The Kreutzer Sonata (painting)

The Kreutzer Sonata (1901) is an oil painting on canvas by René-Xavier Prinet, inspired by Leo Tolstoy's 1889 novella of the same title, which was named after Beethoven's violin and piano composition dedicated to Rudolph Kreutzer.

The Kreutzer Sonata (painting)
ArtistRené-Xavier Prinet
Year1901
MediumOil painting on canvas
Dimensions116.8 cm × 104.1 cm (46.0 in × 41.0 in)

It depicts a female pianist, dressed in a golden gown, who is pulled up from her stool by a male violinist, who embraces her with one hand around her waist while they kiss. It was first exhibited at Paris, Salon in 1901, and then in Munich and Stuttgart.

The painting was later used to advertise the perfume Tabu by Dana, and may possibly have been the inspiration of a scene in Raj Kapoor's 1949 film Barsaat and subsequently his R. K. logo.

Background

The Kreutzer Sonata is an oil painting on canvas by René-Xavier Prinet,[1] who was inspired by Leo Tolstoy's 1889 novella of the same name, the title of which is based on Beethoven's violin and piano composition dedicated to Rudolph Kreutzer, a music piece renowned for its diverse emotions; intense anger, deep meditation, and extreme happiness.[2][3] The story portrays the murder of a wife by her husband, Pozdnyshev, who suspects her of being unfaithful with the violinist, Trukachevsky, after returning home and seeing them sitting at the dinner table.[3][4] The book was published in 1889, but was banned in Russia for a short while before it was released.[3]

Composition

The painting measures 116.8 by 104.1 cm.[1] It depicts a female pianist dressed in a golden gown, who is pulled up from her stool by a formally dressed male violinist, who holds her with his right hand around her waist.[3] His violin is held up in his left outstretched hand, while her fingers still just about touch the piano keys.[3] She is semi-upright in his embrace as they kiss.[3] They are the focus of the painting, with the surroundings blurred or empty.[1] A candle provides some illumination.[1]

Exhibition

It was first exhibited at Paris, Salon in 1901, where it was purchased by Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria.[1] It was also exhibited at Munich and Stuttgart.[1] In 1994, it was sold at Sotheby's, New York.[1]

Adaptations and responses

For decades from 1941, the painting was reproduced to promote the perfume Tabu; a "forbidden" fragrance, created in 1931.[1][5] It first appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country.[6] By 1961, the advert had appeared in publications nearly 4,000 times.[7] The New York Times described it as the advertising industry's "longest kiss".[8] Donald Eaton Carr wrote in his Forgotten senses (1972) that it was probably "the longest kiss in history".[9] People looked at the advertisement and assumed the company paying for it linked the embracing couple with the fragrance.[10] Some objected to the advertising slogans such as "stay away from Tabu if you can't accept its challenge".[10] In 1973, the advert appeared with female and male roles reversed.[3][11] Gershon Legman, in his Rationale of the Dirty Joke (2007), noted the use of the painting in the Tabu advertisement and described the pair's pose as "inspired by Tolstoy's shocked remarks about the 'eroticism' of Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata when played by a man and a woman".[12]

According to Rahul Rawail, it may possibly have been the inspiration of a scene in Raj Kapoor's 1949 film Barsaat.[13] The scene in turn inspired the R. K. logo by M. R. Acharekar, depicting Kapoor as the violinist, with the actress Nargis in his arms, and was in use by the time of release of Kapoor's film Awaara (1951).[13][14]

Adrian Daub questioned why the violin is positioned so far out, and why is the curtain behind them missing.[2] The violinist has also been described as "dishevelled",[15] and hairy.[12]

References
  1. "René François Xavier Prinet". Sotheby's.com. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  2. Daub, Adrian (2014). Four-handed Monsters: Four-hand Piano Playing and Nineteenth-century Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-19-998177-9. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. Moro, Pamela A. (2018). Violins: Local Meanings, Globalized Sounds. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-429-88719-2. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  4. Herman, David (1997). "Stricken by Infection: Art and Adultery in Anna Karenina and Kreutzer Sonata". Slavic Review. 56 (1): 15–36. doi:10.2307/2500653. ISSN 0037-6779. JSTOR 2500653. S2CID 164179315. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  5. "Tabu Loyal to Picture of Passion". The New York Times. 24 November 1961. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  6. Berrien, Edith Heal (1969). Beauty as a Career. J. Messner. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-671-32167-3. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  7. "Roller Painting". Design. 63 (1): 42–47. 1 September 1961. doi:10.1080/00119253.1961.10744152. ISSN 0011-9253. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  8. "Blame it on Tabu". Life Begins At... 15 June 2021. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  9. Carr, Donald E. (1972). The Forgotten Senses. p. 172. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  10. California Highway Patrolman. California Association of Highway Patrolmen. 1960. p. 27. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  11. Hill, Daniel Delis (2002). Advertising to the American Woman, 1900-1999. Ohio State University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8142-0890-8.
  12. Legman, G. (2007). Rationale of the Dirty Joke: An Analysis of Sexual Humor. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 599. ISBN 978-0-7432-9252-8. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  13. Rawail, Rahul (2021). "RK studios: a foundation for creativity". Raj Kapoor: The Master at Work. New Delhi: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-93-88630-18-4. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
  14. Chaudhuri, Diptakirti (2022). The Bollywood Pocketbook of Iconic Dates. Hachette India. p. 1949. ISBN 978-93-91028-34-3. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  15. Vries, Gerard de; Johnson, Donald Barton (2006). "5. Lolita and Audrey Beardsley". Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Painting. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. p. 60. ISBN 90-5356-790-9. Archived from the original on 16 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.

Further reading
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