Betty's Pub 20.1
Main Menu => BETTY PEARL'S PUB FOR SISSIES => Topic started by: andyg0404 on December 22, 2018, 04:55:42 PM
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
This is the inaugural Winter Flickr post but yesterday the high was 66 degrees. 4 days before Xmas and I took my walk in my flannel shirt, unusual to say the least. But I was brought back to reality this morning when it was only in the 40’s for my walk. Here’s hoping for a mild winter. Please.
On Tuesday morning this week I was up before 6AM, rode my bicycle and took a truncated walk as I planned to visit a museum. When I got back I turned on my computer to check my emails. And just like last time absolutely nothing happened, it would not boot up. This time I called my tech guru immediately. In discussing the problem he told me he couldn’t get out to NJ this week which I certainly understood so he told me to open the casing and check the wires. I wasn’t sure which wires he meant and I actually sent him a picture of the open cabinet using my cellphone. He got it and walked me through the procedure. No wires were loose. We decided I need to buy a new computer and he will give me his recommendation for what to purchase. But I needed something in the interim as to be alive in this day and age and not have a computer for a week is fairly incomprehensible. He told me if I pulled the hard drive out of the computer and brought it to him he would check it and also loan me a laptop to use until I got the new computer. So I took the bus into the City down to his apartment on the lower East Side. He tested the drive and whatever is wrong with my computer it isn’t the drive, it works fine. These guys in my town who replaced the operating system clearly did not do any diagnostic work on my machine at all and basically made it worse. My guy copied the entire drive into the laptop so that it resembles my computer completely with all files and emails intact and up to date. He gave me a mouse to connect to it as I can’t easily manipulate the pad and he also told me I could hook up my keyboard which I’ve done. A very good thing as it would have taken me hours to type this using the keyboard on the laptop. He showed me how to access the WIFI in my house and that’s what I’m utilizing now. So I’m set until the new computer arrives. The laptop is Windows 10 so there’s a learning curve there but it’s not too bad and my new computer will be the same which I’m not thrilled about but have no reasonable alternative. This certainly is not an expense I needed but my computer is, I think, somewhere around six or eight years old which really made it a dinosaur. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to reach out to my guy initially because I probably would have bought the new computer then. Once this ordeal is over I will just have to pay the piper. I expect his fee to be reasonable but whatever he charges I will pay with a smile as without him I would be completely lost.
I did end up visiting a museum this week, somewhere I’ve never been before, the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University uptown in Harlem on 129th Street. My friend and I took the subway to 125th Street and it was just a few blocks away in what appears to be a very new modern building. From the glass walls with a remarkable view of the City we saw what I falsely assumed to be the famous Cotton Club. I was curious about it and went to Wikipedia. I was surprised to discover that what we saw is not the original Cotton Club which closed in 1940 but another iteration that opened in 1977.The original had never been on 125th Street, it was on 142nd Street and then it also was in Midtown on 48th Street and Broadway. You can read about it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_Club
The exhibit was, Posing Modernity: The Black Model from Manet and Matisse to Today. It originated at the Musée d'Orsay and unfortunately Manet’s Olympia, which would be the star of the exhibit, wasn’t allowed to travel so we had to settle for a replica. You can see that painting here along with details from Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympia_(Manet)
This is a link to the Wallach Gallery website with an overview of the exhibit. https://wallach.columbia.edu/exhibitions/posing-modernity-black-model-manet-and-matisse-today
There are only a few images there but I found another link which has a good number of them as well as a video and essay. The images are in a slide show and can be enlarged. The entire exhibit stems from Denise Murrell’s 2013 thesis on the topic and she is interviewed in the video. https://news.columbia.edu/posingmodernity
The paintings and objects in the exhibit came from 40 world famous museums so I was able to find some other images which I’ve copied below. There’s also accompanying descriptive information on each site. Enlarge or go to full screen where given the option.
Jean-Léon Gérôme - Moorish Bath – This exotic painting was done during Gerome’s Orientalist period and takes place in a Moorish woman’s bath house.
https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/moorish-bath-32124
James A. Porter - Woman Holding a Jug – Porter was an African American scholar of the 20th Century as well as an artist in his own right. A rather solemn portrait with a colorful background.
https://theartstack.com/artist/james-a-porter/woman-holding-jug-1932
Workshop of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux - “La Négresse” - Carpeaux was a French artist and sculptor and he’s the artist who got me interested in sculpture when I visited his monumental Metropolitan Museum exhibition back in 2014. I’ve written about that show and mentioned Carpeaux on other occasions. His sculpture, Ugolino and His Sons is in the sculpture courtyard in a place of prominence at the Met and is a tour de force which I’m sure I’ve linked to before but I’m going to do so again. See second link.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/208864
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/204812
Eugène Delacroix - Portrait of a Woman in a Blue Turban – I recently wrote about the major Delacroix exhibit at the Met which I was fortunate to see for a second time when I took a friend so I don’t need to say much about this painting showing a formidable woman with a large brooch.
https://collections.dma.org/artwork/5326783
Henri Matisse - Baudelaire’s “Les Fleurs du Mal” – These are illustrations for an edition of Baudelaire’s poem. My friend and I were struck at how with just a few a strokes he created a face from just a few lines.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/henri-matisse/les-fleurs-du-mal-charles-baudelaire-tsRJ9jKfCRPViIkNVmTJIA2
Henri Matisse - Young woman in white on a red background – The creation of this wonderfully colorful portrait was the subject of a 1946 French documentary.
https://arthive.com/artists/1541~Henri_Matisse/works/468230~Young_woman_in_white_on_a_red_background
This is a portion of the video I mention above showing Matisse at work creating the above painting. It’s in French but in the exhibit there was no sound and none is needed. It’s fascinating to watch him as he creates the face of the model. While watching it I turned to my friend and commented, and they say watching paint dry is boring. The version in the exhibit was in color which is much more enjoyable than this black and white version. Go to full screen for maximum enjoyment.
http://www.mba-lyon.fr/mba/sections/fr/collections-musee/peintures/oeuvres-peintures/xxe_siecle/matisse_jeune_femme/video-matisse-dans-s
Long, well-illustrated review of the exhibit from the New York Times. The first image is one of my favorites, Frédéric Bazille’s “Young Woman With Peonies,
A Long Overdue Light on Black Models of Early Modernism
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/01/arts/design/black-models-olympia-columbia-university.html
I would have much preferred to see the full exhibit at the Musée d'Orsay but this will have to do. Very enjoyable.
In other art news.
I wrote about the auction of the Ebsworth collection and this is the remaining item which will come up for auction in London. I speculate it wasn’t included in the initial auction as it would have had to compete with the one from another collector which set a new record for Hockey’s works at $90 million. Both paintings were in the large Met exhibit of Hockney’s work that I wrote about several months ago. Holding it back probably increased its value due to the record set by the first one.
David Hockney’s Double Portrait of a Legendary Met Curator and His Partner Could Fetch Almost $40 Million
https://news.artnet.com/market/david-hockney-portrait-geldzahler-1421107
That’s it for this week aside from the Flickrs which I assume you’re all patiently waiting for.
Andy G.
RO90
https://www.flickr.com/photos/angelababe2001/30905610827/
New lockable maids dress.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/debbstv/30906932097/
Little Red and her sidekick :)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fairyboyprincess/30891686777/
A Family Affair
https://www.flickr.com/photos/60741642@N06/45404394385/
Taste Test
https://www.flickr.com/photos/123437146@N07/30734867727/
Steam Girl # 2: Bustling About!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rebecca_george/44917838575/
The legendary Princess Jordan (aka: Anthony Berry); not very vintage but rules are made to be broken
https://www.flickr.com/photos/trannilicious2011/30596134435/
Bournemouth again
https://www.flickr.com/photos/saralegs/24783079779/
Sara delivering her talk on " Maids ".
https://www.flickr.com/photos/saralegs/36325956353/
Alice
https://www.flickr.com/photos/myu_hukase/30112373865/
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Thanks andyg for the gallery updates and the pics as well. Good that you have your Tech friend to help out and provide you with a laptop also. Ask Santa for a good computer for Christmas LOL.
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So Andy did you buy a new computer or maybe you built one yourself
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Hi Samantha,
I'm still using the laptop my friend lent me. It's really a nice machine and aside from the smaller screen I'm perfectly content with it. I'm ready to buy the new one but I'm waiting for his recommendation. I don't want to press him as he is busy but I assume at some point he's going to need the loaner back so I'll just be patient.
Thanks for asking.
Andy G.
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Decent computers are dirt cheap if you shop around & are sure what you need. Otherwise somebody will try to over sell you something that's far greater than you'll ever use, or throw some meaningless large numbers & cool adjectives at you to sell you something way less than you need at a premium price.
Brand new computers, just like new cars are very bad investments. A new car loses 40% of it's value the minute you drive it of the dealer's lot. That $800-$1600 phone 5 years from now will be selling refurbished at Walmart, or used at ebay for $100.
The $1500-$2000 computers today will be on ebay for 10% that much in 5-7 years, if they still run. Today's hi-tech electronics is built with such crap Chinese capacitors & other components, you're lucky if they haven't blown out or burned your house down after 2 years. They aren't even designed to last more than 2 years anymore. Meanwhile that 2011-1014 computer can still run like new in 5-7 years, & probably can be upgraded or modernized. You don't have to buy a new lamp just because you want a new, better, or brighter light bulb.
And Windows 10 is still crap. If you can't deal with Linux, or are led to believe that the sky is falling if you stick with Windows 7, maybe you can look into a cheap used Mac, or android laptops & tablets.
Up to this day most ATM machines throughout the entire world are still running XP. And they still get security updates almost weekly. When was the last time you heard about an ATM machine getting hacked? They do rarely, but not nearly as often as W10.
W10's security is a lie. Right off the shelf it's full of partner's spyware & malware that are chock full of security holes. W10 is also in constant communication with dozens of corporations & app creators -- all of which that can be breached at any time.
How secure will your home be if you gave dozens of corporations & thousands of their employees the key to your front door, then told them everything you do, what you buy, where you live, & when you will or won't be home?
I'm using a pair of HP Elite 8300 Ultra Slim desktops as my primary computers. They built & sold the model new from 2011-2013, but my particular units are from 2011. They're 3ghz quad cores (that's 3ghz per core) with intel turbo-boost up to 3.6ghz. It boosts to 3.6ghz without getting warm or errors.
I got them both from ebay. Not familiar with that model a couple years ago, I picked 1 up for only $79 on a gamble. It must have came from a clean office. It looked & ran like brand new. The hard drive had quite a few hours on it but still ran perfectly. It came with 4gb of RAM & Windows 7 64 bit pro. It also came with the Window 7 install disk & a drivers disk for if I ever wished to do a clean install from fresh.
It's about the size of some of smaller DVD players (about half the size of a VCR) & weighs only 9 pounds. It utilizes a lot of laptop parts inside, so only consumes as much power as a good laptop.
It'll outperform almost anything in the stores today except the highest end gaming computers, but with some high-end graphics added, it would be as good as any decent high-end gaming computer too.
HD digital video conversions & processing that is taking everyone else anywhere from all afternoon to a couple days on the finest newest machines out there is taking me 10-30 minutes to do the same thing! So it's blazing fast.
I liked it so much, the day after I got it, I was on ebay looking for another one just like it cheap, & bid on it. Got another for $89 (after shipping) in the exact same condition with the disks & all.
No DVD drive in them though. Most people don't need them anymore but I do. Ebay had the ones that fit the HP Ultra Slim elites for $9. I put a newer bigger hard drive in one too, & added 4gb more RAM.
I was able to copy over all my files to both of them, so I have a matched identical pair of machines. They both had W7 pro, but I customized my own W7, so wanted that on them instead. Nobody ever told me that Windows wasn't open source.
If you're not ready for the ebay game, you can buy decent used machines from many retailers, including Walmart, Walgreens online, & NewEgg. Beware buying used from Amazon... many of them may not be trusted & also sell at ebay for less.
I bought my current 3.0ghz dual core laptop from Walmart a few years ago, but it came from a seller, CTechCity. It arrived looking new, 2 - 5.5 hour batteries, Windows 7, installation disks. But that one was a special rare deal, & not their normal used price.
Since then, I picked up 2 dual core HP DC7900 desktops for customers from CTechCity for $99. Yep, just like my old previous pair of primary computers. They'll rival many new quad core machines today. Literally all I had to do for the customers was put in bigger hard drives (they came with good 250gb ones though), then install all their files & programs. They even came with a good keyboard & mouse. You just plug it into any monitor or modern TV.
These are office, not home machines. They're designed & built to a different standard. Better durabilty, less fluff or gimmicks, & more functionality. All older office HPs are solid, built to last a very long time, upgradable, easy to find parts for, & easy to work on. They're actually designed to easily take apart & do some stuff to it inside. It sort of like buying a car with a hood that opens to get at the engine, or buying one without one because they want you to buy a new car when it's time to change the oil.
My last customer had one of her cats knock her laptop off a table, & it smashed on the floor. Dang, I just rebuilt that old laptop for her about 2 years ago. It was so old it still had Vista on it until I upgraded to W7 2 years ago, & has an obsolete PATA/IDE hard drive in it. Hunting around for used parts on ebay it became apparent that is was gonna cost her almost as much for me to fix up, than what I can find a newer, better, working used one for.
As soon as I told her that... she quickly jumped & said that she wants a great big 16 onch screen! Her current, broken one was only 11". Wait a minute -- to go bigger would cost even more.
Finally I tracked down a nice fast 15.5" 2013 HP laptop for $169 at ETechCity. Windows 7, new battery, installation & driver disks. It looked almost brand new. Free shipping. By the time I copied all her files to it, installed all her programs, & did some special tweaks, she got it for $210.
I liked it so much, I ask ETechCity if I can put a down payment on another they had just like it to hold for me for a month or 2. The idea was, after I get paid for the repair, & sell another laptop I was rebuilding, I could afford to buy it. So I got it last month. Now I have 2 laptops that are only 5 & 7 years old that work as good as most new ones.
My old eyes like the bigger screen, & keyboard light on the newer one. But I also still prefer to lug around the smaller lighter one more... plus I have a pair of 5.5 hour batteries for it. So I probably won't sell the older one & keep both just for myself. I got a couple single core laptops that work well for sale, but nobody wants single core computers anymore unless it's an over 3.2ghz core. They won't play HD video off YouTube but will play regular video or 720p HD from it's own drive or external drive.
Yeah, I too could never get used to laptop touch pads either. They're OK, but I just can't work quickly or precisely as I can with a mouse. But I'm even worse than you. I don't like a regular mouse either. But the laptop keyboards are full size, so type OK on them. The feel is a bit lighter than my regular keyboards though. My favorite & most used keyboard was built in 1998.
I use a trackball on my primary computer. Before 1998 I used a Linux box & WebTV... before Microsoft took over WebTV (later rebadged MSTV) WebTV was also a Linux box. I used a wireless keyboard on both with the only way to move the cursor around was with the arrow keys & a mini gamer-like joystick.
I really didn't touch windows much until they got Windows 98 at work... a big & amazing leap from W95. Somebody gave me their broken W98 machine for free around then, & I fixed it for myself. Then Linux for desktops got sloppy & disorganized so I stayed with windows most of the time.
But old habits die hard. I still can't sit at a desk for hours at a computer, or use a regular mouse. Because of my old wireless or long-wire keyboards, I'm used to a soft chair, sofa, or bed if I'm on a computer a long time -- with a nice trackball. But believe me, everyone I talked into a nice trackball, after they tried to get used to it for a week or 2, never turned back.
But only my primary computer has a trackball (old wireless one) & a big, full, heavy wired (long wire) keyboard. My secondary & backup machines, use a wireless keyboard with built in track pad. They're backups or for extra work, or as a media center/manger, so it's rare I'm doing a lot of typing, programming or graphics on them. I still use the track pads on the laptops. I'm not comfortable with them, but tweaking the pad settings, & disabling pad tapping (tapping really should be disabled by default to prevent errors), makes them a little better.
Quad core speed demon http://www.ctechcity.com/hp-8200-elite-desktop-tower-intel-core-i5-2500-2nd-gen-3-3ghz-8gb-500gb-hdd-win-7-pro/
Basic dual 2.6ghz office machine with intel turbo-boost up to 3.2ghz. Not for gaming without an excellent graphics card. Will play up to 1080p YouTube smooth though. Incredibly cheap. http://www.ctechcity.com/hp-compaq-6200-pro-sff-pc-dual-core-intel-g620-2-6ghz-2gb-ram-250gb-hdd-windows-7-pro/
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Hi Betty,
Thanks for all the information. I've known my tech friend for years and he's really reliable and not connected to anyone selling the machines so he has no personal interest in his recommendations aside from making me happy so I will order what he says. I understand what you're saying about Windows ten but I'll live with it. All of the precautions we take only keep the dabblers away from us, the professionals can get in no matter what. You are much more tech oriented than I am so it's a lot easier for you to do what you do. I was unable to restore my files despite having the external hard drive because every time I tried I was balked in one way or another. It's frustrating to me, I've always joked that I was a Luddite and I definitely hate change for changes sake but I have come to the conclusion that I am an analog person in a digital age.
Andy G.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
It was a fairly nice week weather wise turning milder as it progressed. Today is an absolutely beautiful day. Friday it rained all day so I rode the bicycle three times instead of taking a walk. Usually I do a daily double on the bike. I’ve had my bicycle for about 25 years and I’ve used it every day since I got it. It’s a discontinued model so when I noticed the chain was slipping I began to speculate that I might need to replace the bike. I had no desire to buy a new one which would have probably cost me up to a couple of hundred dollars. And when I searched to see what was out there I didn’t like the way any of them looked insofar as being comfortable for me to ride. I searched the web for bicycle repair and found one in my area that advertised pick up and delivery. The rates looked reasonable as well so the transportation was certainly the clincher as it is heavy and I didn’t look forward to bringing it downstairs and putting it in my car. When I bought it 25 years ago I picked it up at the store and then carried it into my house but I was younger and stronger then. Weren’t we all! He picked it up yesterday afternoon and brought it back today at Noon. The charge was $42.75 with tax. A new chain wasn’t available so he took it off, cleaned it, lubed it and tightened it. When he brought it in he said to test drive it so I did and it works perfectly. After he left I did my usual 48 minute session. This is exactly the happy ending I hoped for. I only missed one ride, this morning. I was so pleased I tipped him $10.
I walked back up to the Met this week. The museum was fairly crowded and there were many organized groups there as well as individuals. Several of the groups, including a class of small school children, trooped through the Japanese galleries but luckily they didn’t stay very long as they can be very distracting when you’re trying to understand and appreciate what you’re looking at. I was surprised to see the kids as I didn’t think Japanese art would appeal to six year olds but I guess you never know.
I was there to see the third and final rotation of the current Japanese exhibit, The Poetry of Nature: Edo Paintings from the Fishbein-Bender Collection. The next exhibit is scheduled for the end of January, early February. Each iteration of this exhibit has had many beautiful things on display and we can thank Estelle P. Bender and her late husband T. Richard Fishbein for a lot of it as well as Mary Griggs Burke for the hundreds of items she donated to the Met. My brother visited the museum recently and told me this was a strong showing and he was right. Lots to see and I’ll link to some of the things I enjoyed. Be sure to enlarge the images. In some cases I’ve found alternate sites when the Met doesn’t offer an enlargement.
Boy’s Day Carp Streamer and Shōki Banner - Kawanabe Kyōsai – This scroll depicts the demon-queller Shōki, painted in red to protect the household against disease. It’s a wonderfully colorful image with lots going on, the rooster sitting on the ornate platform, the fish, Shōki and the demon and the brooms all signifying something. There’s another scroll with Shōki on display right next to this one but the Met is prohibited from displaying it on the website.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/754547
The Fury of Monk Raigō - Kobayashi Kiyochika – This is another wild and colorful scroll showing Monk Raigō flying into a rage during an esoteric Buddhist fire ritual. I think I linked to this in either the first or second rotation but I enjoyed it again so I linked it again. Again the Met has a tiny image on the website but I was able to find a larger one at the second link.
https://tinyurl.com/yazf3zj8
https://twitter.com/japantracul/status/1020681805882589184
Beauty on Veranda in Snow - Sakai Hōitsu – There were several scrolls of courtesans, women of the evening so to speak and they’re all very elegant and delicate. This one is bashfully hiding her face while the woman in the next image is getting ready to play her instrument for her client. I was able to retrieve both of the images from the Met catalog on Google.
https://tinyurl.com/y92x2464
Female Entertainer with a Shamisen - Togensai Eishū – After clicking on the link click on either page 196 or 198 and scroll or down a page or two. Sometimes when I click on the link it’s 196 and sometimes it’s 198. Another web vagary I don’t understand.
https://tinyurl.com/y8gzvrmy
The God of Good Fortune Jurōjin - Sakai Ōho – Jurōjin is one of the Seven Lucky Gods and is usually depicted on a deer as shown or with a crane. After clicking on the link below, click on the first page link. The second link is to Wikipedia discussion of the Seven Gods.
https://tinyurl.com/y9fjsvz3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Lucky_Gods
Cranes, Pines, and Bamboo - Ogata Kōrin – Wonderful screen showing two cranes in a bamboo grove, one of whom looks to be pecking for berries. The essay explains: “Such propitious symbols of longevity as cranes, pines, and bamboo, shown here beneath a crescent moon, evoke the auspicious realm of the immortals. The pair subtly suggests spring and autumn through such floral motifs as azaleas, chrysanthemums, morning glories, and eulalias.”
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/44896
Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion - Unidentified Artist – This is identified in the museum as being by Ike Taiga so I’m not certain why it is unattributed online. This depicts a famous gathering in Chinese history when the scholar and statesman Wang Xizhi invited his friends to take part in a drinking game in which cups of wine were floated down a stream as they neared one of them they had to either drink it or write a poem. Wang painted himself in the Pavilion composing his poem, the famous Orchid Pavilion Preface.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/51394
Now I’ll get to the really special treat for me in this exhibit, 24 wood block prints by Hiroshige and Hokusai, 18 by the former and six by the latter. An exhibit like this of two dozen prints is what started me on my appreciation of Japanese art several years ago when my brother suggested I visit the then current exhibition. I fell in love with them immediately. Here are a few of those on display.
Under the Wave off Kanagawa aka The Great Wave, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji - Katsushika Hokusai – All six of the Hokusai prints are from this series. This is his most famous work and I’ve definitely linked to it before. It’s a wonderful depiction of the ocean in all its splendor and fury.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56353
This is a link to the museum website’s search function where you can view all six of the prints in the museum’s collection as well as a blog article discussing The Great Wave.
https://www.metmuseum.org/search-results#!/search?q=hokusai&orderByCountDesc=true&page=1
I think the Mannen Bridge may be my favorite although it’s akin to picking your favorite child, I love them all. In this one it’s the details of the print that especially move me. There’s so much to see, the bridge with the people crossing over, the landscape in the background, the boat with the fishermen as well as the fisherman sitting on the rocks with his pole in the water. Just a wonderfully restful scene.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55289
Four of the prints by Hiroshige are from his series, Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road. This is a link to Wikipedia which discusses him and the series as well as illustrating all 55 prints. There are 55 as he painted his embarkation as well as his arrival at the last station.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fifty-three_Stations_of_the_T%C5%8Dkaid%C5%8D
Hara: Mount Fuji in the Morning, from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road – We see two women travelers with their retainer who stop to marvel at the unobstructed view of Mount Fuji in all its magnificence. As the lot description points out, Fuji is so large that its top is cut off in the print.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36935
The other 14 prints in the exhibit are of birds and flowers. You can see them here at the museum’s website using the search function like before.
https://www.metmuseum.org/search-results#!/search?q=hiroshige&orderByCountDesc=true&page=1
They’re all very beautiful and colorful and like many Western artists I know Charles DeMuth, of whose watercolors of fruits and vegetables I written so many times, was influenced by prints such as these.
A Pair of Quails and Poppies
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36711
Morning Glories
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36737
A Peacock Perched on a Maple Tree
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36741
A Wren and Chrysanthemums
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36731
This is the press release announcing the exhibition.
https://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2018/poetry-of-nature
This is a link to all the objects in the exhibit.
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/objects?exhibitionId=74a68abf-52fa-4240-9460-cf7909d2d83a#!?perPage=100&offset=0
I think you can tell how much I enjoyed this exhibit and how much I look forward to the next rotation. My brother agreed that this was a brilliant installation.
In other art news this week.
I had no idea this was an epidemic. One of them has a brief video.
Here Are 9 Shocking Times People Destroyed Art While Taking Selfies, Ranked by Severity
A look back at some of the most catastrophic selfie fails in recent memory.
https://tinyurl.com/y9ld8r9a
This is a great four minute video from Sotheby’s
Why Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas Is One of the Most Important Paintings in Art History
https://www.sothebys.com/en/videos/why-diego-velazquezs-las-meninas-is-one-of-the-most-important-paintings-in-art-history
You’re probably all looking forward to the Flickrs now so without further ado, let’s visit.
Andy G.
Come
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146368324@N02/45370991055/
5 easy steps
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cheryl416/45667765602/
IMG_2098
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tessie_wood/32071361678/
Black goes with everything...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/91219737@N08/31018526417/
The Red Dress... cocktails anyone.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/156147874@N07/28800987507/
Elsa and her throne
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fairyboyprincess/45158658894/
zhghghsiieruuy726655wfgfe64hurjit
https://www.flickr.com/photos/transissy/45891309822/
new146483-IMG_0571t
https://www.flickr.com/photos/49049803@N00/45849837792/
Alice darling could you imagine your sissy wife sophie in a dress like this with that adorable bow too??? xx
https://www.flickr.com/photos/140389310@N08/32168173158/
The Halloween costume that I didn't get to wear
https://www.flickr.com/photos/yvonne_oakley/44242274640/
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I wonder if there's any rhyme or reason to which flickr photos are classified as "Adult Content" and which are not...I presume it's left up to the whim of whoever's doing the posting.
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More likely flickr censorship. We get it at YouTube too. Even boys simply crossdressing can be tagged as adult content by the prude who reviewed it, or because some prude complained to them about it.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
Today’s a rather rainy, grim day. I did my grocery shopping for the week but opted to take the extra bicycle ride this morning rather than walk in the rain. In the newspaper the other day it said this was the rainiest year in New Jersey since 1895 and it certainly felt like it during the year. There’s more precipitation forecast for the winter but I really hope it’s mostly rain.
This week I successfully visited the Princeton Art Museum. I’ve been there several times and it always produces a lot on anxiety for me as traveling involves changing trains where sometimes the window to make the connecting one is not a large one. Additionally the last leg of the trip is the five minute walk through the Princeton campus to get to the Art Museum. The campus is not laid out with street names so you can’t say walk down Main Street and take a left on Elm Street. I’ve had trouble finding my back after the visit each time, once making me miss both my connections so as to entail a very long wait and getting home much later than I planned. It seems I usually go when school is out of session which means there are far fewer students on campus to query for directions.
I took the 9:32AM train which was supposed to arrive at 9:40AM where I was to change for the Princeton train which departs at 9:46AM, a 6 minute window. The train came at 9:35AM and I had to decide if I was going to gamble that I could make the connection in the 3 minute window. If I missed it the next train would be in an hour. I gambled. I got to Secaucus where you have to scan your ticket to enter the gate. Just like my early experiences with the subway Metro card I watched other people going through as I was waving my ticket in front of the scanner and nothing was happening. Luckily an agent told me I had to press it against the glass and I gained access. I got to the platform and a minute later the train pulled out.
The ticket I bought was for Princeton Junction because the visiting directions said to go there and take the shuttle. On the train when the conductor asked for my ticket he had no plans to give it back to me and I said I would need it for the shuttle. He told me that my ticket should have said Princeton not Princeton Junction but he gave it back to me and said you can try. My round trip ticket cost $13.20. I went back to the website to check the charge for both destinations and it said $14.70 for each. Why I paid less is a mystery. When I got to the Junction I didn’t know what to expect but when I located the shuttle bus the driver said there was no charge. And there wasn’t, going or coming. So, another mystery.
I had a map of the campus which showed buildings rather than streets and started walking in the general direction and actually got to the parking lot without realizing it when I asked a woman getting out of a car where it was and she told me she was staff and I could go in with her. She took me to the staff door which she said non staff can use as well. I had trouble with the locker not accepting my quarter but finally was able to stow my gear.
When I was ready to leave the museum I asked a guard where that exit was and he brought me over to the elevator I had used to come upstairs. He had to use a key to go to the lower floor which made me wonder how I would have gotten there without him and whether individuals actually had access to that entrance. It was unmanned and he had to buzz me out as well. I asked him for directions and he said I could just walk down the road and the bus would stop on the corner. That did not seem right to me based on the trip in and subsequently the trip out so I started walking back the way I came. I was fairly close but not sure of my direction so when I saw several students walking I stopped them and asked for directions. A very nice young woman said she was going in that direction and offered to accompany me which she did. It was exactly what I had hoped for. Connections back weren’t bad although the train from Secaucus only opened one door and everybody was forced into one car. People who I assume travel regularly railed about NJ Transit and the papers have been filled with stories about their incompetence and the lateness of their trains. I was grateful to be home without any mishaps at a reasonable hour.
There were two exhibits to see, Nature's Nation: American Art and Environment and Picturing Place in Japan.
This is the description of Nature’s Nation.
Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment presents more than 120 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, videos, and works of decorative art, from the colonial period to the present, exploring for the first time how American artists of different traditions and backgrounds have both reflected and shaped environmental understanding while contributing to the development of a modern ecological consciousness.
I was drawn to it because it was filled with Hudson River painters among others. There were several from museums I haven’t visited as well as several from museums I haven’t been to in a long time as well as museums I visit regularly. There’s a slide slow for the exhibit explaining its purpose, how it was put together and describing some of the art which you can see at this link.
https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/ecologyofanexhibition/ The very last page shows a group standing in front a Fitz Henry Lane painting which I will discuss further on.
This is the description of Picturing Japan.
The representation of place has been a dominant subject of Japanese painting throughout history. Sometimes these scenes evoke the topography of an actual location, but often the place depicted was imagined or based primarily on past images… The exhibition includes nearly forty paintings, prints, books and photographs, from the sixteenth through the twenty-first centuries that collectively explore the varied meaning of place to Japanese artistic practice over these epochs. For Japanese artists, pictures of place were a means of exploring brushwork and form, as well as evoking poetry, paradise, distant China, sacred locations and the familiar or remote famous places of Japan.
This is a link to the exhibition checklist showing all the objects, albeit in thumbnail versions, but with specific details of what they are and where they came from so they can be easily searched out on Google. I’ll link to some below as well the American artists.
http://artimage.princeton.edu/files/ProductionJpegs/PPJ_chk.pdf
The first four links are from museums I’ve never visited. The Terra Art Museum, The North Carolina Art Museum, The Gilcrease Museum and Reynolda House. The fifth was credited to the Terra at the exhibit but I visited their site and they don’t list it. It’s on Wikipedia noted as being from the LA County Museum.
Sanford Robinson Gifford - Hunter Mountain, Twilight – Gifford is a favorite who I’ve linked to many times. This is a wonderfully colorful painting showing the beautiful sky with a quarter moon and the obscured mountains above the despoiled valley. This description is from the website:
Sanford Robinson Gifford produced luminous, atmospheric views of the northeastern and western United States, Europe, Canada, and the Near East. Set near his native Hudson, New York, Hunter Mountain, Twilight depicts a peak shrouded in a pale blue haze, silhouetted against a glowing sky. Although the grazing cows, cowherd, and house in the valley below evoke calm domesticity, the tree stumps in the foreground reveal how land development degraded nature. The small farm has been stripped of its hemlock trees to harvest tannin, an essential ingredient in leather tanning. In 1860s America, tree stumps symbolized both the destruction of treasured wilderness and the devastation caused by the American Civil War (1861–65), during which Gifford served in the Union Army. The despoiled landscape he shows here expresses both a sense of national mourning and an emerging concern for nature conservation.
https://conversations.terraamericanart.org/artworks/hunter-mountain-twilight
Albert Bierstadt - Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite – Bierstadt’s paintings of locations like Yosemite prompted people to demand environment measures to preserve their beauty. It’s a beautiful scene showing the falls cascading down the mountain in all its power while several deer quietly enjoy the scenery.
https://learn.ncartmuseum.org/artwork/bridal-veil-falls-yosemite-2/
Thomas Moran - Lower Falls, Yellowstone Park – Last month I wrote about how Moran’s sketches along with a government agent’s report was instrumental in getting Yellowstone named the first National Park.
https://collections.gilcrease.org/object/01262344
Thomas Cole – Home in the Woods – Cole was another ardent environmentalist who decried the spoiling of the landscape by industrialization. This is from the website description of the painting: In Home in the Woods, the ravages of the axe are prominently represented in the foreground. The artist clearly contrasts the area around the cabin, shorn of trees and littered with the family’s belongings, with the pristine mountains in the background. He seems to warn the viewer that, as more and more people arrive, these unspoiled places will disappear.
http://reynoldahouse.org/collections/object/home-in-the-woods
George Bellows – Cliff Dwellers – Bellows was an Ash Can artist, one of those artists who depicted City life as it really was with all its dirt and shortcomings. This shows urban dwellers trying to escape the heat of their tenements on a hot summer day.
https://tinyurl.com/yb7angeg
Fitz Henry Lane - Ship in Fog, Gloucester Harbor – I had forgotten that Princeton owns a Lane. He was a maritime painter of the mid-19th Century who I enjoy and he’s someone I’ve mentioned previously I’m sure. I visited a museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts, his hometown, which is devoted to his work. The link below has a long essay on Lane while the second link is an enlargement of the painting.
https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/story/fitz-henry-lane%E2%80%99s-ship-fog-gloucester-harbor
http://fitzhenrylaneonline.org/catalog/entry.php?id=293
James Hamilton -Burning Oil Well at Night, near Rouseville, Pennsylvania – This is an artist I’ve never come across. There’s not much information available on the web but Edward Moran, the elder brother of Thomas Moran was an apprentice of his. I was just struck by the vividness showing the spout of flame in the dark, something that could be terrifying if you were too close to it. I also love the big bold full moon sitting up in the sky.
https://www.1000museums.com/art_works/james-hamilton-burning-oil-well-at-night-near-rouseville-pennsylvania
Frederic Edwin Church – Cayambe – The New York Historical Society is the home of the Hudson River painters and I’ve been there a number of times. This is typical of Church’s exotic locales, a volcano in Ecuador. It’s a fairly large painting and I wish I could have found a larger illustration.
https://www.nyhistory.org/sites/default/files/styles/exhibitions_slideshow/public/Return-of-Hudson-River-School.jpg?itok=PvU83rQn
There were many other worthwhile paintings in the exhibit but I’d like to include a few from the Japanese now. The website unfortunately did not include many links so I was forced to surf the web to find some examples which are below.
Nachi Pilgrimage Mandala – This large hanging scroll details a couple’s journey of devotion to a Japanese shrine. You can read about it at the first link with an enlargement at the second link.
http://pages.vassar.edu/embodyingcompassion/2014/09/29/pilgrimage-18/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Kumano_Nachi_Mandala.jpg
Utagawa Hiroshige - Shōno, from the series Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō – This woodblock and the two below are examples of the two artist’s works and I just wrote about seeing numerous examples in the current Japanese rotation at the Met. The two Hokusai are from the Met collection but weren’t on display in the current rotation.
https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/files/non-collections/1997-550.jpg
The Suspension Bridge on the Border of Hida and Etchū Provinces (Hietsu no sakai tsuribashi), from the series Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces (Shokoku meikyō kiran) - Katsushika Hokusai
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/53192
Sazai Hall at the Temple of the Five Hundred Arhats (Gohyaku Rakanji Sazaidō), from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei) - Katsushika Hokusai
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/55740
In other art news.
This blog was repeating some of their best articles for the past year and I thought this was very good. It’s from March and I think that must be before I found the blog because I almost certainly would have included it if I had seen it.
To Celebrate Easter, Here Are 10 Art-Historical Easter Eggs Hidden Inside Famous Works of Art
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-easter-eggs-1256852
Interesting 4 minute video from Sotheby’s analyzing Vermeer’s The Milkmaid.
https://tinyurl.com/y8z3nrf3
Now, the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Happy New Year 2019
https://www.flickr.com/photos/anitatg/32659467698/
2D6_77517
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianne_w/32569218348/
Ring ring it’s the New Year!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/meagancrickett/46470677102/
Red lipstick, red Japanese maple
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tammybrowncd/45338327854/
twirl gurl
https://www.flickr.com/photos/natalie_nettle/32185888148/
IMG_4574+4668+5030+7242+7486_f: Dresses
https://www.flickr.com/photos/140333067@N04/31224447007/
Crossdressing Carol
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carol38/31118878157/
#311: 2018-10-25 pic-25
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99244229@N04/31081730607/
Before the smile
https://www.flickr.com/photos/156147874@N07/32684577108/
Squaredance
https://www.flickr.com/photos/148629279@N08/31117064757/
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Thanks andyg for the usual info on your gallery visits. Japanese art is one of my favourites also and Hokusai in particular. I believe I mentioned before I read the story about his life. As usual we are entertained by your photos and glad you put up a wonderful collection each week. Stay well and fit my friend.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
We’re in the midst of a cold spell here, Thursday and Friday were very cold. Today is just a little better as the wind was less. On Friday I woke up to 18 degree weather and with the wind chill it was considerably colder. Still dry I’m happy to say. I had bad news on the snow removal front, my all around handyman who I’ve worked with for 20 years called to let me know he had hurt his back and had to close his business. He’s undergoing therapy and if it doesn’t solve his problem he will need an operation. So I have to find someone else to do it and I know they won’t be as reliable and definitely more expensive. I’m very sorry for him as he is such a nice guy, always cheerful with a smile on his face and he has a family and a house so I don’t know how he’s going to cope financially through this. A bad situation all around.
This week I was back at the Met for the current drawing rotation. This was really an oddball collection of different things that were for the most part not really to my taste. Much of it had to do with jewelry, drawings, watercolors and engravings of ear rings and finger rings and the sort. Here’s an example.
Design for an earring with a green scarab – Anonymous 19th Century French artist – to which I can only say, that’s interesting. I guess.
https://tinyurl.com/y8ajut7q
Design for a Poster or Advertisement for the Venetian Jeweler Pallotti - A. Melo (Italian, active early 20th century) –This at least has structure and color and some content.
https://tinyurl.com/y8rjvedh
Portrait of Catherine de Bourbon - Jan (Johannes) Wierix, 16th Century artist of the Netherlands – This was included because of the profusion of jewels arrayed around her. It’s an engraving so you should have some idea of the amount of work that went into creating it.
https://tinyurl.com/yc7dt84o
Barcarolle - Bernard Childs - Then there were a number of abstract pieces by 20th Century artists using non-traditional methods like this one which was done using power tools.
https://tinyurl.com/y9rsmwpz
Distant Systems - Lesley Schiff – Or this very contemporary piece done on a laser jet printer. Neither of these especially moved me.
https://tinyurl.com/ybzb3wou
D from Sketches - Cy Twombly – I had to go to MOMA to find an image that was viewable. I confess I don’t understand this at all and I’m sure art critics must have praised it but to me it’s what someone might do absentmindedly on a note pad while on hold on the telephone. If you go to the second link with the descriptive essay from the Met you’ll see that it was what he was actually aiming for. I think you know my feelings about abstract art.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/66235
https://tinyurl.com/ychrsdze
There were other things that I found to admire which I’ll show below.
Plates for the ‘Atlas Anatomico’ (unpublished) - Crisóstomo Alejandrino José Martínez y Sorli – 17 Century Spanish artist – These two etchings were supposed to be part of a book on anatomy by the artist which was never complete. He wanted to show how the bones of the body related to each other and made it function. The one is rather macabre which might be subtitled skeletons on parade.
https://tinyurl.com/y7pjsqea
https://tinyurl.com/y8r7mjew
The Triumph of Julius Caesar - Andrea Andreani – 16th/17th Century Italian artist – This is a large series of woodcuts based on paintings by Andrea Mantegna that he did for the ducal palace in Mantua in the late 15th Century. You can’t really see them here so I’ve copied two sections below. Andreani also hand colored several of the prints and the picture of Caesar in his chariot is one of those. I’m drawn to this as I’m a fan of Roman mysteries, that is, mystery novels set around the period that Caesar lived.
https://tinyurl.com/y8x3k59k
The Triumph of Julius Caesar [no.1 and 2 plus 2 columns], 1599
https://www.artsy.net/artwork/andrea-andreani-the-triumph-of-julius-caesar-no-dot-1-and-2-plus-2-columns
Sheet 9: Julius Caesar in his horse-drawn chariot
https://tinyurl.com/ybouegdl
The Nativity - Bartolomé Estebán Murillo – He’s a 17th Century Spaniard who I’m familiar with from my visit to the Hispanic Society as well as the Frick which owns a portrait and mounted an exhibition of self-portraits last year which I wrote about. The Met website refers to him as one of the best known of all Spanish artists. This is a religious theme.
https://tinyurl.com/ya7b3ylc
Man Wearing a Large Cloak and a Small Naked Man on His Head - Jusepe de Ribera – Yes, the title is a literal description of this rather bizarre drawing. Another 17th Century Spaniard who I also saw at the Hispanic Society and whose work occasionally shows up at the auctions.
https://tinyurl.com/yajseruy
Bather Drying Herself - Edgar Degas – And finally, the only really well-known name in this exhibit, the French Impressionist. This pastel is one of his studies of bathers which was a frequent topic along with his ballerinas.
https://tinyurl.com/ya9gjrhv
Not one of the more successful hangings in my opinion but I don’t like to miss any of the rotations as there are always some nice things in them as I’ve shown in the second half of my description.
Now it’s time for the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Asian Kids Drag – Explore the others
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69122743@N07/45602867445/
075817-112118
https://www.flickr.com/photos/167027157@N06/45116406085/
P1040033
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96984932@N06/40178492464/
Nancy Ball
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyball1/15830394611/
BMJ Best (30)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129032696@N02/15966444535/
I’m ready Sir...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/150101413@N05/32218132868/
Sarah (6)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahlouisetaylor/44975885184/
20160606_79
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissymaidjoslyn/26020163357/
tumblr_oetfeg9nzd1ukdxiso1_250
https://www.flickr.com/photos/100854647@N07/36282216353/
Little Red again :-)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fairyboyprincess/32102289338/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
Today is not as cold as it has been but we’re about to get a winter storm with predictions of snow, sleet and rain today into tomorrow. Predictions aren’t always accurate and so far the prediction is for snowfall under five inches so I hope there won’t be large accumulations. The forecast also says it will warm up into the 40’s and rain which in theory will make it go away. But Monday, as Betty mentioned about Buffalo, it will be in the single digits with a wind chill factor of 17 degrees below zero. Unfortunately I have no choice but to go out in it as I have a doctor’s appointment. Not looking forward to that at all.
I was back at the Met this week for some more Asian art. Things have slowed down considerably insofar as exhibits I want to see at the Met. I really don’t have any desire to see their big new Abstract art exhibit. In addition to my indifference to much of it Roberta Smith in the Times roasted it. My brother, who enjoys this type of art, felt her review was extreme but said he was disappointed as well. There is a Chinese exhibit which I definitely will visit but in looking at upcoming exhibitions in the first Quarter there are only two that appeal to me, The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated and Monumental Journey and The Daguerreotypes of Girault de Prangey. Genji is something I’m looking forward to.
This is a very long introduction to this week’s topic. It’s an article that appeared online in 2016 and I’m copying it in its entirety because if I just put in the URL it’s likely that most people will hit a paywall and not be able to read it. It concerns a previous exhibition at the Met that is related to the current one I am discussing.
“Rajput Paintings at the Met
With ‘Divine Pleasures,’ a former curator’s private collection goes public
Steven M. Kossak began collecting the way many others do: first, rocks and butterflies, then coins and stamps, and eventually fine art, starting with old-master prints.
Then he took a different turn, going back to school at 36 to earn a graduate degree in art history, joining the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a research assistant, and ascending to full curator in the Asian Art department.
It was an excellent hire, one still paying dividends a full decade after his departure. On June 14, the Met will open “Divine Pleasures: Painting from India’s Rajput Courts—the Kronos Collections,” an exhibition of nearly 100 works Mr. Kossak bought for himself. Worth millions of dollars, they are a promised gift from Mr. Kossak and his family.
As a collector, Mr. Kossak said, he had grown infatuated by these playful paintings, which were made in the small kingdoms of northern India from the 16th to 19th centuries. Inspired by Hindu myths and poetry, the imaginative, detailed scenes of love and life among the gods are painted on paper in opaque watercolors and ink.
Their vibrant hues—reds, yellows, blues, golds, whites raised to simulate pearls and greens made with beetle-wing casings to sparkle like emeralds—are matched by their colorful titles. They include “Krishna and the Gopas [Cowherds] Huddle in the Rain” and “Krishna Swallows the Forest Fire.”
Each one, he said, was bought because it evoked a visceral emotional response. “It’s lightning-bolt recognition across the board,” he said.
“They pack a wallop in content, style and beautiful color,” said Vishakha Desai, an Asian-art scholar and president emerita of the Asia Society. “You can enjoy them whether you know the content or not. Any museum would want this.”
Mr. Kossak’s paintings also fill a gap in the Met’s vast collections. Like other museums, it privileged India’s more subdued, Persian-influenced Mughal paintings over indigenous work from the north.
Mughal paintings were popular with wealthy collectors, foreign royalty and Russian czars, and museums followed suit, said Milo C. Beach, an Indian-art specialist and former director of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery, the Smithsonian’s museums of Asian art. In contrast, he added, Rajput paintings are more colorful and reflect what can still be seen in India today: “It’s a much more alive kind of painting.”
“Because of this gift,” he continued, “the Met will be unrivaled in Rajput paintings among American museums.”
Mr. Kossak began collecting Indian paintings in the late 1970s, and the core of his collection, purchased largely from dealers and sometimes in clusters, was formed before he joined the Met’s staff.
While at the museum, from 1986 to 2006, he did what he could to form a substantial Rajput collection. But, he said, “When the Met couldn’t afford it, I bought it.”
There was no conflict because the Met knew and acquiesced.
“The basic rule at the Met then was one of trust,” said Philippe de Montebello, the museum’s director at the time. “He would have brought it to the attention of the museum, and said ‘If you’re not going to go after it, then I will.’ ”
“That’s about as good an arrangement as you can possibly have,” said Mr. Beach.
Born to wealth, Mr. Kossak never had to earn a living. His spacious Midtown Manhattan apartment, with an East River view, is filled with art from his many collections: African, Oceanic, pre-Columbian, Asian sculptures and prints.
Before being moved uptown to the Met, some Rajput paintings hung on his walls; others, unframed and loose, were enjoyed hands-on, allowing the close inspection and intimate experience their former royal owners would have enjoyed.
Mr. Kossak, credited by many for having, in art-world parlance, “a great eye,” started visiting museums and taking painting classes as a child and buying prints in high school.
He studied studio art at Yale, then earned a master’s degree in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art, making work, he said, that was “figurative, realist.”
He no longer paints, but he plays the cello, which he also studied. His instrument of choice was made by the great Venetian luthier Domenico Montagnana, purchased after he sold his Stradivarius. He prefers the darker timbre and friendlier feel of the Montagnana.
Mr. Kossak hasn’t had the Rajput collection valued, he said; tax deductions can’t be taken until the paintings are physically transferred to the Met. Early on, he would have paid less than $50,000 for one of these paintings, sometimes much less. Now, dealers say, many fetch $500,000 to $800,000, and the rarest masterpieces go for a few million dollars each.
Mr. Kossak estimates the value of his gift today at $15 million to $20 million.
To accompany the exhibition of his works, the Met is presenting a concurrent show of 22 of the many Indian paintings it acquired under his guidance: “Poetry and Devotion in Indian Painting: Two Decades of Collecting” is, appropriately, a celebration of his tenure there.”
Now you know the background to the current exhibit. It’s a remarkable bequest Kossak is making assuming he doesn’t change his mind and his will before he passes away. As I mentioned in one of the auction posts the Seattle Art Museum was under the impression they were going to get Barney Ebsworth’s American art collection and his heirs sold it through Christies.
The title of this exhibit is Seeing the Divine: Pahari Painting of North India. It’s taken a while for me to cultivate my taste for Indian art which is very distinctive but I’ve come to appreciate its beauty and how much detail goes into it. I think it was the exhibit in 2016 when I first decided to give it a try. My brother had recommended it highly and I think I was ready to enjoy it having cultivated a taste for other Asian art at that point.
This is the press release from the Met website describing the exhibit. The illustration in the release is, Devi in the Form of Bhadrakali Adored by the Gods. It was created in the 1660’s/70’s and in the second link you can read the essay. The image in the press release is larger and you can see all the jewelry as well as the small severed head in the hand of a God on the left brought as an offering.
https://www.metmuseum.org/press/exhibitions/2018/seeing-the-divine
https://tinyurl.com/yb7cmx2b
This is a link to Google books as redirected from the Met website with an online version of the print catalog for the 2016 exhibit. It says it’s a partial preview but it seems to have a large portion of the book available and offers an extensive overview and discussion of the items with illustrations and explanatory text for everything from that exhibit. Ten of the images are also in the current exhibition.
Divine Pleasures: Painting from India's Rajput Courts, The Kronos Collections
https://tinyurl.com/y73qwjgq
Below are three reviews of the current exhibit, all with images. The first has a slide show of five images which if you’re patient will advance by themselves.
https://www.blouinartinfo.com/photo-galleries/seeing-the-divine-pahari-painting-of-north-india-at-metropolitan
This one has images as well including an additional one
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/art-diary/seeing-the-divine-pahari-painting-of-north-india/
http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/pahari-paintings-to-go-on-display-at-prestigious-metropolitan-museum-of-art/
Below are a few more images I’ll link to. Read the essays on the website for insight as to what the image represents.
"Varaha, the Boar Incarnation of Vishnu, Saves the Earth" - Vishnu is one of the principal deities of Hinduism, and the Supreme Being or absolute truth in its Vaishnavism tradition. He is reincarnated as ten primary avatars to restore cosmic order. When there is an additional link the second one is a larger image.
https://tinyurl.com/yatut6ur
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/662726/1416779/restricted
Devi in the Form of Bhadrakali Adored by the Gods – Devī is the Sanskrit word for "goddess – This is an explanation of what we’re looking at from the website, “Bhadrakali has the ritual marks, third eye, and crescent moon associated with Shiva, her consort and male energy. Bhadrakali is accompanied on her left by three forms of Kali (so identified by the short Hindi labels written in the border), wearing leopard skins and holding two swords, a trident, a severed head, and two skull¬ cups filled with blood or wine. On her right is the Afro-bedecked Bhima, the consort of a terrifying incarnation of Shiva, also wearing a leopard skin and holding a sword and skull¬ cup. Standing next to Bhima is the fire¬encircled figure of Vahni¬priya, the beloved of Agni, the god of fire. And kneeling in the foreground are two diminutive, snake-garlanded minions of the great god Shiva, offering libations to Bhadrakali, and dropping flowers on her feet. All of these attending deities jostle for space around the margins, creating a dense, overlapping mass of figures barely contained by the wide border that encircles.” It’s a very crowded frame with enormous detail and quite macabre.
https://tinyurl.com/yb7cmx2b
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/662738/1416791/restricted
Krishna Steals the Clothing of the Gopis (Female Cowherds) – This is done in fun, not maliciousness, and when Krishna tells the Gopis he will not return their clothes unless they come to him they do so not in embarrassment but due to their reverence for his holiness.
https://tinyurl.com/ycbjvr9k
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/662737/1416860/restricted
Indra Worships the Elephant-Headed God Ganesha, Seated on a Throne – Ganesha is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon. He is the God of luck and good fortune and readily identifiable by his elephant head.
https://tinyurl.com/yajz36gp
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/659913/1554937/restricted
The Poet and Author of the Gita Govinda, Jayadeva, Visualizes Radha and Krishna - The Gita Govinda has been called a woodland epic, as well as a lyrical, dramatic poem. It is sung every day at the great temple of Jagannatha (a form of Krishna) at Puri, a famous pilgrimage site in Orissa. This painting is the last image in a folio illustrating Jayadeva’s poem.
https://tinyurl.com/y742devq
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/662785/1417873/restricted
Krishna as a Child Stealing Butter – This is a lovely tableau of a scene of childish mischief by the God who has been brought to earth by his father to save him from evil demons.
https://tinyurl.com/y7ue7fss
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/662776/1417929/restricted
I have a feeling some of you aren’t going to be particularly taken with this post and I understand. I mentioned that it took me some time to warm up to it but if you look closely, and that may be difficult on the web, you can see that these really are very beautiful. Reading the commentary to understand the significance of what we’re seeing helps as well.
In other art news, several articles and videos from Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Better than Turner? The brief and brilliant career of Thomas Girtin
https://www.christies.com/features/The-Life-of-Thomas-Girtin-9651-1.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9651
Hidden Treasures: Monet’s Saule pleureur et bassin aux nymphéas
https://www.christies.com/features/Monet-Saule-pleureur-et-bassin-aux-nympheas-9635-3.aspx
Edward Hopper's Ground Swell, an American Portrait of Freedom and Possibility
https://tinyurl.com/ybxqr2o7
Marie Antoinette’s Personal Portraitist and the Unlikely Painting of an Indian Ambassador
https://tinyurl.com/y93qstr7
And now, what else, the Flickrs.
Andy G.
1920 Crossdressing Father and Daughters – More in folder if you can wade through it
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianafranklin-ellis/39751489993/
Fifties glamour girls!!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/81674904@N07/46684222491/
Gold 97
https://www.flickr.com/photos/19712934@N00/28484421807/
Jan and Steph, the Terrible Twins at Stephanie's in Blackpool
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142877968@N07/43708224735/
Sissy Pet
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissypet12/45307713225/
Turned into a sissy little girl forevermore by Auntie Mary
https://www.flickr.com/photos/165666455@N05/42430232135/
Cleavage!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/claudiatmuk/10102086434/
Pvc baby doll.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/21134240@N03/45459686132/
Sarah (27)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahlouisetaylor/45650062512/
842dcf0f72adf7db345c8950b1b0ef0d
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146827757@N06/39332393510/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
It's an early Flickr as I'm taking a friend out to the auction houses, something I'll write about in a few weeks.
I went back to Met again for the Chinese exhibit I mentioned I wanted to see. It’s the first rotation of, Children to Immortals: Figural Representations in Chinese Art. Unlike most of the Chinese exhibitions I’ve seen, instead of scrolls and screens, most of the art is objects, dishes, vases, figurative sculptures, etc. made from different materials. The items that aren’t carved all have exquisite art painted on them, some in bright colors and some in black and white.
This is from the Met’s press release.
“The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition Children to Immortals: Figural Representations in Chinese Art explores how Chinese artists captured the inner spirit (chuanshen) of the subjects they portrayed. Featuring more than 130 objects in various media created between the Song (960–1279) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties—including textiles, lacquer, jade, ceramics, wood, bamboo, metalwork, and more—the exhibition illuminates this central aspect of figural representation in Chinese art with works drawn primarily from The Met collection. Included are many masterpieces, such as the gilt-brass sculpture Daoist immortal Laozi, by Chen Yanqing (active 15th century), and rarely shown objects.
Rather than emphasize accurate anatomical renderings, Chinese artists sought to capture the “life energy” of their subjects. Organized thematically, the exhibition consists of three sections: Children at Play, with works depicting children, primarily boys, engaged in various activities, such as riding hobbyhorses, flying kites, and playing hide-and-seek; History, Legend, and Idealized Life, with works depicting grown-up, elegant men and women in idealized settings or taken from historical tales; and Land of the Immortals, with figures representing deities from Buddhism and Daoism.”
This is the overview to the exhibit
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2018/children-to-immortals
This is a link to all the objects.
https://tinyurl.com/ycj4y47z
These are some of the notable items in the exhibit. Be sure to click on the images to enlarge them when possible.
Children playing in the palace garden – A scroll with a scene of children frolicking in the outdoors, a bit faded but otherwise quite nice. It’s the kind of behavior children no longer engage in in our society which is regretful.
https://tinyurl.com/y7pnwzox
Tray with women and boys on a garden terrace – This is done in red lacquer and the process is explained in a 90 second audio file on this page if you scroll down. It’s basically shellacking wood multiple times and then carving the image in the shellac. There were a number of red lacquer images in the exhibit.
https://tinyurl.com/yapuj3fr
Panel with boys at play – Children at play were a popular theme in Chinese art, especially boys, as they were the hope of the rulers for heirs to continue the reign. This is a tapestry which I imagine took an enormous amount of time to complete.
https://tinyurl.com/y9rq528k
Vase with children at play – I imagine vases like these were ceremonial as they seem a little too fine for everyday use. This is a link to an explanation of how the potters created these images that we see. https://www.jayneshatzpottery.com/JAPANESE-OVERGLAZE-ENAMELS.html
https://tinyurl.com/ybflqpuy
God of Longevity (Shoulao) and boy – This is a hanging scroll while the second image is a bamboo sculpture. Shoulao is the God of longevity and this link describes his appearance.
http://gotheborg.com/glossary/shoulao.shtml
https://tinyurl.com/ybdtfxsy
God of Longevity (Shoulao) with children – I can only marvel at the talent needed to carve something like this.
https://tinyurl.com/y9epynfa
Panel – This is a colorful tapestry showing an elderly couple surrounded by their family who are gathered to honor them for a birthday.
https://tinyurl.com/y7nfjvfj
Tray with scholars – This is made of black lacquer and appears to be painted rather than carved.
https://tinyurl.com/yc2xsa76
Plate with scholar and plum branches – These are three delicate painted plates, one in black and white and two in color. Something pleasant to look at as you eat your meal I suppose.
https://tinyurl.com/y94k3ljl
Plate with a drunken scholar and an attendant
https://tinyurl.com/y84djtl3
Dish with scene of a woman and children
https://tinyurl.com/ydacp9j9
Platter with story of Pan An – This colorful plate recounts a visit from the famous writer who when he appeared was showered with fruit by his admirers.
https://tinyurl.com/y7h4z4js
Dragon-boat festival performance – This is a fairly large tapestry which you can see in its entirety as well as in sections. It’s a busy scene with lots to see.
https://tinyurl.com/y9ujkxc7
Daoist fairy with attendant on a raft – There were a number of Jade carvings of which this is an example. Like the bamboo sculpture it’s a remarkable achievement. As someone who loves art I regret my total lack of ability to create any. But I’m pleased that I live where I have easy access to so much great art.
https://tinyurl.com/ydgnamrz
Below are two reviews with images. In both you’ll see some images I’ve linked to above.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/conveying-inner-spirit-figural-representations-in-chinese-art_2749055.html
https://medium.com/@tiffanikate/children-to-immortals-figural-representations-in-chinese-art-49d9b5766a02
I look forward to the second rotation which will be in place sometime in early June.
And now it must be time for the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Frilly Dress And Pantyhose
https://www.flickr.com/photos/166654743@N04/46293601602/
HARD TO IMAGINE . . . EVERYONE IN THESE PICS WERE BORN MALE
https://www.flickr.com/photos/73087894@N08/46288114241/
DSCN0770
https://www.flickr.com/photos/60660709@N04/43534755575/
I wanna be a princess_♥︎
https://www.flickr.com/photos/saki_75153/45292511365/
IMG_20171221_194444
https://www.flickr.com/photos/44815144@N07/44153975515/
2018-02-27_11-05-37
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125427358@N02/39814877214/
Hi? I’m Kristy, Korean Crossdresser.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/153853850@N04/38229914612/
Urban Lights Cover
https://www.flickr.com/photos/vivianchen05/38203453651/
2018棚拍_180925_0031
https://www.flickr.com/photos/crystal_ringring/44902565052/
622
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lilyblinz/30515887027/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
It was 10 degrees when I went for my walk this morning which wasn’t too bad, at least in comparison to what we’ve been experiencing. And it warmed up into the thirties with the forecast temperature only increasing as the week goes on culminating in a possible temperature of 60 degrees. Both groundhogs, Punxsutawney Phil and Staten Island Chuck, predict an early spring to which I can only say, God I hope so. In the papers it said Phil’s predictions aren’t so accurate being right 40% of the time while Chuck is right 80% of the time. Maybe since both call for early spring this year there’s a 120% possibility it will happen. Of course math was never my best subject.
It was a cold morning but not unbearable when I walked downtown to the Whitney Museum to see the Andy Warhol exhibit, Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again. I had no plans to see it as he is not someone I particularly care for but there really wasn't anything up that I hadn't already seen. This exhibit did not change my mind. It’s the first retrospective of his entire career since 1989 and it’s a major compilation filling three floors of the museum. This is a link to the Whitney website with an overview, three videos and audio clips. There are also 19 sections, each with a descriptive essay and then the art from that section. https://whitney.org/Exhibitions/AndyWarhol You can see it had the iconic works, the Brillo boxes, the Jackie O’s, the Elvises and other things I think most people associate with him.
I’ll discuss some of the things that were of interest to me.
In the 50’s he was a commercial artist doing illustrations for shoe companies and other work for hire. He clearly had artistic talent as well as a keen eye for marketing both his work and himself. And I can’t argue that he changed the way the world looks at art.
This is an example of a magazine spread on shoes that he illustrated for Life Magazine.
https://whitney.org/uploads/image/file/822718/large_final_ARCHIVAL_062-WEB.png
This is a New York Times ad for a television show that ran on September 13, 1951, “The Nation’s Nightmare” with the graphic illustration by Warhol. It was also used on the broadcast when it was released as an album.
http://www.warholstars.org/nowhere/nations-nightmare.jpg
I find this and the magazine illustration interesting as I’ve always enjoyed artists who started in this field such as Edward Hopper. Back in 2014 I visited the Museum of the City of New York for an exhibit of commercial art by Mac Conner who at the time was 101 years old and believe it or not is still alive today at 106. I very much enjoyed the art for his magazine covers. This link is to an article from the Times about the exhibit with a few examples.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/business/media/paying-homage-to-an-illustrator-from-the-industrys-golden-era.html
I have a TV Guide from the early 50’s with an article on television title cards that shows one Warhol created. Unfortunately I didn't make a point of noting which one it is and when I looked for it was unable to find it. This is a link to a website that discusses this period in his life and notes his eagerness to get involved in title cards as he felt it would bring him publicity and make him famous. The site quotes him in response to the question, do you want to be a great artist as saying, “No, I'd rather be famous." He certainly achieved that. http://www.warholstars.org/warhol1/4imperfection.html The link is to page 4 of a timeline about him and you can go back to the first page and then move forward to learn more.
How many people remember hand created title cards on early television shows? This is a short video that illustrates the concept.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGatTSb6A90&t=3s
This is another thing that intrigues me, a very large hand painted facsimile of a front page from the New York City tabloid, the New York Mirror. This is a link to a review of an exhibit at the National Gallery in Washington that focused on his newspaper headlines.
https://www.npr.org/2011/09/26/140772086/andy-warhols-headline-sensationalism-always-sells
It occurred to me there weren't many people attending the exhibit who had actually seen that newspaper or even heard of it. It was a poor competitor to the New York Daily News, the dominant tabloid newspaper for so many years in New York that is now unfortunately just a shell of itself due to the massive reduction of staff that new management instituted in recent times. The Mirror went out of business in 1963 the year after the painting. We never had the Mirror or the Journal American in my house when I was a child, taking the Times, the News and the New York Post which was a bastion of liberalism back then. This frustrated me as a child because they both had wonderful Sunday funnies. I’ve been saving the News funnies since the late 1970’s and wish I still had the ones from the 50’s and 60’s. The Journal actually had a color comics section on Saturdays as well as Sundays. But even at 11 I knew I wanted a copy of the last edition of the Mirror which I was unable to locate. Lots of people saved it as I think is proved by all the copies that are available on EBAY. I subsequently obtained a copy from that source, twice I think since I forgot I had already done so but that worked out because the first copy I got was a much thinner edition than the subsequent one. Back then newspapers printed multiple editions each day with updated stories. The headlines for that issue were about Joe Valachi the Mafia boss.
I’m frustrated as an adult that I haven’t been able to find a bound volume of the Mirror or the Journal American. I have a volume of the New York American but neither the New York Journal nor the combined paper. I have the Herald, the Tribune and the Herald Tribune, The World, The Sun, The World Telegram and Sun but not the Telegram or The World Telegram. Nor The World Journal Tribune although I have the first edition, first Sunday edition and the final edition. Multiple copies of the Daily News and New York Times. Two copies of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, several of the New York Post as a broadsheet but not as a tabloid, New York Compass but not the New York Star, two copies of PM, The Kansas City Star and The Chicago Tribune. No New York Graphic either. Of the ones I don’t have, in the 17 years I’m on EBAY I only saw one Daily Mirror volume which was in poor condition and went for over $400. So I’m frustrated but I continue to look. I’m curious to know how many board members have ever even heard of these newspapers. I guess if you didn’t live in the New York City area you might know a few of them that had a National reputation but unless you’ve been around for a while like me you’re probably too young to remember all the others.
Andy Warhol - Ethel Scull 36 Times, 1963. Silkscreen ink and acrylic on linen, thirty-six panels: 80 × 144 in – I remember the Sculls, she and her husband Robert, were major art collectors in the 70’s, buying contemporary artist’s works. After 30 years of marriage they had a rancorous divorce and then fought over their collection which Robert had claimed sole credit for acquiring. After long litigation she was awarded a 35% share in the collection and met with her former husband to divide the works. This is from her obituary in the Times, “By the flip of a coin, Mrs. Scull won one of the most important, Jasper Johns's 1959 ''Out the Window.'' Later that year she sold it at auction for $3.63 million, then the highest amount paid for a work by a living artist.” But it then goes on to say that she managed to spend it all in a profligate way and her social life was curtailed. I’m fairly certain I have an old issue of New York Magazine that did a feature article on them during their heyday.
https://artssummary.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/86_61a-jj-cropped1.jpg
Bonwit Teller window display featuring artwork by Andy Warhol – In the window you can see his hand painted Superman painting which I’ve also separately linked to below as well his Dick Tracy painting. I always resented the depictions he, Roy Lichtenstein and the other Pop artists did based on comic book icons. I felt it ripped off the art done in the comics which was never considered art by critics and because it was now being displayed by other than commercial artists was considered “art.” Things have changed greatly in the many years since and graphic novels and comic book artists are accorded respect their predecessors could only dream of.
https://www.illustrationhistory.org/illustrations/bonwit-teller-window-display-featuring-artwork-by-andy-warhol
https://theartstack.com/artist/andy-warhol/superman-1961
https://artimage.org.uk/6121/andy-warhol/dick-tracy--1960
This video which is almost an hour is a walk through the exhibit with commentary by the artist James Kalm.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_loodakVuE
These are two in depth reviews of the exhibit with many illustrations, one from Art net and the other the NY Times. On the Times page are four more links to current articles about him.
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/andy-warhol-whitney-review-1400113
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/arts/design/warhol-review-donna-de-salvo-whitney-museum-celebrity-portrait.html
Well I see I did an awful lot of reminiscing without really commenting that much on Warhol but as I said at the beginning, he’s not someone I think very highly of and I continue to be astounded that he has retained a reputation with his works selling in the millions to the current day. There is no accounting for taste.
While I was at the museum I did enjoy visiting the permanent collection up on the 6th Floor again with a number of paintings that weren't on display the last time I visited including a Hopper and a beautiful O'Keeffe which are linked to below. Always a treat to see Hopper, there were five or six in total.
https://whitney.org/artworks/5874
https://whitney.org/WatchAndListen/1095
In other art news this looks interesting.
A New Project Uses Watercolors to Picture the World Before Photography—and Reveals the Devastating Effects of Climate Change
The Watercolour World makes the case for these fragile images as a vital intellectual resource.
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/watercolor-climate-change-1453591
And now for those who waded patiently through my nostalgia now let’s go to the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Closeted but Happy
https://www.flickr.com/photos/60741642@N06/46815607362/
same day different styles
https://www.flickr.com/photos/52912530@N04/31604940337/
i went outside for a change. goodbye 2018
https://www.flickr.com/photos/158556074@N05/32672155798/
The bride - the girl in white
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146436560@N03/41578919581/
But why can't I be a Disney Princess too?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tranniefun/41294324471/
075716-121818
https://www.flickr.com/photos/167027157@N06/44643989620/
IMG_4472
https://www.flickr.com/photos/168369595@N05/44402937830/
someone unwrap me
https://www.flickr.com/photos/158274655@N05/45544997025/
Me and friend Jasmine
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ninajay/44472247950/
Al7
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jodiexfemme/30774038057/
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There's a 50/50 chance of the Ground Hog getting it right. Yet statistics show he's only right 37-39% of the time. That means you'd get better luck & more accurate results more often by just flipping a coin or making a wild guess.
I'll bet in my town, we'll still see snow through March, but also more likely through early April too. But that wasn't typical until the late 1990s. We've had some chilly rainy Saint Pat's day before the 1990s, but I don't recall any ice or snow on the ground before the mid 90s.
It's a good thing that we can see all the wonderful art you present to us, to see from our warm home, while you're still braving the elements.
It's sad though that 70% of all internet traffic these days -- even at Betty's is on a phone. They really can't appreciate great art even on a 6 inch screen boasting 2-4K bullshyt resolution at 120 frames per second. It's all a scam to force you to pay for more data bandwidth & speed that they don't actually deliver most of the time anyway. They want you to pay more while providing less by fooling you with pointless big numbers.
Use a computer to see art nice, not a phone or hyped up tablet.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
Since I retired I seldom go into the City on Saturday but I decided to go today as it looks like next week the weather does not look promising. It was very windy and cold on the walk up. I remembered to check the subway advisories so I knew in advance that the C train wasn’t running and I’d have to go to Broadway on the way home. I was crossing Madison Avenue when I saw the crosstown bus turn and go uptown which made we wonder why. I got to Fifth Avenue and there was a sign saying to catch the bus at Madison and then I saw the 79th entrance to the park was closed. I walked up to the Met and went inside and there was a mob of people. The entire ticketing area was jammed with dozens of people on both the member and general admission lines and also at the automatic machines while the coat check was similarly busy. I decided I didn’t want to deal with it and left. I got outside and realized I should use the bathroom first so I went back in and when I was exiting the second time I asked an official if there was some special event. He rather sullenly just said Lunar New Year. I Googled it and you can see what I was up against here. Just my luck.
https://www.metmuseum.org/events/programs/met-celebrates/festivals-and-special-programs/lunar-new-year-2019 It occurs to me that if this happened before I retired I probably would have arrived at opening time and been out of the museum before all this began. Now I hope at least one day next week is temperate so I can go back.
Earlier this week I visited Sotheby’s for their Old Masters auction previews. A veritable ocean of art spread across 6 floors with many beautiful paintings, drawings and sculptures. One section was devoted to The Female Triumphant and below is an article describing what that represents. It mentions the different artists whose works are being auctioned along with some illustrations, one of which is Angelika Kauffmann’s portrait of Royal children that I link to below. At the bottom are links to other artists in the sale.
Masterworks by Trailblazing Female Artists Spanning the 16th through the 19th Centuries
https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/masterworks-by-trailblazing-female-artists-spanning-the-16th-through-the-19th-centuries?locale=en
Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun – This is a magnificent, full size portrait of a very impressive individual. It’s even more impressive when you see it hanging in the gallery. I’ve written many times about Le Brun and the brilliant exhibit of her work at the Met.
PORTRAIT OF MUHAMMAD DERVISH KHAN, FULL-LENGTH, HOLDING HIS SWORD IN A LANDSCAPE
https://tinyurl.com/y8bf6xqv
Marie Antoinette’s Personal Portraitist and the Unlikely Painting of an Indian Ambassador – This is a video that describes Le Brun’s painting of the Ambassador.
https://tinyurl.com/ycr64t2h
This is an article on the results of the auction. You can see the portrait set a record price.
A Painting by Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun Sold for $7.2 Million at Sotheby’s, a New Record for a Female Artist From Before the Modern Era
https://tinyurl.com/ybzhhltg
Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun – This is a lovely pastel portrait by the same artist who painted the Indian Ambassador
PORTRAIT OF MRS. SPENCER PERCEVAL, NÉE JANE WILSON (1769-1844), BUST-LENGTH
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.51.html
Angelika Kauffmann, R.A. - Kauffman is another important female artist and this is a sentimental portrait of Royal Children.
PORTRAIT OF THREE CHILDREN, ALMOST CERTAINLY LADY GEORGIANA SPENCER, LATER DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE, LADY HENRIETTA SPENCER AND GEORGE VISCOUNT ALTHORP
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.52.html
Claude-Joseph Vernet - There were a number of paintings on copper of which this Vernet is an example. You can’t see it on the computer but these paintings glow, they don’t need to be illuminated, it’s like they’re back lit.
A MEDITERRANEAN PORT AT SUNSET, WITH A FISHERMAN IN THE FOREGROUND AND A COUPLE AT LEFT WALKING ALONG THE ROCKY COAST
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.69.html
Charles Maurin – The Divine Sarah, the famous stage actress.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY (PRESUMED TO BE SARAH BERNHARDT)
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/european-art-n10009/lot.455.html
Thomas Gainsborough, R.A. – This is an impressive portrait by Gainsborough which surprisingly, to me anyway, had a pre-sale estimate of $80-$120K which I find low for such a famous artist. It sold for $93.7K.
PORTRAIT OF EDWARD WILLES (1723-1787), THREE-QUARTER LENGTH, WEARING JUDGE'S ROBES AND WIG
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/old-master-paintings-day-sale-n10008/lot.284.html
Jean Béraud - This street scene by Beraud caught my fancy because of his suggestion of wind. The woman’s dress and scarf and the men holding on to their hats describe a very windy day.
LE PONT DES ARTS PAR GRAND VENT
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/european-art-n10009/lot.402.html?locale=en
Joachim Anthonisz. Wtewael – My brother upon seeing this said it will bring a fortune as he is a hot artist and it’s spectacular although he didn’t think it one of his best. As it turns out it fell in the midrange of the presale estimate.
A BANQUET OF THE GODS
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.53.html
Pieter Claesz – This painting was on display at the Met for 10 years and I’m sure they’re very disappointed that it went up for auction rather than being donated to the museum. The presale estimate on this was $700K-$900K and it sold for $2.535M.
STILL LIFE OF LEMONS AND OLIVES, PEWTER PLATES, A ROEMER AND A FAÇON-DE-VENISE WINE GLASS ON A LEDGE
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.22.html?locale=en
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo - THE PIETÀ – Murillo is someone I’ve seen in the auctions as well as at the Hispanic Society. This painting far outdid its estimate of $70K-90K closing at $399K. It’s also painted on copper which really adds life to it when seen hanging in place. Its provenance goes back to the first purchaser in the 17th Century.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.32.html
Jan Brueghel the Elder - STILL LIFE OF ROSES AND OTHER FLOWERS IN A BOWL AND A VASE, ON A LEDGE – This is a small painting, roughly 5”x8”, which is rare for Brueghel as he usually worked on much larger canvases. It’s also on copper which makes the colors of the flowers vibrant. “Reasonably” priced it went for $118.75K
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/old-master-paintings-day-sale-n10008/lot.130.html
Orazio Gentileschi - THE FALL OF THE REBEL ANGELS – This was painted on alabaster, a marble like substance used in sculpture. In this case it behaves like copper in lighting up the painting. Orazio is the father of Artemisia who is one of the female artists mentioned in the articles above. Her painting is just below.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.14.html
Artemisia Gentileschi - SAINT SEBASTIAN TENDED BY IRENE – Sotheby’s had suggested that this would bring great interest but it sold for only $15K above the high estimate.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007/lot.45.html?locale=en
Old Master Drawings were also auctioned off and there were some notable ones. I’ve listed three below and if you click on the results link you can see everything in the auction.
Sir Peter Paul Rubens - NUDE STUDY OF A YOUNG MAN WITH RAISED ARMS – This sold for well over the $3.5M high estimate. This is commentary on it from the article above on the auction results. “A work on paper by the Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens sold for a record $8.2 million, but it was marred by some controversy. Nude Study of a Young Man with Raised Arms was part of the Dutch royal collection and it sold abroad to a private buyer despite criticism from museums in the Netherlands that felt they should have been given the chance to buy the important work.”
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006/lot.15.html
Raffaello Sanzio, called Raphael - A STANDING SOLDIER IN ARMOR SEEN IN PROFILE – This is a newly discovered drawing and Sotheby’s had high hopes for it but it sold just below the low estimate at $795K
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006/lot.23.html
Jan Josefsz van Goyen - PEASANT COUPLE BEFORE A LARGE THATCHED COTTAGE – This is just something I liked, there were several rural scenes from van Goyen all of which are very beautiful. The lot essay describes it as a “charming snapshot of daily life.”
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006/lot.94.html
This is the link for all the results from the Master Paintings Evening Sale.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2019/master-paintings-evening-n10007.html?locale=en
This is the link for all the results from the Master Paintings Day Sale.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2019/old-master-paintings-day-sale-n10008.html
This is the link for all the results from the Old Master Drawings Sale.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/2018/old-master-drawings-n10006.html?locale=en
And in other art news here are four articles from Christie’s, two with brief videos, and a brief video from Sotheby’s.
https://www.christies.com/features/Caillebotte-Signac-and-Sailing-9675-1.aspx?sc_lang=en
Signac, Caillebotte and their joy at being on the water
https://www.christies.com/features/Matisse-and-his-models-9657-1.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9657
Hidden Treasures: Matisse and the models who inspired him
https://www.christies.com/features/Revealed-and-obscured-Le-lieu-commun-by-Rene-Magritte-9572-3.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9572
Revealed and obscured — Le lieu commun by René Magritte
https://www.christies.com/features/The-moment-Picasso-had-to-face-up-to-himself-in-the-mirror-9676-3.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9676
The moment Picasso ‘had to face up to himself in the mirror’
Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, The Original Blond Bombshell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dYAa5hjEZg&feature=youtu.be
Now let’s visit the Flickrs.
Andy G.
27314406679_3ac95b6994_b Nathlie is fully dressed in his blue & white satin dress long black wig & a beautiful smile
https://www.flickr.com/photos/134423281@N06/39323455630/
Pretty kissable sissies
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138690271@N03/46040611541/
I think I just might be able to get used to being a "glamour girl" if I work hard enough at it every day!! hehe DSC00177 (2)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/37413172@N04/46025232752/
I like dressing like a girl
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152796253@N08/46060543735/
DSCF0446 2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141885957@N04/46561479922/
Allison Catalina
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicat366/46586854152/
Susan Louise Fox 224
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155501406@N06/45713282405/
Silk floral dress, bare legs and sequin ballerinas
https://www.flickr.com/photos/161596142@N07/45990194314/
Sissy School...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/145401144@N06/39728492513/
332311
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152802635@N05/42515676495/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
More odd weather this week, yesterday it was 66 degrees, earlier in the week it was in the 30’s and we got some snow. Today it’s cold again but dry. You never know what to expect but if we can get through the rest of the winter without significant snowfall I will be happy.
This week I visited Christie’s for their Old Master Prints and Old Master and British Drawings. I thought it was an exceptionally fine collection which included 21 of Rembrandt’s etchings. I’ve linked to several but at the end of this post I’ve linked to the Christie’s website with all of the items in the auctions and you can visit to see all the others. I was familiar with many of them from either other auctions or exhibitions but I can’t remember coming across these three.
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN - A Scholar in his Study ('Faust')
https://tinyurl.com/ybjpdwef
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN -Self-Portrait with Saskia
https://tinyurl.com/yceb8all
REMBRANDT HARMENSZ. VAN RIJN - Saskia with Pearls in her Hair
https://tinyurl.com/y9rfssly
10 things to know about Albrecht Dürer – This is an article from Christie’s about the artist. Below are several samples from the sale.
https://tinyurl.com/yboxa7a3
ALBRECHT DÜRER - The Crucifixion with the Virgin and Saint John – These are wonderful but like the sample from Master E.S. they aren’t the kind of thing I would want to hang on my wall. There are many beautiful prints in this collection, things that as I stand in front of them I think to myself I would love to wake up every morning and see this waiting for me to open my eyes. The Rembrandt’s come into that category.
https://tinyurl.com/ycylva9d
ALBRECHT DÜRER - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from: The Apocalypse
https://tinyurl.com/y967s4fs
Who was the Master E.S. — and what does this rare print reveal? – This is another article from Christie’s and it discusses the print below.
https://tinyurl.com/yagbwuq4
MASTER E.S. - The Madonna of Einsiedeln: Large Version
https://tinyurl.com/y926etx5
10 things to know about Goya – And another article from Christie’s with information on the artist. I’ve chosen several examples below.
https://tinyurl.com/ybytdl3j
FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES - Fiero monstruo! (Fierce Monster!)
https://tinyurl.com/yaryvq2w
FRANCISCO DE GOYA Y LUCIENTES - El amor y la muerte & Nohubo remedio (Plates 10 & 24 from: Los Caprichos)
https://tinyurl.com/y9z2ejjg
Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues - Two narcissi and a columbine, a dragonfly and a stag beetle. – I was unfamiliar with de Morgues so I’ve truncated a little of his history from the lot essay. This is one of five bright and delicate depictions of flora and fauna by the artist. French by birth he was sent to Florida by the King as a cartographer but had to come home when the Spanish took over the French colony. Then owing to his being a Hugenot he wound up in England as an exile where he came under the protection of Sir Walter Raleigh. That’s how these drawings, part of a much larger set, wound up in Britain. More good examples of art that pleases the eye and something you could have on your wall and look forward to seeing every day.
https://tinyurl.com/y85pz45x
Pancrace Bessa - A branch of pears (i); A branch of quinces (ii) – Like the above, a beautiful watercolor.
https://tinyurl.com/y86ylly7
Alessandro Zezzos - A young peasant woman – An artist I’m unfamiliar with but I was taken by the beauty of this portrait.
https://tinyurl.com/y9f48vka
Joseph Mallord William Turner, R.A. - Lake Lucerne, with the Rigi – There’s a long lot essay for this lovely watercolor, one that was part of his output late in his career and life.
https://tinyurl.com/y8v3jh9a
JEAN-ETIENNE LIOTARD - The Large Self-Portrait – One of my favorites, I know I’ve discussed his exhibit at the Frick numerous times but it still remains one of the best I’ve ever attended. Only occasionally do I get to see one of his works up for auction.
https://tinyurl.com/ycato3ul
JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL WHISTLER - The Two Doorways – Another favorite, this is the only Whistler in the sale and it’s one I’ve seen before in exhibits. This is from his first Venice set and the Met owns a copy. This disappeared from the website but I was able to come up with the same etching from a 2007 auction.
https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/james-mcneill-whistler-the-two-doorways-from-4986393-details.aspx
CLAUDE GELLÉE, CALLED CLAUDE LORRAIN - Le Bouvier – Le Bouvier translates as the herdsman and that’s what we see in this bucolic image of cows grazing in the woods by the river. Very calm and serene.
https://tinyurl.com/y9orlnj6
Giovanni Antonio Canal, called Canaletto - A capriccio with an ancient tomb monument to the left, and a watermill to the right. – I can’t remember seeing many of his drawings but the lot essay says he started creating them to attract a new market when his painting commissions declined. Unlike his grand scenes of the canals of Venice and the Doge's Palace, this is one of his architectural fantasies.
https://tinyurl.com/ydfrznhg
Old Master Prints – This is the full listing on everything in the auction with realized prices where items sold.
https://www.christies.com/old-master-prints-27909.aspx?lid=1&dt=160220190425&saletitle=
Old Master and British Drawings – This is the full listing on everything in the auction with realized prices where items sold.
https://www.christies.com/old-master-and-british-27772.aspx?lid=1&dt=040220191130&saletitle=
Lots of beautiful things here, very glad I was able to go.
In other art news, four stories and videos from Christie’s and one from Sotheby’s.
The video of the Irving’s apartment looking over Fifth Avenue and the Metropolitan Museum is really impressive. An absolutely beautiful place to live. .
Prized Asian art from the home of Florence and Herbert Irving
https://www.christies.com/features/Inside-the-Irving-Collection-of-Asian-art-9678-3.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9678
Hidden Treasures: Nature morte de pêches et poires by Paul Cézanne
https://www.christies.com/Features/Cezanne-Nature-morte-de-peches-et-poires-9658-3.aspx
Vibrancy, harmony, sensuality — The art of Henri Matisse
https://www.christies.com/features/Guide-to-Henri-Matisse-9680-1.aspx?sc_lang=en#FID-9680
Signac, Caillebotte and their joy at being on the water
https://www.christies.com/features/Caillebotte-Signac-and-Sailing-9675-1.aspx?sc_lang=en
A Vision of Venice Through the Eyes of Claude Monet
https://tinyurl.com/y4s3dqmy
Now let’s see some beauties at the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Halloween History (Herstory)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisamcd/33000977608/
Sissy Maid Whore to expose
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jerlee42/39753935243/
Sissybrianna in her new pink dress
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sissybrianna/44708969560/
So sissy!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/14515130@N07/27931686578/
LFF
https://www.flickr.com/photos/87097249@N03/45693336985/
20170428_195416
https://www.flickr.com/photos/slavejane/45279969944/
DSC01483
https://www.flickr.com/photos/143416638@N05/42356436510/
From the vaults....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/36751344@N02/46676605261/
1543597449464
https://www.flickr.com/photos/135809499@N02/46069279292/
002
https://www.flickr.com/photos/122472945@N05/14688679905/
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Wow Andyg, what a sissy extravaganza we have this week. I have to say I will be spending some time looking through those pages, they are pushing all my buttons that's for sure. Thank you for all your hard work. I always look forward to Saturday evening (i'm in the UK) to see what delights you will be posting.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
A little snow this week but nothing significant and another day in the 50’s. It’s supposed to rain tonight but I’m hoping it holds off as I’m meeting my brother for dinner. I walk to the restaurant so no rain will be a bonus.
This week finds me back at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for the recently opened current rotation of the drawing corridor, Selections from the Department of Drawings and Prints: Leonardo da Vinci. 2019 is the 500th anniversary of da Vinci’s death and there will be many exhibits around the world to commemorate it. This exhibit really came out of nowhere, I don’t ever remember reading an article about the quarterly rotations. And the last one was nothing to really speak of so when I saw this article it quickly caught my attention.
Four Fragile and Rarely Shown Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci Are Going on View at the Met This Month
The quartet is being shown together for the first time in more than 15 years.
https://tinyurl.com/yc4w89p7
This is a link to the Overview page describing the art on display.
https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2019/drawings-and-prints-leonardo-da-vinci
If you read the overview you’ll find this to be a rather eclectic selection broken into several different segments. The four works by da Vinci accompanied by a number of works that copy or mimic his work. Engravings by Albrecht Dürer and late fifteenth Century artists. Then in a complete change, paintings by Edward Penfield for the covers of Harper’s magazines from the turn of the 20th Century as well as illustrations by Winslow Homer from the weekly Harper’s magazine and caricatures by the political cartoonist Thomas Nast. And prints from the early career of Peggy Bacon, a 20th Century American printmaker, illustrator, painter and writer. Her prints in this exhibit are done in drypoint which Wikipeda explains as, “… a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point.”
Below are examples of what I saw.
These are the four da Vinci drawings that have been brought out from the archives. They are all very small, the Head of a Man in Profile is roughly 2”x4”, and viewing them on the screen is helpful as you can enlarge them and enjoy the detail. It goes without saying to enlarge all of these images, I was surprised that the Met didn’t offer magnifying glasses, something they’ve done many times before. Perhaps they will at a future date, I visited on opening day.
The Head of the Virgin in Three-Quarter View Facing Right
https://tinyurl.com/y6uzwo8b
Compositional Sketches for the Virgin Adoring the Christ Child, with and without the Infant St. John the Baptist; Diagram of a Perspectival Projection (recto); Slight Doodles (verso)
https://tinyurl.com/ya6e9fgr
Head of a Man in Profile Facing to the Left
https://tinyurl.com/y9d5psd4
Allegory on the Fidelity of the Lizard (recto); Design for a Stage Setting (verso)
https://tinyurl.com/y8u5yabx
These are works done in imitation of da Vinci.
Rembrandt - The Last Supper, after Leonardo da Vinci
https://tinyurl.com/ycvj2az5
Wenceslaus Hollar - A young man caressing an old woman
https://tinyurl.com/ybsvwhdt
Wenceslaus Hollar - Five grotesque heads, including an elderly man with an oak leaf wreath
https://tinyurl.com/y7vsw2wt
Albrecht Dürer - “The First Knot”. Interlaced Roundel with an Oblong Panel in its Center
https://tinyurl.com/yb99z594
Attributed to Giovanni Francesco Melzi - A Grotesque Couple: Old Woman with an Elaborate Headdress and Old Man with Large Ears and Lacking a Chin
https://tinyurl.com/ybz7pxoc
These are drawings that have no direct relation to da Vinci.
Giovanni Battista Palumba - Leda and her children playing with the swan, with a Roman temple in the background
https://tinyurl.com/yb8popzz
Master ES - The Letter E, from The Alphabet
https://tinyurl.com/yaxb82oa
There were half a dozen prints from Peggy Bacon, an American printmaker, illustrator, painter and writer. This is a link to her Wikipedia page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Bacon
John Sloan's Lecture – Sloan was an early 20th Century American painter of the Ashcan school who also lectured. Bacon was a contemporary and friend. I was able to pick up a larger image from MOMA. MOMA doesn’t limit reproduction or enlargement on her prints which the Met does although I can’t say why.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/71738
The Patroness - This is a rather ironic title of a drypoint print in which she “depicts herself leaning over a chair to show her effort at pet portraiture to a wealthy but unaesthetically sophisticated patron, whose cosseted cat’s toys and food litter the floor.” That quote is from American Women Modernists: The Legacy of Robert Henri, 1910-1945 which I picked up from Google books.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/71854
These are several of Homer’s prints from Harpers. They were familiar to me from the oil paintings he subsequently created which I’ve linked to below each print.
The Army of the Potomac – A Sharp-Shooter on Picket Duty – From a Painting by Winslow Homer, Esq. (Harper's Weekly, Vol. VII)
https://tinyurl.com/y776vusk
Sharpshooter – Portland Museum of Art
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winslow_Homer_-_Sharpshooter.jpg
Snap-the-Whip – Drawn by Winslow Homer (Harper's Weekly, Vol. XVII)
https://tinyurl.com/y987azxd
Snap-the-Whip – Metropolitan Museum of Art
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/50.41/
"Dad's Coming!" – Drawn by Winslow Homer (Harper's Weekly, Vol. XVII)
https://tinyurl.com/yaemgn39
“Dad’s Coming” – The National Gallery of Art
https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.79891.html
These are examples of Thomas Nast’s work.
Portrait of the Artist – He would have been 44 years old in this lithograph and was close to the end of his relationship with Harpers due to the death of the publisher and political disagreements with his editor. You can read about it at the Wikipedia biography. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Nast
https://tinyurl.com/yb2z5fb3
A Group of Vultures Waiting for the Storm to "Blow Over"–"Let Us Prey" (from Harper's Weekly) – This is a caricature of Boss Tweed, the Democratic boss of Tammany Hall and the leader of the crooked politicians who stole millions of dollars from New York City.
https://tinyurl.com/ybaufl82
Mad Magazine – This is the cover of Mad magazine number 26 which used the above engraving on the front cover. In early Mad magazines the publisher used public domain work along with his hire for work artists. I would guess this was my first encounter with Nast. Mad was a great publication and gave kids their first exposure to culture and the oddities of adult life. My collection covers the first 24 years of the magazine.
https://d1w8cc2yygc27j.cloudfront.net/6736425959883459971/-2295313943573775761.jpg
"What are You Laughing at? To the Victor Belong the Spoils" (from Harper's Weekly) – This is a cover illustration of Tweed.
https://tinyurl.com/y8nvtdpw
Below are a few of Edward Penfield’s covers for Harper’s. They usually had people reading or holding or carrying a magazine. I’ve always enjoyed magazine illustrations which have become big collectibles as you see art from Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker and N.C. Wyeth among others at the auctions.
Harper's: January 1895
https://tinyurl.com/y9d4yyy4
Harper's, Christmas 1894
https://tinyurl.com/yd4d5qzz
And that’s a sample of everything from the exhibit, as I mentioned an eclectic grouping that I found very enjoyable.
In other art news here’s an article on Degas from Christie’s
The life and art of Edgar Degas
https://tinyurl.com/yysxae2a
And now a collective grouping from the Flickrs.
Andy G.
dress mom – I can’t remember for sure but I think this is one of Daphne’s cartoons.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/15320185@N06/40140579143/
Princess testing
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rgaines/43444297100/
GNO
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lisamcd/45979772322/
acu (89)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessica_dresser/42608991434/
R080
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ashley_stevens/45873504865/
ad80d9a2-e9e1-4ac7-81a2-685320afdf96
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146601549@N03/40234592635/
Red dress and blonde
https://www.flickr.com/photos/valentina_rossi/39815101923/
tdTFrN
https://www.flickr.com/photos/161737682@N07/45888165745/
Anna at home
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nordic_angel/46851698632/
429902549282893040_account_id=1
https://www.flickr.com/photos/valentina_rossi/31528649877/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
Well it looks like the two groundhogs must have been a little confused as there is certainly no sign of an early spring. Got 3 or 4 inches of snow this morning with a couple of nasty days ahead. Certainly not a big storm but just enough to be a nuisance and require having someone come and take care of it. I can only dream of milder weather.
I found myself back at the Met this week for their photography exhibition, Monumental Journey: The Daguerreotypes of Girault de Prangey. It was a very large installation in what I would have referred to as two galleries, each with multiple rooms. Just before the drawing corridor are three connected galleries that are devoted to special exhibitions. Just now I discovered that each of them is named after a Met benefactor, The Harriette and Noel Levine Gallery, The Karen B. Cohen Gallery and The Charles Z. Offin Gallery. In the Rodin and European painting corridor, off which lies the drawing corridor, there is another special gallery, this one devoted to photography and it is also named for a benefactor, The Howard Gilman Gallery. I’ve seen many exhibitions in all these galleries but again today I discovered that they can be connected. Usually they are kept separate by moveable walls.
It was a difficult exhibit for me as the plates are small and behind glass and my eyes are weak. So, like you, I will get my pleasure from viewing these photos on the web.
This is a link to the Met Overview page with a short video explaining how de Prangey created his double exposures. There are also links to view the exhibit gallery by gallery as well as all the objects in the exhibit.
https://tinyurl.com/y4xxe5es
These are various reviews of the exhibit, all with enlarged illustrations which helps, not to make a pun, enormously.
Musee Magazine
http://museemagazine.com/culture/2019/2/4/monumental-journey-a-review-of-the-daguerreotypes-of-girault-de-prangey
New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/arts/design/photography-girault-de-prangey-met-museum.html
Art & Object – Slide show with a number of objects
https://www.artandobject.com/articles/rediscovering-forgotten-pioneer-photography
These are some of the things I especially enjoyed. There were explanatory notes under each in picture in the exhibit which unfortunately weren’t transferred to the website.
Tuileries, Paris – This was taken in 1841 and is an illustration of something that no longer exists. In 1871 the Paris Commune took over the French government and did battle with the existing government. It was open civil war and the Commune ordered buildings that represent Royalty to be burned and the Tuileries were set aflame. The Richelieu library of the Louvre, connected to the Tuileries, was also set on fire and entirely destroyed but happily the rest of the Louvre was saved by the efforts of the museum curators and fire brigades.
https://tinyurl.com/y2kg4z9s
Promenade et tours d’enceinte du palais de l’Alhambra à Grenade (Towers surrounding the Alhambra Palace, Granada) – This was the only painting in the exhibit and is a lovely romanticized depiction of the Alhambra. I found a larger version in the second link.
http://tinyurl.com/y65w3oj8
http://www.musees-langres.fr/musee-dart-et-dhistoire/vde-mah/promenade-et-tours-denceinte-du-palais-de-lalhambra-a-grenade/
Ramesseum, Thebes – This is one of the few watercolors in the exhibit, the second link is the daguerreotype.
http://tinyurl.com/yxuswkpq
https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/original/DP-13897-025.jpg
Noël-Marie-Paymal Lerebours and Armand-Hippolyte-Louis Fizeau - Excursions Daguerriennes. Vues et monuments les plus remarquables du globe – This is one of several etchings done after daguerreotypes that are at the link. You can click on others. Second link is an enlargement. This shows the Parthenon. Considering how much has been destroyed over the years it’s remarkable how much of this temple remains. And the amount of labor to create it must have been awesome not to mention backbreaking for the poor slaves who had to do it.
https://collectionapi.metmuseum.org/api/collection/v1/iiif/269123/1799887/main-image
http://tinyurl.com/y27gvd3p
North and East Sides of the Parthenon, Athens – This is a daguerreotype.
http://tinyurl.com/y3w2cgbl
Column of Trajan, Rome – Magnificent structure which contains a spiral staircase of 185 steps. Girault was presumably one of the first to brave the climb with the equipment required to make a panoramic photograph overlooking the city, with the Colosseum at center. The first link is the column, the second is the view. The third is the view enlarged.
http://tinyurl.com/y5zzk6yt
http://tinyurl.com/y5997v7t
http://tinyurl.com/y2596oul
Aleppo, Viewed from the Antioch Gate – In the top center of the picture is the minaret of the Great Mosque. This is something that no longer exists due to the war in Syria. The pointless destruction of ancient antiquities by fanatics is something to be greatly regretted along with the monstrous loss of life.
http://tinyurl.com/y4rn66gf
These photographs are really fascinating as you go through them and see the past unfold before your eyes as captured by a very talented gentleman.
In other art news, this will be in Sunday’s Magazine section of the New York Times. It’s a very long article on Jan Six who discovered a new Rembrandt at a Christie’s auction and then later found a second one. I initially read about this in September. It’s a fascinating article delving into who he is, the history of his family, the unbelievable collection of Old Master’s that are in the family home and a controversy over whether he discovered the first painting on his own. He’s also doing something I can really appreciate, he has set himself the task of seeing every single acknowledged Rembrandt in the world and has currently seen 80% of them. He discusses the frames for certain paintings in the family collection and why they should be changed. I recently read an article about a Thomas Cole painting that was restored to an original frame and general consensus was that it had vastly improved the quality of the painting. I sent my brother the article saying I didn’t see any difference between the two images, one in each frame. He wrote back and told me he agreed with consensus and why. I replied that for me I guess the problem is with my poor vision but that I would accept consensus. In this article Six makes a very valid case for why he wants to change the frames and I think it makes it that much clearer to me, again, no pun intended.
Rembrandt in the Blood: An Obsessive Aristocrat, Rediscovered Paintings and an Art-World Feud
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/27/magazine/rembrandt-jan-six.html
This article is a follow up to the recent one on the Irving’s, collectors of Asian art who were great benefactors of the Met. It speaks of the remainder of their collection after their bequests to the Met. It’s interesting in that it points out they worked with the Met curators to fill in gaps in the Met’s collection donating not necessarily the most expensive items but things the Met lacked and wanted.
How to Sell the Art Your Parents Spent Their Lives Collecting - Sysco Corp. founder Herbert Irving and his wife, Florence, spent years building a collection of Asian art. Now their estate is selling it.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-27/how-to-sell-the-art-your-parents-spent-their-lives-collecting?srnd=pursuits-vp
This looks to be a great exhibit coupling Botticelli with a cartoonist. I visited the Gardner many years ago and it was a treat. I’d like to go back but it’s a very long trip on the train.
Botticelli’s Beauties Meet Contemporary Cartoons at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum—See Works From the Show Here
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/botticelli-isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-1471342
And all that’s left now is the Flickrs.
Andy G.
1982 Teenage Boy Wearing Pleated Skirt Crossdresser
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianafranklin-ellis/40214086573/
2D6_77036
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianne_w/39916768773/
Kay
https://www.flickr.com/photos/158937504@N06/32900323278/
video :)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/anitatg/46823223871/
29559400658_69a75d7bfa_o
https://www.flickr.com/photos/148017961@N05/42076654370/
Leticia 2014
https://www.flickr.com/photos/168801355@N05/46157220854/
A curtsey for Daddy
https://www.flickr.com/photos/debbie_lewissmith/46291398471/
Short floral dress, bare legs and red ballerinas
https://www.flickr.com/photos/161596142@N07/31773423647/
115H2L
https://www.flickr.com/photos/klarissakrass/31898828517/
Having at last found the job I am made for...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/161596142@N07/45876224645/
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Statistically the groundhog has been correct only 38% of the time.
With a 50/50 chance of getting it right, you'd be more accurate by flipping a coin or making a wild guess. Or you would be right more by just assuming whatever the groundhog predicts, it would be the exact opposite.
The groundhog has nothing to do with it anyway, & is just a figurehead. It is decided whether he sees his shadow or not, by a committee at a club in Punxsutawney days in advance without actually seeing the groundhog.
But maybe they should start letting the groundhog itself predict it rather than a committee, because whatever formula they're using is usually wrong.
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Sounds a bit like the Newfie Hanging Weather stick, if it is swinging, it is windy. If it is wet, it is raining, if it is white, it is snowing etc. but the stick is more accurate.
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
This week I returned to one of my favorite venues, Ronin Gallery on Madison Avenue and 49th Street for their current exhibition, Snow, Moon and Pine. This highlights woodblock prints with those elements all of which appeal to me, I’ve always enjoyed seeing the moon depicted in art, in full phase, dangling from the sky like the New Year’s Eve celebration ball. I’ll link to things I especially enjoyed.
There were multiple prints from my favorite artist, Hiroshige, some of which I will write about below.
Hiroshige – Kanbara – This is one of the 53 Stations of the Tokaido, the road that linked Edo, as Tokyo the capital of Japan was originally called, with the rest of Japan. This is deep in winter with snow covering all making moving through the snow a slow and tiring process as you can see from the way the travelers appear. The second link is to the Metropolitan Museum copy which can be enlarged. The essay also says this is an entirely fictitious scene as it rarely snows in Kanbara.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/kanbara-jpr-104062
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/JP2492/
Hiroshige - Asakusa Kinryuzan Temple – One of the 100 views of Edo. Asakusa is a town famous for its Buddhist temple. The Brooklyn Museum owns a copy and the second link is to their website with more information.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/asakusa-kinryuzan-temple
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/49880
Shotei - Saruhashi Bridge in Koshu Province – Unlike Hiroshige who lived in the 19th Century, Shotei lived well into the 20th Century dying in 1945. You can read about his life in the second link. The third link is to a slightly larger version. I like the way this depicts winter in the mountains showing the house way up over the river and the precipitous descent from the bridge.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/saruhashi-bridge-in-koshu-province
http://shotei.com/artists/shotei/biography.htm
http://scriptum.com/Artwork-Detail.cfm?ArtistsID=1759&NewID=18606
Hiroshige - Toeizan and Shinobazu Pond in Ueno – One of the Eight Snow Scenes of Toto. Second link is an enlargement. The houses off to the right appear to be snowbound and easily accessible. The third link is to the Brooklyn Museum website with additional information.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/toeizan-and-shinobazu-pond-in-ueno
https://data.ukiyo-e.org/chazen/images/820f0b2d321fd8e57aba2eec1fa9b53b.jpg
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/121626
Hiroshige - Kinryuzan Temple in Asakusa – This is another view of the temple. Second link is an enlargement.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/kinryuzan-temple-in-asakusa
https://data.ukiyo-e.org/jaodb/images/Hiroshige_1_Ando-No_Series-Kinryuzan_Buddist_Temple_Asakusa_District-00028654-020215-F12.jpg
Yoshitoshi - Moon over Mt. Inaba – The enormous full moon illuminates the daring ascension up Mr. Inaba. The second link is to the Portland Art museum with additional information. You click on the image to enlarge.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/moon-over-mt-inaba
http://portlandartmuseum.us/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=record;id=36475;type=101#
Yoshitoshi - Cassia Tree Moon: Wu Gang – Another enormous moon and equally enormous axe. The second link has additional information.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/cassia-tree-moon-wu-gang
https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/works/258.2012.26/
Hasui Kawase - Moon over Ara River – Kawase is another 20th Century artist and I just love the moon suspended in the sky illuminating the blue water which flows tranquilly beneath the single boat. The second link can be enlarged, has additional information and is from the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/moon-over-ara-river
https://art.famsf.org/kawase-hasui/moon-over-ara-river-akabane-1963303083
Goyo Hashiguchi - Sanjo Bridge, Kyoto – Another artist who came of age in the 20th Century unfortunately dying at an early age from meningitis. The second link is to an enlargement which more clearly brings out the blue of the water and the reflection of the bridge and houses. The third link is to his bio on Wikipedia.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/sanjo-bridge-kyoto
https://data.ukiyo-e.org/ohmi/images/Hashiguchi_Goyo-Sanjo_Bridge_Kyoto-009345-08-15-2010-9345-x2000.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goy%C5%8D_Hashiguchi
Hiroshige - Snow at Akabane in Shiba – This print is on sale for twice as much as the one below with both being in comparable condition. I’m wondering if the bright blue river depicted in this one is what enhances the value. Given my choice of the two I would certainly choose this one for its overall brightness. Not that I wouldn’t accept the other one as well. The second links are enlarged or can be enlarged. The first is from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts while the second is a poster sized version for sale.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/snow-at-akabane-in-shiba
https://tinyurl.com/y5ha8h8w
Hiroshige - End of the Year Market at Kinryuzan, Asakusa
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine/end-of-the-year-market-at-kinryuzan-asakusa
https://posterfoundry.com/utagawa-hiroshige-snow-at-akabane-bridge-in-shiba-poster-36x24-inch/
This is a link to everything in the exhibition.
https://www.roningallery.com/exhibitions/snow-moon-and-pine
I love the Ronin Gallery as it is devoted solely to Japanese woodblock prints and has a constantly changing display as well as full online access.
I also had occasion to visit the Throckmorton Gallery on East 57th Street for an exhibit of Miguel Covarrubias, a 20th Century Mexican painter, caricaturist, illustrator, ethnologist and art historian. Below is the press release for the exhibit which describes his life and work. The exhibit consisted of examples of the different styles he worked in. The second link is to the announcement page for the exhibit with an additional image, Nieves Orozco Nude. Orozco was a model for Diego Rivera, a friend of Covarrubias, and also modeled for him. When I did a preview of this I discovered that Throckmorton doesn’t archive their exhibits and the website only reflected the current one. But luckily the Internet Wayback machine stored it and that’s where these links will take you to.
https://web.archive.org/web/20190214153048/https://www.throckmorton-nyc.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/20190228174304/https://www.throckmorton-nyc.com/press-release2.html
An Unlikely Cosmopolitan Artform– This is a review and discussion of Covarrubias with examples of his drawings and paintings. I particularly liked the Flower Vendor which also appears in the press release.
https://fineartconnoisseur.com/2019/02/drawings-caricature-cosmopolitan-artform/
Covarrubias: the art and life of a polymath – This review speaks of Covarrubias and his friendship with Al Hirschfeld the caricaturist who contributed cartoons for the Sunday New York Times for 70 years. It features a Covarrubias cover caricature of FDR for the original Vanity Fair from November 1934. I own a bound volume of Vanity Fair, the entire year of 1932, and it has multiple covers by Covarrubias. Below are two examples. The second link is his cover portrait of Greta Garbo. The third link is another version of FDR and an article on FDR and his appearances in Vanity Fair as well as an essay on Covarrubias. Vanity Fair was a fascinating magazine filled with articles and illustrations of celebrities and politicians. I would love to find another bound volume someday.
http://www.ourtownny.com/city-arts-news/20190122/covarrubias-the-art-and-life-of-a-polymath/3
https://condenaststore.com/featured/vanity-fair-cover-featuring-greta-garbo-miguel-covarrubias.html
https://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/vanity-fair-history/
Lindy hop – Covarrubias was a devotee of the Harlem Jazz scene and had many friends among the artists, performers and writers. This is a drawing of sinuous black dancers.
https://media.mutualart.com/Images/2009_07/25/0217/593996/8af9c3bf-6d0d-4fa6-bbb5-a0ee4b112b96_g_570.Jpeg
Harlem beauty – This is another example of his affinity for black culture, an ink and charcoal drawing of an attractive woman.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/miguel-covarrubias/harlem-beauty-belleza-de-harlem-iejprn-xvPyq9L5eWl9YoA2
Balinese girl – Covarrubias honeymooned in Bali and was so taken by the culture that he returned to do research and subsequently wrote a book, Island of Bali, with an extensive text on the history and culture of the Island. It made Bali attractive as a tourist destination. He did 90 drawings for it and his wife contributed photographs. If you search on Amazon you can see it and use the look inside feature to see sections. One of the illustrations is the finished painted Balinese girl.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/miguel-covarrubias/head-of-a-balinese-girl-Y438DjXOvhWY6P92I6vCyg2
There were two other images I liked and want to include but couldn’t find on the Internet so I’m attaching the photos I took in the gallery. My phone doesn’t have the best camera and my hands aren’t the steadiest so I only include these when I absolutely can’t find them anywhere else. So at the very of end of this post you should see:
The Sheik, a Harlem hipster and an attractive Filipino woman.
I got a big kick out of this exhibit and it gave me insight to the varied interests of Covarrubias who I had previously only known as a magazine cover illustrator.
In other art news.
This is a very long article and I wasn’t sure I was going to read it but I did and it was fascinating. The story of a perfectly ordinary guy, a loner except for his perfectly ordinary girl friend who was also a loner who over a long period of time successfully stole art valued at more than a billion dollars just by going into museums and taking it.
The Secrets of the World's Greatest Art Thief
https://www.gq.com/story/secrets-of-the-worlds-greatest-art-thief
Now it’s time for the Flickrs.
Andy G.
2018 Goth Lolita Dress Crossdresser Brother Sister
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dianafranklin-ellis/46948500591/
whos a pretty girl
https://www.flickr.com/photos/carol38/46054968515/
2018-12-13 pic-19
https://www.flickr.com/photos/99244229@N04/33098009138/
Red lace dress
https://www.flickr.com/photos/shinypenny77/44370975610/
Ready for the 40's Codebreaker New Years Eve ball last night.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cindyhants/32685704138/
Susan Louise Fox 238
https://www.flickr.com/photos/155501406@N06/39984886333/
18 0651
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mariaclare/28245209827/
Four Hearts
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicat366/32430462068/
Frosted Flowers
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jessica-jane/46223164154/
Maid To Please
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stefanied/31654771017/
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Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
This is an early Flickr as in a little while I’m heading down to the Jersey shore for a visit with friends. It was a fairly nice week weather wise with the temperature reaching 76 degrees yesterday. Today it looks to be a more realistic 50 degrees but at least it’s dry for my drive down.
I took several of my friends for a visit to the Frick where we took in their current exhibition, Moroni: The Riches of Renaissance Portraiture. Giovanni Battista Moroni was an Italian painter of the late Renaissance best known for his elegantly realistic portraits of the local nobility and clergy. He is considered one of the great portrait painters of 16th Century Italy. This is a link his Wikipedia biography from which I copied the description above.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Battista_Moroni
I wasn’t familiar with him at all but knew I would enjoy the exhibit when I saw several of his portraits in an article in the New York Times touting the exhibition last summer. This is a link to that article.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/25/arts/design/frick-collection-moroni-exhibition.html
This is a review from WNYC, public radio.
https://www.wnyc.org/story/review-some-faces-frick-moroni/
This is a review from Forbes.
https://tinyurl.com/y2suuhdp
I’ll discuss a few of the portraits that I was particularly struck by.
The Tailor – The website and the articles all agree this is his greatest painting. Unlike his noble subjects, this wealthy tradesman is dressed simply in wool but Moroni painted all the details of his outfit, the frill at his neck and sleeves and all the buttons on his tunic.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/23
Giovanni Gerolamo Grumelli, called Il Cavaliere in Rosa (The Man in Pink) – This is quite an impressive outfit with the woven decoration, his feathered hat peeking out from the side and his large sword. You’ve also got the broken sculpture laying where it appears to have fallen after snapping off its pedestal and the other details surrounding him.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/35
Isotta Brembati – Brembati is the wife of Grumelli, he’s her second husband and she is equally impressive with her brocaded dress, her gold handled fur lined fan, her elaborate jewelry and the marten with a jeweled head. In the museum they had an actual marten wrap which is one of the objects shown. This is part of the description, “marten furs… were associated with chastity, fertility, and childbirth and, at least since the nineteenth century, were also thought to have served as flea pelts (supposedly to attract fleas from the wearer onto the fur), a popular theory that has been questioned.” I think that says a lot about hygiene during the Renaissance.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/29
Gabriele Albani (?) – This is a magnificent portrait showing the man’s ornate black damask gown with a lynx lining, partially obscuring the gold chain holding a cross and a winged lion denoting that he is a knight. The card goes on to say that it is thought the sitter had Moroni recommended to him by Titian.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/26
Lucrezia Agliardi Vertova – This is on loan from the Met and is one of three Moroni’s the Met owns. A noblewoman, she founded the Carmelite church and convent of Sant’Anna in Moroni’s native Albino. Thought to be the Abbess based on her attire the outfit she wears is actually that of a woman of her stature. It’s a very simple, no frills portrait of a clearly devout woman.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/10
Lucia Albani Avogadro, called La Dama in Rosso (The Lady in Red) – This is one of only three full length portraits of women by Moroni. It show his talent with fabric in painting the sumptuous crimson satin gown. She was a talented poet but there’s nothing in the painting to suggest such.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/28
Faustino Avogadro, called Il Cavaliere dal Piede Ferito (The Knight with the Wounded Foot) – Lucia’s husband and apparently a rather feckless individual, he died at age thirty-seven by drunkenly falling into a well and breaking his neck. I don’t think you can see the apparatus on his left leg which apparently had an injury to his ankle. His mail accessories lie strewn on the floor while the incredibly elaborate feathered helmet sits to his right.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/33
This is a link to the Frick’s introduction page with additional links for all the objects on display, an introductory video of about 4 minutes and a full lecture video of about 48 minutes.
https://www.frick.org/exhibitions/moroni/all
As my brother said upon viewing the exhibit, it is a stunning display of a painter who is not well known but should be. I hope to go back with other friends for another visit.
In other art news.
At least the gentleman burglar who stole for the pleasure of it never risked damaging the art by smashing the display case. And it turns out it was a fake.
Thieves Stole a $3.4 Million Brueghel From a Remote Italian Church—or So They Thought. Here’s How the Village Tricked Them
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/pieter-brueghel-theft-1487668
I thought this was interesting in that it depicts a descendant of Van Gogh and describes growing up in a house filled with Van Gogh’s paintings. How nice to sleep under a Van Gogh painting of almond blossoms.
The astonishing life of Johan van Gogh: Vincent's great-nephew dies aged 96
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/blog/the-astonishing-life-of-johan-van-gogh
And now, the Flickrs.
Andy G.
DSC06481
https://www.flickr.com/photos/117560929@N03/22440929977/
Yummy Mummy?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/74475326@N08/46963056172/
Kay
https://www.flickr.com/photos/158937504@N06/46073103921/
FaceApp_1548671008019~2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/160242308@N08/46851904132/
P2070025_edited
https://www.flickr.com/photos/130865463@N08/33186325048/
GipsyMara77
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gipsymara777/46061823605/
Pretty in Pink
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144058205@N04/40080236363/
Ready for the 40's Codebreaker New Years Eve ball last night.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cindyhants/32685704138/
Rocking the red again
https://www.flickr.com/photos/13219604@N03/37742694581/
Roxy x
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rubytv/25967760630/