Talk:The Pearl and the Wave

Bailey Van Hook

She is employed by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute [1]. --SupernovaExplosion ^Talk 09:56, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

Improving this

This is not very well written, for a Main page article. Needs more thought.

The Pearl and the Wave was the subject of contemporary curiosity.[1] The painting was met with praise from art critics for its technique and distinguishing quality.[3] Kenyon Cox described The Pearl and the Wave as "the most perfect painting of the nude" in the 19th century.[2] Cox identified some features in the painting which he described as "grace of attitude", the well-rounded but slim body of a young woman, the visible dimple in the shoulder, the "savoring of subtle line", the "loveliness of the color", the "solid yet mysterious modelling", and the "perfection of delicate surface". Cox believed these features make this painting what he calls "a pure masterpiece".[2][4] Art historian Bailey Van Hook in her book Angels Of Art: Women And Art In American Society, 1876-1914 identified The Pearl and the Wave as one of the examples of nude paintings where the subject woman is shown lying down sluggishly for the gratification of the looker-on who she describes as "voyeuristic viewer".[2]

19th century French art critic Jules-Antoine Castagnary made sarcastic comment on the woman in this painting that the woman may be "a Persian modiste ... lying in wait for a millionaire gone astray in this wild spot."[5]

In 1863, Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo bought the painting[6] for 20,000 francs.[7] It was her second most costly purchase of the paintings of that time.[7] Today the painting is in the collection of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, the main Spanish national art museum.[2]

• Firstly, the stuff in the last paragraph are the basic details that go in the introductory paragraph, particularly the name of the art gallery where it is now located.
• The Pearl and the Wave was the subject of contemporary curiosity.[1]

OK! this is an interesting referenced fact, but the reader needs to be clearly informed as to what it was that people were "curious" about. What did they want to know?

• The painting was met with praise from art critics for its technique and distinguishing quality.[3]

Which quality distinguishes the painting?

"A distinguishing quality" is a bit like a "distinguishing characteristic". It is a quality that sets the thing apart from others of a similar type.

How is this worded, in the referenced book?

• Kenyon Cox. Tell your reader that he was a 19th century critic, because most people wont know that, and it is important that it is realised that this is a contemporary opinion, not a modern one.
• 19th century French art critic Jules-Antoine Castagnary made sarcastic comment on the woman in this painting that the woman may be "a Persian modiste ... lying in wait for a millionaire gone astray in this wild spot."[5]

This comment is also contemporary. The two comments together go a little way to explain public curiosity. I would place this comment about the subject matter immediately after the mention of curiosity (with a sentence in-between telling what they were curious about.

• There needs to be a statement that contemporary opinion differed greatly and was not all favourable. There is bound to be a senetence that you can reference, in one of the texts.
• Bailey van Hook needs to be identified as late 20th or 21st century, or else the book that is quoted needs to have the date of publication after its name. This is Historiography- the changing way that history is written at different dates, so the date of the source of opinion needs to be presented in the text, since the two opinions are so very different.

This later perspective needs to come after the comment by Castagnary, obviously.

Amandajm (talk) 13:15, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Pearl

"Pearl" here is obviously metaphorical, but are there actual pearls at her feet in the shell? It looks like it. -- Green Cardamom (talk) 15:31, 12 July 2013 (UTC)

File:Baudry paul the wave and the pearl.jpg to appear as POTD

Hello! This is a note to let the editors of this article know that File:Baudry paul the wave and the pearl.jpg will be appearing as picture of the day on January 13, 2015. You can view and edit the POTD blurb at Template:POTD/2015-01-13. If this article needs any attention or maintenance, it would be preferable if that could be done before its appearance on the Main Page. Thanks! — Crisco 1492 (talk) 12:38, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Picture of the day

The Pearl and the Wave is an oil painting on canvas completed by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry in 1862 which depicts a nude woman lying on the edge of a rocky shore as waves break around her. It was an object of curiosity when exhibited, and the artist Kenyon Cox described it as "the perfect nude". More recently, however, it has been described as voyeuristic. In 1863 the painting was purchased by Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo. It is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.Painting: Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry