What's Goin On

 A photo from Christmas of SG1 and my mother, who visited from Portugal for holidays.

One of the last photos I had an opportunity to take of SG1 at the Mount Holyoke campus, before she graduated last year.

Some time constraints have eased for me and I am able to blog with a frenzy this coming week. If you see a new post, please scroll down for what will probably be others that have been posted in close succession. They're mostly art posts, though I've been finding it fun to engage with my blog pals a bit by asking for requests such as a favorite nude for The Friday Evening Nudes and more recently, asking folks to tell me what famous artist they would want to paint their portrait. For me this is entertaining and lots of fun. I think I've lost some readers who may not really like art all that much but I guess that's the way things go as a blog evolves and eventually knows what it wants to be.

Just a note to my blog pals about what's goin' on in the life of Pagan Sphinx. Not much, really. My class ended two weeks ago and I'm awaiting my grade a bit anxiously, as the class was a ball of confusion due to an unprepared, inadequate and ambiguous instructor. There was one component of my final project that was missing due to how convoluted the last minute revisions the instructor imposed on the final assignment were. I'll try to be gracious about my final grade, if I feel it is fair but if I feel it isn't, I will certainly contest it. I palled up with three other women in the class and all three of us had the same impressions. Including that if you were a woman over 40 in that class, you remained invisible even if you stood on your head on your chair and did the splits. Oh, well.

Otherwise, I work. I come home and talk on the phone with my girls for as long as it takes for them to tell me what's on their minds. Sometimes, it is a long time before I'm done with my phoning. I'm glad they keep in touch so much.

SG1 is busy prepping for the GRE (graduate admissions exam) so that she can begin to narrow down what graduate programs she'd like to enroll in. If she is accepted to one far from Santa Barbara, it will mean a separation for her and her wife. I find it amazing that they're willing to be apart so they can both fulfill their goals. SG1 is way too goal-oriented and very clear about what she wants to accomplish to take a back seat to a partner. They both understand that and wish to help the other. Although, it won't be easy, I see this couple as being very supportive of each other and I don't doubt their ability to make things work. SG1 is interviewing for a summer position as a research assistant for a professor at UC Santa Barbara who is doing some huge study or textbook writing, I'm not sure, on constitutional law, which is one of SG1's areas of expertise. Americorps continuous to drain her with its 12 hour days and endless demands for community activities on weekends. It is a means to an end, as after two years with them, they will give her 10 grand, which will wipe out her own student loans. I wish they would give me some money to pay off my portion of her student loans. All in all, it is not much, considering that it costs around $50,000 per year to send a student through a private U.S. college or university. You either have to be rich or smart. And I'm sure you can imagine which category we fit into.

SG2 is not taking classes this semester at BU. She applied for a paid internship at the Boston Globe and got it. She's not thrilled about working the 5:30 to 1:30 am shift but she says she's learned more in a month of the internship than she has over the course of the five semesters of journalism classes she's taken. I worry about her ability to find work in print media, as newspapers are folding and cutting back jobs like crazy these days.

I am otherwise healthy and fortunate to be 83% Happy. You, my blog pals, are responsible for more than just a few percentage points of that!

This song is for my beloved family and for all of you who care enough to come here often or even every once in a while.

Shadow Shot Sunday: Shadows in the House

Recent early morning sun reflecting on our dining room wall.

(click on image to enlarge it)

click once to enlarge and again for a larger image

Today I'm blog-trotting to Brisbane for 
Shadow Shot Sunday
Join us for photo shadows around the world!

What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait Part II

In this post, What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait, I asked my readers and blog pals to give me the names of artists (living or dead) whom they would choose to paint their portrait.

Since then, I've received responses from more folks.  Flor Larios, an artist herself and proprietor of the Etsy shop Flor Larios Art, comes a request for a portrait by either her inspiration Frida Khalo or by Gaugin. You'll love Flor's beautiful Mexican inspired paintings, prints, boxes and other artworks. I've purchased a couple of prints as gifts and some beautiful note cards for Christmas.

While it's true that Frida mostly painted self-portraits, I'm particular fond of this portrait of her sister Cristina Khalo:

My Sister Cristina Khalo

1928

My Sister Cristina Khalo

Detail

And also for Flor, a favorite Gaugin of mine. With her long, dark hair, she would make a perfect subject in a Gaugin painting.

Three Tahitians
1899 

Steve of the blog Color Sweet Tooth, also a fine artist, said that if Friedensreich Hundertwasser painted portraits, he would be his choice. This is the closest I came to anything resembling a portrait. Thanks, Steve, as I'd never heard of him. Incredibly good stuff to sink my head into in the very near future.

Steve also thought of Klimt. I thought of Klimt too. What woman wouldn't think of Klimt to paint her portrait.  But finding any portrait of a man by Klimt proved to be difficult. Here is one I found:

Joseph Pembauer
Pembauer was a pianist and piano teacher of the times in Vienna. The frame is also A Klimt design. I believe this is a glicee print.

And because Klimt's portraits of women are so extraordinary, I leave it to your imagination how he may have painted a male portrait in the same vein in this one, without the woman. Just a thought.

Libhom chose Man Ray, who is also a huge favorite of mine. Here is a sample:

Cloudia of wasn't fussy about who should paint her portrait as long as she was painted as a nymph. What exactly is a nymph, you ask? There are many. Read up on them here. Depicted here, however, is a particular kind of nymph called a Haliai.

Haliai

Quite simply, sea nymphs. They show up under this name in a random play by Sophocles and in Callimachus' Hymn to Artemis (read it!), but doesn't seem to be as commonly used as the more general "nymph" or the more specific "Nereid" or "Oceanid". Haliai comes from the word for "sea" and also means "salt". Oh, for a moment of amusement,  glance to the right at the poll results. I'm really curious about who has had their portrait painted and by whom. Come on! Fess up!  ;-) I was the only one who voted that I would have to think about it.  I had such a hard time choosing just one portrait. There were so many, for the various stages of my life; finally settling on Mona Lisa. I can't give Mona up...   I hope you're having a good Saturday. Peace, love and all groovy things, Pagan Sphinx

Art In The Movies: Girl With a Pearl Earring

I had all these things in mind to write about in this post and damned if I don't get everything down when I think of it, I forget it overnight! Am I in early dementia or is that what's it's like to be 50?

Though I enjoy movie biographies of artists, they do have a tendency to affect the way I will look at that artist's portraits and self-portrait. In Girl With a Pearl Earring, I now think of Scarlett Johanson every time I look at the famous work by Vermeer.

Judging by this article stating that there is little biographical information on Vermeer, the author of the book of the same title, Tracy Chevalier, took great artistic liberties. It made for a good art story, Holywood style and very well-acted.

And below it looks like Colin Firth has insinuated himself into the canvas, though not as Vermeer, since it's not historically clear what the painter looked like.

The Girl With the Wine Glass 
this is fascinating...click on the title above for everything that is known about the painting! A fantastic site if you need a crash course in art - say, to impress a date!  ;-) 
 1659 - 60

And here is Colin as Vermeer. Hard to resist.

When in reality, as was mentioned previously, there are lots of unknowns about Vermeer. Including whether or not the painting below is his self-portrait or someone who sat for him.

Damn! I don't see a resemblance to Colin Firth!  ;-)

The Friday Evening Nudes

Bertalan Székely von Adámos (click!)

Japanese Woman

1903

Ettore Tito  (click!)

Thanks to mica's photostream for image above

Montserrat Guidol (click!)

Marie Bracquemond (click!)

Le Repos de Modele

Luiz De La Pena

(1808-1876)

Robert Henri

Your Daily Art

 Childe-Hassam

I can't make up my mind whether I should continue the Give Us This Day daily art blog or post or post an image daily here, with the other posts. Or both. For now I am so enchanted by this gorgeous painting, I had to share it with you.

Art News: Marika Rivera Dies at Age 90

13th November 1919 - 14th January 2010

The daughter of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera from his marriage to Russian artist Marevna Vorobieff,  actress Marika Rivera, died on January 14, 2010, in London. She was 90 years old.

Huffington Post:

Marika Rivera had quite a interesting film career, including a part in the 1987 film The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh.

What Artist Would You Choose to Paint Your Portrait?

I recently asked you what artist you'd want to paint your portrait...

Kenju would've chosen Andrew Wyeth to paint her portrait.

Dianne,  this painter would certainly do you justice.

Young Woman Drawing, 1801
Marie-Denise Villers 

(French, 1774–1821)
Oil on canvas

63 1/2 x 50 5/8 in. (161.3 x 128.6 cm)
Mr. and Mrs. Isaac D. Fletcher Collection, Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917 (17.120.204)

At one time ascribed to Jacques-Louis David, this alluring portrait has now been recognized as the work of Marie-Denise Villers. Although little known today, Villers was a gifted pupil of Girodet and exhibited in the Salons, where her portraits attracted attention. This work, which may be a self-portrait, was exhibited in the Salon of 1801.

 Jams O'Donnel commissioned William Hogarth

and here he is with a self-portrait entitled
Hogarth Painting the Comic Muse. 

c.1757

National Portrait Gallery, London, UK.

Although I would never, ever, ever recommend that my friend Singing Bear have his portrait "painted" by Jackson Pollock, I did want to honor his request. Only for a blog pal like Singing Bear (for the longest time I called him  Dancing Bear. It's a wonder he still speaks to me!) But about Jackson Pollock - he is virtually the only famous painter I can think whose work I don't like  --  at all.    :-o 

1951

 There are actually a couple of shapes in this one that strongly resemble people. It's an screen print, though, not a painting

Susan would want to painted in the style of Rembrandt's Danae. 
 Stunning.

This is a detail from Rembrant's great work taken from Greek mythology. Danae is generally portrayed in her locked room as Zeus arrives in the form of a shower of gold. Their offspring was Perseus. Danae was locked away by her father, Acrisius, because the oracle had foretold that her son would kill him. When he discovered the union of Zeus and Danae, Acrisius locked her and her son in a chest that was set adrift. Eventually, they were rescued on the shore of Seriphus. With the change in venue, came a change in the outcome. Instead of killing his grandfather, Perseus killed King Polydectes of Seriphus, who tried to force himself on Danae.

For me, it would be Rembrandt Da Vinci in the Mona Lisa style
(You are all very kind to not have corrected me but it did take me a couple of days before I discovered this mistake.)

83% Happy

Art Trigger: The Nympholeptos

 I read a fairly boring article on British and European Aesthetes, Decadents, and Symbolists at The Victorian Web but then the word "decadent", caught my eye. One thing led to another and I discovered The Nympholeptos.     ;-)  Connected to the Pre-Raphaelites but coming later in the 1800's.

 Waterhouse, Dicksee, Watson, Draper, Hacker and Nowell have been describned as 'Late Romantics', 'Olympians', or 'Late Pre-Raphaelites', but their sophisticated academic style based upon French Salon art is not satisfactorily categorised by these broad terms. It has not be en recognised that, like the Marble School or the Aesthetics, this circle of younger painters' work is correlated enough to be described as a sub-movement of academic idealism. Most of the exponents were trained at the Royal Academy and in Paris and were drawn to mythological and poetic narratives with a strong sensual or dramatic charge. Almost every member of the group lived in or around St John's Wood and was a member of the Art Workers' Guild, the St John's Wood Art Club and the Royal Academy. A suitable term would be the St John's Wood Clique, had this label not already been assigned to a preceding circle. The Greeks had a word to describe Draper and his friends, nympholeptos, meaning one who becomes delirious on being captured by nymphs.' Few members of the circle could resist the nymphs' seductive charm and, as Truth stated, 1897 was . . .an exceptional year for sea sprites, and naiads, and water nymphs of divers kinds. There were so many mermaids and sirens at Burlington House that a critic predicted that the room in which they hung was ...likely to be known as the Mermaid's Cavern. [84-85] 

Ulysses and the Sirens

Herbert James Draper

Syrinx

Arthur Hacker

Joseph Noel Patton
The Fairy Queen