Artists - Part 67

Théodore Géricault

Théodore Géricault (1791-1824) was a French painter who was a pioneer in the Romantic movement in art.  Above, a self portrait, 1820.

He was fascinated by horses.  Above, The Charging Chasseur, 1812.  The Chasseurs were the Imperial guard of Napoleon.

Géricault is best known today for The Raft of the Medusa, 1819, above.  In 1816, the French ship Medusa was shipwrecked in Mauritania on the west coast of Africa.  150 passengers and crew tried to sail away in a hastily-constructed raft, but only 15 survived to be rescued, having endured starvation, dehydration, and cannibalism.  The incident, blamed on the incompetent French captain, became an international scandal and an embarrassment for the French government.  The painting drew political criticism when it was exhibited in Paris in 1819, but when Géricault showed it in London it was praised, and it established his reputation.  The painting is now in the Louvre in Paris.

Note the frontal nudity of the figure at left front (click to enlarge).  To its right, the face-down figure was modeled by another young French artist, Eugène Delacroix.

Géricault painted a large number of male nudes, and only a few female nudes.  Above, A Shipwreck, 1818.

Most of his male nudes were called studies, though they look like finished paintings.  Above, Study of a Nude Man, 1801, is now in the National Museum in Warsaw.

Study of a Nude Man, 1808-1812.  Many of Géricault's paintings are not precisely dated.

Study of a Nude Man, 1810-1820, shows a man pulling on a rope.  Two similar paintings of a nude man pulling on a rope were painted either by Géricault or by his followers.

Study of a Nude Man with Sword, 1814-1816.

Nude Warrior with a Spear, c. 1816.

Man Lying Down, c. 1820.

Academic Sketch of a Standing Nude Man, undated, is a beautifully finished painting, not just a sketch.

We end with Study of a Man, undated, showing a naked man holding some kind of club or weapon.  This is a good example of how the Romantic movement in art tried to show drama and emotion.

Géricault contracted tuberculosis when he was in his twenties.  His health deteriorated, and he died at age 32.

Beach Bums - Part 61

Playa Luna, Chile

The coastline of Chile is 4000 miles long, but it has only one official nude beach: Playa Luna in Puchuncavi, slightly north of Valparaiso.  A local nudist group named the beach and pushed for its official nude beach status, which was granted in 2000.  Above, an 11th anniversary celebration at the beach in 2011.  We looked at this beach last year, but it's worth another look.

The beach is actually located in a wildlife preserve.  It's very private because of cliffs at the back of the beach.  Above, the stairs that lead down to the beach.

On the beach, you can sunbathe ...

or bring a beach umbrella to avoid too much sun.

You can walk along the shore ...

or go in the water, but few people swim here because the Humboldt Current brings cold water from Antarctica up the coast of Chile.

Here we see the water starting to wash over the beach as the tide rises.

This guy has discovered that at high tide the beach is entirely underwater.

But he apparently found a way to occupy himself on the moss-covered rocks.

When it's not high tide, the beach is a pleasant place to stroll along the sand ...

or along the water's edge ...

or to just sit back and admire a view like this.  And the sunset is pretty, too.

Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 58

Japanese Penis Festival

The Kanamara Matsuri or Festival of the Steel Phallus is a festival held every spring in the city of Kawasaki, Japan.  It celebrates this legend:

There was once a sharp-toothed demon who fell in love with a beautiful girl.  When she decided to marry a man, the demon was jealous and inhabited her vagina the night before the wedding.  Then, on her wedding night, the demon bit off the penis of her husband.  The girl tried to get married again, and the demon bit off the penis of her second husband.  Finally, the girl went to a blacksmith, who forged a steel phallus for her to use as a dildo.  The demon broke his teeth on the steel phallus and he left the girl's vagina.

In celebration of this legend, there is a shrine in Kawasaki to the gods Kanayama-hiko and Kanayama-hima, who are gods of blacksmithing and metal works.  In the shrine is a giant black metal penis.  During the festival, men carry this black penis in a procession through the streets, above, led by a Shinto priest.

There is also a giant pink penis carried by transgender females that's more visible and gets more attention.

Other giant penises in Kawasaki include wooden ones, above ...

and another black metal one.

During the penis festival, vendors sell many things, including penis-shaped candles ...

and penis lollipops that you can lick ...

or suck.

These vendors are carving penises from vegetables.

This festival-goer has a penis nose ...

and this one has a penis hat.

Festival-goers don't actually show their own penises, but in 2012, Batman showed up in the crowd, wearing a g-string shaped like an erection ...

and otherwise almost naked.

People pray to the gods in the Shinto shrine for easy childbirth, marital harmony, and protection from sexually transmitted diseases.  The festival has become a tourist attraction, and it now raises money for HIV research.

World Naked Bike Ride - Part 67

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Olympics - Part 12d

2008 Beijing, part 4 of 4

We continue our coverage of the 2008 Olympics.  Australian diver Matthew Mitcham won a gold medal in the 2008 Olympics for the dive above, which got the highest score of any dive in Olympic history.  Four of the seven judges gave him a perfect 10.  Since then, one other dive has scored higher, but this is still the second-highest of all time.

Born in 1988, Matthew was 20 years old in the 2008 Olympics, and he was the first openly gay athlete to win Olympic gold.  I have enough photos and videos of him that I am devoting this last 2008 Olympics post entirely to Matthew Mitcham.

Here he is on what I am guessing was Valentine's Day.

Matthew has an OnlyFans page.

And he is unashamed.

Another shot by a pool.

Here he is on the beach.

This is Luke Rutherford, Matthew's porn star husband.  They got married in 2020.

We end with a clip from a video of Luke giving Matthew a massage ...

and the massage has a happy ending.

This is the last post for the 2008 Olympics.  Next time: the 2012 Olympics in London.