tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-10:/PAINTINGS - CLASSIC AND MODERNMokoFeed2009-11-10T21:40:14+01:00tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-10:/2009/11/10/the-enchanted-garden-7341549/kendrive2009-11-10T05:37:19+01:002009-11-10T05:39:25+01:00 <p><em>Here is one of Waterhouse's last paintings.</p> <p>He had been suffering from cancer for some time, and in 1916 while he continued to work on The Enchanted Garden he was approaching the end of his journey. </p> <p>He died on 10 February 1917, before the painting was finished.</p> <p>Christopher Wood wrote, "The painting makes a fitting epitaph, for what is the work of Waterhouse if not an enchanted garden?"</p> <p>His art continues to bring joy and inspiration to so many.<br> </em></p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="waterhouse90"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/468/4094468_610e6a01eb_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse90"></a> </p> <p class="center"><em><br> The Enchanted Garden<br> J.W. Waterhouse 1916</em></p> <p>'He created this haven of warmth in the winter of his life, but almost unwittingly imbued it with a deeper meaning. </p> <p>Past the Dantesque guardian at the entrance, the snow is falling on the steps: it gathers on the entablature above the rounded Renaissance arches which evoke the Italy of his birth, and a few flakes are seen against the shadows of the arcade. </p> <p>But in the garden the roses bloom; one of the girls bends to inhale their scent, and the poppies presage a quiet oblivion. Roses and snow together sum up the duality of desire and restraint in all his work, and because poetry was ever-present in his life, he must also have had Tennyson's Arthur in mind, and 'the island-valley of Avilion, where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow. Nor ever wind blows loudly'.'<br> <em><br> (Anthony Hobson, J. W. Waterhouse, Phaidon 1989}</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/10/the-enchanted-garden-7341549/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-09:/2009/11/09/apollo-and-daphne-7335564/kendrive2009-11-09T08:27:37+01:002009-11-09T08:27:37+01:00 <p>Yesterday Waterhouse presented us with a wood nymph and today he brings us another tree figure - Daphne.</p> <p>The interesting story behind the painting is from ancient Greek mythology.</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="waterhouse_apollo_and_daphne"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/087/4090087_0bd81e278e_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse_apollo_and_daphne"></a></p> <p class="center"> John William Waterhouse<br> Apollo and Daphne - 1908</p> <p><em><br> The curse of Apollo, the god of the sun and music, was brought onto him when he insulted the young Eros for playing with bow and arrows.</p> <p>Apollo was a great warrior and said to him, "What have you to do with warlike weapons? Leave them for hands worthy of them. Behold the conquest I have won by means of them over the vast serpent who stretched his poisonous body over acres of the plain! Be content with your torch, child, and kindle up your flames, as you call them, where you will, but presume not to meddle with my weapons."</p> <p>The petulant Eros took two arrows, one of gold and one of lead. With the leaden shaft, to incite hatred, he shot the nymph Daphne and with the golden one, to incite love, he shot Apollo through the heart. </p> <p>Apollo was seized with love for the maiden, and she in turn abhorred Apollo. In fact, she spurned her many would-be lovers preferring instead woodland sports and exploring the woods. </p> <p>Her father demanded that she get married so that she may give him grandchildren. She begged her father to let her remain unmarried.</p> <p>He warned her saying, "Your own face will forbid it."</p> <p>Apollo continually followed her, begging her to stay, but the nymph continued her flight. They were evenly matched in the race until Eros intervened and helped him gain upon Daphne.</p> <p>Seeing that Apollo was bound to catch her, she called upon her father, "Help me, Peneus! Open the earth to enclose me, or change my form, which has brought me into this danger!"</p> <p>Suddenly her skin turned into bark, her hair became leaves, and her arms were transformed into branches. She stopped running as her feet became rooted to the ground. Apollo embraced the branches, but even the branches shrank away from him. </p> <p>Since Apollo could no longer take her as his wife, he vowed to tend her as his tree, and used his powers of eternal youth to render her ever green. Since then the leaves of the Bay laurel tree have never known decay.</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/09/apollo-and-daphne-7335564/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-08:/2009/11/08/wood-nymph-7329627/kendrive2009-11-08T10:45:49+01:002009-11-08T10:51:26+01:00 <p>One traditional symbolic meaning of the female nude is a Nature spirit. One of these, the Hamadryad, represents a stand of oaks. </p> <p>The Hamadryad is noble, robust, and fertile, full of potential: She oversees the health and wisdom of her trees. The trees are a domain - a place - a graceful, wild, wise, and magic place where people go to meet God, to meet themselves. Hamadryads were depicted as Nature's seductive playmates; humans partook of their pleasures, solace and wisdom.</p> <p>Hamadryads perish when their trees die, or suffer when their trees are defiled - their context destroyed, they lose their purpose. Because of rampant overdevelopment, our endowment - the Nature Symbols - is being systematically disembodied, along with Nature itself. </p> <p> <em>(Alzofon Art Institute: Explanatory Comment)</em></p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="waterhouse23"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/023/4088023_e8f0ef7984_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse23"></a></p> <p class="center">A Hamadryad</p> <p class="center">John William Waterhouse 1895 </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/08/wood-nymph-7329627/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-07:/2009/11/07/he-just-gets-better-7323664/kendrive2009-11-07T04:01:53+01:002009-11-07T04:03:39+01:00 <p>This painting by Waterhouse illustrates the poem 'Echo and Narcissus by Ovid.</p> <p>Echo was a nymph. She was in love with Narcissus but he became so enamoured with his own reflection in a stream that he was fixated by the image, and Echo wasted away through unrequited love, all that remained was the 'echo' of her voice. </p> <p>To punish Narcissus he was transformed into a flower of the same name by the gods.</p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="Echoandnarcissus"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/277/4083277_28768c2424_m.jpeg" alt="Echoandnarcissus"></a></p> <p class="center"> Echo and Narcissus<br> John William Waterhouse 1903</p> <p>"One year Narcissus, the son of Cephisus, had reached sixteen and might seem both boy and youth. </p> <p>Many youths, and many young girls desired him. But there was such intense pride in that delicate form that none of the youths or young girls affected him. </p> <p>One day the nymph Echo saw him, driving frightened deer into his nets, she of the echoing voice, who cannot be silent when others have spoken, nor learn how to speak first herself.</p> <p>By chance, the boy, separated from his faithful band of followers, had called out "Is anyone here?" and "Here" Echo replied. He is astonished,<br> and glances everywhere, and shouts in a loud voice "Come to me!"</p> <p>Flat on the ground, he contemplates two stars, his eyes, and his hair, fit for Bacchus, fit for Apollo, his youthful cheeks and ivory neck, the beauty of his face, the rose-flush mingled in the whiteness of snow, admiring everything for which he is himself admired. Unknowingly he desires himself,"</p> <p>(Ovid) </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/he-just-gets-better-7323664/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-06:/2009/11/06/diogenes-7318758/kendrive2009-11-06T12:37:51+01:002009-11-06T12:41:05+01:00 <p><em>"Diogenes of Sinope, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, was a Greek philosopher, born in Sinope (modern day Turkey) about 412 BC.</p> <p> He was exiled from his native city and moved to Athens, becoming a beggar who made a virtue of extreme poverty.</p> <p> He is said to have lived in a large tub, rather than a house, and to have walked through the streets carrying a lamp in the daytime, claiming to be looking for an honest man. </p> <p> He eventually settled in Corinth where he continued to pursue the Cynic ideal of self-sufficiency: a life which was natural and not dependent upon the luxuries of civilization. </p> <p> Believing that virtue was better revealed in action and not theory, his life was a relentless campaign to debunk the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt society." (From Wikipedia)</em></p> <p> <a title="389px-Waterhouse-Diogenes" href="javascript:window.open("></a></p> <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/865/4081865_81a5dc933f_m.jpeg" alt="389px-Waterhouse-Diogenes"></p> <p class="center">DIOGENES<br> J.W. Waterhouse 1905</p> <p>In Diogenes we again see the force of the aesthetic ideal on Waterhouse. </p> <p> Diogenes, an ancient ascetic philosopher dressed in dull rags, contrasts heavily with the richly decorated, colorful, frivolous looking young ladies on the steps. </p> <p> Yet, amidst the accurate classical architecture and symbolically <br> constructed costumes, Waterhouse places strangely Japanese parasols. </p> <p> Indeed, it appears as though Waterhouse may have chosen this round sun shade to echo and contrast with the circular tub in which Diogenes sits.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/06/diogenes-7318758/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-05:/2009/11/05/the-magic-circle-7310917/kendrive2009-11-05T10:07:55+01:002009-11-05T10:08:54+01:00 <p><em></p> <p>"Miracles, magic and the power of prophecy are common themes in Waterhouse's art. This is one of his earlier works, and reflects his fascination with the exotic.</p> <p>The woman in this picture appears to be a witch or priestess, endowed with magic powers, possibly the power of prophecy. </p> <p>Her dress and general appearance is highly eclectic, and is derived from several sources: she has the swarthy complexion of a woman of middle-eastern origin; her hairstyle is like that of an early Anglo-Saxon; her dress is decorated with Persian or Greek warriors. </p> <p>In her left hand she holds a crescent-shaped sickle, linking her with the moon and Hecate. With the wand in her right hand she draws a protective magic circle round her. </p> <p>Outside the circle the landscape is bare and barren; a group of rooks or ravens and a frog - all symbols of evil and associated with witchcraft - are excluded. But within its confines are flowers and the woman herself, objects of beauty."</p> <p>(Tate Britain)</em></p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="magiccircle-tate"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/221/4078221_2e1fd846f7_m.jpeg" alt="magiccircle-tate"></a></p> <p class="center">The Magic Circle 1886<br> John William Waterhouse </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/05/the-magic-circle-7310917/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-04:/2009/11/04/will-ye-no-come-back-again-7304072/kendrive2009-11-04T09:59:58+01:002009-11-04T09:59:58+01:00 <p><em><br> Painted by Waterhouse in 1900, this picture was given to the Artists War Fund, in support of British casualties of the Boer War, which had begun the previous year.</p> <p>350 artists donated works, which were exhibited in the Guildhall, London before being auctioned by Chrstie's for £12,000. </p> <p>The girl is drinking a toast to the departing warriors, whose ships can be seen in a mirror in the background.</p> <p>Do I detect that she is pregnant?</em></p> <p class="center"><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/waterhouse_destiny/4074877" title="waterhouse_destiny"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/877/4074877_e10681d2a5_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse_destiny"></a></p> <p class="center"><em><br> DESTINY<br> John William Waterhouse</em></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/will-ye-no-come-back-again-7304072/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-03:/2009/11/03/my-sweet-rose-7301065/kendrive2009-11-03T20:17:39+01:002009-11-03T20:17:39+01:00 <p class="center"> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="rose1 "><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/280/4073280_19fe4963ce_m.jpeg" alt="rose1 "></a> </p> <p class="center">John William Waterhouse: My Sweet Rose (a.k.a 'The Soul of a Rose') - 1908</p> <p class="center"> <em>"What's in a name? That which we call a rose,<br> By any other name would smell as sweet;"<em></em></em></p> <p class="center">d Juliet)</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/03/my-sweet-rose-7301065/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-02:/2009/11/02/art-life-waterhouse-herrick-rosebuds-picking-flowers-7291760/kendrive2009-11-02T13:46:42+01:002009-11-02T13:47:47+01:00 <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="waterhouse_gather_ye_rosebuds_while_ye_may"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/687/4067687_bdf747b545_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse_gather_ye_rosebuds_while_ye_may"></a></p> <p>John William Waterhouse 1909</p> <p>Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,<br> Old Time is still a-flying:<br> And this same flower that smiles to-day<br> To-morrow will be dying.</p> <p><em>Robert Herrick</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/02/art-life-waterhouse-herrick-rosebuds-picking-flowers-7291760/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-11-01:/2009/11/01/the-party-s-over-7283790/kendrive2009-11-01T06:36:09+01:002009-11-01T06:37:11+01:00 <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="waterhouse_after_the_dance"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/575/4062575_8af00dfdb4_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse_after_the_dance"></a></p> <p class="center"><em><br> After the Dance<br> John William Waterhouse 1876</em></p> <p>The party's over<br> It's time to call it a day<br> They've burst your pretty balloon<br> And taken the moon away<br> It's time to wind up the masquerade<br> Just make your mind up the piper must be paid</p> <p>The party's over<br> The candles flicker and dim<br> You danced and dreamed through the night<br> It seemed to be right just being with him<br> Now you must wake up, all dreams must end<br> Take off your makeup, the party's over<br> It's all over, my friend.</p> <p>(Nat King Cole) </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/11/01/the-party-s-over-7283790/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-31:/2009/10/31/art-life-painting-rossetti-william-morris-7279365/kendrive2009-10-31T09:38:43+01:002009-10-31T09:44:18+01:00 <p>Today, a very decorative painting on wood by Rossetti.</p> <p class="center"><a title="N03532_9" href="javascript:window.open("></a></p> <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/573/4059573_0d290212a8_m.jpeg" alt="N03532_9"></p> <p>Dante Gabriel Rossetti</p> <p><em>Dantis Amor 1860 <br>Oil on mahogany</em></p> <p>This was one of three panels painted by Rossetti to decorate a piece of furniture belonging to William Morris. The subject for all three was Dante's idealised love Beatrice. Rossetti was fascinated by Dante's story - which he translated for his own publication, The Early Italian Poets (1864) - and saw in it a parallel with his own love for Elizabeth Siddall.<br> Dantis Amor (Dante's Love) is the central panel, symbolising Beatrice's death, which occurred between the events depicted in the other two panels, The Salutation of Beatrice in Florence and The Salutation in the Garden of Eden.</p> <p> <em>(From the Tate display caption August 2004)</em></p> <p> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/31/art-life-painting-rossetti-william-morris-7279365/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-30:/2009/10/30/swinburne-7273783/kendrive2009-10-30T09:50:46+01:002009-10-30T09:50:46+01:00 <p>The poet Algernon Charles Swinburne was a friend of Dante Rossetti and here is a rather sensitive watercolour portrait, painted in 1861.</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="Swinburne_Rossetti"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/400/4056400_fc99e56216_m.jpeg" alt="Swinburne_Rossetti"></a></p> <p>Tomorrow I shall be posting a Swinburne poem on </p> <p><a href="http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/">http://poemsandprose.blog.co.uk/</a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/swinburne-7273783/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-29:/2009/10/29/i-am-half-sick-of-shadows-7266415/kendrive2009-10-29T08:50:03+01:002009-10-29T08:50:56+01:00 <p>I am continuing with J.W. Waterhouse - and the story from yesterday.</p> <p>This painting was given the title <em>"I Am Half-Sick of Shadows," Said the Lady of Shalott</em></p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="LADY"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/352/4051352_d5c1a3c89d_m.jpeg" alt="LADY"></a></p> <p class="center"> <em>Signed and dated lower right: J. W. Waterhouse 1915<br> Oil on canvas</em></p> <p>She left the web, she left the loom,<br> She made three paces through the room,<br> She saw the water-lily bloom,<br> She saw the helmet and the plume,<br> She look'd down to Camelot.<br> Out flew the web and floated wide;<br> The mirror crack'd from side to side;<br> "The curse is come upon me," cried<br> The Lady of Shalott. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/29/i-am-half-sick-of-shadows-7266415/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-28:/2009/10/28/art-life-lady-of-shalott-camelot-tennyson-painting-waterhouse-7258963/kendrive2009-10-28T08:20:09+01:002009-10-28T15:47:44+01:00 <p>"Tennyson's poem 'The Lady of Shallott' published in 1883 tells of a woman suffering under an undisclosured curse, and living isolated in a tower near King Arthur's castle. </p> <p>She is allowed to see the outside world only through its reflection in a mirror. One day she glimpses the handsome knight Lancelot reflected and cannot resist looking at him directly. </p> <p>The punishment that follows results in her drifting in her boat downstream to Camelot 'singing her last song,' but dying before reaching there. </p> <p>Waterhouse shows her letting go the boat's chains, while staring at the crucifix, placed in front of the three glittering candles."<br> <em><br> (Tate caption) </em></p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="TheLadyOfShallot_1888"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/500/4048500_8036904f75_m.jpeg" alt="TheLadyOfShallot_1888"></a></p> <p class="center">"The Lady Of Shallot"<br> J.W. Waterhouse 1888</p> <p><em>And at the closing of the day<br> She loosed the chain, and down she lay;<br> The broad stream bore her far away,<br> The Lady of Shalott.</p> <p>Lying, robed in snowy white<br> That loosely flew to left and right—<br> The leaves upon her falling light—<br> Thro’ the noises of the night<br> She floated down to Camelot<br> The Lady of Shalott<em><br> <em><br> (Alfred Lord Tennyson)</em></em></em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/28/art-life-lady-of-shalott-camelot-tennyson-painting-waterhouse-7258963/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-27:/2009/10/27/art-life-keats-waterhouse-7251668/kendrive2009-10-27T09:10:06+01:002009-10-27T12:18:34+01:00 <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="La_Belle_Dame_Sans_Merci"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/748/4046748_5e551f612a_m.jpeg" alt="La_Belle_Dame_Sans_Merci"></a></p> <p class="center"> "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"</p> <p class="center"> J.M. Waterhouse 1893<br> Oil on board on panel</p> <p>"Looking at La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Waterhouse, we clearly see a portrayal of the Medieval woman as a femme fatale. Here, a knight appears to be rescuing a beautiful maiden, yet upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the girl is in fact ensnaring him. She possesses an alluring and dangerously hypnotic beauty, giving her power over the epitome of masculinity and strength — the knight in armor."</p> <p> <em><br> Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,<br> Alone and palely loitering?<br> The sedge has withered from the lake,<br> And no birds sing.</em><br> <em><br> John Keats - 1819</em></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/art-life-keats-waterhouse-7251668/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-26:/2009/10/26/mermaid-7244914/kendrive2009-10-26T07:42:28+01:002009-10-26T07:51:54+01:00 <p>I am returning to John William Waterhouse with another sea painting - but not a siren!</p> <p class="center"><a title="waterhouse-a-mermaid-2-5090" href="javascript:window.open("></a></p> <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/738/4042738_490b49a3e2_m.jpeg" alt="waterhouse-a-mermaid-2-5090"></p> <p class="center">A MERMAID<br> J.W.Waterhouse RA 1900</p> <p>"Mermaids were a popular subject in Victorian literature and painting. This painting may have been inspired by Tennyson’s poem ‘The Mermaid’ (1830). They were seen as beautiful and alluring creatures, but also as melancholy and potentially dangerous. Half fish, half human, the mermaid longed for the love of a man but could never obtain it. Any attempt to live on land would end in tragedy. </p> <p>(Royal Academy of Art Caption)<br> <em><br> Who would be<br> A mermaid fair,<br> Singing alone,<br> Combing her hair<br> Under the sea,<br> In a golden curl<br> With a comb of pearl,<br> On a throne?</em></p> <p>(Tennyson) </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/26/mermaid-7244914/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-25:/2009/10/25/st-george-and-princess-sabra-7239378/kendrive2009-10-25T11:08:33+01:002009-10-25T11:10:14+01:00 <p>This watercolour by Dante Rossetti is interesting because Elizabeth Siddall, whom Rossetti had married in 1860, modelled for Princess Sabra, only days before taking an overdose of laudanum. </p> <p> St. George is pictured washing his hands in his helmet after rescuing Princess Sabra and slaying the dragon.</p> <p> <a title="st george" href="javascript:window.open("></a></p> <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/841/4038841_92513e7ddb_m.jpeg" alt="st george"></p> <p class="center"><span><em><br> St. George and the Princess Sabra<br> Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br> 1862</em></span></p> <p>"The tale of St. George and the Dragon begins with a dragon making its nest at the spring which provides a city-state with water. Consequently, the citizens had to temporarily remove the dragon from its nest in order to collect water. To do so, they offered the dragon a daily human sacrifice. The victim of the day was chosen by drawing lots. Eventually in this lottery, the lot happened to fall to the local princess. The local monarch is occasionally depicted begging for her life with no result. She is offered to the dragon but at this point a traveling Saint George arrives. He faces the dragon, slays it and saves the princess. The grateful citizens then abandon their ancestral paganism and convert to Christianity."</p> <p></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/25/st-george-and-princess-sabra-7239378/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-24:/2009/10/24/ulysses-and-the-sirens-7234423/kendrive2009-10-24T11:06:06+02:002009-10-24T11:37:58+02:00 <p>A couple of days ago I posted John William Waterhouse's "The Siren".</p> <p>He was fascinated by Homer's "Odyssey" and the story of the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy. </p> <p>Here is his painting of the Sirens approaching Odysseus on his voyage.</p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="John_William_Waterhouse_-_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_(1891)"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/643/4032643_506c22839e_m.jpeg" alt="John_William_Waterhouse_-_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_(1891)"></a></p> <p class="center"><em>Ulysses and the Sirens (1891) John William Waterhouse</em></p> <p>"Odysseus had the sailors stuff their ears with wax. He had himself tied to the mast for he wanted to hear their beautiful voices. The Sirens sang when they approached, their words even more enticing than the melody. They would give knowledge to every man who came to them, they said, ripe wisdom and a quickening of the spirit. Odysseus' heart ran with longing but the ropes held him and the ship quickly sailed to safer waters."</p> <p>It is interesting to note that Waterhouse has included SIX sirens in his painting, whereas only three are usually mentioned in ancient mythology. Homer had only TWO in his story.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/24/ulysses-and-the-sirens-7234423/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-23:/2009/10/23/art-life-rossetti-painting-portrait-elizabeth-sidall-beata-beatrix-vita-nuova-7227565/kendrive2009-10-23T09:11:22+02:002009-10-23T09:27:48+02:00 <p>Rossetti used his wife, Elizabeth Sidall (Lizzie) as a model for several of his paintings.</p> <p> He painted "Beata Beatrix" as a tribute to her after her death.</p> <p class="right"><a title="beata-beatrix_1863-70_" href="javascript:window.open("></a></p> <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/190/4032190_b54763405c_m.jpeg" alt="beata-beatrix_1863-70_"></p> <p class="center">Beata Beatrix circa 1864-70</p> <p><em>"Dante Gabriel Rossetti had always idolized Dante, the author of 'Vita Nuova' in which Beatrice is Dante’s unrequited love. </p> <p>In 'Beata Beatrix', Rossetti paints Elizabeth Siddal as Beatrice, merging his love and Dante’s into one. </p> <p>Rossetti painted several versions of this painting and there are subtle changes in each version. In one version, there is a white dove bringing Beatrice a red poppy. In another version the bird is red and the flower white. The poppy is significant due to the fact that Lizzie died of a Laudanum overdose. Laudanum is an opiate which is derived from poppies."</p> <p>(From <a href="http://preraphaelitesisterhood.com)">http://preraphaelitesisterhood.com)</a></em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/23/art-life-rossetti-painting-portrait-elizabeth-sidall-beata-beatrix-vita-nuova-7227565/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-22:/2009/10/22/the-siren-7220798/kendrive2009-10-22T07:53:53+02:002009-10-22T07:57:59+02:00 <p><em>On my poetry blog today I have posted Dante Gabriel Rossetti's "Sea-Spell", which portrays a Siren. </p> <p>In Greek mythology, the Sirens were three dangerous bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lived on an island called Sirenum scopuli. </p> <p>Sailors who sailed near the cliffs were lured by the Sirens' enchanting music and voices to wreck their ships on the rocky coast.</p> <p>I am turning to another Pre-Raphaelite, John William Waterhouse, who illustrated the same subject.</em></p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="The_Siren"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/339/4027339_027274ee9e_m.jpeg" alt="The_Siren"></a></p> <p class="center"> <em>The Siren<br> John William Waterhouse</em></p> <p><strong>Note:</strong> John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 — 10 February 1917) was an English Pre-Raphaelitepainter who is most famous for his paintings of female characters from Greek and Arthurian mythology.</p> <p>Waterhouse was one of the final Pre-Raphaelite artists, being most productive in the latter decades of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th, long after the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. </p> <p>Because of this, he has been referred to as "the modern Pre-Raphaelite", and incorporated techniques borrowed from the French Impressionists into his work. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/22/the-siren-7220798/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-21:/2009/10/21/lady-lilith-7213984/kendrive2009-10-21T09:50:16+02:002009-10-21T09:52:01+02:00 <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="Lilith"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/938/4019938_026f1a68d8_m.jpeg" alt="Lilith"></a></p> <p class="center"><em>Lady Lilith</em></p> <p>Dante Gabriel Rossetti based his painting <em>Lady Lilith</em> on a sonnet from his poem 'The House of Life' entitled "Body's Beauty." </p> <p>"Lady Lilith sits luxuriously in a sensual environment. Her auburn hair cascades down her voluptuous frame. Her draping dress barely covers her overtly feminine form, revealing her pale shoulders, clavicle, and breasts. </p> <p>As Lilith combs her hair she contemplates her own reflection in a hand mirror. Another mirror in the upper left corner reflects a tree, adding to the ambiguity and mystery of Lilith's surroundings." </p> <p>Like her flowing hair and garments, Lilith is draped over a chair with white roses and poppy's framing her seductive face, but the reflection of the tree makes it unclear to the viewer whether the scene is in or out of doors. </p> <p>The overt sensuality of the painting is clearly grounded in physical beauty and desire, just as the sonnet speaks of the "Body's Beauty.</p> <p>In Talmudic legend Lilith was Adam's first wife. In this painting she is Rossetti's 'femme fatale', seducing young men with her feminine wiles and then encouraging them to defile themselves."</p> <p>P.S. In this painting the model was again "Fanny". </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/21/lady-lilith-7213984/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-20:/2009/10/20/rosamund-7205772/kendrive2009-10-20T08:24:09+02:002009-10-20T08:25:28+02:00 <p>This Rossetti painting portrays "The Fair Rosamund" (Rosamund Clifford), who was famed for her beauty and was a mistress of King Henry II.</p> <p>According to legend, Henry built Rosamund a palace that could only be reached through a maze. He used a red cord to find his way through the maze and alert Rosamund to his arrival. </p> <p>Henry's wife, Eleanor, discovered the maze and followed the cord to find her husband's mistress, offering her the choice of drinking poison or being stabbed.</p> <p>In reality, Rosamund was not murdered by Eleanor, but retired to a convent where she died in 1176.</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="rosamund"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/302/4019302_0875cfe419_m.jpeg" alt="rosamund"></a></p> <p class="center"> "Fair Rosamund"<br> Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1861<br> Oil on canvas.</p> <p>The sitter for the portrait, Fanny Cornforth, was a frequent model of Rossetti. She became his housekeeper after the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddall in 1862.<br> <em><br> "Fanny Cornforth, moved to London from the country and made her living as a prostitute. She took a fancy to Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and was reputed to have first got his attention by pelting him with peanuts in the Cremhorne Gardens. </p> <p>Larger and louder than life she enjoyed the company of Bohemians, indulging the young artists in return for gifts and favours. </p> <p>With their help she set up a boarding house-cum-brothel and made a good living. She remained Rossetti's companion and housekeeper into old age."</em></p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="fanny"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/315/4019315_4328cddd3e_m.jpeg" alt="fanny"></a></p> <p class="center">Fanny in real life</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/20/rosamund-7205772/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-19:/2009/10/19/and-nothing-but-the-truth-7198909/kendrive2009-10-19T09:55:58+02:002009-10-19T09:55:58+02:00 <p><em>"O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us."(Robert Burns)</em></p> <p>It must be difficult for an artist to make an honest self-portrait.</p> <p>He must avoid flattery and try to render a truthful likeness that brings out aspects of his character.</p> <p>This self-portrait of Dante Gabriel Rosetti shows him as a handsome young man.</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="Rossettiathome"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/756/4018756_8a0afa9698_m.jpeg" alt="Rossettiathome"></a></p> <p>However, as we have seen from Shakespeare's sonnets on my poetry blog, we cannot change the effect of aging.</p> <p>Here is Rossetti a little older:</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="dante_rossetti2"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/760/4018760_e399b1b685_m.jpeg" alt="dante_rossetti2"></a></p> <p>And a photograph of him in later life:</p> <p><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="dantelater"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/775/4018775_752b7a95d4_m.jpeg" alt="dantelater"></a> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/19/and-nothing-but-the-truth-7198909/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-18:/2009/10/18/the-annunciation-7192115/kendrive2009-10-18T09:26:10+02:002009-10-18T11:47:08+02:00 <p>"And the angel came in unto her, and said 'Hail, thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women. Behold, thou shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS". (St. Luke's Gospel) </p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="Mary"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/251/4014251_35c306ea58_m.jpeg" alt="Mary"></a> </p> <p class="center"><em>Dante Gabriel Rossetti<br> Ecce Ancilla Domini ("The Annunciation") 1850<br> Oil on canvas<br> Tate Britain Gallery, London</em></p> <p>P.S. Check out my new blog at: <a href="http://ME-TALKING.blog.co.uk">http://ME-TALKING.blog.co.uk</a></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/18/the-annunciation-7192115/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-17:/2009/10/17/the-rape-of-proserpina-7185505/kendrive2009-10-17T06:25:14+02:002009-10-17T06:27:40+02:00 <p><em>Today I am deviating from the Pre-Raphaelites to bring you this painting by Luca Giordano (1634 -1705), which continues yesterday's theme.</p> <p>You may be able to identify some of the mythical characters.</em></p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="800px-Luca_Giordano_016"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/116/4010116_1fe8a49f19_m.jpeg" alt="800px-Luca_Giordano_016"></a></p> <p class="center">The Rape of Proserpina.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/the-rape-of-proserpina-7185505/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-16:/2009/10/16/prosperpine-7179910/kendrive2009-10-16T10:05:28+02:002009-10-16T21:19:52+02:00 <p>I am continuing the works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti with this painting of 'Proserpine', which you can see at London's Tate Britain Gallery.</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="prosperpine"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/206/4008206_88127b1aef_m.jpeg" alt="prosperpine"></a></p> <p class="center"> Prosperpine<br> Dante Gabriel Rossetti 1874</p> <em></p> <p>Proserpina (sometimes spelt Proserpine, Prosperine or Prosperina) is an ancient Roman goddess whose story is the basis of "A Myth of Springtime". </em><br> <em></p> <p>Venus, in order to bring love to Pluto, sent her son Amor also known as Cupid to hit Pluto with one of his arrows. Proserpina was in Sicily, at the Pergusa Lake near Enna, where she was playing with some nymphs and collecting flowers, when Pluto came out from the volcano Etna with four black horses named Orphnaeus, Aethon, Nycteus and Alastor.</p> <p>He abducted her in order to marry her and live with her in Hades, the Greco-Roman Underworld, of which he was the ruler. Notably, Pluto was also her uncle, being Jupiter's (and Ceres's) brother. She is therefore Queen of the Underworld.</p> <p>Her mother Ceres, the goddess of agriculture or of the Earth, went looking for her in vain to every corner of the earth, but wasn't able to find anything but a small belt that was floating upon a little lake (made with the tears of the nymphs). </p> <p>In her desperation Ceres angrily stopped the growth of fruits and vegetables, bestowing a malediction on Sicily. Ceres refused to go back to Mount Olympus and started walking on the Earth, making a desert at every step.</p> <p>Worried, Jupiter sent Mercury to order Pluto (Jupiter's brother) to free Proserpina. Pluto obeyed, but before letting her go he made her eat six pomegranate seeds, because those who have eaten the food of the dead could not return to the world of the living. This meant that she would have to live six months of each year with him, and stay the rest with her mother. This story was undoubtedly meant to illustrate the changing of the seasons; When Ceres welcomes her daughter back in the spring the earth blossoms, and when Proserpina must be returned to her husband it withers.</p> <p>In another version of the story, some people believe that upon her abduction, Proserpina ate only four pomegranate seeds, and she did so of her own accord. When Jupiter ordered her return, Pluto struck a deal with Jupiter, saying that since she had stolen his pomegranate seeds, she must stay with him four months of the year in return. For this reason, in spring when Ceres received her daughter back, the crops blossomed, and in summer they flourished. In the autumn Ceres changed the leaves to shades of brown and orange (her favorite colors) as a gift to Proserpina before she had to return to the underworld. During the time that Proserpina resided with Pluto, the world went through winter, a time when the earth was barren.</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/16/prosperpine-7179910/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-15:/2009/10/15/found-7173556/kendrive2009-10-15T10:41:49+02:002009-10-15T10:43:17+02:00 <p>I am moving on (or back) from John Singer Sargent to the Pre-Raphaelites - a subject that has been suggested by Jenray.</p> <p>The first artist I have chosen is Gabriel Dante Rossetti (1828 - 1882), who was the brother of Christina Rossetti and was himself no mean poet.</p> <p>Here is his painting "Found":</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="found"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/825/4004825_fc1e2be07d_m.jpeg" alt="found"></a></p> <p>The scene has been interpreted in several ways. Some have said the man is remonstrating with a prostitute, whilst others believe it shows a wronged husband taking his wife home.</p> <p>I am inclined to believe the latter, as Rossetti wrote this verse to accompany the painting:<br> <em><br> Ah! gave not these two hearts their mutual pledge,<br> Under one mantle sheltered 'neath the hedge<br> In gloaming courtship? And, O God! to-day<br> He only knows he holds her; -- but what part<br> Can life now take? She cries in her locked heart, --<br> "Leave me -- I do not know you -- go away!"</em></p> <p>Rossetti made several attempts at portraying this subject but none, like this, were ever fully completed. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/15/found-7173556/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-14:/2009/10/14/in-the-tyrol-7165025/kendrive2009-10-14T06:28:35+02:002009-10-14T06:28:35+02:00 <p>As a change from portraits, here is one of Sargent's landscapes:</p> <p class="center"><a href="javascript:window.open(" title="trout"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/079/3999079_4b938ac28e_m.jpeg" alt="trout"></a></p> <p class="center"> Trout Stream in the Tyrol<br> John Singer Sargent 1914</p> <p class="center"> Oil on canvas</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/14/in-the-tyrol-7165025/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-13:/2009/10/13/the-marlboroughs-7158238/kendrive2009-10-13T08:02:54+02:002009-10-13T08:03:52+02:00 <p>John Singer was commissioned to paint a portrait of the 9th Duke of Marlbourough family to accompany a similar painting of the 4th Duke and his family, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds.</p> <p>Both paintings now hang in the same room at Blenheim Palace.</p> <p>Here is Sargent's work:</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="marl9"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/564/3997564_b1f6d9b6eb_m.jpeg" alt="marl9"></a></p> <p>And this is the earlier painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds of the 4th Duke and his family.</p> <p class="center"> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="marl4"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/576/3997576_b7e347a4ac_m.jpeg" alt="marl4"></a></p> <p>It is interesting to compare the composition of the two paintings.</p> <p>I note that the 4th Duke had THREE dogs1 </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/13/the-marlboroughs-7158238/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:picturepost.blog.co.uk,2009-10-12:/2009/10/12/birthday-7150807/kendrive2009-10-12T08:34:47+02:002009-10-12T08:34:47+02:00 <p> <a href="javascript:window.open(" title="birthday"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/731/3992731_6e328da51b_m.jpeg" alt="birthday"></a></p> <p class="center">The Birthday (Fête Familiale)<br> John Singer Sargent 1887</p> <p class="center"> Oil on canvas </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://picturepost.blog.co.uk/2009/10/12/birthday-7150807/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>