Living Pictures

The readings for class these past two weeks have been some of my favorites for the entire course. The articles were so intriguing and I really enjoyed exploring the evolution of entertainment and especially womens involvement in that entertainment. Even though our last class discussion took an interesting turn and ended up on Playboy for a short time, it shows that many of the issues people had over the living pictures exhibits are still present today.

It brings up the question of what is art. Is something art because I say it is art, are there specific requirements, a list of criteria something must meet in order to be considered art, what is nude and what is naked? These questions were clearly just as prevalent 100-150 years ago. Granted there is definitely a line between something being truly lewd and disgustingly misogynistic, but there really can be a lot of gray when it comes to various aspects of taste.

The women involved in these living picture shows clearly bothered people. There was something about the female form being shown live as opposed to in a painting that made people uncomfortable, or rather, some people uncomfortable. Even though these women were representing works of art, the reason they were met with such resistance may have been because this was seen as entertainment. But can art not be entertaining?

People like Lady Summerset who were so opposed to this form of entertainment went on to paint these women as voiceless victims who had no way out and were forced into this work. It’s funny that the women themselves did not feel that way at all. As Faulk’s article shows, the women in the shows suggested she help people actually in need of help, like the poor and hungry; as they didn’t believe what they were doing was at all immoral.

There was a quote on page 175 of the Faulk article by Frederick Wedmore that I really liked, “…the nude in Tableau Vivant, with all its associations, is no longer an undressed woman, but the nude in art…” I think this was what was missing, or ignored by those people who were so opposed to these shows. Tableau Vivant was simply women portraying works of art, which portrayed women, that was all.