Graf St. Genois d'Anneaucourt: Body as Commodity
Location
Library 3104
Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
11-5-2026 6:10 PM
End Date
11-5-2026 7:10 PM
Description
Painted in 1927 by German artist Christian Schad, Graf St. Genois d’Anneaucourt stages what the Centre Pompidou has described as a “glacial ménage-à-trois,” a carefully arranged triangle of erotic tension composed of a former aristocrat, a baroness, and a cross-dressing performer. Although the scene evokes an air of promiscuity often associated with the culture of Weimar Republic nightlife, it is defined less by intimacy than by the curious absence of it. The three figures, while in close and seemingly comfortable quarters, remain psychologically and visually disconnected, failing to engage in reciprocal gaze. The only shared line of sight is directed outward: the central male figure looks beyond the pictorial plane to meet that of the viewer. In disrupting the network of internal looking, Schad redirects attention away from the interpersonal relationships of his sitters and toward the circumstances of their display. The figures then appear less as willing participants of an authentic encounter than as conscientiously staged bodies, situated to be seen. Akin to mannequins in a shop window, their uncanny dispositions raises the question: for whom and to what end are they on display?
Faculty Sponsor: David Ouellette
Graf St. Genois d'Anneaucourt: Body as Commodity
Library 3104
Painted in 1927 by German artist Christian Schad, Graf St. Genois d’Anneaucourt stages what the Centre Pompidou has described as a “glacial ménage-à-trois,” a carefully arranged triangle of erotic tension composed of a former aristocrat, a baroness, and a cross-dressing performer. Although the scene evokes an air of promiscuity often associated with the culture of Weimar Republic nightlife, it is defined less by intimacy than by the curious absence of it. The three figures, while in close and seemingly comfortable quarters, remain psychologically and visually disconnected, failing to engage in reciprocal gaze. The only shared line of sight is directed outward: the central male figure looks beyond the pictorial plane to meet that of the viewer. In disrupting the network of internal looking, Schad redirects attention away from the interpersonal relationships of his sitters and toward the circumstances of their display. The figures then appear less as willing participants of an authentic encounter than as conscientiously staged bodies, situated to be seen. Akin to mannequins in a shop window, their uncanny dispositions raises the question: for whom and to what end are they on display?
Faculty Sponsor: David Ouellette
https://dc.cod.edu/srs/2026/schedule/5