Flex Mentallo

Now that's a book worth coveting! Consider me covetous, Chris!

A fascinating reminiscence. It's when they catch us early in life that they leave the deepest impression isn't it? All I knew about American comics as a boy was based on the importation of Silver Age Marvel, DC, Charlton and ACG. All of which had the Comics Code Approved Logo. But sometimes an oddball comic would fall into my keeping published by a mysterious company called IW. They had a completely different feel to them and did not carry the Comics Code logo. The stories were darker, the artwork more lurid. I of course had no frame of reference for Golden Age comics. I didn't know they existed. I couldn't figure them out. The story that made the deepest impression on me was from IW's Planet Comics #8. "We shall rise again" haunted me for years, especially the twist at the end! It was only many years later that I was able to track down the original publication in Planet comics #72.

I love Wolverton. This is my favorite by him from Weird Mysteries #2. Here comes the bride!

Thanks, Cat. I think what attracts me and many other collectors to Schomburg's war covers are the frenetic nature of the action, with so much packed into the image, coupled with the frequent use of almost Rube Goldberg devices to further the scene. It makes me think of Austin Power's Dr. Evil and his sharks with frickin' lasers! I mean, wouldn't it be simpler, faster, and more cost effective to just shoot Jefferson, Tubby, and Whitewash than to go all "death by lions" on them? Just sayin'. Schomburg's villains always come across to me as juvenile delinquents who don't just want to kill a frog - they want to boil it alive as an experiment. The heroes are killjoys who spoil their fun and therefore deserve to die like the straightlaced parents they represent. Not so much good vs evil as good vs really really naughty!

For reference, the other paintings shown here measure 4'x5'

...meanwhile, these photos of my last show will give you a better sense of scale:

This is amazing, and seven by ten feet no less Love to see more of your stuff. Is it posted here? There are more of my efforts interlaced throughout the thread. I've also just rediscovered some sketches done while working with refugees in the former Yugoslavia during the conflict so I'll post them when finished scanning to illustrate one or two anecdotes of that rather harrowing experience, still vivid in my mind after nearly 20 years.

Cat, I'd be curious to know whether Las Meninas is in any way different from the expectations illustrations of it encourage?

Beautiful. Yes, there are some interesting artists influenced by Caravaggio right through to the 19th Century and I'll post a few more as I think of them!

Fascinating.... The song appears in many variants but the main theme is that the knight of the title woos the lady with music (i.e. blows a magic horn, or in some variations sings a magic song), or abducts her, and carries her off to a deep wood or seaside, where he tells her that he has killed seven (or more) other women and plans to do the same to her. In many European versions it is made explicit that he proposes to "dishonour" her as well. She, however, distracts him by one of a number of means and then contrives to kill him in her stead. The lady of the title is named variously as "Lady Isabel", "the King's daughter" "May Collin", "May Colven", "pretty Polly", or not named at all. Variants of the song usually imply that she is rich and beautiful. The knight is, in some versions, a normal, but villainous, mortal man, but in others he is an "elf knight". The term "outlandish knight", which appears in several variants might imply something supernatural about the character, or may be a reference to the border regions between England and Scotland. Depending on the characteristics of the knight, he may woo the lady by the usual human practices or by supernatural powers. For instance, in some variations he blows a magic horn or sings a magic song, causing the lady to profess love to him: If I had yon horn that I hear blawing, And you elf-knight to sleep in my bosom. She is made to leave her parents' house and go with the knight, either by persuasion, coercion, or magical enchantment. In some versions the knight persuades her to steal money from her parents before she leaves. "Now steal me some of your father's gold, and some of your mother's fee, And steal the best steed in your father's stable, where there lie thirty three." They arrive at their destination, which in some versions is explicitly named (e.g. "Bunion Bay" or "Wearie's Well") and may be beside the sea or a river, or in a deep wood. He tells her about his previous victims and that she will be the next. "Loup off the steed," says false Sir John, "Your bridal bed you see; For I have drowned seven young ladies; the eight one you shall be." In most versions, he then orders the lady to undress and remove her jewels. In some variants, she then asks him to turn away while she undresses, giving her the opportunity to surprise him and, for example, push him in the sea or "tumble him into the stream". In other variants, she tells him to "lay your head upon my knee", in some cases offering to de-louse the knight. He agrees, on the condition that should he fall asleep, she shall not harm him while he sleeps. However, she sings a magic song: "Wi a sma charm she lulld him fast asleep". While he sleeps, she ties him up, sometimes with his own belt, then wakes the knight and either stabs him with a dagger or beheads him: If seven king's-daughters here ye hae slain, Lye ye here, a husband to them a. Some variants end at this point, but several include a curious final section in which the lady returns home and engages in conversation with a parrot in a cage. She usually makes a bargain with the bird that she will give it a golden cage if it refrains from telling her father of the escapade with the knight. "Oh hold your tongue, my favourite bird, and tell no tales on me; Your cage I will make of the beaten gold, and hang in the willow-tree." (From Wikipedia)

I'm not familiar with this one Robert - but I love it! The maiden's profile is beautifully rendered.Do you know what the story illustrated is? Not really. I was literally looking at tons of photos of his works, trying to pick what looked to have scans good enough to post. It'd probably would be easy to find out though. Yes, it occurred to me to Google "Rackham" and "parrot" and it came up immediately! Mary Colven and the Parrot ~ from Some British Ballads

...and subjects featuring funeral rights and interment of saints.

...the depiction of skulls...

...is evident in the frequent juxtaposition of young and old...

Like many artists of the time, the preoccupation with mortality...

He is a wonderful artist who was forgotten after his death and only rediscovered in the early 20th Century.

Georges de La Tour 1593 – 1652 is a fascinating artist who was influenced by Caravaggio before going on to develop a distinctive style based on extreme simplification of form in scenes lit by candles but unlike Caravaggio deliberately divested of melodrama.

No discussion about the evolution of Western painting can be complete without understanding the far reaching influence of Caravaggio. He was by all accounts a terrible man - the Renaissance equivalent of a street gang leader, who actually did murder someone over a game of tennis. He came to a sticky end himself, fleeing his enemies in a swamp on the outskirts of - I think it was Naples. No one is quite sure what happened. His work made a huge impression on artists like Rembrandt, Vermeer, De la Tour and Velasquez. As you've indicated Larry, his use of dramatic staging and light and shadow (called "tenebrism") was a game changer. He used ordinary people as models, which he depicted warts and all, rather than idealising. It was an astonishing leap.

I'm not familiar with this one Robert - but I love it! The maiden's profile is beautifully rendered.Do you know what the story illustrated is?

Huh! Those lemons have clearly been pressed!

Thanks for that Pat - I had not read that before. This is an interesting snippet from Wikipedia: The elusiveness of Las Meninas, according to Dawson Carr, "suggests that art, and life, are an illusion". The relationship between illusion and reality were central concerns in Spanish culture during the 17th century, figuring largely in Don Quixote: the best-known work of Spanish Baroque literature. In this respect, Calderón de la Barca's play Life is a Dream is commonly seen as the literary equivalent of Velázquez's painting: What is a life? A frenzy. What is life? A shadow, an illusion, and a sham. The greatest good is small; all life, it seems Is just a dream, and even dreams are dreams. ..and of course, we are back to mirrors again, since the image in a mirror is nothing but light....

A Litany in Time of Plague Adieu, farewell, earth's bliss; This world uncertain is; Fond are life's lustful joys; Death proves them all but toys; None from his darts can fly; I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Rich men, trust not in wealth, Gold cannot buy you health; Physic himself must fade. All things to end are made, The plague full swift goes by; I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Beauty is but a flower Which wrinkles will devour; Brightness falls from the air; Queens have died young and fair; Dust hath closed Helen's eye. I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Strength stoops unto the grave, Worms feed on Hector brave; Swords may not fight with fate, Earth still holds open her gate. "Come, come!" the bells do cry. I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Wit with his wantonness Tasteth death's bitterness; Hell's executioner Hath no ears for to hear What vain art can reply. I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Haste, therefore, each degree, To welcome destiny; Heaven is our heritage, Earth but a player's stage; Mount we unto the sky. I am sick, I must die. Lord, have mercy on us! Thomas Nashe

As with the two paintings discussed, this picture is also about childhood. I worked on it off and on for a period of about 10 years. On the right hand side of this detail there is a snowglobe. See it? Inside the snowglobe is captured an image of my childhood home, the windows lit.