Picnic at Wittenham is George Warner Allen’s pleasant allusion to the myth of Pan with an edge that suggests Allen’s homosexuality.
In the center, a group is having a picnic in an open, sunlit grassy lawn. The bright colors of the picnickers lead the eye to them first, and only after does the viewer’s eye refocus on the sleeping artist in the foreground and the figure of Pan standing above him playing his panpipes. Refocusing again, it is apparent that a woman in a blue dress, sitting apart, may be looking at the sleeping figure of an artist. It is unclear if she looks with some feeling of love or friendship. But the artist is certainly available to her, and his proximity to Pan may be an implicit statement of Allen’s creative role as the artist or an allusion to Allen’s sexual preference.
The picnickers do not see or hear Pan’s pipe, though it may be that the woman in blue senses his presence. Whatever the case, it is a mystery. The sign on the tree declares, “Trespassers will be Arrested.”
Deep in the background, behind the picnickers, are the barely visible chimneys of the Didcot A Power Station (since decommissioned and demolished). Allen’s painting shows three zones of interest: the sleeping artist in the shaded foreground, the picnickers in the sunlight in the midground, and the power plant deep in the background.
Featured Image: George Warner Allen. Picnic at Wittenham (1947-1948), oil and tempera on canvas. Tate Britain, London. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/allen-picnic-at-wittenham-t06604