Freedom and Photography: Le Baiser

Brassai

Andre Kertesz

Henri Cartier Bresson

Doisneau

Aurélie Filippetti, the former French minister of culture has expressed that Article 9 is unacceptable with regards to photographs. “Without them, our society doesn’t have a face,” she said. “Because of this law, we run the risk of losing our memory.” Doisneau’s “Baiser de L’Hotel de Ville” (1950) landed him in court decades after taking it. According to what I read in Wikipedia, Jean and Denise Lavergne erroneously believed they were the subjects and invoked their rights under the French privacy laws. Doisneau was forced to reveal he had asked the real couple to pose, after having seen them kiss spontaneously and not wanting to intrude. He won the court case. The woman in the photo, Francoise Bornet, said: "We didn't mind. We were used to kissing. We were doing it all the time then, it was delicious.”

Balthus

I come to Paris to be reminded that art and love are one and the same. Both are driven by a desire for wholeness, creativity, truth, surprise. At the Centre Pompidou, I saw a Balthus that was just donated to the museum. I haven't seen a reproduction of it anywhere and, standing there, I felt that coming all the way to Paris was worth it just to see this one painting. A new Balthus at the Pompidou, Paris Art, like love, sometimes involves transgression. Balthus said, " I want to proclaim in broad daylight, with sincerity and feeling, all the throbbing tragedy of a drama of the flesh, proclaim vociferously, the deep-rooted laws of instinct." I learned to love Balthus as a student in Wayne Thiebaud's painting class in college. From the perspective of the painter looking at a Balthus, one quickly sees past the erotic elements and is struck by his masterful technique, a method based on years spent on one painting, using paints hand mixed each morning by his wife,...

George Washington High School and Art Education

“If an offense come out of the truth , better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed .” Thomas Hardy George Washington High School in San Francisco is unique amongst other institutions bearing Washington's name. It is a treasure trove of New Deal WPA art that includes architecture, bas-reliefs, "buon fresco" murals and freestanding sculptures. These extend from the football field to the library. The school features an "Olympics" frieze by African American sculptor Sargent Johnson, and its architect was the pre-eminent Timothy L. Pflueger. This school, its name and even the site correlate conceptually. It was designed to showcase outstanding art and provoke reflection. The Sargent Johnson frieze In thousands of American high schools, AP Art History students learn about George Washington by studying a sculpture by Houdon. It is described in most textbooks with only a paragraph. On the back of this sculpture is a ...

Farewell to a Teacher

I can easily say that Wayne Thiebaud transformed my understanding of painting. After finishing high school, I took an art history class at my community college. The instructor declared that if any of us aspired to become artists, we should go to UC Davis because some of the best artists in the country, people like Wayne Thiebaud and Robert Arneson, taught there. Arneson's bust of the slain George Moscone had recently propelled him to international fame. I knew nothing about these people but I read about the art department and decided to apply. Its graduate program was ranked #1 in the country. As the first person in my family to attend college, even to finish high school, this was a scary but exciting step. Going to Davis meant I was serious about studying art, and would no longer be burdened by familial expectations of shepherding. I took at least three classes with Wayne- drawing and painting, and a class on "Theory and Criticism" of painting. This last class was perha...

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