Locks of Lust

Each of the women featured in this exhibit share the commonality of their red colored hair.  As you encounter each of the artworks you will be introduced to the idea that, before the Late 1400s,  it was not acceptable to paint female nudes without a religious purpose.  That all changed when The Birth of Venus caused people to accept the nudity of women in a purely mythological or foreign setting.  Various artists referred to Venus and her sexual nature when they painted women with red hair which includes Rossetti, Waterhouse, Dicksee, and Degas.  This connection charges the red hair with a supernatural power to lure the affection of men and is also the source of destruction and power.  Each of the women are available to be observed and lusted after.  The exhibit leads you finally to Degas’s Woman Combing Her Hair.  This final transition brings the red hair and beautiful body form to depict an everyday dancer.  The mythological excuse has been ignored to paint a modern woman.  Dancers were near the status of prostitutes which would mean they were often sexually available.  This objectifies the woman by implying her purpose is to be observed, much like Venus was, for her alluring quality.  It is uncertain whether her red hair also possesses the power to be man’s vice.  Red hair cannot be overlooked in art history for it tells the story of dangerous femininity.

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1484-1486, Tempera on canvas, Uffizi Gallery

Botticelli’s painting started a shift from religious paintings to mythological and history paintings. This is one of the first female nudes painted that is not for religious purposes.    Before this point it would have been unheard of to paint female nudes but the label of Venus makes the painting acceptable in Italy at the time. Venus’s hair is used as a partial covering of her nakedness which increases its erotic appeal.  The Birth of Venus ties together Venus’s mythical power to her recognizable appearance.  Venus is the goddess of various genres which includes love, sex, beauty and fertility.  Red hair is included in many female portraits to allude to Venus and her sexual nature. 

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Lady Lilith, 1867, watercolor and gouache on paper, 081621

Lady Lilith is a character from Jewish literature who is said to be Adam’s first wife.  She is the focal point in Rossetti’s painting. The gown she wears is enticingly exposing her shoulder for the viewer to see.  Even she appears to be admiring her own beauty.  According to the stories of Lady Lilith, her hair is said to wrap itself around the necks of young men and then she would never again free them.  Those red locks are truly able to capture the attention of the observer but be wary of the danger. 

John William Waterhouse, A Mermaid, 1900, Oil paint, Royal Academy of Arts

John William Waterhouse paints a scene of a mermaid who sits on the rocks and combs her hair, which is very similar to the scene in Lady Lilith. The mermaid is vulnerable and exposed.  As she looks out at the sea she is free to be observed by the viewer without confrontation. She is aesthetically beautiful but the mythology of mermaids gives reason to not trust her seemingly vulnerable state.  It is in her nature to destroy men with her enchantment.  

Frank Dicksee, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, c. 1901, Oil on canvas, Bristol Museums, Galleries, and Archives

The title of this painting translates to “the beautiful lady without pity.”  This painting is inspired by a ballad written by the English poet John Keats in 1820.  It deals with the supernatural.  The knight in the painting has encountered a beautiful woman with flowing red hair and he proceeds to place her upon his horse and follow her to a cave.  She sings him to sleep and he has nightmares of the other men that have been enslaved by an alluring and wicked woman.  When he wakes up he has been abandoned in the cold and left to die.  It is in her nature to attract men with her beauty and destroy them. The red hair was a warning, women are not only beautiful but they are powerful and nearly impossible to understand. 

Edgar Degas, Woman Combing Her Hair, c. 1888-90, Pastel on light green wove paper, now discolored to warm gray, affixed to original pulpboard mount, 56.231

Degas painted hundreds of nude dancers as naturally and honestly as possible.  He was interested in showing the lives of the dancers off stage when they are not put together perfectly, like they appear to be during the performance.  The paintings of nude dancers received harsh criticism because Degas portrays nude women that do not fall into the categories of mythological or religious characters.  This woman is turned around so the viewer is free to observe her as she combs her beautiful hair, which draws attention to her femininity.  The female figure no longer requires the guise of the title of “Venus” or “Mary” to make her nudity acceptable.