"Ennui" by Walter Richard Sickert
"Ennui" was created in 1914 and currently hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. Hugh Blaker, a museum curator, described Sickert's piece as "one of the finest pictures painted in England in recent times." Walter Sickert was born on May 31st, 1860 in Munich, Germany. In 1868, his family left Munich in sight of Britain, where young Sickert studied at the University College School, then ultimately transferring to King’s College School. Even though the profession of painter was in his bloodline starting from his grandfather, Sickert pursued an acting career before realizing an artist would be his forte in 1881.
Two years later into his journey as an inspiring artist, he met Edgar Degas and the world-renowned artist took him under his wing. Sickert took upon his mentor’s Impressionist style of painting. In 1888 joined the New English Art Club, which was a group of French-influenced realist painters. It was not then that his name started to become a part of the artist realm, though not in the most favorable way. Critics commented that his choice of muse, female performers and prostitutes, was terribly risqué and vulgar; many of the women claimed to have sexual relations with the painter.
Sickert’s collection made up of the urban culture of his day, as he found it important to document the now rather than the past. One of his most controversial paintings is of a murder scene titled The Camden Town Murder. This is a factual event that happened in 1907 when Emily Dimmock, a prostitute, had her throat slit by one of her gentlemen callers.
In 1924, his prestige rose when he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy. It was only two years later that his health started to decline. It was a change of not only physical health, but also mental; some doctors believe he suffered from a stroke. He stopped drawing and instead painted pictures of photographs he found in newspapers or that his wife had taken. He continued to created art in this manner until his death in 1942 in Bath, Somerset.
"Ennui" was created in 1914 and currently hangs in the Tate Gallery in London. Hugh Blaker, a museum curator, described Sickert's piece as "one of the finest pictures painted in England in recent times." Walter Sickert was born on May 31st, 1860 in Munich, Germany. In 1868, his family left Munich in sight of Britain, where young Sickert studied at the University College School, then ultimately transferring to King’s College School. Even though the profession of painter was in his bloodline starting from his grandfather, Sickert pursued an acting career before realizing an artist would be his forte in 1881.
Two years later into his journey as an inspiring artist, he met Edgar Degas and the world-renowned artist took him under his wing. Sickert took upon his mentor’s Impressionist style of painting. In 1888 joined the New English Art Club, which was a group of French-influenced realist painters. It was not then that his name started to become a part of the artist realm, though not in the most favorable way. Critics commented that his choice of muse, female performers and prostitutes, was terribly risqué and vulgar; many of the women claimed to have sexual relations with the painter.
Sickert’s collection made up of the urban culture of his day, as he found it important to document the now rather than the past. One of his most controversial paintings is of a murder scene titled The Camden Town Murder. This is a factual event that happened in 1907 when Emily Dimmock, a prostitute, had her throat slit by one of her gentlemen callers.
In 1924, his prestige rose when he was made an Associate of the Royal Academy. It was only two years later that his health started to decline. It was a change of not only physical health, but also mental; some doctors believe he suffered from a stroke. He stopped drawing and instead painted pictures of photographs he found in newspapers or that his wife had taken. He continued to created art in this manner until his death in 1942 in Bath, Somerset.
Painting Commentary
Annie Lashinksy
The subject matter is set in what looks to be a home. At the forefront of the picture plane is a table with a glass on it. An older man sits at the table, looking blankly to the right. A woman is behind him with her back to him. She stands with her elbows propped on a dresser, her face cupped in her hands, and stares absentmindedly at a wall. It has a muted, neutral color palate, showing the boring, dull lifestyle that the two now lead. The figures are naturalistic, but the lines are not crisply defined. There are two paintings hanging on their walls, and a glass dome on top of the dresser. The man casts a dark shadow on the dresser. Intuitive perspective is used to denote the presence of a wall, but the way the dresser is situated against the other wall throws the perspective off just a touch so that the perspective does not look entirely realistic.
Tommy AntoninoEnnui by Walter Sickert showcases a warm color scheme painted with broad, staccato brush strokes. The painting's focal point is the man and woman couple in the center of the painting. The man leans back in his chair and casts a prominent shadow behind him that rises up from the ground onto the dresser behind him. The woman's body sprouts up from the man's core, and the two intertwined create a slanted yet still pyramidal construction. This construction leaves an impression of unresolved uneasiness yet still allows for a sense of incorrigible timelessness. To note, it cannot be gleamed from the painting whether the man and woman are truly man and wife. Furthermore, the painting is only entitled ennui - it is unclear whether the two figures' ennui is merely a temporary state or a perpetual state of being.
Madison Copeland
This painting is as if the viewer was walking by the couple's house and glanced in to see the couple wasting away the afternoon. The title of the painting suggests they are consumed with boredom. It is interesting that this was painted in 1914, the beginning of World War I. Perhaps this couple has a son that has gone off to war and they spend their days waiting for him to return. This painting could possibly be a commentary on the household of the people during that time. People stuck in boredom, day after day, waiting for something to happen, for a bomb to drop. After a while, the fear of a situation begins to settle and boredom sets in.
Anna Adams
In the lower register of this oil on canvas piece, there is an elderly man smoking a cigar with a glass of alcohol placed in front of him. The glass of what seems to be whiskey is over exaggerated in size symbolizing how it is an important part of the husband and wife's relationship. The bodies of the characters in the painting are turned away from each other showing their disinterest in each other. The alcohol could be a vice to ease the pain of a relationship that has no meaning anymore. The man appears to be less affected by the loss of passion than the woman. The male is leaned back in his chair, showing relaxation. This calm state could be artificial from the alcohol and tobacco, but he is still visibly more content than his female companion. The female on the other hand is slouched over on the dresser looking very bored and unhappy. It is as if she desires the relationship they once had, but the husband has no energy to try to fix it.
Annie Lashinksy
The subject matter is set in what looks to be a home. At the forefront of the picture plane is a table with a glass on it. An older man sits at the table, looking blankly to the right. A woman is behind him with her back to him. She stands with her elbows propped on a dresser, her face cupped in her hands, and stares absentmindedly at a wall. It has a muted, neutral color palate, showing the boring, dull lifestyle that the two now lead. The figures are naturalistic, but the lines are not crisply defined. There are two paintings hanging on their walls, and a glass dome on top of the dresser. The man casts a dark shadow on the dresser. Intuitive perspective is used to denote the presence of a wall, but the way the dresser is situated against the other wall throws the perspective off just a touch so that the perspective does not look entirely realistic.
Tommy AntoninoEnnui by Walter Sickert showcases a warm color scheme painted with broad, staccato brush strokes. The painting's focal point is the man and woman couple in the center of the painting. The man leans back in his chair and casts a prominent shadow behind him that rises up from the ground onto the dresser behind him. The woman's body sprouts up from the man's core, and the two intertwined create a slanted yet still pyramidal construction. This construction leaves an impression of unresolved uneasiness yet still allows for a sense of incorrigible timelessness. To note, it cannot be gleamed from the painting whether the man and woman are truly man and wife. Furthermore, the painting is only entitled ennui - it is unclear whether the two figures' ennui is merely a temporary state or a perpetual state of being.
Madison Copeland
This painting is as if the viewer was walking by the couple's house and glanced in to see the couple wasting away the afternoon. The title of the painting suggests they are consumed with boredom. It is interesting that this was painted in 1914, the beginning of World War I. Perhaps this couple has a son that has gone off to war and they spend their days waiting for him to return. This painting could possibly be a commentary on the household of the people during that time. People stuck in boredom, day after day, waiting for something to happen, for a bomb to drop. After a while, the fear of a situation begins to settle and boredom sets in.
Anna Adams
In the lower register of this oil on canvas piece, there is an elderly man smoking a cigar with a glass of alcohol placed in front of him. The glass of what seems to be whiskey is over exaggerated in size symbolizing how it is an important part of the husband and wife's relationship. The bodies of the characters in the painting are turned away from each other showing their disinterest in each other. The alcohol could be a vice to ease the pain of a relationship that has no meaning anymore. The man appears to be less affected by the loss of passion than the woman. The male is leaned back in his chair, showing relaxation. This calm state could be artificial from the alcohol and tobacco, but he is still visibly more content than his female companion. The female on the other hand is slouched over on the dresser looking very bored and unhappy. It is as if she desires the relationship they once had, but the husband has no energy to try to fix it.