Photographing the Whistler Mural.

I am due to go to Plas Newydd tomorrow to photograph the painting, I will be looking to identify and photograph the aspects of interest that will form the content points for the display. I have done some preliminary reading to try and identify some interesting points; however the books were both by Laurence Whistler and focused more on a personal account of the artist’s life rather than an exploration of the artist’s work (and as such lacked an in-depth exploration of the meaning and details of the painting). A number of aspects seem to be of importance within the painting which it may be worth trying to include:

• The painting sits opposite the windows that frame the mountain view of Snowdonia. The author states that ‘Rex resolved to answer it as in a mirror – a mirror that transformed.’ (p204) resulting in the imaginary city / costal / mountain landscape of the mural.
• The tragic unrequited love of the painter for Caroline (the daughter of the family) is depicted in a number of ways (The pair of swallows (love taking flight) / the artist sweeping up rose petals (unrequited love) / the balcony of Romeo and Juliet).
• The detailed architecture that combines real and imaginary buildings into an idealised cityscape (need to find out the specific sources for the buildings).
• The wet footprints of Neptune who has stepped out of the painting and into the house, leaving his trident and crown behind.
• How the painting was made (painted on canvas rather than directly on the wall). Background information on the artist.
• The cleaver use of perspective and tromp l’oeil (the side walkways and the anchor that appears to rotate).
• Member of the family and imaginary characters that have been included in the painting (the girl on water may be Caroline / the current lord Anglesey as a child depicted stealing an apple.
• Items of importance for the family (the cello and dog).
• Visual jokes that the artist has included (the half smoked cigarette, implying that the artist has only just stepped away from the painting).

In order to make sure that I choose the best points, it will be worth talking to the guides about their understanding of the mural. It will also be worth looking at what is included in the current interpretation provision.