Hotspur🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦

"Relief Orange," Robert Delaunay, 1936.

French artist Delaunay (1885-1941) invented a short-lived style of modern art he dubbed Orphism, which centered on geometric shapes, mostly circles, and strong colors.

He loved experimenting with color and form, and his Orphist works, while not having much in the way of messages, were visually arresting. This one is a great example; the circles are all strongly colored, and the waves radiating from them, all overlapping and interacting, are fascinating to behold.

He later moved on from Orphism and experimented with Abstract and Surrealist work, and even dabbled in Dada, until cancer took him at 56.

There's something playful yet meticulous about this work, and makes me think of the Op Art movement of the 60s and 70s, which may have taken inspiration from him.

From a private collection.

#Art #RobertDelaunay #Orphism #Modernism #OpArt

"The Summer Snow," Edward Burne-Jones, 1864.

Burne-Jones (1833-98) was one of the great artists of the Pre-Raphaelite and Aesthetic schools. While enormously popular in his day (leading to him being granted a baronetcy), he was largely neglected and forgotten after his death, until he was rediscovered in the mid-20th century and now is popular again.

Jane Burden (1839-1914), pictured here, came from poverty but was spotted by Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who were both struck by her beauty. She modeled for both, appearing in a number of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. She eventually married William Morris, the great designer, and became a noted embroiderer and designer herself....although all her designs were credited to him. Typical.

Her private life was something of a soap opera as well. Apparently her marriage to Morris was mostly a business arrangement; she managed his successful design business, had dalliances with Rossetti and poet Wilfrid Blunt, and in the end the lady born in poverty was able to purchase a manor house to secure her daughters' futures.

Happy Portrait Monday!

From the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

#Art #EdwardBurneJones #JaneBurdenMorris #PreRaphalites #PortraitMonday #WomenInArt #Herstory

"Matinée in Arcachon," Pierre Bonnard, c.1930.

Bonnard (1867-1947) is one of my favorites, and a part of my favorite school of art, the Nabis. The Nabis were postimpressionists who believed that art could be pleasant and decorative, incorporated into everyday life, and were big believers in intimate scenes.

This is actually pretty unusual for Bonnard, as he loved doing interiors and small scenes, or paintings of his beloved wife Marthe; he's not much for landscapes. But here he's giving us a lovely seascape, depicting the morning sky over the Atlantic near the town of Arachon.

There's the barest suggestion of a shoreline at the bottom, but the rest of the canvas is divided equally between the sea and the morning sky. ("Matinee" here refers to morning, not a daytime film showing!) Sailboats are already going out to see, presumedly to fish, and the unseen sun is touching the clouds on the horizon with its colors.

A nice view for a summer's day, eh? Bonnard didn't paint from the life; he would either sketch or take a photograph, but this captures the moment quite well.

From a private collection.

#Art #PierreBonnard #LesNabis #Seascape #Morning #Summer

Good morning Mastodonians! A bit overcast, warmer than we've had, but not horribly so. Storms are supposed to come today.

Over the weekend I spent some time with friends while hanging on the porch, and I bought some furniture....one new loveseat, and a vintage armchair, for the living room, and a cedar chest for the bedroom. Woo hoo! I love the idea of cedar chest for my quilts and blankets. Also ordered some bakeware to restock stuff that got sacrificed before the move...NordicWare, which is a) family-owned, b) made in the US, and c) reasonably priced. Stuff I've read recently has made me passionately anti-monopolist and anti-private-equity and pro-buy-American and pro-family-business. I've been rethinking my values as a consumer in this economy and thinking about what I buy and who I buy it from.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #MondayMotivation

"White Flower," Georgia O'Keefe, 1929.

O'Keefe (1887-1986) is an ultra-famous painter, even today. Her studies of plants from extreme close-ups are topics of debate and conversation forty years after her death.

Many felt, and still feel today, that her work was an exploration of female anatomy and sexuality, but O'Keefe always vehemently denied it. Her reasoning was that by studying organic forms in extreme close-up, she reduced them to studies in color, pattern, and form.

No matter how you interpret her work, it's still worth checking out.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Cleveland Museum of Art.

#Art #GeorgiaOKeefe #Modernism #FlowerFriday

"The Singer in Green," Edgar Degas, c. 1884.

Degas (1834-1917) is normally grouped with the Impressionists, although he didn't identify as one and regarded himself as a Realist. One thinks he's blowing smoke here; his style is definitely Impressionist, even if he didn't paint outside as they did. His subject matter was mostly dancers and entertainers.

He did start off as a meticulous naturalist, depicting his subjects and forms very realistically, but as he aged and his career evolved, he merged more into an Impressionist mode. In the 1880s, when this was painted, he was growing more abstract in his forms and was experimenting with vibrant and saturated colors, like the turquoise elements of the model's costume.

In his time, his work attracted both admiration and contempt, and his later embrace of antisemitic views (and other right-wing views) hurt his reputation. His longtime friend Mary Cassatt clashed with him over this, and was amused when a collector exhibited their work together in support of women's suffrage.

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

#Art #EdgarDegas #Impressionism #WomenInArt #Singer

Good morning Mastodonians! Had a downpour last night, some flooding in other parts of town, but I'm on a hillside. I got a couple tablespoons of water in my basement but that's it.

Today it's clear and cooler but still a little warm. I'm feeling sluggish...haven't been 100% for a few days. Ugh.

AND...I bought a GORGEOUS chair at a vintage furniture place....was going to pick it up on Saturday....but I just got a call that there was an accident and the chair legs are broken. ARGH. So I'll either get a refund or a replacement. We'll see how it looks when I go in to pick up the rest of my purchases (including a cedar chest).

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #WednesdayWarrior

Good morning Mastodonians! Another cool, clear one...well, a few puffy clouds, but still wonderfully cool and dry. And it's Friday! I have a couple of meetings and consults today over various issues with our fall conference, and then it's freedom!

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#goodMorning #FridayFeeling

"The Great Parade," Fernand Léger, 1954.

Léger (1881-1955) was a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker, first starting off in his own style of Cubism that he called "Tubism," then branching off into a more general Modernist style that many feel prefigured Pop Art.

He had some interesting viewpoints, one being that in Modern art, the painting itself should be what draws attention, rather than merely the subject, an interesting viewpoint. (And it makes sense in the post-photography world.)

But he also felt that art should be for everyone, not just wealthy connoisseurs, and this painting is an expression of that. Here we have his rendition of a circus parade, with dancers, acrobats, and clowns all carrying on, entertainment for common people. There's even a big red C for "cirque". We also have what seem to be cameras surrounding the figures as well. The outlined figures overlaid with broad swaths of color is an arresting visual element that draws the eye. It's regarded as his masterwork.

From the Guggenheim Museum, New York.

#Art #FernandLeger #Modernism #ArtForEveryone #Circus

"Tulip with Butterfly and Maybeetle," Barbara Regina Dietzsch, before 1783.

Dietzsch (1709-83) was a Bavarian painter known today for her botanical paintings.

Not much is known of her life, except her dates, the names of her parents and siblings, and that she was born in Nuremberg, married and lived in Hanover, but eventually returned to Nuremberg and died there. Her husband was also a painter, Nikolaus Christopher Matthes. It is known that some other members of her family were painters as well.

What we do have is her work, including stunningly detailed paintings of flowers, plants, birds, and seashells. They were sought by collectors in Germany, England, France, and the Netherlands, and while it's not known if she was deliberately commissioned to do so, we do know that a number of her works were used in scientific textbooks and albums used to identify plants. Her work, and those of other family members, is marked by extreme attention to detail.

Sadly, not all her works are signed or dated, and the similarity between her style and her other family members makes it difficult to attribute them definitely.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany.

#Art #BarbaraReginaDietzsch #FlowerFriday #BotanicalIllustration #WomenArtists

Musical Interlude: Here's an old favorite from decades past, featuring one classic singer and a group that came and went in a flash.

"History Repeating," performed by the Propellorheads, with Shirley Bassey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8

#MusicalInterlude #Propellorheads #ShirleyBassey #Electronica #Music #Nostalgia #ItAllComesBack

Good morning Mastodonians! And a lovely one it is....crystal-clear sky, temps in the low 70s, like a teeny hint of autumn to make July bearable. I was amazed at how much space I have in the living room now...like, wow. Definitely furniture shopping this weekend. And curtain shopping. And rug shopping. It never ends. By my birthday it should all be together.

But in the meantime, the weather here is glorious. Just glorious.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #ThursdayThoughts

"Tug of War," Ethel Spowers, 1933.

Australian Spowers (1890-1942) combines two of her loves in this work: she loved depicting children at play, and she loved experimenting with modern art.

An acclaimed illustrator of children's books, Spowers here depicts a game of tug-of-war, but also turns the two teams into a pattern of near-identical figures.

She started off illustrating fairy tales, but in the 30s moved to linocuts featuring simplified forms, skillfully depicting movement, and painting children in modernist ways, like she does here. Her work was popular not only for its artistic quality but its sheer charm.

She co-founded the Contemporary Art Society of Australia, encouraging modernist works and young artists. She died young, of cancer, but today her work fetches steep prices at auction.

From the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

#Art #EthelSpowers #Modernism #GrosvenorSchool #WomenArtists

"Water Lilies," Claude Monet, c. 1915.

Y'all know Monet. His water lily paintings occupied the last few decades of his life, all done in the garden of his home in Giverny. He was depressed after the deaths of his wife and son, but also was beginning to suffer from vision problems due to cataracts.

When he finally underwent cataract surgery in 1923, he destroyed some of his earlier work or retouched it; I have no idea if that's the case here. Still, it's a lovely image...the water lilies on the water's surface juxtaposed against the reflection of a willow tree. It's a gorgeous image that actually challenged some notions at the time; the idea of including the tree's reflection, but not the tree itself, was a bit daring.

Happy Flower Friday!

From the Neue Pinakothek, Munich.

#Art #ClaudeMonet #Impressionism #WaterLilies #FlowerFriday

Good morning Mastodonians! Well, I'm a little late. I called in sick to work; I went home early yesterday feeling wobbly and feverish, and today I decided to get some extra rest. Still not 100% but better.

I haven't been outside yet but it looks sunny, warm, and breezy, which is nice. I may slip out for lunch and see how I feel moving around a little.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #ThursdayThoughts #SickDay

Musical Interlude: Feeling kinda blah today; think I have a mild fever. So I opt for comfort music...and this offers comfort.

"Easy Living," performed by Rosemary Clooney

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgS1hwfWc4Q

#MusicalInterlude #RosemaryClooney #Jazz #Music #ComfortMusic #EverythingsComingUpRosie

Good morning Mastodonians! It's an overcast and warm morning here, with a threat of storms to come. We were supposed to get some yesterday, but it avoided me. Maybe we'll get lucky today.

Another day...gotta order stuff for our upcoming conference, and provide some info to the boss for an upcoming meeting. And I need to recruit someone to help me move furniture on Saturday.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #TuesdayTasks

Musical Interlude: Whenever I post art by Georgia O'Keefe, I think of this song. I don't know if I've posted this but I just HAVE to post it. I love this band, and this song is a funny little hoot.

"Shake the Dew Off the Lily," performed by Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk46yhugRrE

#MusicalInterlude #Saffire #UppityBluesWomen #BluesMusic #Herstory #GeorgiaOkeefe #YourBladderAndYou #FlowerFriday #Music

"The Sower," Vincent van Gogh, 1888.

Y'all know van Gogh.

In 1888 he was living in Arles and having his breakthrough success as an artist. This scene is a riff on an artist he admired, Jean-Francois Millet, who had done a similar painting of a sower.

Here, we have the man boldly striding across the plowed field, scattering seeds. But in the background, we see the sun rising over fully grown grain. This painting isn't supposed to be a realistic landscape, but a circle-of-life allegory, a religious scene of the sower of divine will planting the seeds of salvation.

Van Gogh's mental health would decline and in a few months he was hospitalized; I wonder if this painting was an expression of a troubled soul seeking some form of salvation or rescue.

From the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo.

#Art #VincentVanGogh #PostImpressionism #Allegory

Good morning Mastodonians! A cool clear one today, definitely warming up. Today the house I'm considering gets inspected, so I'll be running up there at lunchtime to hopefully participate and ask a few questions.

For now, I have a few tasks to do, and a Zoom meeting of our training committee, and then...ta da! The weekend!

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #FridayFeeling

"Still Life with Fish Bowl," Paula Modersohn-Becker, c. 1906.

Considered one of the most important early Expressionists, Modersohn-Becker (1876-1907) is considered the first female Western artist to do nude self-portraits, and the first woman artist to have a museum dedicated solely to her works.

Brought up by a cultured family, she learned to draw early and began formal art lessons at 16, when she also set up her first studio. She moved to Paris in 1900, and there married Otto Modersohn. The marriage was turbulent, though, with her realizing that she yearned for independence. It was an intensely creative time for her, though, and she completed many works. Sadly, she died of a postpartum thrombosis in 1907, only 31.

A museum of her works opened in 1927 in Bremen but the Third Reich ruled her work "degenerate" and some works were seemingly destroyed. After WWII her daughter Mathilde started a foundation in her mother's name and a new museum established.

From the Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany,

#Art #Expressionism #PaulaModersohnBecker #WomenArtists #BannedByTheThirdReich #StillLife

Good morning Mastodonians! Coldest morning of the snap so far, maybe the last really cold one until autumn...who knows? The weather can be a real roller coaster in spring. I remember a May back in the 90s that set records for the lowest high temps and the highest lows. Record cold next to record heat!

Oh well, back at it, earning those Benjamins...

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #WednesdayWarrior

I feel a yearning for a walk in the woods.

To stand by a lake and watch the waves ripple.

To wander through a historic building.

To climb a mountain and feel the wind on my face.

To sit by a waterfall and read poetry.

To eat lunch sitting on a boulder warmed by the sun.

And to end the day somewhere cozy, in conversation with companions.

"Portrait of a Young Man," Agnolo Bronzino, 1530s.

Bronzino (1503-72) was one of the greats of the Italian Mannerist style, which featured exaggerated proportions, asymmetrical arrangements, and a sort of unnatural elegance.

His best-known works are his portraits and some of his allegorical or religious works, some of which scholars are still arguing about centuries later; he never made things particularly clear.

This is one of his more naturalistic works. The young man, unidentified, stands with his finger in a book; experts believe it to be a book of poetry. He seems almost annoyed, as if we're interrupting his reading. One of his eyes is out of alignment as well, an interesting little detail.

The painting tells us more about the man's status than anything else; he's obviously wealthy, and perhaps a bit full of himself. But the presence of several masklike faces here and there, including the folds of his clothes, seem to hint that his own demeanor is a mask.

Happy Portrait Monday!

From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

#Art #AgnoloBronzino #Mannerism #PortraitMonday

"The Rose Bower," Edward Burne-Jones, 1890.

Burne-Jones (1833-98) was a great British painter as well as being a designer of tiles, jewelry, mosaics, and stained-glass windows. Although heavily influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, he was considered a star of the Aesthetic movement as well, and modern fans regard him as having a foot in both camps.

Aestheticism believed that art should be simply an object of beauty, rather than preaching a lesson or telling a story. Pre-Raphaelites were all about bringing back intense detail and colors that existed in Renaissance art, which the Aesthetes loved, but they could be preachy and didactic in their art. (See Hunt's painting "The Awakening Conscience" which today is seen as almost comical.) Burne-Jones and his friend William Morris believed in creating beautiful objects, but also in bringing beauty to everyday items like wallpaper and woodwork.

This is part of a series called "The Legend of Briar Rose" which we know as Sleeping Beauty. Here we have the princess sleeping with her attendants in her castle...while the roses continue to creep in. It's one of a number of paintings depicting the inhabitants of the castle asleep while the roses grow around them.

From Buscot Park, Oxfordshire, UK.

#Art #PreRaphaelites #EdwardBurneJones #SleepingBeauty #WomenInArt

"The Love Letter," Johannes Vermeer, c. 1669-70.

Vermeer (16321675) is a much-acclaimed and much-studied painter of the Dutch Golden Age, and hailed as one of the all-time greatest.

His output was almost entirely scenes of middle-class life, although sometimes with religious or allegorical meaning, and all painted in the same two rooms of his house, but with expertly-depicted light. He was famous in his hometown of Delft but after his death he was largely forgotten until the 19th century when he was rediscovered and his work acclaimed for modern generations. Today, only about 34 paintings of his survive, although a number of fakes were produced over the years, including one forger who sold to Nazi soldiers.

Here we have an interior scene of a woman being handed a letter, but her expression is an eager one. Her instrument, a cittern, was a symbol of passionate love, and the loss of one of her slippers is also a racy hint. The paintings behind her, of a stormy sea and a traveler on a road, suggest her lover is on a voyage.

From the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

#Art #JohannesVermeer #DutchGoldenAge #WomenInArt

Good morning Mastodonians! Another clear and cold one, but a teeny bit warmer than yesterday; the warmup is coming. Amusingly, it's to be in the 80s all next week.

More homebuying business to take care of...forms to sign, had to reach out to someone for a homeowners insurance quote, all that jazz. I'll be glad when this is over.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#GoodMorning #ThursdayThoughts

Good morning Mastodonians! Another cold clear one today. Was late getting in as I swung by the doc's for bloodwork but yay, the boss is out today so no biggie.

Trees are pushing out leaves and blossoms and pollen; I expect I'll be able to ditch the antihistamines by early May, but who can tell? Some years the pollen seems early, then others it lingers late. Sigh.

How're all my friends & followers this morning?

#goodMorning #TuesdayTasks

"The Rose in the Mirror," Suzanne Valadon, 1909.

Valadon (1865-1938) was the first woman admitted to Paris' Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts. She never really stuck to one particular school, and is commonly classed as Post-Impressionist or Symbolist. She also stirred controversy; she painted male nudes, then unheard of for a woman artist, and also painted non-idealized, realistic female nudes.

She modelled for Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, briefly worked as a trapeze artist in a circus, and appears to have been self-taught when it came to painting. She bore a son out of wedlock, who later became the painter Maurice Utrillo; the identity of his father is unknown, thought to be either Renoir or Degas; her friend, painter Miguel Utrillo, signed the certificate, becoming his legal parent, purportedly quipping that he'd be happy to sign his name to the work of Renoir or Degas.

She was an acclaimed artist, lived a sultry life full of incident (an affair with composer Erik Satie, for instance, or leaving her husband for a friend of her son's), and is still respected and admired today.

Happy Flower Friday!

From a private collection.

#Art #WomenArtists #SuzanneValadon #FlowerFriday #Roses

Well, inspection reveals the place needs a whole new roof, some electric work, and an engineer to inspect the brickwork outside.

In other words, if the seller doesn't fix this or offer a generous discount, I'm walkin'.

Sigh.

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Musical Interlude: Another musical discovery! I really like this guy's voice and approach, and this song in particular, about raising his sons to be good men, and avoided toxic masculinity, called out to me.

"Tenderhearted Boys," performed by Will Hoge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKfvMf-l1zw

#MusicalInterlude #WillHoge #Americana #Music #PositiveMasculinity

Musical Interlude: How 'bout a 70s flashback? Here's a Burt Bacharach-penned tune from a short-lived group.

"Baby It's You," performed by Smith.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTu3SaIcZSc

#MusicalInterlude #Smith #BurtBacharach #Seventies #Rock

Musical Interlude: Somehow this old tune came randomly into my head today. This is a Gershwin brothers song, first featured in the 1930 musical "Girl Crazy," which introduced many classic songs. This was first sung by Ethel Merman....just imagine!

"Boy, What Love Has Done to Me," performed by Ella Fitzgerald.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIQVDijMI4c

#MusicalInterlude #EllaFitzgerald #GreatAmericanSongbook #GershwinBrothers #GirlCrazy #EthelMerman #Jazz #Music

Musical Interlude: The Tres Chicas were an alt-country group of Caitlin Carey, Tonya Lamm, and the late Lynn Blakey. They recorded a pair of albums in the early 2000s that had a unique charm. I always liked alt-country; even my rather traditionalist father liked what he heard, and he thought country music had sold its soul to the devil when they allowed drums on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry....

But anyway, here's a sample.

"Sweetwater," performed by the Tres Chicas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y_9VIJowe0

#MusicalInterlude #TresChicas #CaitlinCarey #TonyaLamm #LynnBlakey #AltCountry #Americana #Music

Musical Interlude: The short-lived group Frenchy, from the 90's cocktail renaissance, didn't make much of an impact but some still remember them fondly. This song's title seems odd, but in some areas it's a phrase used when it's raining but the sun is still shining.

"Devil's Beatin' His Wife," performed by Frenchy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD0mRDwQZpY&list=OLAK5uy_naSjmMr3cW4Jc8oe6aTrkX088tk1qFM90&index=6

#MusicalInterlude #Frenchy #Jazz #Cocktail #LoungeMusic #DigThatMarimba

Musical Interlude: The New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra, from out of New Orleans, was a fascinating ensemble with a rather bizarre sense of humor; one of their albums was purportedly recorded in a luxury submarine ballroom under the Arctic ice as WWIII raged overhead. But their sound is definitely legit and old-school...

"Under the Mellow Arabian Moon," performed by the New Leviathan Oriental Fox-Trot Orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RccznHs-91c

#MusicalInterlude #NewLeviathanOrientalFoxTrotOrchestra #YesThatWasTheirName #FoxTrot #BigBand

Musical Interlude: OK, I went with 70s rock yesterday...how about some 60s bubblegum pop? For some reason this leapt into my head and I've got to share it....

"Dizzy," performed by Tommy Roe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrO8wUBJxyQ

#MusicalInterlude #TommyRoe #BubblegumMusic #Sixties #Pop