Episode 94: A&F's Top 10 Smooches!

It's almost Valentines Day, the day of love, and in honor of that day we here at Arts & Facts have compiled our own list of the top 10 smooches (kisses) in art. This has been a fun episode to research and we hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we had recording it!

Without further ado we give you:

Number 10

1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Walt Disney

Snow White was the very first Disney Princess created in  1937 and was the epitome of innocence. I wonder if they knew then how long this magical kiss would live on, and how many incarnations it would have in pop culture.

Number 9

2004, Kissing Coppers, Banksy

These kissing coppers are located in Brighton, England on an exterior wall of the Prince Albert Pub. After vandals many attempts to deface the image the owner decided to sell it, for it's own protection (sure). In 2008 an art restoration company used chemicals to transfer the image from the pub wall onto canvas. You can still visit the Brighton pub to see a replica of the original, which has been covered by plastic to protect it from further attempts to deface it (as seen in the image above).

Number 8

Maritte, Lovers, 1928

Maritte's eerie interpretation of a kiss isn't an image soon forgotten. While kisses are supposed to be intimate touches the fabric over the lovers faces prevents them from actually touching. This can be interpreted in a couple of ways, the first is that as much as we might love someone we can never really know them fully, and the second is that perhaps the use of the fabric is a way to represent longing that can never be fulfilled. Either way Maritte's Lovers leaves a lasting impression.

Number 7

Picasso, The Kiss, 1969

The Kiss by Picasso is the last in a series of three, the other two being a sketch and a black and white image. There isn't a whole lot of information available on this piece but we think it's fair to say that if you didn't already know it was a Picasso you could easily tell at first glance. In this painting the woman seems to be much more engaged in the kiss than the man. 

Number 6

Canova, Psyche Revived by Cupids Kiss, 1787-1793

Canova's sculpture of Psyche and Cupid was just recently mentioned in our Classical Revivals episode, but it's so beautiful it deserves more attention. If you don't know the story behind this myth you can read more about it here at the Louvre's website. The twisting forms in this sculpture make it very interesting to view, keeping the eyes moving until they stop at Cupids lips. A very romantic piece to be sure.

Number 5

Richard Lam, Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot, Kissing Couple, 2011

This image was taken in 2011 during the Stanley Cup Riot in Vancouver, Canada. The riot broke out after the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup against the Vancouver Canucks (never mess with Canada's hockey!). Businesses were looted, cars were set a flame and 140 people were injured. In the middle of all this we see a couple laying in the street kissing. Some people thought it was staged, but the photographer who captured this image says it wasn't. In fact, the woman in the picture had been knocked down by riot police and her boyfriend was kissing her in an effort to calm her down. 

http://www.popphoto.com/how-to/2011/06/interview-photographer-richard-lam-his-vancouver-riot-kiss-photo

Number 4

Gerome, Pygmalion and Galeta, 1890

In a kind of creepy story we learn that Pygmalion is sick of women. They're all rather superficial and selfish in his opinion, so he creates a sculpture of his perfect woman and kisses her everyday until she becomes real. In this image we see the moment of transformation when a normally cold kiss against marble becomes a warm kiss, flesh to flesh.

Number 3

Alfred Eisentaedt, V-J Day In Times Square, 1945

The Japanese had just surrendered and the war in the Pacific was over, people all over the US were celebrating. This is one of the images captured on that happy day in Times Square.

http://nypost.com/2012/06/17/the-true-story-behind-the-iconic-v-j-day-sailor-and-nurse-smooch/

Number 2

Klimt, The Kiss, 1907-1908

This painting is part of Klimt's "Gold Period" and is famous for being compared to the Mona Lisa in terms of genius. Unlike the previous art works we have talked about there really isn't a story behind it unless we talk about Klimt himself who was known for his "fierce sexual appetite". 

http://www.klimt.com/en/gallery/women/details-klimt-der-kuss-1908.dhtml

Number 1

Rodin, The Kiss, 1882-89

Rodin's, The Kiss, is known as one of the most romantic sculptures of all time. It's a natural number one for us here at Arts and Facts. The story behind this piece is from Dante's Inferno and involves two adulterous lovers who end up murdered by the woman's husband.

We hope you enjoyed this week's episode on Arts & Facts Top 10 Smooches. Next week we will have a listener requested episode on Friedensreich Hundertwasser! We will see you then! Have a great week!

Episode 30: War Photography

Happy Memorial Day all! (At least to our U.S. listeners...) Thank you for your patience in us getting this episode up and running. We promise not to disappoint, though, and we have a longer episode... so enjoy!


As a part of recognizing this day, we had photography professor Travis Lovell help us in a discussion about the photographers behind the images--many of which have become icons in our culture.

 

During the Crimean War (the first war with photographer Roger Fenton), the set up to get images was nothing short of massive. If photographers complain today about having to cart around a bag of things, it might be good to remember early photographers had to not only carry their gear, but also their darkroom with them!

Because the collodion processes being used took time for set up and exposure, the images from the Crimean war were often staged. They were also meant to be propaganda to show all those nay-Sayers back home what a noble and purposeful war this was! (In case you didn't know, the Crimean war was England's Vietnam...)

Alexander Gardner

Rebel Sharpshooter by Alexander Gardner

The Civil War, also, was more aftermath than action pictures for the same reason. You end up with a lot of questionable staging, such as the pictures above. One was taken where the soldier died and the other, his body was moved to another location for a photo op. Which do you think is the original?

Raising of the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal

The Kiss by Alfred Eisenstaedt

World War II  brought about some of the most patriotic and well known photographs.

General Loan Executing a Viet Cong by Eddie Adams

Children running from their burning village. Nick Ut won a Pulitzer Prize for this image.

Vietnam was open for photographers and journalists, which resulted in future wars being more greatly censored. Photographers, too, learned the power of images. Eddie Adams hated his own photograph because of the negative view the public had towards General Loan after this image became public.

Survivor of Hutu Death Camp James Nachtwey

Many war photographers continue to highlight incidents that are not only newsworthy, but help to inform the public about things they don't see and that happen in and as a result of war. There are other images, such as those at Abu Ghraib*, which are now taken by soldiers themselves, While not all are like this, it gives us a different view of war based on what the soldiers see day-to-day.

If you find the developments of photography interesting, watch the video here, where Travis also discusses with the team from Framed Network the history of photography. You can also see some of the work Travis produces on his website.

*We discuss these images on the podcast, but because of the disturbing nature of these photographs, we will allow you to search those, if you are interested.