Here’s a little cultural curiosity that I can’t quite figure:
Some random Bozeman blogger turned me on to the contemporary artist Jack Vettriano (noted for his “noirish dramas with dashing men and glamorous women, all smoldering with underlying narrative”).
One of Vettriano’s better known pieces (though not a personal favorite) is called “Dance Me To The End Of Love”, below:
Dance Me To The End Of Love – Jack Vettriano (1998)
Painted in 1998, the title of this piece seems to draw from a Leonard Cohen track of the same name. A Holocaust-inspired love song (released on Cohen’s 1984 album “Various Positions”), “Dance Me to the End of Love” has a delightful music video, released in 1994:
Music video of Leonard Cohen’s Danse Me to the End of Love
Which, in turn, led me to notice this Vettriano: Model In White.
Compare to ~3:45 in the above.
Model in White – Jack Vettriano (1993)
The time-line here is interesting. Model in White was painted in 1993. The above video seems to make reference to this painting (or, at least the imagery is strikingly similar). Then, in 1998 Vettriano titles a painting after (or at least identically to) the 1984 song.
I’m not sure what’s so interesting about all of this, other than to observe that there may exist some reciprocal admiration between Jack Vettriano and Leonard Cohen.
And, it makes sense. Though working with completely different mediums, the two manage to evoke similar themes, moods and images (which, perhaps, I’ll attempt to describe later…).
If you decide to check out Jack Vettriano, put on some Leonard Cohen (perhaps even Various Positions). And enjoy. Here’s a well-written introduction to Vettriano (a review of his exhibition at the Portland Museum in 2005): http://th-inkwell.blogspot.com/2004/08/vettriano.html
