Demeter, in Greek mythology, is the goddess of the harvest and of plant life. The most prominent part of her legend is that her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades and forced to marry him. While Zeus ordered the underworld god to return Persephone to her mother, by that time she had eaten of the underworld's food. Thus she could not stay with Demeter always, but rather had to divide the year between husband and mother. Demeter would not allow plants to grow while her daughter was imprisoned, giving rise to the seasons.
The gods of Olympus could be grand, cruel, childish. Demeter's plight shows them at their most, well, human.
"Demeter" is also the title of the above painting by Patrick Procktor. Procktor's biography is easily summarized. He was a polymath likely headed for great things even before he became an artist. In the 1960s he became involved with London's gay demimonde, befriending Joe Orton (whose portrait he drew) and David Hockney. Hockney's still with us, but Procktor passed on in 2003.
It's his hand, eye, and judgment for which he'll be remembered, of course. The "Demeter" painting creates a contrast between lush green plant life in the upper rough half and austere white marble in the lower. A symbol of the daughter's absence, it seems. It's allegorical and more than a little melancholy, but above all alive.
2 comments:
This is a wonderful painting. My first thought on seeing it was that it was an example of 19th century Impressionism - perhaps something by Édouard Manet or Pissarro, but not quite. The wavy cracks of the marble and the insubstantial almost trees give it away. But what a nice surprise to learn 'Demeter' was the work of a much more contemporary artist.
Patrick Procktor was obviously an accomplished artist from early on. That he mastered oils, acrylics and watercolor and apparently was made the president of the Slade School is telling. He made some great friends, travelled widely, and had a lot of success. It's sad to know so many tragedies followed him in later years - his lover died, his wife died, and then his apartment and many of his paintings were destroyed in a fire. Yet it's true that his exquisite taste will live well beyond his time on Earth. Hopefully his friends were waiting.
The fact that Demeter and Persephone is a mythic description of why the seasons change is perfectly evident in the painting. You're right the Greek gods were capricious, perhaps this is the best example of Zeus being arbitrary as I always thought Persephone's fate was unfair. Then again, I don't like winter much either.
In some ways it seems to depict an ideal summer day, but one which is already passing into memory. Hence the blurring effect to the trees. Pissarro seems a pretty good point of comparison.
Procktor impressed his peers as well as his teachers. Maybe after accomplishing so much in his youth there was nowhere to go but down. Still, his art never seems to have declined. One likes to think he made both his wife and his lover happy, as difficult--to say the least--as that arrangement must have been. And yes, his friends may have well been waiting on the other side.
The gods could be cruel, but I think in this case we're meant to understand that Zeus's hands are tied. Persephone belongs with her mother, but in some way belongs to the Underworld as well, so he can't just make everything the way it was. One interesting tidbit is that "Persephone" was the intended name of the planet Eris before it and Pluto were demoted to dwarf planet status.
Post a Comment