A Woman’s Pleasure: the Grand Odalisque by Jean August Dominique Ingres

[ananda]

33. V. interesting connections

I appreciate seeing the way that exoticizing the "infidel" and making it French in order to provoke young French males, and the way that the idea of the harem somehow proves the moral superiority of the French in occupying and exploiting Muslim regions in North Africa and elsewhere.

This art and all the associated art and the avenues for exploration that it inspires is just wonderful. But the reality behind it all is something else entirely. I always wonder what incitement shows the reality to be more important than the mystique, in the same way that has happened with certain sports for example or the Catholic Church in these modern times.

Thus, if the outbreaks of Muslim rage these days does this, I would say fine... let the reality show itself out from behind all our cultural sugarcoating, no matter how beautiful or artistic. We need to see the truth... how those centuries of brutal hegemony, which hasn't really ended, are coming back to haunt us.

About the painting itself: I don't think the opium pipe is resting against a "narghile" but rather some kind of censer. Also, what is that ornamental object behind her back to the left of the peacock fan? I read a piece that said there was a zither in this painting, but I can't find it. Is that it?

Last, I also read something about Ingres' use of "disegno" in the making of this painting, that is, using drawing first. That was interesting because it stems from a belief that "disegno" is the secret behind sculpture and painting that turns craft into art.