painting of the month

Carnival Evening (1886) -- Henri Rousseau, Philadelphia Museum of Art

one more goyo

Japanese artist Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921) was trained to be a painter but became an expert printmaker instead, specializing in the field of bijin-ga or "beautiful women." His work fused classical style with newer European influences, including use of fully nude female figures instead of just traditional suggestions of nudity like bared shoulders or napes of necks. He also showed women with their hair completely undone, which represented another cultural breakthrough. Before this point in time, Japanese women in art had generally been shown only with hair gathered up in traditional buns; Goyo showed them in relaxed, personal moments with their hair loosely flowing, creating more of a sensual individuality.

Unfortunately, Goyo died at age forty-one of meningitis and many of his original woodblock templates were destroyed in the 1923 Tokyo earthquake. He was also quite fussy about the quality of his prints, so he didn't produce many during his lifetime. The ones that remain are beautifully vivid in color, and many of his female portraits remind me of the women in Junichiro Tanizaki's novels. Particularly this featured 1920 Woman Holding Lipstick, which makes me think of Tanizaki's The Makioka Sisters. Click here to view Goyo's images; actual Goyo prints are rare and therefore highly sought after -- and they're also reportedly forged quite often, so if you're ever lucky enough to possibly come across one, be careful.

basho-goyo

in my new robe

this morning

someone else

(Haiku by Matsuo Basho, 1644-1694)(Kamisuki print by Hashiguchi Goyo, 1880-1921)

rrose in her stylish hat

"I don't believe in art. I believe in artists."

Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 - October 2, 1968): Artist, Dadaist, Surrealist, icon, observer, and pictured here in 1921 as Rrose Selavy, one of his other creative personas. As R. Mutt he exhibited a urinal as a fountain; he also turned other various everyday objects into artistic arrangements; within his lifetime the nude descended the staircase, the sad young man rode a train, and many games of chess were played -- until the ultimate checkmate.

wombat love

Poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) was quite the character -- charismatic and full of life in his younger days, founder of The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood artistic movement, racing after beautiful red or golden-haired women he saw on the street to ask them to pose for his latest work, and lover of exotic animals like peacocks and wombats. He even managed to procure his own pet wombats, and apparently they had the run of the house. Rossetti was also brother of poet Christina Rossetti, whom he painted as the Virgin Mary, and a good friend of British Arts & Crafts genius William Morris for quite some time.

Rossetti had strong feelings of guilt after the possible suicide of his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, and that combined with his generally intense nature and sensitivity toward critics and criticism most likely drove him to drink and become addicted to chloral hydrate. He was something of a recluse by the time he died and troubled by paranoia and self-doubts, but he clearly is remembered as both a fine poet and artist. Oliver Reed played Rossetti in Ken Russell's curious 1967 film Dante's Inferno, and Oliver did a great job in Oliver's way, but I think Robert Downey Jr. would make an excellent Rossetti if any new bio-pics happen to be in the works -- and if Robert ever wants to take a break from being Ironman and share some scenes with a wombat or two.

(d.g. rossetti self-portrait from theotherpages.org; snowy wombat courtesy of wikimedia commons)

The Fourth of July, 1916 - Childe Hassam (1859-1935)

self and not-self

"I don’t express myself in my paintings. I express my not-self." Artist Mark Rothko, 1903-1970 (pictured: Mark Rothko Self-Portrait, 1936)