Melancolia
Melancolia is a series of watercolours painted by Pierre Ardouvin in 2004. The title refers to Albrecht Dürer’s engraving that canonised the representation of melancholy as an allegory. All the watercolours in this series present juxtapositions of poetic, but also ironic and nostalgic objects. In this work, a head is attacked by a swarm of bees. The face is invisible, hidden by the insects and swollen by their stings. In the midst of the ochre washes, a white mouth can just be made out, writhing in pain. The bony head and the flying insects are reminiscent of the vanitas motif that was popular in seventeenth-century still lifes, a genre that inspires modesty in the human viewer, who is condemned to die in the face of nature, which will always triumph. The bees, which only attack if they are attacked, serve here as a warning of our behaviour towards animals.
Text written by Justine Grethen as part of the partnership between the École du Louvre and Lafayette Anticipations – Fonds de dotation Famille Moulin.
Exhibitions
La Galerie des Galeries, Paris (France)
from 01 Oct to 29 Oct 2005
Centre d'Art le LAIT, Albi (France)
from 02 Apr to 05 Jun 2005