LITERATURE

MEETS ART
Valeria Bentez Prez
Thursday, May 1, 14
I N T R O D U C T I O N
J U S T I F I C A T IO N
SONG OF MYSELF
THE INFERNAL BRIDEGROOM
STREET HAUNTING
WAITING FOR GODOT
DEMIAN
THE METAMORPHOSIS
T H E G U E S T
LITERATURE
MEETS ART
Thursday, May 1, 14
I N T R O D U C T I O N
We have art in order not to die of truth Friedrich Nietzsche
The exhibition : Literature Meets Art, as well as this catalogue propose encounters and relations
between several literary works and paintings. The exhibition encompasses literature, history, art
and philosophy. Regardless of the period in which they were created, the curation has the
purpose of conceiving similarities in these two very different forms of expression while inviting
the observer to dig deeper into the meaning of art .
As you walk through the exhibition you will find several paintings, which just by themselves are
incredibly beautiful; however these works of art are each intended to represent a different
literary piece. Along this carefully planned exhibition, pieces of art that are related with the
following literary pieces will be found: SONG OF MYSELF by Walt Whitman, THE
INFERNAL BRIDEGROOM by Arthur Rimbaud, STREET HAUNTING by Virginia Woolf,
WAITING FOR GODOT by Samuel Beckett , DEMIAN by Herman Hesse , the THE
METAMORPHOSIS by Franz Kafka and THE GUEST by Albert Camus .
Relating a painting to a novel or short story might just be the encouragement needed for the
intellect to understand more about both pieces, as well as developing passion for both forms art.
The objective of the exhibit is to give you food for thought.
Thursday, May 1, 14
J U S T I FI C A T I O N
Art is, undoubtedly, the most sublime form of expression. Both literature and painting are
powerful conveyors of emotions and ideas, and it is through them that we are able of
experiencing the world in different terms. Unfortunately the fact is that arts and literatures
importance has been disregarded in recent years, even the concept of art has been distorted. We
are not capable of conceiving the ideas that language nurtures our existence, and that art uses
language as means of expression. The world has turn into a productiveness concerned,
consumerist, blindfolded whirlwind with little regard for the sublime. We are in desperate
need of art and sensibilisation.
As mover and awakener of the world, art can help us understand history and human condition
throughout it. This exhibition tries to create bonds between a painting and a literary piece, as en
encouragement for the viewers to get in touch with the feeling conveyed by art. It is by relating
this contrasting forms of expression form different time periods, and identifying similarities
between them that we are being engaged to discover afnities between points of views and
ideas. We are drawn to put in contrasts our own ideals and confronted to the idea of the
constant and ever-changing interaction with the world.
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y W a l t W h i t m a n
S o n g o f M y s e l f
Whitmans song of myself is a
captivating and exceptional
poem. Without the classic
poetic structure, Whitman
manages to bring rhythm and
rhyme into the poem, and
what seems recklessly written
i s real l y a superbl y and
carefully structured wordplay.
This poem profoundly conveys
sensations and strong feelings
by the use of sensorial writing,
as well as certain music to it.
The poem by Whitman is
related to the impressionist
painting by Claude Monet,
firstly because they both
greatly evoke nature. The
poem states the absolute
de s i r e f o r t he a i r , t he
atmosphere, the dry leaves ;
and in Monets painting we
can also see the prevalence of
nature, the fascination for it as
it prevails of all over the rest.
Grass it self is a predominant
theme in both artists works of
art.
Another relation between this
two works of art is that they
both defy the rules of their
time. Whitman writes Song of
Myself as a free verse with no
a p p a r e n t s t r u c t u r e ,
disregarding the basic rules
of poetry, and grammar; While
Monets radical technique,
and the
b r i g h t c o l o r s o f h i s
impressionist canvas were
shocking for eyes accustomed
to the more sober colors of
Academic painting. Both artists
opened the doors for a new,
definitely more creative and
freer form of expression.
In a way, though the content of
the poem and the painting are
truly important, it is the feeling
they convey what matters the
most. Impressionism is not
supposed to be looked at
directly in order to appreciate
details and light, and this poem
i s not t o be under st ood
completely, but rather enjoyed
to the fullest.
C l a u d e M o n e t
1 8 7 6
D a n s l a p r a i r i e
O i l o n c a n v a s
60.3 x 82 cm.
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
The smoke of my own breath,
Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread,
crotch and vine,
My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the
passing of blood and air through my lungs,
The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and
dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,
The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the
eddies of the wind,
...
Whitman
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y A r t h u r R i m b a u d
T h e I n f e r n a l B r i d e g r o o m
Stphane Mal l arm, Paul
Verlaine, and Arthur Rimbaud
all formed part of the french
symbolist movement. This was
an i deal i st i c movement ,
created by artists discontented
with their culture. French
literary critics in the 19th
c e nt u r y u s e d t he t e r m
Decadents to dismiss these
writers, but some writers
embraced the term, taking
pride in their opposition to
e v e r y da y mor a l i t y . The
Decadents lived tumultuous,
bohemian lives, and the affair
bet ween Ver l ai ne and
Rimbaud has been the source
o f ma n y l e g e n d s a n d
dramatizations. In the infernal
Bride Groom, poem found in
the book
A Season in Hell, Rimbaud
uses the catholic image of the
foolish virgin to represent Paul
Verlaine. The image of the
Vi rgi n, al ong wi th other
religious subjects such as
confession and hell are cleverly
mocked al ong the poem.
Rimbauds writing is plagued
with cynicism, and his own
desi re t o f i nd a way of
changing the perception of love
a n d me a n i n g o f l i f e .
Unfortunately, the young poet
soon found that deranging his
senses, and di sregardi ng
morals had not borough him
closer to the re-invention of
love.
The painting The Rooster in
Love by Chagall
was chosen to represent this
poem firstly because Marc
Chagall, as the symbolists,
favored the associative powers
of the imagination in his art. In
addition, both of the selected
works of art rej ect thei r
predecessors tendency toward
nat ur al i s m and r eal i s m.
Observe carefully, this painting
inevitably conveys a sense of
derangement of the senses.
It is also possible to notice that
Chagall, too, uses religious
images in his art, and he
manages to express absolute
f reedom t hrough i t . The
mys t i c al movement t hat
Chagall captures on canvas is so
poetic that the painting seems
to dance to the rhythm of a
musical score.

M a r c C h a g a l l
1 9 4 7
T h e R o o s t e r i n L o v e
O i l o n c a n v a s
Thursday, May 1, 14
I am slave to the infernal Spouse, he who ruined the foolish virgins. Its indeed that
very same demon. Its no spectre, its no phantom. But I who have lost my wisdom, who
am damned and dead to the world they wont kill me! How can I describe him to
you! I cant speak any more. I am in mourning, I weep, I fear. A little coolness, Lord, if
you please, if you graciously please!
...
He says: I dont like women. Love must be re-invented, thats certain. All they do is
long for security. Once gained, heart and beauty are set aside: only cold disdain
remains, the fodder of marriage, nowadays. Or else I see women, with the marks of
happiness, whom I could have made into ne comrades, devoured from the start by
brutes as sensitive as posts
Rimbaud
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y V i r g i n i a W o o l f
S t r e e t H a u n t i n g
Vi r gi ni a Wool f ' s "St r eet
H a u n t i n g , A L o n d o n
Adventure" provides a unique
and detailed perspective of city
life. As the narrator walks
along the London streets, we
are given glimpses into other
peoples lives by what our
narrator observes. Virginia
Woolf uses extensive imagery
to describe London from
different perspectives as the
narrator watches the energy
bursting streets. The story also
opens a window for the reader
to understand the role of
women at the time, as well as
characteristic traits in society.
The woman trying on shoes,
the blind men on the street, the
woman in the the balcony,
even the stain on the carpet,
are all part the moment that
Woolf attempts to capture.
Street Haunting is related to
t he charact eri st i c cubi st
painting Dora Maar by Pablo
Picasso. He, as most of the
cubist painters rejected the
inherited concept that art
should copy nature, or that
t h e y s h o u l d a d o p t t h e
tradi ti onal techni ques of
perspective, modeling, and
foreshortening. This trait is
also seen in modernist writers
such as Woolf, in which the
central preoccupation is with
t h e i n n e r s e l f a n d
consciousness. In contrast to
the Romantic world view, the
Modernist cares rather little for
Nature.
Per s pect i ve i s al s o ver y
important in both Works or art;
since what we see in cubism is
the interpolation of multiple
perspect i ves what causes
di storti on, as i n Vi rgi ni a
Woolfs Street haunting the
perception of the eye and of the
I are put in contrast in the
preci se moment t hat t he
narrator is observing it.
P a b l o P i c a s s o
1 9 4 1
O i l p a i n t
1.28 m x 95 cm
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
How beautiful a street is in winter! It is at once revealed and obscured. Here vaguely
one can trace symmetrical straight avenues of doors and windows; here under the
lamps are oating islands of pale light through which pass quickly bright men and
women, who, for all their poverty and shabbiness, wear a certain look of unreality, an
air of triumph, as if they had given life the slip, so that life, deceived of her prey,
blunders on without them. But, after all, we are only gliding smoothly on the surface.
The eye is not a miner, not a diver, not a seeker after buried treasure. It oats us
smoothly down a stream; resting, pausing, the brain sleeps perhaps as it looks.
...
Woolf
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y S a m u el B e c k e t t
W a i t i n g f o r G o d o t
Becketts absurd play Waiting
for Godot is possibly one of the
literary modern works with the
most interpretations, it is also
one Becketts most famous
plays. This play forms part of
the Theater of the Absurd,
which means that it is meant
to be irrational, and to lack of
meaning. The Thtre de
l'Absurde expressed the belief
of many writers that, in a
godl ess uni verse, human
existence has no meaning or
purpose and therefore all
communication breaks down.
In Becketts play two men wait
for Godot siting by a rock and a
tree, but he is never to show
up.
The enti re pl ay revol ves
around the waiting of the men
for something o someone that
never comes. Beckett often
focused on the idea of "the
suffering of being, and most
of this play deals with the fact
that the men are waiting for
something to alleviate their
boredom.
Godots identity has been
s u b j e c t o f c o u n t l e s s
interpretations; however the
writer assures us the only
purpose of the play is to be
absurd.
Rene Magritte, one of the most
wel l known and f amous
surrealist painters of all time,
said that everything we see
hides some other thing yet we
still want to see what is hidden
by what we see.
There is always some sort of
interest in what is hidden and
what the visible does not show
us. We can observe that what
happens with Waiting for
Godot is similiar to what
happens with the painting the
Son of Man by Magritte; both of
this superb Works of arts leave
p l e n t y o f r o o m f o r
interpretation. We always
desire to see what lies hidden
beneath the obvious , because
the thought of the absurd is
simply unbearable .
R e n M a g r i t t e
1 9 6 4
O i l p a i n t
116 cm ! 89 cm
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
VLADIMIR:
Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all queer. (He takes off his
hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again.) How shall
I say? Relieved and at the same time . . . (he searches for the word) . . .
appalled. (With emphasis.) AP-PALLED. (He takes off his hat again, peers
inside it.) Funny. (He knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign
body, peers into it again, puts it on again.) Nothing to be done.
...
Beckett
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y H e r m a n H e s s e
D e m i a n
The book Demian by Herman
Hesse relates the story of the
journey from childhood to
manhood of Emil Sinclair.
During this journey our main
character gets to know himself
by undergoing a series of both
e mot i onal and phys i c al
changes., and it is through this
changes t hat he get s t o
appreciate and interact with
the world in different ways. It
is Demian, Emil Sinclairs
friend and guide who acts as a
catal yzer for change and
reflection thought the story..
The book by Hesse is crucial,
since it does not narrate a
story that begins with birth
and ends with death. It is
rather the journey though the
self to the self.
The master piece of Hesse has
been paired with a rather
unknown self portrait. The
genre of the self-portrait was
bor n, of c our s e, i n t he
Renaissance, when the History
of Art became the History of
Artists. Since then, the self-
portraits have turned into one
of t he ri chest and most
fascinating genres of the
history of painting
The chosen painting self-
portrait as Ecce Homo by
Albrecht Drer is arguably one
of the most interesting self
portraits of all times. While at
f i r s t g l a nc e t he f a c t of
portraying himself as Jesus
Christ could be interpreted as
an act of self-idolatry, it should
be noticed that the image of the
Ecce Homo is the quintessential
representation of pain and
sufferi ng. Humani ty as a
symbol and essence of the
artist. The self portrait as
Demian depict profound self
knowledge, achieved by the
questioning of the self.
A l b r e c h t D r e r
1 5 0 0
O i l o n w o o d p a n e l
66.3 cm ! 49 cm
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
I did not know myself, for I was too deeply involved. It had begun with Beatrice, but
for some time I had been living in such an unreal world with my paintings and my
thoughts of Demian that I'd forgotten all about her, too. I could not have uttered a
single word about my dreams and expectations, my inner change, to anyone, not even if
I had wanted to. But how could I have wanted to?
...
Hesse
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y F r a n z K a f k a
T h e M e t a m o r p h o s i s
In The Metamorphosis Franz
Kafka confronts us with the
with the premise of physical
a n d p s y c h o l o g i c a l
transformation. Gregor Samsa,
a regular man, finds himself
turned into a horrid vermin
one morning. From this point
onwa r ds , t he r e a de r i s
introduced Gregors new life
as an insect .It is natural for
t he reader t o be f ul l of
questions since the begging of
the story. Is it a dream? Is it
metaphor? A manifestation of
how the main character feels?
A dehumanizing regression?
Why did this happen to him?
Being unable to fulfill his job
and obligations with his family,
Gregor is alienated and his
human condition denied. Since
he is no longer a productive
member of the society he is
isolated and left to die.
A v e r y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
expressionist painting was
chosen t o i l l ust r at e t he
Metamorphosis.
Expressionism is an artistic
styl e i n whi ch the arti st
a t t e mpt s t o de pi c t not
objective reality but rather the
subj ect i ve emot i ons and
responses that objects and
events arouse in him.
The painting of The Scream by
Edvard Munch provides us with
a psychological blueprint for
Expressionist art: distorted
shapes and exaggerated colors
that amplify a sense of anxiety
and al i enat i on. Bot h t he
met amor phos i s and The
Scream express a profound
despair , which arouses from
alienation of a modern society
w h e r e p u n c t u a l i t y
productiveness and obedience
have replaced the sublime.
Both works of at can be seen as
a scream, a gasp for air, an
attempt to escape the absorbing
machine known as progress.
E d v a r d M u n c h
1 8 9 3 1 8 9 3
T h e S c r e a m
O i l o n c a n v a s
91x 74 cm.
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered
that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his
armour-hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen
divided up into rigid bow-like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to
slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in
comparison to the rest of his circumference, ickered helplessly before his eyes.
...
Kafka
Thursday, May 1, 14
b y A l b e r t C a m u s
T h e G u e s t
In the story The Guest, Albert
Camus present s us t o a
secluded character, Daru, who
its forced into making a
uninformed decision about a
mans l i f e. The mai n
character is ordered to take an
Arab , who is a prisoner, to
where hell be imprisoned.
Overwhelmed by the fact that
any decision he makes will in
s o me w a y c h a n g e h i s
monotonous and secluded
lifestyle, and trying to evade
the decision, Daru lets the
prisoner escape, laying the
decision on the prisoner to
e a s e h i s b u r d e n .
In the story author confronts
us with the harshness of
c ommuni c at i on bar r i er s
between the prisoner and
Daru, as well as the fear of of
assuming responsibility for our
choices.
With this moral dilemma the
individual must make a choice,
but how to make it, if he
doesnt know anything about
the other man, theyre both
isolated. In this case the
isolation occurs because the
barrier of language, but it
depicts a barrier that stands
between everyone.
The s t or y c onveys ver y
powerfully the solitude that
these characters embody even
though they are together.
The painting by Hopper:
Room in New York, also depicts
two individuals in the same
room; we dont know their story
yet we judge them. In this
painting we can see a barrier
between the man and the
women, not a physical one but
it conveys the feeling of
loneliness. They are evidently at
each other company but same
as Daru they are lonely .
Loneliness, whether a state of
being alone, feeling lonely, or
experi enci ng sol i t ude, i s
portrayed as an essential aspect
o f h u m a n e x i s t e n c e .
Understanding loneliness is key
to understand existentialism.
E d w a r d H o p p e r
1932
R o o m i n N e w Y o r k
O i l o n c a n v a s
Thursday, May 1, 14
...
Daru surveyed the two directions. There was nothing but the sky on the horizon. Not
a man could be seen. He turned toward the Arab, who was looking at him blankly.
Daru held out the package to him. "Take it," he said. "There are dates, bread, and
sugar. You can hold out for two days.
...
Camus
Thursday, May 1, 14
R E F E R E NC E S

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3. PIRNUTA, Oana-Andreea, and Anca BADULESCU. "Poetry And Art: Rethinking Symbolism And Impressionism According To Semiotic
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Journal Of Modern Literature 36.1 (2012): 104-118. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
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6. TABAN, CARLA. "Samuel Beckett: Du Discours Descriptif, Fictif Et Critique Sur La Peinture La Contigut Du Discursif Et Du Pictural.
(French)." Word & Image 27.2 (2011): 220-233. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
7. http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2014/preraphaelite-legacy
8. http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/1469
9. http://www.christies.com/lotnder/paintings/claude-monet-dans-la-prairie-5176268-details.aspx

10. Little, Stephen. Ismos para entender el arte Turner

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Thursday, May 1, 14