Focus on The Kreutzer Sonata (painting) and analyze the Adaptations and responses.
For decades from 1941, the painting was reproduced to promote the perfume Tabu; a "forbidden" fragrance, created in 1931. It first appeared in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar and Town & Country. By 1961, the advert had appeared in publications nearly 4,000 times. The New York Times described it as the advertising industry's "longest kiss". Donald Eaton Carr wrote in his Forgotten senses (1972) that it was probably "the longest kiss in history". People looked at the advertisement and assumed the company paying for it linked the embracing couple with the fragrance. Some objected to the advertising slogans such as "stay away from Tabu if you can't accept its challenge". In 1973, the advert appeared with female and male roles reversed. 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".According to Rahul Rawail, it may possibly have been the inspiration of a scene in Raj Kapoor's 1949 film Barsaat. 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).Adrian Daub questioned why the violin is positioned so far out, and why is the curtain behind them missing. The violinist has also been described as "dishevelled", and hairy.
Town & Country New York Times The New York Times Vogue Awaara Barsaat Tabu M. R. Acharekar Harper's Bazaar R. K. logo Nargis Gershon Legman Rationale of the Dirty Joke Donald Eaton Carr Adrian Daub Raj Kapoor Rahul Rawail hairy