Erotic in the style of “nude” painting by Cabanel “The Birth of Venus” has been in the Orsay Museum in Paris since 1928. She pretty shook her in museums before finding a permanent place of deployment.
Alexander Cabanel (1823–1889) was born in the south of France, but spent his whole life in Paris. He studied, worked in it, earned lifetime fame and earned money. He was favored by the rulers and loved by the public. This happened precisely because the master skillfully indulged the tastes of the public of his time. A series of revolutions took place in France, the bourgeois wanted to live for their own pleasure, admire the beautiful views and women. All this was provided to undemanding viewers by Alexander Kabanel. The "Birth of Venus" shows this especially vividly.
Subject of work
In his works we see mainly mythological, historical themes. Women are beautiful for selection, but the artist did not chase after psychological accuracy. The first picture, for which Cabanel received the prize, was painted in Rome. This is the “Death of Moses”, which was exhibited in the salon when he was 29 years old. Then went numerous female portraits painted in the same smooth, varnished academic manner. In 1863, the artist became an academician. It was in this year that the painting “The Birth of Venus” was painted by Cabanel. She did not become a stage in his work. Once having developed a style of writing, the artist did not depart from it in any work. Be it the Abduction of a Nymph, or Echo, or Cleopatra, or Ophelia.
There is no tragedy in Ophelia, and nobody needs it. But the painter received after the "Venus" the Order of the Legion of Honor.
Erotica in the picture of Alexander Cabanel
As if not from porcelain, but from white-pink marzipan (this comparison was made by E. Zola) Alexander Kabanel created a new work. The painting "The Birth of Venus" is amazingly gentle. The divine body, gently swaying on the waves, repeats their bends. Venus, fully enjoying the calm, bends it from head to toe. She is half asleep, in languor, and she seems to be obedient to anyone who desires this beautiful body. Around this passive deity, the sea foams a little, not daring to compete with the girl and disturb her sleepy state.
The eyes of Venus are half-closed, his hands are thrown behind his head. One of them is bent at the elbow, as if showing that the goddess is not going to wake up. She is sweet, she basking in the warm waves washing her beautiful body. And around, angels frolic, frolic from the shells the trumpet sounds announcing the birth of Venus.
By Italian standards, this is just the Annunciation. This should give the naked sensual beauty at least a little respectability.
Compliance with the ideals of time
Kabanel’s painting “The Birth of Venus” fully meets the needs of the public. She is quite to the taste of visitors to the Salon. That was the beauty of that time. She is the ideal of beauty:
- high, higher than the models with which photographs were taken at that time;
- red-haired, which was very fashionable;
- with rounded knees and a long slender body;
- with smooth, as if shaved, skin.
It is no coincidence that Emperor Napoleon III liked the “Birth of Venus” (painting by Cabanel). He immediately bought it and replenished his collection. The first canvas that Kabanel liked was the Abduction of a Nymph, which also depicts a white marble model with long red hair in the arms of a scary satyr. So gradually the work of A. Cabanel became reference. The artworks were sugary, the aroma of “violets and roses” emanated from them. His work, in which there are no ups or downs, suggested that the mass audience would like it.
And so it happened. His work was stably technically high-quality, realistic without gross naturalism, with a pleasant touch. It was a sweet mediocrity. Nevertheless, the artist had no downtime. Customers lined up.
“The Birth of Venus”, a picture of Cabanel: composition
The horizon line runs very low. Right on it is Venus. She rests on waves that sway weakly. There are no frills and difficulties in the compositional construction of the picture.
Light and color
From the canvas comes the impression of freshness and clarity. Soft light does not hurt the eyes with the brightness of the Mediterranean sun. Against the background of the azure sky, the body stands out with delicate pearlescent shades.
Kabanel’s picture “The Birth of Venus” is simple, unsophisticated, liked by the bourgeois mass audience. By modern standards, there is nothing over-explicit in it. Just do not look in it for a psychological approach and the depth of the topic.