Read the work ‘Tender Buttons’ by poet Gertrude Stein. How does her use of language resonate with the visual work of the Cubists?

Gertrude Stein had been a student to philosopher William James who a had a strong influence on her theories of literary composition. Stein was determined to break away from literary traditions; namely, narrative, structure and plots, although her early works didn’t achieve what she had in mind. Influenced by her friendship with art critics, poets and Cubist painters such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, who were themselves attempting to accomplish in their mediums what Stein was in hers, she wrote Tender Buttons. (Stein, 1997) 

In this series of poems, she abandons the traditions of literature as we know it (or have come to accept it) and uses words and sentences in an unstructured and fragmented manner that are often impracticable to interpret, to describe common everyday objects. In doing so she forces the reader to examine their perception of both objects and the use of language.

It is evident that the writing of Tender Buttons was shaped or influenced by modern painting. Her writing, characterized by its use of words for their associations and sounds rather than their meanings, and where images and phrases come together in a manner similar to cubist painting. This echoes the cubist use of multiple viewpoints and overlapping views.

Despite having read Tender Buttons at least twice, and a third where my mind started wondering, I can’t say that I was inspired by this piece of literature. However, I was able to identify with the influence of Cubist paintings and surprisingly, started to visual words and phrases from multiple points.

References:

Atlas, N. (2018). Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein: Experiment in Cubist Poetry, or Literary Prank?. [online] Literary Ladies Guide. Available at: https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/book-reviews/tender-buttons-by-gertrude-stein-experiment-in-cubist-poetry-or-literary-prank/ [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Poets.org. (n.d.). About Gertrude Stein | Academy of American Poets. [online] Available at: https://poets.org/poet/gertrude-stein [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Stein, G. (1997). Tender buttons. Mineola, N.Y.: E.P. Dutton.

Stein, G. (2005). The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tender Buttons, by Gertrude Stein.. [online] Gutenberg.org. Available at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15396/15396-h/15396-h.htm [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

YouTube. (2012). Gertrude Stein – Author & Poet | Mini Bio | BIO. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfLmWbFXHgM [Accessed 19 Feb. 2020].

Listen to ‘Cultural Exchange’ in which the author A S Byatt talks to Mark Lawson about Henri Matisse’s ‘The Red Studio’

Henri Matisse’s The Red Studio (1911)is a still life of the interior of his studio which includes creative variations of his earlier works, paintings, sculptures and various other objects.

As the title suggests, the studio is a vivid shade of red. There are no shadows or highlights, and although Matisse dismantles the perspective of space, thin reserve lines define form to create the illusion of depth.

In the BBC Radio 4 Cultural Programme – Front Row, presenter Mark Lawson talks with author AS Byatt about the Matisse work – Red Studio (1911).  Byatt references the painting to a game of memory, akin to Kim’s game, a game used develop a person’s capacity to observe and remember details and the name of which is derived from Rudyard Kipling’s 1901 novel Kim.

Byatt notes Matisse’s observation and understanding of colour, recalling that he had previously experimented with green and blue backgrounds before settling on the vivid red seen in the finished painting. She also observes Matisse’s’ knowledge of spatial awareness and the way things [objects] relate to one another, and that if they were moved, one way or another the composition would break down. This certainly resonated with my own experience when developing a contemporary still life, in that moving objects altered their relationship to one another and the harmony of the composition.

Byatt acknowledges that she was “sensually and intellectually involved in his [Matisse] works” who inspired her own creative process.  Her parallel between literature and painting was insightful to see how see was able to imagine the objects like characters in one of her novels.

References:

Henrimatisse.org. (2020). L’Atelier Rouge, 1911 by Henri Matisse. [online] Available at: https://www.henrimatisse.org/the-red-studio.jsp [Accessed 24 Feb. 2020].

Lawson, M. (2013). BBC Radio 4 – Front Row’s Cultural Exchange, A.S. Byatt’s Cultural Exchange. [online] BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p019dq3q [Accessed 24 Feb. 2020].