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The Cleveland Museum of Art: Weapons, Historical Selfies and Victorian Prudery

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2015_CMA_ElenaOver the Easter weekend, I visited the Cleveland Museum of Art with my youngest daughter and a dear high school friend. Although I grew up in Cleveland, I haven’t been to the museum in years, so it was fun to tour the galleries and have lunch at the Café. Their Tandoor Grill has nice curries, Naan bread and chutneys. Mmmm….

Here are a few items of Regency interest.

2015_CMA_Napoleon_GunThe first item is in the Armor Court, an impressive collection of armor and weapons. Most of the collection is earlier than our period of course, but this “double-barrelled flintlock sporting gun” was made in 1809 for Napoleon Bonaparte. It was made by Jean Le Page, member of a family firm who supplied firearms to the French nobility. The description says such “deluxe” weapons were often made for display and as gifts and in this case, Napoleon did give this gun to a Polish count. Read more about Napoleon’s gun and check out the Cleveland in HDR blog for a closeup that shows more detail of the gorgeous workmanship.

I picked up postcards of the next two items. Although photography without flash was permitted, I didn’t want to risk the flash going off accidentally (I am clumsy) and often the pictures in the postcards are better anyway.

2015_CMA_Hardy_SistersHere’s one of my favorite Regency portraits, what my daughter likes to call “historical selfies”. It’s a portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, 1801. Sarah was married the same year, Charlotte a few years later. The contrasting personalities of the two remind me of my own daughters—one more dreamy and introspective, the other more lively and outgoing. And of course the clothes are lovely. Here’s the link for more information on the Hardy sisters portrait.

And lastly, I was charmed by a series, “Apollo and the Muses” by the French painter Charles Meynier in 1800. They include Polyhymnia, Muse of Eloquence; Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry; Apollo, God of Light, Eloquence, Poetry and the Fine Arts with Urania, Muse of Astronomy; Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry; and Clio, Muse of History. The one I’m showing here is Erato.

2015_CMA_EratoHere’s a fascinating article on the restoration process. Restoring the Erato painting was particularly challenging, since another artist had over-painted Cupid’s body with a “prudish white veil” an estimated 75 years after Meynier completed the painting. Those Victorians! Fortunately, it was possible to remove the veil and restore the painting to its original beauty.

On the CMA website, you can also see the individual paintings in the Apollo and the Muses series.

Have any of you visited the Cleveland Museum of Art? (I highly recommend it.) Do you enjoy stories of restored treasures?

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

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Soul Searching

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I like my art over the top. My favorite movies, actors, books, music, paintings and couture all share the common element of being pushed further than it might seem possible. Recently I found something I thought epitomized what pushed something in my opinion from “good” to “special.”

Nick Cave is most famous for being a musician, but he is also a writer, most recently penning the script for The Proposition starring Guy Pearce. I bought a book of his writings recently–song lyrics as well as fragments of short stories and an essay or two–and found something he wrote about the German band
Einsturzende Neubauten:

“They are simply a ‘great’ band–and I use the word in the classical sense. To me, the essence of their greatness does not lie in their unorthodox attitude toward making music–rather it is based on a fundamentally orthodox premise. What makes Einsturzende Neubauten great in my eyes is the same thing that makes Johnny Cash–or the Velvet Underground, John Lee Hooker, Suicide, Elvis, Dylan, Leadbelly, The Stooges–great. They are all innovators but what sets Hank Williams apart from the bulk of his contemporaries is the same thing that sets Einsturzende Neubauten apart from the huge, faceless morass that modern New Wave music has become. Through their own hard work, by steadfast lack of compromise, through the pain of true self-expression, through a genuine love of their medium, they have attained a sound which is first authentic, and which is utterly their own. But not for the sole purpose of being different. They are a group which has developed its own special language for one reason–to give voice to their souls.”

My goal, when I write, is to give voice to my soul, even though that might sound pretentious coming from someone who writes fairly light romance; the means here, the motivation, is more important than the end. I might never feel as if I have truly developed my own ‘special language,’ as Cave says; but I can strive for that goal. No matter what genre an author writes in, in what style, I think the reader can tell when a soul has been given voice. Your favorite soul vocalists are no doubt different than mine (and I’m not talking Aretha). But what they share is an authentic sound.

What do you think makes a great artist?

Thanks–

Megan
www.meganframpton.com

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Yale Center for British Art Redoux

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I’m still flying high from my trip to the Yale Center for British Art two weeks ago. I’ve blogged about the special Thomas Lawrence exhibit Victoria Hinshaw and I went to see, the place also has a treasure of other British art from the 18th and 19th century.

Here Vicky and I stand before a bust of Prinny (George IV), looking very Roman, however. Prinny, not us!
(Check out Vicky’s blogs from the trip at Number One London)

Here’s the most spectacular painting by George Stubbs (1724-1806). Stubbs is most famous for his paintings of horses and this one is brimming with action.

All the great portrait artists are represented:

Gainsborough

Reynolds

Hoppner
Copley
And another of my favorite artists of the period.

Turner

This museum was just wonderful. Everywhere I turned I found something spectacular to look at and almost all in “our” time period, give or take a few years!!

Have you ever visited a place that stayed with you like this? There is something about this artwork that just won’t let go of me. I felt this way about England when I visited, too.

On Wednesday I’ll be at eHarlequin talking about a certain kind of art, vedute, the souvenir paintings of the Grand Tour.

P.S. My heart goes out to all of Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. The devastation is massively horrible. May we all figure out some way to help. I lived in Japan as a child when my father was stationed there. I’ll blog about that on Diane’s Blog on Thursday.
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Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance

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Last week I was fortunate enough to visit the Yale Center for British Art to view the art exhibit, Thomas Lawrence: Regency Power and Brilliance. I must credit Victoria Hinshaw of Number One London with the idea to go to New Haven for this exhibit. The only other time this collection of paintings was shown was at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Every year Vicky visits Washington, D.C., and we have lunch with my friends Julie and Carol. The four of us went on the same tour of England in 2005 and we’ve been friends ever since. This year we not only had lunch, but Vicky and I conned my husband into driving the two of us to New Haven (6 hours from here) on Thursday and back on Friday so Vicky could get her plane home on Saturday. The dh thought we were crazy but he went along with the scheme!

Vicky had also contacted the Public Relations staff for the exhibit and so when we arrived we were treated as VIPs! But even if we hadn’t been welcomed so warmly, the exhibit would have been worth it. It was spectacular!

Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) began his art career in Bath at age eleven when he supported his family by selling portraits in pastels. At age eighteen, he moved to London and trained for three months at the Royal Academy. By age twenty-one he exhibited twelve portraits, including this one of Elizabeth Farren, and actress who eventually married the Earl of Derby.

This is my absolute favorite of all the portraits and that is saying a lot, because there were so many beautiful ones.
This painting is on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Here is another beautiful lady on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, Isabella Wolf.

Isabella Wolff was an intimate friend of Lawrence’s. Some say she bore him a child, although there is no conclusive evidence that this was true. Certainly she was a long time friend. This portrait was thirteen years in the making.
Here is another one on loan from the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, an image of Rosamund Hester Croker, later Lady Barrow.

The portrait of Miss Croker was exhibited before she was presented to society. You can imagine it attracted a great number of gentlemen admirers. It figured in the arrangement of her eventual marriage to George Barrow, oldest son of Sir John Barrow, author of Mutiny on the Bounty.

Dated 1827, the portrait is a bit later than the Regency, but, to me, she epitomizes a Regency heroine.
For more about Thomas Lawrence, read Jo Manning‘s blogs on him at Number One London.
And if you can get to New Haven before June 5, the end of the exhibition, GO!!!!
Vicky and I toured the exhibit twice. Once upon arriving at Yale on Thursday and then again the following morning before we had to leave. I rather wish I could go through it again….
Today I showed you some of the beautiful ladies of the Lawrence exhibit. This Thursday on Diane’s Blog, I’ll share some of the gentlemen who could possibly be heroes in a Regency romance.
And I’m giving away a prize! Some postcards from the gift shop of the Yale gallery. Comment here and on Diane’s Blog for a chance to win. Winner will be announced on Diane’s Blog next weekend.
Tell me which of the ladies above is your favorite. Or tell me what has been your favorite experience with art. Or anything!!
And visit Heroes and Heartbreakers for my first blog with them, The Naked Truth: Courtesans in Real Life vs. Fiction

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