Flaming June by Frederic Leighton, 1895.
“Ah, what a dusty answer gets the soul
When hot for certainties in this our life!”
George Meredith, Modern Love, 1891
George Meredith, Modern Love, 1891
Here is art for art’s sake, feminine beauty celebrated for aesthetics, not individual rights; sensual delight enjoyed at the expense of reason; a revelling in red and yellow, the apotheosis of orange; amoral, superficial, cheesy and good enough to eat; the taste of strawberries and cream or the touch of hot sun on your neck while you drowse on a hot summer’s day. All that, and a picture that will immortalize her, but not enough to make her happy. When she wakes up, the world will disappoint her.
“All that, and a picture that will immortalize her, but not enough to make her happy. When she wakes up, the world will disappoint her.”
That does seem to be the human condition, doesn’t it? A wonderful picture nevertheless.
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Thank you. As soon as I’d got my kiss from Prince Rupert, I’d have become a Roundhead. Or, a reluctant Constitutional Royalist – the alternatives just didn’t fly (cf Brexit?) x
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Shared on Twitter. Not because it has anything to do with Brexit, but I do love that painting. 🙂
I hope the employment situation improves soon. I would cast you in everything! x
Best wishes, Pete.
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