Are Black Cats Modernity’s Icons?
How Manet transformed the misunderstood feline into an emblem of independent thinking; plus, Gay Halloween memes galore!
Centuries of superstition may be to blame for black cats facing among the lowest adoption outcomes at shelters across the US. But these mysterious, furry angels have shed at least part of their witchy stereotype in the modern era — thanks largely to 19th-century French artists, argues Rebecca Rebecca Schiffman, Hyperallergic associate editor. According to Schiffman, who makes a case for the black cat as a modern icon in art history in an essay perfectly timed for Hallows' Eve, painters such as Édouard Manet helped dark-furred felines come to symbolize a Belle Époque “appetite for provocation” and “refusal to be domesticated.”
On a related note, a big, heartfelt thanks to all who joined us at Hyperallergic’s Halloween party last night — you blew us all away with your commitment to the art costumes. (I’m looking at you, “Two Fridas” and “Saturn Devouring His Son.”) Look out for photos from the evening soon!
And in another tradition, Staff Writer Rhea Nayyar rounds up the spiciest Gay Halloween memes this year, a trend that holds a mirror up to our broader pop-culture moment. “I hate gay Halloween, what do you mean we're dressed as Kelly Clarkson and an animatronic bird?”
—Valentina Di Liscia, senior editor
How Édouard Manet’s Black Cat Became a Symbol of Modernity
Every Halloween, black cats return as emblems of witchcraft, bad luck, and the supernatural. Their sinister reputations stretch back centuries: starting in the Middle Ages, people associated cats with heresy and sexual transgression, and their perceived affinity with witches intensified during the trials of Elizabeth Francis and Agnes Waterhouse and their cat Sathan between 1565-1579.
But after the Enlightenment, 19th-century French artists and writers began to reclaim the mysterious and devilish qualities foisted onto felines as desirable.| Rebecca Schiffman
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Adama Delphine Fawundu at Columbia University School of the Arts
In We be the luminous blues…, acclaimed artist, alum, and Assistant Professor Adama Delphine Fawundu uses her process, Kpoto Patchwork, to braid complex histories and pay tribute to remarkable ancestors of Columbia University such as Paul Robeson, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee. Lenfest Center for the Arts.
News
Documenta 16 names four new curatorial team members, artist Catherine Opie wins a Yale University award, Dallas Art Fair partners with a university, and more in Art Movements this week.
Reviews
Before AI There Was the Octopus
Helsinki-based artist Tuomas Laitinen gives us an intelligence with no central brain, no fixed shape, and no interest in being legible to us. | Eileen Isagon Skyers
Read MoreHalloween Highlights
This Year’s Gay Halloween Celebrates Women’s Rights and Wrongs
From the Kelly Clarkson’s mechanical bird fiasco to Carrie Bradshaw’s Dior newsprint dress, Gay Halloween speaks to the staying power of women’s iconic media moments. | Rhea Nayyar
Read MoreWhy Do Horror Films Have Such a Hold on Our Imaginations?
An exhibition at the Academy Museum explores the transgressive power of scary movies, channeling our deepest fears about life, death, and the unknown. | Matt Stromberg
Read MoreHell Takes the Form of State Repression in 1971’s “The Devils”
Ken Russell’s film designed by Derek Jarman, newly released in a 4K restoration, mirrors the horrors unfolding outside our windows. | Phillip Pyle
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ARTPOWER’s New Platform Helps Artists Build Financial Confidence
Designed to answer one of creative work’s toughest questions: “What should I charge?”
Hyper Links
- Activists blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge on October 28, calling for ICE out of New York after agents shot Oscar Belgal with his son in his car in the Bronx. [Brooklyn Paper]
- Prada revives early Disney nostalgia with hand-drawn animations by the legendary John Pomeroy for a winter wonderland-themed ad campaign that’s almost got me excited for colder weather. [Vogue]
- Esfandyar Batmanghelidj writes on the political and poetic weight of Iranian brickwork in the face of Western sanctions on contemporary building materials. [The Baffler]
- In these uncertain times, it’s important to remain level-headed. [Instagram]
Member Comment
—Pamela Hastings on "I’m an Epstein Survivor. MoMA Must Drop Leon Black"
From the Archive
Who Won Gay Halloween This Year?
What’s more gay or queer than pushing that which is marginalized into the spotlight? | Hrag Vartanian
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