The Incredible Story Behind Mr and Mrs Andrews (Waldemar Januszczak Documentary)
Vložit
- čas přidán 10. 09. 2024
- Subscribe and click the bell icon to get more arts content every week:
/ perspectivearts
Art critic Waldemar Januszczak examines Thomas Gainsborough's "Mr. and Mrs. Andrews."
Perspective is CZcams's home for the arts. Come here to get your fill of great music, theatre, art and much, much more!
From Every Picture Tells a Story
Content licensed from DRG to Little Dot Studios.
Any queries, please contact us at:
perspective@littledotstudios.com
I love love LOVE Waldemar art docs! Never a wasted or boring moment. Can't believe I've only just discovered these! Where've you been all my life, Waldy???
I found these about a year ago and I'm too so attached , love them!! Do watch all the impressionists, He just takes context to a whole other level. Start with the 4 part series and its not easy to find the order 1 through 4 but they are so terrific. Enjoy.
@@TD-qi2rw OU,
I never cared much for art, until i met Waldy.
What a fascinating reading of this painting. It explains why I thought in books it was odd and unattractive. I enjoyed the background information on Gainsborough’s early life and the textile trade of his father.
Waldemar, you just made me wet my nickers laughing! "Damn your nose, there's no end to it!" has to be the funniest thing I've heard in a dog's age. And, I'm still laughing!
However, what I really like about his program, is the in-depth look at Mr & Mrs Andrews' portrait. Brilliant!
Waldemar, thank you. Your astute appraisals truly open our eyes. Very appreciative of this excellent art appreciation course, and for the first time I want to get to a museum to see more of Gainsborough. Never thought I'd think that.
Bravo. Waldemar is the rare polymath who can discuss a painting in depth from many different angles: aesthetic, historical, biographical, social. He's particularly astute when discussing how social conflicts wend their way into great art. I'm astonished by and grateful for how much I learned in 20 minutes. Thanks.
Just love Waldemar! He makes it all come to life! ❤️
I love this series. Thanks for making it available.
Watching Waldemar's art documentaries, I am ashamed when I recall dozing through my art classes at uni.
Watching these art docs with Waldemar's insightful explanations, I've fallen in love with all of it. I think my favourite is The Madness of the Renaissance. It's so hilariously delightful, all thanks to Waldemar.
I saw the original painting in 1959 when it was still in private hands hanging in the study at Gerald Andrew’s Surrey mansion. Mr Gerald Andrews was a a direct descendant of Robert Andrews and his bride Alice Carter . Gerald Andrews and my father David Carter had worked together for many years and thought they might be distantly related. It had been intended that the painting be bequeathed to the National Gallery by Gerald Andrew’s will but was sold to avoid death duties . Gerald Andrew’s passed away childless in 1969. There is another painting of the Carter family painted by Gainsborough . They were not a good looking family so Alice’s scowl may be a reflection of that fact.
I’ve read previously that the empty space on her lap was going to be reserved for their first child whenever it may arrive…could be easily added in at a later date, but it never happened. Sounds like a reasonable possibility as well but not as colorful as your explanation of a dead bird…
His light is just gorgeous in real life.
Hilarious and entertaining, Waldemar is the best!
Hilarious ? Grijs haar , trillemientjes ,koppijn en eventueel nog reumatiek verschijnselen omdat je te lang naar zijn documentaire’s zit te kijken en rechtop zittend in slaap valt hij werkt als een rode lap op een stier ( ken hem wel …….. 🤗 🤬🥰🤬😍😤😭😩🤭🤫😂😘🤨👉🤓
This was marvelous. It took up precisely where John Berger's critique left off in Ways of Seeing.
I love your documentary and especially on Mr and Mrs Andrews. I made this couple into a 3D Ceramic piece, giving him an AK and a mean looking bull terrier and her a little golden pistol. The picture of this couple has inspired many funny ideas in the art world here in New Zealand. We have a curator of a little gallery who started the Fakes & Forgeries Art Competition many years ago with our greatest Forger being the judge. 😂 It's always fun. I cannot say enough that the way you present art brings it truly to life. Thanks for your efforts. I love it. It inspires my Ceramic figurine making immensely. ❤
Brilliant ... so much more than I was taught at university level. Though I did wonder before the bird explanation if that feather is a pen for recording in a book all the land they have gained from the peasants?
That pause in the middle, hilarious if it was a choice. The secret will never out! LOL.
Highly speculative but always entertaining.
Zoomed in very close to the missing part of the painting is absolutely a dead pheasant. Observed closely, you can make out the shape of the area for the flopping wings and there even appears to be a light sketch for its dangling neck and head.
I don’t however, impart the dark meaning suggested by Wally as the reason for it being missing.
While I agree that the Andrews’ didn’t like the picture, I believe this is likely because they regarded it as unflattering. She looks unreasonably haggard for a girl of 16. Even if she wasn’t the prettiest, the girl in this picture hasn’t a hint of 'freshness' about her. I mean, for goodness sake, he’s made the dog look more attractive than her.
Every part of her below her neck was added using a mannequin.
I don’t know if this is because Gainsborough dislikes her, is being true to life and including every play of light (possible) or simply lacks the skill at this point in his career. The last, in my opinion, the most likely reason. He simply hadn’t yet considered painting with the intent to flatter the sitter or, being in such demand, he simply didn’t care enough about some sitters for feeling they lacked taste or otherwise found annoying and just wanted to be done with it. He was, after all, in it for the money!
Nou dat is tenminste wat de hond 🐕 ja een hekel dat kan maar dat ligt in hun gevoel daar kan ik niets aan veranderen heb vaak aangegeven een lastpak ,flap alles uit ,ook niet altijd maar wel vaak en wie lange tenen heeft die voelt het 🗣auw 🦶
The interesting and informative result of a bright mind and a quick wit in the researching of Art. Brilliant 100%
"Like a couple of giant spiders in the middle of their web." 😅🤣 That was good! And I am only 3 minutes in.
You are just too terrific!!!!!!!!! what about coming to the U.S and making a film about the New York School. Thank you.
So satisfying to hear these documentaries. Many thanks.
I have recently found your channel. What a treat, a large body of work, and delightfully fun and educational way to spend area handful of minutes.
First I thought when you wrote 'a large body' you meant Waldemar 🕺
No,no,no,just that there are many videos yet to watch. It is like finding a mature author that has written many books that can be read one after another, rather then finding a new author and needing to wait for the books to come out one by one over many years
@@43painter hij is een droppie klein en gedrongen te korte beentjes een druk baasje maar oooh wat een uitstraling die van nature een rustige leven moet gaan leven ,ik weet hij zit vol passie voor historie waaruit veel van op te maken is maar ook zijn gezicht lijkt steeds vermoeider soms denk ik even dat gezicht vasthouden hij lijkt robuust dat proppie maar er schuilt ook een kwetsbare persoontje in 👦🏻👐
Another super interesting documentary about the Art d autrefois . Waldemar is a great teller
"The poison in the hearts of the people." Whatever the reason, Gainsborough captured it.
Odd that no one noticed the poison till now.
@@Wkkbooks ? It had been well noticed by all sorts of people, perhaps just you didn't notice.
@@percussion44 I didn't, but I like difficult women.
@@Wkkbooks Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought the poison Waldemar refers to is the evil deeds done during the enclosure act. History is rife with commentaries on this act and the hedgerows etc. Hence this "poison" has been well documented, IE noticed.
@@Wkkbooks John Berger offered a critical reading of this piece in Ways of Seeing (1972).
I love the look on Mrs. Andrews face - she looks like she's thinking _"I am not impressed . . . "_ . . . maybe she isn't - maybe she _was_ expecting a picnic at the park but her husband decided to do some hunting instead . . . which accounts for the look on his face . . . _"Lump it, sweetie, I'm a-goin' huntin' . . . "_
Somebody tell this guy he's a genius, these art documentaries are an intellectual box of the finest chocolates.
Love these presentations with the enthusiasm and charisma of the presenter. Now on to the next one.
Brilliant ! Thank you!
I love this channel so so much!!!
💋
The space on her lap looks to me more like that of a book, like a diary she is ready to write into.
Go, Waldy-nice one, again, Dear Fun Chap! Life Saver during the Pandemic, mate. Happy New Year from Wyoming🌟
My "Mrs. Andrews" gives me that look when I go hunting too.
Waar jaagt U dan op 🤔 ?
Thanks so much for posting
Your documentaries are so amazing! Very educational and Great work! Thank you!
Thanks for explaining the dutch angle thing and a warning to us guys.
Years waiting for watching Waldemar’s documentaries in Spain!!
Nobody in their right mind would hold a just shot pheasant on their lap, piece of cloth or not. Trust me!
This was terrific. I don't know much about art, but this was very captivating.
So entertaining!!!
I enjoy Mr. Januszczak's low-brow interpretations, it's good to remember that he is by no means unbiased. I don't buy his "nice but dim" view of Mr. Andrews - I see "dim and pompous". If you look at other commentaries, women critics read Mrs. Andrews as unhappy, not vicious. Remember that this marriage was arranged, not a choice, and the poor woman had 9 children with this dull man. Look at a series of Gainsboroughs and notice how sad many of them are while the men tend to be completely blank (as if nobody is home behind the eyes). And in one area Januszczak is factually off - Mrs. Andrews is not flamboyantly dressed. That is an informal, at-home outfit with zero embellishment, lace or jewelry. I do agree that Mrs. Andrews seems aware of Gainsborough's contempt for his sitters, and returns that contempt with interest.
Really? How strange. Those are certainly not the impressions I get of the couple. I think they look like they'd be fun to hang out with.
I think you missed it. This region in England is largely working class agricultural community & yes Mrs. Andrews is dressed way too over the top for this farming community; Mr.& Mrs. Andrews represent the >1% and bought common lands away from the farmers who needed to pasture their livestock and without it the animals can't fatten and the farmers can't bring them to market.; Although Gainsborough came from a mercantile class, he grew up in the agricultural community and knew how hard these people worked even the children; I don't know if you had enough time to see them but his portrait of the child with the farm animals is treated with a sweetness and respect you don't see with some other portraits except of the double portrait of the 2 sisters. I get the impression he also [deeply] resented the rich not just because his portraits of them paid his bills BUT also how they used their privilege to appropriate and co-opt property they really didn't need but did it because they could. WORSE, they didn't care how it impacted on the local economy and livelihoods of the farmers around them. Waldemar made it clear: "this was NOT a marriage of convenience." This was a marriage that had conveniences. Or something like that. Gainsborough might have gone to school with Mr. Andrews, but Mrs. Andrews is not from this region; She might be from London or from some other City or Town and from a family that was well very heeled which also means she came with a large dowery as well. hence "the marriage that had conveniences"; I'm curious to know more about Mrs Andrews, who she was and what the cultural expectations and pressures that were put upon her; or I guess I can just watch a Jane Austin film or read a book that includes Mr. Darcy.; I'm NOT surprised Mr. & Mrs. Andrews rejected the study for the double wedding portrait. Facing the truth often comes with so much reflection and inner conflict.
@@eleni1968 I heard that Mrs Andrews had a French mother (I suspect Huguenot), and a wealthy English father.
"low-brow", humph. That comment labels you. Of course there are differing opinions. The essence of any critique. And one of the beauties, and certainly a main value, of art.
Thank you for your comment. You certainly have tugged out more of the threads from which this picture is woven.
I wonder if Waldemar J. was influenced by the TV series 'The Naked City,' for which the line "There are eight million stories in the naked city, this has been one of them" was each episode's button.
Brilliant!
This was fun! Thank you for it!
The seed drill was an advance over the free cast of seeds it made it more efficient.
This is really interesting, though the possibilities suggested by other remarks (Mrs. Andrews is about to write something or the empty space is reserved for a future child in her lap) are also just as possible. What caught my interest most, however, was the remark about the connection between poultry and the girls of the Lowlands catching men. Just a few seconds, but quite a new insight! Could you elaborate on that a little more for us, Waldemar?
When you pointed out the missing I bit, I said to myself that it was the bird and the painter that she was a dog (ugly). But your interpretation is so much more subtle and historical.
I really don't think she would have been regarded as at all "ugly" in G.'s day, or now, for that matter - your mileage varies, obviously - unpleasant, yes, but not "ugly" by any stretch.
The video is blank at 12.23. I wonder why.
Thank you for this
I always thought that the odd thing about this painting was how the couple looked so much alike, the same eyes, the same expression. I think you're reading your own misogyny into it.
Absolutely, bloody fascinating.
The sermon of a street preacher is also fascinating. It doesn't make it correct.
Thank you, that was brilliant
Gainsborough was a master..he seems to paint air. Mr and Mrs Andrews seem so ephemeral, unsolid.
Has anyone noticed what a cypher Mr Andrew’s looks like? They almost never show him when they offer cuts of the painting only Mrs Andrew’s.
If someone gave ME a dead bird to hold on my good dress I'd make that face too.
They accepted the painting so they cant have been too upset about it. And they could well have been a loving couple as they had 9 kids. It's thought G used a mannequin to paint the dress so that may explain her stiff look. Some have guess the unfinished element was meant for a baby once it was born which sounds plausible. Interpretation is a funny thing as it often says more about the observer.
With a little white paint he made silk satin.
Thank you, extremely interesting
That woman is really scary...
Great Great video!!
I wonder if that original bench is somewhere by the house.
Point 19:57. Anyone know who the Dutch Painter was and the title of that painting?
Lets get it 🔥🤟
Januszczak NEVER DIE !!! If you think of that question, who would you like to have dinner with? Einstein, Lincoln, Jesus always make the dinner list. I'd give all that away for a few beers with you at the World's End. Rock on !!!! Thank you.
Interesting that he didn't point out the fact that this estate was brought into their marriage by her, either given as a marriage present or purchased with her dowry, so if the symbolism that the presenter explained is true then there might also be a bit of sexism on the part of Gainsborough. Also, painful as the enclosure acts might have been they made the industrial revolution possible. The nobility and landed rich were fortunately very bad investors and notoriously non-participants in the labor fields so when they hit hard times their property was the first to go up for sale. It was these parcels that were used to build factories, a horror show version of capitalism to be sure, but luckily we were able to ameliorate some of that horror after the great wars. There is still a lot of work to be done.
Wow!
Thanks
He is good. Keep these dissections coming please
🤔
So I'm hesitating to watch this. I've always loved that portrait. They looked like a really fun couple to know. He's so casual, and she's got that great snarky look on her face. So I don't know if I want to find out they were really terrible people or anything like that. Torn here...
I like to think that Gainsborough was mischievous and "woke" to the foibles of his subjects, and I'm torn over interpreting Mrs Andrews' demeanor. She is insipid, cold and seems almost unwell but there is something cruel about her mouth and eyes (which seemed asymmetrical.)
Ja het kan zo zijn hij een man die hoogopgeleid is en zij naïef en bij lange na niet, dus er valt veel voor te zeggen ook zijn Fam ,vrienden ,kennissen zullen misschien hem beklagen of mij die arme ziel alzo zijn leef wereld is behoorlijk verschillend ,zal zij zich thuisvoelen ,wat hem misschien nu charmeert kan later een ergernis worden en misschien nog erger haat daarom moet hij zich goed realiseren waar hij aan begint zeker zullen ook overeenkomsten zijn liefde voor Polen waar ook mijn moeder weg kwam ,muziek, elkaar plagen en ja ik zou graag van hem willen weten waarom ik die lastpak want dat heb ik nog niet gehoord van hem
I,wonder,what,these,great,artists,would,think,of,todays,abstract,,art
Probably say that there's too many commas - unless it's claimed to be a new art form :-D
Today s art is trash. These old painters are the real thing
@@Longtack55 als dat alles is waar men over strompelt ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, komma’s 👣,,,,,,,,,
Mr andrews looks pretty sulky. Maybe that’s a reason for Mrs Andrews’ expression
Agreed - I don't think there's any indication G. was particularly fond of him, either ....
@@nozecone dat zou kunnen maar wat mensen aan misstanden doen daarvan is God niet de schuld, men kan en moet ervan los zien dan kun je niets anders dan van God houden ,zie zijn schepping hoe mooi alles geregeld is alleen de mens heeft de keus een wanhoop van te maken
Nee soms hij moet neutraal overkomen en blijven en ik heb hem ook vaak niet zo jovel laten weten vandaar het woord lastpak voor hem met mijn uitlatingen soort Jo Jo gedrag als ik hem zie moet je lachen of janken 😢 hij weet je heel goed uit je evenwicht te brengen ( HE wij gaan nu slapen de hele nacht wakker straks doodmoe Welterusten allemaal 😴😴😴
I'm pretty sure he's right in every respect. I've looked at the Wiki repro and I can see the outline of a bird. However, this outline seems to be a lot more explicit with respect to its being a cock bird. In fact, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to see, at this stage, the thinly outlined neck and head of the bird resemble a drooping penis. If that is the case he REALLY didn't like Mrs. Andrews.
Hopefully it isn't just me that can see this otherwise I might need to seek therapy.
Look then at the bag in front of Mr Andrews right hand ... it's a cock and balls.
@@rvllctt871Aren't we referring to the same thing? However, your powers of perception are more advanced than mine because I see no balls. A feather attached to a 'game-sized' body along with a 'penis' dangling over what may turn out to be a circular dish or low sided wicker basket. I suspect the genitalia might have eventually transformed into the head of a pheasant but an early client viewing interrupted that or, a subsequent scraping and dissolving of paint obscured it.
I don't see why mrs Andrews gets all the flack when Mr Andrews looks awful too. I am not sure it was a Pheasant. Pheasants are much bigger. Could be a partridge. Or... a letter.
Brief Brief Brief ( liefdesbrieven heb ik nog nooit gehad 😂😅 😍🤭 ben benieuwd ,zit al als een waakhond erop te wachten woef ,ben benieuwd of hij zich daaruit redt 😂😂😂😂👉🤓 oh vast wel ( een tip begin de zin niet met honnepon 😂
I think Mrs Andrew’s was one of the most intelligent of his sitters ,and that could be a reason why Gainsborough didn’t like her.
Say what ypu like about the Andrewses. They could kick holy shit out of any two figures in any Fragonard.
The faces look very similar, wonder if they were related.
She absolutely loathed Gainsborough, look at the expression in her eyes. He knew it & he caught it perfectly. I'm surprised he got that far in the work on the portrait before she pulled the pin.
Don’t we all want to look better than we do?
20:13 had me dead.
What's happening in the video from 12:30 to 14:03? I don't like that
Does noboby find it peculiar how similar Mr. and Mrs . Andrews look? Like siblings!! Very irritating...
That Mrs. Andrews reminds me of Liz Truss.
12:25 - 14:04 wtf? What's up with this?
Iets om in te verdiepen
Rare Pool 😳
Excellent documentary but the pheasant's not there and I don't believe it ever was.
Maybe Mrs. Andrews didn't like the look of bird in her lap and had it erased
What is that flesh colored thing dangling from the brim of her bonnet, somewhat prominently? Hmm...
The ribbon from her hat
They don't have eyelashes.
A wonderful documentary totally FUCKED by the shitty volume job! Why?!?!?
Mij werd gevraagd wat ik eventueel dacht wat voor een document nou een looppas ,paspoort , och misschien een huwelijksakte alles kan of een werkgeversverklaring 🤒 😵💫
Mrs Andrew’s is overdressed in a court gown and Mr Andrews was scruffily dressed in old clothes whereas he could have dressed in new hunting gear.
The host is like "She's wearing blue which means she's a good for nothing hussy and Gainsborough absolutely hated her."
That's a bit shallow, ja?
Paintings from the renaissance to the late neo classical period followed a set of allegorical conventions that were, for the most part, adhered to by most painters. This is how art historians can look at a 300 year old piece of artwork and know what the artist was trying to say.
She is holding a document and a plume. Your reading of Mrs Andrews is in your own head. No wonder they are looking at you funny.
That's what I was thinking ... so the mystery is: what is the document?
@@nozecone vast haar looppas 🙀
@@joseffinat966 Sorry - I don't understand.
Ja Funny of schunnig zeg het maar , roept U maar 🤫
Sexist attack on Mrs. Andrews
Sister Wendy, who is the contemplative nun who also does great art commentary, used this same picture to riff on marriage & privilege. Gainsborough was a slyboots!
Heb geen sister Wendy
Where Waldemar goes, I go. End of story.
Didn't realise that this is Sudbury's claim to fame.
20:13
Absolutely true that the English aristocracy has a very dark heart. Just look at Australia, land of genocide. Deportation there even proved an unintended blessing, such was the scale of exploitation back home. Which continues. I would see the field furrows in the picture as remnants of peasant ploughing, before the land was enclosed.
English - as opposed to other aristocracies?
@@nozecone Sure, there's nothing special about the UK. The general pattern's that aristocracies have been worse in the East than the West, because Eastern civilization's older, giving exploitation more time to close the loop holes. But it's now pretty uniform worldwide. That being said, land ownership in the UK is still quite staggering in its inequality.
@@philipstevenson5166 Okay - just wanted to clarify that ... !
20:13 *Giggle*
Is' n it a kodak chrome ? Mais quand même au 2nd degré n' y aurait-il pas de l' humour "anglais" ? Je dis ça pour rigoler ... car historiquement cette oeuvre est charmante more than lovely . en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait Pour une oeuvre inachevée, elle est quand même achevée. "Disons" que certaines oeuvres inachevées peuvent en dire plus long que certaines oeuvres achevées....( puisqu' elle laissent aussi courir notre imagination : "Elle a quelle gueule cette poule faisane ?")