Allen Jones at Chatsworth: The Picnic

PART I

ALLEN JONES

AT CHATSWORTH:

DEJEUNER ENCORE

Chatsworth, the magnificent British "Treasure House" located in the Peak District of Derbyshire, now contains a new marvel. It is sculptor Allen Jones' Dejeuner sur l'Herbe, a monumental abstract and colorful 21st Century rendering of the painting of the same name by Edouard Manet.

The 1863 painting by Manet is of a pastoral scene with two men and two women placed in an enclosed wooded area. There is a picnic basket filled with fruit and a round loaf of bread in the foreground. What is so striking about the painting is Manet's distinctly modern treatment of his subject matter and his painterly technique. A seated naked woman stares boldly out at the viewer. She is a fully confident and self-assured Parisienne with nothing to hide. She is accompanied by two nattily, fully-dressed males who appear to be totally absorbed in conversation with each other so that they take no notice of either her or the viewer. In the background, another scantily clad woman appears to be bathing in a stream. The canvas appears flat, lacking in depth as if staged in a studio. The light is almost photographic with little shadow. The viewer's eye is drawn immediately to the creamy flesh tones of the woman who stands out in marked contrast to the muted tones of the men's clothing and the wood. It is easy to understand why this painting ( along with Manet's Olympia), made the French viewing public of the period uncomfortable. Encountering this scene, the viewer assumes the role of "voyeur." It is no wonder that the painting was rejected by the Paris Salon of 1863 and was later relegated to the Salon des Refuses.


Hidden from direct view, in a remote and wooded area on the grounds of Chatsworth, Allen Jones' Dejeuner sur l'Herbe has to be discovered. Three metal larger-then-life figures have been placed in a clearing only to be encountered by the unsuspecting walker. The scene however is far more inviting than disturbing. Jones has given us a portal, an entry point into a bucolic world -- he even provides a seat should we wish to join the picnic. Here arcadian myth has been fused with 21st Century reality -- only Pan is missing!

The work consists of three painted figures sculpted of metal and a metal picnic bench with a complimentary "bottle" of claret and two glasses. In wielding his artistic license, Jones has dramatically changed the dynamics and has limited his Dejeuner to two naked women and one fully dressed male. In contrast to Manet, the male and the two females are fully engaged in animated conversation with one and other and appear to be having a really great time. Painted in a bright lipstick red, the females are sensual, coquettish and lively. One female who is seated replicates the disposition of the dominant female in the Manet canvas. Posed in a prone position, the other female probably relates to the similar disposition of the female in Paul Cezanne's 1870 painting, the Idyll, which is known to have direct ties with Manet's Dejeuner. Jones combines the two males in the Manet painting to create a large scale river god (Manet used a Renaissance engraving by Raimondi), still inappropriately attired in a jacket and tie. Yet as in the painting, water though not quite visible is not far away and one can hear the rush of a 300 year old cascade in the nearby woods.


Jones has given the visitor a lively and playful pastoral moment within the stately environs of Chatsworth where one can picnic and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding countryside.

NEXT: MANET REVISITED: CEZANNE/PICASSO AND COMPANY