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CG the bedtime story
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Csatari Grandparent Series -- "The Bedtime Story" by Joseph Csatari.
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$35.00
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| Csatari Grandparent Series -- "The Bedtime Story" by Joseph Csatari.
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Csatari Grandparent Series -- "The Bedtime Story" by Joseph Csatari. First issue in the series. Knowles Fine China, 1980. Plate size approx 8.5 inches. Suggested Retail $50.00.
It's that time. The boy— his hair slicked down and carefully parted, his face washed shining clean—and his younger sister with her inseparable companion, Raggedy Ann, secure in her arms, are ready for bed. Now Grandma, who has supervised their bedtime preparations, opens the well-thumbed book of stories—the same book from which the children's mother was read to sleep a generation before. It's time for the bedtime story, the day's last treat.
The children are entranced—and wide awake. But Grandpa and the cocker spaniel at his feet have drowsed off into peaceful slumber—and with the children waiting expectantly for the end of the story, Grandma casts a loving, wryly amused look Grandpa's way.
Joseph Csatari's "The Bedtime Story" is a charming vignette, a quiet parlor drama. Through his manipulation of composition, draughtsmanship, and color he conveys the warmth of the scene with a wealth of anecdotal detail, drawing the viewer into the circle of light that suffuses the group.
A comparison between Csatari's work and photography is inevitable: the meticulously rendered 1920s story book cover, the green and white petit point footstool covering, the metallic sheen of the lampshade, the worn texture of the fabric on the couch, the sleek coat of the honey-colored spaniel—all are seemingly true-to-life in the highest degree, almost as a camera would record them on film. But where a camera must unavoidably give equal weight to every element in the scene, Csatari's freedom is bounded only by his imagination, and he can select points of emphasis with a larger dramatic purpose in mind.
Thus in "Bedtime Story," the faces of his subjects are rendered in precise detail, but positioned in such a way as to draw our attention back to the grandparents' genial, loving faces— the emotional core of the painting. The fabric of the clothing and the sofa, while still retaining their textural qualities, appear to be painted in soft focus—enhancing the scene but not distracting from the tale the artist wants to tell.
Csatari uses a classic triangular composition to lead the eye upward from grandchildren at its base to grandparents and finally to the apex— the lamp and its light which unifies the scene in a specifically triangular con
figuration and focuses attention on the pleasant domestic scene. By virtually eliminating background detail, Csatari further centers attention on the family, allowing the viewer to participate in the silent interplay between grandchildren and grandparents.
While Csatari's composition in "The Bedtime Story" is functionally strong and appropriate, without doubt it is draughtsmanship that is his forte, so much so that his technique has been identified as "suprarealism." Going a step beyond realism, Csatari skillfully uses line to emphasize certain details for dramatic effect, subordinate others, and convey a sense of immediacy even in this quiet scene.
This remarkably sure draughtsmanship is augmented by a subtle tension which is set up by Csatari's knowing use of color. Modulations of warm cadmium and lemon yellow in the couch and its background are contrasted with the cool cobalt blues of the boy's sleeper and Grandmother's dress and blouse; in the right-hand half of the composition warm colors predominate, from the siennas of Grandfather's trousers and the spaniel's fur to the reds in Grandfather's shirt and the girl's night-dress. Using warm against cool, light against dark, Csatari creates subtle tonalities which are unified by the yellow background.
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