Paintings Inspired by Poetry and Literature from the 2011 exhibition,
Into the Mind of the Painter
1. School of Nora Barnacle
2011 - School of Nora Barnacle - 183x122cm
A painting inspired by Molly Bloom's soliloquy from the final pages of Ulysses by James Joyce. Joyce is said to have been inspired himself, in this final extended stream on consciousness, by his wife, Nora Barnacle.
2. Oread
2011 - Oread - 61x61cm
3. 1914-18 (Oread II)
2011 - 1914-18 (Oread II) - 152x101cm
The Imagist poem, Oread, by HD, was the inspiration for two paintings in the 2011 exhibition: 'Oread' and '1914-18 (Oread II)'.
Oread
Whirl up, sea –
Whirl your pointed pines
Splash your great pines
On our rocks
Hurl your green over us
Cover us with your pools of fir.
HD 1915
H.D. (born Hilda Doolittle) and Imagism
H.D. (1886-1961) was an American poet, novelist and memoirist known for her association with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington.
Imagism was a movement in early 20th century Anglo-American poetry that rejected the sentiment and discursiveness typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry and sort a renewal of language through extreme reduction. It called for what were seen as more Classical values, such as precision of imagery and a clear, sharp economy of language, as well as a willingness to experiment with non-traditional verse forms. Their attempt at isolating a single image to reveal its essence also mirrors contemporary developments in avant-garde art, such as cubism. Group publication of work under the Imagist name appearing between 1914 and 1917 featured writing by many of the most significant figures in Modernist poetry in English.
Somewhat unusually for the time, the Imagists featured a number of women writers among their major figures, including H.D.
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4. The Owl and the Pussycat - Portrait of a Marriage
Inspired by the first verse of Edwards Lear's famous poem of 1871.
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat;
They took some honey,
and plenty of money
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
“O lovely Pussy, O Pussy my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are
You are,
Your are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!”
Pussy said to the Owl, “You elegant fowl,
How charmingly sweet you sing!
Oh! let us be married;
too long have we tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?”
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the bong-tree grows;
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood,
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
“Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?” Said the Piggy, “I will.”
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand on the edge of the sand
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.