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:
5. Rodin's The Cathedral (1908) and his Eternal Springtime (1884):
