I love this bawdy painting that hangs in the Golden Horseshoe saloon; I have no info on who painted it, but I am happy to report that it still hangs above the bar. Something makes me think that at one time this lady was completely nude, but then painted over at some point for modesty's sake. Just a theory. Either way, the frame has changed since the 1977 photo was taken.
Things are dead over at the French Market; must be too early for lunch!
Here's a comparison shot from October 2007:
Over at Cristal D'Orleans, the doors are open and ready for biz.
Zooming in to see the wares in the window:
See more vintage & current New Orleans Square photos at my main website.
I think you're right about the "modesty gauze" placed over the painting. The image on screen suggests there's a lot of anatomy under all that fluffy white, but I'm wondering if it's real or my eyes are playing tricks on me.
ReplyDeleteI have a post coming up in a couple of days that features that same painting! Your photo is clearer though.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a structure has been added to the roof of the French Market at some point. Office space? An air conditioning unit?
ReplyDeleteIt just occurred to me how much the lady... uh... person in the painting looks like Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind... this isn't a prop from that movie, is it?
ReplyDeleteProbably AC on the roof, or cooking hood make-up tempering. There have been some code changes in that area over the years.
ReplyDeleteThe painting is cool. As noted above, a lotta anatomy to cover, but covered it must be. Feels like that gauze was added and not part of the original composition.
A side-by-side with the saloon painting from the Pirates Grotto would be interesting too. I think that model was supposed to be the redhead babe from the Wife Auction in the upcoming scene.
JG
Just hanging around today, Dave.....so I've gone back to this post and was just now noticing that the Golden Horseshoe painting has been cropped! Her foot has been cut off and so has part of the tiger's ear. Maybe it happened when they changed frames? I wonder why they would do that? You'd think they could make a new frame to custom fit the original size of the painting. Weird!
ReplyDeleteChris - I also wondered if it was even the original still or a print of it. I hope they didn't cut down an original canvas!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I've never noticed that painting before!
ReplyDeleteIt's a bit of a coincidence that I read this post about a week ago and then decided to watch the 1963 film Summer Magic tonight. There's a scene where Burl Ives' character is looking at portraits and the first one looks almost exactly like the one in the Golden Horseshoe. It looks a bit smaller than that one, but I compared them and the only visible difference I can see is in the way part of the curtain drapes in the middle. Would they use an actual prop or was this at one time a common painting?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to check out Summer Magic; don't know the answer to your questions, but that sure would be cool if it was used in that movie.
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