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Arts & Communication Dialogue of painting and cinema in The Age of Innocence

style also indicates the fragility of Van der Luydens’ ancient when they cannot venture to live for real. In the film,
world, which can break down at any moment. the protagonist maniacally sees the lady of his heart in
The art of the Netherlands is also exploited in the genre everything that crosses his way. For Newland, various
of landscape. 40,41 For instance, the objective language of objects such as costume details and accessories become
Ruysdael’s paintings is taken in the film as a model for signs of the possibility of seeing or not seeing Ellen.
several outdoor winter scenes in the first part of the film. In the game of substituting an inanimate object for an
The dark color scheme predominates shots built on the animated creature, false indicators cause disappointment.
contrast of dark and light surfaces. For instance, there is a scene when Newland Archer,
desperately chasing his dream of happiness, wrongly takes
In the genre system of the Netherlands’ 17 -century a pink parasol for an attribute of his beloved. An illusion
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art, still-life has an equally prominent position. 42-44 The breaks into pieces as soon as the true owner of an umbrella
elements of Flemish still-lives are included in the language appears and takes it away from Newland’s hands.
system of The Age of Innocence in staging the scenes that
demonstrate the glut of the dining tables in the houses of 7. The language of Impressionism in
the wealthiest New Yorkers. In paintings by Frans Sneiders, cinematic modeling of the “new world” in
such as Kitchen Still Life (1610), Still Life with Dead Game, The Age of Innocence
Fruit and Vegetable in a Market (1614), A Fruit Stall (1621),
and Fish Market (1621), the visual space is overfilled with The cinematic reconstruction of Ellen Olenska’s world is
different animals slaughtered to satisfy the human hunger. based on the objective language of painting styles totally
The death of nature, its mortal destiny, is the core of these distinct from the ones that create the “old” New York. Since
fowling pieces that show the reverse side of the feast of life. the world of this woman is special for its newness, Scorsese
chooses to design it according to the painting style that is
The allusion to Snyders’ paintings is evoked in The Age new, bold, unconventional, and unknown for New Yorkers
of Innocence in staging the scene of preparation for the who still live in the past. If the realm of the “old” New York
reception in honor of Countess Olenska at Mrs. Mingott’s is regulated by patterns drawn from the paintings of “old
mansion. The upper-class society declined the invitations masters,” the “new” world is created in the contemporary
to the dinner to show their rejection of the disagreeable European style of the late 19 century.
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Madame Olenska. However, in Mrs. Mingott’s kitchen, the
wild fowl had already been sacrificed, and many pleasures In the film, the principal element in the objective
of the table were destined to be ruined. “An offering made language system of contemporary art is the style of
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in vain” is the visual concept that is conceived by the image Impressionism. Impressionism emerged in Paris in the
of these preparations cut short. It is also a visual metaphor 1870s as a protest against the rules of The Academy of Fine
that reveals one of the ideas of the motion picture, which Arts. A group of young artists started a revolt, fought for
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tells a story about the vain hopes and frustrations of life. their independence and found a new style of painting. In
The Age of Innocence, Impressionism is a style identified
The Dutch Golden Age still-life genre in painting is
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characterized using “speaking” things, the attributes that with Ellen Olenska, a free-spirited woman whose departure
from Europe is an act of rebellion against her oppressive
reveal their masters. In still-lives by Pieter Claesz, Willem husband. Impressionism signifies a worldview in which a
Kalf, and Willem Heda, a cutoff lemon peel or a glass bowl
placed on the edge of a table shows human presence. The free, creative person defies all rules and traditions.
tradition of employing “speaking” things transgresses the As the cinematic story develops, Countess Olenska
sphere of still-lives in the Netherlands’ art when objects is revealed as a connoisseur and a collector of modern
appear as real characters, revealing the messages of pictures Impressionist art. In attesting to the functions, paintings
of other genres. A Girl Reading a Letter by an Open have in the indoor scenes in The Age of Innocence, Scorsese
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Window (1659) and The Wine Glass (1660) by Johannes remarked: “The paintings in the film reflect the characters
Vermeer represent great examples of the Dutch method of the people who own them and who are displaying them
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of incorporating still-life elements into complex works of in their homes.” Therefore, the Impressionist worldview
art for the indirect indication of the hidden, privy, implicit, specified by freedom, audacity, and otherness is inherent to
latent or unsaid. Countess Olenska, who, in fact, owns and displays works of
The still-life method of representing a human being by Impressionists.
a thing is widely exploited in The Age of Innocence. These The cinematic image of Madame Olenska is built on
things are not only markers of certain social statuses but associations with female figures from Impressionists
also indicators of social coverings a person hides behind canvases. For instance, when Newland enters her house

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2024) 7 doi: 10.36922/ac.2090