Word: courtesan
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...tame and respectable, but this documentary mini-series--which examines Edouard Manet's Olympia, Huckleberry Finn, 1920s jazz and racy 1930s movies--recovers what was shocking in art we have (mostly) grown comfortable with. The enlightening Manet episode unpacks 19th century French society to show how a nude courtesan roiled the salons by staring frankly at the viewer; the Finn segment examines a contemporary push to pull the book (charged with racism) from a school. The series comes down on the side of art, natch, but deserves credit for arguing, not assuming, its point...
...books should not be judged by their covers. I wholeheartedly agreed. Goodness that involved moral merit, intelligence and perseverance were productive, but beauty seemed like a perfectly worthless quality. I remember being very puzzled when I browsed through the encyclopedia and came across an article on Phryne, a Greek courtesan from the 4th century B.C. who earned such wealth through her beauty that she offered to rebuild the walls of Thebes on the condition that they should be inscribed, "Destroyed by Alexander, Restored by Phryne the Courtesan." I couldn't understand how she got to share space in the encyclopedia...
...digital sleight of hand, few artists ply their trade more slyly than Yasumasa Morimura. Inserting his image into famous works, this Osaka-based master becomes the languorous courtesan (and her maid) in Manet's Olympia or--how could he resist?--the Mona Lisa. Combining photography, painting and computer manipulation, each piece is a wicked homage, turning art history into a gilded vanity mirror. In his new show at New York City's Luhring Augustine Gallery, the farce is lavish and precise, as Morimura continues his wry, gender-bending ways...
...actually, that Shakespeare chooses to cast his antagonist in the stereotypical role of the miser. As the play progresses, we see the stereotype reflected onto its creators as money reveals itself to be the foundation for their actions. Antonio's friendship with Bassanio is the relationship between benefactor and courtesan. Bassanio's love for Portia is linked to the fortune she will bring him, and even the marriage between Bassanio's man Gratiano and Portia's maid Nerissa (Catherine Crow HGSE '99) is contingent upon their employers' financial union. The Christians themselves embody the gross materialism they condemn in Shylock...
Opera ultimately belongs to the singers, however, and La Traviata was no exception. All the performers, leads and chorus alike, showed remarkable vocal prowess and passion, and among the minor characters mezzo-soprano Gale Fuller's charming and coquettish Flora Bervoix (a courtesan whose wardrobe is far more scandalous than that of Violetta) was especially memorable and a well-needed break from the heavy tragedy of the rest of the opera...