Is this really The Most Beautiful Suicide? We think so
Contributor
- 52
- 213
0
Yes, this is a real photo of a real event that happened back on May 1, 1947, when 23 year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a poignant note to her fiancee (‘He is much better off without me. I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody’), left a small collection of personal items on the observation platform of the Empire State Building, then leapt to her death, landing, as fate would have it, on the roof of a United Nations limousine. This remarkable, untouched photo was taken in the immediate aftermath by a passerby – photography student Robert Wiles – and ran shortly afterwards in Life magazine. Years later, Andy Warhol commemorated the event with a typically striking artwork, pictured below.
17 comments
Clarice Thursday 22 March 2012
Gosh, yeah, this is beautiful, she looks like she is just sleeping…She looks like she’s laying down on a sculpture, except the sculpture is one of her death. I don’t know that I can look at things like this. As one who has thought of suicide, and thought of ways to make it poignant and stunning, this doesn’t help me, it actually fans the different ideas one could ruminate on in how to make your death into something beautiful and poignant. The problem is, it’s not beautiful, what would have been more beautiful would be for her to live a full life of happiness, possibly meeting someone new, having children, or not…but passing on the beautful, soulful spirit she must have had with others around her in the world. NOW that would have been worth much more than this stunning photograph.
Chicaro Thursday 22 March 2012
Now we know where this came from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=avJt0SQec0I#t=177s
Ben Thursday 22 March 2012
Andy Warhol is such a pretentious twat. There is nothing striking about his re-workings of a good photo
chiara Sunday 25 March 2012
I keep wondering more about the details behind why she wrote that note. Why didn’t she think she’d make a good wife? Was it an issue of scandal, maybe she wasn’t a virgin? Was she too independent, in an emotionally abusive relationship, had her relatives told her she wasn’t marriage material? she looked pretty at any rate.
Loren Wednesday 4 April 2012
There is nothing beautiful about suicide. It is horrifying, heart breaking and painful. She may look at peace, but her thoughts before her actions would have been far from peaceful. Every loss of life is a tragedy to the world and every person should know their worth and their beauty.
Roger Saturday 7 April 2012
No. It isn’t. Suicide is never beautiful. No matter how you looks at it. It is tragic and ugly and heart wrenching for both the person who does it and also for those they leave behind
Steve Sunday 15 April 2012
Warhol did nothing to advance to poignancy of the image whatsoever. He copied it 16 times onto blue paper and glued them with the care of a rhino onto a bigger piece of card. People who fawn of Warhol are the dregs of society.
roger Sunday 29 April 2012
Dont try to make suicide cool. BTW, I will not suicide when I am old, so dont even try to pretend with this propaganda that old people are better off killing themselves. I know exactly where this agenda is heading…
Kevin Dunn Sunday 6 May 2012
Sick. That the Telegraph should publish it is aother milestone in marking a great paper’s descent into trash
Lori L Tuesday 8 May 2012
Yeah, seriously, I agree with the comments about Warhol. Pshaw! It is a tragically beautiful photo, but very sad. Poor girl.
Steve Wednesday 30 May 2012
The anti-Warhol comments really prove that art is not for the hoi polloi. Unfortunately, many people do not posses enough objectivity to be able to distance themselves from an image. Their loss. Warhol remains one of the greatest artists of the C20th. Those who can’t see it, don’t deserve it.
lester q Monday 4 June 2012
I saw somebody did a follow up to this picture , she was a w.a.c during the war she was born in California one of six kids her father raised the kids by his self in the note she left she told her father she has to much of her mother’s traits….sad
Steve n Saturday 7 July 2012
Steve from May 30…care to explain why this is good art? I can’t see it.
Ranjelle Saturday 4 August 2012
I know this is a tragic picture, but there’s an aesthetic to this. The way she landed atop the limo was not a brutal scene. It seems as though she’s posing for Vogue or a fashion magazine. Her pose, her clothes, her makeup, the pearl necklace that was still in her hands…all well done. That’s why it’s called “The Beautiful Suicide”.
I applaud Robert Wiles for doing such a great job. As for Andy Warhol ? Pssshh! Whatever! He just duplicated the photo, changed the hue and saturation..what’s so amazing about that?
Just my opinion!
Jessica Sunday 26 August 2012
I believe suicide is dependent apon the person. If the person is kind and beautiful, there suicide will be aswell. I have thought of suicide many times, but I will not do that. At least until the people I care for do not need me anymore. But this is a master piece made by herself and god. It’s absolutely beautiful. I hope that one day, if I make that choice, that I will be placed in history myself. That is a long time from now, and may never happen.
k Friday 15 March 2013
Beautiful Jessica I pray that it will never happen. Life is what you deserve, not death!
Rose Matthews Tuesday 8 January 2013
WTF is beautiful about a suicide ?