September Morn

The month came in mild but nevertheless young Nest here kindly agreed to pose for a feline version of the celebrated 1912 painting with the above title. Do take a look at it here, for thereby hangs a tail tale.

The painting, by French artist Paul Chabras, depicts a naked young woman, or pubescent girl really, testing the chilly water of a lake on the first day of autumn. The image was, I suppose, aimed to evoke a range of responses, from tender smile to lubricious grunt. Nowadays it would be labelled kitsch but at the time it hit the spotlight in a big way - not in Europe but in America where it achieved a notoriety far beyond expectation via a strange turn of events.

In 1913 the painting was displayed in the window of an art gallery in New York where it attracted the attention of one Anthony Comstock. This self-appointed guardian of public morals had earlier in his career established the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and brought his influence to bear on Congress to pass the so-called Comstock Law, which made illegal the delivery or transportation of "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" material as well as anything concerning birth control and venereal disease. It meant that such things were prohibited from being sent by post, and this could be applied to all sorts of educational literature - in one case legal action was taken against the mailing of a veterinary manual because it illustrated a horse's penis.

On spying September Morn for the first time*, the mutton-chop whiskered Comstock is said to have spluttered 'Take it away, there's too much maid and not enough morn!' Following his intervention the painting naturally enjoyed huge succès de scandale and it never completely dropped from view, spawning numerous comic and satirical versions as well.

*The full story is slightly more complex than my brief version and makes an entertaining read in The Museum of Hoaxes here.
(I must thank Guinea Pig Zero for first acquainting me with the malign figure of Anthony Comstock. I'm sure he'll have more to say about him.)

As for Nest, she briefly dangled her paw in the water of the old bath and then decided to pursue more interesting sport elsewhere. And that is the end of the tail tale.


Today, this fabulous work of art might give Anthony Comstock paws pause for thought.