Henri Fantin-Latour, French
Carla, Idly Wondering If Breaking a Canvas Over a Competitor’s Head Is Grounds For Disqualification From the Art Contest, 1879
Oil on canvas
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/// She had hated Hélène from the start.
Always acting so prim and so smart.
“For the contest, I’ll shred
canvas over her head,
and then say it is ”Performance Art.”
/// Once her husband had called Hélène “fetching,”
so she brained him with plates used for etching.
Now his head and his spine
can no longer align.
(He just posed for the bust Hélène’s sketching.)
/// In her workshop, she taught girls to draw,
so the sketch looked much like what they saw.
But her rule in this class:
They must never surpass
her, their teacher. An unwritten law.
/// Madame thinks it’s the bitterest pill,
to “teach” someone with effortless skill.
And Hélène is so zealous;
she’d make anyone jealous.
Madame’s pose is called “If looks could kill.”
/// Over time, Madame slowly deduced
ways of getting a less lethal boost.
She would use her position,
(for a hefty commission),
to sell all artwork Hélène produced.