The Marquis de Sade and the Borgias: now sexing up the museums of Paris
The Borgia exhibit at the Musee Maillol doesn’t have an English text, but everything is familiar because we’d seen the TV show The Borgias. The museum exhibition is the prestigious historical tie-in to the TV show, except that the real Borgias and their associates, as painted by artists from the Renaissance, were not as beautiful as the actors. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo are mentioned in the title, but they are barely represented; however, there’s a display of costumes from the series. Tsk, tsk, how commercial. It’s almost American.
The same could be said of Sade: Attacking the Sun at the Musee d’Orsay which, judging from the crowd waiting to get in, is a blockbuster. The show is massive, and the pieces impressive on their own—the Rodins are especially awesome—but their connection to the writings of the mad Marquis are tenuous at best. (Have you tried reading Justine or 120 Days of Sodom? We recommend them for insomniacs. Take two pages every night and you will sleep like the dead. However, our friend recommends his Philosophy in the Boudoir as “charming”.)
The curators imply that every major artist from the 19th century onwards was secretly influenced by Sade. The influence must’ve been so secret, the artists weren’t aware of it. Fine, the Surrealists championed Sade, so they should be there, but anything sexual or violent in the work of Goya, Gericault, Ingres, Rodin, Picasso, Munch is presented as proof of this influence: “It’s obvious!”
What is most obvious is that museum curators, like filmmakers, appreciate the uses of shock value. If you promise the audience decadence and depravity, they will come. The innermost room of the Sade show is called The Chamber of Perversions, and the fact that the viewer can come away unshocked is perhaps the most shocking thing of all.
See their NSFW exhibition trailer.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
November 1st, 2014 at 06:11
Pinanood ko sa sine ‘yung Quills noong college at nakumbinsi ako nito na napakainteresante ng mga isinulat ni de Sade, ngunit noong nakakita ako ng kopya ng kanyang koleksyon ng maikling kwento at binasa-basa ang ilang bahagi niyon, what a let down. Parang exhibit ng mga Borgias na naibahagi niyo.
November 1st, 2014 at 13:12
Hi Madame! That’s shaping to be a lovely, lovely trip, and I have a question about de Sade’s narcoleptic books. I am looking forward to reading 120 Days of Sodom after multiple viewings of its film translation with increasing relish. Why, I have never imagined that the word “mania” could be so gymnastic. Meanwhile, your two-page comment worries me. Do you have any recommendations as far as de Sade’s books go? Anything pleasurable, I mean, real pleasurable as far as book sniffers go?
Muahness from Pasig Cirehhh!
November 1st, 2014 at 15:00
Momelia: Philosophy in the Boudoir/Bedroom looks like fun, but we’ve only skimmed through it. But have a look at 120 Days anyway, who knows, you might like it. And look up Pasolini’s life and movies.
November 1st, 2014 at 15:07
antiquaryanne: Siya kasi yung isa sa mga naunang nagsulat tungkol sa mga bagay-bagay na hindi noon pinag-uusapan. Tapos noong nagka-Rebolusyon, siya ang huling preso sa Bastille. Nakatayo siya sa bintana at inuudyok ang mga tao na ibagsak ang lahat.
November 2nd, 2014 at 19:53
Ah, panalo iyon! Sana iyong anggulo na lang na iyon ang ginawa nilang pelikula.
Enjoy kayo. Nakatutuwang basahin ang inyong mga kwento tungkol sa inyong pagbabakasyon.