This painting seeks to evoke the spirit of the opening notes of the Rite. The famous high bassoon solo joined in the second bar by soft horn creates an unforgettably beautiful and delicate opening, a moment of security before the storm.
As Peter Hill observes, Stravinsky seems to take these opening notes and then immediately dismantle, repeat and reinvent them, reforming them as if to look simultaneously forward and back. Thus, as Hill interprets, the Rite seems to begin with a transition: “…in which new ideas form as old ones decline” (Hill, 2000, p.61).
In a similar way, Splitting the Dawn unfolds in repeated forms and delicate threads of natural colour which merge, dissolve and reinvent themselves, everything in transition. It portrays a human spring, life moves between states – between seasons – falling and beginning again.
Ref: Hill, Peter, Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Cambridge University Press, 2000
As Peter Hill observes, Stravinsky seems to take these opening notes and then immediately dismantle, repeat and reinvent them, reforming them as if to look simultaneously forward and back. Thus, as Hill interprets, the Rite seems to begin with a transition: “…in which new ideas form as old ones decline” (Hill, 2000, p.61).
In a similar way, Splitting the Dawn unfolds in repeated forms and delicate threads of natural colour which merge, dissolve and reinvent themselves, everything in transition. It portrays a human spring, life moves between states – between seasons – falling and beginning again.
Ref: Hill, Peter, Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring, Cambridge University Press, 2000
[NB. When displayed in full sunlight the marble dust in this painting catches the light and the use of beeswax gives certain areas a translucent quality. Both effects are difficult to communicate adequately via photography.]