Philip Mingay (King's University College)
In The Purpose of Public Pictures, Neil MacGregor outlines the function of the modern British art gallery and declares that paintings on display “confer dignity on us when we have lost belief in our own worth” (23). I will argue that such essentializing claims that art is good for social morale are interrogated by George Lamming in Water With Berries through the painter Teeton’s refusal to produce more art, and through Teeton’s sale of his paintings to a London gallery to finance a bombing plot on the Caribbean island of San Cristobal.
In Teeton's London room rented from the Old Dowager, the display of his paintings and maps becomes a microcosm of such a modern gallery, with the Old Dowager polishing the frames of Teeton's paintings while Teeton watches in “fascination” (26). Here, the Old Dowager assumes the traditional function of the patron as custodian of art and its mystique. Whereas Teeton produces art within the modern, commercialized world of the dealer-critic, the Old Dowager functions within an attenuated feudalist system in which the artist lives under the patron’s umbrella.
Furthermore, the Old Dowager’s protectiveness is defined by her view of the two representations of San Cristobal in Teeton's room. First, the two maps of the Caribbean which cover Teeton’s windows symbolically reproduce the exotic San Cristobal of the Old Dowager’s imagination. Second, Teeton's painting of a San Cristobal beach scene has a similar effect on the Old Dowager as she asserts her position as a representative of a vanishing Empire, and her obsolescence reflected in her tired interpretations of the images. However, while the Old Dowager evolves into a parody of the austere colonial authority figure, Teeton assumes the stance of the “explorer” as he “refocuses” the vision of Teeton the “painter” on his island, rather than on London.
In Teeton's London room rented from the Old Dowager, the display of his paintings and maps becomes a microcosm of such a modern gallery, with the Old Dowager polishing the frames of Teeton's paintings while Teeton watches in “fascination” (26). Here, the Old Dowager assumes the traditional function of the patron as custodian of art and its mystique. Whereas Teeton produces art within the modern, commercialized world of the dealer-critic, the Old Dowager functions within an attenuated feudalist system in which the artist lives under the patron’s umbrella.
Furthermore, the Old Dowager’s protectiveness is defined by her view of the two representations of San Cristobal in Teeton's room. First, the two maps of the Caribbean which cover Teeton’s windows symbolically reproduce the exotic San Cristobal of the Old Dowager’s imagination. Second, Teeton's painting of a San Cristobal beach scene has a similar effect on the Old Dowager as she asserts her position as a representative of a vanishing Empire, and her obsolescence reflected in her tired interpretations of the images. However, while the Old Dowager evolves into a parody of the austere colonial authority figure, Teeton assumes the stance of the “explorer” as he “refocuses” the vision of Teeton the “painter” on his island, rather than on London.
