MPS MEN PORTRAITS SERIES
n°3 t
English text translation Anne Menuhin
FOOLISH ELEGANCE
menportraits.blogspot.com © Francis Rousseau 2011-2020
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
The first elegant on the list poses a small identity problem. Who was this man impeccably dressed with jacket, waistcoat, bow tie, hat with carefully raised brim and gloves color "fresh butter" placed on the edge of the table, next to a bock of beer through which are reflected the red and white checks of the tablecloth? Jimmy van der Lak (1903-1990)! Sure, but who was Jimmy van der Lak? A Harlem dandy? A successful boxer? A manager of top athletes? A professional cabaret dancer? A famous actor or show man? A little bit of everything at once but also something even more unexpected ... A native of Suriname, Jimmy arrived in Amsterdam in 1925. He was then the only "black" in the city. Being a curiosity, he quickly gained a reputation for tap dancing. In the 1930s, the competition became fierce and the genre "tap dancer" gradually going out of style, he became a bartender and then an extra for the theater where he even played the role of Othello for the local film industry, before talkies. It was while shooting one of these films that he met the actress and painter Nola Hatterman who offered to use him as a model for her paintings.
Nola Hatterman (1899-1944) On the Terrace, portrait of Jimmy van der Lak Stedelijk Amsterdam, 1930
So she painted this portrait of him, seated like a great lord in the same restaurant where he had previously been a simple waiter. Then, overnight, he became a boxer, the clenched fist that we can see in this portrait confirms that he must have had a pretty persuasive right! He was very successful as a boxer to the point of organising matches in Amsterdam himself, then opening his own boxing school! Fortune continued to smile on him for a while in the boxing rings, but he was not satisfied and ended up becoming a pimp ... still in Amsterdam. It’s a pretty surprising career achievement, but in those pre-war times when Jimmy lived, the world of boxing had a reputation for leading to everything and especially pimping ... strong armed. At least this rather extra-ordinary elegant didn't end up being a dealer and preferred to sell love on the street corners rather than death.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Girolamo de Romano detto Il Romanino (1484-1566) Ritratto di uomo, c.1515-17 Royal Collection Trust - Windsor Castle - King's Closet
In Italy during the Renaissance, clothing became sumptuous and highlighted the fabrics used: brocades, satins, velvets or silks. This
anonymous elegant painted by the Venetian Il Romanino wears, for
example, as a top garment, a chamarre or mantle in green silk velvet, open in front, lined with silk with puffy armholes decorated with braids and trimmings. The chamarre opens onto a very supple doublet giving a glimpse, through its boat neckline, of a collarless shirt, gathered and embroidered. From 1515, the date of this portrait, the beard was fashionable in Venice and the hair shortened, two characteristics that have not escaped this elegant. At this time too, it was Italy which reigned over the art of headgear throughout Europe and imagined the most extravagant male hairstyles with the famous Florence toque or with, as here, the flat bottomed felt hat decorated with a large feather which falls to the side. The anonymous elegant of this painting wears a mixture of Florence toque with raised brim and flat-bottomed hat with a disproportionate white plume, all knotted in the oriental style, in a turban, just above the forehead with one or more ribbons of silk or pieces cut from different fabrics…
Head shapes, old wooden hat shapes and workshops of Italian milliners in the 16th century
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
The character represented here by the Flemish painter Jacob Ferdiand Voët, is Luis Francisco de la Cerda, ninth duke of Medinacelli. laden with a dozen other such prestigious titles, he was a Grand of Spain, member of the Council of State and the Council of War, ambassador to the Holy See and Viceroy of Naples. The royal attitude which he adopts in this portrait, made barely two years before he was Viceroy of Naples, is therefore not usurped. It was after the death of King Carlos II and after the difficult Spanish Succession, when he became Prime Minister of King Philip V, that things began to seriously deteriorate for him. Opposed to the French influence of the Bourbons at the Spanish Court, he revealed to the English in 1710 the secret plans for a truce between the United Provinces and France. In doing so he committed, quite consciously,high treason. This earned him royal disgrace and imprisonment until the end of his days at the Alcazar of Segovia, first at Pamplona Castle where he died the following year. The anti-French rage of this character suffered, however, one exception: fashion… of which he was, like many high-ranking characters, a victim! The precision of Jacob Ferdinand Voët's painting allows us to see how closely the Duke followed the fashion canons of his time!
Jacob Ferdinand Voët (1639-1689) Luis Francisco de la Cerda, IXe duke of Medinacelli,1684 Museo del Prado, Madrid.
After 1680, the "haut de chausses" (literally "top of the hose" or leggings today!) which were previously puffy became form fitting. The Duke has them form fitting! At the end of the heel, his stockings (black in Spain, white in France or red in northern Europe) are embroidered with gold thread which extend the patterns painted on the "chausses" (shoes) themselves covered with a bow "en aile du moulin" ( in the form of a wind mill's sail). The Duke has them! From 1680, too, the "justaucorps" (tunic) loaded with gold and silver thread trims was worn over the jacket, which it completely concealed rendering it a kind of underwear. The front and sleeves of the jacket are made of rich fabric. The Duke has them! The short sleeves of the justaucorps, rolled up to the elbow are embroidered to reveal the bundled lace of the shirt, the "petits oies". The "jabot" or ruffle, an imposing lace ornament that succeeds the "fraise", stiff pleated neck ruff, in the history of costume, crowns the tunic and attaches to the plastron (in front of the chest) by the collar of the shirt. Its name comes from the pocket formed by a bulge of the oesophagus in some birds-the "jabot". The Duke has it all… and much more! Finally, the sumptuous sculpted amour helmet , placed on the table to the right of this Grand of Spain attesting to his ancient lineage is surmounted by a plume of two-tone ostrich feathers or "panache" matching the colour of the whole outfit.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Glyn Warren Philpot (1884 -1937) Man in white, 1933
In the spring of 1931, Philpot moved to Paris, with his friend Vivian Forbes at the Hôtel Le Royal, boulevard Raspail. Very quickly, he decided to take a studio for himself, at 216 Boulevard Raspail, a Bauhaus style space, designed by Bruno el Houken for Helena Rubenstein, and divided into artists' workshops. It was in this workshop that many of Philpot's best works were produced ... The obviously elegant Man in White , no doubt painted during a stay in the Basque Country, remains anonymous to this day. He may be a young Basque sportsman, as the beret seems to indicate… Although, in the 1930s, the French Basque country and its games of Chistera and Cesta Punta were so fashionable that the elegant young people adopted all the codes of the genre, even if they were neither athletic nor Basque! Far from being anonymous, on the other hand, this little white sport shirt of little pique jersey, a light and particularly airy fabric, with short sleeves and a ribbed knit collar (to give it body and protect the neck of the players from the sun) is not unknown to us. Originally intended for tennis players, it was popularised by tennis champion René Lacoste and was to make an international career that has never faltered since. From 1933, it became the first sportswear displaying the name of a brand, in this case: Lacoste. No crocodile or label on the one worn by our elegant youngster here, and for good reason ... it was 3 years before the birth of the crocodile brand! Elegant as he was, this anonymous man in white knew how to maintain the immaculate whiteness of the original sportswear. A touch of chic! In the panoply of this elegant perfectionist, we also notice the beret firmly pressed on his head although languidly tilted over one ear, like the Basque shepherds; the leather belt with silver buckle clasping white pants (delicately gathered at the waist) and the watch on the wrist, worn like an expensive jewel ...
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Gustave Caillebotte ( 1848-1894) The Oarsman with the Top Hat, 1878 Private collection
Gustave Caillebotte’s passion for water sports was born during his summer vacations on the family estate of Yerres, located by the river of the same name where he canoed aboard boats called "perissoires". This passion is reflected in the many paintings he devoted to this subject including La Partie de Bateau or Le Canotier au Chapeau Haut-de-forme (1878) opposite. Caillebotte painted here an elegant friend, probably staying on the Caillebotte family property, barely twenty kilometers from Paris. It would seem that the young guest impatient to indulge in his favorite sport, having just arrived from Paris, simply took off his jacket, but kept his city suit, pants, buttoned waistcoat, shirt with large stripes, bow tie and above all ... top hat. In the background of the composition, two oarsmen approach on board a perissoire, a long canoe varying between 4 and 8 meters, depending on whether it is intended for a simple outing or a race, which Caillebotte represented many times in his works. In contrast to the young city dweller who transports his elegance from the suburbs directly to the Yerres, the two rowers wear loose fitting, white outfits perfectly suited to the outdoor sports of this era: canoeing and angling in particular. They also wear a strange oblong straw hat! In reality, this impressive headgear is none other than a streamlined, waterway version of the colonial helmets with which the British Foreign Office liked to dress up its nationals wandering about in the colonies of the Empire. For the oarsmen of the Yerres it was undoubtedly a way of suggesting, with the sharp, anti British humour of the day, that the strolls in perissoires on the Yerres were surely as dangerous as the expeditions on the shores of Lake Tanganika conducted by Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingtone… we presume! 1. Henry Morton Stanley n the African jungle 2. En Perissoire sur l’Yerres par Gustave Caillebotte
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Clovis Trouille (1869-1975) for Pierre Imans Male Mannequin Head Wax Figure N ° 947-3-451 S, circa 1930-40 Private collection .
Pierre Imans started his business of window mannequins in 1896. It operated at full speed between the 1920s and the 1950s at No. 10 rue de Crussol, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. This business address, on the border of the former district of tailors and manufacturers of Parisian clothing, is indicated on all the images and catalogs of Pierre Imans up until 1965, date of the definitive closure of the company. The works that survived the closure can be seen today in museums around the world, where they are considered important evidence of an artistic genre in its own right, too often relegated to the rank of the minor art which we define by the generic name of "modern commercial sculpture" ... Pierre Imans was very aware of the "educational" work he was doing. He called on many more or less famous Parisian artists to produce them, the common point between these men being a seasoned sense of humour and especially a keen sense of observation able to grasp and transcribe, exaggerating perhaps almost to the point of but just avoiding caricature, the canons of elegance of the time. The French painter and sculptor Camille-Clovis Trouille was one of Pierre Imans' recruits… and not the least since he had a sulphurous reputation as an artist at the same time anticlerical, antimilitarist and above all "erotic" with his small nimble paintings of which any " brothel ”worthy of the name had at least one copy in its living room and in its bedrooms.
Traumatised by the horrors of the First World War, Clovis Trouille - his real name - defined himself as "Grand Master of Ceremonies, Everything is Allowed." His erotic drawings were certainly very famous among the public, nonetheless his name never appeared on them. This anonymity suited him perfectly, because he did not seek glory at all. "It is true that I have never worked for a grand prize at any Venice biennial," he said, "but rather to earn 10 years in prison as that is what seems to me the most interesting". He also never wanted to sell his works rationally, preferring barter to currency which he considered "unreliable"! When he agreed to part with one of them, he sometimes wanted to recover them in order to add additional details: a person, objects, or simply a mole on the face.. or elsewhere ... Without doubt also a way to obtain a small extension on his deal from Madame Arlette or Madame Paulette of the capital! Clovis Trouille started working in Pierre Imans' studio around the 1920s and stayed there for 45 years, producing on average two mannequin effigies per week, which makes a little over 4000 heads of mannequins, "pipe heads" or "bow heads" as he called them according to whether they were feminine or masculine, "bi-sextile years included" and this until the final closure of the Imans Company! A fine example of professional… and existential elegance!
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
The two young men who are represented on this large composition, 2.37 by 1.46 meters, by Anthony van Dyck, are the sixth son of the Duke of Lennox, Lord John Stewart or Stuart (on the left), and his seventh son, Lord Bernard Stewart (right), two Franco-Scottish aristocrats, cousins of King Charles I of England. The two brothers are dressed in the height of elegant fashion of their time, rich silk and satin garments mixed with sumptuous high lace collars and embroidered ornaments. James wears a cape and doublet embroidered with gold thread patterns in warm shades of gold and brown, only buttoned at the top, also adorned with slashes opening onto a white satin shirt. In contrast to the colors worn by his older brother, Bernard’s clothes are in a fresh play of blue and pearl gray with silver thread embroidery. As their boots indicate and especially their spurs which prepare them to mount their horses, they are dressed to leave on a voyage. And indeed this painting was ordered shortly before their departure in 1639 for a Grand Tour of Europe which lasted 3 years. John is standing on a step, leaning on a stone base, looking into the distance beyond the spectator. Bernard has his left leg on the step of the stone platform where his elder brother is standing, his sumptuously gloved left hand, placed on his hip, in a fairly precious posture even though he wanted to seem relaxed; he looks directly at the viewer and
Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) Lord John Stuart and His Brother Lord Bernard-Stuart, 1638 National Gallery, Londres
raises the edge of his cape with his right hand (not gloved) to reveal his pearl gray silk justaucorps embroidered with silver thread and his "culottes" or breeches (the name then given to pants). Like his brother, he also wears leather boots with silver spurs as well as a sword. These two elegant young men who were promised the best future were both killed while fighting for King Charles I: James at the Battle of Cheriton in 1644, and Bernard the following year at the Battle of Rowton Heath while he was the head of the Life Guards. This magnificent painting, one of the most emblematic of Van Dyck, was preserved by the Stuart family until 1672, the date of the death of Charles Stuart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, when it then passed through his sister, the Baroness Clifton and her descendants to Theodosia Hyde, 10th Baroness Clifton. It remained in the family until it was sold around 1904 to the art dealer Sir George Donaldson. It was then acquired by the banker Sir Ernest Cassel and passed on to his greatgranddaughters Patricia Knatchbull, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma and Lady Pamela Hicks. It was purchased by the National Gallery in London in 1988.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Gottfried Lindauer (1839–1926) Chef Ngairo Rakaihikuroa at Wairarapa, 1880 Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand
Ngairo Rakai Hikuroa was the leader of a Maori community located on the southeast coast of the North Island (New Zealand). His moko or motif tattooed on the face is quite striking. It is enhanced by his hairstyle made of two huia feathers, an endemic species of bird from the North Island, which unfortunately disappeared at the beginning of the 20th century. The chief also carries a taiaha, a weapon from 1.50 to 1.80 m long which was used in hand-to-hand combat; this one specially sculpted for him is adorned with white dog hair. His mako, an ear pendant made of a shark tooth, is dipped in red wax. He also wears a korowai, a large white ritual coat with embroidered geometric patterns, decorated with a collar made of woolen ribbon and colored linen cords. The korowai was woven not on a loom with a shuttle but with the fingers, the threads being attached to the end of each finger which manipulated and braided them. A true work of art. It is very likely that Lindauer executed this portrait from a photograph, the chief Ngairo Rakai Hikuroa being known for his inability s to remain motionless for a long time. This portrait is one of the 60 Maori portraits that Lindauer painted in New Zealand at the end of the 19th century.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Anna & Elena Balbusso Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, Illustration for Folio Society (2016)
Undoubtedly this woman is a man! He or she does not even try to hide his facial hair under the sumptuous lace ruff and the jewelry he / she is wearing. In reality, it is a portrait of a Renaissance actor performing a comedy by William Shakespeare. At that time, women were prohibited from practicing the profession of actress. In the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the female roles were therefore always played by men who dressed up as women. But often, in some of his plays, Shakespeare doubled this comic situation by creating a multiple travesty for his actors; he made sure that these men while playing female roles in turn disguised themselves as men to amplify the comic effect! In Twelfth Night (The Night of Kings), the role of the beautiful Viola was played by a young man who played the role of a girl but was forced to dress up as a boy (Cesario)! She loves Duke Orsino, s and Cesario are therefore embodied by the who loves Countess Olivia, who loves Cesario… Olivia same actor! Fortunately, everything is resolved when Viola’s brother Sebastian, believed to be dead, returns. Nevertheless, throughout the duration of this piece, we only see Viola as Viola herself in a single small scene of not even 5 minutes! Throughout the rest of the play, we see her as a boy, embodying Cesario! It’s even worse, or funnier, as you like, in As you like it! When Rosalind and Celia run away from court, Rosalind dresses as a man. Then Shakespeare complicates the plot so that the male actor who plays Rosalind proceeds to dress as a woman to help a friend get the favours of the girl he is infatuated with! Irresistible for the public then who expected and adored all these imbroglios-- seeing a man dressing as a woman who dresses as a man who cross-dresses as a woman! England was not the only place where the theater practiced this confusion of genres: the same was true in Japan in the Noh theater since the 13th century and in the Kabuki theater since the 17th century, two types of theater in which all female roles were played by men dressed as women and wearing female masks. Ditto in China, where almost all of the female characters in the vast repertoire of the Traditional Chinese Opera were performed and sung by men.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
It is said that Queen Victoria, who never hid her attraction to her colony of India and its inhabitants, was literally fascinated by Duleep Singh (1838-1893) when she met him for the first time. He was barely 12 years old and had just been forced to surrender his sovereignty over the kingdom of Punjab. It must be said that the dear boy did indeed have something fascinating !!! He arrived in England with the famous Koh-i-Nor diamond in his luggage, a legendary stone of 105.602 carats, which he had from his father. On July 3, 1850, he "presented" it, according to the de rigueur euphemism. to Queen Victoria, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the English East India Company. To thank the young Maharajah for this "presentation", which ended happily with the inclusion of the Koh-i-Nor in the British Crown (from where it has in fact not moved since), the queen, commissioned Franz Xavier Winterhalter, famous painter of the great people of the world at the time, to do a portrait of the elegant Maharajah. A small gesture considering the sumptuous gift that the teenager had just given her as if it was a mere trinket! On July 10, 1854, the Queen wrote in her journal:
Franz-Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) Maharadjah Duleep Singh, last Maharajah of Punjab in 1854 The Royal Trust Collection
"Winterhalter never stops raving about the beauty and nobility of this young Maharajah. During the pose sessions, he is so kind and patient that he can stand still for more than 2 hours! " At the time of the portrait, the young man had just turned 16 and he is shown wearing a turban surmounted by an egret feather in which is embedded the fabulous Koh-i-Nor diamond… the same one he had offered Victoria a few years ago , but which was exceptionally returned to him momentarily in order to appear in this painting. He also wears around his neck, to seal his friendship, a miniature of Queen Victoria, produced by Emily Eden and hung on five rows of legendary pearls. Having become a close friend of the British royal family, whom he regularly visited in Osborne, he also frequently invited the Prince of Wales to hunting parties in Suffolk. But despite his English upbringing and comfortable lifestyle, everything suddenly went wrong when he decided to return to India in 1866. There, recruited by members of the former Punjâbî Court, he was inspired to reclaim the throne he had given to Victoria as a teenager!
Idea that he shouldn't have taken seriously. Arrested in Aden, he was forced to return to Europe and remain under close surveillance. This did not prevent him from maintaining, from this time on, regular contacts with the Punjab, the Irish revolutionaries and the Russian government involved at that time in what was called The Great Game-manouvering for control of Central Asia. Oddly, his health suddenly deteriorated and he died in Paris, lonely, in a luxurious hotel room suite ... of an epilepsy attack, according to the official version. His second wife, Maharani Ada, was suspected of having been a spy in the service of the British government and probably having helped trigger the fatal epilepsy attack. Result: since then the Koh-i-Nor has had the very bad reputation of bringing "woe to those who part with it". Rest assured, the Crown of England is not ready to do that!
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Monsieur de Fontaine wears a justaucorps without collar, the Polish style, in scarlet silk velvet entirely lined with white fur, probably sable, with generous wrist cuffs in the same fur. The justaucorps, already in fashion under Louis XIV, became, in the fitted version seen here, the favorite costume of gentlemen during the Regency. Both simple and sumptuous Monsieur de Fontaine wears his justaucorps over a white silk waistcoat, which is no less so with its elegant embroideries of red flowers running over the pockets and along the braid that borders them. The floral waistcoat reveals a glimpse at the neck of the discreet lace frill of his highnecked shirt, although it is almost invisible.
Marianne Loir (1715-1769) Portrait of Monsieur de Fontaine Stair Sainty Gallery, London
The same discreet lace mist airs the sable sleeves. Finally, he wears a courtier's wig known as a "cadogan". Its poney tail is raised and tied with a black satin ribbon. During the reign of Louis XV, wearing this type of wig was the privilege of aristocrats only; it must imperatively be powdered as advised by the Methodical Encyclopedia by coating it with lard before sprinkling it with wheat flour. From the middle of the 18th century, people preferred to use perfumed fatty ointments rather than lard. Under his arm, we can see a tricorn hat (three-cornered), folded, ancestor of the slap hat.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Anonymous photographer Young Bavarian in Lederhosen, 1908.
,
This is an elegant Bavarian from the beginning of the century in traditional costume, which is nothing less than the old-fashioned working garment used since the 15th century in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Trentino Alto Adige. This renowned costume, an essential accessory of the Munich Oktoberfest is composed of: - LeTrachtenhut or small felt hat, usually green, from Tyrol. This one is surrounded by a band and decorated with the famous chamois trophy, the Gambsbart, which comes from the neck of the animal; it is said that the larger the trophy, the more skillful the hunter. So we can imagine that this one was particularly so! - The suede coat-jacket, trimmed in leather, with stitched back cuffs and boar horn buttons, is worn directly on the shirt which, when not in a red check pattern, must always be impeccably white . - The Lederhosen are the key item of the Bavarian costume. They are particularly resistant pants in goatskin or calfskin for the popular version, in chamois or deer skin for the luxurious version decorated with embroideries that compete with one another in sumptuousness. Supported by suspenders (Hösentrager), the Lederhosen have a pocket on the right leg, the Messertasche which serves as a knife sheath. Three cuts exist for these pants: ankle length (Lange Lederhose); below the knee (Kniebund Lederhose) and above the knee (Kurte Lederhosen), the latter being generally reserved for young men, as is the case in this photo. - Wool socks covering the calf to the knee and embroidered with hunting patterns or scenes from the forest. - Shoes with reinforced toes and studded soles (Haferlschuhe) were created, according to legend in 1803, by the shoemaker Franz Schratt who was inspired by the stability of the goats' hooves. Various accessories such as the large, richly embroidered belt adorned with bows complete this traditional costume with timeless elegance ... and a legendary erotic charge. Finally, we note that this elegant wears a brooch near his neck, a medallion containing a portrait of King Ludwig II of Bavaria (fig. 3).
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Edward Curtis (1868-1952) Bear Bull from Blackfoot people
Chief Bear Bull is not particularly one of the great heroes of the Black Foot tribe. If Edward Curtis photographed him it is mainly because of the elegance of his hairstyle divided into three braids, two hanging on the side and another upturned in a plume on the top of the forehead, arranged like a bird's beak or an animal's horn, a well-known symbol of the Blackfoot nation The relationship which the Blackfoot maintained with animals was a very respectful one. Wearing the name of an animal (let alone 2) was not a coincidence. Before taking the an animal's name, the person had to have the reputation throughout the tribe of deserving the main character trait. In the case of Bear Bull one can imagine that he combined both the cunning of the bear and the dark power of the bulls, which his horn of hair protruding forward easily suggests. According to a legend, the Pied-noir nation was divided into three camps to better defend its territory. Some time after this split, a man from the north camp reportedly visited the south-east camp, and asked to see the chief, but each person he met told him that he was the chief; he therefore named this tribe "Akainai" ("the tribe of several chiefs"), and it was this name which was, subsequently, modified in "Kainai", the endonyme of the Gens-du-Sang. On the other hand, the Gens-du-Sang allegedly named the visitor's tribe "Sik-sikah" ("Black feet") because of their black moccasins. The Blackfoot visitor then went to the third camp: seeing certain people wearing clothes made of badly tanned skins, still garnished with pieces of dried meat, he called this tribe "Apikuni" ("Ugly skin"), later changed to Pikuni. Edward Sheriff Curtis was an American ethnologist photographer, one of the foremost social anthropologists of Native Americans in North and West America. He left traces of their writings, sound recordings of Indian songs and many photos on glass. Thus, in a non-exhaustive way, he undertook the photographic inventory of the 80 existing tribes of Amerindia. The Amerindian population, which was estimated at more than 1 million people in the 18th century, had dropped to around 40,000 when he launched his project. Part of his work was published in a prodigious work of 20 volumes entitled: "The North American Indian", comprising 4000 pages of text, 2500 photographs, while in total, Curtis made nearly 50,000 shots.
MEN PORTRAITS ___________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Francesco d'Ubertino Verdi detto Il Bacchiacca (1494-1557) Courtier in red fur hat Fondation Bemberg, Toulouse
This elegant young Renaissance man is wearing a magnificent flat hat in red fur which is actually a Florentine adaptation of the very ancient and very noble Greek headgear: the petase. The petase worn here is not in felt or straw, as usual, but in fur, and what's more, in fur dyed red! The ribbon that keeps it attached is also unusual in its width and especially in that it is tied on the top of the head and not under the chin. This young Florentine aristocrat adapts in his own way, with an eye on facing the humidity of the harsh winters on the banks of the Arno, this great classic of Mediterranean costume. Adapt the shape to new textures, change the color, resize, imagine around…. Isn't this ultimately what fashion has always done through its zealous emissaries that were the elegants of all eras? Traditionally, the petase was a hat with a broad, flexible and flat brim which was worn by s under the chin or behind the head, held it in travelers in Greek antiquity; the cord, knotted place in the wind or when its owner wanted to take it off while keeping it around the neck. There are a plethora of illustrations of the petase (see images below) on ancient pottery as well as on coins and ancient Greek statuary. Worn with the chlamyde by the ephebes at the gymnasium, the Greeks thought that this headgear was of Thessalian origin. In mythology, flanked by two wings, the petase was one of the attributes of the god Hermes. Among the Etruscans, the braided straw petase was rather a simple peasant hat used for protection from the sun during work in the fields. Ancient Romans also wore it to protect themselves from the sun during outdoor theatrical performances or circus games.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Anselm Feuerbach (1829- 1880) Selfportrait National Gallery, London
In his many self-portraits, Anselm Feuerbach often portrays himself with a lit cigarette at his fingertips, a posture that was considered to be the height of elegance in the mid-19th century. It is among the Amerindian peoples of the north as well as the south, that appeared from the preColumbian era, the popular use of smoking tobacco rolled up in different plant leaves. The chiefs themselves, smoked it exclusively in sculpted and very ornate terracotta pipes. Imported into Europe by the Conquistadores in the 16th century, tobacco quickly spread either as snuff, or for chewing (chewing and spitting), or smoking with a pipe (in northern and eastern Europe ), or smoking rolled in a corn husk, replaced a century later, by fine paper. Tobacco rolled in paper was called Papelate. We find illustrations of this in various works by Goya through figure smoking languidly and alway lying on the ground, as in La Cometa or La Merienda (opposite). This type of consumption spread throughout Europe, with the notable exception of France, which preferred nasal intake until the 19th century. It was between 1800 and 1820 that rolling tobacco gradually became established in France, after it was brought back from Spain by the soldiers of Napoleon I: tobacco and rolling paper were then sold separately and cigarettes prepared manually. The first manufactured cigarettes appeared in Spain around 1825. In 1833, cigarette packs were sold under the name of cigarrillo or cigarrito, which derives from the word cigarra (cicada). In France, the word cigaret (little cigar) became feminized in cigarettes from 1831. In 1845, the state monopoly was established for the manufacture of cigarettes. The same year, an industrialist proposed a machine to roll cigarettes at home, under the brand of CigarettaFactor. But, until 1870, it was the clay pipe which consumers continued to favor. It was not until the end of the 19th century and the multiplication of machines allowing the industrial manufacture of cigarettes that its consumption was democratized: while the cigarette makers produced up to 1,200 cigarettes per day, these machines produced 600 per minute at the beginning from the 20th century. From the 1990s, fashion changed radically: not only was it no longer elegant to smoke tobacco, but it was accused - after several scientific studies had proved it - of causing various very serious forms cancer. Exit the cigarette!
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
William Larkin (c .1580-1619) . Richard Sackville, 3rd Earl of Dorset, 1613 English Heritage - Kenwood House The Suffolk Collection.
The portrait of Lord Dorset (opposite)
(in this case a large carnation) were
undoubtedly from his hand. They are all
gives a fair overview of the extreme
however very characteristic and banal in
portraits of courtiers and gentlemen,
sophistication of the clothes that men
the English fashion of this beginning of
never of members of the royal family. A
wore in these troubled times in the
the 17th century. We also notice - if we
series of 9 full-length portraits by Larkin
English history. We would like to
disregard the embroidered velvet cape,
(including this one), formerly owned by
imagine that the complexity of the
the explosive lace collar, puffy breeches
the Earls of Suffolk, are now known as
ornaments and the finery the clothes
with slashes and a braghetta whose
the Suffolk Collection and can be found
allowed them to ward off the cruelty of
prominence is attenuated by the light of
in Kenwood House, London. In 1969,
the time.
the painting - a pair of leather gloves
art historian Roy Strong identified
In this extravagant costume of the Earl
very sober, one of which is threaded
Larkin as the artist previously known as
of Dorset, an even more intense effort
through the Earl's right hand. This
the "Curtain Master"; his works were
seems to have been made for the
dandy, who held the office of Lord
recognised thanks to the fringed and
bottom of the costume, to be precise,
Lieutenant of Sussex, was known for his
identically draped curtains that frame
below the black velvet garters tied by
numerous
the model, always reaching the ground.
two huge pompoms of the same color!
already in his time, for the inheritance
We notice that the leaf patterns of the
and alimony trials of his various wives,
white shoes with heels extend up the
divorce having been made fashionable
white stockings until mid-calf; very
by King Henry VIII.
extravagant in our eyes, the lace shoe
As for the talented William Larkin who
buckles embroidered with silver or gold
produced this portrait, around forty
thread, reproducing a flower pattern
portraits have been authenticated as
female
conquests
and,
MEN PORTRAITS ____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Louise Breslau (1856-1927) Portrait of Gabriel Yturri, 1904, Lambinet Museum, Versailles
The Argentinian Gabriel Yturri (1860-1905) had the reputation of being one of the most elegant men of his time, in the service himself of another legend of masculine elegance, Robert de Montesquiou for whom he was both private secretary and companion. Gabriel Yturri settled in Paris and first served as secretary to Baron Doasan who supplied Marcel Proust with part of the model for his Baron Charlus in In Search of Lost Time, the other part of the model being supplied by Robert de Montesquiou himself! In 1885, Gabriel Yturri met Robert de Montesquiou in Venice and became his secretary and lover. When he died of diabetes in 1905, his disappearance left Montesquiou deeply affected. Three years after his death, he had a collection of poems and correspondence published in his memory, under the title The Chancellor of Flowers, Twelve Friendship Stations, a highly confidential work only 100 copies of which were printed. Montesquiou would readily say that Yturri was the only being he had ever loved. In this portrait with an undoubtedly Proustian atmosphere, Yturri wears a wide-brimmed felt hat inspired by the straw Panamas that were worn in South America. His shirt is topped with a very high, removable false-collar to hide the folds of his neck, like those worn by fashion designer Karl Largerfeld at the end of the 20th century. The collar reveals a barely sketched tie on which a tinted glass tie pin is planted. The position of his fingers placed on the forehead, in a reflexive posture, makes it possible to see a gold ring, symbolising his romantic commitment to Robert de Montesquiou, at a time when homosexual marriages did not exist.
MEN PORTRAITS _____________________ FOOLISH ELEGANCE
Etienne Dinet (1861-1929) Portrait ofe Nasr Eddine (selfportrait) Nasr-eddine Dinet museum, Bou Saâda, Algeria
Etienne Dinet, whose self-portrait is shown here, was
In 1913, he informed all his friends of the choice of
a French orientalist and lithographer, who lived a
his new Muslim surname: Nasr-Eddine. From the
large part of his life in Algeria where he converted to
mid-1880s his work was inspired by traditions, stories
Islam after adopting the Muslim surname of Nasr-
and life in Bou-Saâda, considered then as the "door"
Eddine.
to the Sahara.
Etienne Dinet undertook his first trip to the edge of
On this canvas, he wears the traditional white outfit of
the Sahara Desert, in the region of Bou-Saâda, in
the Berbers and the turban tied in a circle around the
1884, in the company of a team of learned
head, covered by an imposing straw hat whose orange
entomologists. The trip marked him so deeply and
fabric lining evokes the rays of the sun darting around
the shock of discovering the desert was so great that
his skull. The tall chimney in the center of this
he decided what the rest of his life would be. Literally
gigantic capeline, or wide brimmed hat, forms an
hypnotised by the beauty of Algeria, he learned
additional layer of protection against the scorching
Arabic to better understand the cultures of southern
desert air. During the day, the part of the garment
Algeria. In 1900, he set up his first workshop in
which is around the neck was pulled up over the
Biskra before buying a house 5 years later in Bou-
nose, flush with the eyes, offering in turn protection
Saâda to spend three-quarters of the year there. In
against the sun, the sand and the sirocco, the burning
France, where his talent was beginning to be
wind of the Sahara. The white colour of the garment,
recognised, he was made an officer of the Legion of
the gandoura, was reputed to be the best guarantee
Honor.In 1907, on his advice, the Villa Abd-el-Tif
against storing heat.
was created in Algiers, on the model of the Villa Medici in Rome.
MPS MEN PORTRAITS SERIES
n°3 English text
That’s it… For the moment … Because with MPS nothing ever ends… Surprises from the blog will soon enhance these thematic series… menportraits.blogspot.com © Francis Rousseau 2011-2020 English Translation : Anne Menuhin
