The Friday Evening Nudes

Francis Picabia

French painter and writer. He was one of the major figures of the Dada movement in France and in the USA but remained as stubbornly uncategorizable as he was influential. In his rejection of consistency and of an identifiable manner, he called into question attitudes to the artistic process that had been regarded as sacrosanct and in so doing guaranteed the intellectual force of his ideas for subsequent generations of artists. Read more about Picabia here

Paris by Night

The photography of
Brassaï

Brassaï (Gyula Halász)
French, 1899-1984
(photo by David Bailey)

From the book Paris by Night
1933

Obelisk and Fountains in la Place de la Concorde

Le Ponte Neuf

Open Gutter

Prostitute at angle of Rue de la Reynie and Rue Quincampoix

Palais Royale Train Station

Foggy Paris

Notre Dame

Artist of the Week: Linda of Vulture Peak Muse

Self-portrait

Linda works and lives on a working ranch in California's Wine Country, surrounded by twenty-five acres of vineyards and a loving family. She mainly works with watercolors.

Linda maintains the blog Vulture Peak Muse where she shares not only her artistic process with her readers, but also demonstrates her generosity and loving spirit.

Here is a sampling of my favorite of Linda's paintings.

Fat French Pink Sheep

Surrender

Janae's Painting

Rainbow Oak

Landscape in Red

Wrath: Hera

For Kay's Seven Deadly Sins meme this week, I'm inclined toward both art and mythology. I thought Hera would be a good subject for the theme of wrath and vengeance.

Hera Wrath

HERA was the Queen of the gods, and goddess of the sky, women and marriage. These pages (click on link above) describes the wrath of the goddess, which in myth, was mostly directed against the mistresses of Zeus and his bastard sons. (N.B. Quotes for this section are still being compiled.)

click on the image for an interesting link to tales of Hera Wrath

Both sister and wife of Zeus, Hera is queen of the gods. The Greeks revered her as protector of marriage, especially married women. This may be because she had such a difficult marriage herself. Zeus was not the least bit faithful, always succumbing to his lust for other women - mortal as well as immortal. Hera herself, however, was always faithful despite the repeated attentions of others trying to take her away.

O royal Hera, of majestic mien, aerial-formed, divine, Zeus' blessed queen, throned in the bosom of cerulean air, the race of mortals is thy constant care. The cooling gales they power alone inspires, which nourish life, which every life desires. Mother of showers and winds, from thee alone, producing all things, mortal life is known: all natures share thy temperament divine, and universal sway alone is thine, with sounding blasts of wind, the swelling sea and rolling rivers roar when shook by thee. Come, blessed Goddess, famed almighty queen, with aspect kind, rejoicing and serene. -
Orphic Hymn 16 to Hera

The gods were so emotional and dramatic, weren't they? I love it.

(Headless Hera (not its real title, of course)

with apologies to Bobbie ;-)

The headless, marble statue of the ancient Greek goddess Hera dates back to the 2nd century B.C. and was discovered last year during excavations in the town of Dion, near Mt Olympus in northern Greece. Click on photo for the story on this amazing find