While in Brisbane in December we visited this exhibition in the Gallery of Modern Art. It’s on until 28 April 2024. If you’re in the vicinity I recommend you call in. We were there on the fifth of December 2023, before attending Siegfried in the evening. QPAC, the Queensland Performing Arts Centre is a terrific complex, making visiting these places – galleries, theatres, the museum plus cafés and restaurants – very easy. Necessary because it’s so hot and humid up there!
Entering the exhibition we are told fairy tale comes from the French conte de fées in the writings of the 17thC author Marie Catherine Le Jumel de Barneville, Comptess d’Aulnoy. Who knew! She coined the term to describe the magical tales she told in her salon. Before this these stories had been shared orally by the working class; now the aristocracy reimagined them and committed them to paper, using the themes of enchantment to mask critiques of the grandeur, excess and politics of the French court.
The exhibition note goes on to say: Secular, fluid and simple in form, classic fairy tales involve characters defined by their social roles (woodcutter, stepmother, queen) or appearance (Little Red Ridng Hood, Snow White, Beauty, the Beast). These foundations provide a scaffold for storytellers to adapt the tales for their own audiences.
The exhibits were a mix of the traditional and contemporary retellings of the traditional tales. You are taken back to childhood in the very first first room where Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira’s Corupira, 2023 has created a gnarled and twisted woodland. This picture doesn’t quite capture the sense of wonder as you walk around and under this huge tree made of wood salvaged from Brazilian construction sites.
Next was a rather macabre take on the preferred mode of transport in lots of fairy tales – the coach. This is Puritan’s Delight, 2008 by U.S. artist Rachel Feinstein. She dismantles the magical coach as an iconic image of romance, status and power. The crosses represent the religious and moral undercurrents that have attached themselves over time to the many retellings of Cinderella.
Here is an early representation of Little Red Riding Hood, 1862 by French artist Gustave Doré. It’s usually in the NGV. Beautiful painting; it’s the oldest work in this exhibition. According to the author of the original tale, French aristocrat Charles Perrault in 1697, the story was a warning to young women tempted to stray from the safety of the path – a metaphor for the dangers of speaking to strange men in private. According to him her grisly death in his version is her own fault; naive girls should know better than to associate with beasts! I didn’t know about a later version by the Brothers Grim (Little Red Cap) which has a huntsman appearing in time to kill the wolf, saving both grandmother and grandchild. I do love the picture.
And I like this rewriting of the final scene in the same fairy tale, by U.S. artist Kiki Smith entitled Born, 2002. She challenges the notion that young girls are inherently responsible for the dangerous and often sexualised situation in which they find themselves. This is a contemporary vision of feminine solidarity and resistance. It’s a self portrait with the artist presented as both granddaughter and grandmother, emerging from the body of the wolf unscathed, no rescue required! I like the visual and the thinking behind the painting.
This is a dress worn by Snow White in a film, Mirror Mirror 2012 inspired by the fairy tale by Indian director Tarsem Singh. In the movie, Snow White is a young, headstrong, witty, intelligent and, in the way of many teenagers experiencing a range of emotions and motivations. She also actively solves her own problems before marrying the prince. A film I’d like to see. I love the costume by famed Japanese art director and costume designer Eiko Ishoka. Think I”d prefer this version to the one we grew up on, from Walt Disney!
There was no film clip of Mirror Mirror on display, but there was a little bit of Jean Cocteau’s famous La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), 1946. A wonderful film that I’ve seen a number of times. Cocteau’s dreamlike film draws imagery from Gustave Doré’s illustrations of similar tales … uncanny and surrealist imagery, alongside elements of enchanted gloves, magic mirrors and sculptures … creating an otherworldly and hypnotic fairy-tale realm. This dress, worn by one of Beauty’s sisters is one of the few remaining items from the film.
An enchanted red rose and a magic mirror are the two key elements of the story of Beauty and the Beast. Below is a picture of the rose that was used in the 2017 Walt Disney remake of the film, of which excerpts were shown in the exhibition, and of which you can see reflections in the curtain.
And here is the magic mirror. Both the Disney remake and a 1991 animation of the story were very good. Great story, great interpretations. Nice to see these objects from the Walt Disney Company.
There was a film clip of the film, Peau d’Ane (Donkey Skin), 1970 by the great French director Jacques Demy. Starring the wonderful, very youthful, Catherine Deneuve. A strange 1695 fairy tale – a king tells his dying queen he will only remarry someone as beautiful as she, which turns out to be his daughter! A fairy godmother advises her to require impossible demands, a dress the colour of the sky, one of the moon and one of the son. The king meets the challenge and the daughter has to flee the kingdom, unrecognisable in a donkey cloak. Here are the three dresses.
Into another room and we’ve moved forward in time; to three characters who are very familiar. They are characters from Maurice Sendak’s wonderful children’s book Where the Wild Things Are. They were made by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop for the Spike Jonze film of the same name made in 2009 which I haven’t seen. But I’m very familiar with these characters; our children loved the book. They were very large, I should have got Joe to stand beside them; he’s be dwarfed by them.
In a large hall we next came upon what’s described as a magical installation by Patricia Piccinini, Enchanted Field, 2023. You can see a tiny bit of it – made up of nearly 3000 genetically modified blooms, in this picture. Which is of a sculpture by Patricia called La Brava,2021. I’m not keen on her part human / part animal sculptures but this figure fits in to an exhibition about fairy tales – one of a number of fragile, otherworldly creatures sheltering under the field. An enchanted creature, it’s from the artist’s own collection.
Onward where we found some more familiar paintings; Charles Blackman’s interpretations of Alice in Wonderland: The Blue Alice – depicting Alice (his wife Barbara) and the White Rabbit (the artist) being wed by the Dormouse, Feet Beneath the Table – depicting a pregnant Barbara surrounded by cups, teacup, and White Rabbit as in the Mad Tea-Party, and Drink Me – which draws a parallel between Alice’s encounters with liquids and Barbara’s medicines for heartburn. These are three of a total of forty-one paintings in the series. They were painted between 1956 and 1957. Terrific.
I really liked these costumes from Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland, 2010. Another that i’ve not seen. According to the note the film makes Alice’s tale one of an empowered and independent heroine. I’m not sure how that fits his reputation as a subverter of traditional fairy-tale tropes by offering a macabre spin on ideas of love, marriage and convention. I liked the costumes by Academy Award winning designer Colleen Atwood. This is worn by Alice.
And this by the Mad Hatter. I think the designer of costumes for the latest Wonka film, starring Timothée Chalamet may have taken inspiration from this outfit.
And this was the Red Queen‘s outfit. Sumptuous. They all belong to The Walt Disney Company.
Here’s another object from a movie I’ve not seen, Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella, 2015. It’s the glass slipper made by designer Sandy Powell and made of Swarovski crystal! Said to be one of the most iconic glass slippers in cinematic history, it was developed directly from the example in the 1950 Walt Disney Studios’ animated film. It’s also owned by The Walt Disney Company.
In the same room we saw this extraordinary thing. It’s a sculpture by Australian / U.S. artist Timothy Horn entitled Mother-load, 2008. a tenuous connection to Cinderella I reckon. It is said to present the kind of impossible fantasy of wealth and opulence central to many aspirational stories, including Cinderella. It’s encrusted in golden crystallised rock sugar! Grounded in, the notes says, a rags to riches story of a renowned North American art collector who married a sugar baron who she called sugar daddy. She had an antique coach she used as a phone booth. Silly story. Amazing object. In the background you can see a costume designed by Matisse for the Ballet Russe.
Next came what was for me the best bit of the exhibition. I remember seeing these Lotte Reiniger short films on the ABC in the afternoon after coming home from school. This was in about 1964 or 1965 when I’d have been in Grade 5 or 6. I loved them. There were lots. In my memory, which may be false, they were on every day. They were quite short – about ten minutes I think – and of Aesops Fables as well as classical fairy tales. They are very famous.
Lotte Reiniger (Germany / England 1899-1981) made them in the early twentieth century. The note tells us: Made over a century ago, Reiniger’stylised filigree papercuts strip the story back to its simplest elements. I was delighted to find this example of her work in this exhibition, courtesy of the BFI National Archive. Cinderella was made in 1922. I had to take my pictures from the small video being shown, so not great photos – but I love it so much I took lots. Here’s an image from towards the start – Cinderella’s home.
Lotte Reiniger original 35mm film has been transferred to digital. Her telling of the tale is based on the 1812 Brothers Grimm telling of Aschenputtel, a darker version than Charles Perrault’s earlier one. Maybe that’s why the household seems to be in a cemetery. That might be the fairy godmother arriving on the right. Here is the pumpkin carriage.
The band at the ball. Looking very jolly. I love the instruments.
And this I think is Cinderella hurrying home from the ball. You can see one tiny shoe.
The prince finds the slipper! The note tells us that Lotte stripped her stories back to their simplest elements as you can see here. But I love the detail on the minimal background.
And so the Prince’s search begins.
At home, Cinderella weeps as she remembers her glorious night.
Hearing the prince is on his way, the evil stepmother forces Cinderella into the cellar!
The prince arrives at the house to be met by the first of the ugly sisters!
Who slices off her heel trying to fit her foot into the slipper. I remember these scenes so vividly! Horrific then, horrific now.
It works, she gets her foot in the shoe. The prince can’t believe she is the woman from the ball!
He puts her on his horse to take her back to the palace. You can’t see it in this photo, but great drops of blood are flowing from her foot. She dies and he takes her back to the house but when the second ugly sister tries to cut her foot he stops her. And is about to leave, but the the English intertitle tells us: a bird has whispered in his ear / Seek in the cellar; prince! Your bride is here. So he does.
Which he does and up she comes. Taking pictures from the videos you see how the papercuts achieve their movements which are quite jerky – another attraction.
We know how the story goes. All ends happily in Lotte’s film.
This takes me back in time! I really loved these little films. Such delicate imagery. I’ve seen images occasionally on social media but have not been able to find them elsewhere. My memory was correct about them being about ten minutes long – this one goes for thirteen minutes. I’m going to try and find them. Another I remember really clearly is the story from Aesop’s Fables about the grasshopper and an ant. I saw and loved lots of them. I’ve looked for them unsuccessfully thus far, but armed with this information my search begins anew!
In any event this was a fun exhibition and quite informative. I’ve only shown a snippet of it. I was trying not to tire myself out before the opera. In which endeavour I was successful. You can see my blog about the opera here.
Pauline says
You didn’t miss anything by not seeing the film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are It was very ordinary to say the least. Burton’s Alice in Wonderland was fabulous.. Great costumes. So looking forward to seeing this exhibition sometime this year.