The idea that I want to focus on within
the novel Autumn by Ali Smith is the
idea of art and how she uses these images within her novel that express a
certain aspect of painting imagery. This coincides with her use and mention of
Pauline Boty’s artwork. It is interesting when reading the novel, the immense detail
that goes into the description of certain scenes that paint a perfect picture
for you. The scene in which I feel this is most obvious is the first chapter of
the novel, where we get this description as told by the character Daniel. The line
I am referring to that painted the most vivid image n my head and made me think
about what was being said was, “He looks like a punctured football with its stitching
split, the leather kind that people kicked a hundred years ago” (Smith, 3). This
line gives a very detailed description of what one is supposed to be witnessing
in front of them, providing imagery that can only be expressed through sense of
artwork. The similarities with the way that Smith describes her scenes and
dialogue expressing the fantastical character of Daniel is transmitted directly
to express Daniel’s own personality and who he is as a character and person. During
his dialogue when he is explaining and detailing Boty’s artwork he too uses the
same expressive and imagined technique that is exemplified by his creator,
Smith. The part in the novel where Smith shows this descriptive parallel is
when she has Daniel describe the Boty paintings, in detail, to Elisabeth. He begins to speak to her:
“The background is rich dark blue… on top of the dark blue,
in the middle of the picture, there’s a shape made of pale paper that looks
like a round full moon, there’s a cut-out black and white lady wearing a
swimsuit, cut from a newspaper or fashion magazine. And next to her, as if she’s
leaning against it, there’s a giant human hand. And the giant hand is holding
inside it a tiny hand, a baby’s hand… Below all this, there’s a stylized
picture of a woman’s face, the same face repeated several times, but with a
different coloured curl of real hair hanging over its nose each time—” (Smith,
73).
This whole scene where Daniel is explaining in every aspect
of the painting to Elisabeth was so magical to me and in every case one of my
favorite parts of the novel because it was able to express this perfect image
in my head that made me want to search the image out.
 |
| Pauline Boty. Unkown. Image Copyright The Artist's Estate. |
That was a big part of this book,
where I wanted to search out a lot of the things that were being described, Pauline
Boty’s art specifically. The way that Smith uses her voice to generate Daniel’s
character she is able to do that with Boty’s art as well. She makes Boty’s art accessible
through her novel and in a subtle way that seems to be poetic, how her words
paint a picture. I was so immersed in the image that was being described by Daniel
that I went looking for Pauline Boty’s art and attempted to find the specific
picture that was being described and I found it by searching, “Pauline Boty
hand and baby”, which came up with the work of art. I was so interested in what
the picture looked like by the image I had in my head, so when I saw the
picture I felt that it was the exact images I had in my head, but they were
placed differently, but I was still amazed by how the details within the novel
and in the way that these details were expressed I was able to see Boty’s
paintings without seeing them, aiding in the emotional element to how much of a
deep bond and connection Elisabeth and Daniel could have had. It made me realize
that Elisabeth had had an emotional connection with Daniel due to the way she witnessed
how he saw life and experienced it. She felt that he had a sense of wonder to
him that allowed him to imagine and see the world as a fantastical place. Whether
he was being truthful about the artwork or not seemed irrelevant, but just the
way he expressed these images itself gave way to know who he was as a sort of
all knowing presence in her life. It made the scene where she discovered Boty’s
collection more emotional because I feel that I could relate to her a bit, as
she was unaware of the true beauty of Boty’s collection. She only knew of Boty’s
collection through images and descriptions within her mind through Daniel, the
same way I knew of them through Daniel (Smith). Once I found the image I was
amazed and taken aback by how true the image in my head was to the words within
the novel.
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