Mimoplastic art (also known as attitudes) is a
performance art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...
genre depicting works of art by use of
mime
A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...
, especially gestures and draping. Mimoplastic "attitude" is differentiated from the
tableau vivant by its imitation of classical sculpture.
The genre depicted works of art, particularly classical subjects.
History
It was popularized by
Emma, Lady Hamilton.
Hamilton's art form may have developed after modelling for the painter,
George Romney.
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
wrote in 1787, "with a few shawls (she) gives so much variety to her poses, gestures, expressions etc., that the spectator can hardly believe his eyes... This much is certain: as a performance it is like nothing you ever saw before in your life".
The art form trended among upperclass European women between 1770 and 1815. They created mimoplastic art in their homes.
's attitudes included background music and narratives.
The literary scholar
Henning Fenger (1921-1985), stated that Brun's "mimoplastic art captivated Europe".
Other notable performers included
Henriette Hendel-Schütz and the only male performer of attitudes,
Gustav Anton von Seckendorff.
See also
*
Attitude (fine art)
References
{{Nonverbal communication
Mime