Q. Critically explain the poem The Painter by John Ashbery.
John Ashbery’s “The Painter” was published in 1966 in his poetry collection “Rivers and Mountains.” This book contains poems showing Ashbery’s unique approach to poetry, including his use of language and how he structures his poems.
Explanation of The Painter by John Ashbery
Stanza 1
Sitting between the sea and the buildings
He enjoyed painting the sea’s portrait.
But just as children imagine a prayer
Is merely silence, he expected his subject
To rush up the sand, and, seizing a brush,
Plaster its own portrait on the canvas.
The painter sits where nature (the sea) and man-máde structures (the buildings) meet. This shows that he is caught between two worlds: the vast, wild sea that inspires him and the orderly, structured world of society.
The painter’s position between these worlds symbolizes the surrealist ambition to unite the rational and the irrational, bridging the gap between reality and dreams.
The painter thinks about his work in a simple, childlike way. Just as children misunderstand prayer, thinking it is only silence, he believes his task will be easy or magical. He doesn’t yet see how hard it will be to capture the complexity of the sea.
The painter has an innocent, surreal belief that the sea will somehow help him. He imagines it as alive, rushing onto the shore, grabbing a paintbrush, and painting itself. This unrealistic idea shows his dreamlike, creative thinking.
Stanza 2
So there was never any paint on his canvas
Until the people who lived in the buildings
Put him to work: “Try using the brush
As a means to an end. Select, for a portrait,
Something less angry and large, and more subject
To a painter’s moods, or, perhaps, to a prayer.”
Despite his ambition to paint the sea, the painter has yet to create anything. This symbolizes the difficulty of translating grand, infinite visions into tangible art. His canvas remains blank because his subject (the sea) is too vast and elusive to be captured.
In surrealism, this blankness represents the tension between the boundlessness of imagination and the limitations of artistic tools
The people in the buildings represent society—rational, structured, and utilitarian. These people live in a world of rules and expectations, contrasting with the painter’s dreamy, imaginative realm of the sea.
They intervene, imposing their own expectations on the painter. This symbolizes how external forces often stifle artistic freedom, pressuring creators to conform to conventional standards.
The phrase “means to an end” suggests that art should be functional or understandable, undermining the painter’s abstract, infinite vision.
They advise him to choose a subject that’s easier to manage and more aligned with what a painter might feel or want to express, similar to a prayer.
The “angry and large” subject (the sea) represents the painter’s original ambition—something vast, untamable, and difficult to control. The people urge him to abandon this grand vision in favor of something smaller, calmer, and more manageable.
This reflects how society often prefers art that is accessible and safe, discouraging artists from pursuing bold or unconventional ideas.
This means that instead of waiting for the sea, which is too big and wild, to paint itself, he should focus on more minor, more personal subjects that he can control and that reflect his emotions or desires.
“A prayer” suggests a humble and respectful approach to art. This contrasts with how surrealism values imagination as a way to break free and challenge norms.
Stanza 3
How could he explain to them his prayer
That nature, not art, might usurp the canvas?
He chose his wife for a new subject,
Making her vast, like ruined buildings,
As if, forgetting itself, the portrait
Had expressed itself without a brush.
The painter’s prayer is a surreal desire: he wishes for nature itself, rather than his own conscious efforts, to take over the canvas. This reflects his longing for an organic, self-creating art form where the natural world directly imprints itself, bypassing the limitations of human intervention.
His inability to explain this to the people shows the disconnect between the surrealist ideal of spontaneous creation and society’s more structured expectations of art as something consciously crafted.
Under pressure to abandon his grand vision of the sea, the painter turns to a more personal and relatable subject: his wife. This represents a compromise, where he attempts to balance societal demands for something tangible with his own surrealist tendencies.
However, his choice of subject still carries surrealist elements, as he does not depict her conventionally but instead imbues her with vastness and abstraction.
He paints her grandly, comparing her to vast, ruined buildings. This choice suggests he is trying to capture something beyond just her appearance, something more powerful and natural.
Making her vast, like ruined buildings,
Comparing a person to a building, especially a ruined one, creates a strange and surreal image. It blurs the line between human and non-human. This approach, often seen in surrealist art and poetry, challenges traditional ideas of identity and form.
The painter’s wife, called “ruined buildings,” becomes more than just a person. She is seen as a structure—something grand and lasting but also worn down and changed by outside forces.
Stanza 4
Slightly encouraged, he dipped his brush
In the sea, murmuring a heartfelt prayer:
“My soul, when I paint this next portrait
Let it be you who wrecks the canvas.”
The news spread like wildfire through the buildings:
He had gone back to the sea for his subject.
Slightly encouraged
The painter feels a small but meaningful sense of hope and determination. This optimism might come from his earlier compromise—painting his wife—which could have helped him rebuild trust in his creative abilities. However, this hope feels fragile, showing his cautious mindset as he faces his massive goal.
Dipped his brush in the sea
This symbolic act ties the painter directly to his subject. He breaks the separation between himself and nature by placing his brush in the sea.
The act merges artist and inspiration, turning the sea into both a partner and a source of creativity, blending the physical and spiritual.
Murmuring a heartfelt prayer
The prayer reflects the painter’s deep emotional and spiritual connection to his work. His art is not just about skill or technique but a sincere plea for something meaningful and transformative to emerge from his efforts.
As he starts to paint, he asks his soul to guide his work, hoping it will make his painting more honest and powerful. He wants his inner feelings and spirit to take over the painting process, even if the result is unexpected or chaotic.
My soul, when I paint this next portrait
The painter’s prayer reveals his surrealist desire to relinquish control over the creative process. He wants his soul—or perhaps a force greater than himself, like nature or the subconscious—to take over and “wreck” the canvas.
Wreck the canvas
This phrase is striking. Instead of creating something perfect or polished, the painter prays for destruction or chaos, reflecting a surrealist rejection of conventional beauty and order.
In this context, wrecking symbolizes breaking free from societal norms and allowing raw, unfiltered truth to emerge. This line also evokes the surrealist concept of automatism, where the artist surrenders control to let the subconscious or external forces shape the work.
When artists let their soul guide their painting, they aim to create art that’s not just technically skilled but also profoundly expressive and meaningful. Such art can communicate the artist’s unique perspective and inner life to others,
The “news” spreading rapidly suggests a reaction of shock, fascination, or even scandal. The painter’s return to the sea represents a defiance of societal expectations and a return to his surrealist ideals.
The sea symbolizes infinity, chaos, and the sublime—concepts central to surrealism. Returning to the sea, the painter reconnects with the limitless and the mysterious.
This act rejects the smaller, safer subjects that society encouraged him to focus on, showing his renewed embrace of the vast and unknowable.
Stanza 5
Imagine a painter crucified by his subject!
Too exhausted even to lift his brush,
He provoked some artists leaning from the buildings
To malicious mirth: “We haven’t a prayer
Now, of putting ourselves on canvas,
Or getting the sea to sit for a portrait!”
In this stanza, the idea is presented of a painter who is overwhelmed by what he tries to paint and so tired that he can’t even paint anymore.
The painter is “crucified” by his attempt to paint the sea, symbolizing his total sacrifice for his art. Crucifixion brings to mind themes of suffering, devotion, and martyrdom, showing that the painter has given everything, even his own well-being, to his impossible goal.
The sea, representing infinity and the sublime, is both the painter’s inspiration and his torment. His ambition to capture something so vast and uncontrollable becomes his source of pain.
This reflects the surrealist view of art as an all-consuming, transformative act that demands everything from the artist.
He provoked some artists leaning from the buildings
To malicious mirth
It shows that the painter’s struggle or failure made other artists watching from the buildings laugh at him meanly. They found humour in his inability to capture his subject, showing a lack of support among the artists.
The “artists leaning from the buildings” symbolize creators who conform to society’s expectations. They live safely within the structured, rational world represented by the buildings. Unlike the painter, they avoid the risks and challenges of pushing creative boundaries.
Their “malicious mirth” reveals mockery and jealousy. They laugh at the painter’s struggles, possibly out of insecurity or because they cannot understand the depth of his vision.
This reaction highlights how society often ridicules or dismisses those who break from norms, even when those individuals strive for something profound and meaningful.
We haven’t a prayer
Now, of putting ourselves on canvas,
Or getting the sea to sit for a portrait!
The mocking artists sarcastically say they can’t match the painter’s sacrificial dedication. Their words show their shallow view of art. They see it as a way to glorify themselves, focused on “putting ourselves on canvas,” rather than using art to explore deeper truths like the infinite or the sublime.
This line criticizes the ego-driven approach to art. It highlights the stark difference between their self-centred perspective and the painter’s selfless commitment to his vision and subject.
The sarcastic comment about the sea “sitting for a portrait” mocks the painter’s ambitious and surreal attempt to capture its essence.
This ridicule shows how conventional artists fail to understand his vision. They see art in literal and practical terms, not as a way to transcend reality.
The irony lies in the fact that the sea, being infinite and constantly changing, could never “sit” for a portrait. By making his ambition sound absurd, the mocking artists reveal their inability to grasp the deeper purpose of his work and the profound, symbolic nature of his efforts.
Stanza 6
Others declared it a self-portrait.
Finally, all indications of a subject
Began to fade, leaving the canvas
Perfectly white. He put down the brush.
At once a howl, that was also a prayer,
Arose from the overcrowded buildings.
In this stanza of the poem, some people think the painting is a self-portrait, even though it becomes less clear what the subject is.
Eventually, all signs of any subject disappear, and the canvas becomes completely white. When the painter stops painting, a loud noise comes from the buildings around him.
This noise is both a cry of frustration and a hopeful wish. It shows how people react strongly when faced with the idea of a painting that ends up as a blank canvas.
The “howl” conveys a raw, emotional reaction from the crowd. It could represent grief, frustration, awe, or a mixture of all three. The “prayer” element suggests reverence or desperation, adding a spiritual dimension to the collective response.
This duality of howl and prayer reflects the surrealist blending of contradictory emotions and ideas, where pain and transcendence coexist. The crowd’s reaction captures the unsettling and transformative power of the painter’s work.
Stanza 7
They tossed him, the portrait, from the tallest of the buildings;
And the sea devoured the canvas and the brush
As though his subject had decided to remain a prayer.
The sea, the painter’s elusive subject, takes back the tools of his art in the end. This act symbolizes the sea’s resistance to being captured or controlled by human effort. As a symbol of the infinite, the sublime, and the unconscious, it cannot be confined by art.
The word “devoured” suggests both destruction and assimilation. The sea consumes the canvas and brush, erasing the painter’s attempt to impose his vision on it. It is as if nature refuses to be limited or defined by human hands.
In surrealist terms, this moment represents the merging of the artist, the subject, and the art itself. The tools and creation dissolve into the sea, symbolizing a surrender to the infinite and unknowable source of inspiration.
