11-10-2012, 12:22 PM
The Apocalypse as Metaphor for Revolution
The Apocalypse.pdf (Size: 8.79 MB / Downloads: 63)
Abstract
his paper examines the construct of the Apocalypse in the context of capitalist
crisis. More specifically it studies depictions of the Apocalypse in Art, while
also considering the broader political and economical conditions to explore
whether there might be links between Art Historical interest in the Apocalypse and
capitalist crisis.
Taking as its starting point Tate Britain’s recent John Martin retrospective,
entitled John Martin: Apocalypse, the paper speculates that depictions of Biblical
Apocalyptic scenes in Martin’s paintings are actually metaphors for revolution
(French and American). It investigates possible links between Martin’s apocalyptic
imagery and British imperial ambitions, and the rise of capitalism.
John Martin lived through times of British imperial ambition and colonial
expansion through warfare: this is fundamentally linked to capitalism. Almost
exactly 100 years before John Martin was born the English suffered a humiliating
naval defeat at the hands of the French at Beachy Head. Shortly after, in 1694, the
Bank of England was established. This allowed private individuals to loan the crown
money (most of which was invested in the navy). This, and the act of Union in 1707,
signalled the beginning of building Britain as a global power. A period of
unprecedented military expansion followed (funded by debt). By the battle of
Waterloo (when Martin was 26 years old) British debt had reached 200% of GDP.
Introduction
ohn Martin was a 19th century English Romantic artist, famous for his apocalyptic
paintings. His final major work, a triptych, depicted the actual moment of the apocalypse
and its aftermath. It comprised of the following three paintings: The Last Judgement; The
Great Day of his Wrath; and The Plains of Heaven. There is established research linking
John Martin’s paintings to the revolutionary times he lived in1: the American Revolution that
occurred just before he was born2; the French Revolution that occurred in the first year of his
life; and the Napoleonic Wars and subsequent revolutions that followed.
John Martin’s recent retrospective at Tate Britain was the first comprehensive survey of
his work for thirty years. This renewed interest is not surprising, as we too live in
revolutionary times: for the first time in a generation British students have made meaningful
protests that spilled over into civil unrest; the August riots were unprecedented3. It has been
argued that revolution is always global and that if you look at France from 1750-1850 and
Denmark from the same period, it was Denmark that changed more4. But would it have
changed so much if it were not for the French Revolution? In this context we cannot ignore
the Arab Spring that preceded the British unrest: be in no doubt, we live in revolutionary
times.
Part 1 of this paper analyses John Martin’s Mesopotamian “Blockbuster” trilogy to
establish codified concerns about the fall of the British Empire and of the French Revolution
spreading to the UK. The popularity of these paintings establishes that there was a prevalent
appetite for such subject matter. It is conjectured that Martin exploited public fear of
revolution, for commercial gain, through the metaphor of biblical apocalypse.
The Fall of Babylon
John Martin made three “blockbuster” paintings within a decade about the fall of
civilisations (referred to as the Mesopotamian Trilogy). The first, the Fall of Babylon,
recounts the city from the Old Testament, which also resurfaces as an apocalyptic warning
in the book of Revelation. It was a city that fell because of its society’s love of money but
Babylon was also a contemporary subject for Martin. Biblical cities like Babylon and
Nineveh had just been rediscovered and were beginning to be excavated for the first time.
While news of Claudius James Rich’s discoveries had reached Martin before he started
making his Mesopotamian series, the Babylonian excavations of A.H. Laynard did not reach
Britain until the 1840s, leaving Martin to base his imagery on historical texts5 and to fill in
the gaps with his imagination6.
John Martin’s legacy in contemporary painting
Gordon Cheung is the best example of a contemporary painter directly influenced by
John Martin, capitalist crisis and apocalypse in equal measures. Cheung’s paintings
are instantly recognisable as they are painted in iridescent, toxic, psychedelic, neon
colours onto copies of the Financial Times. Cheung started using FT stock listings in his
paintings at the same time that he became interested in the digital and communications
revolution that we were, and still are, going through. At this time terms such as cyberspace,
the global village, and the information superhighway, were becoming commonly used. In
this context we can think of the stock listings as a metaphor for the virtual world that we live
in, literally: banking and financial trading underpin and form the backdrop to Cheung’s
worlds.
Conclusion
ohn Martin’s public turned out to be correct in their fear of the end of the world.
Both Martin and his contemporary Turner painted themes of societal change, reform and
destruction. Fundamentally they were inspired, not by the French Revolution, but by the
Industrial Revolution. Industrialisation ushered in a period of capitalism; bloody warfare; the
normalisation of debt and it was this change that brought about the end of the world, as it was
known. Almost exactly 100 years before John Martin was born the English suffered a
humiliating defeat at the hands of the French at Beachy Head. Shortly after, in 1694, the
establishment of the bank of England allowed private individuals to loan the state money,
most of which was invested in the navy. The creation of a national debt, and the act of Union
in 1707 signalled the beginning of building Britain as a global power. A period of
unprecedented military expansion followed. By the Battle of Waterloo (when Martin was 26
years old) British national debt had reached 200% of GDP. Banking, and capitalism, made
possible by industrialisation, provided the backdrop to Britain’s wars with America and
France.