Fashion and Art

I was really interested to see this post on Jezebel today. It looks into high-end fashion photoshoots inspired by classic paintings.

Now, I'll warrant that I am a snob, but in every case I liked the painting more. I think its actually because the paintings are less pretty than the photos. The originals are largely paintings of beautiful women, and they've been re-imagined as photographs of beautiful women, which is really not that interesting of a premise. But the figures in the paintings are much more engaging- they represent the standard of beauty of a different time, and their bodies are more interesting because of qualities which, on the contemporary models, would be labeled "flaws". The paintings tend to tell a story that references religion or mythology, while the photos are just selling something.

The example that hit me hardest was La Tour's Madeleine à la Vieilleuse transformed from a meditation on repentance to a glorification of shoe lust. We talked about this painting a lot in class- it's a good example of La Tour's signature candlelight scene, and an emotional, reflective, tonal painting. In the photograph, Mary Magdalene has given up musing on mortality, sin, and redemption to gaze at a high heel. Kind of a disappointment.