Manet's Olympia, from an untitled portfolio ("Salute to Art History" series)

Inscriptions

Signed, in graphite, lower right: Mel Ramos 74; Numbered, in graphite, lower left: 123/200 Embossed, Printer's Chop, lower left: MATTHIEU LITHO / M / W / SWITZERLAND (in bisected circle)

Label

Figurative painting Mel Ramos combines pop culture and the tradition of the odalisque, an eroticized woman, in this pinup-style portrait. The reclining nude is part of the long history of displaying the female body for male viewing pleasure. Drawing inspiration directly from Manet’s Olympia (below), Ramos combined high-culture painting with 1970s pornographic imagery. The overly pink flesh against the mostly pale blue background commands the viewer’s attention. The nude central figure confidently stretches to show off her tan lines, large breasts, and bleached hair. The black maid offering her flowers, however, is completely covered up by large dress. The racial power dynamic in this work is a powerful reflection of stereotypes in history and art history. The similarities to pornographic imagery also make the viewer uncomfortable. All three figures—the maid, the nude, the pet monkey—all gaze directly at the viewer, further heightening the discomfort created by the work.

From the 2019 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, curated by Charlotte Grussing '19, Conroy Intern

Course History

ARTH 2, Introduction to the History of Art II, Katie Hornstein, Jane Carroll, Winter 2013

ARTH 2, Introduction to the History of Art II, Katie Hornstein, Jane Carroll, Winter 2013

PHIL 23, The Philosophy of Art, John Kulvicki, Winter 2014

PHIL 23, Art and Aesthetics, John Kulvicki, Winter 2015

MUS 3.02, American Music: Covers, Theft, and Musical Borrowing, Richard Beaudoin, Spring 2019

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 89, Goddesses, Models, and Prostitutes: An Exploration of the Reclining Female Nude, Olivia Field, Class of 2015, Kathryn Conroy Intern, Main Lobby, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 18-August 30, 2015.

A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, Charlotte Grussing,Class of 2019, Conroy Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, September 28-November 3, 2019.

Constructing Gender: Works from the Hood Museum of Art's Collection, 1500 to the Present, Harrington Gallery Teaching Exhibition, ARTH 2, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 28-April 22, 2012.

Flesh and Desire [curated by Art History II Professors Jane Carroll and Katie Hornstein], Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth Collection January 7-March 4, 2013.

Ruscha and Pop: Icons of the 1960's, Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, April 12-June 15, 2008.

Virtual Space for Dialogue: 2017, Vanity: Disrupting The Female Nude, Jessica King Fredel, Class of 2017, Levinson Intern, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. https://www.jkingfredel.vsfd.hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/

Publication History

Kristin Monahan Garcia, Ruscha and Pop: Icons of the 1960's, Setting the Standard for Viewing the Modern World, Hanover, New Hampshire: Trustees of Dartmouth College, Hood Museum of Art, 2008, ill. p. 5.

Olivia Field, A Space for Dialogue 89, Goddesses, Models, and Prostitutes: An Exploration of the Reclining Female Nude, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2015,

Charlotte Grussing,Class of 2019, Conroy Intern, A Space for Dialogue 96, The Politics of Pink, Hanover, New Hampshire, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2019.

Provenance

London Arts Group, Inc., Detroit, Michigan; sold to Ernesto Ostheimer, Southfield, Michigian; given to present collection, 1980.

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