The Theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, and Marcel Duchamp's Subsequent Response: L.H.O.O.Q: Related?

 Here's something I would like to point out about Marcel Duchamp's, “L.H.O.O.Q., Mona Lisa with a Mustache,” the famous scribble of a mustache on a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, and also the Mona Lisa itself and its emergence from relative obscurity after the highly sensationalized thievery at the Louvre. In 1911, before the outbreak of World War I and at the height of the Futurist movement, there was a deep questioning of the origins and enforcement of the concept of aesthetics and aesthetic taste. The core idea was that museums and aesthetic ideas existed simply to reinforce the social order, and that the royal academies were tied to monarchy and elite groups—those who were the taste makers. Already a bit of rebellion had started to break out in France in the form of Impressionism, which was spreading also to England, but not quite to the same degree. It’s worthwhile to note that subversive ideas about artistic representation had also spread to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiel, and the poet Srecko Kosovel were producing “shock-wave” work. Sadly both, both Schiel and Kosovel would die very young in the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

In the case of the Mona Lisa, that modest canvas was safely ensconced in the Louvre in a wing dedicated to Renaissance painting, and there it was mildly respected but nothing special. But in 1911 something happened—the painting disappeared. It was stolen, and suddenly its disappearance created all kinds of scandal. Different people were accused of having stolen it, and in addition to that, people who were considered anarchists were also accused. So after two years of newspapers selling many, many special editions with sensationalized headlines tying the theft of the Mona Lisa to anarchist groups and people trying to make an anti-monarchy statement—let's say the Futurists, potentially, and especially anarchists (absolutely not monarchy, but anarchy)—it was recovered in 1913. It had been stolen by an Italian employee of the Louvre, who was caught when he tried to steal it.  So much for grand Anarchist hijinks or Futurist “performance art.” 

Theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911

Now, by 1919, Marcel Duchamp had already been doing his own subversive artwork—the so-called “readymades,” where he would, for example, mount a toilet on a stand and call it a fountain. And then he also had his famous Nude Descending a Staircase, which looked like stills from a motion picture film. His works were questioning the status quo in terms of art. During that time, I'm sure he got very tired of headline after headline: "Where's the Mona Lisa? Who stole it? They caught the thieves—who are they? Are they anarchists?" All that sensational information overload and publicity overload—I'm sure it made it so that every person in Paris saw a reproduced image of the Mona Lisa many times a week. Everyone in Paris knew it was a Leonardo da Vinci painting, and at that, a modest painting that had been pretty much ignored until its highly publicized theft in which the publicity quickly turned into spectacle - spectacle with a capital S ! 

Relentless and continuous sensational press coverage involved the public in the mystery of the disappearance of the Mona Lisa

So being so tired of the Spectacle of a Stolen Master, what a great opportunity to make a statement about not only elite types of paintings and priorities and hierarchies and aesthetics, but also to mark the incredible attention and sensationalism and the triggering as a hoi polloi ploy to boost buying newspapers that were focusing on that theft. 

By putting a mustache on a cheap postcard reproduction of the Mona Lisa, Duchamp was basically mocking not just the idea of aesthetics, but also all the sensationalized brouhaha around the theft of the piece—the newspaper headlines, the excitement, the melodrama. He's mocking the idea of essentially newspaper headlines and lowbrow entertainment regarding a theft from the Louvre.

Marcel Duchamp's L.H.O.O.Q. response to the Mona Lisa in a Paris over-saturated with sensational journalism related to the theft and recovery of the Mona Lisa ("La Joconde"), and later, the trial of the accused thieves. 

Consequently, I think there are different dimensions to Marcel Duchamp's mustachioed Mona Lisa, and if we understand the context, it's even more enjoyable and fun to look at. The equivalent might be to put a mustache on something that's been promoted and promoted and promoted—an image that's come out over and over and over that we're supposed to consider high art and revere it. I can't really think of anything right now, but I'm sure it's out there.

Rosa Bonheur's The Horse Fair: Representations of the Fight for Freedom - Revolutions and Rights of Women?

 Over a three-year period, 1852 – 1855, French painter Rosa Bonheur filled a massive canvas, 8 feet tall and 17 feet wide, with a group of gorgeous white Lippizaner stallions, a dark black horse, and other brown horses, passionately in motion in a field surrounded by trees and bordered by a dirt road, ostensibly a horse market. Now, Bonheur’s The Horse Fair is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  It is remarkable for a number of reasons.  First, it is by a woman artist, one who was classically trained, but who was not allowed in the studios for “life art” with nudes. So, she painted animals, even dead ones at the butcher shop.  Second, its size is quite large, on par with Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Tintoretto’s Gloria del Paradiso (1588-1592).  

However, instead of depicting a religious scene or memorializing the wealthy members of society, Bonheur dedicates the large canvas to animals. They are not even in battle or doing anything heroic; they’re simply behaving as spirited horses will at a horse fair. Men are trying to handle and control them, but the horses are winning. According to the conventions, there were four genres of painting, and they had a hierarchy.  First, were the historical paintings which would feature important battles, scenes from religious stories, allegorical or other subjects of overweening importance.  Next were portraits, which were supposed to be of aristocracy, religious figures, or members of the upper class. Next came genre painting, which would include scenes of everyday life.  Fourth in the hierarchy was landscape painting, which could also include cityscapes. Animal painting was fifth, and the final and lowest on the list was still life.

 

Rosa Bonheur, The Horse Fair (source: Wikipedia)

One example of historical paintings from the Renaissance makes one aware of the way they convey culturally normative messages. Gloria del Paradiso (1588-1592) by Tintoretto which is the largest painting of the Renaissance at around 28 high and 80 feet wide.  It depicts Dante’s Divine Comedy, and all the characters one finds in Dante’s Paradiso. When it comes to depicting a whole cast of characters, and a cosmology, give me Hieronymus Bosch. His Garden of Earthly Delights and also Ship of Fools are so complex and filled with visual metaphors and stories, that one could stay and contemplate them for hours.

What made Bonheur’s painting so shocking in terms of genre?  She made an animal painting in the same size and format as a history painting, with the battle being between the handlers and the horses. What were some of the underlying thoughts that would come to mind?  The first that come to mind are those of freedom and liberty – the horses are struggling to be liberated from their bits and ropes. In this sense, the canvas is definitely allegorical, particularly given that moment in history, with anti-monarchist sentiment in Europe.  Given that interpretation, Bonheur’s painting could have been dangerous. The Revolutions of 1848 spread through Europe, starting in Sicily, the going to Italy, Germany, and France, where the repressive, authoritarian “July Monarchy” was toppled.  In the other countries, the revolutions failed, and the miserable conditions of the people continued, with poverty, income inequality, brutal authoritarianism, and lavish / wasteful spending by the monarchies and nobility. Bonheur’s rebellious horses rise and writhe, but they are in the process of being brought back under control.