Ads Imitate Art: American Apparel and Balthus

Thérèse Dreaming, 1938 (right)

American Apparel advertising and the paintings of Balthus. Need I say more?

"Balthus: Cats and Girls: Paintings and Provocations" is at the Metropolitan Museum through January 12, 2014. The painter of pubescent girls and self-proclaimed "King of Cats" once remarked that "The idea I am trying to get across has to do with religion, not at all with eroticism."

American Apparel ads, many of which have been banned in Britain, can be seen on bus shelters, billboards, magazines and in the archive on their website.

Which do you find more disturbing?

Thérèse on a Bench Seat, 1939 (top)

The Room, 1952-54 (top)

Getting Up, 1955 (bottom)

The Golden Fruit,  ca. 1959 (left)

Girl on a Bed, c. 1950 (bottom)

Nude in Front of a Mantel, 1955 (left)

The White Skirt, 1937 (top)

Nude With a Cat, 1949 (top)

Alice, 1933 (left)

The Toilet, 1957 (top)

Detail of The Living Room, 1941-43 (right)

Guitar Lesson, 1934 (top)

11/27/13 NOTE: One photo that was not an actual American Apparel ad has been removed.