Welcome to the Friday Afternoon Challenge! The Bloody Crossroads: when art is condemned!

[CTyankee]

The following are works that have been banned, taken down, shut down or otherwise suppressed by displeased authorities. Can you name the artist and the work? Who banned/suppressed them?
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

[CTyankee]

1. Kick to give you guys a little more time...no guesses?

[suffragette]

2. Caravaggio: St Matthew and the Angel

[suffragette]

4. Oops, that waould be #1

[CTyankee]

10. You would be right but do you know why?

[suffragette]

18. On description stated "lack of decorum"

and the Wiki has: They may have been disconcerted by the fact that this illiterate peasant, who seems as if he might never have written a word before this angel came down to guide his hand so firmly, has no clear connection with the polished tax-collector depicted in the Calling of Matthew on one neighbouring wall, nor the venerable high churchman in the Martyrdom on the other.


Reminds me of arguments from those who think Shakespeare must have been royalty, that only "nobles" can have noble calling or do noble work.

[CTyankee]

24. Have you seen the St. Matthew paintings in Rome?

This is what Caravaggio replaced it with:

[suffragette]

28. Haven't been to Rome

Would be wonderful to get there someday.

The 1st painting seems much more interesting to me. Sad that it is gone now.

[CTyankee]

36. The 3 paintings are in a smallish church in Rome.

You go in and everything is kinda dark. They have a little box on the wall next to the Contarelli chapel (which is really the size of an American walk-in closet)where you drop in some Euro change to get the lights on for a few minutes and there are these three paintings, depicting the life of St. Matthew, which have been there since they were painted. Amazing. And there are the faithful just sitting and praying in the church while you are in there...it was a great experience...

[Kurovski]

3. #1 looks sort of like Goya. Goya?

[Kurovski]

5. Was 3 considered decadent by the reagan, er, I mean Hitler regime?

Ernst? Something, I dunno. :-)

[CTyankee]

13. not Ernst...

[Matariki]

16. Max Beckmann or Egon Schiele?

[CTyankee]

19. no, neither.

[Kurovski]

17. make that the DEGENERATE art, as considered by hitler regime

#3

[CTyankee]

20. and...

[Kurovski]

26. Is it george Grosch?

I have to go google the name... Grosz?

[Kurovski]

35. OMG, It's a Kokoshka, isn't it? #3

I dont think I spelled his name right

[Kurovski]

43. Or Ernst Kirchner ?

whose name I just looked up

Is The artist considered a german Expressionist?

[CTyankee]

47. sorry, I didn't respond to your second question, for which the answer is yes.

[Kurovski]

55. Then, definitely a german expressionist.

[CTyankee]

58. well,...

[CTyankee]

37. Tisn't.

[CTyankee]

38. no.

[Angry Dragon]

6. Is that Grace Kelly in number 6??

[CTyankee]

7. no, but it sure looks like her...

[Kurovski]

12. Is 6 an Ingmar Bergman film?

[CTyankee]

15. No.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Kick and Rec

no guesses yet though. :blush:

[Kurovski]

23. Hi sugar blossom!

:hug:

[Viva_La_Revolution]

29. Sweetski!

[Kurovski]

9. Is 4 michael moore film? Farenheit 911?

[CTyankee]

14. No, not Michael Moore...

[Kurovski]

21. Is it the gore film?

An inconveniant truth? is that the name? I never saw it.

EDIT: mane of the movie

[jannyk]

11. kick

[Kurovski]

22. Does number 5 represent a novel?

[CTyankee]

25. I really don't know. Do you have an idea?

[Kurovski]

31. Well, madame bovary commits suicide, but I can't remember if she does it at home

Zola is always considered a bad boy, as is balzac.

I also do not remember how Nana ends.

Is it madame bovary?

or maybe Is it Nana?

[CTyankee]

33. Neither bovary nor nana is in the house...sorry...

[blogslut]

27. Is #2 a portrayal of Shakespeare's character Shylock?

?

Or perhaps Dickens' Fagin?

[CTyankee]

39. Ahhhh...but no. I see why guessed it, tho!

[blogslut]

42. Well, the nose putty is fairly obvious

Hmmm

[CTyankee]

44. The more you think about it, the more you will realize what it is...

Hint: think of that film history course you took as an undergraduate...

[blogslut]

30. #3 looks like some of the art I saw in a book about the Apartheid

?

[CTyankee]

40. No, nothing to do with apartheid...

[Kurovski]

Is 6 "A Doll's House" by Ibsen?

[CTyankee]

41. No, not Ibsen...

[Kurovski]

54. ...Strindberg?

[CTyankee]

57. Aww, no...

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Kurovski]

34. You startled me Grovelbot!

please don't shout so loudly. :-)

[suffragette]

45. lol

He just jumped into the thread, didn't he?

[CTyankee]

48. Maybe he'll give you the answers if you donate?!

[suffragette]

51. Ah, but I did donate already

I think he wants us to contemplate him as the work of art he knows he is :P

[CTyankee]

59. yes, of course...

[Kurovski]

46. #5 kinda looks like a Manet, but more like an illustrator copying the style.

the subject is so melodramatic.

Does it represent an opera?

[CTyankee]

49. I know opera pretty well of this era but I don't think so.

And yeah, the subject is melodramatic...but it caused a fuss, even for the country it was in...

It is not Manet, tho...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

69. OK, process of elimination: Is the city Paris or Amsterdam?

Would melodrama mean prostitution, loss of virginity, adultery, or, hmm...just taking wild guesses!

[CTyankee]

72. my goodness, why on earth would you think about sex when you see this painting?

Uh, yeah...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

80. I'm seeing beyond sex, i.e.,

what would make this painting controversial or "melodramatic."

My goodness.

[CTyankee]

83. Yet, somehow, it was...go figure...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

85. Rolla (1878) - Henri Gervex.

Rejected for "immorality."

[CTyankee]

86. Can you tell me how you got this?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

90. It looks French, the man looks to be distressed (like there's some sort of urgency),

and based on that tangled mess of clothing and jewelry on the right, I figured the woman was a prostitute. Then I hit teh Google.

[Generic Other]

50. #2 is Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible

Stalin banned it for being too harsh in portraying Ivan who he liked!

[CTyankee]

60. Which one?

[Generic Other]

68. Ivan IV and Stalin hated the second part of the movie

man you are picky!!! :scared:

[CTyankee]

73. Yeah, I am. I'm retired you see so I have the time to dream up these tyranical challenges...

[CTyankee]

74. Hells bells, folks. We have # 3, 5 and 6 unidentified!

Oh, no!

[eleny]

82. Didn't that actor also play the lead in Nevsky?

[CTyankee]

84. I really don't know! Maybe...

[sofa king]

91. Yes, it was Nikolai Cherkasov

Since most nations don't have the luxury of the Hollywood system, great directors from other countries often repeatedly drew upon their favorite actors for the lead roles. They are often referred to as the "alter ego" of the director (sometimes incorrectly). Eisenstein had Cherkasov, Fellini had Marcello Mastroiami, and Kurosawa had Toshiro Mifune.

Ivan the Terrible Part II was the one that was witheld from release by Josef Stalin , and was not widely seen until years after both Eisenstein and Stalin were dead. The planned Part III was never made except I think for a few minutes of test footage.

Both parts I and II are awesome, two of my favorite films, in large part thanks to the sublime skills of Cherkasov but also the orchestral score and the amazing cinematography (Eisenstein's virtuosity wields it all perfectly). In Part I, he's almost likeable and I find myself rooting for him against his cartoonish enemies. Part II underscores Ivan's total ruthlessness, augmented by creeping madness. Scene by scene Cherkasov's expression deepens into a smoldering glare until by the end he is wild-eyed, distrustful, and cruel. Part III, no doubt, would have been about his descent into total madness, and it should be counted among Stalin's lesser crimes that he never permitted it to be made.

But that was the problem. Stalin wanted the story of Ivan to mirror his own. The problem was, it did.

[librechik]

52. Is #2 Alexander Nevsky by Eisenstein banned for

not being Soviet enough?

[CTyankee]

65. It is not Alexander Nevesky...

[martymar64]

100. It's Ivan the Terrible (Part 1?) by Eisenstein, banned by Stalin.

[Generic Other]

53. #4 refers to the day Guernica by Picasso was covered up at the UN

so Colin Powell could deliver his yellowcake speech to lie us all into war.

[CTyankee]

61. Yep, but how did you know that?

[Generic Other]

67. I made a speech at a protest against this that day

I unveiled a copy of "Guernica" and held it aloft to a group of protesters at a rally as I explained the irony of Powell's shameful presence at the UN. I was really disgusted as you can imagine.

[CTyankee]

71. Such a perfect capstone of the power of art, isn't it?

[Kurovski]

56. Was #6 banned by the Catholic church?

EDIT: I should say "condemned" by the CC

[CTyankee]

62. well, not banned...they couldn't really do that...

[Kurovski]

64. Condemned?

My mind is fading with shocking dispatch.

[CTyankee]

63. yes.

[canetoad]

66. Is No. 2 from The Agony and the Ecstasy

Steel rod in Heston's nose to make it look broken?

[CTyankee]

70. Oh, no...not anywhere near Heston's nose...go back a few decades...

[WorseBeforeBetter]

77. Is it Mephistopheles? (n/t)

[WinkyDink]

75. Could we have a summary of correct answers so far? :-)

[CTyankee]

76. Sure.

1. is Caravaggio "St. Matthew and the Angel."
2. is Eisenstein "Ivan the Terrible." Part 2.
3. ??
4. Picasso's "Guernica."
5. ??
6. ??

[CTyankee]

78. OK, hint on #6: think south of Scandinavia...

[Kurovski]

79. Is it "And God Created Woman"?

I'm really stumped.

[CTyankee]

81. AWK. No. wrong country and wrong filmmaker...

[CTyankee]

88. OK, now we're down to #3 and #6. Any takers?

[11 Bravo]

87. I'm pretty sure #1 is "God helps Angel Sarah Palin read the big words."

[CTyankee]

89. LOVE IT!

No, actually it's by Caravaggio. "St. Matthew and the Angel." We only have a black and white photo of it since it was destroyed in Berlin during the bombing by the Allies in WWII.

Unfortunately, it was unacceptable to the church which had commissioned it. The replacement and the two other paintings in the series are still there in Rome. I saw them in 2006. Great stuff...

[suffragette]

92. 3)Pechstein, Self Portrait with Death

[Kurovski]

93. and it was placed in the Nazi Entartete Kunst exhibit

a showing of "degenerate art", so the people would know "what not to like" or explore. Hitler saying "Don't go there girl!"

[suffragette]

95. Yes, I only found this because you brought up

"degenerate art" earlier and I searched on "Degenerate Art Exhibition."

I visited London a couple of years ago and saw a painting by Campendonk in the Courtauld that was amazing and searched everywhere for info on him afterward and saw that he was also one of the many artists Hitler targeted.

[Kurovski]

96. And to think hitler was an artist himself in the beginning

I like all the contrasting colors in german expressionism.

[suffragette]

97. Strong colors and contrasts - I like the colors as well

Interesting how the colors in this painting are similar to the colors in the flags in the following pic of Powell at the UN.

[martymar64]

101. German Expressionism is powerful stuff

It's sad how many of these great artists died in WW1.

[Kurovski]

102. Who was the guy who painted animals, the blue horses?

A very gentle person who died in the war. That's one I remember, but I'm on the run and can't google now.

[Kurovski]

94. was #5 taken down at a Paris Salon exhibit?

Or even the salon rejects exhibit?

[CTyankee]

98. I believe it was...funny that...

I think Rolla was a real lady and she was considered disreputable...

[Kurovski]

103. I just remembered, franz marc!

Look at how beautiful this is...

http://www.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE%3A2004-35,RNWE%3Aen&q=franz+marc&oi=image_result_group&sa=X

Lost in war along with millions of other beautiful souls. People are completely insane, please no one bother to argue this. Not with me.(not that i thought that you personally would. :-))

[CTyankee]

99. To those seeking all the answers, here is my post:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x454500

Have a great week and thanks for joining in!

See you next Friday...