Not PC: Liberty storming Helengrad

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Liberty storming Helengrad. :-)

Tim Sturm said...: There was a one hour documentary devoted to this wonderful painting on BBC a few nights ago, of which I managed to catch about half.

Some random points that I can recall:

- The painting was considered controversial when it first came out (revolution by an unruly mob)

- The woman is realistically depicted. She is looking over her shoulder at the mob without pity or any apparent emotion. Her hair and belt are flying in different directions.

- The image of dead and degraded officers is graphic, although they don't look much different to the rabble (revolution turns us against people we might otherwise consider our brothers).

- Boys are reckless in war (one to the right, one low down on the left edge with stone in hand)

- What is the dandy doing in the middle of the mob?

- The painting makes for great political cartoons (there was an image with Tony Blair as the charging woman and Wee Willy Hague as the boy to the right)

- The painting conformed to the pyramidical (?) structure common at that time (1840-ish...?)

- The painting was completed in just three months, and borrowed characters from other pictures/paintings.; 4/08/2005 08:56:00 pm