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 Don McLean came up in recent threads. Here is my second favorite work of his:

Whose that Allegory?

You're never going to guess, so I'll tell you. It's:

Truth Coming Out of the Well Armed With Her Whip to Chastise Mankind

by Jean-Leon Gerome, 1896

Why was she in a well? Probably a reference to a line from Democritus, the Laughing Philosopher: "We know nothing certainly, for truth lies in a deep place;" often translated as "lies at the bottom of a well."

She's clearly yelling, "Hey! My eyes are up here, buddy!"

Fore-edge Paintings

Sometimes a video is worth a couple of hundred words. Click the YouTube above to see what a fore-edge painting is. It's only 33 seconds.

Neat, huh? Here's a longer video (4:19), showing ten very nice examples, including one with both the fore- and bottom-edge painted:

These books are not common, of course, but they're not as rare as you might think. Artists are still creating them today. Prices at ebay and Abebooks are typically in the hundreds of dollars.

More:

Henri Le Sidaner

Maison Blanche, Gerberoy

I had never even heard of Henri Le Sidaner until a couple of days ago, when I peeked in at Andrew Rickard's Charon's Barque and saw some pictures from a book his Obolus Press had just published -- a translation of Le Sidaner's biography, with illustrations. I checked around elsewhere and found I really like his work.

Le Sidaner's dates are 1862-1939. He called himself an "Intimist." His paintings look pretty Impressionist-y to me, with maybe a dash of Pointillism. Well, as the saying goes, I don't know much about art, but I know what I like. Unlike the guy in the Thurber cartoon:

Le Sidaner must have done pretty well for himself -- he had some really nice gardens. They're still maintained and open to the public.

Art History Volume One.....

Often imitated by never duplicated here is the masterpiece "A Poker Game" by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. This wonderful painting was recently sold at auction and garnered a magnificent $658,00 for this seminal work of Americana. Look at the breath of detail. The expression of the doggies as they fold and raise. The heavy heart of the pooch in the middle seat who obviously thought he could catch an ace on the river. It is sublime and fabulous.

Another favorite of mine is "A Waterloo" which adds to the magnificent oeuvre of this American genius.

This painting is justly famous for the presence of a Hollywood luminary who agreed to sit for the portrait. Taking time out from saving Timmie from the well and licking the peanut butter smeared inner thighs of June Lockhart, Lassie made her debut in fine art. It was indeed a long sitting so Coolidge provided opium which resulted in the most relaxed visages you see in this magnifcent portrait.

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge who was also know as Kash Coolidge for his skill in marketing his creations had a long and productive relationship with an advertising company named Brown and Bigelow which had him designing and creating ads, calendars and other pieces of Americana that we treasure to this day. His masterpieces of course are his series of canine card players that are without peer in the current misbegotten art scene.

Of course the communist academics that pontificate today have ignored and trashed this great artist because of his status a white man and only mention him grudgingly as the great grandfather of the noted pugilist Cassius Marcellus  Clay who became famous under an assumed name. So to this very day his genius has gone unappreciated by all save the people The people who love him. The same people who love God, Baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. The people who love Donald Trump.

In other words Real Americans.

Form Ever Follows Function...

...except when it doesn't

Overheard at Lem's:

As a side note, my teacher used to make chairs that were art and which were never meant to be sat in.

What happened to form ever follows function?

It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law. ~Louis Sullivan

That's a powerful notion, and I'd say it holds for all of chemistry too, being that chemical structure and function are so entwined.* But the obvious question is which comes first. I mean, things evolve and mutations happen (form changes) and functional changes follow (function or disfunction).

I'm not trying to diss your beautiful piece of work, Sixty; I'm just struck by how your chair's actual function challenges its form. But is the chair not gorgeous to behold itself?  As an imaginary chair?
__________________
*The chemistry term of art "functional group" refers to an interchangeable group of atoms which have a specific function.

This is the kind of art I would hang on my walls

Right next to the dogs playing poker on velvet.

Unfortunately the wife picks out all of our art.

I feel stifled.

KLEM FM

Overheard at Lem's: "The Raft Of The Medusa"

I've seen the original hanging in the Lurve.

I loved that album at the time. I still do, as a matter of fact.

Many years ago, an artist friend did a 3D rendition of Gericault's classic work. It's a large piece, measuring about 6' by 3'. It hangs in our living room:

Here's some detail of the raft:

Colorado art fans might be able to guess the artist.

The sincerest form of flattery

Madonna in the Church
van Eyck, c. 1440

Diptych: Virgin and Child, Abbot Christiaan de Hondt
Master of 1499, c.1499

Madonna in a Church
Gossaert(?), c. 1510

KLEM FM

click photo to enlarge

Dick Dale plays "Ghost Riders In The Sky"

“The Last Supper”

Detail

Ars Ingratia Artis

Overheard at Lem's:

I'd really rather not have eaten there. We've been there before. Whatever they make we can do better. And breakfast comes with our rooms. And I'd rather not eat that either. I'd rather not eat at all. I'd rather just go. But I did eat there. Because I'm being agreeable. Then later I wished that I hadn't.  

Lots of ranting at that link about good ol' American restaurant fare. Perhaps youse guys can relate to this:

That's a 6-panel piece I own called "Six Restaurants, One Burning." It depicts 6 different American fast food restaurants - Bennigan's, Bob's, What-A-Burger, Howard Johnson's, Black-eyed Pea, and a Pizza Hut. Here is some detail, upper left:

More detail, lower right:

The work is colored pencil on white stock and doesn't photograph well. But you get the picture. The artist is known for his detailed and intricate work, and so I hung this at the foot of the stairs where you can walk right up to it and examine it close-up.

KLEM AM

Dappled, non-stick photos of the 2017 eclipse from my mailbox:

I don't have any filters so I took indirect pictures of the partial eclipse we had here. 

Two of those utilize the leaves on my walnut tree to form multiple pinhole cameras, the other is a picture I took of the image cast by a "pinhole" camera I made using a scrap of walnut through which I bored a half inch diameter hole. 

Eclipse is over, as you were.

Photo by Sixty Grit

Photo by Sixty Grit

Photo by Sixty Grit

Question for Sixty: Are you going to butcher that walnut tree someday for its wood?

Under The Corner, Erik Johansson, Photomanipulation, 2017

source link

KLEM AM

Murder in the skies over Carolina:

Photo by Sixty Grit

KLEM AM

Photo by Sixty Grit

Hawk (shadow), Moon (reflection), Sky (scatter), Cloud (dispersion and absorption).

White light matters

Reality winners

One is a Photoshop and the other pencil on paper.

KLEM AM

Photo by Sixty Grit

Are you cirrus, Sixty?

cross reference

KLEM AM

A crow flies in the morning...

photo by Sixty Grit

Planes fly in the mourning...

photo by chickelit

Seitwärts Blitzen

Photo by Sixty Grit

How does lightning go sideways?  Perhaps Sixty can explain.

Angels of Warmth

Yan Yaya, Oil painting, 2003