Painting in Focus: Witek's "Laocoön" (1987)
Joan Witek, “P-36 (Laocoön),” 1987, oil on canvas, 52 x 68 in (132.1 x 172.7 cm) Collection of the Artist
Painting in Focus: Witek’s “Laocoön” (1987)
In a direct response to her love of Spain and its painters, in this work painted thirty-eight years ago Witek took to the theme of the Laocoön as painted by El Greco.
Laocoön is El Greco’s only known mythological painting. He set the scene not in Greece, but in the city of Toledo, Spain, his adopted home, and a city Witek knew well. Inspired by the discovery one hundred years prior of the monumental Hellenistic sculpture Laocoön and his Sons, El Greco’s painting dates between 1610 and 1614 and depicts the Greek and Roman mythological story of the deaths of Laocoön and his two sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus.
El Greco, "Laocoön," c.1610/1614, oil on canvas, 54 1/8 x 67 15/16 in (137.5 x 172.5 cm) Collection National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Samuel H. Kress Collection (1946.18.1)
Athanadoros, Hagesandros, and Polydoros of Rhodes, "Laocoön and his Sons," early first century C.E., marble, 7’10 1/2″ high. Collection Vatican Museums (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Photo: Steven Zucker
The mythological story of the deaths of Laocoön, a Trojan priest of Apollo in the city of Troy and his two sons, is one that has captivated many artists over the centuries. During the Trojan War, Laocoön warned his fellow Trojans against taking in the wooden horse left by the Greeks outside the city gates. Laocoön’s actions angered Athena and Poseidon, who were favoring the Greeks, and they conjured two great sea-serpents which wrapped their coils around Laocoön and his two sons killing them. From the Roman point of view, the death of these innocents was crucial to the decision of Aeneas, who heeded Laocoön's warning, to flee Troy, leading to the eventual founding of Rome.
According to scholars the original statue was discovered in 1506 on the Esquiline Hill in Rome by a farmer working in his vineyard:
The Laocoön was only one of a number of ancient artworks that had been abandoned, forgotten, and eventually buried under later buildings and streets. During the Renaissance, a number of these artworks were rediscovered, either accidentally during construction projects or purposefully by people hunting for the artworks which had become greatly admired. One of the first people to see the statue was Michelangelo, who was sent by the pope, Julius II, along with architect Giuliano da Sangallo, to inspect the statue after its excavation. Julius, like many of his sixteenth-century Italian contemporaries, was a connoisseur and collector of ancient Greek and Roman art. He purchased the statue, and it has remained in the collection of the Vatican ever since. (citation)
Witek, in her reductive approach and marque monochromatic pallet, captures schematically El Greco’s composition even down to a near matching of size and proportions. Witek seems to focus her painting on the dramatic points of interest from the parting of the storm clouds in the sky to the rolling contour of the distant cityscape to the enforcement of the emotive physical points of contact between figures, their hands, and their dying struggle with the serpents. With a few gestural marks, Witek even indicates the runaway horse which El Greco painted as reference to the Trojan Horse.
The drawing for the painting…
Witek made two known preliminary sketches in preparation for her master work. The first [D-051] was completed in June 1986 and the second [D-078] was completed in May 1987 one month prior to the dated completion of the painting.
< Joan Witek, “D-78,” 1987, Chalk on paper, 38 1/2 x 50 in (97.8 x 127 cm)
Witek made two known preliminary sketches in preparation for her master work. The first [D-051] was completed in June 1986 and the second [D-078] was completed in May 1987 one month prior to the dated completion of the painting. According to the artist’s studio records, this painting has never been publicly exhibited.
Through her conceptual approach, Witek’s painting contemporarizes El Greco’s rendering while finding a very personal way of celebrating her love and appreciation of antiquity.