bordeel

“Frankfurt brothel” Ronald B. Kitaj

Moderne schrijvers en kunstenaars als Emile Zola en Edgar Degas hadden bordelen en prostituees tot onderwerp verheven
De door mij bewonderde R.B. Kitaj was een groot bewonderaar van Edgar Degas. Kitaj heeft de pastel weer in ere hersteld; ook de onderwerpen van Degas hebben hem geïnspireerd.

“When he was very young, Ronald Kitaj ran away to sea. He
joined the SS Corona bound for Cuba and Mexico, a
fresh-faced Cleveland boy who carried his sketchbooks with
him and knew, already, that art was all he wanted to do. And
as he travelled, he drew. Before long he had lost his
virginity in a Havana brothel and had plunged deep into the
reeking taverns and alleyways of port life-a life that was
to go on resurfacing, in bold, tortured figurative painting,
for the rest of his career.”