Favorite Artists: Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)
I’m drawn to artists who do not shy away from showing the more graphic part of their work. This probably has to do with the fact that I draw as well, I’m the kind of person who loves to look at an artist’s sketchings (and it’s not unusual that I prefer them to the final product cf. Leonardo Da Vinci). What I like about Toulouse-Lautrec is that his art is always in an in between, the lines are strong and present but they still leave plenty of room to the power of color. His work always seems caught in the movement of its making. Each piece is a moment that is finished and yet waiting to be continued.
A quick editorial cartoon about the intersection of self-pity, entitlement, rape, territoriality, misogyny and fear of women. You see it all over the place online in the form of Men’s Rights Activists (of whom there are a few reasonable non-misogynists), Men Going Their Own Way, Pick Up Artists, and dudes touting the “Red Pill”, because The Matrix is a good movie. Look any of these up if you have the stomach for it. These are extreme examples, but watered-down forms of these ideas are everywhere.
In lurking their blogs and youtube channels for a while, I’ve noticed that beyond the standard patriarchal chauvinism there is this deep fear of women - what they will do to me, how they will reject me, how they will use me, how they are changing society in a way that does not favor me, how they are making men into something I don’t like, how they are making themselves into something I don’t like, that they won’t give me what I want, and that they won’t give me what I think is rightfully mine. This goes beyond fear of feminism- this is fear of women at its purest. And that, to quote a puppet, leads to anger and hate. It’s sad.
I am a feminist. I think there’s enough ice cream to go around, but it does mean those of us with 3 scoops might have to give one or two up. Also, The Matrix is a fun movie but probably not anything you should be basing a philosophy on.
Whoah.
This was kind of mind blowingly good.
The end.. the end, where the guy is just watching the ice cream fall - watching it fall, because there’s no woman around to prove he’s better than. There’s no one there to take from.
Without women to oppress, the typical men’s rights activist movement is pointless.
No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist.
“La Belle Dame sans Merci” by Frank Dicksee, 1902
This picture is fascinating to me because of its portrayal of a powerful female character who doesn’t fall into any of the typical modern ‘Strong Female Character’ cliches.
The woman is the powerful, sexually assertive and threatening figure here, while the man is the more passive figure, visibly vulnerable to her. However, this portrayal of a woman as assertive and powerful doesn’t rely either on sexualizing her or on presenting that power in masculine ways.
This Belle Dame is traditionally feminine, drawn in flowing lines and curves. She is sexually assertive but not sexualized. The man is armed, masculine, stiff and drawn in straight, square lines - all stereotypically masculine, but his body language and expression make it obvious that he is the submissive and less powerful party here. His vulnerability is not expressed by de-masculinizing him, just as her power is not shown by making her any less feminine.
Some modern artists could stand to take lessons from Mr Dicksee.
The way her small hands grip that warhorse’s reins with such perfect strength and control never ceases to amaze me.
Justine Lai is painting herself having sex with each US President, in chronological order. She’s up to Ulysses S. Grant (spanking her).
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