High Tension: Aestheticizing Drama in Sir William Quiller Orchardson’s The First Cloud

Abstract

在 1887 年英國皇家藝術學院展覽中，蘇格蘭畫家威廉・奎勒・奧查森爵士(Sir William Quiller Orchardson, 1832-1910)展出名為「第一朵雲」(The First Cloud) 的類型畫。這幅作品和畫家早前描繪婚姻主題的情境類似，因此當時觀眾及後世 推論，這幅畫是 1883 年「權宜婚姻」(Mariage de Convenance)與 1886 年「權 宜婚姻之後」(Mariage de Convenance-After!)系列作品的延續。然而，畫家 並未表明此畫為權宜婚姻系列的第三張作品。由標題得知，畫家意圖以曖昧的敘 事手法呈現上層階級兩性之間的婚姻問題。

面對疑點重重的「第一朵雲」，綜合蒐集到的既有文獻，本篇論文旨在探究畫面 中「劍拔弩張」的成因，試圖從保守與創新、敘事及非敘事的矛盾中著手研究這幅代表英國十九世紀後期時代精神的作品。

全文主要分三個面向進行探討。第一章討論作品的敘事手法及歷史脈絡，欲勾勒 出畫面的具體內容，並以此說明「第一朵雲」何以受到英國傳統敘事畫的影響， 卻仍為觀眾留下未解之謎。其次，第二章探討作品的美學訴求。除了畫面中傳達 緘默無語的緊張局勢，畫家透過隱藏在副標題的詩句營造無聲的氛圍，更搭配畫 面的留白空間、和諧的色調與審慎的構圖來強化這對男女的疏離感。此外，畫面 中的白衣女子亦揭示了畫家的唯美傾向。最後，第三章討論人物與室內環境的關 係。當室內空間成為觀眾想像與自我投射的主要場域時，畫面即同時容納可見的 現實與隱藏的情緒，成為心理劇場的最佳寫照。

本研究試圖解釋與定義「第一朵雲」為獨特與具有影響力的時代經典，畫家藉由 畫面中完美的構圖呈現，暗喻英國十九世紀末的社會問題與衝突現象。The First Cloud, a genre painting presented by Scottish painter Sir William Quiller Orchardson (1832-1910) at the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1887, has been considered as part of a series dealing with marriage issues following his previous successes Mariage de Convenance (1883) and Mariage de Convenance – After! (1886). Contrary to this pair of paintings representing a narrative suite, Orchardson did not identify The First Cloud as a third episode among the series, but preferred, as the different title suggests, to tackle with more ambiguity the marital drama taking place between an upper-class couple.

This thesis aims to explore the ambiguity in Orchardson’s The First Cloud by taking into account the current available sources and studies at hand. Treating this painting as a representative work of the late nineteenth century, my thesis tries to analyze this particular piece in the conflicting spirits of its epoch—seeking to examine Orchardson’s work from the opposite perspectives of conservatism and innovation, narrative and non-narrative.

This research is divided into three parts. The first chapter delineates the specificities of the painting by discussing its narrative and historical context. The painting shows in this respect that it is still embedded in the English narrative tradition but obviously leaves an unsolved problem to the audience. Chapter two explores the aesthetic appeal of the work. The painting delivers a strong sense of silent tension in different aspects, such as in its musical metaphor in the subtitle, empty space, tonal harmony and refined composition—all of which strengthen the mood of a deep alienation between the couple. In addition, the presence of the woman in white reveals the artist’s aesthetic attitude. Finally, the third chapter investigates the field of the interior space at the time. The interior in the painting becomes a prominent backdrop upon which the audience’s imagination and self-projection are staged. This domestic interior blurs the boundary between public and private spheres that contains visible reality as well as invisible emotion.

This analysis seeks to contribute some thoughts on defining The First Cloud not only as an ambiguous narrative work but also an influential model that reflects the conflicting nature of the late nineteenth-century Britain through the artist’s refined composition.