"Colourfully painted 1" (2008) by Hubert Schmalix

"Colourfully painted 1" (2008) by Hubert Schmalix. Gouache auf Karton, 50 x 38 cm. Courtesy.

The Austrian-born artist Hubert Schmalix lives in Los Angeles. Raised in an Italian section of Graz, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Often grouped with Austria's so-called "Wild Painters" (he was included in Aperto at the 1980 Venice Biennale and "New Art 1983" at London's Tate Gallery), over the years Schmalix has tempered somewhat his expressive ways without losing his pictorial vigor. (source)

Saint Mary's Cathedral (1971) by Pier Luigi Nervi

Photo credit: alsuga.

Photo credit: artolog / Art Siegel.

Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco was designed by architect Pier Luigi Nervi in 1971.

The cathedral's striking design flows from the geometric principle of the hyperbolic paraboloid, in which the structure curves upward in graceful lines from the four comers meeting in a cross.

At 2:00 pm every day, a shadow of what appears to be a large female breast is cast on the Cathedral. This phenomena is affectionately known as the "two o'clock tittie" by students.

Others suggest that St. Mary's needs be viewed from the Southwest in the midmorning. Alamo Square is a good viewing location, and depending on the season, sometime between 9 and 10 in the morning is the appropriate time.

The outline of the breast is believed to resemble the breast of the chrome woman who reclines on so many truckers' mudflaps.

Urban legend has it that the Catholic Church sued the architect over the appearance of the breast, claiming that the appearance of a naked breast on the side of a cathedral somehow mocks the Church, which is reputed for being uptight about sexuality. However, extensive research shows no evidence that the church ever filed suit against Nervi or even threatened to.

Sources: Pigdog Journal (The Nekkid Truth) and puppiesandflowers.com.

Thanks to Brick for pointing me to this story.

"The Bathers" (1858) by Gustave Courbet

"The Bathers" (1858) by Gustave Courbet, Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay, Paris. Photo: René Lewandowski.

Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet (10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realist movement in 19th-century French painting.

Best known as an innovator in Realism (and credited with coining the term), Courbet was a painter of figurative compositions, landscapes and seascapes. He also worked with social issues, and addressed peasantry and the grave working conditions of the poor. His work belonged neither to the predominant Romantic nor Neoclassical schools. Rather, Courbet believed the Realist artist's mission was the pursuit of truth, which would help erase social contradictions and imbalances.

For Courbet realism dealt not with the perfection of line and form, but entailed spontaneous and rough handling of paint, suggesting direct observation by the artist while portraying the irregularities in nature. He depicted the harshness in life, and in so doing, challenged contemporary academic ideas of art, which brought the criticism that he deliberately adopted a cult of ugliness.

His work, along with the works of Honoré Daumier and Jean-François Millet, became known as Realism.

Towards the end of the 1860s, Courbet painted a series of increasingly erotic works such as Femme nue couchée. This culminated in The Origin of the World (L'Origine du monde) (1866), depicting female genitalia, and The Sleepers (1866), featuring two women in bed. While banned from public display, the works only served to increase his notoriety.

Painting (1980) by Wayne Coyne

WORLD EXCLUSIVE: a color reproduction of an early painting by Wayne Coyne, singer of the Flaming Lips! Do click on the image for a larger version.

I blogged about a black and white reproduction of this painting in a book I'm reading, and an Art Boobs reader ("KILLER blog, by the way -- one of my favorite subjects!") kindly supplied me with the above color reproduction.

From wikipedia: Wayne Michael Coyne (born January 13, 1961) is the lead singer, guitarist, and principal songwriter for the band The Flaming Lips.

Wayne Coyne was born on January 13, 1961, the fifth of six children of Thomas and Dolores Coyne. Relatively uninterested in school, Coyne preferred music, painting, and football to his assignments. His brothers, and other friends played in a backyard football team named the "Fearless Freaks." He continued making art for many years, and designed many of the early graphics for The Flaming Lips himself (in recent times, he has also provided the artwork for both Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and At War with the Mystics).

Coyne worked as a fry cook at a Long John Silver's restaurant for 11 years, and was awarded a special badge to honor his service. Although he had been toying with an acoustic guitar since he was fourteen, it was this job which enabled him to purchase an electric guitar, a Les Paul, which he did after eight months of employment. Wayne was a senior in high school at the time.

Coyne formed the Flaming Lips in 1983 with brother Mark singing lead and Michael Ivins on bass guitar. Mark later left the band, and Wayne assumed vocal duties.

During large-crowd festival performances, Wayne makes his entrance by descending from space in a bubble, and floating across the audience to the stage. Coyne has also been known to pour fake blood down his face via a hidden tube during live shows, usually during the track "The Spark that Bled" which features lyrics about cutting yourself on the head without realizing it.

This painting is reproduced in black and white at page 12 of "Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips" by Jim Derogatis:

Painting by Frank Frazetta

Painting by Frank Frazetta. Source.

Wayne [Coyne of Flaming Lips] still spent hours painting, sometimes creating surreal fantasy scenes in the style of Frank Frazetta -- "You'll see some of the girls in those paintings with long black hair that look just like me, except he always drew gigantic boobs on them," Hali [his former girlfriend circa 1980] said [..].

From a book I'm reading now: Staring at Sound: The True Story of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips by Jim Derogatis (p. 13). There's a reproduction of one of those Frank Frazetta-inspired paintings on the same page as well. Please leave a comment if you want me to scan it.

Highly recommended - the Flaming Lips story is very inspirational:

Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) is an American fantasy and science fiction artist. He is one of the most emulated artists of these genres in the world.

"Bathsheba" (1654) by Willem Drost

"Bathsheba" (1654) by Willem Drost. Oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre, Paris

"The king, while walking on the roof of his house, saw Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, taking a bath. He immediately desired her. David then committed adultery with her and she conceived."

"Around 1650, Willem Drost became a student of Rembrandt, eventually developing a close working relationship, painting history scenes, biblical compositions, symbolic studies of a solitary figure, as well as portraits. As a student, his 1654 painting titled Bathsheba was inspired by Rembrandt's painting done in the same year on the same subject and given the same title. This was a common practice at the time and even a few hundred years later, other artists such as Paul Cézanne did a painting titled Bathsheba. Both Drost’s and Rembrandt’s masterpieces were acquired by the Louvre in Paris."

"Sexuality" (2008) by Sébastien Tellier

"Sexuality" (2008) by Sébastien Tellier

2008 album from the French vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, produced by Manuel de Homem-Christo from Daft Punk. Sexuality is Sebastien Tellier’s third studio album and, like his previous records, Sexuality combines electro with lush strings and atmospherics. Features the first single ‘Sexual Sportswear’, Lucky Number.

"Samson and Delilah" (1609) by Peter Paul Rubens

"Samson and Delilah" (1609) by Peter Paul Rubens. Oil on wood, 185 x 205 cm. National Gallery, London

Samson then falls in love with a woman, Delilah. The Philistines approach Delilah and induce her (with 1100 silver coins each) to try to find the secret of Samson's strength. Samson obviously does not want to tell the secret, so at first he teases her, telling her that he can be bound with fresh bowstrings. She does so while he sleeps, but when he wakes up he snaps the strings. She persists, and he tells her he can be bound with new ropes. She binds him with new ropes while he sleeps, and he snaps them, too. She asks again, and he says he can be bound if his locks are woven together. She weaves them together, but he undoes them when he wakes. Eventually Samson tells Delilah that he will lose his strength with the loss of his hair. Delilah calls for a servant to shave Samson's seven locks, which causes her boobs to fall out of her dress. Since that breaks the Nazarite oath, God leaves him, and Samson is captured by the Philistines. They burn out his eyes by holding a hot poker near them. After being blinded, Samson is brought to Gaza, imprisoned, and put to work grinding grain. (source)

"Saline Solution" by Peregrine Honig

"Saline Solution" by Peregrine Honig. mixed media on paper. 10" x 12".

b. 1976, San Francisco, CA.

Source.

"Rachel Love Redux" (2007) by Eddie Ostrowski

"Rachel Love Redux" (2007) by Eddie Ostrowski.

Eddie Ostrowski - Boudoir & glamour photographer from San Jose, California. This photo is from his "fine art nudes" set on Flickr.