“However mean your life is, meet it and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. You may perhaps have some pleasant, … Continue reading “The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise”
Category: 19th century
An Open Lot Accommodation
A little something for Wagon Wednesday. A simple bow-top accommodation. Very little of the wagon is seen in the image but we can rest assured that it was painted green at one time. Hedley picked up some fine details here including bolts, boards, the tarp attachment, and a very nice little driving lamp. Last in … Continue reading An Open Lot Accommodation
Bender Tent
A Traveller's (sic) Tuesday. Just a glimpse into life in a bender tent. Despite the glamorous view of life on the road depicted by the romantic English Gypsy Caravans, this is how most Roma lived in 19th Century Britain. Gypsies, Camped on the Beach, near South Shields, Ralph Hedley Charlton, painted 1876.
The Last Minstrel
A little music for Monday. Well, not really. Just a beautiful scene that conjures music. The Last Minstrel by Ralph Hedley. Painted 1890.
Sawing Planks
Before powered saw mills, making lumber was much more labor intensive. Now I can flip a switch to crank up the band saw or table saw; or pull the cord to fire up the chainsaw for big work. It's easy to forget how good we have it. Notice the sturdy little sawhorse holding up the … Continue reading Sawing Planks
Farquharson
Maybe it's time to institute Highlander Art Mondays for a while. From James Logan's The Clans of the Scottish Highlands, published in 1845. Great kilt, bill staff, and some fine pampooties.
Working Man’s Boots
Ah Vincent. Beauty in the mundane.
The Blind Fiddler
"An itinerant fiddler is playing for a humble country family. David Wilkie focuses on the listeners’ different expressions. Only two people seem to respond to the music: the baby and the boy on the right, who is imitating the fiddler by playing the bellows.When this picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy some critics thought … Continue reading The Blind Fiddler
A Highland Outpost
A Highland Outpost by John Pettie.
Comrades
Comrades, the 42nd Highlanders (copy of a lost earlier painting by the artist) 1894, by Robert Gibb. This image is extremely moving and poignant. The scene is of the 42nd Regiment of Foot (later called the Black Watch), during the Crimean War winter campaign of 1854-1855. The dying man on the ground is whispering his … Continue reading Comrades
The Meeting
Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. Self portrait by Gustave Courbet (right). The Realist style here is a bit stiff for my taste but this is a fine image for 19th century clothing. Nice walking staff too.
Disbanded
Disbanded by John Pettie, 1877
Seek Solutide
“Nourish yourself with grand and austere ideas of beauty that feed the soul… Seek solitude.” "I must work alone. I think that going into society from time to time, or just going out and seeing people, does not do much harm to one’s work and spiritual progress, in spite of what many so-called artists say … Continue reading Seek Solutide
A Spot of Art
I like everything about this painting. Eduard Charlemont is an easy one to spot. Generally, his subjects are flamboyantly dressed, generally holding a drink, and often have a musical instrument; even if it's just a drum. I think I'm ready to be this guy. And note the excellent little tusk-tenon bench.
