Man Ray-Homage to D.A.F De Sade 1933Man Ray’s fine piece of Surrealist provocation Homage to D.A.F De Sade combines eroticism with blasphemy. The photograph is a knowing nod to De Sade’s proclivities while the inverted cross is a reference to De Sade’s ferocious anti-clericalism.
He was condemned to death in absentia as well as his ‘faithful’ man servant Latour and his effigy was burnt… His life was one rip roaring escapade after another
I have to defend the Marquis here which is very difficult as I his longer works horrible and certainly is behaviour was in certain cases wrong. However although he was a member of a protected caste (until the revolution anyway) he also had powerful enemies and in total he spent 37 years in prison and asylums including decades when he was locked up to protect his in-laws good name or just because Napoleon didn’t like him. His few genuine crimes were a false imprisonment charge with blasphemous implications
and an orgy that got out of hand.
This is why I say – I have read what he allegedly did. All the satanism etc….. is written by not him but other people. Yes, he clearly wasn’t afraid of taboo subjects – does this make him evil, insane. He was indeed a revolutionary.
He was constantly outraged and he could be very unpleasant. Every regime locked him up, monarchical, republican and imperial, probably no system of government could allow his constant provocations
Sorry that reply isn’t complete, so yes heavy shit but although he committed every conceivable crime in his imagination in real life no. There is a welter of solid biographical information about De Sade, including the heavy police surveillance reports of him, so some of the wilder legends about him are just that, legends. And when the revolution did come he didn’t take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the chaos, he lived a quiet life with his devoted mistress and even saved the life of his hated mother-in-law, he was one of the first and most eloquent campaigners against the death penalty. So a sexual obsessive yes but not a monster.
No – you are not at all. I actually had similar thoughts that he got a bad rap. I was always drawn to what I thought was his darkness but I see that as something more real now- not dark as in evil but enlightening . It is hard to explain…. The winners write history and that doesn’t make it the truth at all… Sexual perversion isn’t a great quality but neither is perversion of humanity. Sex is a natural act – without it- no one would be on this planet. We are a curious species. Forever experimenting , seeking, wanting, feeling.
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In the 1700s, it’s a miracle he managed to avoid the guillotine
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He was condemned to death in absentia as well as his ‘faithful’ man servant Latour and his effigy was burnt… His life was one rip roaring escapade after another
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Yes, I just read that in the introduction. It amazes that he eluded more drastic punishment!
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Well he was aristocracy and the providence he so firmly denied always managed to save him at the last minute
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Ironic
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But he had powerful enemies as well that’s why he spent most of his life banged up
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And actually pretty controversial for Man Ray! Any fallout from this photograph?
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Not that I know of… Man Ray had already done a number of controversial works by the date
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Remember Mappelthorpe and The Piss Christ controversy?
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Yes but we had become too blase by then… Controversy had become a means of advertisement by then
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What I meant was… Look at the uproar over that piece all those decades after Man Ray. Would have thought his art would have raised more of a fuss.
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True… Don’t forget that Man Ray was based in Paris at the time and the French are, well very French about such things
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Are you still awake, Night Manager?
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It is 1:45 pm here I will have a nap soon
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Sweet dreams (or at least interesting ones) NM!
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And you’re right, Americans are much more easily scandalized. Not including myself, of course!
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That’s not a bad thing. The French are unique in their tolerance of all things in the matter of the heart
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I am not a fan of Mapplethorpe, I like a bit of provocation but he always seemed to be trying too hard
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Without a doubt. I’m not a fan either.
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I am a modernist but not a post modernist
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I read a book on this guy and what he allegedly did and got away with. WOOOH! Some heavy Sh**
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I have to defend the Marquis here which is very difficult as I his longer works horrible and certainly is behaviour was in certain cases wrong. However although he was a member of a protected caste (until the revolution anyway) he also had powerful enemies and in total he spent 37 years in prison and asylums including decades when he was locked up to protect his in-laws good name or just because Napoleon didn’t like him. His few genuine crimes were a false imprisonment charge with blasphemous implications
and an orgy that got out of hand.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is why I say – I have read what he allegedly did. All the satanism etc….. is written by not him but other people. Yes, he clearly wasn’t afraid of taboo subjects – does this make him evil, insane. He was indeed a revolutionary.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He was constantly outraged and he could be very unpleasant. Every regime locked him up, monarchical, republican and imperial, probably no system of government could allow his constant provocations
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Sorry that reply isn’t complete, so yes heavy shit but although he committed every conceivable crime in his imagination in real life no. There is a welter of solid biographical information about De Sade, including the heavy police surveillance reports of him, so some of the wilder legends about him are just that, legends. And when the revolution did come he didn’t take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the chaos, he lived a quiet life with his devoted mistress and even saved the life of his hated mother-in-law, he was one of the first and most eloquent campaigners against the death penalty. So a sexual obsessive yes but not a monster.
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Exactly. I actually agree with you 🙂
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Thank you sorry I didn’t mean to be argumentative
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No – you are not at all. I actually had similar thoughts that he got a bad rap. I was always drawn to what I thought was his darkness but I see that as something more real now- not dark as in evil but enlightening . It is hard to explain…. The winners write history and that doesn’t make it the truth at all… Sexual perversion isn’t a great quality but neither is perversion of humanity. Sex is a natural act – without it- no one would be on this planet. We are a curious species. Forever experimenting , seeking, wanting, feeling.
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He did get a bad rap, though I wouldn’t want to live in the Sadeian universe, eternal and infernal.
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