My virtual museum…

Corto Maltese during the Russian-Japanese war, c.1904-1905. Corto was born in 1887 in Malta, of a Gipsy mother and a sailor from Cornwalls. A “gentleman of fortune” as he called himself, Corto Maltese was an adventurer whose first story was published in Italy in 1967. “The ballad of the salty sea.” The author was an immense Italian artist, Hugo Pratt, (1927-1995), born in Italy, raised in Abyssinia (Ethiopia); Pratt started his career in Argentina, then went back to Italy and became a major author of European graphic novels. He was a master of ink and colour.

Klimt, Atelier des lumières, Paris, 2018. Klimt was born in Austria in 1862, died in 1918, of the Spanish Flu. A century before the expo. I sometimes wonder what the artists would say, seeing how new technologies amplify their art.

“Red, green and gold”, 1927, by Ernesto Cabral (1890-1968). Cabral was a Mexican artist, studied in Paris, as they all did then. Very popular in Mexico from the 20’s till his death in 1968. The modernity of his female subjects is amazing. Think about 1927 in a very conservative culture. He painted the newly acquired freedom of women. This year, in 2022, Oklahoma just banned abortion. The wheel of Progress is turning backward.

Klimt or Schiele. I’m not so sure. The Klimt show at Atelier des lumières featured both.

Montmartre, by Maurice Utrillo, son of Suzanne Valadon. (Musée Montmartre)

Bouche dorée (Golden mouth) by Hugo Pratt. Bouche Dorée is a high priestess of Candomblé, a form of Voodoo practiced by the descendants of slaves in Salvador da Bahia, north of Brazil. Bouche Dorée has hired, and possibly conned Corto Maltese, on a few occasions. This sketch was part of a magnificent expo on Hugo Pratt in Lyon, at the Musée des confluences. (I want to draw like Pratt when I grow up).

Klimt. Unmistakable. Some artists combine well with the use of light by Atelier des lumières. Klimt is one.

Queen Maya, the mother of Prince Siddharta, aka Buddha. Nepal, Katmandu valley, early 19th century. Musée Guimet, Paris. One of the finest Asian Art museums in the world.

A zouave soldier, by Van Gogh. 1888. (Atelier des lumières). The Zouaves were an elite corps of the French colonial infantry.

Profile by Dora Maar. I have mentioned Dora Maar before. She was Picasso’s mistress from 1936 to 1943. She was a talented photographer before. But her relationship with Picasso practically destroyed her. The model could be Jacqueline Lamba, wife of André Breton, one of the founders of Surrealism.

Buddha Maravijaya, Thailand, 14th-15th century. This style is very characteristic of Thailand. Musée Guimet, Paris.

Elizabeth II, c.1961, by Ernesto Cabral. See above for the variety of styles. Cabral was also a cartoonist for years at one of Mexico’s top magazines, La revista de revistas. This particular work was exposed at the Trotsky museum in Mexico.

Elizabeth I, by Erik Rivera, 2018. Rivera is a contemporary Mexican artist. He paints historical figures as children with huuuge eyes. Interesting work.

Monument to Cézanne, by Maillol, in the Tuileries gardens by the Louvre. (Got our tickets for Paris! Yay!)

Banksy expo in Paris a few years back. Where is he now? We. Need. Banksy. Now. (Free Ukraine 🇺🇦 )

“Papilla estelar”, Starry porridge, 1958, by Remedios Varo. Born in Spain in 1908, Varo fled the Spanish Civil War to Paris then to Mexico where she lived and painted the rest of her life until her death in 1963. She is considered one of the major surrealist painters of the 20th century. (This particular painting belongs to one of Coca-Cola’s major bottlers in Mexico and was shown at a great expo of Mexican artists in Bogotá, Colombia a few years back.)

Corto Maltese in “Una ballata del mare salato.” 1967. By Hugo Pratt. To be continued…