In ca. 1839, the painting of Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway by American painter Francis William Edmonds focuses on scenes or events from daily life. Using careful observation, one notices the similarities and differences between the companions. Francis Edmonds captures a painful vignette as the two former soldiers interact about functioning with damages, causing life’s difficulties while reflecting on how future prospects have been hampered by past injuries and trauma. Edmonds portrays this scene to explore issues of time, issues of trauma, and how history is made.
The gentlemen portrayed in the painting are fictional characters from the novel of Tobias Smollett The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. Tobias Smollett’s novel is a work of prose fiction in the form of picaresque fiction. In Oxford, England in 1751, Smollett writes the picaresque novel about the roguish Peregrine Pickle. Rejected by his mother, father, and brother, Peregrine is adopted by Commodore Hawser Trunnion where he goes to live at his estate. Commodore Trunnion, an ex-seaman, operates his household the same as a warship. In fact, staying in the house are also Trunnion’s old shipmates, Lieutenant Jack Hatchway and boatswain Tom Pipes. Trunnion spoils Peregrine by raising him in the highest social class of wealth and power where he can do whatever he wants without facing any consequences. This egotistical lifestyle eventually leads Peregrine later in life into the Fleet debtors’ prison. Then when it appears as if everything is over for Peregrine, he receives another lifeline by inheriting 80,000 pounds from his father and has the ability to pay back his debts. In prison, Peregrine learns to atone for his horrible conduct and guarantees to carry on his life in a less ruinous and solitary way. This story of comedy and satire sets the tone for Edmonds’ painting of Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway. The picaresque writing of Tobias Smollett satirizes greed, cruelty, and stupidity as human weaknesses. This story of comedy and satire sets the tone for Edmonds’ painting of Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway.
Edmonds’ work of art encapsulates time. The style Edmonds uses in the painting was based on research pertaining to Oxford, England from 1751 along with the style of his present time. Using this research, the artist contrasts social circumstances, stylistic elements, and economic influences in the periods of 1751 and 1839. Edmonds conveys the context of the time by representing a combination of characters in a picaresque, literary piece of the eighteenth century and artistic, stylistic devices of the 19th century. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the exceptional use of luminosity, combined with the techniques of shadows and paintings that tell a story as a narrative, were of most popularity. Edmonds uses the sub-theme of time combined with the colors, luminosity, and details of the quiet and nostalgic nature to harmoniously link the gap between these two centuries. This act of anachronism makes the painting unique and noteworthy. Moreover, Edmonds presents time in his detailed and distinct vignette, creating a snapshot of the two characters in one moment of time. In the painting, the veteran of the British navy Commodore Trunnion acts by pouring a drink for himself while he listens to Jack Hatchway, a friend of his. Jack Hatchway has learned that another naval officer has received the promotion Trunnion wanted, which makes Trunnion irritated. The gentlemen’s communication is symbolic and indirect, for one of them is focused on drinking and listening, and another one – on reading a paper that informs on the failure of plans to get the desired honor. The situation is complicated by the stress both gentlemen are getting after the unexpected news. Throughout the 19th century, many oil paintings had color stacked in layers which gave a sense of three-dimensional figure. Therefore, the artwork background included the interplay in the mix of colors (e.g., brown, white, black, etc.). Based on the current observations, these colors are the most essential to illustrate the textures of the wall and the background wood. It recedes to sort out the images to provide emphasis on both characters in the artwork. The visual perception of object shapes and lines help the artist to illustrate the leading subject adding more intensity of the black, orange, and red colors. The layers are applied thinly to let the painting look like opaque for the effect of richness and depth. The surface is gritty. It has the sandy texture that allows lines flowing in the deep concentration, according to the composition. This artwork is helpful for the artist to address to the audience a consistency of colors. The leading tones are milky-white, brown, orange, and black. The orange color in the picture varies in the shades from auburn to coral-orange. The tone of the auburn orange adds more intensity and density to the shades. This tint of orange remains with little brightness, and essentially grows evenly outwards in the artwork. And, the coral orange is an intensive orange with a red adding. This color is specifically simpler and not too bold as the pure orange. The author uses multiple shades of black to display the shadowy eye-catching visual experience. The same characteristics of the monochromatic brown color present many different hues throughout the painting, especially in the background. Furthermore, Edmonds awards the eye with rich mahogany, amber, and beige. The muted colors in the background cause the viewer to focus on the two male figures’ interaction and during their conversation in time. The artist gives justification to each color making the hue stand out and combine at the same time. As the colors give the painting a sense of foreshadowing, the characters face difficulties presented by naval hardships.
Next, the appearance of colors impacts the painting as Edmonds depicts the two elderly gentlemen communicating in a melancholy atmosphere. This somber atmosphere which Edmonds shows us has a traumatic presence. During 1839, Edmonds was facing his own traumatic experiences in life with the sickness and eventual death of his wife in 1940. Edmonds used painting to escape the emotional hardships of losing someone you love. Presented in fall colors have a wide range of emotions. Upon viewing the painting, one can notice that the colors contrast emotions. The bright orange represents positive emotions of sociability and well-being in the central area of the painting, whereas the gloominess of the darkened shades in the background relate to a saddened mood. The painter has used these contrasting autumnal colors to further reveal a gloomy state of affairs. Moreover, the artist uses the autumnal light and dark colors in illuminating the two aging fellows, making them the focal point of the painting. Edmonds carefully chooses these different light and dark fall colors to enhance one’s observation of the British characters during depressing situations. The viewer sees their serious faces creating an emotional state while dealing with trauma. The dark colors add an emotional depth of understanding by conveying the mental despair due to their respective physical conditions. Throughout the masterpiece, irony pervades the subjects in the art work. The central focus places Jack Hatchway and Commodore Trunnion as the most important dealing with the paradoxes of movement and sight. For example, the painter carefully selected each object and its color tone to relate to trauma. In the painting, a clear example of this concerns the wooden leg of Jack Hatchway. Associated with misfortune and fear, an accidental naval trauma leads the character to lose his original leg. The artist paints the artificial leg a mahogany brown color, sculpting the wood in order to draw the attention of the observer to this paradoxical situation. Oddly enough, the whittled wooden leg relates directly to the beautifully carved spindle legs of the chair. This represents paradoxical humor by poking fun at the difficult situation in the life of the amputee, Jack Hatchway. How unusual it is that the artist paints an amputee standing with an artificial leg while Commodore Trunnion reclines in a sturdy chair. Also, the wooden leg represents the resilience because despite the problem, Jack deals with his traumatic condition by continuing to function thanks to this wooden solution. Another example of irony pertains to the sense of sight versus sightless as the artist humor to focus on traumatic injuries. The painter shows Jack Hatchway reading a newspaper to Commodore Trunnion, who wears an eye patch while keenly listening and pouring himself a drink. Edmonds compares and contrasts the conditions of healthy versus damaged sight and appendage due to naval trauma. The complications of the picture rise, when assessing the structural composition of the painting made in contrasts between shades of black and orange. The dynamism of the content is evident, based on the roles of both gentlemen. The composition of the painting is not only dynamical but also challenging for it addresses the actual social and physical problems and issues that prevent the soldiers from taking the direct impact in sharing promotions and rewards. Their real problem is the misleading hope to get the honor and the lost time full of expectations. Their leaders are truly uninterested in their life after the battle but effectively use them to cover the gaps in the rows of defenders of the land. Whereas former soldiers should experience honor and glory, these poor veterans grimly suffer pain and discomfort for conflict participation. This situation leads to a traumatic injuries and experiences. Not only were Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway dealing with trauma, but so was Francis William Edmonds in his own personal life.
In other paintings by Edmonds work represents fears and traumas that people suffer in their daily lives. The painting "Epicure" focuses on an overweight man, who drinks wine and represents escapism, a way that humans tend to avoid problems, taking refuge in alcohol. Another person holds a pig, which is symbolizes how people with power usually have control over people with less money, such as a woman carrying a tray of food. The boss mentality values having someone in a servile capacity wait on the authority figure. This delineates a class system with a superior person ranked above a worker class. The viewer perceives that the wealthy gentleman is guilty of the sin of gluttony, eating too much fine food and drinking too much wine. Edmonds reveals a disparity between the wealthy and the poor as the scene dwells on the struggles to survive of the working class as they serve for needed daily essentials. Interestingly enough, the affluent, gluttonous customer appears fat and unhealthy while the energetic working class appear healthy and vivacious. Edmonds painting “The Epicure” reveals the trauma working class people faced during this time period of 1838. Another work that can be compared is “Sparking,” where the luminosity centers on a couple who enjoy the warmth of a fireplace during courtship. Edmonds painting reveals how antiquated the ritual of courtship was during the time period. Sharing smiles in front of the fireplace, the couple attempts to become better acquainted with the goal of a kiss. In the background, a woman listens as she cleans the dishes. The listener appears to be a member of the working class as she is performing simple daily life chores. This painting relates to Edmonds’ depiction of scenes pertaining to everyday life concerning the ritual of courtship and the differences between wealthy and poor.
Overall, the painting is the sample of the work that reflects the life of the author and his endeavors in searching new hints to improve the painting style. Francis William Edmonds was both a talented artist and well-known banker. He combined the viewpoint of a practical businessman along with an appreciation of beauty. The underlying similarities present in Edmond’s paintings are not only in the color schematics however, but they serve as period pieces that anachronistically blend ideals of the 19th century with the nostalgia of the 18th. This artistic choice creates a melancholy ambience that actually conflicts with the usual associated happiness of nostalgia, resulting in a satirical tone that highlights many of the social problems that plagued the 18th century: unchecked wealth, mass poverty, war, the spread of disease, and illness. Edmond’s ability to blend these ideas allows the common viewer to see past the often beautified and historic nature of 18th century paintings and instead gives a glimpse of what people’s daily lives were like. Through his paintings Commodore Trunnion and Jack Hatchway, The Epicure, and Sparking, Edmonds portrays the clashing ideas of nostalgia against the bleak reality of this period with an overall goal of exploring the pressing issues of time, trauma, and the making of historical moments.