Friday, September 16, 2011

Artist And Model

I was just watching Nightfall, a 1957 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur, screenplay by Stirling Silliphant.  Some of it was shot on the streets of LA--always fun to see old location shooting of places you know.

Early on Aldo Ray and Anne Bancroft meet in a bar.  They sit down at a table and get to know each other. She says she's a model (which is a plot point) and he says he's an artist.  She asks "soup cans or sunsets?"  She means commercial or museum artist.  But after Andy Warhol, the question sounds different.

In fact, it makes me wonder if Warhol ever saw this picture and got some ideas.  I believe he first displayed his soup cans in 1962, so the timing is right.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Commercial or museum-the only choices? Everything else is a debate between avant garde and flea markets?

12:43 AM, September 16, 2011  
Blogger LAGuy said...

That's the division set up by the film. I suppose you could argue if commercial art is "real" art, but if you're doing it to sell anything specifically that isn't the art itself, it does still seem to be a different category.

12:45 AM, September 16, 2011  
Blogger LAGuy said...

I should add I was reminded of Lill Tomlin's show where one of her characters is trying to explain to aliens how some Campbell's are soup while others are art. It tied up the show pretty well, actually.

12:48 AM, September 16, 2011  

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