The book: Oh! Calcutta! An entertainment with music devised by Kenneth Tynan, directed by Jacques Levy, New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1969, contains the following: The title of this revue is taken from the title of a painting by the French surrealist painter Clovis Trouille. Its meaning, which is at least intimated by the front cover reproduction of the painting, contains a phonetic French pun: “Oh! Quelle cul t’as!” Or, freely translated: “Oh! What a lovely ass you have!”

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Kathleen Tynan, The Life of Kenneth Tynan, New York: William Morrow & Co., Inc., 1987, p. 361.

Meanwhile we went to Paris, Ken to write about the theater for The New Yorker, and I to write an article on the surrealist painter Clovis Trouille, the book of whose erotic canvases, discovered by Ken, had inspired our election party. One of his works was a naked odalisque, lying on her side to reveal a spherical backside. The title was Oh! Calcutta! Calcutta!, and the subtitle, La Conquete de la Lune.

While drinking an aperitif at the Dome in Montparnasse, I suggested to Ken that he call his erotic revue Oh! Calcutta!, and make use of the painting he found so appealing. Would it not make an unforgettable title? I did not know at the time that it had the further advantage of being a French pun, O quel cul t’as.

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For undraped views of the naked odalisque by Clovis Trouille, see these websites:
http://www.nodanw.com/shows_o/logos/ohcalcutta.jpg
and
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bellinieditrice.it/Collezioni/musicalia/CD_oh_calcutta.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bellinieditrice.it/Collezioni/musicalia/musicalia.html&h=98&w=100&sz=10&tbnid=g-WED6yMwXgJ:&tbnh=75&tbnw=77&hl=en&start=95&prev=/images%3Fq%3DOh!%2BCalcutta!%26start%3D80%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN

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www.clovis-trouille.net