I MISSED MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!
Well my blog's birthday anyway. For some reason I had it in my
head that our second Birthday was on the 28th, but it turns out it was on the 25th!!! Nooooooooo
oo!!!!!
Oh well. That was Thanksgiving this year, so at least it was a well celebrated day! :D
In other news :) I'm working on my research topic for one of my art history seminars and it turned very fun :). I got to chose the topic and picked the sprawled out female nude. Sweet!
So, as part of my presentation tomorrow, there is definitely a Playboy picture thrown in. It is meant to illustrate how one would have felt looking at images such as the Venus of Urbino at the time, and not as we do today. We have become desensitized to images such as these, which are both "artistic" in nature, and thus deny some of the punch of the nudity, in part due to their iconic nature. So I just picked a random Centerfold and hopefully she will convey the emotion I am trying to describe. Oh! And in her pictorial she just happens to be an artist! ;)
Also, Boucher's little Louise O'Murphy! (see above)
I don't care that she was 15 when she modeled for him and then became the favorite of the King and his mistress, she is just adorable! And who doesn't love this pose? I'm reading a (make that 10) book right now, this one in particular discussing this pose and how it is unique in art history and particularly degrading, and I just keep thinking, really? I think this looks like fun! :)
xoxo
Princess Kelley
That's a great picture. I spoke about it, a few years ago. As I'm from France and live in Paris, I know that one for many years, since I discover it on the cover of an history book...
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, dear Kelly...
Sounds like an interesting topic. Good luck with your presentation.
ReplyDeleteWhat is unique or degrading about the pose?
Hey Kelley! Glad to hear that a project turned out to be so fun! Should make a pretty entertaining presentation too. Hope it all went well.
ReplyDelete-Blue
I would love to see the whole presentation Kelly. I am long days away from my art history studies but I still have interest. I have to admit I am unfamiliar with the painting but that never stopped me from forming an opinion lol. Social attitudes change often and sometime what we think were widely held beliefs were not. I will give that the pose is different and there is a provocative aspect. On the other hand considering the popular frontal nudity at the time in some regard the painting could be seen as more modest.
ReplyDeleteNow to those of us in the community the pose can take on a different aspect. Of course there is no true knowing what the artist was thinking so as most works it becomes what the viewer takes.
On the other matter of your late posting of course you should be punished (smirk) I only regret not being in a position to administer one ;).
I agree with you -- I don't see this as degrading although I did find it disturbing because she's obviously too young, and I felt like a child molester looking at it.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite picture from Boucher is the Oldalisque (see link below). To me, its interesting on several levels. First, its remarkable how the pose seems so contemporary. Girls haven't really changed, and neither has sexual imagery. The pose is straight out of Playboy.
Second, I'm really impressed with the way the artist conveys sensuality. I can almost feel the softness of the blue velvet, and I can imagine what the skin of her bottom would feel like as I moved my hand across it.
Third, I think its interesting how styles in female bodies change with time. I love this girls big round bottom and big hips, but you probably wouldn't see her in Playboy. That's a style thing. Girls like her are in style at times. Other times, the Twiggies of the world are more in style. For me, though, this girl is perfect. Too bad she's been dead for better than two centuries
Finally, I never took an art history class, so I don't know what they'd say about this, but it does seem to me that if you view this as great art and not as soft porn (or erotic art) you're probably missing something.
I think it goes without saying I'm a guy. I can understand that women might have a different point of view.
The link to the Odalisque appears below. I'd post the picture, but I don't know how.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.art-wallpaper.com/2121/Boucher%2BFran%C3%A7ois/Odalisque-1024x768-2121.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.art-wallpaper.com/2121/Boucher%2BFran%25C3%25A7ois/Odalisque%3FWidth%3D1024%26Height%3D768&h=768&w=1024&sz=128&tbnid=pfIAJ0lRpSRIoM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dodalisque%2Bboucher&zoom=0&q=odalisque+boucher&usg=__CtRuDPOAGloNLZWuMWGBCKZJKHo=&sa=X&ei=On5YTd7-Doe0sAPFm8ydDA&ved=0CCkQ9QEwAg