Thank You for Smoking, Miss D.D.
Rohin Guha
July 24, 2008
Hey, remember that time when a bunch of prudes at London's Tate museum presented a Klimt collection with a silly caveat about how it may be unsuitable for minors to see the nudes in his work? The spirit of those prudes rages on in some scrappy, high-strung patrons in Wales -- but not for the same reasons. In fact, after being banned for 60 years, the Gerald Kelly painting is one of the standouts in the Newport gallery's "The Art of the Nude" show. Titled D.D., Kelly's painting features a young coquette posing confidently with a cigarette between her fingers. However, it's not the bare breasts of the painting that have artgoers up in arms, but the lone cigarette, which naturally makes the entire experience an R-rated affair. It's clear that instead of making a hot fuss over nothing, these patrons need to relax, perhaps smoke a few Benson & Hedges themselves, and reassess their handle on the word "art."
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