Abstract

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In this paper I am going to explore the relationship between the “self “ and the “other” through both a societal and a biographical approach. I will focus my research around the identity of the woman in the painting, or her anonymity. Was she someone Nolde knew personally or was she an imagined character in his head? What are each option’s implications in relation to Nolde’s artistic choices in this painting? I will use the following observations as my starting point: The woman Nolde chooses to portray in this painting is of mixed heritage and two cultures, as implied by the painting's name. She is not idealized and creates a superimposition of modern nightlife (implied by the make-up and the jewelry) on an exotic subject. Her expression evokes curiosity and mystery, and the choice of painting her eyes closed suggests a dream-like state, which is further strengthened by the halo-like structure around her head. This dreamy expression is inviting into her world, and encourages the viewer to project himself/herself into the sensory field implied by the artist’s choices. The intention of the painting might be to attract the viewer’s attention to the artist’s interest in exotic subjects at the time of this painting’s execution. 

It is important to contextualize this within Nolde’s life and the social conditions he lived in. Nolde’s two-year association with the “Brucke” (“Bridge”) renewed and strengthened his interest in the arts of Africa and Melanesia. (Benson, 13). “Mulatto” was painted right before his voyage to the South Seas by way of Moscow, Siberia, China, Japan, Java and Burma “introduced many new elements into his work.” (Benson, 14) After his return, his figures became more unusual, fantastic, sometimes even grotesque, and definitely more mask-like. Nolde wrote many years later that his heart “beat faster when he painted a Russian, a Chinaman, a South-Sea Islander or a gypsy.” (Benson, 14) I will try to discover the importance of the timing of this painting: Was it painted as a preparation for his voyage? Does it represent what he expected to encounter? Or is it based on what he had previously encountered that later inspired him to travel to the South Seas?

Finally, I will explore the importance of this painting within a framework of “self vs. other.” What does it tell us about Emil Nolde? Here I will borrow from different philosophers, mainly from Lacan. His famous claim “L’autre, c’est moi” (The other is me) will be one of the hypotheses I will be testing: Was Nolde painting himself in the form of the “other”? I will also consider the ideas of racial purity that were being seeded in the society in his time, which later become the fountainhead of the Nazi movement. Where does Nolde stand in the face of the question of racial purity? Is this painting an element in his manifesto of diversity, proclaiming the inherent value of the “mulattos”?

To summarize I can say that I will be writing my final paper on the relationship between the self and the other as it relates to the biographic and societal context of this painting. My thesis will be that this relationship was present and significant at every level of Emil Nolde’s life and the Germany of the early twentieth century, and that it can be read in this painting through the visual clues.

Sources:

Benson, E. M. "Emil Nolde." Parnassus 5.1 (1933): 12,14+25.

Lacan, Jacques, 1901-1981. Autres Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 2001.

Seldis, Henry J. “The Nolde Paradox: Half Demon, Half Mystic: NOLDE EXHIBITION”; Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File) [Los Angeles, Calif] 28 July 1963: d13.