Censorship of nude art: greed and lust for power in the name of child protection

Removal of photographs of works by Duchamp, Michelangelo and Caravaggio from an exhibition
Removal of photographs of works by Duchamp, Michelangelo and Caravaggio from an exhibition – from Newcastle Herald (1984)

What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognise the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?
— Michelangelo

In recent years, Pigtails in Paint suffered repeated attempts at censorship, and Poets and Lovers became a “collateral damage” of these attacks. Today I will discuss the first source of censorship, so-called “child protection” organisations. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Some kisses exchanged by Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper

Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper
Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper

In a recent post, I gave some excerpts of love letters exchanged by Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper in 1885, the year they celebrated their private marriage. Today, I give two beautiful short quotes from further love letters. Again, they are taken from their complete correspondence edited by Sharon Bickle, and I will refer to these letters by their number in that collection. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

The Forest Maid, by John Clare

William-Adolphe Bouguereau - Enfant tressant une couronne
William-Adolphe Bouguereau – Enfant tressant une couronne (1874) – from Wikimedia Commons

This sweet poem by John Clare comes from his beautiful collection Asylum Poems, written while he was interned in a lunatic asylum. It tells the love he shared with a young girl, and he gives her a lovely name: Mary Littlechild. It probably refers to his first love, Mary Joyce, whom he courted briefly at age 16, until her father put an end to their relation. She remained his ideal of love and beauty, and when he lost reason, Clare believed that Mary Joyce was his true wife. In July 1841, Clare absconded from the asylum and walked 140 km home, intent on returning to Mary. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Claire, par Jean Aicard

Photographie post mortem
Photographie post mortem – provient de VK

Il y a une semaine, j’ai publié le poèmes « La Reine de Mai » provenant du recueil Le Livre d’Heures de l’Amour (1887), à propos d’une reine de mai appelée Claire, qu’il aimait et qui mourut dans son enfance.

Treize ans plus tôt, en 1874, Aicard avait publié chez Alphonse Lemerre le recueil Poèmes de Provence, qui obtint le Prix Montyon de l’Académie française et fit de lui le poète de cette région. On y trouve un poème assez semblable, consacré à son amour d’enfance, morte trop tôt. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Growth, by Ernest Dowson

Élisabeth Chaplin - Jeunes filles en jaune
Élisabeth Chaplin – Jeunes filles en jaune (1921)

In a post presenting the poem Ad Domnulam Suam by Ernest Dowson, I said that Dowson wrote it in October 1890, and that it was probably inspired by his beloved Adelaide Foltinowicz, then aged twelve years and a half. In it, he expressed his love for a young girl, and at the same time a desire to stop before this love could grow too strong; he also said that the girl would soon grow out of childhood, and this could spell the end of that love. He seemed to be afraid that his love for Adelaide would finally end as she grew into adulthood. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…

Some love letters between Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper in the year 1885

Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper
Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper

Katherine Harris Bradley (1846–1914) and Edith Emma Cooper (1862–1913) had a triple relation: aunt and niece, lovers, and collaborative authors of poetry and drama. Their correspondence has been gathered by Sharon Bickle, and I will refer to their letters by their number in that collection. Many of them express their love in a lyrical way, and this is most striking for the year 1885. CONTINUE READING / CONTINUER LA LECTURE…