Author Archives: Moko

Josef Breitenbach

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Josef Breitenbach was born in Munich in 1896. He attended a technical high school and later trained as a salesman and a bookkeeper. He participated in the 1918 Bavarian coup, and became acquainted with the Munich art community during the time he served in the short-lived revolutionary government. Although he had no formal training in photography, he took it up as a hobby in 1927. In either 1930 or 1932 (sources differ) Breitenbach opened a professional photography studio in Munich.

Josef Breitenbach – Girl Wearing a Hat (1930s)

Breitenbach was a successful photographer of both portraits and artistic, sometimes abstract compositions. Josef Breitenbach is best known for his use of Surrealism, but also employed Modernism and Pictorialism. Clients included celebrities as well as people not widely known. Girl Wearing a Hat is typical of his portraits during this period. Breitenbach did not give a title to this photograph, or to most others in this article. I composed captions for the first ten photos appearing in this article. The last four photos in this article, all taken in Asia, are captioned with titles given to them by Breitenbach.

Josef Breitenbach – Girls on Swings (1950s)

Political activities of Breitenbach and his son, as well as the fact that he was Jewish, made life in Munich difficult for him, so in 1933 he moved to Paris. Paris was the hub of Photo-Surrealism, and Breitenbach’s photos were exhibited with those of Man Ray, Brassaï, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eli Lotar and Roger Parry. Artistic nude images, which Breitenbach began making in Munich, were also among his Paris photos.

Josef Breitenbach – Girl on a Swing (1950s)

In 1942 Breitenbach moved to New York City, and became a U.S. citizen in 1946. He continued his work as a photographer in America, and also taught photography in college. Breitenbach continued his nude photography in America, often at naturist resorts. Among the 2739 Breitenbach photos in the archive at the University of Arizona Center for Creative Photography are many nudes, nearly all of the nude photos are female, and almost half are photographs of young girls.

Josef Breitenbach – Standing Girl (1950s)

The University of Arizona archive contains duplicate or near duplicate prints of many photos. Sometimes, but not always, the hair style makes it possible to determine if a child photographed from the back is a boy or girl. Breitenbach took close up photos of female external genitals which I was surprised to find online in a public university collection, and which would not be suitable for Pigtails. Since Breitenbach photographed at least one adult model with a shaved pubis, it is not always possible to determine if the pubic close up photos are of a woman or a young girl. As best as I could ascertain, there are 485 nude photographs (including duplicate or near duplicate prints) in the University of Arizona collection. Approximately 96% have only female models, 2% have both male and female in the same photo, and 2% are male only. Of the nude females, approximately half are adult women, and half are children and adolescents. After viewing his photographs, it surprises me that Breitenbach has not inspired more controversy. Could it be that because Breitenbach was an established art photographer, recognized as such by respectable society and by the United Nations, he could get away with edgy work that would mean trouble for less famous photographers?

Josef Breitenbach – Standing Girl with Long Hair (1950s)

The first two nude photos in this article, Girls on Swings and Girl on a Swing, show naturist girls enjoying recreation. Girls on Swings appears to not be formally posed, but not a random snapshot either. Girl on a Swing is more typical of Breitenbach’s carefully-posed photos. The swing is just a prop for the standing girl.

Josef Breitenbach – Girl in a Forest (1950s) (1)

Josef Breitenbach – Girl in a Forest (1950s) (2)

Most of Breitenbach’s nudes are either standing or lying, with significantly fewer sitting poses. Standing models were photographed from the back about as often as from the front. Representative examples of front and rear poses are shown in Standing Girl and Standing Girl with Long Hair. Girl in a Forest (1) and (2) feature the same model, the same background, and almost the same pose. By coming in closer in Girl in a Forest (2), and aiming the camera upward at an angle, Breitenbach was able to obtain a different effect.

Josef Breitenbach – Girl Sleeping Outdoors (1950s)

Josef Breitenbach – Nude Girl Sleeping Indoors (1957)

Josef Breitenbach – Nude Girl Indoors (1957)

Girl Sleeping Outdoors is an example of Breitenbach’s images of lying nudes. Girl Sleeping Outdoors may actually be asleep, but it looks like she may be posed and only feigning sleep. Nude Girl Sleeping Indoors also appears to be intentionally posed. The same model is in the next photo, Nude Girl Indoors. These photos were left untitled by the photographer, but another photo of the same model apparently from the same session is titled New York.

Josef Breitenbach – Nikko (1960)

Josef Breitenbach – Taipei (1963)

During the 1960s Breitenbach went to Asia to do photographic reportage for the United Nations. The last four photos are all from Asia in the period of 1960 to 1967. All have been given titles by Breitenbach, and all but the first, Nikko, were given titles that tell where the photo was taken. Nikko was taken in Japan. Korea, Seoul is unusual for Breitenbach’s work because it is in color. Breitenbach took a monochromatic photograph of a different Korean girl who, like the girl in Korea, Seoul was bare below the waist on a public street.

Josef Breitenbach – Korea, Seoul (1963)

Josef Breitenbach – India, Orissa (near Konarak),Wall Painting Made by Women (1967)

Josef Breitenbach died in 1984 in New York City. Since his death there have been at least 26 one-person exhibitions of his work in America and Europe.

Robert Frank’s Family on Wellfleet Beach

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Robert Frank – Wellfleet Beach (1962)

Robert Frank took this photograph on the beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts in August 1962. His wife Mary and their two children, Andrea and Pablo are in the photo.

Robert Frank was born in Switzerland in 1924, and emigrated to the United States in 1947. His first job in America was as a photographer for Harper’s Bazaar. He later worked as a freelance photojournalist, but art photography was his passion. From 1955 to 1957 the Frank family traveled around the United States, and Robert took thousands of photos illustrating American life. Eighty-three of these photographs were published in the photo book Les Américains in France in 1958. Les Américains is Frank’s most famous work, and one of the most influential photo books of the century. As one who grew up in Europe, Frank could see America as an outsider, noticing things that a native of this country would not. The book was published in the United States in 1959 as The Americans.

Frank shifted his interest to making movies at this time. In 1959 he directed the beatnik film Pull My Daisy, written by Jack Kerouac, starring Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso. Robert Frank’s most famous movie is his 1972 documentary of the Rolling Stones.

The Wellfleet Beach photo, which was not titled by the photographer, is one of Frank’s most famous. Andrea, nine years old when the photo was taken, is the center of attention. It is obvious from the pattern of her suntan that she did not habitually go nude on the beach. In addition, a nine-year old girl would not be allowed to be naked on a public beach in the USA. The photo was apparently staged in a part of the beach with no people other than the Frank family. Andrea carries an American flag.

Andrea’s mother, Mary Frank, is on the left but her face is not visible. Andrea’s eleven-year old brother Pablo (named after Pablo Picasso) is on the right, and holds a copy of the New York Daily News reporting the death of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe was an American icon who was famous not only as an actress, but also as a model for nude photographs in Playboy Magazine. I get the impression that Andrea’s nudity and flag are meant to memorialise Marilyn Monroe.

George du Maurier’s Facetious Victorian Girls

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I have no education or background in art, so there are many artists of whom I never heard before I started reading Pigtails and writing articles for it. In most cases it never bothered me that I had not known of these artists previously, but George du Maurier is an exception. Not knowing of him made me feel uneducated. He is the man who gave the English language the word “svengali” and the terms “in the altogether” for naked and “bedside manner” for a physician’s rapport with the patient. He is responsible for naming the trilby hat and the town of Trilby, Florida. His granddaughter Daphne du Maurier wrote The Birds, which Alfred Hitchcock made into a movie. George du Maurier inspired Gaston Leroux to write Phantom of the Opera, and his grandchildren inspired J. M. Barrie to write Peter Pan. George du Maurier himself was one of the most prominent cartoonists of Victorian England.

George du Maurier – A Young Humanitarian (1887)

George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was born in France in 1834. He studied chemistry and painting. His passion for art was greater than his inclination for chemistry, and loss of vision in his left eye made drawing easier than painting for him. In 1865 he joined the staff of Punch, Britain’s leading satire magazine. His cartoons satirizing British society were very popular. I do not have the dates for most of the illustrations in this post, but all are probably from the period between 1865 and 1891 when du Maurier was an active cartoonist.

Du Maurier draws like Dickens writes, with plenty of elaborate detail. Du Maurier’s humor is subtle and droll. The caption for Chacun Pour Soi (Everyone for Himself) is “Mamma (sternly) ‘Now, Miriam, say Grace’. Miriam (who, for previous Misconduct, has been deprived of Pudding). ‘For all they have Received, let them be Truly Thankful.'”

George du Maurier – Chacun Pour Soi (unknown date)

Girls in Victorian England were stereotyped as being quiet and demure. It is more unexpected, and therefore funnier for a girl to use a prayer to complain of her punishment than it would be for a boy to do the same. This could be one reason that girls are prominently featured in du Maurier’s satire, but I think there is another reason: girls and women are prettier than boys and men. Du Maurier may have simply liked drawing girls better than he liked drawing boys. In Chacun Pour Soi, he drew everybody at the table as female. In the last illustration in this article, Gentle Terrorism, it was necessary to draw an ugly character, and du Maurier drew that character as a man.

George du Maurier – A Hint (1879)

A Hint is captioned “Oh, Mamma, did you see those pretty flowers in the conservatory? I wish you’d buy me one! “It would fade before you got Home, Darling?” “Would it? Now, Buns don’t fade.”

George du Maurier – An Unpleasent Social Duty (unknown date)

An Unpleasent Social Duty illustrates a difference between boys and girls that can still be seen today. Girls typically enjoy dancing to music and will do so all by themselves as young children. They often continue to like dancing throughout their lives. Heterosexual boys usually do not dance until they approach puberty, and then only as an excuse to socialize with girls; most boys never really enjoy dancing. An Unpleasent Social Duty is captioned, “Hostess- ‘Geoffrey, I want you to dance with that little girl!’ Geoffrey- ‘Oh, well, if I must, I must…!'” Note that in Victorian England, women’s hemlines were floor length, while young girls’ hemlines were knee length.

George du Maurier – Delicate Consideration (unknown date)

The next drawing is titled Delicate Consideration. I have not found the original caption for the drawing. Perhaps the boy playing with girls is something Victorians would find humorous, but I don’t get it.

George du Maurier – An Introduction (unknown date)

An Introduction satirizes the Victorian reserve that requires a formal introduction, or at least something significant in common in order to socialize with an unknown person. The girl is saying to her aunt, “Auntie, darling, this is my new friend, Georgie Jones. He is nice. And isn’t it funny, my birthday is the ninth of January, and his is the tenth, so you see we only just escaped being twins!” An Introduction brings to mind the poem Etiquette by W. S. Gilbert. Note the proper high society beachwear.

George du Maurier – Modesty and Duty in Comfort (unknown date)

Modesty and Duty in Comfort spoofs the difference between beachwear for the upper class woman and the lower class children. At first I thought that all five children in the illustration were girls. All have long hair, and none have male genitalia. On second thought, probably only the two children in the water with very long hair are girls, and the ones with moderately long hair are boys, drawn with some censorship. At any rate, the upper class woman in the voluminous swimsuit seems to look on them with disapproval. The two nude children with long hair (I assume girls) in the right foreground appear to be moving away from the shorter-hair children (I assume boys) on shore. Many of you will have seen the PDF files of photographs at Graham Ovenden’s Garage Press site. A photo there shows a nude boy together with nude girls on the beach at Brighton in 1904. I suspect the children in that photo are from the lower social class.

George du Maurier – A Cry from the Heart (1881)

A Cry from the Heart is about a girl who doesn’t like school.
Little Dunce (looking up suddenly from her History book).— “Oh, Mummy darling, I do so wish I’d lived under James the Second”
Mamma.— “Why?”
Little Dunce.— “Because I see here that Education was very much neglected in his reign.”

George du Maurier – Proxy (unknown date)

The caption for Proxy is, “Proxy — As you’re going to say your Prayers, Maud, please mention I’m so dreadfully tired I can’t say mine to-night, but I’ll be sure to remember to-morrow! ”

George du Maurier – I must have this tooth out! (unknown date)

I must have this tooth out! shows a girl with no sympathy for her sister’s toothache. “I must have this tooth out, it hurts so!”
“Oh, please don’t, for I shall have to wear it, as I do all of your left off things!”

George du Maurier – Mothers Darlings (unknown date)

Mothers Darlings needs no caption. The point is obvious.

George du Maurier – Gentle Terrorism (unknown date)

Gentle Terrorism is the last du Maurier illustration in this post. The Professor.— “Will you give me a kiss, my dear?”
Effie (an habitually naughty girl).— “Oh, Mammie . . . . I’ll be good. I’ll be good . . . . I promise”

The Propaganda Photographs of Silvino Santos

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Silvino Simões Santos Silva was born in Portugal in 1886, and emigrated to Brazil in his youth. He began his career as a photographer and painter in Manaus, Brazil in 1911. Silvino Santos is most famous as a cinematographer filming documentaries about the Amazon region. He filmed No País das Amazonas in 1922. Theodor Koch-Grunberg’s explorations in South America were chronicled in Silva’s 1924 film No Rastro do Eldorado.

Santos was also a photographer of high repute, and early in his career, Julio César Arana commissioned Santos to film and photograph a very important inspection of his rubber production operations in the Putumayo River basin of Peru. Rubber was becoming much in demand during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Amazon rainforest was the main source of rubber at that time. Peruvian Amazon Company, owned by Julio César Arana, was one of the largest rubber companies. People would go out into the rainforest to find and tap rubber trees, then the latex would be brought to company outposts.

Silvino Santos – Una Mujer y su Hija (1912)

Local indigenous tribes were the only source of labor for collecting latex, and since most people would not voluntarily perform such hard labor for the low compensation, the tribes were captured and enslaved. Workers who did not return their quota of latex were beaten and tortured. Some Indians fought back, but were no match for the superior armament of the rubber companies. Some fled to the most remote parts of the rainforest. It is rumored that their descendants are still living in these remote areas, in tribes that still avoid any contact with the outside world. Over 30,000 Indians were killed in the Putumayo region alone. Julio Arana was responsible for mass murder, but he didn’t care as long as the profits kept rolling in.

Profits were threatened when reports of the atrocities in Amazonia reached Great Britain and the United States. These countries could put diplomatic pressure on Peru to stop the Peruvian Amazon Company. Stuart J. Fuller, United States Consul in Manaus; and George B. Mitchell, British Consul in Manaus, were dispatched to Peru on a joint mission to inspect the Peruvian Amazon Company operations in the Putumayo region in 1912. They would be accompanied by Carlos Rey de Castro, the Peruvian Consul and friend of Julio Arana. Rey de Castro hired Silvino Santos to be the expedition’s official photographer and make sure that the photos did not reflect negatively on the Peruvian Amazon Company.

Silvino Santos – El Capitán Francisco y sus Mujeres (1912)

Santos took over 200 photographs, of which 187 were chosen by Carlos Rey de Castro and Julio César Arana to be put in an album titled El Album de fotografias tomadas en Viage de la Comisión Cónsular al Rio Putumayo y afluentes-Agosto á Octubre 1912. At the time, this album was widely distributed in an attempt to refute the charges against the Peruvian Amazon Company. About a hundred years later, a single surviving copy was discovered and published on the internet here. Some of the photos include young girls, and are on-topic for Pigtails.

The first photo in this article shows a cute little girl standing beside her mother, who is seated. The caption of this photo, which was written in English, states “The husband of the lady sitting was eaten by the Boras.” Sympathy is intended for the little girl who lost her father, and the woman who lost her husband to the “savage wild Indian cannibals”. Showing how the good people of the rubber company brought the blessings of civilization to the Indians is a theme of the album. The Boras are of the Huitoto (aka Witoto) stock. They did not routinely practice cannibalism, but at times sought to gain courage from an enemy warrior by eating his flesh.

Silvino Santos – Parejas de Indios Jóvenes (1912)

Next is a photo of a Huitoto chief and his two wives. Santos posed them with interlocking arms, looking directly at the camera with dignified expressions. This was hoped to be seen as an example of the healthy, happy Indians working for the rubber company. No photo of anybody with scars from beatings will be in the album. Note that one of the wives was a child bride, a topic covered in a Pigtails article here.

Muchachos de Confianza (Trustworthy Boys) and their wives are the subject of the next photo. This is much like the previous photo. Indians employed by the Peruvian Amazon Company are dignified and healthy. At least half of the wives are too young for marriage by our standards. Females are in the front, perhaps because it was thought that nude females are more photogenic than the males. Muchachos de Confianza were Indian quislings who cooperated with the company to oppress others. When there were reports of abuse that could not be denied, Julio Arana attributed it to the excessive zeal of the Muchachos de Confianza.

Silvino Santos – Dos Matrimonios de Funuñas (1912)

The next photo, of two married couples, was meant to show Indians treated well by the rubber company, same as the previous two photographs. Another similarity to the previous photos is that the girls appear to be too young to be wives. Perhaps Silvino Santos emphasized adolescent girls and young women because he felt they would attract the most attention, and thus best serve the purpose of propaganda photographs.

Silvino Santos – Indios Jóvenes (1912)

Indios Jóvenes is the title given the next photo, even though the subjects are all female. Carlos Rey de Castro refers to them as “indias” in his note on the photo. Rey de Castro, in the note, asks why Mitchell (the British Consul) described the girls as “weak”. Rey de Castro asks if it could be because of their lack of modesty.

Silvino Santos – Huitotas Civilizadas (1912)

Huitotos Civilizadas is the title of the last photo by Santos in this article. The women and girls are shown as respectable civilized people like us, all because of the benefits provided by Julio César Arana and the Peruvian Amazon Company. Clothing in this photo seems to be fancy dress freshly laundered and put on for the photograph. The Huitoto tribes in the area did later adopt western-style clothing, but everyday dress was less formal than shown here.

Amazon Yanayacu Lodge – Familia de Nativos (circa2021)

Today, even many missionaries do not insist on western clothing. In the warm very humid rainforest climate, clothing that is not frequently changed and laundered provides a breeding place for bacteria and fungus that can adversely affect the health of the wearer. Today the Huitoto wear clothing like White Peruvians (estilo criollo), but some tribes in tourist areas have devised a new “Indian style” that they wear when tourists visit. The last photo shows 21st century Boras dressed tourist style. This is the same tribe that allegedly ate the husband of the woman in the first photo.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani

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Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani was born in Ro, Italy in 1942. He worked as a machinist before his career as a professional artist. In 1966 Mantovani moved to Berlin, Germany, and attended painting classes in his spare time. Mantovani wrote in his autobiography, “… since I was a child I have always felt the urge to translate thoughts and fantasies in images “. His first exhibition was in 1977, and he then devoted himself entirely to painting. His painting is inspired by Italian Renaissance painters in style, and to a lesser extent in subject matter. Viewing his paintings, I am reminded of Fra Angelico in his clear, realistic style and formal poses. Mantovani’s web page is here. It is worthwhile to visit and view more of his paintings.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – Vogliamo Solo il Tuo Bene (1979)

Vogliamo Solo il Tuo Bene (We only want what’s good for you.) was painted in 1979. The statues are apparently advising the young girl, wearing only jewelry, about what is good for her. I could guess at further interpretation of this painting, but since I would only be guessing, I will leave it up to the reader to interpret the painting. Childhood is a recurrent theme of Mantovani. Many of his paintings feature children, especially girls.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – L’apoteosi di Pinocchia (1992)

L’apoteosi di Pinocchia (The apotheosis of Pinocchia), painted in 1992, features a young girl as Pinocchia rather than the customary boy Pinocchio. The scene is reminiscent of a Renaissance painting, although the man is in modern dress. Inclusion of strange details in the background is typical of Mantovani. I assume these details are significant, but can offer no theory of their meaning.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – La Nascita Sensazionale di Venere (1995)

La Nascita Sensazionale di Venere (The Sensational Birth of Venus) is Mantovani’s version of a theme popular with Renaissance painters. In mythology, Venus is said to be born from the foam of the sea, and usually a humanoid mother is not involved, as in this painting. Above Venus is a honeycomb shaped like a heart. This “Wax Heart” is the subject of another painting (Il Cuore di Cera) by Mantovani. He often includes in his works allusions to other of his paintings.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – Il Paletot Rosso (2006)

Il Paletot Rosso (The Red Coat) is the least surreal of the paintings in this post, yet it still evokes the feeling that there is more than meets the eye. The girl sits ten kilometers from Ferrara, in the Italian province where Mantovani was born. The cat in the lower right is frequently seen in Mantovani’s paintings. This painting is the first to be featured on the artist’s web page.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – Paesaggio Eroico (2008)

Paesaggio Eroico (Heroic Landscape) depicts the artist when he was ten years old, admired by two girls from a previous painting. The girl on the left is also in L’apoteosi di Pinocchia and other paintings. The details in the background are also from other Mantovani paintings. Note La Nascita Sensazionale di Venere above and slightly left of Pinocchia’s head.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – Cupida (2010)

Cupida (the feminine of Cupid) is Mantovani’s version of Amor Vincit Omnia (Love conquers all, from Virgil) painted in 1602 by Caravaggio. In the painting by Caravaggio, Cupid is portrayed as a boy. Cupid traditionally is a boy, but Mantovani puts more emphasis on girls in his art. This is especially true of his nudes. Look at the paintings on the artist’s web page; you will see many female nudes, but all male figures are clothed.

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – La Sacra Famiglia (2012)

La Sacra Famiglia (The Holy Family) has the appearance of traditional paintings of the Holy Family. Even without the title and the halos, the pose and general background, and the multitude coming to adore them would have brought to mind paintings of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Mantovani spent much of his childhood in a Catholic orphanage and boarding school, and it shows in his painting. In this painting however, the child is a girl, and the family is dressed in modern clothing. They also have a dog. None of these details would be accurate for the actual Holy Family. Behind them and to the left is another family of a woman and two children, all with halos. Who are they?

Adelchi Riccardo Mantovani – La Vendetta della Strega (2013)

La Vendetta della Strega (The Witch’s Revenge) is the last painting in this article. when I first saw this painting, I had the idea that the girl was floating in the sky, and appeared bigger than the buildings because she was closer to the observer. Then I noticed that one foot is on the ground behind a tree. The girl is a giant; she really is many times bigger than the trees and buildings. Except for the pentacles on the hem of her skirt, there is nothing to indicate she is a witch. It is a mystery, at least to me, for what she is exacting revenge.

Allan O’Marra

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Allan O’Marra grew up in Bancroft, Ontario, and his art often features the natural beauty of central Ontario. He is an artist, an art teacher, and a psychotherapist. As a painter, his work includes both realistic and abstract images. O’Marra paints portraits, figures, landscapes, and still-life. According to the artist, he is “Aiming always to reflect the wonder of existence in all its beauty and complexities.”

Allan O’Marra – Sweet Thing (1979)

O’Marra began exhibiting his paintings in 1971. The first of ten paintings included in this article is Sweet Thing (1979). It is a relatively early work, but O’Marra has already mastered the realistic style. The lake in the background is typical of O’Marra, he often paints aquatic scenes.

Allan O’Marra – Aphrodite’s Child (1981)

Aphrodite’s Child (1981) is another figure of a girl at a lake; this one a nude. Most of his figures are clothed, but a few are nude.

Allan O’Marra – After the Swim (2005)

Allan O’Marra – We All Need Our Heroes (2011)

The next two paintings are After the Swim and We All Need Our Heroes. I have not been able to determine who the models are for these paintings. They have the feeling of O’Marra’s paintings of his own family.

Allan O’Marra – Naturists in a Grotto (2015)

Naturists in a Grotto shows a group of seven naturists, including both males and females, young and mature. O’Marra wrote, “This painting is from a series that I am working on that celebrates my fascination with the idea of family naturism—working from reference images found on naturist websites across the globe.” By using reference images from naturist web sites rather than his relatives or other live models, he had access to plenty of images of people of both sexes and all ages. In Naturists in a Grotto, six of the seven figures are female, and three are adolescent girls. Were young girls given prominence because, in O’Marra’s artistic judgement, they are most aesthetically pleasing?

Allan O’Marra – Sisters (2019)

Allan O’Marra – Ashlyn —Swimming in the Rain (2019)

I find Sisters appealing for the sisterly affection evident in the two girls. Ashlyn—Swimming in the Rain was inspired by the time the artist took his great niece swimming, and it started to rain.

Allan O’Marra – April (my granddaughter) (2021)

Allan O’Marra – Granddaughters (2021)

Allan O’Marra – Rayvin on the Fence (2021)

The last three paintings are some of O’Marra’s more recent work, and feature his family members. Allan O’Marra’s web page is here.

Public Sculpture of Girls in Japan

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Pigtails has already posted two articles about Japanese public sculpture. You can read the post about The Little Girl With Red Shoes On, and Beatrice. Many other statues of girls are in public places in Japan. It seems to me that there is a greater interest in Japan for young girl art than in most countries. Note the number of Japanese artists listed in the ‘Pipeline’ on Pigtails in Paint. My subjective impression, acquired from image searches, is that the percentage of public statues that feature young girls is greater in Japan than in other countries. Many of these sculptures can be seen on the internet with information about where the statue is located, but no other information about the statue. This article will briefly look at ten Japanese public sculptures.

Hiroshi Takahashi, Yasushi Horikawa, and Minoru Furushima – Love, a Family of Five (1) (no date)

Hiroshi Takahashi, Yasushi Horikawa, and Minoru Furushima – Love, a Family of Five (2) (no date)

The first statue group is one of the two in this article whose artist is known to me. It is Love, Family of Five, a collaboration of three artists: Hiroshi Takahashi,Yasushi Horikawa,and Minoru Furushima. Love, Family of Five is in Hisaya Odori Park in the city of Nagoya. Many statues of nude women are in the park, but as far as I know, Love, Family of Five is the only one with young girls.

artist unknown – Statue at Sunpu Castle (no date)

The next statue is in the moat at Sunpu Castle, Shizuoka City. The military base at Sunpu Castle closed in 1949, and the castle was converted to a tourist attraction. I could not find the name of the artist who created this statue. The date is also unknown, but is probably after 1949. Two things about this statue of a girl with a hand puppet are unusual. First, the figure is cut off at mid-thigh. Second, the puppet is painted, but the girl is not.

Churyo Sato – Girl (1) (no date)

Churyo Sato – Girl (2) (no date)

Churyo Sato – Girl (3) (no date)

The next statue is simply titled Girl. One edition of this statue is outside the Ebetsu City Waterworks Government Building. Another is at the Yokohama train station east exit. If the Japanese like a sculpture, it is common to have multiple copies on public display in different places. The artist is Churyo Sato, one of the greatest 20th century Japanese sculptors. Sato began his career as an artist in 1934, and continued working until his death in 2011 at age 98. Girl has a simple pose; the aesthetic appeal is primarily the natural beauty of the model. Look closely and you will notice something peculiar. From the front Girl may at first appear to be nude, but is actually wearing a close-fitting leotard. From the back, she definitely seems to be nude.

artist unknown – Setsuko Yokokawa (after 1988)

Setsuko at Manchidani Cemetery in Nishinomiya City is the strangest girl statue in Japan. Many believe that it is haunted. The statue is based on the character Setsuko from the 1988 animated movie Grave of the Fireflies. The movie tells the story of a brother and sister in the final months of World War II. Setsuko dies in the movie, which has been acclaimed as one of the most persuasive anti-war movies. After this statue was made, weird stories began to circulate about it. It was said that a boy broke an ear from the rabbit next to the girl, and afterwards the boy broke his leg. Mysterious lights have been rumored to flicker around Setsuko at night.

artist unknown – Green Wind (1) (no date)

artist unknown – Green Wind (2) (no date)

artist unknown – Green Wind (3) (no date)

Setsuko, like many girls in Japanese anime, wears a short skirt. This Japanese vogue for miniskirts is noticeable in Japanese statuary as well as in cartoons. This is shown in the next four statues. Green Wind stands near the Sumida river in Tokyo. Another copy of Green Wind can be seen near the ticket gate at Shinjo Station. I was not able to track down the name of the sculptor or the date for Green Wind, or for the next statue, Eternal Girl. The large characters on the base of the statue are the title, Eternal Girl. The smaller characters below may be the name of the sculptor, but I was not able to read them. Eternal Girl is in the Chiyoda section of Tokyo.

artist unknown – Eternal Girl (1) (no date)

artist unknown – Eternal Girl (2) (no date)

A statue of a girl in Iwamizawa Central Park on the island of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands, is shown next. I do not know the name of the statue, or the name of the sculptor. Several photos of the statue are online, but apparently the title and artist are not considered important enough to mention. Standing Girl is a title I made for the captions. The title for the following statue, of a girl playing a flute, was also not given on line, but it can be read on the base of the statue. According to Google Translate, 人間 means “human” or “human being”. It is an accurate title, but very general. Human is near Nusamai Bridge, Kushiro City, Japan.

artist unknown – Standing Girl (1) (no date)

artist unknown – Standing Girl (2) (no date)

artist unknown – Human (1) (no date)

artist unknown – Human (2) (no date)

artist unknown – Human (3) (no date)

The Girl Scout Statue in Yamashita Park, Yokohama is a grouping of three girl scouts intended to symbolize the friendship between the Girl Scouts of Japan and United States of America. It is near The Little Girl With Red Shoes statue. Eleven-year-old American Girl Scout Libby Watson and seventeen-year-old Japanese Girl Scout Hiroko Tanaka were the models for the two girls saluting and shaking hands. Audrea Cox was the model for the younger girl near them.

artist unknown – Girl Scout Statue (1962)

The last sculpture in this post is in a public park in Tokyo. Pictures of the statue are available online, but I have not been able to discover the name of the statue or of the sculptor. Statements have been made in Japanese forums that the statue is not really suitable for display around children because of the detailed representation of the girl’s vulva.

artist unknown – Nude Girl (1) (no date)

artist unknown – Nude Girl (2) (no date)

Eliseu Visconti

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Eliseu Visconti was born in Italy in 1866. The Visconti family moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil before Eliseu was ten years old. Visconti studied at the São Paulo School of Arts and Crafts and at the Brazilian Imperial Academy. In 1888 he was awarded a gold medal by the Academy. He went to Paris to study art at the French schools in 1893. Eugène Grasset, a pioneer of the Art Nouveau movement, was one of Visconti’s teachers. Eliseu Visconti introduced Art Nouveau to Brazil.

After returning to Brazil, Visconti was made a professor of painting at the Escola Nacional de Belas Artes. He was in Europe again in 1913 to 1920, and during that time he painted the foyer paintings for the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, and shipped them back to Brazil. Young girls are the subject of many of Visconti’s art. Ten examples are included in this article. Images in this post are from The Eliseu Visconti Project site, where a more comprehensive collection of Visconti’s art, and his biography may be seen.

Eliseu Visconti – Nu de Pé (1892)

Nu de Pé (Standing Nude) was painted in 1892. It is the earliest Visconti painting in this post, and by comparing it with later paintings we can see how the artist progressed. The face is not as expressive as in later paintings; she looks as if she is bored by posing. Her left hand looks large and masculine, almost as if it is another person’s hand.

Eliseu Visconti – No Verão ou Menina com Ventarola (1893)

No Verão ou Menina com Ventarola (In the Summer or Girl with a Fan) was painted in 1893. Like the previous image, Visconti painted it in Paris. The girl’s expression seems more relaxed, and to me this painting seems more natural than Nu de Pé.

Eliseu Visconti – As Duas Irmãs ou No Verão (1894)

As Duas Irmãs ou No Verão (The Two Sisters or In the Summer) is similar to Menina com Ventarola. Look at the bedposts in the background of Menina com Ventarola and you will see that she is on the same bed as As Duas Irmãs. Both paintings have the same alternate title, No Verão.

Eliseu Visconti – Oréades preliminary drawing (1899)

A preliminary drawing and a finished painting for Oréades (Forest Nymphs) are shown. When I first saw Oréades, I thought it was a painting of seven adolescent girls. I saw six girls in flimsy diaphanous garments that left their bodies visible, and one nude but draped with a ribbon that concealed the figure’s right breast and pubic area. According to The Eliseu Visconti Project, the nude figure with the ribbon is actually a shepherd boy dancing with six nymphs. In the preliminary drawing for Oréades, it can be seen that the effeminate appearing shepherd was modeled by an adolescent girl.

Eliseu Visconti – Oréades (1899)

After Visconti returned to Brazil, he organized an exhibition of his work at the National School of Fine Arts in 1901. The study for the cover of the exhibition catalog is typical Art Nouveau. The four nude girls are growing from, and part of a thorny vine. It is to me a very intriguing image. I would have liked to see a full color painting of this work.

Eliseu Visconti – As artes – Estudo para a Capa do Catálogo da Exposição de 1901 (1901)

Primavera (Spring) is another painting with an expressive face. Note that the face is darker than the rest of the body. Is the model blushing because she is shy? That would fit the expression on her face. It could also be that only her face is tanned because she is normally fully dressed when she is out in the sun. As in many Visconti paintings, the main figure is shown in greater detail than the background.

Eliseu Visconti – Primavera (circa1912)

Female Figure Study and Female Figures – Study for the Arcades are both drawings for the murals that Visconti would paint for the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. The painting based on Female Figure Study was apparently destroyed when the arcades of the concert hall were renovated in 1934.

Eliseu Visconti – Female Figure Study (1913)

Eliseu Visconti – Female Figures – Study for the Arcades (1913)

Olhar de Menina (The Girl’s Look) is the only clothed portrait of a girl included in this article, but Visconti painted many such portraits of girls over his career. Olhar de Menina is one of Visconti’s later paintings. It was painted about 1935, and Visconti died in 1944.

Eliseu Visconti – Olhar de Menina (circa1935)

Natalia Rak’s Big Paintings

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Natalia Rak is a contemporary Polish painter, born in 1986, and studied art at University of Lodz. Rak is famous for her very big paintings on the exterior walls of buildings. Women and girls are common subjects of her paintings. In a 2016 interview for The Forest Magazine, Natalia Rak said, “I am a woman and I think I do understand women, even though we are complicated creatures. It is easier to portray affection through a subtle female body and face, than through a male … when I paint children there are no such issues when selecting gender.” Rak acknowledged in the same interview that there are difficulties, and even danger in painting high buildings, especially in bad weather. Nevertheless she seems to enjoy art, and is appreciative of the opportunities to travel that she gets because of her painting.

Natalia Rak – Legend of Giants (2013)

Legend of Giants, also known as Girl with a Watering Can, is Natalia Rak’s most famous painting. Rak said that Legend of Giants is “my dearest, and at the same time, most cursed work. … This mural has somehow confined me in specific areas, which I can not free myself from. Everyone would like to have a little girl on the wall, but I do not want to paint cute little children for the rest of my life.” Legend of Giants is on a building in Białysok, Poland. It shows a girl in traditional Polish dress apparently watering a tree growing in front of the building.

Anonymous – Natalia Rak at Work in Italy (2014)

Although Rak does not want to confine her art to depictions of cute girls, she acknowledges that paintings of girls are popular, and she has created several. All six of the murals featured in this post include girls.

Natalia Rak – Explore Nature (2014)

Explore Nature is a painting of a girl using a magnifying glass to observe a ladybug beetle. Rak painted it on a building in Terracina, Italy for the Festival Memorie Urbane in 2014.

Natalia Rak – Magic Book (2014)

Magic Book was painted in the same year, 2014, for the Art Scrape Festival in Malmo, Sweden. I was surprised to read that Rak took “several days” to paint Magic Book. Given the size of the painting, I would have thought that the painting would have taken weeks rather than days. A cherry picker was used to allow the artist to paint high on the building.

Natalia Rak – Love is in the Air (2015)

The next two paintings are both from the year 2015. Love is in the Air is in Duneden, New Zealand. It is the only Rak painting I have seen in which a word spoken by a character is painted. Adventure Time is in Providence, Rhode Island. It reminds me of Magic Book, in both paintings a girl in darkness opens something to discover a fantasy world.

Natalia Rak – Adventure Time (2015)

Countryside Girl is an ordinary girl with no element of fantasy, but like Rak’s other paintings, it demonstrates the artist’s wonderful ability to capture a facial expression. Countryside Girl is in Montreal, Quebec.

Natalia Rak -Countryside Girl (2016)

Natalia Rak’s web page is here, and her Behance page is here.

Speer’s Khoikhoi Girls

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Speer – Young Hottentot Girls (circa1910)

This photo appears in at least two early 20th century books: Das Weib bei den Naturvolkern : eine Kulturgeschichte der Primitiven Frau by Ferdinand Freiherr von Reitzenstein (c1928), and Woman : an Historical, Gynæcological and Anthropological Compendium by Hermann Heinrich Ploss, Maximilian Bartels,Paul Bartels, and Eric John Dingwall (1935). The second book, by Ploss et al, is based on Das Weib in der Natur- und Völkerkunde : Anthropologische Studien by Dr. H. Ploss (1885), but the photo of the Khoikhoi girls is not in the 1885 book. It should be noted that for all of these books, not all editions have the same photographs.

The first book is in German, and the second is in English. Captions in both German and English identify the girls as “Hottentots”. In researching the background of this photo I read that many today consider the term Hottentot to be derogatory, and prefer the term Khoikhoi. Therefore I used Khoikhoi in the title of this article, but for the sake of historical accuracy I have retained Hottentot in the caption. In America the Khoikhoi would be considered Black, but they are racially distinct from other Black people in Africa.

Ploss et al and the Baron von Reitzenstein both attribute the photograph to Speer. Neither book contains any more information about Speer. Ploss has another photograph from Speer, of the girl on the left in the photo in this article. In that photo the girl is posed to focus attention on her genitals, and I did not think that photo would be acceptable for Pigtails. I do not know if Speer took any more photos in addition to those two. The photos may be from a book by Emil Speer, Zur Erinnerung an meine Dienstzeit beim Pferdedepot Sud S.W. Afrika Weihnachten 1911. Apparently Emil Speer was in the military in what was then German Southwest Africa and could be the Speer who took this photograph. I have not seen the book, so I do not know if it truly is the source of the photos. The homeland of the Khoikhoi includes Namibia, formerly German Southwest Africa.

The photo may be considered an anthropological contrivance, but it is definitely posed for an aesthetic purpose. From what I have seen of books from the early 20th century, nude photographs were more respectable then, and may not have needed a contrivance.