Happy birthday Baudelaire
Category: Arts
A Paris art exhibit renames paintings to put the focus on their black subjects
With ‘The Black Model,’ the Musée d’Orsay makes a political statement.
PARIS — At the Louvre, the striking painting is identified simply as “Portrait of a black woman.”
The work is widely considered allegorical — the subject’s bare breast and classical dress, in the colors of the French flag, alluding to the French Republic and the figure of Liberty. The painting was first exhibited at the Paris Salon of 1800, so artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist could have been referring to the just-finished French Revolution or Napoleon Bonaparte’s moves to reinstate slavery — or both.
But the painting hangs under a new title in a groundbreaking show at the Musée d’Orsay directly across the Seine River: “Portrait of Madeleine.” For the first time since the early 19th century, Benoist’s sitter has her own story. As viewers learn, the woman gazing back at them was an emancipated slave from Guadeloupe and a domestic servant who worked in the home of the artist’s brother-in-law.
This is the project of “The Black Model: From Géricault to Matisse,” a major exhibit that opened at the Orsay on Tuesday. The show attempts to restore the identities and perspectives of black figures who were depicted on canvas but largely written out of history.
The exhibit expands on an earlier version that debuted at Columbia University’s Wallach Art Gallery last fall, inspired by the research of American art historian Denise Murrell. But it lands with different impact in France, where the state is officially blind to race, both as statistical category and as lived experience.
“We are tacking political questions, social questions,” said Musée d’Orsay director Laurence des Cars. “We are tackling a very sensitive subject.” [ . . . ]
Continue at WASHINGTON POST: A Paris art exhibit renames paintings to put the focus on their black subjects – The Washington Post
Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939) — (Movie Clip) King of Fools
The mob (led by Edmond O’Brien as Gringoire) is totally into naming Quasimodo (Charles Laughton) the King of Fools until dour Frollo (Cedric Hardwicke) intervenes in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1939.
Watch at TCM: Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939) — (Movie Clip) King of Fools
Molière Remembered as ‘Greatest Artist in History of French Theater’, Google Doodle Pays Tribute to French Actor and Playwright
Molière’s contribution is eternal in the sense that his work inspired future generations of comedians, in fearlessly calling out hypocrisy and making razor-sharp observations about the society and people in power. Molière Remembered as ‘Greatest Artist in History of French Theater’, Google Doodle Pays Tribute to French Actor and Playwright.
Molière is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and literature of any language. The writer’s works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and much more
Google Doodle description made a special mention of his satirical plays and wrote in tribute: “His satirical plays fearlessly lampooned human folly and blended ballet, music, and comedy into a new genre that transformed buffoonery into witty social critique.”
The reason why the doodle has been dedicated to the artist today is because on this day in 1673, Molière premiered his final play, Le Malade Imaginaire (The Imaginary Invalid), a three-act comédie-ballet satirizing the medical profession.
“Molière starred in the title role of Argan, a severe hypochondriac who tries to convince his daughter to forsake her true love and marry his doctor’s son, so as to save on medical bills. In classic Molière fashion, the play’s dialogue pushes his characters’ vices and pretensions to the point of absurdity,” mentioned the description.
The doodle is special considering that it gives a view into Molière’s most memorable scenes from The Imaginary Invalid and other classics like School for Wives, Don Juan, and The Miser. Molière’s contribution is eternal in the sense that his work inspired future generations of comedians, in fearlessly calling out hypocrisy and making razor-sharp observations about the society and people in power.
Does Paris Still Have the Ugliest Opera House in Europe? – The New York Times
A photographer from Caen wants to show the true face of the homeless
The photographer Florence Grall is currently exhibiting her portraits of SDF at Lux cinema, a pose before and after a makeover to change the look of these people that we sometimes meet every day in Caen.
Homeless Fixed to both faces is what wanted to show Florence Grall, photographer, she invited the homeless she met every day in the streets of Caen to pose for her before and after a day of makeover
On the left, a woman with a hollow face, hidden under a cap and layers of big dark sweaters, ” there we are in front of Michelle , explains Florence Grall who visits us, Michelle is a little our mascot! the oldest she is 71 years old, when we offered her to spend the day with us she did not want and then we discovered that it was the day of her birthday “. In the picture on the right, Michelle is transformed into her green top , lipstick and pearl necklace, “Catherine the hairdresser really did a little grandmother’s hairstyle, with a styling we did makeup too. Michelle cried at the end of the day, adds Florence Grall, we all felt Michelle’s children during that day! ”
The idea of the project was to show this dignity in everyone – Florence Grall, photographer
This day, Bruno, Guy, Cindy or Alain also participated. Fourteen men and women to whom Florence Grall the Caen photographer and her friends Continue reading “A photographer from Caen wants to show the true face of the homeless”
Pas De Merde 