Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
Betty and Angela have been commenting on the weather and I can add that the weather here has not been very good either. Spring continues just to be a season on the calendar. Today it was cold, windy, rainy and just plain nasty. Snow showers in the forecast but I don't think that's going to amount to much. Hopefully those aren't famous last words. The weatherman this morning said that Spring like weather probably wouldn't be visiting until the end of the seven day forecast. I couldn't be readier for it.
Up until about 20 years ago I still had a rotary phone and didn't see a need for one with buttons, nor did I think I needed any of the services they were trying to sell me such as call waiting and caller ID. But then I started looking for a new job and I realized I needed to buy a phone with an answering machine so my rotary phone became my other phone. It still is as my current phones are powered by electricity so in the case of a blackout I will still have service. Most people have cell phones for that but I still haven't come to terms with owning a cell phone, maybe next year when I am actually retired. But when I moved into my current home ten years ago I took on the FIOS package which included call waiting and caller ID. Call waiting isn't such a big deal for me as I'm not on the phone that often and if another call comes in, it's usually from someone I don't know. Which is why I now say that I couldn't live without caller ID. I don't get vast numbers of these scam calls but enough that I only answer the phone if I recognize the number. Takes a while for them to stop calling and once one stops, it seems that another one starts. Earlier I got a call with a Craigmont, Idaho number which I didn’t pick up and, of course, there was no message. When I Googled the number as I always do to see what other people have to say about it, this number brought up the following response: “This number called and my 4 year old daughter answered, they asked her to go into my wallet for my credit card. This is a new low, absolutely unacceptable!” Yes, I heartily concur. These people are criminals and should be prosecuted.
Despite the inclement weather I went into the City this morning to visit Christie's for their Old Master's auction previews. I've been looking forward to this since the announcement and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were no really big ticket items like some of the previous auctions I've written about and as usual there were a lot of circle of, follower of, school of, etc., etc. But even these are generally lovely to look at. There was an unannounced auction which took me by surprise and which turned out to be something that made my day. It was a showing of an auction that will take place in London in July, Fifty Prints By Rembrandt Van Rijn A Private English Collection. This is a link to all the images in the lot
http://tinyurl.com/glusxak I've seen many of the images before, one, Jan Lutma, I wrote about seeing at the Met in February in their Prints collection. This is a link to the version in this lot.
http://tinyurl.com/zpdnfvx This is a link to the catalog, which on the first page explains how the collection was assembled and it's very interesting.
http://tinyurl.com/hj74qum While I was I in the room going from print to print there was an older couple, German I think, who were clearly there to actually preview the collection with an eye to buying, unlike myself who was there strictly for the exhibition. An employee of Christie's entered and greeted the couple and started pitching the lot explaining the provenance. He said that the original owner collected them between 1959 and 1968 and always bought quality prints. He kept them in three Solander boxes under his bed until he died. (I thought he said shoeboxes and I had to look up Solander which is defined as a protective box made in the form of a book, for holding such items as botanical specimens, maps, and color plates.) Then his son kept them in the three boxes under the bed until he died and now they’re up for auction. He wasn't an especially wealthy man and these weren't particularly pricy items back then but he only bought quality prints and now they are very valuable. The couple mentioned the lack of some images and the employee said that at the time the previous owner was collecting, the prints that he didn’t purchase went for more than he was prepared to spend. But it was a magnificent collection and really a treat to see. Unless a billionaire swoops in and buys the entire collection I imagine they will be sold to multiple bidders.
Another unexpected pleasure was a very large painting by Rubens, Lot and His Daughters, which will also be auctioned in London but for the time being was given the main space in the downstairs hall. A magnificent painting, you can see an image and read about it in this essay on the Christie's site.
http://tinyurl.com/hwqkhzr The current auction consisted of three lots, I will give you a link to all the images after the title of each phase, Revolution
http://tinyurl.com/h5tjkbo Old Masters, Part 1
http://tinyurl.com/juv4psk and Old Masters, Part 2
http://tinyurl.com/hymscgt Below are some of the items I especially enjoyed.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (Montauban 1780-1867 Paris) - Portrait Of Ferdinand-Philippe-Louis-Charles-Henri Of Bourbon Orleans, Duke Of Orleans
http://Tinyurl.Com/Jrqzde8 I wrote about this back in January when this sale was announced and it was supposed to be on display but wasn't on the day I visited. But it's up now and it's a wonderful image by one of my favorite artists. Unfortunately for the Duke he died not long after the painting was finished and he never got to be King.
Jacques-Louis David (Paris 1748-1825 Brussels) - A Vestal -
http://Tinyurl.Com/Hc7lf5g David was Ingres' teacher and one of the great artists of his generation, anytime you can see a David that’s new to you it's worthwhile making the effort. As are seeing the ones you’re familiar with.
I've written about the Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun exhibit currently running at the Met which I greatly enjoyed and there were a number of her paintings in this auction. I thought these three noteworthy. The pendant paintings of the Count and Countess - Portrait Of The Count Siemontkowsky Bystry; And Portrait Of The Countess Siemontkowsky Bystry -
http://Tinyurl.Com/Gwxokfz and this wonderful - Portrait Of An Artist.
http://Tinyurl.Com/Hl7tq9g Her work on the clothing, the green cloak of the Count and the red gown of the Countess are very good as is the depiction of the Countess's hair.
Two wonderful landscapes by the Breughel's. Jan Breughel I (Brussels 1568-1625 Antwerp) And Joos De Momper Ii (Antwerp 1564-1635) - A Townscape With Figures And Horse-Drawn Carts, Carrying Vegetables And Other Produce To Market -
http://Tinyurl.Com/Z5pgomf Jan Brueghel II (Antwerp 1601-1678) - Travelers With Carts And A Wagon On A Country Road, A City Beyond -
http://Tinyurl.Com/J7vhs3k A beautiful Botticelli which probably would go for more if it wasn't noted as being he and his studio. I like Botticelli, I find his images rather cartoonlike but very appealing and the ones I've seen are very bright and open. Alessandro Filipepi, Called Sandro Botticelli (Florence 1444/45-1510) And Studio - The Madonna Adoring The Christ Child With The Young Saint John The Baptist -
http://tinyurl.com/jm3xqvo I'm including this painting by Emanuel De Witte (Alkmaar C. 1617-1691/2 Amsterdam) -The Choir Of The New Church, Amsterdam, With Figures because it's similar to one in the Met that has always tickled me as it shows a dog peeing inside the church. Don't know if this is a trademark or if he was making a statement but putting it into two paintings make it more than a coincidence I would think.
http://tinyurl.com/zrq8z8k This is a link to a biography of De Witte from Wikipedia, a very unhappy life it’s sad to say.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_de_Witte And finally, this painting by John Hoppner, R.A. (London 1758-1810) - Portrait Of William Russell (1767-1840), Three-Quarter-Length - a very pretty little boy in a dress -
http://tinyurl.com/jccetta A nice lead in to the Flickrs I would think.
Andy G.
Womenless Beauty Pageant
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sciatfsu/26062136942/ Rubber Mistress....she who must be obeyed!..
https://www.flickr.com/photos/41321506%40N06/23424201489/ Tiffany LTU S4-2
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97867932%40N05/25302367035/ Untitled
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24078110%40N08/14265477974/ Floral Skirt
https://www.flickr.com/photos/secretjess/24984192102/ 照片 047
https://www.flickr.com/photos/yammy_chow/5799702167/ vrd13
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lynnlynx/25205694929/ Juliette017
https://www.flickr.com/photos/noirjuliette/20973070593/ Celina
https://www.flickr.com/photos/celinatv/24626918124/ Sonja T
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sonjathompson/24995123052/ FOR YOU THIS VALENTINES DAY
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138156599%40N04/24994473726/ Instantané 4 (2015-06-18 20-01)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/97124493%40N07/18918296696/