Art: the focus of today's Friday escapist thread will be great works or lesser known pieces that I personally like by famous artists. 1. "Death of Socrates" by Jacques Louis David. David portrays the moment before Socrates drinks hemlock instead of renouncing his philosophy.
2. "Madame X" -- John Singer Sargent. The daring and sensual content - in particular, its off-the-shoulder dress strap - caused a scandal. (Met Museum.)
3. Caravaggio's shield painting of Medusa's head. Uffizi museum, Florence. Photo: my own. Also Florence's Perseus/Medusa statue. A feminist revisiting of the Medusa myth focuses on her rape, turning a victim into a monster, the patriarchy & more: vice.com/en/article/qvx…
4. Early Picasso: 1901 self-portrait and 1910 Girl with a Mandolin which shows a shift already into the abstract style or direction that his work would go in the future:
@Kafkaesque_Blog I love the feminist relearning of Medusa. I should go back and look for some Linda Nochlin and see if she wrote on it. Though I’m sure others have as well by now. Me degree is out of date in some ways.
@Kafkaesque_Blog I have seen the statue at the Uffizi. Remarkable.