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CTyankee

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19. I also wanted to include exactly what you said about the skin color of the nude...

Sat Nov 21, 2015, 08:20 AM

Nov 2015

one modern critic pointed out that aspect as well, as part of her larger analysis about how this odalisque simply didn't exist...it was a fantasy image. I have done some research into this very subject in the past with a harem painting by Delacroix called "The women of algiers." He actually was in a harem to make his sketches and his sketchbook has been preserved...it serves as a fascinating development of that painting.

The difference here is that Ingres was working totally from his imagination and perhaps some popular images in art of the day. Delacroix had actually been in a harem in no. africa.

The closest we have to an actual firsthand experience was that of the Englishwoman who had been allowed in to see a harem in Turkey. She kept a diary of her experiences and Ingres had relied on it for his Turkish Bath painting. I don't think the erotic embrace of the two women in that work was part of her writing but doing research on it turned into an interesting look at western european's fascination with the harem and other "exotic" places. If you study Gerome you see the same fascination, bordering on the extreme...and all white as can be bodies of women...

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A Woman�s Pleasure: the Grand Odalisque by Jean August Dominique Ingres [View all] CTyankee Nov 2015 OP

Beautiful trumad Nov 2015 #1

thanks. it's a bit odd but I like it's satiny "look"... CTyankee Nov 2015 #4

Fascinating post, as always, my dear CTyankee! CaliforniaPeggy Nov 2015 #2

thanks. I think it is quite timely, too as we see events unfolding in the ME and CTyankee Nov 2015 #5

Beautiful and informative, as usual - thank you! djean111 Nov 2015 #3

Funny, about the last thing I think of when I see that painting Warpy Nov 2015 #6

Frankly, I find the title sarcastic in tone and meaning...I sawit somewhere and thought CTyankee Nov 2015 #7

Sarcasm makes sense but so does Warpy Nov 2015 #9

I think you are right about the temptation to read too much into paintings... CTyankee Nov 2015 #10

I also wanted to include exactly what you said about the skin color of the nude... CTyankee Nov 2015 #19

fantasique! flamingdem Nov 2015 #8

Thanks edhopper Nov 2015 #11

that is so good coming from you, ed... CTyankee Nov 2015 #13

It really is an explosive change from Ingress to Picasso edhopper Nov 2015 #15

well, also Picasso loved doing his own cubistic takes on so many other artists' famous CTyankee Nov 2015 #25

Great post! Generic Other Nov 2015 #12

I think it was those extra vertebrae that annoyed folks so much... CTyankee Nov 2015 #14

K & R femmocrat Nov 2015 #16

I always preferred this one. kwassa Nov 2015 #17

Hi CTYankee, we're glad you're back! Manifestor_of_Light Nov 2015 #18

I didn't see that! I'm so glad you shared it with me... CTyankee Nov 2015 #20

To me, it sems the beginning of the butt and breast pose KitSileya Nov 2015 #21

a very good point. When I was doing research for my essay on Delacroix's Women of CTyankee Nov 2015 #23

Minor nit-picking for educational purposes ;) kentauros Nov 2015 #22

here is a better close up of the instrument in the painting CTyankee Nov 2015 #24

I can see how it can be mistaken for a tambourine. kentauros Nov 2015 #39

it doesn't seem to be on a frame here. unless you mean just the rim of the instrument CTyankee Nov 2015 #41

Yes, it's on a frame. kentauros Nov 2015 #43

oh yes, the rim. i was totally thinking something else CTyankee Nov 2015 #45

Yes, that's also the frame. kentauros Nov 2015 #46

I know nothing about that musical instrument. So I'm glad this came up in the discussion CTyankee Nov 2015 #47

i absolutely love that Remo video. What a thrilling sound... CTyankee Nov 2015 #28

It is, indeed! kentauros Nov 2015 #36

She is great - never heard a tambourine played that way, loved it. JudyM Apr 2017 #48

Ingres' depiction of feet seems a little odd. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Nov 2015 #26

her right arm is strange, too. and that left leg... CTyankee Nov 2015 #27

If I wanted to suggest a common theme, the term sinuous would come to mind. Erich Bloodaxe BSN Nov 2015 #30

ouch, that's a painful thought... CTyankee Nov 2015 #32

As always, thank you K&R etherealtruth Nov 2015 #29

thanks so much...I want the Saturday DU folks to see the painting and hopefully contribute CTyankee Nov 2015 #31

V. interesting connections ananda Nov 2015 #33

About disegno it was the overarching principle of the Renaissance in Florence, following CTyankee Nov 2015 #34

question ananda Nov 2015 #35

Oh, you mean disegno in terms of having it sketched out beforehand...now I get your context. CTyankee Nov 2015 #38

Thanks CT--did you hear about this Verona art theft? panader0 Nov 2015 #37

no I didn't, thanks for showing me this...that is awful...but luckily, if it follows most CTyankee Nov 2015 #40

I was taught that The Odalisque was a scandal because of the annabanana Nov 2015 #42

here's a fun explanation for you from Wikipedia... CTyankee Nov 2015 #44