No maybes: Cartier-Bresson, Marlboro

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bankers Trust, NY (1960)

In a recently discovered and published interview, Cartier-Bresson said:

But as for me, I enjoy shooting a picture. Being present. It’s a way of saying, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” It’s like the last three words of Joyce’s “Ulysses,” which is one of the most tremendous works which have ever been written. It’s “Yes, yes, yes.” And photography is like that. It’s yes, yes, yes. And there are no maybes. All the maybes should go to the trash, because it’s an instant, it’s a moment, it’s there! And it’s respect of it and tremendous enjoyment to say, “Yes!” Even if it’s something you hate. Yes! It’s an affirmation.

The quote resembles the Maybe campaign launched last year by Marlboro. Cigarettes and tobacco are awful, but the campaign is indeed fab! I saw some ads this weekend at the Melt! Festival.

Szymon Laks

Szymon Laks was a Polish born, Paris-based musician, who got caught by the Gestapo. He eventually became the director of the orchestra in Auschwitz. A Jew, he survived the II World War, and published a book about his musical experience at the concentration camp. He kept writing both music and literature, until Israel attacked Egypt in 1973 in the so called Six Days War. He could not understand that Israelis (or Jews) could start a war after the Shoah. He believed in peace and in the power of writing. So he stopped writing music and concentrated on his literary works.

Last week was launched the Master Revival Series, a Polish project regarding forgotten Jew composers from Poland who were imprisoned or killed by Nazis. Szymon Laks' is the first episode. It constitutes a magnificent piece of memory and culture and human heritage beyond races or nationalities. It is worth watching and listening to his son, Prof. André Laks, recalling his paternal figure.

First depiction of (naked) native Americans

When were the indigenous people from the Americas first depicted?

I remembered the controversy recently while visiting the Royal Alcazars of Seville. According to the information offered to the visitors, the first one is to be found in Alejo Fernández famous Virgen de los mareantes, right under her right arm.

But Jonathan Jones has pointed out recently that there is an older one to be found in Amerigo Vespucci's first voyage letter to Piero di Tommaso Sonderini, published in Florence in 1505. Jones has even written a book telling more details about the mean means of Vespucci in order to get what he wanted.

Anyways. A few months ago, the Vatican revealed a fresco by Pinturicchio from 1494, where a few Native Americans are shown naked, right under Christs right foot.

 

Dismembered heads: Art vs Sensationalism

If you go to Seville's Royal Alcazars and you enter the Cuarto del Almirante, you will find an altar with an image of Mary. It is called Virgen de los Mareantes, which used to mean Sea People or Sailors. It is a beautiful baroque piece done by Alejo Fernández in the 1530s.

On the sides, four panels depict four saints, which might had been painted by a different artist.

If you look careful, you'll find a Santiago Matamoros (literally "Moors Killer") image on the left lower corner. He has just killed three moors, whose heads lie on the floor.

We have seen that already in Mexico: Narcos!

Or is it the other way round? It might be possible that due to our baroque art Mexicans have been induced to bestial violence. It could be.

Violence and religion: a great cocktail. Cheers!

Sharp female Christs

Javier Pérez, En el filo (2012)

Vanessa Paradis, snapshot from La fille sur le pont (1999)

Gemini, snapshot from The Man with the Iron Fists (2013)

Helmut Newton and Imogen Cunningham in Stockholm

If you happen to be in Stockholm this summer, I can recommend you two awesome photo exhibitions: Imogen Cunningham (her name sounds like Imagen, "image" in Spanish) at the Kulturhuset, for free, and Helmut Newton in Fotografiska.

Imogen Cunningham, Three Dancers, Mills College (1929)

Summer: Massimo Vitali, Gray Malin

While Vitali mingles with the masses of tourists, Malin prefers a bird perspective.

 * * *

13. Juni

13. Juni. Ein ganz besonderes Datum. Sie weiss es! Dieses Bild wird mich immer begleiten, ich habe es als letztes in Berlin betrachtet und bewundert.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Yvette Guilbert

Heute vor zwei Jahren habe ich Berlin verlassen. Es sind schwerige Jahre aber bereichend.

Ich habe das Gefühl, erst kürzlich ging mein Leben wirklich los. Heute lande ich wieder in Europa. Ich bin ein glücklicher Typ.

Danke.

"La migraña", de Antonio Alatorre

Gracias a mi amigo F, que me obsequió con ella, leí "La migraña", la única novela –novelita, inconclusa, además– de Antonio Alatorre, sobre el descubrimiento de su propia sexualidad, la típica novelita coming of age. No tiene desperdicio.

La suya es una de esas poca prosas de la lengua castellana que palian el daño causado por las cursiladas a las que se le adjudica, errónea o malamente, el título de literatura, y, también, el todavía peor daño de la pésima prosa, a la que se le tilda de periodismo, cuando en realidad no hay ni dos palabras bien engarzadas.

Va mi línea favorita, donde demuestra su creatividad lingüística (p.37):

"(Cuando supe que eso se llamaba migraña, el nombre acabó por parecerme muy adecuado: tiene algo del tigre y algo de la piraña, su rapidez y su movilidad, su ferocidad y ensañamiento, y aun su belleza. Migraña, piraña, tigraña.)"

"Sin poemas", Anónimo

Circula este poema anónimo...

Sin poemas

A partir de hoy 
voy a amarte con silencios, 
provocando ausencias 
e inventando distancias; 
desde hoy voy a amarte sin poemas, 
con muy pocas acciones 
y escasas palabras... 
a partir de hoy voy a amarte así, 
como tú me amas.

Riot kiss: Canada, Turkey

Canada (2011)

Turkey (2013)

Yugoslavia in 1964

Fifty years ago, PanAm produced a documentary film intended to seduce Americans to visit Yugoslavia. It is marvelous to listen to the candid euphoria celebrating different nations, a variety of religions and one single desire, liberty, after learning what happened in the nineties, when Tito's presence vanished politically.

The Adriatic coast is perhaps the most beautiful in Europe (so different to the Côte d'Azur, which looks so Mexican to me). The Tito Museum hasn't changed a single bit, except for Tito's own grave where the flowers stood in advance. The film proudly elaborates on Yugoslavian girls wearing bikini before Americans.

If you have any sort of relationship to Yugoslavia you will definitely enjoy this Kodachrome film.

Sosias by SoVeNa

Le blog de SoVeNa is a photoblog which I like a lot, belonging to Sophie Boisgallais. Today, she posted a fabulous collection of sosias ("similarities", she dubbed them) taken from the fashion world. It is worth checking them... Here just one example.

Richard Avedon, Natassja Kinski (1981)

Giampolo Sgura, Ashley Smith (2011)

Luca Signorelli, Spencer Tunick

Luca Signorelli, Resurrection of the Flesh (1499–1502)

Spencer Tunick, Glacier d'Aletsch (2007)

Fans: 1966, today

Fans using mirrors to catch a glimpse of the Queen

James P. Blair, National Geographic (1966)

Australian fans using cell phones and cameras to catch a glimpse of One Direction

Inspection: Slave, Forain, Helmut Newton, Valentino

How does a terrible health inspection realized on slaves became fashion? This is how.

Inspection and sale of a negro

 Jean-Louis Forian, Sur le plateau (1912)

Helmut Newton

Valentino ad

Google against Forain

There is a relatively known French impressionist painter called Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931). He was sort of obsessed with the inspection and abuse of ballerinas at the backstage of the Parisian Opéra. I bet his pieces work as a complaint, since he was a very well known caricaturist.

Forain, Sur le plateau (1912)

Last night I spent a good amount of hours searching for the authenticity of this image, which has been wrongly labeled on Google. Somebody attended an exhibition and recalled wrongly its author. It has been hard to correct it, because the painting is rather unknown and belongs to a private collector. 

Since then, it has been falsely attributed to Toulouse-Lautrec, instead of Forain. This image was –I guess– scanned from the catalog because the original one stumbling on Google has white uneven margins on the left and lower sides – which I removed.

It is interesting to observe the mechanism of the internet: one mistake keeps repeating. Is it possible to retrieve it? All people keep reposting this image as "Toulouse-Lautrec's Dancer". Maybe people posting it should rename the file.

Just one person post it correctly: Forain, Sur le plateau (1912). Another blogger wrote a correct description of the painting: "Sur le plateau (daté de 1912, coll. particulière) montre un bourgeois « maquignonnant » avec assurance une danseuse comme pour en évaluer le prix." 

Although it is not absolutely clear on this image, the signature on the right lower corner does not correspond to Toulouse-Lautrec's. It looks rather like a Forain signature (specially as the third sample here).

This video about a retrospective hold in Paris two years ago excludes any doubt (see 2:12).

Forain liked the theme: a man inspecting women, as if they were objects, products or stuff.

Update (May 29):

I just talked to the woman who wrongly attributed the Forain painting to Toulouse-Lautrec. She was so kind to check it up in the catalog of the Portland exhibition where she saw the painting. I do not have a copy of the catalog but she assured me that the credit is given to Toulouse Lautrec, The Dancer. Now their post has been taken down.

The investigation needs to go deeper... I will contact the staff at the museum.