Night – Empress of Silence and the Queen of Sleep. 1884. Oil on canvas laid onto masonite; 69 x 47 inches (175.3 x 119.4 cm). Private collection. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Calderon exhibited this painting, a rare incursion by him into late 19th century Symbolist painting, at the Royal Academy in 1884, no. 340. It features a stately seated young woman in classical draperies as a personification of Night. If one compares the painting in its current state to a contemporary engraving in The Art Journal in 1884 it is obvious that the ivy seen growing behind the bench has now faded into the background and much of the detail of Night's dark blue drapery has been lost. The critic for The Art Journal felt Calderon had never done better work: "No. 340. Night, by Philip H. Calderon, R.A. Curiously enough, in this year's show are two presentations of Night by painters of the first rank; this by Mr. Calderon, and one we shall look at later by M. Bouguereau. Night is, for Mr. Calderon, young and fair of face; she is fully clad in draperies of white, and deepest blue. She is statuesquely seated on a marble bench; behind her is a sky of dusky indigo. Mr. Calderon has never done finer work than this, and the Venus at the Grosvenor: one or other should have been purchased by the Chantrey Fund" (210).
F. G. Stephens in The Athenaeum did not know quite what to make of this picture: "Mr. Calderon's Night (340) "Empress of silence and the queen of sleep,"" is a puzzle for prosaic critics, who can make little of the handsome, life-size, Greekish damsel clad in blue and white, who, with a vague expression and half-glazed eyes, contemplate anything or nothing. It is affective as a painting of moonlight on stately forms and massive draperies, but the roses of the carnations may awaken doubts about the technical veracity of the whole. For ourselves we suspect Mr. Calderon has not quite made up his mind about the motive of the affective design he has treated with exceptional élan" (702). It is not surprising that Stephens was confused about this painting because without its pretentious title it could easily be mistaken for a standard work of the Aesthetic Movement featuring a beautiful girl in a classical setting.
Night was a favourite subject with Victorian Symbolist artists including Edward Burne-Jones, with his watercolour of 1870, and multiple versions in oil, watercolour, chalk, and pencil by Simeon Solomon.
Links to Related Material
Bibliography
Stephens, Frederic George. "The Royal Academy." The Athenaeum No. 2953 (May 31, 1884): 700-02.
"The Exhibition of the Royal Academy." The Art Journal New Series XXIII (1884): 209-11.
Created 14 July 2023