Have you noticed how many angry people are running around out there? Sometimes I feel like I’m surrounded by firecrackers just looking for a match. I do wish people would stop waving their wicks in front of my face as I have no intention of lighting their fuse.
Some wicks are longer than others and, once lit, take more time to explode. It’s those with short wicks who must be avoided as they seem to crave spontaneous combustion.
Why aren’t we giving more attention to mental health?
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Paul Gauguin was born in 1848, the year of revolutionary upheavals. Probably the most influential figure during his childhood was that of his grandmother, Flora Tristan, a French-Peruvian writer, social activist, and defender of women’s rights.
In 1850, Gauguin’s parents decided to move the family to Peru. Gauguin’s father died on the way and Gauguin’s young mom was left with the responsibility of bringing up their kids. Luckily, she had the help of her family and, for the first few years, things went well until Peru began having serious civil conflicts forcing Gauguin’s family to return to France. Here Gauguin was able to get a job as a stockbroker. He earned much money until the Paris Stock Market Crash and Gauguin’s money was quickly gobbled up.
Gauguin was married to the Dane Mette-Sophie Gad. The couple had five children, but Gauguin simply could not get into being a family man. So the couple split.
Around 1873, Gauguin visited art galleries and made new friendships. He became friends with Camille Pissarro and would often visit the artists on weekends so the two could paint together in Pissarro’s garden. Gauguin would later paint outdoors with Cézanne as well.
During the summer of 1886, Gauguin went to live in Brittany at the Pont-Aven artists’ colony as it was a cheap place to live. Apparently, Gauguin exuded much charisma and found himself sought out by the other students.
The Breton Aesthetic hit him hard and his paintings made big changes.
Gauguin was also influenced by folk art, Japanese prints, and Emile Bernard’s method of painting. New environments stimulated him the most so he travelled. The paintings he made while in Martinique were exhibited in Paris. Vincent Van Gogh saw and admired them. The two met and became friends.
In 1888, Van Gogh, hoping to create an artists’ colony, rented the Yellow House in Arles. He invited Gauguin to join him. Van Gogh’s brother, Theo, paid Gauguin to go.
Once together in Arles, Gauguin and Van Gogh would spend their evenings drinking at the Café de la Gare owned by Madame Ginoux. Van Gogh had already made paintings of Madame Ginoux and her café. But the competitive Gauguin not only painted Madame Ginoux as well but made a painting that was a combination of two paintings already made by Van Gogh. The rivalry created too much tension. Tempers flared. Van Gogh was already psychologically fragile. Precise details are not known but just two months after Gauguin’s arrival, Van Gogh cut off his ear and gave it to a maid.
It was Madame Ginoux who often helped Van Gogh when he was in difficulty. And it was Madame Ginoux who helped care for the artist after he cut off his ear. Gauguin then left Arles and the two artists never saw one another again.
In 1890, Gauguin left for Tahiti hoping to escape European civilization and its artificiality. Many of his finest paintings were made in Tahiti.
In 1901, Gauguin wrote a travelogue entitled “Noa Noa”. Here he revealed that he had taken a 13-year-old native girl as his wife. Her name was Merahi metua no Tehamana aka Tehura. The young bride quickly became pregnant. But, as we’ve already seen, Gauguin was not a family man. One day he left Tahiti leaving his wife and child behind.
Later Tehura would let it be known that she was glad to get rid of Gauguin as she was repulsed by all the syphilitic sores that covered his body.
Gauguin died of degenerative syphilis in 1903. He was only 54 years old.
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Related:
Gauguin addresses in Paris: 1) studio at 15, rue la Bruyére, Paris 2) 8, rue Carcel, Paris
The garden in winter, rue Carcel painting +
The Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham inspired by Paul Gauguin (read on Archive HERE) + The Way to Paradise is a historical novel about Gauguin
TIME wrote that one of the reasons Tayor Swift was selected as person of the Year was because of the influence she’s had on others. 2023 was a difficult year but, according to TIME, “Taylor Swift found a way to transcend borders and be a source of light.” She’s also the first person to be selected because of her achievements in the arts.
Several months ago Taylor was making the news in Italy because of the bonuses she gave to everyone working on the Colossal Eras Tour with her. That alone, in my opinion, is reason enough to name her as person of the year. Every day we read about the rich who are so greedy that they don’t adequately pay their employees. Finally, someone who has respect for those who’ve helped them make money in the first place. Brava Taylor!
Taylor has also encouraged many young people to register to vote. Last September, she wrote this on her Instagram Stories:
“I’ve been so lucky to see so many of you guys at my U.S. shows recently. I’ve heard you raise your voices, and I know how powerful they are. Make sure you’re ready to use them in our elections this year!” She ended the post with a link to Vote.org. An hour after the post, Vote.org reported a 1,226% jump in registrations.
Unfortunately, I do not know much about Taylor or her music. However, I recently read that she dedicated a performance to Loïe Fuller on her 2018 “Reputation Tour” and recreated Fuller’s famous “Serpentine Dance.” Now that’s impressive. Not only does she give her employees big bonuses and encourage young people to vote, Taylor also promotes the arts.
Loïe Fuller (1862-1928) was an American dancer and theatrical lightening expert. Although she didn’t have any formal training, she began performing as a child. Loïe knew how to move and how to improvise.
In her teens, Loïe worked in vaudeville and was even part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show before moving to New York. It was here she began to refine her concept of choreography.
To dance, Loïe’ focused on her costume that consisted of 100 yards of Chinese silk. When she moved, the silk would billow around her making her look like a blooming flower. The effect was made even more dramatic by a chemical compound she’d invented that illuminated her costume as it was in motion.
By 1891, Loïe had created her famous “Serpentine Dance” that achieved critical success. Her success was such that other dancers began imitating her. Tired of how she was being treated in NYC, Loïe left for Europe where she was well received and became a regular performer for the Folies Bergére. Loïe’s talents attracted the attention of many French artists and scientists. Feeling appreciated, she stayed in Paris.
Wanting to radiante even more, Loïe wrote Madame Curie and her husband. Intrigued by the Curies’ radium experiments, Loïe hoped to use radium to light up her costumes even more. But the scientist denied the dancer’s request saying it was just too dangerous to try. To thank her for responding, Loïe offered Marie and her husband a private performance of her dance. This interrelating of interests created a lifelong friendship between the two women.
Loïe died of pneumonia in 1928. Her ashes are at Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris (division 87, columbarium urn #5382).
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Related:
TIME’s Motivation for selecting Taylor Swift + Taylor Swift’s ‘Time’ Cover Is Breaking Far-Right Brains + Taylor Swift was named TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year—making her the first woman to appear twice on a Person of the Year cover since the franchise began in 1927 + Taylor Swift Gives Over $55 Million in Bonuses to Everyone on Colossal Eras Tour + A Taylor Swift Instagram post helped drive a surge in voter registration +
Fifteen years of a dancer’s life by Loie Fuller on Archive + Loie Fuller the “Serpentine” Dance Girl video+ Two visionaries: Marie Curie forged a friendship with dancer Loïe Fuller + Loïe Fuller’s Radium Dance +
How the Radioactive Friendship of Marie Curie and Loie Fuller Changed the World + Book Madame Curie by Eve Curie, daughter of the scientist on Archive HERE + Serpentine Dancer, The life and legacy of the wildly inventive choreographer and performer Loie Fuller +
I terribly dislike going to the hairdresser. With my skinny insignificant hair, there’s no great makeover I could ever expect. However, to avoid the sensation of neglecting myself, I go.
Once there, I’m stuck in front of a huge mirror in a highly lit room. I feel so out of context that the me I see in the mirror doesn’t feel like me at all. To evade my own gaze, I look outside, out the huge glass wall of a window. There I find relief—a man walking his dog, a woman animatedly speaking on her cell phone, a caretaker walking with an elderly man.
Looking at others is an easy way to avoid looking at the self.
Pablo Picasso said “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” So he did both.
On the left is a painting by Velazquez, “L’infante Marie Marguerite” (1655) and, on the right, Picasso’s version of the Infante Marguerite (1957).
On the left is an African Ngil mask, a mask like many that were being seen in Paris c 1906. On the right is Picasso’s “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” painted in 1907.
On the left is Degas Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (1880), on the right is Picasso’s Standing Nude (1907).
Ekphrasis is generally considered a literary reaction to a work of art. But not all reactions occur in the same way. Ekphrasis is the encounter between one form of expression and another.
A poet may write an ode to celebrate a work of art such as John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” because he is a writer. But to celebrate a painting, a painter will often try to paint it as Picasso did in the examples above.
There are basically two kinds of copyists. There are those like Emma Conant Church who went to Europe with the specific intent to copy Old Masters to be sold. Then there are artists like Cezanne who spent much time at the Louvre copying as a learning experience. Imitation was not the goal. The goal was to copy old paintings with a new attitude and thus create a new awareness.
No one is an island. We were meant to interrelate with others. And this interrelating makes our world bigger and gives us more options. Einstein said he would not have been able to discover all that he had had it not been for the scientists and physicists who came before him as they had laid the foundation for him to build on.
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(Ekphrastic Copyists ©)
Related:
Why Great Designers Steal—and Are Proud of It + Pablo Picasso on Creativity, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” + The History of Copying Art: A Learning Tool or a Cheat? + Picasso sources + Who’s the Voyeur Now, Picasso? + Jackson Pollock inspired by Picasso
A History of Copying as Innovation and Resistance in Art since the Ancient World + Vincent van Gogh Copying Other Artists + Copies by Vincent van Gogh + Delacroix’s Influence: The Rise of Modern Art from Cézanne to van Gogh” + WHAT COPYING MEANT TO CÉZANNE + 5 Great Artists Inspired by Delacroix +
8 Paintings that Vincent Van Gogh Copied + Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) +‘It’s called stealing’: new allegations of plagiarism against Roy Lichtenstein + The Paradox of Henri Fantin-Latour + Turner and Venetian Painting +
Artists who copied artists:
Van Gogh was an animated copier. Some examples: Emile Bernard’s “Breton women in the Meadow”, Jean-Francois Millet’s “The Sower”, Eugene Delacroix’s “The Good Samaritan”, Rembrandt’s “The Raising of Lazarus”, and Gustave Dorè’s “Newgate Exercise Yard”. He even copied a woman— “Man at Sea” by Virginie Demont Breton. The copies made by Van Gogh provide much insight as to what he found intriguing in the work of other artists.
Many artists such as Monet, Degas, Cezanne, and Picasso were inspired by Delacroix and copied him. But Delacroix also did his fair share of appropriation. He made many copies of Rubens and Raphael.
And Manet’s famous “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe” was inspired by Giorgione’s “The Pastoral Concert” (1510)
Even contemporary artists tend to copy. Much has been made about Roy Lichtenstein’s blatant copying of comic strip artists such as Russ Heath. Some consider Lichtenstein a plagiarist.
Detail from The Death and Ascension of Saint John. On the left, Giotto’s original. On the right, Michelangelo’s copy. Via Sightsize
The Narrative Within 