Wednesday 6 April 2011

Odalisque

An odalisque was a female slave in an Ottoman seraglio. She was an assistant or apprentice to the concubines and wives, and she might rise in status to become one of them.

François Boucher (1703-1770)


Julianne Moore as Ingres' Grand Odalisque by Michael Thompson

Francesco Hayez (1791-1882)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 – 1875)

Achille-Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria (1800-1857)
(added for Lynnderella :-))

Luigi Mussini (1813 – 1888)

Ernest Hébert (1817 - 1908)

Théodore Chassériau (1819 – 1856)

Henri-Pierre Picou (1824 - 1895)

Joseph Fortuné-Séraphin Layraud (1834 - 1912)

Jules Lefebvre (1836 – 1911)

Mariano José María Bernardo Fortuny y Marsal (1838 – 1874)
(The designer Mariano Fortuny's father)

Rodolfo Amoedo (1857 - 1941)

Ferdinand Roybet (1840 - 1920)

Josef Straka (1864-1946)

Ignace Spiridon

Francesco Paolo Michetti (1851 – 1929)

Louis Courtat (1840 - 1909)

Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847 – 1928)

Léon-François Comerre (1850 - 1916)

Alberto Fabbi (1858-1906)

Fabbio Fabbi (1861-1946)

Gyula Tornai (1861-1928)

Giuseppe Signorini (1857-1932)

Hermann Fenner-Behmer (1866–1913)

Franz (Ferenc) Helbing (1870 – 1958)

They say this is from 1880! *leer*
 Gaston Bussière (1862 - 1928)

Giulio Rosati (1858 - 1917)

Hans Zatzka (1859 - 1949)

Jacqueline Marval, née Marie-Joséphine Vallet (1866 - 1932)

Otto Pilny (1866 - 1936) - that girl can dance... you can see the hip thrust :-D

Juan Luna y Novicio (1857 — 1899)

Jules Pierre van Biesbroeck (1873 - 1965)

Howard Chandler Christy (1873 – 1952)
Eh...

Douglas Joseph

Kiki as odalisque by Man Ray
(Emmanuel Radnitzky) (1890 – 1976) 

Some a little more "true" than others, some more artistic than others, 
but in reality, these were nothing but pin-up girls of that time.

I happen to like pin-up girls...

See also Onok-art's Slave Market, if you like this...
what wouldn't you do, when you wanted to paint nude women :-D

6 comments:

  1. Wow i love this post! Thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fabulous selection! Thank you. I believe you are onto something with the pin-up idea. Think Vargas in the 40's and all those great pin-up style Jokers. I realize your selection is no way meant to be encyclopedic, but I want to give a shout out to one of my favorites: Odalisque by Achille-Jacques-Jean-Marie Devéria, c. 1830-1835. I had seen it in art books, but saw it "live" at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena in the early 80's. It's only 9" x 12.5", which surprised me. I was mesmerized. Back then, at least, the Norton Simon let you get really close to the art and I did. Still one of my faves. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the suggestion, Lynnderella :-) I've added it.

    I agree with you, art is much better when you can get close and personal with it :-D I never forget my first encounter with van Gogh "live"... after that no photograph, print, picture in books or internet is enough. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like the total absence of commentary on the colonial underpinnings of this painterly tradition. Have you...heard of Orientalism?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, I have. I do try to avoid commenting in this blog, as the purpose is focusing on the visual... I suppose "pin-up girls" is sort of a nicer way of saying "porn"... and what is Orientalism and Colonialism and all the other such influences that are behind this kind of art anything but reducing another human being into an object, of desire, or something else?

    ReplyDelete