Northstar Gallery
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Northstar Gallery |
SENSUALITY IN
THE ART OF THE CARBeauty & Sensuality in form and design of classic automobiles
Chrysis
Hood Ornament by René LaliquePhoto by Northstar Imaging
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The automobile is a powerful symbol that has stirred the dreams and ambitions of men and women for 100 years. Cars created of passion, remain even more alluring today. They call us to understand their hold on us and their important contribution to the human experience.
As the Memorial Art Project developed, I began to discover many
very sensual images of beautiful young women depicted in the memorial art in the cemeteries I was visiting. The use of the nude
Ever
since the first sailing vessels were built, sailors have tried to ensure safe passage
by attempting to pacify mysterious and unpredictable gods with symbols of faith.
The ship's
Spirit of Ecstasy In
the 1920's and 1930's, people experienced great passion and excitement as
a result of their new love affair with the automobile. During this heady period, cars proudly
To view more images of classic automobile hood ornaments, click here.
Rene Lalique Mascot - Hood Ornament laliqueglass.com
Carl Jung observes "A symbol always stands for something more than its obvious and immediate meaning. Symbols, moreover, are natural and spontaneous products. No genius has ever sat down with a pen or brush in hand and invented a symbol. No one can take a more or less rational thought, reached as a logical conclusion or by deliberate intent, and than give it "symbolic form". There are many symbols, however, that are not individual but collective in their nature and origin. These are chiefly religious images. The believer assumes that they are of divine origin - that they have been revealed to man. The skeptic says flatly that they have been invented. Both are wrong. It is true, as the skeptic notes, that religious symbols and concepts have for centuries been the object of careful and quite conscious elaboration. It is equally true, as the believer implies, that their origin is so far buried in the mystery of the past that they seem to have no human source. But they are in fact "collective representations," emanating from primeval dreams and creative fantasies. As such, these images are involuntary spontaneous manifestations and by no means intentional inventions." 15 The sensual images under consideration embody profound symbolic content from our "collective unconscious" and may be some of the most significant and enduring symbolic manifestations of the human experience. To understand the significance and origin of these symbols and the compelling themes they address, it is necessary to visit the role of the human form in classic art. The
female form is frequently found adorning public buildings, squares, cathedrals,
1933 Plymouth Coupe The
above image is from a 1933 Plymouth Coupe and the image to the left is from a
cemetery in Rome, both have similar classic origins. The French poet, Paul Valery, noted that "The nude
is for the artist what love is for the poet" The nude has been a wellspring
of artistic creativity in
Because
of the great risks confronted by bomber pilots and mariners there is a
connection to classical themes of "The Dance with Death" and
"Death and the Maiden". In
the Great Plague of 1348-50, a third of Europe's population is thought to
have
In the French tradition, the dance's legacy is found in 14th-century poetry, frescoes and woodcuts depicting representatives from every station of life, from pope to pauper, paired with ghostly doubles who have come to summon the living partner to the other world. Death, often personified with a sickle in hand for the harvest, came to represent the great leveler of all inequality.25
Monumental Cemetery - Milan
The tradition did not end with the Middle Ages. Periodic outbursts of the plague in the 16th century sparked similar reactions, as shown in Hans Holbein's series of woodcuts on the Totentanz, executed in Basle (c.1523-26). Today, la danza de la muerte is still performed in Spain at festivals by single drummers with skeletal partners who circulate together around inside cavernous cathedrals.25
A
Death and Maiden theme emerged from a
long mythological tradition. In Greek mythology the abduction of
Persephone by Hades, god of Hell, is an
Within the Death and the Maiden Theme, a dark bound between sexuality and death is explored. In this iconography, the young girl is not involved in “the dance of death” but enters into a sensual relationship with death, which becomes increasingly erotic as time passes. Despite the sensuality of this genre, it maintained a moralistic goal for it is intended to remind us that life is short as is the exquisite beauty of a woman. This theme becomes relevant to the mariners of the past, the bomber pilots of WW II and the titans of industry. In embracing the beautiful women adorning their vessels they embrace the risk of their journey and the inevitability of their own mortality.
1930 Cadillac V16 Imperial Limousine
Many classical ideals were rediscovered during the Renaissance, when the general tenor of philosophy became humanist. Once again the nude became an embodiment of perfect beauty and an emblem of abstract concepts such as Beauty, Genius, Friendship, Truth and Sacred Love. 1
Monumental Cemetery - Milan The importance of the nude persisted through 17th century baroque art well into the 19th century, ... retaining its significance because of its connection with subjects of the highest cultural status, whether religious, allegorical or mythological. As such subjects tended to be favored more by aristocratic or ecclesiastical patrons. The popularity of the nude was geographically uneven. One was more likely to find nudes painted in Catholic countries, such as Italy or Flanders, or countries with a strong tradition of State patronage, such as France. 1 For the female figure to be accepted in public places,
including automobile mascots, the higher
moral purpose of the work had to be convincing and beyond reproach. Cemeteries are sacred
places, so work that might have been unacceptable in other settings were cast in a
transcendent ambiance.
During the medieval era, the naked body often stood for temptation and sin. In Christian theology the emphasis was not upon physical beauty but upon the inevitability of the body’s decay and the shame in nakedness which came from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. 1
Much of this work was done in a time of social transition. In Paris the Cemetery Reform Movement introduced a new respect and reverence for the deceased as an alternative to the previous perspective of the corpse as refuge.
Monumental Cemetery - Milan As part of the cemetery reform movement, Pere Lachaise was privately
developed and served as an alternative to the church cemetery for the wealthy of Paris.
This private Statuary expressing the female form brings together powerful forces of death and sensuality, the eternal link between Thanatos and Eros. This expression reached a high level during the romantic era of the early nineteenth century. In Romantic art, death became a metaphor not of loss, fear and horror but of love and desire. William Wordsworth explores this theme in his poem Strange Fits of Passion Have I Known. The sensuous female forms of these monuments make this association explicit. This of course has relevance for the Bomber nose art and its compelling role in the daily danger lived by the crews. For the Romantics, death was an important theme. For them death was
experienced as exquisite emotion and the ultimate expression of love. "To die loving
you is better than life itself," wrote Alferd de Musset. The Romantic era was a
period of "beautiful death" in which death was perceived as a refuge, a
release,
a reward and a rebirth. Death was associated with rebirth, conception, birth and sexual
The moment of ecstasy corresponds t the self-annihilation spoken of by the mystics of the seventeenth century. Pierre de Berulle starts from the stage of "spiritual death" which the soul has to pass through during the "time of trials" in order to attain the "mystical marriage" with the Bridegroom. It is the Bridegroom who permeates the soul in the "abyss of greatness" and the "gulf of glory" in order to consummate the "spiritual marriage" Benoit de Canfield has written "the Bride of God (man's soul) "desires with all other creatures to be melted, liquefied, consumed, and annihilated." 16
In Bernini's Ludovica Albetoni, the believer is introduced into the Blessed Lady's bedroom and made a witness to her convulsions on the disordered bed. It is not merely a statue, but more like a living, gesticulating actress. In these examples, we see the sculptor's intent to create in the observer a mood of mysticism and ecstasy. 16 The sculpture thus becomes a mirror and indicator of the state of mind of the observer opening the way to salvation. 17
In the private chapel of Sanserero, Naples, is a fine example carved
in 1750 by Genoese
One of the skills that was applauded in the eighteenth century was
the ability to render drapery and some artists indulged themselves in technical
brilliance. The drapery is never so glamorous as when , instead of concealing forms,
it
hints at them, caressing them with the greatest of sensuality. The challenge was not only
veil the body and face but to do so in a manner that enhanced the expressiveness and
sensuousness of the body. One of the
"The sculptors of the second half of the century were not slaves to doctrine. Before Canova, they sought chiefly to create pleasing images and they favored an iconography and style which celebrated the feminine charms that had a high place in the flirtatious society of this age when women were often treated like queens. Thus the mythological pretexts employed in the earlier part of the century acquired a new lease of life. The idea was no longer to borrow the trappings of pagan gods and goddesses, but to titillate with flirtatious, erotically suggestive scenes. Moreover, mythological motifs were in key with the period's growing reverence for Antiquity, through it sometimes seems as if they were merely an excuse for depicting delightfully sensual bodies in the nude. Psyche Abandoned, (Augustin Pajou 1790) for example, shows Psyche nude lamenting Cupid's disappearance; her flesh palpitates with distress; her despair gives her a languid pose which is not only touching but seductive." 20 Joseph Campbell states "Myths of the Great Goddess" teach
compassion for all living beings. There you come to appreciate the real sanctity of the
earth itself, because it is
1931 Cadillac Similarly in some works the subjects are nude or are partially clothed and the works symbolize entry into heaven. The nude imagery of the human form expresses rebirth into heaven, as well as innocence and purity, leaving the fallen material world behind. The exquisite beauty of some of the figures depicted in this work may also be an expression of God’s perfect beauty with man being created in the image of God a theme that has been expressed for millennium.
As early as 2500 BC, Egyptians used statuary, for religious purposes, to capture the essence of the individual represented and as a medium to hold the soul after death. Much of these sculptured images were nude depicting the expected rebirth from temporal life into eternity in God’s presence.
Some argue that the sensuous, beautiful young women are the embodiment of death itself. The romantic notion "Sweet is death who comes as a lover" removes the sting of death and presents it as an experience to be fully embraced and welcomed.
Memorial art often seeks to memorialize the life and
accomplishments of the deceased. The
Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow, Russia was used by the
It is possible that these exquisite young women adorning the cemetery, automobiles, ships and bombers, as some of the most beautiful among us, convey a sense of heightened status and prestige to the deceased, the pilot and the mariner? Forever present, forever young and forever beautiful they convey, vitality, passion and rejuvenation. It is conceivable that these figures eternally perform a similar role to their mortal counterparts, serving as beautiful trophies at the side of successful, powerful and adventurous men.
Cemeteries are places of infinite optimism where life everlasting
takes precedence over death, loss and
mortality. The focus is turned from the temporal past to: salvation, rebirth and
everlasting life.
Classic automobiles, ships and bombers are always perceived as having feminine identities. The complex role of the feminine goddess becomes embodied in the vehicle itself in its sensuous design, form and lines and the pilots and drivers enter into an intimate dance with the machine and experience profound joy in possession of the object.
1954 Jaguar XK-120 These images and their associated symbols explore a collective yearning to understand the human condition, our vulnerability, our mortality, renewal, redemption and the terror of the unknown. These are the deep issues seeking transcendence and result in a profound desire to understand the meaning of our existence. Such passion is at the foundation of the great art of the Western World and our ultimate hope that the universe is not random. |
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The Transcendence Portfolio - Offering
Coney Island
Cemetery & Memorial Art Links
Sensuality
in the Art of the Automobile
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1. Robson, Deirdre. The Art of the Nude. p5 2. Robinson, David. Saving Graces. Afterward 3. Krupa, Frederique. Paris: Urban Sanitation Before the 20th Century 5. Campbell, Joseph. (1988). The Power of Myth. p.165
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Bibliography
Campbell, Joseph. (1988). The Power of Myth. Apostrophe S Productions, Inc., United States
Robinson, David. (1995). Saving Graces Images of Women in European Cemeteries. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Robson, Deirdre. (1995). The Art of the Nude. London: Parragon Book Service Ltd. Krupa, Frederique. (1991). Paris: Urban Sanitation Before the 20th Century [On-line].Camille, Michael. (1996). Master of Death - The lifeless Art of Pierre Remient - Illuminator. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Clark, Kenneth. (1953). The Nude - A Study in Ideal Form. The United States: Princeton University Press.
Kasson, Joy. (1990). Marble Queens and Captives. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.
Godwin, Malcolm. (1990). Angels - An Endangered Species. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Jung, Carl. (1964). Man and His Symbols. London: Aldus Books Limitted.
Ceysson, Bernard; (1996). Sculpture From Renaissance to the Present Day (15th to 20th Century). New York: Taschen
Yalom, Marilyn. (1997). The History of the Breast. New York: Random House.
Harris, Mike (1998) Dance of Death Internet site http://danceofdeath.tao.ca/index.html
Pollefeys, Patrick (1998) Dance of Death Internet site http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/3757/main.html
Friedhofs Engle http://www.friedhofsengel.de/frame1.htm?k1/k1i1.htm~Work
John D. Sherer http://www.laliqueglass.com/
Hood Ornaments & Mascots: http://www.geocities.com/katnat2/crossleyL.html
Finesse Fine Art: http://finesse-fine-art.com/
Your comments on The Northstar Gallery are very much valued, please respond to northstar.gallery@verizon.net
Thantos and Eros in this very compelling art form? More recently, as I photographed classic automobiles, particularly their hood ornaments, I began to find very similar images. Additional
research led to the discovery of similar themes around ship's figureheads and the nose art of WWII bombers. Is there a connection between the
beautiful women adorning the historic cemeteries of the world, the cars of the privileged and the war planes of the Second World War? 
female figures began to appear. They were used on a great number of
commercial ships after 1800, and often ship owners' wives served as
models. This classic pose of the female goddess leaning into the wind
began to show up in the form of automobile hood ornaments in the early
1920s. One of the defining images was that of Rolls Royce's "Spirit
of Ecstasy" a winged goddess on the bow of the new land ships leaning
into both the wind and the unknown and promising future.
displayed "Mascots" or "Hood Ornaments" on the front of their
vehicles. These Mascots were genuine pieces of art that
made a personal statement to the world. One of the most famous hood
ornaments was the
Rolls Royce "
Goddesses, Indians, Birds, Dogs, Lions, Elephants and other winged
icons added a personal touch to the cars they adorned. Car
manufacturers got into the act by adding their own line of Hood Art on
production cars for the working man. The most common theme were the
"Flying Ladies" often 
art emerged in the form of "nose art"
on thousands of bombers and fighter
escorts flying missions over France, Germany, Africa and the Pacific. Nose art,
perhaps modeled on the "Flying Ladies" served as the aviator's unique calling card and as personal escorts during missions of great
danger and uncertainty. The Army Air Force
attempted to ban and censor nose art on many occasions. Ultimately the
power of the art prevailed for its value in boosting crew morale was unquestioned. 
The females
who cast their face into the wind as ship's figureheads, the "Flying
Ladies" of classic automobiles, the women adorning WWII bombers and fighters and the beautiful ladies of
the cemetery all serve a similar
purpose. Each escorts a passage or a transition into the
unknown, offering comfort in the face of mortality and a promise of
rebirth, continuity, renewal and salvation.
early expression of the clash
between Eros and Thanatos. The young goddess Persephone gathers flowers
while accompanied by carefree nymphs. When Persephone saw a pretty
narcissus, she picked it and at that moment, the ground opened and Hades
came out of the underworld and abducted Persephone carrying her into his
underworld.
Hans
Baldung Grien completed this work in 1517. Here Death seizes a young
girl by the hair preparing to force her to descend into the tomb dug at her feet.
Death points toward the grave with his right hand. The girl, completely
naked, does not resist. Her mouth is plaintive, her eyes are red and tears
run down her cheeks; she understands the inevitability of her end. 24 
it,
and he left me completely afire with a great love of God. The pain was so sharp that it
made me utter several moans; and so excessive was the sweetness caused me by this intense
pain that one can never wish to lose it, nor will one's soul be content with anything less
than God. It is not bodily pain, but spiritual, though the body has a share in it - indeed
a great share. So sweet are the colloquies of love which pass between the soul and God
that if anyone thinks I am lying I beseech God, in His Goodness, to give him the same
experience. Amen" 13 To the left is The Ecstasy of
St. Teresa by Bernini, 1650.
sculptor Francesco Queirolo. The work is of a
naked male figure, who is
draped in a net from which he is extricating himself while being aided by an angel. The
sculpture is an allegorical monument to Count Antonio Sangro who took holy vows after the
death of his young wife. The sculpture shows Sangro throwing off the entangling net of
worldly appearances including his worldly coverings and discovering Truth. The work is
thought to symbolize the purity of spiritual deliverance achieved with the help of the
Holy Spirit. Of special interest in this work is the sheer brilliance of the net, finely
carved out of solid marble.18
great examples of this work is Faith
by Innocenzo.
Spinazzi located in the Apse of Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi, Florence.
Spinazzi uses the traditional prompts of Faith the chalice and Bible, however he drapes
the veil over her face beneath which we can discern an expression of mystical ecstasy
where Faith reveals itself in an inward gaze, which is God-given and transcends the mere
senses. In Modesty, another statue of a veiled woman by Antonio Corradini,
in the chapel of Sansevero, the figure is an allegory of the Virtue Modesty. Under
her mourning veil she expresses grief, but the veil is so sheer as to be almost
transparent; it unclothes rather than clothes her, bringing out the sensual quality of her
body. 19
the body of the
Goddess.5 "And when you have a Goddess as the creator, it's
her own body that is the universe. She is identical with the universe...She is the whole
sphere of the life-enclosing heavens."6 Campbell goes on to state: "This is the
an essential experience of any mystical realization. You die to your flesh and are born
into your spirit. You identify yourself with the consciousness and life of which your body
is but the vehicle. You die to the vehicle and become identified in your
consciousness with that of which the vehicle is the carrier. That is the God."
7
Within the essential experience of birth and rebirth the female embodies the totality from
conception to birth and renewal. As Mother Earth she embodies fertility and rebirth and
out of death, the eternal renewal of life. The greater the beauty and perhaps the more
sensuous, the more powerful the identity is of "Goddess as Mother Earth."
To the left is a "sarcophagus from second-century A.D. Thebes that reveals a symbolic
connection with the archetypal Great Mother (the container of all life). The inside of the
cover bears a portrait of the Egyptian goddess Nut; thus the goddess would
"embrace" the body of the deceased." 14
invention of death at the Fall in the Garden of Eden. For it
had been only at the moment of original sin that Adam and Eve saw that they were naked and
were ashamed." ;
It can be considered that nudity in which there is not shame, symbolizes
innocence, the time of purity before the Fall as well as redemption after death.
Hiram Powers sculpted Eve Tempted
in 1843.
in the
nineteenth-century. Created in 1844, for fifteen years multiple version of this work were
presented in traveling exhibitions including the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London.
Hundred of thousands of people viewed the sculpture at a time of much prudishness in
American society. 10
Comments in the press tended to deny the
sculpture's sensual appeal insisting that "her nudity was clothed in morality".
A poet writing in Knickerbocker Magazine offered: "Naked yet clothed with chastity,
She stands and as a shield throws back the sun's hot rays, Her modest mien repels each
vulgar gaze." The perspective represented by the Greek
Slave affirms the capacity of the figure to be a powerful symbol of purity and
innocence in the eye of the beholder. We begin to recognize how completely the value of
these spiritual existences depends on the nudity of the figure and finding the tenuous but
powerful balance between innocence and sensuality. Indeed the figure may be the only form
which effectively expresses the important themes of rebirth, redemption and innocence
essential to powerful memorial art.
