Hotspur🏳️‍🌈

A Japanese ukiyo-e print, depicting Mount Fuji in the background being reflected onto the surface of a lake. The lake dominates the lower half of the image, the mountain the upper, with a few hills occupying the space between. A single fishing boat is on the lake in the lower right, and a couple of small villages are tucked between the hills. The hills are light green with occasional trees and small woods. Interestingly, the mountain is free of snow, while the reflection has the classic snow cap.

"Surface of Lake Misaka, Kai Province," Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830-2.

A Dutch Golden Age portrait, of a teenaged boy, well dressed in a brown jacket with fur cuffs, and a black hat, holding a book. He is seated; his right arm rests on a chair arm. His hair in long and wavy, and he seems healthy and well cared for.

"Titus van Rijn, the Artist's Son, Reading," Rembrandt van Rijn, 1656/7.

A Mexican Modernist painting of a group of young women carrying flowers to sell. Their outfits are all different, and each carries a basket of flowers on their head, and more either in their hands on in a backpack. Although they all have their individuality, they're all identical in height and posture, and in general looks, so their procession is less of a realistic depiction and more of a pattern. Behind them in a stone wall reaching their shoulders; beyond it is a blue sky. At the left end of the painting is a flowering bush, while more greenery is to the right.

"The Flower Sellers," Alfredo Ramos Martinez, c. 1935-8.

An Impressionist scene. Two women sit in a sunny room, the windows partly covered by venetian blinds while others are open. One woman sits in a cane armchair with ottoman, her legs crossed, one resting on the ottoman but still holding a mirror; she looks down pensively. She is dressed in a black-and-white striped blouse and a white skirt with black borders, and green shoes. Another stand behind her, in a pink gown and turquoise wrapper, and she looks to a table on the left part of the canvas, with what appears to be a sewing box open. Behind them, the window on the left has venetian blinds which throw patterns on the furniture, while the one on the right is open, giving a view of blooming plants outside.

"Sunlight," Richard E. Miller, c. 1913.

You're worried I'll stop drooling over you?

An Expressionist canvas. We have a scene of a bridge stretching across a river; the scene is constructed as if we were walking across the bridge ourselves, so it reaches out in front of us. Three girls stand at the railing. The first is blonde, wears a white dress, and carries a yellow straw hat in her hand, and stands with her back to the railing, looking off into the distance. The second, in a red dress and hat, and the third, in a green dress and yellow hat with trailing black ribbons, both stand looking out over the river. The background suggests a road or path on the other side of the river.

"Girls on the Bridge," Edvard Munch, 1901.

A Realist painting, related to a scientific illustration, of a comet, seen from the ground. In the foreground are some rocks with people observing. The sky occupies the top three quarters of the canvas, depicting a sunset sky with a few clouds, and the comet in the left half, its tail arcing from the orange sunset into the black night sky.

"The Great Comet of 1843," Charles PIazzi Smyth, 1843. A scientist's illustration of a historic comet.

As the world fights over Greenland, its people double down on their own values As the world clamors for Greenland’s rare earth minerals and energy potential, will its people be able to choose their own path?

Pretty good article, I thought.

www.csmonitor.com/World/Americ...

There's an old mystery novel titled "The Rogues' Syndicate" and I want to start a secret society with that name.

A Modernist portrait. A Black man is seen in profile. He wears a yellow shirt and is against a light gray and red background. His expression is serene and calm, and he wears a purple-pink hibiscus flower behind his ear.

"Portrait of a Man with Hibiscus Flower (Félix)," Glyn Philpot, 1932.

An Impressionist painting of a French flower market. To the left, several women are under a tree, chatting, while another one, in a maid's uniform of black dress and white cap and apron, passes by. To the right, bunches of flowers in white paper stand, and behind them, we can see more colorful flowers and people standing in a sunlit area. In the background are several buildings, all hit by the sun.

"Flower Market," Ethel Carrick, 1907.

An Impressionist landscape. A series of fields, bordered with slender trees, reaches out into the distance, but everything is covered with a light layer of snow and frost. Grass still pokes through the snow, and the tree branches are coated with frost. In the lower right quadrant, a single man stands with a shovel, looking at the landscape, while a horse or bull stand nearby.

"Snow and Frost at Eragny," Camille Pissarro, 1895.

A Modernist painting. Against a background that resembles granite (although it's painted) sketchy lines in orange suggest a flaming plume rising from a rough landscape, suggestive of an erupting volcano.

"Fountain of Fire and SIlence," Erna Rosenstein, 1982.

An Impressionist canvas of a winter scene. Two figures stand in the middle distance to the far left, but otherwise the scene is dominated by shades of white, blue, and pink. We see a snow-covered field, with the right half dominated by frost-covered bushes and trees. The sky seems cloudy and hazy; in the far distance to the left are more frost-covered trees. The two human figures are sketchily suggested and not in any detail; the real focus is the frost-covered trees.

"Frost at Giverny," Claude Monet, 1885.

YAY My offer on the house I was looking at has been accepted! I'm gonna be a homeowner!

The sad Oompah Loompah.

Happy Willy Wonka Experience Anniversary to all who are celebrating.

A Realist portrait of a dog, a terrier, against a gold background. The dog is mostly black and auburn but has a streak of white between his eyes and around his muzzle, and a patch of white on his chest. His gaze is both intent and soulful.

"Martin, a Terrier," Rosa Bonheur, 1879.

Looked at five houses today.

1 - Best, but imperfect. Whirlpool tub, lots space, but old.
2 - Stairs too steep
3 - Backyard riddled with rat holes
4 - Terrible neighborhood
5 - Small rooms, historic ruin (literally) on property that can't be demolished.

Despite its flaws, #1 may be the way to go.

A Post-Impressionist painting of a jug holding oleanders, in pink and white, with long leafy green stems. The pot sits on a tabletop; nearby are two books with yellow covers.

"Oleanders," Vincent van Gogh, 1888.

Happy Flower Friday!

A Realist painting of a young woman in Swedish peasant costume on skis; her back is turned to us but she looks over her shoulder. She wears a red kerchief, a tan jacket with fur on the hem and cuffs, a tan skirt with dark green edging, and red stockings. She's on a path that leads through a pine forest.

"Girl from Mora Skiing," Anders Zorn, 1915.

GAH. $2100 for the coolant leak, which involves several parts. Plus an oil leak that we'll take care of later. Jeez Louise.

Car's in the shop today, for a coolant leak. On pins & needles until I get the verdict. I hate this.

The best 👇🏼

Smartphone screenshot showing two New York Times “Breaking News” push notifications. The first, at 5:38 AM, says Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over links to Jeffrey Epstein, citing the BBC. The second, at 2:01 AM, says Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s ousted leader, was found guilty of leading an insurrection over his 2024 martial law decree. Each notification includes a “Share” option and a bell icon.

Watching other countries actually make their leaders and powerful men face consequences with jealousy.

An Expressionist canvas, depicting four young women in a wooded glade. One sits with her back to us; her dress is white and her hair is a reddish-blonde. Going counterclockwise from her, there's another in profile, in a blue-and-white dress and straw hat; she also has long red-blonde hair and her eyes are downcast, her hands on her lap. Next is another blonde girl, standing and in a red dress. Last is a dark-haired girl in a blue dress with white sleeves.

"Four Girls," August Macke, 1912-3.

In the foreground is the battle itself: the two opponents, Carnival and Lent, pulled and pushed and accompanied by supporters, are about to meet. Carnival is seated on a large beer barrel and Lent is opposite him seated on a shallow pull cart. The painting does not present either side as being better than the other, but presents both sides as extremes of the human experience. It is typical of the world landscape style, in which an imaginary panoramic landscape is seen from an elevated viewpoint. The horizon is high in the picture, giving the viewer a bird's eye view of the scene. The physical painting is large, and the characters are small, which means that nearly 200 characters fit into the scene, mostly in groupings. A market square of an unspecified village in the Netherlands is shown. Themes in the scene would have been nostalgic for contemporary viewers, since it depicts an older and more rural style of improvised celebration, in contrast to the highly organized professional processions which would have been seen at that time in Antwerp. The spectacle is divided into two halves, and framed by two buildings: the inn on the left, the church on the right, which gives it the character of a scene in a stage show. The left side of the sprawling canvas depicts the Carnival, the right side, Lent. The boundary is not sharply defined, however, and in several places the followers of Lent and Shrove Tuesday invade each other's space. The painting depicts different times of year. Barren, wintery, trees on the left hint at the winter, while the budding trees of the churchyard's lenten side hint at a burgeoning spring.

"The Fight Between Carnival and Lent," Peter Bruegel the Elder, 1559.

A Realist portrait, from the Harlem Renaissance. A young Black woman, with a 20s bob haircut, sits facing left, her head turned a quarter toward us. She wears a pink dress, in 20s style, with a corsage of pink flowers at the shoulder facing us. Her expression is serene and abstracted.

"Girl in a Pink Dress," Laura Wheeler Waring, 1927.

I meet with a realtor tomorrow morning. Yup, I've got ducks in a row, I'm gonna buy me a house.

A Realist painting of some bare shrubs in a winter landscape, with 8-9 bulfinches perched on the branches or on the snow, looking for food.

"Winter Landscape with Bulfinches," Bruno Liljefors, 1891.

A cyanotype of a wood horsetail fern, with the background in blue and the plant images in white. This is an early photographic process achieved by laying the plants on a sheet of photosensitive paper. The stalks and leaves of the fern are all in white.

"Equisetum sylvaticum," Anna Atkins, 1853. An illustration from a book of British ferns, all documented in the cyanotype process. And it works as modern art, IMHO.