My Heart Sings

Oh, oh, OH my heart sings knowing that the Universe has such wondrous wonders in it.

Hubble Heritage Team — Interacting Galaxies Arp 194

Why Seek Ye the Living Among the Dead?

John Stanhope

Good Friday

This painting is notable for its somewhat subtle and implied drama.

Jean-Léon Gérôme

Eve

I love the incongruity of the hat on this lovely portrait of Eve.

Frank Cadogan Cowper — Eve — early xxth century

Queen of the Murderous House of Atreus

I've always had a crush on Diana Rigg, even when she was Queen of the murderous house of Atreus.

Radio Times — 1979

This scan was found on the internet, sorry I've lost track of the source.

The Speed God

At the risk of having our friend Kid break a tooth while gritting, regarding concern over my orientation, here is but one more example of JC Leyender's masterful use of the male form. 

Take a deep breath, Kid : >)

J.C. Leyendecker — Collier's — January 19, 1907

The Male Form

See what I mean about JC Leyendecker and the male form?

 J.C. Leyendecker — figure study —early 20th century

J.C. Leyendecker — figure study —early 20th century

Allegorical Inclinations

A full day of Spring around here, and it feels like it. Nice.

Now I'm handing out some really personal information here by telling you that I am of the heterosexual inclination, and I share the fascination and appreciation with much of the world of the use of the feminine form in graphics of all sorts. But if someone could paint a picture of a masculine form that might make me consider altering my inclination, well, that someone would be J.C. Leyendecker.

 J.C. Leyendecker — Spring — 1929

Though I'm still a fan of the traditional gender of the allegory of Spring, with all the attendant stereotypes:

John Byam Shaw — Rising Spring — early xxth century

Spring Comes Galloping In

This Welsh fellow was an undervalued practitioner of the Art Deco style. You don't see enough of his work in the Deco art books.

William Welsh — Spring — ca 1930s

Ah Yes, Springtime, the Young Man's Fancy

Fancy pants that is . . .

J. C. Leyendecker — Springtime — 1927

Spring Tide Greetings to You All!

That is, to all of you in the Northern Hemisphere . . .

Franz Xavier Winterhalter — Spring

Spring's Promise

Feels like it's a long time in coming this year . . .

Marjorie Miller — Spring's Promise — circa 1925

Rememberance

This image is from an old old art magazine, and is amazing for its cross-pollination of 'fine' art with 'illustrative' art. Benda's work is some of my utter favorite in the history of illustration.

W.T. Benda — Rememberance

Vice Admiral

Okay, Uncle Sam smiled once in while — here as one of the two faces of the gummint viewing the nation's vices of the time. This is an excellent illustration of that time, looking very much like a 'modern' editorial illustration.

Robert Lawson — from an article entitled 'The Return of Sin?' — 1933

from the New York Herald Tribune Magazine

Grim and Determined

N.C. Wyeth — war bond poster — 1942

The persona of Uncle Sam seems to be at its best when he's grim and determined, rolling up his sleeves or stepping out smartly in times of war. I haven't seen him showing up for the recent wars. Maybe a little bit in editorial cartoons. I don't know if he's retired because we're too sophisticated to need an icon to follow where few of us want to go, or if he would be up for ridicule from the rest of the world, or maybe I just haven't been near a recruiting station lately and he's still hard at work. 

Now believe me I'm not being unpatriotic when I say this, but regardless, I'm not sure if I've ever seen an Uncle Sam image in a benevolent situation, say helping to rebuild villages or some such. Images of him handing out candy to street kids in other countries or playing soccer with them would be pretty patronizing. I wonder if there's a government agency that controls the use of Sam, like there is for the use of Smokey the Bear, and they're saving him for some grim time . . .

Downton Abbey

The cover below looks like it's a scene right out of Downton Abbey, in the real world time of 1917.

Is anybody out there following Downton Abbey? We are.

Coles Phillips — Good Housekeeping — March, 1917

Look at all that negative space not crowded up with word blurbs! 

Another Way

Here's another way of getting rid of a pesky lion . . .

Neal Adams — The Return of Tarzan — 1975

And knowing Neal Adams, I can believe that this pose came from his hyper-visual imagination, with no pesky models.

Really Ticked

See, there's this shepherd guy and he's been losing his cows (?) to a vagrant lion, and the guy is really ticked and he's really buff, and well, enough is enough.

P.A. Leroux — A Shepherd Strangling a Lion — 1883

I try to imagine how this artist worked out the pose. If it's from his imagination, well and good. But if this guy is posing for the artist, is he, like, grappling a pillow, or what? Gosh I hope I don't stay awake tonight worrying about this.

Sunlit Vitamin D

I love the California Impressionists—so much of the work so full of sunlit vitamin D, as here in this golden delight.

Mabel Alvarez — Young Girl with Parasol

You Can See Why

You can see why they called her 'America's Sweetheart' . . .

Mary Pickford