500 Years of Feminine Beauty in 3 Minutes

[dr_mabeuse]

Sometimes you come across something on the internet that just has to be shared.

The following link leads to a video collage of 500 years of feminine beauty. That's amazing enough, but it's also much more than that. As the faces morph and elide into one another, century over century, you see in them something evanescent and eternal, something very affecting.

Click here to view it.

Check it out. It's worth your while.

--dr.M.

 

[stephen55]

What was this guy smoking...?

Great link and just so cool......

I particularly liked the idea that Feminine Beauty, as expressed in the choice of paintings did not include....

http://www.instituto-picasso.com/learn-spanish/picasso3.jpg

and...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Dora_Maar_Au_Chat.jpg


Call me a Philistine but Picasso had some strange ideas of what women look like.

 

[rgraham666]

Very cool, Zoot. Thanks.

 

[3113]

It is very cool, though I do wish they'd included Asian, African and South American images. I know it would have made the morphing harder, but I'd love to have seen that kind of rich, international variety of beauty.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Great link and just so cool......

I particularly liked the idea that Feminine Beauty, as expressed in the choice of paintings did not include....

http://www.instituto-picasso.com/learn-spanish/picasso3.jpg

and...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Dora_Maar_Au_Chat.jpg


Call me a Philistine but Picasso had some strange ideas of what women look like.

Picasso feared women. That's why he treated them so badly and made them look ugly--on purpose!

 

[Handley_Page]

Picasso feared women. That's why he treated them so badly and made them look ugly--on purpose!

He was on British TV a while before he snuffed it, and was asked about his modernist outlook. He claimed it was so you could see everything about that face in one go. Didn't work for me, though.

The animated montage was terrific.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I've been looking at this and i think one of the remarkable things is how static the mouths are. I count only like 4-5 times in the whole piece where the lips part and show some teeth.

I suppose part of that's a consequence of the women's having to pose for the artist. (Easier to pose with the mouth closed?) But I wonder too how much of it's due to the fact that their teeth might have been a mess.

And thanks, Handley. Yes, it's a montage, not a collage, as I'd said.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I've been looking at this and i think one of the remarkable things is how static the mouths are. I count only like 4-5 times in the whole piece where the lips part and show some teeth.

I suppose part of that's a consequence of the women's having to pose for the artist. (Easier to pose with the mouth closed?) But I wonder too how much of it's due to the fact that their teeth might have been a mess.

And thanks, Handley. Yes, it's a montage, not a collage, as I'd said.

Notice how delightfully plump most of them are . . .

 

[amicus]

crop from George Keats's manuscript copy of 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.[/QUOTE]

~~~

The Universality of that which is considered 'Beauty', is somewhat confirmed by the link provided and by research publicized on television including women from all the ethnic groups around the world.

For those that insist there are no Universals in human ethics, morals, or phsysical appearance, this must come as somewhat of a shock. Further, analysis of the choices made involve youth and vitality; the 'magic ratio':

The ‘Divine’ or ‘Golden’ ratio as applied to Beauty…

http://www.summum.us/philosophy/phi.shtml

Any objective observation we make must include a discussion of proportion for it is the rule of proportion in the examination of nature that causes us to observe an organized universe and a universe in chaos, rational and irrational numbers, harmony and discord, truth and falsity.

These descriptions are merely proportional effects of the opposition that is inherent in all things...

~~~

While someone commented on the 'mouths' in the montage, I concentrated on the 'eyes' and noted how the proportion remained constant throughout...

Thanks Zoot....

Amicus

 

[Esperanza_Hidalgo]

This is beauty

Stunning. I'm taking it to GBLT.

 

[MagicaPractica]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.

 

[tickledkitty]

I love the way you love women, Doc.

 

[Handley_Page]

Anyone notice anything special about that curious spiral ?.
There's a marine animal called a Nautilus that has exactly that shape. Quite why acoustic engineers have not explored this in loudspeakers so far is a bit of a mystery.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Anyone notice anything special about that curious spiral ?.
There's a marine animal called a Nautilus that has exactly that shape. Quite why acoustic engineers have not explored this in loudspeakers so far is a bit of a mystery.

I thought they had. After all, it's the shape of the human inner ear.

 

[MarionHalcombe]

This little video of idealized women in western art is but a sample of what men have viewed as beautiful in women over the ages and continues to perpetuate the same species of nonsensical ideas about what is "beautiful" or "feminine" that are still so commonplace among "modern" men's minds. I find the video a ridiculous insult to women. I don't buy into it and I never have.

I am reminded of a remark made by Charlotte Bronte in her book, "Shirley," which I believe speaks better to this than I ever could:

'If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under an illusion about women: they do not read them in a true light: they misapprehend them, both for good and evil: their good woman is a queer thing, half doll, half angel; their bad woman almost always a fiend. Then to hear them fall into ecstasies with each other's creations, worshipping the heroine of such a poem - novel - drama, thinking it fine - divine! Fine and divine it may be, but often quite artificial - false as the rose in my best bonnet there. If I spoke all I think on this point; if I gave my real opinion of some first-rate female characters in first-rate works, where should I be? Dead under a cairn of avenging stones in half-an-hour.'

 

[xssve]

Awesome.

 

[Stella_Omega]

This little video of idealized women in western art is but a sample of what men have viewed as beautiful in women over the ages and continues to perpetuate the same species of nonsensical ideas about what is "beautiful" or "feminine" that are still so commonplace among "modern" men's minds. I find the video a ridiculous insult to women. I don't buy into it and I never have.

I am reminded of a remark made by Charlotte Bronte in her book, "Shirley," which I believe speaks better to this than I ever could:

'If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under an illusion about women: they do not read them in a true light: they misapprehend them, both for good and evil: their good woman is a queer thing, half doll, half angel; their bad woman almost always a fiend. Then to hear them fall into ecstasies with each other's creations, worshipping the heroine of such a poem - novel - drama, thinking it fine - divine! Fine and divine it may be, but often quite artificial - false as the rose in my best bonnet there. If I spoke all I think on this point; if I gave my real opinion of some first-rate female characters in first-rate works, where should I be? Dead under a cairn of avenging stones in half-an-hour.'

Perfectly said.

I usually express it in less and more earthy words-- and I write my own women, since men's fiction so rarely give them to me


the video is gorgeous, "if you like that sort of thing" and i do, don't get me wrong. But you know-- the photo I am using right now, unaltered, gets a lot of compliments;

But the same photo, made male by the most sketchy standards;

That's not a nice guy. That's a guy on the make. That's a slimeball. You can see it in his expression.

Interesting, huh?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I was wondering how long it would be before we ran into objections about the use of male aesthetics as a tool of sexist political oppression, and you didn't disappoint.

I'd only suggest that the thing that really made this montage so impressive to me is the fact that the portraits are NOT simply male fantasies of idealized feminine beauty. If anything, like all great portraiture, they're studies of character, and the characters run the gamut from the saintly to the sensual, the sweet to the sinister. The portraits seem to me to be exhibiting the very things Ms. Bronte was complaining about.

That's how it appears to me. But then, what do I know? Being a male, I'm pretty much precluded from saying anything about women at all.

 

[Verdad]

I was wondering how long it would be before we ran into objections about the use of male aesthetics as a tool of sexist political oppression, and you didn't disappoint.

I'd only suggest that the thing that really made this montage so impressive to me is the fact that the portraits are NOT simply male fantasies of idealized feminine beauty. If anything, like all great portraiture, they're studies of character, and the characters run the gamut from the saintly to the sensual, the sweet to the sinister. The portraits seem to me to be exhibiting the very things Ms. Bronte was complaining about.

That's how it appears to me. But then, what do I know? Being a male, I'm pretty much precluded from saying anything about women at all.

I hope not. I miss your voice in all matters, men, women, and sex not the least of them. This woman wants to hear more from you—and I somehow think I'm in the majority when I say that.

The only reason I didn't comment on that montage is that I'd already seen it some months ago. It is awesome, and I only wish I'd thought of sharing it.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I was wondering how long it would be before we ran into objections about the use of male aesthetics as a tool of sexist political oppression, and you didn't disappoint.

well now, overstate much?

I'd only suggest that the thing that really made this montage so impressive to me is the fact that the portraits are NOT simply male fantasies of idealized feminine beauty. If anything, like all great portraiture, they're studies of character, and the characters run the gamut from the saintly to the sensual, the sweet to the sinister. The portraits seem to me to be exhibiting the very things Ms. Bronte was complaining about.

I do agree with you that there were a few images that were sinister, and a few that were slightly more confident and challenging, and they were so rare that they were very striking. lots of downcast eyes, sideways glances. Like you, I don't really expect strong expression in the mouth when someone has to sit for hours for a portraitist. yeah, a nod to age, a nod to the horse-face. But "gamut?" Not so much.

That's how it appears to me. But then, what do I know? Being a male, I'm pretty much precluded from saying anything about women at all.

Well, not without some discussion, at any rate. Nobody around here can say anything without discussion. Personally I wish you were a little more able to tolerate it, because I agree with you at least as often as I disagree.

 

[CharleyH]

Sometimes you come across something on the internet that just has to be shared.

The following link leads to a video collage of 500 years of feminine beauty. That's amazing enough, but it's also much more than that. As the faces morph and elide into one another, century over century, you see in them something evanescent and eternal, something very affecting.

Click here to view it.

Check it out. It's worth your while.

--dr.M.

It was hard to watch without sound, but of course I understood the decision of the editor. Fascinating, fascinating, Doc. Thank you for sharing.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Now if we had some lesbian/feminist artists painting the women that turned them on to add to the film, it might make for very interesting viewing. Jus' sayin' . . .

 

[Stella_Omega]

Now if we had some lesbian/feminist artists painting the women that turned them on to add to the film, it might make for very interesting viewing. Jus' sayin' . . .

You wouldn't be able to match the features as easily, IMO. Although any one woman might fixate a bit on some facial type or another, lesbians in general don't seem to agree on any feminine ideal...

 

[voluptuary_manque]

You wouldn't be able to match the features as easily, IMO. Although any one woman might fixate a bit on some facial type or another, lesbians in general don't seem to agree on any feminine ideal...

Even though many of them meet mine? Oh well . . .

 

[TE999]

Cool montage, thanks Doc.

I would have included the likes of Charles Dana Gibson, John Held, Alberto Vargas, Norman Rockwell and George Petty to add more contemporaty variety, but that's not 'great art' and might have been hard to morph.