Art Nouveau: ‘The Daughter of Leda’ by Georges de Feure
If one dares to single out one main characteristic of heterogeneous Art Nouveau movement, then the centrality of fluid lines perhaps would be the one. The canvas titled ‘The Daughter of Leda’ by Georges de Feure completed in 1896 is a good example of how a delicate flow of lines can solidify into a balanced painting. It depicts Helen, whose mother Leda, as the Greek myth goes, was raped by Zeus disguised as a swan.
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There are no perfectly straight lines in this painting. The lines seem to float like water in the lake behind Helen and, at the same time, lines echo round trees and The curved table seems to extend into one of the similarly curved swan neck. Helen’s robe almost merges with grey earth on the right. The earth, perhaps, symbolises birth-giving qualities of the female body. In turn, the young Helen may be a personification of the ‘new art’ of Art Nouveau, which is already giving its fruits symbolised by the blooming flower on the table. However, Art Nouveau is not an entirely new style. It is an amalgam of inspirations taken from various styles and movements including Arts and Crafts movement, Neo-Rococo style, Gothic style.
This typifies the historicist content as it is based on a Greek myth, if not the actual style of the past, as it is a relatively modern looking piece. As a Symbolist painter, De Feure frequently drew on classicism for his subjects. The colours are non-naturalistic as Symbolist colour was not intended to produce visual verisimilitude and the style is flat, as if influenced by Japanese art.
Natural forms like birds are a common Art Nouveau motif. It is often associated with ideas surrounding resurrection. In the case of ‘The Daughter of Leda’ swans can act as a symbol of the resurrection of some elements of past styles to synthesise a new one. De Feure was the personification of the link between the Symbolist movement and Art Nouveau. Starting his career as a painter, Georges de Feure went onto become interior decorator and furniture designer. He was one of the three designers at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Siegfried Bing’s L’Art Nouveau pavilion, where he designed interior stained glass windows featuring seductive women each representing one of the decorative arts. The female form and nature are characteristic of Art Nouveau. In the spirit of Symbolism ‘The Daughter of Leda’ taps onto the themes of mysticism, nature and decadence. The French Symbolist movement is characterised by decadent sensuality.
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The composition of the painting emphasises the form created by lines rather than colour. The pallet is dominated by bluish-grey colours. The sense of volume of forms is certainly not one of the aims for de Feure. This simplified abstraction may have come from inspiration with Chinese and Japanese art. Through Bing’s activity as a dealer and collector he promoted Oriental artefacts, and between 1888 and 1891 edited the monthly journal Le Japon Artistique. This lack of refined detail, however, does not cancel out refined sensuousness. On the contrary, abstract qualities enhance the sensuousness of the line and form.
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Reference:
Stephen Escritt, Art Nouveau, (Phaidon, 2005), Chapter 1