nodamncatnodamncradle:

Can we all take a minute and appreciate that hundreds of years ago a person poured hours of hard work into painting cherubs making human fart bubbles. 

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So, this image has crossed my dash several times today, and each time I have been increasingly suspicious. At first glance this looks like a baroque painting – the nude, the putti, the ambiguous interior/exterior space are conventional baroque elements – but several aspects are off. First, the light looks artificial, there is no indication of the reds, oranges, or yellows one associates with an oil lamp, a candle, or the sun as one would have in a baroque painting. Second, the figures are rendered with almost photographic clarity, in a linear style out of step with baroque painting (think Rubens). Third, baroque and humor certainly aren’t mutually exclusive terms, but I have never seen scatalogical varieties employed in baroque painting (prints are a whole other game). Finally, the bubble wand strikes me as anachronistic (though I suppose 16th century bubble wands are not impossible).

A reverse image search later, and I find myself here, at the website of Latvian artist Arthur Berzinsh. A brief perusal of his portfolio pages confirms my suspicion that he is indeed some variant on the postmodern pop-surrealist. [TW “artistic portrayals” of rape] Additionally he is a gross misogynist, no doubt moments away from being championed by Hi-Fructose magazine. Also, he is an antisemite (romantic portrayals of Nazis are gross).

Can we all take a minute and consider that today, a man poured hours into painting a sexualized nude woman being groped by children who also happen to be making human fart bubbles in a style meant to look as if it had been created hundreds of years ago and that this reflects something about gendered power relations as produced in the West?

Your Friendly Neighborhood Art Historian,

Saltdragon

[Edit] Can we take a minute and consider that, at this time, nearly 40,000 tumblr users were taken in by this image?

[Edit] I feel silly in learning that this image looks photographic, because, in fact it is a photograph (well, a photomanipulation). Doesn’t change anything though.

An intelligent and witty commentary on the language of the Art World – what it is, how it works, where it comes from. And here is Hyperallergic’s response (well, Mostafa Heddaya’s response) on some of the disturbing implications of the language.

…everyone for the Macdonald sisters rapid-fire posting. Had to get them out there and I really didn’t feel like messing with the queue. At least you now get to bask in the glow of almost all of their known work in one handy place! And you probably didn’t even know that was something you wanted (you totally want it now, right?)! Because you probably didn’t know the Macdonald sisters existed and were awesome artists! They were awesome!

Assorted post-1900 design, by Margaret and Frances Macdonald – sisters, artists, collaborators, vanguards of both Scottish and international Art Nouveau.

Preparatory watercolors after 1900, by Frances and Margaret Macdonald – sisters, artists, collaborators, vanguards of both Scottish and international Art Nouveau.

Late watercolors by Frances Macdonald – innovator of Art Nouveau in Scotland and internationally.

Watercolors from the post-collaborative years by Frances Macdonald – innovator of Art Nouveau in Scotland and internationally.

Watercolors from the post-collaborative years by Margaret Macdonald – innovator of Art Nouveau in Scotland and internationally.

Design for Fritz Waerndorfer’s Vienna home, by Margaret and Frances Macdonald – sisters, artists, collaborators, vanguards of both Scottish and international Art Nouveau.

Design for the Rose Boudoir, by Margaret Macdonald – innovator of Art Nouveau in Scotland and internationally.