Splashing About In Power Point

October 4, 2013   

     Welcome to my first Power Point presentation, introducing you to the viewpoint of Henry James, featuring his story, Daisy Miller.   https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByQDL2EBxe8-SmNZbG5DcG1zZHc/edit?usp=sharing

Finding the art, creating each slide and citing the source was a thing of joy and ease.  Why have I been so long avoiding the dreaded event?  I think we can blame all the text heavy, visually stultifying Power Points that have graced many a classroom.  I found that experimenting was easy and the longest part of the process was writing the script or text.  Then, with a portfolio of selected art images, I began to match and present - like scrap booking, but neater.

My artistic choices are simply illustrations, visualizations to illu'stro, enlighten or aid in the introduction of a concept (lenses of alternate perceptions filter and create bias) applied to Henry James’ Daisy Miller.

In a classroom learning setting, I would not explain my choices, but rather, hope to engage my students’ curiosity and set the stage for a collaborative exercise in critical thinking, synthesizing links between their own experiences and the material presented, both textual and artistic.  Peer teams would summarize and predict outcomes from the quotes and settings. This student-centered activity would effectively focus on the cultural context of Henry James’ characters’ dialogue.

However, I am delighted to share my artistic choices with all of you. 

First, all the Impressionist art, with the notable exception of Bacon, was produced during James’ lifetime, and he would most probably have seen it. 

Second, I included the artists that he names specifically in his article “New England: An Autumn Impression.”

Third, I chose artistic renditions of women from a certain high strata of society, indicated by their dress and setting.  That knocks out Manet’s Un bar aux Folies Bergèr, (terribly interesting with it’s optical tricks and interpretations), which might not truly represent Daisy Miller’s intimate society. Portraying the correct time period, this painting’s rich details provide clues to social class and milieu. The woman at the bar was a real person, Suzon, who worked at the Folies-Bergère, a nightclub, whom Manet identifies as a prostitute, according to art historian Larry L. Ligo.  Apparently Manet habitually associated oranges with prostitution in his paintings.  Navel orange, anyone? 

Renoir’s art worked well because during the Paris Commune in 1871 he painted on the banks of the Seine River, when James was critiquing the art scene for the NY Times.  Renoir experienced his initial acclaim when six of his paintings were hung in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874 (you know, the one James hated).

Aline Victorine Charigot, an object of affection, and painted with that affection's singular interest made obvious, along with a number of the artist's friends, served as a model for Le Déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881), a candid focus on the recreation of an economically -comfortable class in their everyday life.  She, like Daisy, seems full of sparkling color, light, open attitude and good nature.