 Holly McCullough of the Telfair Museum of Art
Considers what a home’s interior says about its inhabitants
(SAVANNAH) – You wouldn’t believe all your home says about you.
Domestic interiors often reveal the values, personalities, cultural background and stylistic preferences of their inhabitants. Holly McCullough, chief curator of fine arts and exhibitions for the Telfair Museum of Art, says that looking at paintings of interiors can make us more aware of those messages. And interiors offer not only revealing insights about their individual inhabitants, but also the shifting style, taste and values of a given culture or period.
“Domestic interiors may reflect the personality or social position of their inhabitants, but they can also reveal the mindset of the artist ,” McCullough said. Many important pictures in the history of art portray domestic interiors occupied by their inhabitants, and are therefore considered portraits. The interior conveys something about the person, and also about that time and place in which that person lived, revealing cultural and stylistic values. The decoration and furnishing of an interior reflect upon the inhabitants of that environment, but also upon the concept of home itself.
“It’s fascinating to see how that concept has changed,” McCullough said. “Looking at domestic interiors in historical paintings allows us to consider how much the concept of home has changed—and also how much it has remained the same. It’s a way to get a sense of who we are.” She’ll discuss the topic in a lecture for Celia Dunn Sotheby's International Realty’s Masterpiece Series on Nov 29.
McCullough notes that a portrait of Marie Antoinette by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun from the late 18th-century reveals how domestic portraiture was sometimes intended to manipulate how viewers felt about the sitter. By showing Marie Antoinette surrounded by her children in a warm domestic setting, the artist makes us focus on her as a mother, not a queen. Painted on the eve of the French Revolution, the portrait was designed to inspire compassion and affection for the queen. Though not successful in sparing Marie Antoinette from the revolutionaries, the painting does shape our impressions of her because of the warm domestic setting that surrounds her..
An early Renaissance painting known as the Merode Altarpiece by Robert Campin portays a traditional religious subject—the Anunciation--but the event is set in an ordinary domestic Flemish interior. Setting the scene in a contemporary context shows a shift in interest toward secular life and home life rather than wholly spiritual concerns, and signals the onset of the Renaissance. The domestic environment in this painting also contains ordinary objects that would have been understood as religious symbols by viewers in that era.
Other more modern interior paintings may express more about the artist’s view of the world than anything else. Edward Hopper’s interiors, for instance, feel isolated and lonely even when they are inhabited, reflecting Hopper’s particular outlook on American life.
McCullough expects to touch on some of these examples and more during her Nov. 29 lecture for Celia Dunn Sotheby's International Realty’s Masterpiece Series.
“It’s an opportunity to look at powerful works in the history of art for what they reveal about the domestic environment,” McCullough said.
About the lecture:
Nov 29 (Thursday)
“Home Sweet Home: The Domestic Interior in Art”
Holly McCullough
This talk by Holly McCullough, curator of fine arts and exhibitions for the Telfair Museum of Art, will consider selected paintings of domestic interiors in art through to contemporary times. These works present interiors that offer revealing insights about their individual inhabitants (who may be absent or present), as well as shifting style, taste and values in cultures. Proceeds will benefit the Telfair Museum of Art.
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