Freud Was Right/Art

• Georgia O'Keeffe denied that her flower paintings contain vaginal symbolism; many critics believe it's there even if she didn't place it there intentionally. The problem is that a flower is actually a sex organ; it doesn't just look like a vagina, it's as close to a vagina as a plant can get. O'Keeffe brushed off the accusations by essentially saying, "If that's what you notice in my paintings, then that's your business." She had a point: many artists -- including the designers of knitted lace -- have faced the same accusation, and for as little reason.
  • The claims that she did it intentionally are especially bizarre given how meticulously realistic her flower paintings are.
• There is a collection of Hungarian cartoons, many of which had themes of impotence -- slumping trees, limp smokestacks, and to make the meaning blatant, an artist drawing something matching this flaccid theme and looking down the front of his pants, presumably at his model.