The Graces: A Trinity

The nude, being an art form, not the subject, has enthralled since its creation by the Greeks. Aphrodite the embodiment of feminine grace and sensuality, has, since her interlacing in The Three Graces, graced the mind up through Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. This complicated pose seems to derive from a row of dancers common in Greek choreography. The fact that the closed, symmetrical form begins as the first symptoms of an oriental influence and played a significant part in the disintegration of the Classic style, is of little importance to the profound effect the idea had on subsequent generations.

The naked dehanchement of the Graces is free form moral opprobrium, and in consequence they furnish a subject through which that form was first allowed to reappear in the 15th Century; they also offered an example for the abandonment of classic proportions and isolationary reference. Even so, by late Renaissance, --as in the Berlin relief, they were a sign of a brothel, inscribed Ad Sorores IIII.

For the Greeks they were The Charites, Pasithea, Cale and Eurphosyne. Charis had been the Goddess in the disarming aspect she presented when the High-priestess chose the sacred king as her lover. Homer mentions two Charites, --Paasithea and Cale, which seems to be a forced separation of three words: Pasi thea cale, 'The goddess who is beautiful to all men'. For the Romans they were The Graces: Aglaia, Euphrosyne, Thalia. Diodorus Siclus relates that in their Athenian cult, they are revered under the names: Auxo (Increaser) and Hegemone (She who leads, Mastery, sc. brings the plants forth form the earth). R. Graves.

The Charities in this aspect correspond with the two seasons, and although these goddesses (represented as a triad, on the authority of Hesiod via Graves, to match the Three Fates), whose parentage is variously given, are generally conceived as simply grace or loveliness embodied. They are common enough in Western art, where the three comely and maidenly figures, draped or undraped, are a reoccurring subject. This ideal, transformed through time and culture, persists completely due to the relationship of the figures, the shapes of the intervening space and the intricate sensibilities they offer each culture/artist/viewer.

These three Ven-Graces carry on my involvement with the Classic motif. Standing Woman 28, 29 and 30 were designed to be shown together with approximately a 4 inch gap between each figure. They can be either linearly mounted or placed in a circular format on 18 inch triangulated bases, eye-to-eye to the viewer. They are weatherproof, but because of the delicacy of these pieces they should be fiberglassed and epoxy coated on the inside if they are to be placed outdoors.

Classic Iconography of The Graces

Have changed the posture of this girl, she's now contrapposto and twisting. In the Classic relief, she's Thalia, which translates as: Festive. Since it's necessary to have them touching, as in the sense of unity, it is usually construed that the center figure, Aglaia (bright) has her arms stretched across both Euphrosyne (good cheer) and Thalia. In this version, since they are still within the triangulated format, i've chosen to have Aglaia's left arm stretched out and her right bent so as to lay her hand on Thalia's shoulder, instead of across her chest as in the classically recognized pose. Anyway, what this means is the figure of Thalia is complex, what with the twist and weightshift plus the partial arm and hand, she's taxing my abilities... I see them as a totality, each separated by about 3 inches, on separate bases of 18 inches... this forms a slice of space, created by the sheared areas juxtaposed; each figurearea framed by the lighter flat side and the heads turned and unencumbered (yes, i've included heads.)

I do like doing this sort of thing, writing/thinking about the history... i suppose, since i've begun this Ven business, have kick-started my interest in mythology... Otherwise, actually no one cares... and i understand, who needs it... like some math formula, the inverse squared quality of gravity, it's there but meaningless... an underlying explanation created, filling a void in the chthonic.