Alyssa Dumire, Director of Education
Do you remember those social media posts with a woman facing away from the camera, and her arm reaching back toward the photographer like she’s leading us around by the hand? They have an art-historical precedent! These influencers are using the compositional device of Rückenfigur (ROO-kin-fee-GOO-wah), literally translated from German to mean “back-figure.”
While it didn’t yet have a name, the use of Rückenfigur dates back to 14th-century Italy, when Giotto di Bondone employed it to lend a sense of naturalism to his frescoes for the Scrovegni Chapel. Rather than a theatrically posed grouping, the figures in his scenes don’t appear to know they’re being watched, but feel rather as if the viewer just happened upon them. Giotto’s innovation in depicting natural poses and emotions places him as an early Renaissance artist, rather than with his peers who were stuck in the stiff Byzantine style. He was also far ahead of his time in his use of Rückenfigur, which wouldn’t trend for nearly 500 years.
German Romanticists coined the term in the 19th century, when they used human figures both to evoke a sense of longing and as a foil to nature’s majesty. Caspar David Friedrich was particularly partial to the technique. His 1818 painting, Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, depicting an explorer perched on a cliff overlooking rocky mountains draped in fog, is the leading example of the device. We’re unable to see the wanderer’s face, but his pose and posture suggests contemplation of nature, and perhaps his miniscule place within it. The figure also acts as a stand-in; his anonymity helps viewers to imagine the scene from his point-of-view.
Two contemporary takes on Rückenfigur are on view now at FWMoA in Truthful Illusions: Realism in the Age of Abstraction (through July 6).
Will Cotton’s meringue-crowned princess stands on a dock as passengers disembark from an arriving plane. The tension of the new arrival is amplified by the fact that her back is to us, and by a mysterious shadow cast by an unseen figure. Here, Rückenfigur is a narrative element, heightening the emotional impact of the story being told.
Clio Newton’s large-scale figurative drawings explore contemporary femininity and the psychology of her sitters. What can we tell about someone from the back of their head? Perhaps more than if we’d seen their face. The focus is more internal, on the mind rather than any immediately discernible expression. The body language of the subject also becomes even more important: they appear mid-turn, almost looking over their shoulder so we can see their face, but the blank background belies no sense of what draws their attention. This is the allure of Rückenfigur, the pose at once invites us into the scene and shuts us out.
See these and other stunning pieces in Truthful Illusions: Realism in the Age of Abstraction, on view at FWMoA through July 6th!