JORGENSEN FINE ART16 Herbert Street, Dublin 2.

Telephone 00 353 1 66 19 758 / 9E-mail: info@jorgensenfineart.com Website: www.jorgensenfineart.com

Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 9.00 a.m.–5.30 p.m.Saturdays by Appointment

The exhibition will continue until Friday, 19th November, 2010

Ib Jorgensen takes pleasure in inviting you toan exhibition of paintings by

ROSE STAPLETON, WCSIon Wednesday, 3rd November 2010

5.30 – 7.30 p.m.

to be opened byMr. Garrie Davislim, Tenor

27. Broken Baton • oil on board, 8½" x 11"

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ROSE STAPLETON, WCSI

The premier box is in one of the two angles at the end of the house, from which one can see and be seen from all sides.

Illusions perdues, Honoré de Balzac, 1837–43

We were created to look at one another, weren’t we?

Edgar Degas in a letter to Walter Sickert

In 19th-century France, there was a veritable symbiosis between theatre and art. Artists, both writersand painters, recognised that the theatre was a perfect mise-en-scène for their characters. Renoir andDegas both painted people in boxes. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, unashamedly influenced by EdgarDegas, trained his eye on the entertainers of the Parisian demi-monde. Caricaturists such as HonoréDaumier and Paul Gavarni produced wonderfully wicked observations. A friend of Degas, theAmerican artist Mary Stevenson Cassatt, exhibited at the 1879 Impressionist exhibition The Box inwhich we see two young women at an evening performance, one of whom, with the aid of her opera-glasses, is devouring the occupants of a box opposite to theirs. In her earlier Woman in Black at theOpera (1878), she depicts a woman staring at the stage while a man in the circle has his binocularstrained on her. In both of these paintings Cassatt is making an observation on the changing statusof women in society. The fact that the woman in black is wielding binoculars as opposed to the moredemure fan speaks volumes: this pro-active searching was very much a male trait. Of the two youngerwomen at the opera, one is modestly toying with her fan whilst the bolder is brazenly peeringthrough her binoculars. In England, too, the worlds of the theatre, the ballet and the music-hallinspired artists such as Walter Sickert and James Whistler in their portraiture of contemporary society.Sickert’s music-hall pictures, like Degas’ paintings of dancers and café-concert entertainers, connectthe artificiality of art itself to the conventions of theatrical performance and painted backdrops.Rose Stapleton’s figures are, literally, put on a stage. Their ‘otherness’ is the thing. The proscenium

arch is a barrier between the viewer and the spectacle. In her Ovation paintings the ‘us and them’balance is brutally highlighted: a line actually divides the audience from the performers! Yet, whilst weare pushed away from the onstage scenes, we are drawn into the backstage interiors. It is as thoughwe are invited insiders with ‘access all areas’ badges. The underpinnings – the props, the costumes,etc. – are brought to our attention. We see how the spectacular emerges from the mundane; how thebutterfly emerges from the chrysalis of talent and hard-won expertise. How much work and time goesinto the preparation of the visual elements of the performances and the physical investment on thepart of the performers. These characters are all at work albeit amid the glamour of the world of operaor ballet. There is a detachment, an aloneness about the people depicted. Even in a corps-de-ballet ora company of singers each individual is alone in the performance: one link can break the chain andrender the spectacle less than perfect. A certain tension is apparent and not only on the stage. The

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people in the auditorium are also ‘on’; they are viewing and being viewed upon by their social peers.We are made aware of the artist as prey as he bares his soul to those who care to look. All creative actsexpose the creator to judgement. Even the thundering affirmation of an ovation is a reminder thatthis moment is over and done and it carries with it the possibility of never achieving it again. Aperformer is only as good as his last performance. And the vulnerability, both physical andpsychological, of a career cut short by injury or the ravages of time must weigh heavily on these peoplewho invest so much in this specific aspect of their lives. The way the characters hold themselves, savingthemselves almost, puts one in mind of what would have been the original public performances ofreligious ritual, at which time the mask was the preferred protection from too invasive an observation.Later the courtly masques of the sixteenth-century and the partly-improvised Italian commediadell’arte used stock-characters as diversions. The vulnerability of the performers is highlighted by theexposure of the bare mannequins in the wardrobe scenes. They are naked without their armour ofcostume. The seamstresses gird the loins of the singers/dancers in preparation for the battle which isthe performance. This exhibition highlights the esprit de corps which is vital to a professionalperformance. The figures we see on the stage are very much the icing on the cake; without thefoundation of the carpenters, the scene-makers and scene-shifters, the light directors, the seamstresses,the make-up artists, the laundresses, the musicians, the choreographer, the director, the conductor,the librettist and the composer there would be no cake. And, most importantly, without the presenceand participation of an audience there would be no call for the confection at all! So, the grandeur ofa public performance comes from the sense of its being a group effort. Every member of the troupeis willing the juggernaut on, but that, of course, puts even more pressure on those few characters inthe spotlight. When, in the fourth act of Il Trovatore, the tenor sings Manrico’s Di quella piral’orrendo foco the whole auditorium is focused on him – he has nowhere to hide.Like Sickert, and Degas before him, Rose works from repeatedly observed and remembered

movement, from drawings and from notes. She sets down and memorises a single significantmovement or gesture. Her snatched drawings are captured as an aide-mémoire. She comes to thesubject as an objective member of an audience. She shares Sickert’s coolness and leisurely exhilaratedcontemplation. In her ‘Ovation’ series the canvas is flat, yet full of resonating atmosphere. We hearthe resounding applause which is a correlative of the harmony of colours. She conjures up thesuccessful performance by depicting the performers’ response to the audience’s response. She holdsthe moment as the singer holds the note, the dancer the pose, even beyond its full time value. Rosehas breathed the air of these people.

… the feeling, the intuition for the contemporary, for the scene that rubs shoulders with you, for thepresent in which you sense the trembling of your emotions … There must be found a line that wouldprecisely render life, embrace from close at hand the individual, the particular – a living, human,inward line – a drawing truer than all drawing.

Manette Salomon, The Goncourt Brothers, 1867.

Síle Connaughton-Deeny, November 2010

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1. Conspirators, A Masked Balloil on canvas, 20" x 16"

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2. Dress Rehearsal, Royal Opera Houseoil on board, 18" x 14"

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3. Ovation IV, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 18" x 14"

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4. A Masked Balloil on board, 17½" x 14"

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5. Ovation, Azucena and Manrico, Il Trovatoreoil on canvas, 12" x 10"

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6. Ovation I, Azucena, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 16" x 12"

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7. Wardrobe Department IIIoil on board, 20" x 24"

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8. The Prop Roomoil on canvas, 36" x 30"

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9. Ovation I, Artists of the Royal Balletoil on board, 7¾" x 10"

10. Artists of the Royal Ballet Ioil on board, 8" x 12¼"

11. Artists of the Royal Ballet IIoil on canvas, 8" x 12"

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13. Artists of the Royal Ballet IIIoil on board, 7" x 10"

12. Curtain Call, Odette and Prince Siegfriedoil on gesso, 8" x 6"

14. Ovation II Artists of the Royal Balletoil on board, 8" x 10"

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15. Study for the Duke of Mantuaoil on canvas, 20" x 16"

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16. Wardrobe Department IIoil on canvas, 20" x 16"

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17. Wardrobe Department Ioil on board, 16" x 20"

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18. Textile Department, Royal Opera Houseoil on canvas, 20" x 22"

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19. Ovation II, Il Trovatoreoil on canvas, 28" x 22"

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20. Auditorium, Royal Opera Houseoil on board, 16" x 12"

21. Ovation, Rigolettooil on board, 10" x 8½"

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22. Ovation III, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 20" x 16"

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23. Odette with Valeriy Ovsyanikovoil on board, 9¾" x 12¾"

24. Curtain Call, Black Swansoil on board, 9¾" x 13¾"

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26. Study for Odette with Valeriy Ovsyanikovoil on board, 10" x 8"

25. Artists of the Royal Ballet IVoil on board, 7" x 9¾"

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Rose Stapleton, WCSI

Education1996-99 National College of Art and Design,

DublinBachelor of Arts Degree in Fine ArtPrintmaking

Solo Exhibitions2007 Jorgensen Fine Art, Dublin

Group Exhibitions2008 Invited Artist, Royal Hibernian Academy

178th Annual ExhibitionThe Face of the Land, Jorgensen Fine Art,DublinThe French Connection, Jorgensen FineArt, DublinC.A.S.E. Lavit Gallery, Cork

2007 A Century of Women Artists, JorgensenFine Art, DublinInteriors Exhibition, Jorgensen Fine Art,DublinJames English RHA Selects, Lavit Gallery,Cork

2004 Bloomsday Exhibition, Jorgensen Fine Art,Dublin

2003 Four Irish Artists, Petley Fine Art, London2002 Metamorphosis, Original Print Gallery,

Dublin2000 Christmas Exhibition, Cavehill Gallery,

BelfastThe Emperor’s Wardrobe, Original PrintGallery, DublinButler Gallery, KilkennyWish You Were Here, Original PrintGallery, DublinTriskel Arts Centre, CorkLimerick Small Print Exhibition, ChrisDoswell Gallery, LimerickFlower Show, Lemon Street Gallery, DublinContemporary British & Irish Artists, WrenGallery, LondonGallery Artists, Lavit Gallery, Cork

Group Show, Leinster Gallery, DublinSmall Works Exhibition, BallinahinchCastle, Co Galway

1999 NCAD Degree Show, RHA GallagherGallery, DublinTaylor Awards, Royal Dublin Society,Dublin

1998 Absolut Secret Postcard Exhibition, RHAGallagher Gallery, Dublin

1996 Boyle Arts Festival, Boyle1995/96 Royal Ulster Academy Exhibition, Belfast

Cavehill Gallery Group Show, Belfast

Annual ExhibitionsJorgensen Fine Art Group ExhibitionsJames Wray Gallery, BelfastRoyal Hibernian Academy AnnualExhibitionRoyal Hibernian Academy BanquetExhibitionOireachtas, Town Hall, Dun Laoghaire

Awards2006 James Adam Salesrooms Award, RHA

Annual Exhibition2005 Fergus O’Ryan Memorial Prize, RHA

Annual Exhibition1999 College Award for Best Thesis, NCAD1996 Invitation Prize, Royal Ulster Academy

Exhibition1995 Invitation Prize, Royal Ulster Academy

Exhibition

CollectionsAXA InsuranceBank of IrelandBank of MontrealMaynooth CollegeO’Flaherty HoldingsUnited Arts ClubPrivate CollectionsWatercolour Society of Ireland Collection at theUniversity of Limerick

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LIST OF WORKS

1. Conspirators, A Masked Balloil on canvas, 20" x 16"

2. Dress Rehearsal, Royal Opera Houseoil on board, 18" x 14"

3. Ovation IV, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 18" x 14"

4. A Masked Balloil on board, 17½" x 14"

5. Ovation, Azucena and Manrico, Il Trovatoreoil on canvas, 12" x 10"

6. Ovation I, Azucena, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 16" x 12"

7. Wardrobe Department IIIoil on board, 20" x 24"

8. The Prop Roomoil on canvas, 36" x 30"

9. Ovation I, Artists of the Royal Balletoil on board, 7¾" x 10"

10. Artists of the Royal Ballet Ioil on board, 8" x 12¼"

11. Artists of the Royal Ballet IIoil on canvas, 8" x 12"

12. Curtain Call, Odette and Prince Siegfriedoil on gesso, 8" x 6"

13. Artists of the Royal Ballet IIIoil on board, 7" x 10"

14. Ovation II Artists of the Royal Balletoil on board, 8" x 10"

15. Study for the Duke of Mantuaoil on canvas, 20" x 16"

16. Wardrobe Department IIoil on canvas, 20" x 16"

17. Wardrobe Department Ioil on board, 16" x 20"

18. Textile Department, Royal Opera Houseoil on canvas, 20" x 22"

19. Ovation II, Il Trovatoreoil on canvas, 28" x 22"

20. Auditorium, Royal Opera Houseoil on board, 16" x 12"

21. Ovation, Rigolettooil on board, 10" x 8½"

22. Ovation III, Il Trovatoreoil on board, 20" x 16"

23. Odette with Valeriy Ovsyanikovoil on board, 9¾" x 12¾"

24. Curtain Call, Black Swansoil on board, 9¾" x 13¾"

25. Artists of the Royal Ballet IVoil on board, 7" x 9¾"

26. Study for Odette with Valeriy Ovsyanikovoil on board, 10" x 8"

27. Broken Batonoil on board, 8½" x 11"

28. Study I for OvationGraphite, 8½" x 6½"

29. Study II for AzucenaGraphite, 8½" x 6½"

The artist wishes to thank the staff and performers of the Royal Opera House for the extraordinary access she was afforded during her research for this exhibition.

She particularly appreciated the assistance of David Presly and Martin Field of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.

Not all of the exhibition paintings are illustrated. The complete selection may be viewed on our website.

Paintings may be purchased on receipt of this catalogue.

Photography by Gillian Buckley