"How did I get myself roped into this?!"
The normally mellifluent voice of Eulalia Capillas was inflected with rage. She had just found out what everyone west of the Loire already knew. Currado Malaspina had published the Aquarelle Noirci - the fifteen notorious watercolors depicting what he calls "la béatitude de l'esclavage et la soumission."
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| L'Origine du Monde, Currado Malaspina 2003 |
As works of art, they are at best rather weak, but as a document of a louche look back at a more fervid, frenzied time in his life, these small pictures are nothing short of monumental. As most of my readers know, in the not too distant past my good friend Currado Malaspina collected mistresses and concubines with an avidity bordering on manic. To those who believe in a vengeful God, his current physical ailments and limitations would represent a fitting comeuppance. The Auquarelle Noirci seem to serve as a surrogate for a more corporeal fulfillment and as such deserve our indulgence if not our outright forgiveness.
Eulalia Capillas understandingly feels otherwise.
In the English language edition of this wonderfully designed folio (Salone Nuovo Press, Boston), Currado included half a dozen photographs that are both directly and indirectly connected to the drawings.
I suppose the one below hit a nerve.
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| Eulalia étendu, Currado Malaspina, 2002 |
