Impression and Comparison
The building’s architectural design was amazing. I visited most of the exhibits; however, I spent most of my two-hour visit in the European painting section. There was quite a crowd and slight whispering going on, but when you come to the section of most famous European painters such as Van Gough, Monet, David, etc, spectators and other observers gazed with awe and amazement.
Moreover, I observed only a few people with the auditory tour. I thought of having the audio tour is a must in visiting the Getty museum again which cost only $5.00. Spending two hours a day would be ideal.
Also, I was able to witness the moon rise behind the LA Mountains. The website – www.getty.edu – did not describe the incredible views of the LA area.
Style and content
Jacques-Louis David’s excellent masterpiece of the young lovers Telemachus and Eucharis was created at the dawn of the artist’s life when the defeat of Napoleon and the return of the monarchy in France forced him into exile in Brussels.
What was the artist’s intent?
Various paintings of David during this era show his obsession with the psychology of love, and most notable of all is the parting of Telemachus and Eucharis depicting their powerful emotions in this beautifully crafted masterpiece.
Details
Drawing the viewers in amusement, the fair-haired Telemachus takes hold of Eucharis’s thigh with his right hand while holding his sword upright with his left hand.
French novel Les Aventures de Télémaque published in 1699, characters based from the Odyssey, the author Fénelon portrays how Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, fell fervently in love with the beautiful nymph Eucharis. However, his responsibility as a son forced him to end their love affair and depart to look for his missing father.
In a grotto on Calypso’s island, the ill-fated lovers bid farewell to each other. The front view shows Telemachus’s blue tunic falls open revealing his naked torso. Eucharis embraces Telemachus’s neck and gently rests her head upon his shoulder in resignation. Jacques-Louis David perfectly contrasted masculine rectitude with female emotion.
David painted The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis during his exile in Brussels. His painting is characterized by using saturated reds and blues contrasted with flesh tones and combined with a clarity of line and form typifies the Neoclassical style.
- “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis” Jacques-Louis David
- French, 1818
- Oil on canvas
- 34 ½ x 40 ½ in.
- 87.PA.27
The place and date of completion – “Bruxelles, 1818” -appear on Telemachus’s gold horn.
The signature of the artist is worked into the decorative scheme of Eucharis’s quiver.
The notation “Mr. David” is inscribed on the back of the original stretcher. A stretcher maker or canvas preparer may have written this before delivery to David’s studio.
References
- Jacques-Louis David. “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis”. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Web.
- Dorothy Johnson. “Jacques-Louis David: The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis”. Web.
- Jacques-Louis David. “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis”. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Web.
- Jacques-Louis David. “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis”. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Web.
- Jacques-Louis David. “Telemachus gold horn”. The J. Paul Getty Trust. Web.
- Jacques-Louis David. “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis: Container on Eucharis’s back”. Web.
- Jacques-Louis David. “The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis: Reverse of stretcher”.