a little on Men, if I may dare

I was reading an article on Marjane Satrapi's novel discussing the "veiled woman."  It viewed the veil as an object with two clear articulate functions; one is that it covers the woman's body completely, the other is that it makes the veiled woman a highly desirable exotic object.

Reflecting on my own experience... I got to thinking, that a man generally wants his woman to remain desirable and untouchable, and at the same time, wants to discover every centimeter of her body.  He wants the woman to remain perfect, but also wants to see how much of a mess he can make out of her.  He holds her gently with his arms, to make sure she's comfortable, but hopes that she doesn't protest when he turns on the rough edge.

Paul Gauguin "Spirit of the Dead Watching" 1892

And the more the man is interested, the more he wants to explore, the more he tries to find this sneaky balance between the veil and the exotic; or so I wish to think...  Think about those short drunken flings, it could have been good or bad, but maybe just not so interesting.

The woman, in turn, is just the same.  But the woman discovers her man by watching his reactions to her puzzles and treasures.  I don't want to call this a game, because a game involves pretense and a set time frame.  It is just some kind of feeling that exists in between these two genders, each alluring in its own ways.

May I bring up a man, named Paul, who, however romantic and bizarre his adventures in Tahiti really were, painted native women with a sincere interest.  He kept them at some distance, yet the way he searches for so many tones in their skin, makes it feel like he went over every molecule with a magnifying glass.

Klimt

I read a little book about Gustav Klimt; interesting life.  He lived at home with his mother and sister, never married.  He was a smart man, but quiet, and seemed to stay out of scandals, except of course those created by his original paintings.  He had a studio, where he worked most of his time.  He had lots of models, who spent the days with him at the studio.  He was a nice man, and the models were completely at ease with him.  They wallowed around all day, clothed or unclothed, and allowed him to paint them, whenever he caught them in a pose of interest or a moment of ecstasy.

Gustav Klimt Portrait of Eugenia (Mäda)Primavesi(1912)

He had a couple serious relationships, but not a lot is known about them.  Some of his models probably had children by him, and he accepted them.  One story tells that when a model didn't show up for work, he demanded someone to search for her; she reported that she did not show up because she was pregnant, Klimt had her come to work anyways, and she is probably the model in many of his paintings of pregnant women.  Interesting also, is that in most of his preparatory drawings and sketches, the women are naked, however, in the final works, their bodies are covered up with his delicate designs.

Klimt also painted many portraits, in which he kept very true to his style, even though he tried to adhere to the person's taste.  In these portraits though, we see more emphasis on personality, than in some of his leisure works.  This one, of Eugenia Primavesi, is a stark contrast to Klimt's relaxed females, but it strikes me with it's beauty and sense of confrontation.