Page 10-The Michigan Daily-- Friday, March 13,1992
Artists agree the king is a fruit
;1:4Kil 11
by Amy Meng
W ho was King Louis Philippe of
France? Was he just another crazed
autocrat who ruled with an iron
hand? With all of the different kings
and queens that ruled in France's
long history, it's easy to confuse one
Louis Philippe with another Jean
Pierre or Antoinette.
Actually, this Louis Philippe goes
all the way back to the 1830s -
from the end of the French Re-
volution through the Bourbon rule in
France. This was a time when great
anticipation and activity whirled
ihrough Paris with the advent of the
newly enthroned king's advent.
There was great controversy over
King Louis Philippe's credibility;
the French experienced anger and
disgust over Philippe's juste milieu,
or middle way, constitutional monar-
chic rule.
. With all of the complex social
And political circumstances of the
time, an urban culture full of confi-
dent and sophisticated bourgeoisie
became the perfect audience for the
new trend in high quality graphic art
-lithography accompanied by writ-
fen commentary which was dis-
played in Paris.
Frenchmen Charles Philippon
and Gabriel Aubert responded to the
country's happenings with La Cari-
cature, a witty political and social
journal/magazine filled with car-
toons and commentaries. The publi-
cation became a leader of the oppo-
sition.
Its writers included Balzac, Du-
rand Altaroche, and Philippone.
Among the artists were Bouquet,
Daumier, Grandville, and Travies de
Villers.
When Phillipon was arrested for
publishing four drawings of King
Louis Philippe's face depicted as a
pear or la poire, he launched the
fruit as the associated image of the
king.
The series of mostly black and
white lithographs at the University
Museum of Art revolves around this
pear image of King Louis Philippe.
The prints are successful in combin-
ing written text with visual material,
making very strong satirical state-
ments about the king.
The artwork, while comical, is
realistically rendered with great at-
tention to detail and three-dimen-
sional form. The use of cross-hatch-
ing and effective shadowing with
different values of light and dark
inks all create very clear spatial and
linear qualities within each individ-
ual print.
The prints portray everyone from
townfolk to politicians. The charac-
ters are dressed in ruffled-collar
dress shirts under long-tailed coats
with britches, or in military uniform
with knee-high boots, silken belts,
and intricately designed overcoats.
Facial expressions are often ex-
aggerated; they sometimes take on
the characteristics of animals such as
owls, monkeys, horses, and dogs.
The king is shown in one print as an
offering on a fruit platter with an at-
tached death wish. In another, he in-
dulges in feasts with the other ruling
statesmen. This contradicts the im-
ages of corruption and pollution that
are also included in the series.
Another illustration shows the
king as a jester juggling with the
symbols of liberty, the Charter, the
economy, votes, and public order.
The artists were able to capture
events in history with their litho-
graphs and successfully render the
mood during those turbulent times.
This series in the Museum of Art
pokes fun at King Louis Philippe.
The prints should be taken with a
grain of salt, but they do make one
wonder: what really did happen in
those times? Does history trace
events as objectively as we believe it
I, ,
.
TH EA . EC GRPC
Q4
the Universitye Muemo r
Louis Phili e 2
does? Are many instances deleted or
over-exaggerated to exploit the ru-
ler?
THE PEAR: FRENCH GRAPHIC
ARTS IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF
CARICATURE will be on display at
the University Museum of Art
through March 22nd.
Lou Reed
Magic and Loss
Sire
"I'm afraid that if I go to sleep
I'll never wake, I'll no longer
exist."
Thus intones Lou Reed in
"Magician," one of the finest songs
on his latest effort, Magic and Loss.
It's certainly a long way from
"Heroin," and the idea of a concept
album about death with titles like
"Goodby Mass: In a Chapel Bodily
Termination" sounds pretty preten-
tious. But when such ambition suc-
ceeds, the result is a great album.
Within the language Reed knows
- rock 'n' roll - he successfully
expresses profound, deeply moving
insights into the human soul.
Calling Magic and Loss rock,
however, almost belittles Reed's
achievement. It's rock with a slant
toward art, a fully unified work
that should be listened to in one
sitting, demanding complete at-
tention. This is rock with a deeper
appeal that makes it a fulfilling,
cathartic experience. When was the
last time your Pixies CD taught you
something about life?
But though it is a quiet, sparsely
orchestrated album - several songs
contain only Reed's voice and Mike
Rathke's guitar chords - it can
still be appreciated for its good rock
tunes. There's even two versions of a
song called "Power and Glory," one
that's subtle and sensitive, one
that's as hard-driving as "Vicious."
To ignore the depth and com-
plexity of Reed's lyrics would be to
miss half the achievement. The al-
bum was written in response to the
death of two of his friends, and his
insights are often painfully
eloquent. For someone who's just
had a friend die, Reed's observations
about chemotherapy and funerat
might be too real to bear.
Reed's been enjoying a kind o
renaissance since the release of hi
New" York album three years ag%'
With last year's Songs for Drel
and now Magic and Loss, the olg
man shows he's still got a lot to sar
- and he proves that serious rock
need not be a contradiction in terms
- Michael John WiLvA2
01
0
While other aged rockers fade away (or make Freejack), Lou Reed k
going with a seriously successful album, Magic and Loss.
who what where when
THE MICHIGAN DAILY 764-0552 I
SINCLAIR
Continued from page 8
talk to one of the Beatles ...' She
said, 'Well, we got round-trip tickets
that are paid for.'
I thought, 'Well, at least we'll get
a trip to New York. I don't really be-
lieve all this, but let's go see what
happens.' So ... at the airport, we
took a bus downtown, put a dime in
the phone ... and John Lennon an-
swered ... He said, 'Heyyy. I've
been waiting for you. Come on over
here. Let's work this out ...'
On Saturday night, Rick's regular
Duke Tomato will be up to his
usual tricks. At the Blind Pig (996-
8555) the same night, Blues Factory
records presents its 8th Annual St.
Patrick's Day Blues Festival, fea-
turing great local talent. Then on
Sunday, as usual, the open mic blues
jam will prove that University stu-
dents can jam the blues just as hard
JS: Our whole idea was to at least
create the illusion, if not the reality,
that there was a big support behind
this.
PA: After two-and-a-half years,
people drift on to other subjects in
their lives, and there wasn't a huge
interest in this, certainly not enough
without any talent for 15,000 people
to show up at a rally. At that time,
there weren't many concerts for
15,000 people. Crisler Arena had
only been, like, when I was Events
Director, Janis Joplin had been there.
I can't remember any others ... So it
was quite rare to fill a place like that
as the more mature area players.
A band's name is almost as im-
portant as the music it plays. You
want a name that makes people get
off their lazy asses and head down to
the nightclub. Like Hairy Reasoners
and tonight's entertainment at Cross
Street Station (551 W. Cross St.,
Ypsi, 485-5050) Pete Moss & the
Fun Guys.
So anyway, (Lennon and Ono)
gave their agreement ... We're get-
ting all of it arranged ... and the
phone rings, and it's Stevie Wonder.
I go, "Sure. John Lennon. Why not
Stevie Wonder?" ... So he said,
"Hey, I don't smoke any pot or any-
thing, but I'm against what they did
to this Sinclair guy, and if you want
me to be on the bill, I'd be glad to do
it."
Well, by that time, we had so
many people on the bill ... We had a
monstrous, long event. But fow do
you turn down Stevie Wonder? So
we said, "Let's make him a surprise
act." ... So, we picked up the
Lennons. Borrowed a couple of
Rolls Royces from a guy in Detroit.
Picked 'em up at the airport. Put 'em-
up in the Presidential Suite at the
Campus Inn. I thought that was kind
of funny.
If you don't feel like heading out
to Ypsi, check out Mad Hatters 4
Rick's (996-2747) tonight. Cur
rently one of New York's hotte
rock bands, the Hatters mix cove4
like the Allmans' "Blue Sky" an'a
Traffic's "Light Up or Leave Nye
Alone" with their own Littg
Feat/Phish-like originals.
wouldn't let me charge more tha
three bucks.
JS: It was my fault. (remorsefully)4
was one of the stupidest things I've
ever done.
PA: (laughs) That's right. Yoo
4
could've charged fifteen bucks, even
then. It would've sold out just as
quickly ...
MB: Do you think your release wa
a direct impact of the rally?
JS: It all had an effect. It all came
together. It had the desired effect o4
the legislature. Once Lennon was p
on this, it became the hugest news
imaginable. It wasn't even some-
body like Sting. He wasn't perfor--
ing any more. It was huge that he
was doing anything. And that hews
coming here for this scumbag, race
cal, dope fiend, convict just put it
over the top ...
TEN FOR TWO plays tonight at"8
p.m. (along with speakers John Sit'-
clair, Peter Andrews and Steve Gels-
hardt) at the Michigan Theater. Tid-
kets are $10 at the box office and
TicketMaster.
f T! n
The University of Michigan
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
0
*1
Ego it.
Sun. Mar.
15
16
17
Mon. Mar.
Tue. Mar.
Faculty Artists Concert
University Musical Society
Selections from the Edison Collection
with Karen Lykes, mezzo-soprano, and Jerry
DePuit, piano
Chopin: Sonata in G minor for Piano and
Cello, op. 65 with Erling Blndal
Bengtsson, cello, and Arthur Greene, piano
Mozart: Quintet in A Major for Clarinet and
Strings, K. 581 with Hamao Fujiwara,
violin; Paul Kantor, violin; Yizhak
Schotten, viola; Jerome Jelinek, cello; and
John Mohler, clarinet
Rackham Auditorium, 8 p.m.
Composers Forum
School of Music Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Guest Artist Recital
The Arizona State University
Percussion / Clarinet Duo
with Robert Spring and J.B. Smith
Music of Larsen, Stock, Mais, Taliaferro,
Schietroma and Smith
School of Music Recital Hall, 8 p.m.
Jazz Combos
Ed Sarath, director
North Campus Commons, 8 p.m.
MFA Dance Concert
Tickets: $5
Dance Building, Studio A, 8 p.m.
Symphony Band and
Concert Band
H. Robert Reynolds, Gary Lewis, and
Dennis Glocke, conductors
Hill Auditorium, 8 p.m.
Guest Artist Recital
Enrique Feldman, tuba
Unversity of Wisconsin - Madison
Music of Feldman, Schubert, Vaughan
Williams and Ritter George
McIntosh Theatre, 2 p.m.
MB: The
Campus Inn?
(snickers)
PA: The Presidential Suite. And the
show took place. Tickets sold so
quickly. They were only three dol-
lars. It's one of my regrets. They
'10
0I
God.
Thu. Mar. 19
Thu.
Mar.
- Sat.
19-21
Fri. Mar. 20
Sun. Mar. 22
Faculty Recital
I