“Promenade Dans La Cité”
Also known as ‘Breaking Curfew’ or ‘Out on the Town’
The diminutive, almost comically small, figure of a man accompanies an equally out-of-scale woman in this luscious work. The mismatched pair are meant to be seen as out of place in their sophisticated surroundings. Their facial expressions betray their naive natures as they rather awkwardly try to blend in.
But there is nothing at ease in this composition. From their awkward sizes to their awkward expressions - these two do not belong. Alone in the work they look, alternately, into the open city scape or directly out of the painting. In neither case are they at one with their surroundings. the others in this busy place are going about their business, looking as though they have a role in the city. Our two outsiders are decidedly uncomfortable (and faintly ridiculous).
What is it we are invited to know about this rube-ish pair? They are trying to fit it but their anxiety indicates that they know neither where they really are nor where they are going. They barge forward, almost pushing into an oncoming figure, but their innocence (or ignorance) makes they unaware. They seem to signal a lack of comportment, they are, quite simply, out-of-place.
This work was painted against the backdrop of a pandemic and in this time un-related persons were expected to be distant from one-another - and most others in the painting can be seen keeping their distance. So the worrying impression that emanates from this green-behind-the-ears couple may be well founded. If outsiders ventured where they were not supposed to in this time, they were often subject to the rigors of the law, such was the concern about the then raging sickness. Drizzle or rain was often used to convey the sickness, the all pervading malady that required personal protective measures, and this is case in the city streets we see here. But our two are remarkable for their lack of concern and we are invited to consider their entire aspect as disregard for the mores of the time and the rules of the day.
The impression is that soon they will be lost or apprehended. And not before time, the others in the scene might be thinking....
The models used by the painter for his central characters here are of particular interest. The male is known to have been painted life size, i.e. he was actually a renowned freak of nature at the time. He performed in a traveling circus as ‘Tiny Man’ or ‘The Human Lapdog’. The woman in the figure was, extraordinarily, larger than most humans alive at the time. She was also a performer known as ‘Big Bird’ when she would take children for rides on her very long brass neck. The artist courted such freakish figures believing they made for more noteworthy subjects. In that the two subjects of this work were indeed figures of notoriety, causing the work to be somewhat controversial, the artist achieved his aim of drawing attention to those breaking the health rules of the day.
Note:
This work was acquired by the Nat Gallery of Sturgeon for free. It turns out that it was painted with toxic materials and as a result was faintly radioactive. Given its corrosive properties no other galleries were interesting in the work. Fortunately the Nat Gallery of Sturgeon already contains one of the largest collections of corrosive works and is well prepared to house and keep toxic items in its collections. With significant portions of what the Nat Gallery has on permanent display exhibiting similar properties, specific accommodation has been made for works that would be regarded as hazardous elsewhere.
© The Nat Gallery of Sturgeon