Research - John William Waterhouse

The attempt of expressing the feminine nature was a really important aim for artists during painting witches such as balancing nature and duality of beauty and danger.  John William Waterhouse was a really big figure in these movements. He did a lot of portraits of witches or magical beings from the literature. Including nymphs, sirens (evil figures who lure sailors to death), mermaids (peaceful, non-violent creatures, that are trying to live far away from the human world) and also Medea or Pandora. 

He was a very talented painter but a lot of his works has almost the same - mysterious women sitting alone in a very detailed landscape, there can also feel melancholy and loneliness in his paintings. I very like the way he paints using soft lines and colours for creating unique characters placed very often in dark background.

In my opinion, one of his best paintings is Magic Circle from 1886. This painting is one of his earliest that include all of the imagination of the dark witch at that time. And what is surprising that the work is not based on any single particular literally witch, it shows an original concept of the witch. 

Waterhouse (1886) Magic Circle

The paintings present a young woman that is standing in the middle of the painting in a magic circle that holds a long wand that makes create this circle, she is standing next to a three-legged cauldron from which smoke rises. Around her can be seen animals that were associated with the witch such as toads, ravens (one of them rests on a human skull) or a snake that can be seen wrapped around her neck eating himself. She also holds magical accessories. In the background can be seen probably a cliff or stone mountain on the top of which is a small village (there can be seen some kind of houses).

In the cave that is placed on the right side on the foot of the mountain can be seen three people sitting and looking at the ritual. It can be said that the whole act has placed on the beach because of the sand under the foot of the witch. 

Another painting that I want to look at is Miranda - The Tempest a work that was created by the same artists in 1916. 

Waterhouse (1916) Miranda - The Tempest

In the painting, we can see a hed haired woman standing lonely on the edge of the rocky beach. She is holding her hair in the right hand and her left has bent on her breast. She wears a dark blue dress without any patterns and looks at the sinking ship on the rough sea. This ship seems to be unmanned because we can not see any person on it or maybe all of the sailors fall into the water. I am not sure.

It can be described as a woman femme fatale that brings man to ruin or personification of the sirens who lure sailors to death I am not sure but this woman in the painting does not show any sadness, well we can not see any emotions in connection with the catastrophe. 

As for my Set Project, I would like to base on the image of the Magic circle to create one of my work. This painting is a great description of the witches doing things that were described in The Hammer of the Witches because of which thousands of people were sentenced to death. 

Women in John's works are presented as dangerous creatures full of unnatural beauty in beautiful scenery. Lots of his works show the women in the forest, beach or garden in places where are no people, it gives an atmosphere of them being untouchable. Looking at them I can see that they are presented as something that has to lure a viewer its beauty, confidence and power. It can be said that the characters are created with bodies, pose and faces full of calmness and softness it is like she is not moved in any way even if the painting presented a sinking ship, she is standing there looking at it but do nothing. 

In my opinion, these paintings are presented women femme fatale that brings misery to the men's world. It can be said that the author wanted to show the dangerous side of women and maybe warn from this. That the men should be careful because if they hurt a woman she can destroy him. Maybe I exaggerated a little bit but it is how I see it as a painting full of powerful women. 

References:

John William Waterhouse (1886) Magic Circle oil on canvas 183x127cm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Circle_(Waterhouse_painting)#/media/File:John_William_Waterhouse_-_Magic_Circle.JPG Tate Britan, London [07.05.2021]

John William Waterhouse (1916) Miranda - The Tempest oil on canvas  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Magic_Circle_(Waterhouse_painting)#/media/File:Miranda_-_The_Tempest_JWW.jpg Tate Britan, London [07.05.2021]