A controversial picture in its day, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe caused controversy yet again when reproduced as the album cover for Malcolm McClaren's band Bow Wow Wow.
Nudity, some may be thinking, is the direct opposite of Elegantly Dressed Wednesday, but if one looks again at the picture only one of the subjects is nude. Of the original painting, Emile Zola had this to say:
'... the nude woman of The Luncheon on the Grass is only there to furnish the artist the occasion to paint a bit of flesh. That which must be seen in the painting is not a luncheon on the grass; it is the entire landscape, with its vigors and its finesses, with its foregrounds so large, so solid, and its backgrounds of a light delicateness; it is this firm modeled flesh under great spots of light, these tissues supple and strong, and particularly this delicious silhouette of a woman wearing a chemise who makes, in the background, an adorable dapple of white in the milieu of green leaves. It is, in short, this vast ensemble, full of atmosphere, this corner of nature rendered with a simplicity so just, all of this admirable page in which an artist has placed all the particular and rare elements which are in him.'
I leave it to others to decide if the above reproduction shares the same qualities. The controversy second time around stemed more from the fact that the female, singer Annabella Lwin, was only 15 at the time. (Seems as though McClaren was a seedier Simon Cowell of his day ...)
Like many other 80s bands, Bow Wow Wow have had the odd reformation and/or reunion in the years since, though I suspect most will know them (if at all) from three singles (Fools Rush In, I Want Candy and Aphrodisiac) being used in the soundtrack to Sophia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette.
9 comments:
A bit ho hum and gallic in conceptualization.
Ump, I've no desire to hijack this thread, but wasn't sure how to let you know that I've responded to your query on Penguin development, gay rights and Tasmania (and won't that trio confuse the hell out of anyone not familiar with the original article!)
Semaj - is being 'gallic' a criticism?
Kris - thanks for that, I will go check it out.
Incidentally it was from Semaj's blog that I found the original story - his views are rather different from your's ...
On Bow Wow Wow, I always confuse them with Haysie Fantaysi. Can't say that I'm too keen on either. Give me Adam Ant any day!
I think they had common band members, didn't they?
I'm pretty sure that the drummer from Bow Wow Wow was originally one of Adam's Ants, and later went on the be a member of the longtime favorites of sporting highlights, Republica ("Baby I'm ready to go, on the rooftop shout it out!").
And yes, it embarrasses me a great deal to admit that I know this, yet my ego forces me to reveal such knowledge of useless pop trivia.
Wonderful sleeve, but very disappointing album.
I remember seeing a very enjoyable play getting on for forty years ago now 'A Conversation with Edouard'. The cast are modelling for the painting and their conversation takes in the unseen Manet.
It appears that the play has disappeared without trace (to Google at least) so maybe my memories are slightly coloured; I was young and had raging hormones, Susan Hampshire was the actress who had drawn the short straw, and I was sitting in the front row. Ah, the 1960s...
It's a tough life sometimes ... :-)
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