BAP -- ENABLING ALERT

Did you *have* to? My credit card is already in angst!

Is it my imagination or is 'Helen of Troy' one of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's works? Unless my memory is failing me, I think she's meant to be blonde rather than gingery haired.

Has anyone ever noticed that all his paintings seem to be of the same (rather horsefaced) lady? Makes me think he had a hankering for some remote and unattainable lady who looked down the full length of her snout at him and told him to nick off! LOL!

While all the pre-Raphaelite painters are amazing, I always find myself coming back to the poster artist, Alphonse Maria Mucha. His ladies have life and fire and *different faces* which look lived-in and written upon by life. Do a google on Edmund Blair Leighton and John W. Waterhouse as well. It's easy to get lost, just browsing through the lovely pictures!

My friend has a jigsaw, six feet by five feet, of Mucha's 'Seasons' framed on her wall. It's just gorgeous! DH gave me smaller one (4000 pieces) of the 'Jewels' series. Also gorgeous. I've seen a number of people have converted some of Mucha's works into XS patterns (including Graeme Ross), but I've never ever seen one that has enough detail to do the painting justice: they're always fuzzy, with the backgrounds converted into a muddy mess. IMHO.

"Trish Brown" wrote>

He married the first model he was obsessed with, Lizzie Siddal; she was a rather severe looking woman with thick reddish hair. When she died, he buried some of his unpublished poetry with her---and later dug her up so he could retrieve (and publish) it. He has very involved with some of his subsequent models, one of whom was married to William Morris, the noted designer. So many of his women do tend to look alike. I don't think many of them told him to buzz off--likely better for them if they had. Dawne

to be of the same

Thank you Dawne , for this nice historical facts. When people make statememts about Artists and their models and assume that the paintings do include certain faces because this or that possibility. It would be adviseable to remember that other periods had other sets of social behaviours. mirjam

What a downer, Jinx

I know it's bad form to reply to my own message, but I wanted to let everyone know they emailed me my pattern within two hours of contacting them. That's commendable customer service!!

Jinx

Thank you Dawne , for this nice historical facts. When people make statememts about Artists and their models and assume that the paintings do include certain faces because this or that possibility. It would be adviseable to remember that other periods had other sets of social behaviours.

Trish saw something that often leads to very interesting inquiries. Some artists put the usual suspects in various paintings for different reasons---sometimes they are convenient, like family members, sometimes they are patrons, sometimes they are friends, mistresses, or mistresses of patrons.....really interesting to get into some of the stories. Dawne

be of the same

For once in my life, I find myself completely without speech! (But my DH is currently laughing his head off, having said: 'Is this woman the thought-Nazi on your group?') I had to post it. It was too gorgeous to let it go by... ;->

Dawne, I googled Lizzie Siddal and she *does* have a horse-face, just like all his paintings! Amazing! And now I need to know why you were able to pull up this fascinating fact seemingly out of thin air? Are you a Victorian art tragic like me?

Another fascinating similarity I notice in these paintings is the plethora of red-headed women. I wonder whether red hair was more common back then or simply more desirable and hence the widespread use of henna?

My DD's hair is violently flame-coloured and she cops heaps from the kids at school, who call her 'Ranga' ('orangutan') because of it. Red hair is *not* the fashion at DD's school, although the pre-Raphaelites seemed to think it was pretty cool.

Also, have you noticed the thick, bushy texture of the ladies' hair in the paintings? I wonder how they achieved that in the absence of perming solution and Products? Tight plaiting, I s'pose. I've just cut my own bushy hairdo off at the elbows and am enjoying the honeymoon period of just shaking it dry and off I go. LOL! Wish I had one of those useful Victorian maids to maintain The Do for me!

It is facinating to read about the lives of many artists, and learn who and why and in which context they used various faces. This is one of the reasons, that museums and art reseracherers are kin on having artists copybooks etc. And of couse Contemporary artists are much more aware that their `work books` might be used for such purposes. =46rom the artists who `used` their fanily in their art work , i am very fond on Carl & Karin Larsson. Rik Wouters. and there are many more. mirjam

They had "products", but said products were things like (ugh) bear grease.

Among the detritus I have accumulated in this life is an Hons. degree in Art History. I did a lot of medieval, and the Pre-Raphaelites were sort of related. So I came to love lots of their work (I have Prosperine as one of my screen savers). So, maybe I am a Victorian art tragic wanna be! Dunno about the red hair--lots of symbolism and associations with it. Google fodder for tonight maybe. And as for the bushy hair, I would be more than willing to employ a nice Victorian maid (Rose of Upstairs Downstairs, where are you---and bring Hudson) and test whether she could make my skinny hair bushy. Dawne

And if she can, I'm coming to visit. No one else has been able to do anything with the baby fine flyaway hair. Won't hold a perm, impossible to style without gallons of hairspray (which aggravates my asthma/allergies) ... at least when it's down to my butt, there's enough weight pulling it down that it doesn't get too out of place.

And when I'm inspired, I can create Architecture on the back of my head that often winds up with people talking behind my back while they try to figure out how I did it.

I'm the opposite - usually charts of reproductions of classic paintings don't do anything for me - BUT yesterday Hoffman posted a new Klimt "Tree of Life" chart and it's *gorgeous*....so appealing to me.

That's gorgeous. I think I must have it.

Lucille

Oh! Brilliant!!! Y'know, when my dear DS went to Art School, I was so scared he'd flunk out in Art History because of his autism and imperfect understanding of textual information. Instead, he took to it like a duck to water and got straight As throughout! Amazing! Of course, it was lucky for me because as an interested bystander I got access to all his coursework and learned *gobs* of stuff about various art movements that I'd probably never have known about otherwise. Such as the Mexican muralists etc.

One funny thing I remember is that Matt once referred to Botticelli as 'Botty Cello'. He's been called that ever since at our house...

Hee! Two of my faves are 'Fiammetta' and 'Flaming June' by Leighton. There's another one, too, called 'The Guitar Lesson' which has a little girl in it: it's lovely!

Oh, I used to love that show! Rose was a caution and Mr 'udson so kindly and steadfast!

Lately, I've been watching 'The Onedin Line' on DVD. Did you ever get that over your way?

LOL! My problem was the opposite: thick, thick, *thick* bushy hair (think of a german shepherd) which is coarse and has a mind of its own. The long plait worked a treat but it has always been my experience that a day will dawn when it gets caught in my elbows and armpits once too often and I get sick of holding up all that weight while washing it. So then I cut it and start again.

Last time I cut my long hair, it went toothbrush on me! Whoa! It was stiff and bristly and just grew out of my head perpendicularly! Dreadful! I grew it back again with great haste!

This time, it's suddenly gone curly like it was when I was little. Mum can't keep her hands out of it! She keeps mooning over my curls and saying 'My baby...' Which is pretty scary, really, as I'm far too large to be called that. It's pretty neat being able to shake it dry and just leave it, but I *so* miss my plait hanging down my back. I'm growing it back already, of course.

Just as an aside: the reason I finally decided to cut my hair was that my friend Jackie also has a long plait. The weight of her hair has pulled so severely on her hairline that it's receding very badly. She also has a sizable bald patch on one side through her hair pulling there (she wears her plait over the opposite shoulder). Since my hair was so much thicker and heavier, I thought 'better to cut now and avoid baldness'. One nice side effect is that my greying temples, which showed up a treat with The Plait are now completely disguised among the curls: I look ten years younger! Yay!

I will die with my grey bun, though. Long hairs r us.

Trish Brown wrote: snipped for brevity

Dammit, it is nice having you back Trish!! Guess we have been around for a long time. I can't believe the youngsters are that old. On the other hand I can't believe I am in my 70s, and the EMIL gone to wherever.

I picture you, and the no-longer-kids and feel a smile coming over my face!! Somehow in my mind you are an educated hippy...one with common sense as well as individualism.

Gillian

"Susan Hartman" wrote