Narrative Painting.

Drawing for the Cure of Folly (after Bosch)  1990

by:  Patrick Mahoney

    What is narrative painting?  In a nutshell, a narrative painting is one that tells a story.  From the beginning of recorded history until the advent of abstract painting, almost any picture that contained images of humans was a narrative.

    The ancient cave paintings of Lascaux are pictures that tell a story of hunting and other practices of that time.  Almost all of the paintings we see in the great churches of Europe are narratives.  In the heyday of the Catholic church when many people were illiterate,  paintings were a way of instructing the faithful.  This practice of narrative painting is alive and well today.

    When we watch TV, we see narrative commercials that are designed to instruct or persuade us by visual means.  But, there are still many artists who work in the narrative style for purely artistic reasons.

    The drawing I have chosen for this post is a good example of a narrative work and here is why.  In this picture, I am telling a story about myself and I am using the figures to do it.  The picture is based on the original "Cure of Folly" by Hieronymus Bosch who lived and worked in the 16th and 17th centuries. You probably know him from his epic painting, "The Garden of Earthly Delights".

    The picture contains four figures arranged around a table.  Who are these people?  Well, the person in the chair is me.  In the original painting, the poor fellow in the chair is being bled to cure him of his folly or improper thoughts.  In this drawing, I am being cured of my folly as well.  The figure in the white gown with peaked head cover is a kind of medical technician who is attempting to extract improper thoughts from my head.  You see, I am the artist and I have creative and often what are considered, subversive thoughts, that do not exactly fit into the political, social and scientific world in which I live.

    The clergyman represents my Catholic upbringing and the guilt and conflict associated with that faith.  The guy in the coonskin cap represents my military experience.  These figures represent major influences in my life and they are all working together to create what they hope will be a harmonious and mutually advantageous environment in which they can maintain their power and continue to prosper.

    As the artist, I am the fly in the ointment and represent a threat to them and their respective institutions.  My habit of independent thinking and questioning of authority irritates them and they see it as a possible danger as I might influence others with my art.  In his time, Galileo was branded a heretic, because He discovered that the earth was not the center of the solar system.  Today, we accept this as scientific truth, but in Galileo's time, it ran contrary to the teachings of the all-powerful Catholic church.

    Just as narrative painting has been used to propagandize and support the theories and laws of major institutions, it has also been a powerful tool to criticize those same entities.  In centuries past, a painter had to be very careful not to be seen as criticizing the church or the aristocracy, because he could lose his head for it.  Today, with the advent of democracy and more free and open societies, artists often criticize and mock the powers that be.

    In my picture, I am exposing and mocking the institutions that I feel have consistently tried to bleed me of any independent or creative thought or action.  What the Catholic church could not do through guilt and threats, the military tried to do with rigid discipline and brainwashing. In this narrative, the church and the military have obviously failed to tame me, so science is attempting to bring me into line by using it's particular methods.

    The medical figure is particularly menacing, because he represents the good science of medicine in the service of those who would corrupt it and use it for control. 

    So, you see, what we have is a story of the artist who is a free spirit and independent thinker who is going to produce art, because it suits him and not to please any institution, government or other power.  The guy in the chair could easily give in an make art to flatter and support the other figures, but he won't, because he is a true artist and part of a tradition going back to the earliest creative endeavors of our species.

    I hope that this simple, humble explanation has given you a better understanding of narrative painting and will improve your enjoyment of the artworks you will see from now on.  As always, I look forward to your comments and suggestions.  Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for more topics.  Patrick Mahoney, AKA Potlick

    A word about the drawing:  I made this and several other charcoal  drawings in preparation for a large painting entitled "The Cure of Folly" after Hieronymus Bosch.  This drawing is about 16" x 16" and is made with vine charcoal on Reeves BFK rag paper.  It is signed, matted with archival materials and framed under glass.