Picture for One Moment

 

"Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail."
Robert Motherwell

On Wednesday, after work and during a phone conversation with my daughter, I looked to the east through the glass and was lucky enough to see this. 

 

In New England, it's been rainy, humid and very buggy. We're looking forward to crisp, sunny days. More often than not, Autumn here has much to offer in the way of natural beauty in peak leaf season, an abundance of crops from local farms and many fairs and festivals.  I'm especially looking forward to the The Garlic Festival, with its hippie vibes and emphasis on sustainability, lots of great organic food and of course, a garlic stand to beat the band. And Wayne wincing at the garlic I'm about to consume. It's a good thing I am in possession of other charms. ;-)

 

 

A good Autumnal Equinox to you! And a song. One I think I play every year on The Pagan Sphinx Harvest Festival, written by Andy Partridge of XTC. I truly hope you can access it where you are. It is sublime. A modern masterpiece.

Lyrics to Harvest Festival :
See the flowers round the altar
See the peaches in tins 'neath the headmaster's chair
Harvest festival

See the two who've been chosen
See them walk hand in hand to the front of the hall

Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year

See the children with baskets
See their hair cut like corn neatly combed in their rows

Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
Across the hymnbooks and the canvas chairs
The longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year

And what a year when the exams and crops all failed
Of course you passed and you were never seen again
We all grew and we got screwed and cut and nailed
Then out of nowhere invitation in gold pen

See the flowers round the altar
See that you two got married and I wish you well

Harvest festival
Harvest festival
What was best of all was the
Longing look you gave me
That longing look
Across the hymnbooks and the canvas chairs
The longing look you gave me
That longing look
More than enough to keep me fed all year

Harvest festival

 

 

Peace and all groovy things,
Gina

 

Artist Birthdays in January

 There are a whole slew, in fact. This post features mini-tributes to Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell and Barbara Hepworth.


Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter and printmaker

Motherwell in his studio

Robert Motherwell, 

Elegy to the Spanish Republic (Basque Elegy)

1967

Oil on canvas 82 ¼ x 138 inches, Private Collection.

Location: 2nd floor, JCMCA Portland Art Museum

portlandart.net

Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English sculptor.

Photo from NewArtCentre 

(see link below)

Jackson Pollock
(January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956) 

American abstract expressionist

 Photo by Martha Holmes
1949

 Sources linked for this post:

NewArtCentre

the Artchive

Tate Britain

Artnet.com

A Visit to the Smith College Museum of Art

Smith College Museum of Art

Robert Motherwell

This college campus museum, in bucolic western Massachusetts, is one of our local art treasures. With a nice sampling of art, it offers more than the typical number of art works by women. Here is a sampling of the works I most enjoyed. I threw in two of Robert Motherwell's paintings for Steve. Examining the Motherwell paintings in real life (for the first time; because truthfully, I used to just walk pass them) gave me a greater appreciation of his work. I still can't say I'm a huge fan but I do see the emotion in them and sometimes even playfulness and glee.

I apologize for the glare on the photos of the paintings. It was difficult for me to avoid due to both a lack of expertise with a camera and the lighting in the building.

Hopper
WP told me that this Northampton, Massachusetts mansion was the setting for the film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

Janet Fish

Alice Neel

Robert Motherwell

Degas

Seurat
Woman with a Monkey

small panel of a study for A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte

Beaugereau

click to enlarge and notice the details
(I loved this one)

Emma Amos

One Who Watches
1995

(another favorite "new artist discovery")

Carmen Lomas Garza

The Blessing on Wedding Day
1993

Mary Bauermeister
Eighteen Rows
1962-1968

Margarita Azurdia
La Libertad
1970-1974

More photos of this visit can be viewed on my Picassa web album.

I hope you're staying warm and dry. And if you live somewhere sunny and mild, I don't want to hear about it unless I can come visit! ;-)