For an autumnal Thanksgiving bonus before holly, mistletoe, and fir trees take over, here is a bonus Samuel Palmer (via Wikipedia Commons).
Picturing a World
Harvest Moon
November 24, 2017
Grain is harvested at the end of summer, not in November, but the American Thanksgiving originates in gratitude for the harvest. Rather than rush into the frenzy of a commercialized Christmas season, I am lingering with rural imagery by Samuel Palmer, whom I have Read More
Parisian posters
November 7, 2017
On Sunday, I attended the opening lecture for a new exhibition at the Clark Art Institute, The Impressionist Line: From Degas to Toulouse-Lautrec, which examines works drawn or printed on paper. The show runs through January 1, 2018, with several talks and activities Read More
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Florist’s interior
November 6, 2017
It was partly paintings of outdoor markets and street-corner flower-sellers that inspired me to have Jeanette buy flowers from time to time in Where the Light Falls, but I sent Edward into an upscale Parisian florist’s shop. Although I knew they existed, I had never found a painting of one until Read More
Hallowe’en witches
October 31, 2017
The questions of when did witches become identified with any old crone and when did people start believing they rode brooms are not answered by this one image, but mid 15th C is about right. For more on the picture, click here.
It is worth noting, incidentally, that although belief in witchcraft is ubiquitous in time and across cultures, during the late middle ages and early modern period the anxieties that led to witch-hunting were specially strong in Europe and colonial America. For an interesting interview with historian John Demos on this topic, click here.
Happy Hallowe’en! Read More
It is worth noting, incidentally, that although belief in witchcraft is ubiquitous in time and across cultures, during the late middle ages and early modern period the anxieties that led to witch-hunting were specially strong in Europe and colonial America. For an interesting interview with historian John Demos on this topic, click here.
Happy Hallowe’en! Read More
Telling, little details
October 30, 2017
When Jeanette goes into her first bakery in France, she notices the white cards with prices written in a Continental hand. Those price cards and their style of numbering had stuck in my mind ever since my student days in France, so it’s not surprising that I smiled this morning when I saw Read More
People and animals
October 20, 2017
Blog alert: The post for October 20, 2017, Animalness, at Terri Windling’s Myth and Moor took my breath away for the wisdom it quotes and its images by Virginia Frances Sterrett. If you love Golden Age illustration or have been pondering where we fit in the animal world, check it out.
For the full on-line edition of Old French Fairy Tales with Sterrett's illustrations, click here. Read More
For the full on-line edition of Old French Fairy Tales with Sterrett's illustrations, click here. Read More
American Women Artists: 1860–1960
October 19, 2017
Exhibition alert: A show of twenty-five works by American women artists is on view at Avery Galleries, 100 Chetwynd Drive, Bry Mawr, Pennsylvania, October 13–November 10, 2017. Read More
Laundry
October 16, 2017
Paintings and etchings that show the banks of the Seine before they were totally walled and paved are good reminders that historic cities in the 19th C and earlier were much more unfinished than they are today. Early photographs may catch some of the same features, but brushstrokes and color makes the textures of Read More