Rethinking the Image

Image source: https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/composition-7990 (Accessed: 18 September 2025). © The Estate of John Banting/Bridgeman Images

John Banting, Composition (1927-33), York Art Gallery, 41.2 cm x 55.8 cm, oil on wood.

Among York Art Gallery’s hugely varied collection of paintings, representing countless Western European art movements from the 14th century to the present day, there is a modest painting by British Surrealist artist John Banting^[1] which holds a particular, irreverent appeal.

Perhaps the most striking element of Composition is the Greco-Roman head on the left-hand side of the painting, placed within the pages of a book in acknowledgement of its function as a reference to Classicism and antiquity. Similar references can be seen in other surrealist paintings, such as Georgio de Chirico’s The Song of Love (1914).^[2]

Behind the head, a display of seafood comprising a fish and two mussel shells makes subtle reference to still-life painting – a type of art which, in previous centuries, had been condemned to a subordinate status within the painting genre hierarchy.^[3] Above the fish, an area of solid black is whimsically interrupted by a looping, golden-yellow line, reflecting the growing prominence of abstraction in early-20th century art.

There are suggestions of light and shade within Composition, both in the shading of the right-hand page of the book, which appears as a single field of colour, and in the light and shadows cast by the various objects. The source of the light is unclear, however, creating a slight sense of disorientation which only adds to the painting’s nonsensical charm.

The perspective lines that intersect the pale green background enforce a set of boundaries within which the painting’s disparate elements – the Greco-Roman head, the still-life seafood, and the abstract flourishes – are brought together. It could be said that the placement of these elements within a common set of spatial boundaries has an equalising effect, serving to negate one’s potential superiority over another.

Composition, then, is not only charmingly surreal, but also pleasingly egalitarian. It serves as an example of the countless underappreciated artworks that hang in regional and provincial galleries around the country, waiting patiently to be discovered.

[1] Gale, M. (1997) John Banting 1902-1971. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/john-banting-691 (Accessed: 18 September 2025).

[2] MoMA (no date) Giorgio de Chirico. The Song of Love. Available at: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80419 (Accessed: 18 September 2025).

[3] Tate (no date) Still Life. Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/still-life (Accessed: 18 September 2025).