death. Due to this discovery, it has been suggested that this is Arnolfini and an undocumented first wife or that the man is related to Arnolfini, most likely Giovanni di Nicolao (his cousin) and one of his wives. As I mentioned in "Baroque and Caravaggio," not everything in Art History is definitively known.

        Aside from this mystery, this painting gives the impression of being fairly straight-forward. Again, however, the viewer needs to examine the details further to correct the assumption that this painting can be taken at face-value. This painting uses four-point perspective: the best way to explain this is to say you can observe the painting both from above (you look down at the dog, shoes, carpet, etc.) and below (you look up at the chandelier, the gentleman's hat, the bed's canopy, etc.). The woman could be pregnant (she does have one hand on what appears to be a pregnant belly) or this could actually be the latest fashion trend of the time (pregnant celebrities are always en vogue, right?). Further, the woman's hair does confirm that she must be married because it is up and covered; otherwise, an unwed woman's hair would be down.

        Other features of note include things that make this couple appear wealthy (some ideals never change, such as wanting to be seen as wealthy or prominent). This wealth is demonstrated by the rich colors and textures of the couple's clothes, including the man's fur trim and the velvet or similar fabric in the woman's dress. These fabrics are  heavy and most likely for winter, yet the viewer can see a cherry tree blooming outside the window.

        The couple stands before an oriental rug, most likely imported through trade, and the aforementioned chandelier. The couple also boasts a few rarities: oranges (then a delicacy that only the rich could afford) and a fancy mirror. The mirror is convex and actually  utilizes non-Euclidean geometry to show a reflection; upon close examination of it you can see two figures in a doorway, which again cannot be definitively identified. The border around the mirror depicts scenes from the Passion of Christ; the mirror itself is potentially a symbol for the Virgin Mary or the eye of God (seeing the vows of husband and wife).

        The dog could be a symbol of loyalty or simply a wedding gift, further showing the couple's wealth. There is only one candle in the chandelier, which could be a symbol of God or refer to a Flemish (this painting was created in Flanders) wedding tradition; it has also been proposed that this is an unconventional memorial portrait and that the candle signifies that while the husband is alive, the wife has passed (perhaps in labor and thus the pregnant appearance).

        These are but a few of the details you can visit within the seemingly mundane portrait of a husband and his allegedly pregnant wife and this painting is another example of how research relating to Art History can still uncover new facts, causing old theories to be revised and sometimes changed completely. As a last note, after observing this painting in more detail, you might have noticed something above the mirror. In Flemish, the artist has written "Johannes van Eyck was here," and the year 1434.

Readymade Art and Dada: Marcel Duchamp and Hugo Ball

Fountain by Marcel Duchamp (French); 1917; assisted readymade.
Location: London, England; Tate Modern.
Image via Angel Alcalá Brand.

        In the years leading up to World War I (1914-1918), reality was topsy-turvey as Freudian and Marxist thought gained footing, Schoenberg produced atonal “music,” Mallarmé redefine “poem,” Picasso shed human anatomy in Cubist light and Anarchists and Nihilists were making their way into the political scene. “Art” was being attacked from new angles, some absurd, to bring the meaningless of certain aspects of daily life into view and one artist doing so was Marcel Duchamp.

        Duchamp began an artistic revolution, creating readymade art from found objects (also referred to as found object art or objet trouvé).  Duchamp created a piece of ready-made art for an exhibition in 1917 entitled Fountain, which was a urinal he purchased and placed on it's back. He signed “R. Mutt 1917,” but the piece was rejected by the exhibit; Duchamp waged a public protest.

L.H.O.O.Q. by Marcel Duchamp (French); 1919; assisted readymade.
Location: Paris, France; Musée National d'Art Moderne.
Image via Scott Zagar.

        Duchamp rejected painting, saying paintings were merely aesthetic, that didn't stimulate the mind. Duchamp wanted to question what the notion of art was and rejected all standards set up before him.  One example is L.O.O.H.Q., created in 1919, for which Duchamp took a postcard of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. He simply added a mustache and its namesake letters at the bottom.  When the letters are pronounced quickly in French, it sounds like “elle a chaud au cul,” which means “she has a hot ass;” in English,  the letters sound like the word "look." By doing this, Duchamp is expelling the importance of the work to art history, as well as the formalities of the art world in general, and therefore promoting the ideas behind Dadaism—the absurd and meaningless.

        Hugo Ball was another kind of artist in the Dada movement. An author and poet, Ball felt that because paintings were phasing out human forms it was natural that poetry should reject the use of language.

Hugo Ball reciting the sound poem Karawane at

Café Voltaire in Zürich, Switzerland (1916).

Image via Study Blue.

        In 1916, Ball recited his sound poem Karawane on the stage at Café Voltaire in Zürich, Switzerland, where Dada began. Intended to be nonsensical, it reflected the senselessness of the war while politicians felt the war to be a worthy cause. Ball felt that the war didn't reflect Europe's culture, intellect or enlightenment and was, itself, absurd.

       The Dada movement, spread from Zürich to Berlin, New York, Tokyo and elsewhere. The Dada movement was the starting off point for other movements to follow, like surrealism abstract expressionism, performance art, conceptual art, and pop art. As important as Dada was for opening the door to these movements, it died out within a decade.