Most Controversial Paintings in Art History
Posted by Susan Benford
An art history blog post from Famous Paintings Reviewed.
What are the most controversial paintings in art history? When asked recently, I realized that any valid answers had to incorporate the very premise of art history-- that works of art must be assessed within their historical, political, and social contexts. Otherwise "controversial" makes little sense.
How so? Imagine 1884, the year John Singer Sargent completed one of his best paintings, Madame X.
This portrait of the society beauty, Madame Gautreau, reveals decolletage and initially showed her right strap off her shoulder. Tame by 2011 standards, but
John Singer Sargent, Madame X. Oil on canvas. 82 1/8" x 43 1/4". Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund, 1916 (16.53). Metropolitan Museum of Art.
the Paris Salon of 1884 was mortified. Gautreau's family was aghast, and persuaded Sargent to repaint the offending strap into "on" position. (Read more about this and more famous paintings by Sargent).
As an additional reminder of context in art history... While Sargent complained that Gautreau's beauty was so overwhelming she was "unpaintable", a viewer might venture that the Madame sports a highly prominent, hooked, and rather unattractive nose, 19th century beauty or not.
So what does make art paintings controversial? I venture it's one of these factors:
Subject Matter: exemplified by Jasper Johns' Three Flags, which some claimed desecrated the U. S. flag.
Technique and Materials Used: Jackson Pollock, for sure, but what about Albrecht Durer's Self-Portrait (1500)? He rocked
Albrecht Durer, Self-Portrait. Oil on canvas, 1500. 26 1/4" by 19 1/4". Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
some boats by placing himself frontally, a stance used for the divine. (Read about other famous paintings by Durer).
Depiction of Political Situations: Antoine-Jean Gros' Napoleon Bonaparte Visiting the Victims of the Plaque shows Napoleon munificently touching a plaque victim. When you know that Napoleon himself had poisoned these victims, it's propaganda by any other name.
Attribution is Uncertain: when artwork is newly attributed to famous artists like Michelangelo, the art history world cleaves into believers and non-believers. Read more about the Met's alleged Michelangelo painting,
Portrayal of Subject Matter: Although Madame X is a portrait - hardly a controversial genre - Sargent's take on this genre was taboo. Here are some other art paintings that stand out in art history for generating controversy:
- Edouard Manet and Olympia (1863). Initially reminiscent of Titian's Venus of Urbino (1538), Olympia is actually the
opposite of Venus: the
- Edouard Manet, Olympia. Oil on canvas, 1863. 4'3" by 6' 2 1/4". Musee d'Orsay, Paris.
latter is plump and round, gazes adoringly at the (male) viewer, and relaxes with her obedient, sleeping dog.
Manet's lean Olympia (left), like her hissing black cat, looks menacingly toward her audience. As Marilyn Stokstad notes, "...Manet in effect subverted the entire traditon of the accomodating female nude".
Suffice it to say that critics despised Olympia at the 1865 Paris Salon.
- Thomas Eakins and The Gross Clinic (1875). Although Realism was prevalent in the late 19th century, critics contended that The Gross Clinic was too realistic Realism.
- Pablo Picasso and Les Demoiselles (1907): There's nothing novel in art history about paintings of courtesans or harlots, except when their faces are portrayed as African masks, with body parts virtually indistinguishable from backgrounds, thereby challenging the very ideal of beauty in art history.
Chuck Close and Big Self-Portrait (1967-68). Close took Picasso one step farther: classical, ideal beauty is no longer the
Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait. Acrylic on canvas, 1967-68. 107 1/2" by 83 1/2" by 2". Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
domain of portraiture, which should instead acknowledge that the face of Everyman merited artistic consideration
What other famous painters in the world (working from the Renaissance through the Pop era) have made acceptable genres and subjects controversial? I'd like to learn your thoughts!
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