B.
All's fair
Behind the scenes
Colour me cynical, but there's one work in the Gallery's Collection that seems to sum up all those crossed wires and conflicting agendas that render Valentine's Day a vexed proposition for many.
It's Venus and Adonis, by the French painter Antoine Coypel (b.1661, d.1722). Venus, who has just been grazed by Cupid's arrow, pleads with Adonis not to go on a wild boar hunt that will, in fact, turn out to be fatal. Her lover gazes deep into her eyes, but is he really listening? Nah, he's too busy taking the opportunity to cop a feel. Whenever I see this painting, I have the urge to insert a thought bubble above the dog that says 'And as it once was, so shall it ever be'...
Antoine Coypel Venus and Adonis. Oil on copper. Collection of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, purchased 1975
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Antoine Coypel Venus and Adonis
According to legend, Venus fell deeply in love with Adonis after being grazed by Cupid’s arrow. In this work Antoine Coypel depicts her trying to discourage Adonis from going on a hunt for wild boar that, indeed, turns out to be fatal. Coypel has painted this work with meticulous attention to detail. The copper surface allows great control over paint, allowing a smoothness that is difficult to replicate on a canvas support. Coypel’s father, Noël, and brother were also artists. Antoine travelled with his father to Rome in 1672 and began studying under his father and he was to retain a strong Italian element in his work throughout his career. Antoine’s most famous work is the ceiling of the Chapel at Versailles (1708),which was influenced by that in Il Gesù in Rome, painted by Giovanni Gaulli (Baciccio) (1639-1709). Coypel became Director of the Academy in Paris in 1714 and Rector in 1716. That year he was also made a court painter and he was ennobled in 1717.