mimoplastic art
{{Short description|Performance art genre depicting works of art by use of mime}}
File:Attitudes of Lady Hamilton by Novelli.jpg made the striking of attitudes into an art form, portraying classical themes such as the Judgement of Paris.]]
Mimoplastic art (also known as attitudes) is a performance art genre depicting works of art by use of mime, especially gestures and draping. Mimoplastic "attitude" is differentiated from the tableau vivant by its imitation of classical sculpture.{{cite book|last=Richter|first=Simon J.|title=Goethe Yearbook 12|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBjVJbFS0rkC&pg=PA310|date=1 August 2004|publisher=Camden House|isbn=978-1-57113-295-6|pages=310–}} The genre depicted works of art, particularly classical subjects.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Attitude and Shawl Dance|url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095433269|encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Dance|publisher=Oxford Reference|accessdate=27 April 2014}}
History
It was popularized by Emma, Lady Hamilton.{{cite book|last=Pulham|first=Patricia|title=Art and the Transitional Object in Vernon Lee's Supernatural Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hQlOmlg7QkC&pg=PA70|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-5096-6|pages=70–}} Hamilton's art form may have developed after modelling for the painter, George Romney. Goethe 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".{{cite book|last1=Hatfield|first1=Jackie|last2=Littman|first2=Stephen|title=Experimental Film and Video: An Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BfjrTZxmjpwC&pg=PA102|year=2006|publisher=John Libbey Pub.|isbn=978-0-86196-664-6|pages=102–}} The art form trended among upperclass European women between 1770 and 1815. They created mimoplastic art in their homes.{{cite book|last=Crochunis|first=Thomas C.|title=Joanna Baillie, Romantic Dramatist: Critical Essays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4cIGjwY14BwC&pg=PT212|date=24 February 2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-42248-7|pages=212–}} Ida Brun's attitudes included background music and narratives.{{cite book|last=Preston|first=Carrie J.|title=Modernism's Mythic Pose: Gender, Genre, Solo Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BmJ8Had0vLMC&pg=PA264|date=5 September 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976626-0|pages=264–}} The literary scholar Henning Fenger (1921-1985), stated that Brun's "mimoplastic art captivated Europe".{{cite book|last=Fenger|first=Henning|title=Twayne's world authors series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLk3AAAAIAAJ|year=1971|publisher=Twayne Publishers|page=54}} Other notable performers included Henriette Hendel-Schütz{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=Marvin|title=Performance: A Critical Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MJdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA91|date=16 December 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-49865-7|pages=91–}} and the only male performer of attitudes, Gustav Anton von Seckendorff.