Month: April 2018

Gilles Guerin

Gilles Guerin, “The Horses of the Sea”, Marble, 1670, Commisioned by King Louis XIV for the Gardens of Versailles

Executed by the sculptor Gilles Guérin (1611-1678) to a design by Louis XIV’s court painter, Charles Le Brun, the horses were just one part of a larger composition that featured another double horse and triton grouping by the Marsy brothers, “The Horses of Apollo Groomed by Tritons”, and a central sculpture by François Girardon, “Apollo Tended by the Nymphs of Tethys”.

Designed to depict the Greek god resting at the end of his daily procession across the heavens in the chariot of the Sun, all three sculptures were carved from the same white Carrara marble and all were destined for the Grotto of Tethys, a whimsical, underwater-inspired pavilion whose interior was decorated with precious stones, shells, mirrors, mosaics, and masks.

Like the other sculptures that were being installed in Versailles’ grounds during the first phase of its construction, such as Charles le Brun’s Fountain of Apollo, which also features the Greek god with horses attended by tritons, the sculptures were intended to draw parallels between the mythological attributes of the sun god and reign of the self-styled Sun King.

“Louis XIV’s idea of identifying himself with the sun was probably his best decision because it has resonated since that time and even to today,” explains Laurent Salomé, director of National Museum of the Palaces of Versailles and the Trianon.

The sculpture is now on exhibit at the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Scaling the Rock

Photographer Unknown, (Scaling the Rock)

“And there were other rocks that were like animals, creeping, horrible animals, putting out their tongues, and others were like words I could not say, and others like dead people lying on the grass. I went on among them, though they frightened me, and my heart was full of wicked song they put into it; and I wanted to make faces and twist myself about the way they did, and I went on and on a long way till at last I liked the rocks and they didn’t frighten me any more”
― Arthur Machen

The Cowboy

Photographer Unknown, Vintage Photo of Cowboy, 1890

“Up to a point a man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, and movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be. Only the weak blame parents, their race, their times, lack of good fortune, or the quirks of fate. Everyone has it within his power to say, this I am today, that I shall be tomorrow. The wish, however, must be implemented by deeds.”
― Louis L’Amour, The Walking Drum

Stephen Fox

Stephen Fox: Drive-In Theater Oil Paintings

Stephen Fox was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1957. He studied painting and printmaking, receiving his BFA from the Virginia Commonwealth University in 1980. His first night paintings, a subject that has remained the focus of his work to this day, were made in the final two semesters of college.

Almost immediately upon graduation,his paintings were featured in Virginia Museum of Fine Arts juried exhibitions, winning critical acclaim and interest from galleries. He received a Virginia Commission for the Arts Professional Artist Fellowship in 1982. The following year Stephen Fox had his first solo exhibition at Cudahy’s Gallery in Richmond, Virginia. The show was a sell-out in just two days.

Calendar: April 13

A Year: Day to Day Men: 13th of April

Parallel Bands of Teal

April 13, 1957 was the release date of the courtroom drama “12 Angry Men”.

The American film and television writer Reginald Rose’s screenplay for “12 Angry Men” was initially produced for television with Robert Cummings as Juror 8, the only one not voting with the majority. This teleplay was broadcast live on the CBS program Studio One in September of 1954. The success of this production resulted in a film adaption. Sidney Lumet, who produced dramatic productions for The Alcoa Hour and Studio One, was recruited by the producers Henry Fonda and Reginald Rose to direct. “12 Angry Men” was Sidney Lumet’s first feature film.

This trial film tells the story of a jury made up of 12 men as they deliberate the guilt or acquittal of a defendant on the basis of reasonable doubt, forcing the jurors to question their morals and values. In the United States, a verdict in most criminal trials by jury must be unanimous. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: out of 96 minutes of run time, only three minutes take place outside of the jury room.

The film explores many techniques of consensus-building and the difficulties encountered in the process among a group of men whose range of personalities adds intensity and conflict. It also explores the power one man has to elicit change. No names are used in the film; the jury members are identified by number. The defendant is referred to as “the boy” and the witnesses as “the old man” and “the lady across the street”. The film forces the characters and audience to evaluate their own self-image through observing the personality, experiences, and actions of the jurors.

At the beginning of the film, the cameras are positioned above eye level and mounted with wide-angle lens, to give the appearance of greater depth between subjects, but as the film progresses the focal length of the lenses is gradually increased. By the end of the film, nearly everyone is shown in closeup, using telephoto lenses from a lower angle, which decreases or “shortens” depth of field. Sidney Lumet stated that his intention in using these techniques with cinematographer Boris Kaufman was to create a nearly palpable claustrophobia.

In 2007 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. The American Film Institute selected it as the second-best courtroom drama ever in their Top 10 List. The AFI also named Juror 8, played by Henry Fonda, in their list of 50 greatest movie heroes of the 20th century.

W. H. Auden: “The Present Instant in Its Full Reality”

Photographers Unknown, The Present Instant in Its Full Reality

“Laziness acknowledges the relation of the present to the past but ignores its relation to the future; impatience acknowledges its relation to the future but ignores its relation to the past; neither the lazy nor the impatient man, that is, accepts the present instant in its full reality and so cannot love his neighbor completely.” 

—W. H. Auden, The Complete Works of W. H. Auden: Prose, Volume 111: 1949-1955

Luke Austin

Luke Austin, “Bed”, From the Mini Beau Book #1

Luke Austin traveled to cities across America, Europe, and Australia to meet men he had connected with on Instagram and took pictures of them, as he puts it, “behind the filter.” Not only did these strangers provide inspiration for Luke, but also housing and friendship, sharing their lives and their cities. Luke recorded his entire trip on Instagram, allowing the world to follow his journey.