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Notes
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This painting is evidence of Kitaj's fascination with the Journals of the Warburg Institute and the idiosyncratic approach to aesthetic and cultural history of the art historian Aby Warburg. The figures of the priest and distraught woman both appear in Kitaj's earlier painting, 'Specimen Musings of a Democrat', as indeed does the deckchair. Here, however, the distraught woman is given prominence and is a further reference to what Warburg referred to as the 'nympha' or 'maenad' in Florentine Renaissance art, which he described as an intrusive and incongruous figure. Although similar to Botticelli's female figures in her flowing garments and hair, Warburg was more concerned with the hidden cultural and socio-historical meanings of the 'nympha' rather than her aesthetic qualities.
Pallant House Gallery
Chichester
Title
Priest, Deckchair and Distraught Woman
Date
1961
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 127 x W 101.6 cm
Accession number
CHCPH 1291
Acquisition method
gift from Colin St John Wilson through the National Art Collections Fund, 2004
Work type
Painting