The innocent slumber, careless draperies, sheer orange hue dress, graceful and sensuous figure, plumping thighs and breasts, hints of drama, and a subtle play of colors liven up the seductiveness of the masterpiece Flaming June by Victorian artist Sir Frederic Leighton. With an unusually magnificent amber color, the subject has an aim; an aim to reach with more freedom and power of touch. There is a power of stillness but an attempt to awaken a curiosity among the viewer as he/she looks at the painting. Honestly, to describe the entire painting and its characteristics in a single article is a tedious job, as words can be poor interpreters of the painting. Hence, this article is just an attempt to introduce you to this most notable picture from the gallery of an excellent and genius artist, Frederic Leighton.
For more than thirty years of his life, Leighton dominated the Victorian art world as his paintings, The Garden of the Hesperides, Flaming June, and The Bath of Psyche, were not only limited to his age but to our own. From striking and complex historical compositions to society portraits and mythological subjects, Leighton was an acknowledged champion of classical artistry, which also made him the president of The Royal Academy of Art. One question that arises repeatedly is, Why was it that Leighton received an exceptional and unrivaled position in the artistic world? The answer might be that his creed and practice always fought against the weakness of his nature rather than rejoice in its strength. For a strong intellect, beautiful character, brilliant vitality, and intuitive instincts, it was his desires that always gave first place to the reasonable soul. Even though his desires were wise, his most unwise desires were no lesser wise. Mrs. D. Rusell Barrington writes in her book about him,
“He is temperate because his pluck and his desires unite in giving the first place to the reasonable soul; and finally, he is just, because each principle is in its place and stops there.”
In one of the letters to his mother, Frederic wrote when he was twenty-three,
“I feel I have of my nature a very fair share of the hateful worldly weakness of my country people; Still, I have found no sufficiently great advantage or compensation for the tedium of going out.”
There was a calming observant in him who was simply blase-odious! Diverse akin to his natural gifts, he had a will force and vitality with an over-powering passion that brought his fruitful intentions to his compositions, which we still find awe-inspiring! What made his artworks complete was his righteous direction and an inborn affection with a sympathy that impelled him to feel the area of self-interest. This let him explore full completeness and paste therein his compositions. Leighton’s life is in general beautiful as it is a composition of early struggles, failures, and more than just success, teaching a lesson that there is not any shortcut that takes you to become most gifted. One of the beautiful books that composes his life with such warmth and invention is The Life, Letters, and Work of Frederic Leighton by Mrs. D Russell Barrington, which you can add to your reading list.
Who Was Frederic Leighton?
Coming to the artist’s introduction, Frederic Leighton was born in Scarborough on December 3rd, 1830. Originally, his family belonged to Shropshire, but they ultimately ended up living in Yorkshire. The entire family of the artist had doctors, but Frederic was an exception for being an artist. Studying anatomy, poems of antiquity, philosophy, and science in his childhood, Frederic always had a keen interest in drawing. Being a high-spirited boy, he was fond of adventure and sport, but he got into constant trouble for lapses of discipline. He was so keenly interested in painting that at one time, when he had an attack of scarlet fever in his childhood, all he did was make drawings as if his pencil and paper were all the things that he needed to persist his memories and imagination to get out of the discomfort of the illness. After years of moving from England to Switzerland to Italy, the family finally chose Germany for their children’s education. At Berlin, Frederic spent every single spare moment to make sketches as he looked at the pictures in the galleries. Later, his family journeyed to Italy and settled in Florence for the winter. By that time, Frederic was an accomplished linguist with his art talent at its best.
Entering the studio of Bezzouli and Sevolini- the celebrated artists, Frederic acquired the skills of Florentine mannerism. Though the artist’s father always wanted him to continue the tradition of the family and be a surgeon, there was clearly a mark of artistic vocation from the early childhood of the artist. Still, the artist’s father did not want him to pursue the profession as he did not know what prize he might strive for the profession. So, his father consulted Hiram Powers, the sculptor of “The Greek Slave,” to know whether it was right to make the boy an artist. After the sculptor saw the drawings of young Frederic, he simply gave a response to the artist’s father’s query,
“Sir, you cannot help yourself; Nature has made him one already.”
This way, Sir Frederic Leighton got a nod from his father to be an artist. You can always refer to the suggested book to know the entire life story of the artist.
Historical Provenance of Flaming June.
Exhibited first at the Royal Academy in 1895, Flaming June is an artwork from the artist’s final decade of works that majorly idealizes female figures. This decade consists of artworks that essentially take a British and Non-Cosmopolitan standpoint from which to preach. These paintings take the beauty and aesthetic quality of nature as if the artist’s emotions were keen enough to perfect them. With the unrivaled drawings of the human figure in more spontaneous and rapid brushstrokes, these pictures have sensibility, agility, and vitality of the artist’s brain power.
Furthermore, there is a poetic motive in these artworks with an enhanced mental atmosphere, which is governed with a convincing effect. Flaming June is an artwork that immediately engages the viewer with its eroticism and color harmony through its appealing composition. Wrapped in a radiant and liquid drapery dress, this painting is about the enhancing beauty of a female subject whose naked body beneath is easily visible. Whether she is lost in a dream or napping in a carefree environment, it is still unclear for a viewer to know the actual feelings behind the canvas. What fascinates me more is the seamless rotation of her body in a loop to allure the viewer.
In 1895, which was the last year that the artist worked, he sent six paintings to the Royal Academy and completed the wall decorations at the Royal Exchange. The Flaming June is one among them that was appreciated well in the artistic world not because of its extraordinary subject but also because the artist handled the sea relief in the background quite impressively.
The subject matter of Flaming June painting portrays finely blended brushstrokes for the female’s flesh and areas of chiffon dress as offset by thick impastoed strokes. The background of the artwork includes a bas-relief sea and a bouquet of oleanders resting on a ledge at its right. This ingenious composition immediately draws any viewer toward the complex body of the subject, but there is a serenity as the viewer watches her sleep. Though there is a discrepancy between her upper and lower body, both legs are at sharp angles, and the left knee steeply rises almost to the level of the head. If you are thinking about what engages you in this still painting, it might be the sharp diagonal line through the right leg of the figure that captivates and creates a motion in this painting as if the sleeping lady’s posture can change. The bare arms of the subject that are bent at the elbow show an angularity of her legs, which further creates a frame for the lightly veiled breasts and head of the lady.
One of the most fascinating parts of this work is how the artist created an effect of mirroring the two halves of the body to such an extent that they simultaneously give two different meanings. The upper body can be characterized by physical passivity and the flight of the conscious mind, while the lower is robustly physical, conveying a sense of restless vitality and sexuality. But there is a question here, while everyone sees the blatant eroticism the artist delivered through the subject, is it possible that this is an allusion to bring connotation of death? Why death? At the time of the exhibition of this painting, Frederic was ill, making him unable to attend the exhibition. After eight months, he died. So, it is possible that the artist affirmed the idea of beauty and death in this artwork. Another reason behind this connotation can be seen through the linkage of the alluring subject with the poisonous flower.
Final Words.
Frederic undoubtedly added more aspects in the Flaming June, that are indecipherable. To my opinion, this painting is a warmth. In a world of decayed minds and separable love, this picture is a silent resilience with one’s consciousness. There is an innocence and charm in the subject but at the same time, it can be a modest tease to the viewer through its erotic beauty. At one moment, it can be a powerful depiction of napping by considering the subject a sleeping beauty but at another, it can be slow death as if she is femme fatale. There is a never-ending desire to just see through her but what I sense in these desires are a series of difficulties that she holds in her sleep.
Resources.
- Featured Image: Flaming June by Frederic Leighton; Frederic Leighton, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- The Life, Letters, and Work of Frederic Leighton by Mrs. D Russell Barrington.
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