Comments on: The real “Pygmalion”? – Jane Burden Morris

By: Zaphod

Zaphod — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 00:06:58 +0000

Ahhh… Wagner, Nietzsche, Treitschke… Simpler, Happier Times 😀

If Whitey Normie hasn’t yet figured out what that execrable Hamilton Musical prefigures for him, he’s going to be constantly amazed by the need to embrace change.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 17:42:32 +0000

Arts and Crafts, Brahms

The big musical fight at the time was Wagner (future) vs Brahms (past). GBS was a big Wagnerian, he even claimed singing Wagner improved the health of the singers. His musical criticism from the 1890’s is a fun read and offers a view of the times.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 16:07:40 +0000

The photograph does not impress. I can see where the characteristics of the painting came from.
I am reminded of a woman I worked with in a field project in college. When she was engaged and interested, she could light up a room without effort. When not, she was not exactly plain, but not at all remarkable.

Either she sat for hundreds or artists or she set a style which may as well have been paint-by-number.

By: Leah

Leah — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 15:47:42 +0000

I clicked on the link in order to see examples of her embroidery, since that is a love of mine. Just one, everything else was about her love affairs. Clearly I’m in the minority.

By: Rufus T. Firefly

Rufus T. Firefly — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 06:46:06 +0000

When I saw Zaphod’s mention of her yesterday I went to wikipedia and read about her. My first thought was, “I wonder if she was the inspiration for Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion?'” I read on and encountered speculation she may have been, and now neo does a post suggesting the same.

By: Zaphod

Zaphod — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 05:00:18 +0000

Come to think of it, Beardsley’s Salome *and* John the Baptist have faint echoes of her visage about them:

https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/01/25/aubrey-beardsley-oscar-wilde-salome/

But there you go.. It’s a slippery slope, Gentle Bourgeois Folks… One minute you’re into Arts and Crafts, Brahms, My Last Duchess.. and the next moment you’re Bringing Out the Gimp.

In other news, I’m sure they’ll finally be satisfied with Gay Marriage 🙂 It’s the End of History!

By: JimNorCal

JimNorCal — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 02:09:41 +0000

Wonderful.
Love the Pre-R art.

By: Zaphod

Zaphod — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 00:04:58 +0000

Morris was clearly a bit of a wee Simp in modern parlance.

There was a whole bunch of rather shall we say diffident Soyboy Nu-males even back when. Carlyle (who I’m rather keen on) being a case in point, and Ruskin I guess the poster boy. And that’s well before things went all Wilde / Beardsley.

While randomly clicking around came across this harbinger of Aubrey Beardsley on a slow day:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peacock_Room

Which was news to me. Must go see one day if things keep on keeping on. Executive Summary: Whistler vandalized Catherine of Aragon’s wallpaper! And then had a fight with the Client — News at 10.

By: Tuvea

Tuvea — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 23:50:01 +0000

Her facial expression seems, to me at least, similar to those of current runway models.

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Great story Neo! Your material is always fascinating and fun to read. Even when I have no ‘interest’ in the particular subject.

By: Skip

Skip — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 23:15:23 +0000

For a photograph from 1865 that might be the most dramatic one I ever seen, they all seem very formal sitting in that period