My virtual museum, cont’d…

Shanghai Li, member of the Red Lanterns triad. By Hugo Pratt (c). In “Corto Maltese in Siberia”.

Tercera llamada” (“Third call”). Ernesto Cabral. 1926. A talemnted Mexican artist, Cabral sketched those daring young ladies who threw away their mothers’ long dresses and long hair by the window. Quite “osé” in 1926.

De Gaulle. By the same Cabral, c. 1964. (at the Trotsky museum, Mexico city) At a later stage in his life, Cabral was a cartoonist in Novedades, a Mexican newspaper. The likeness is impeccable. I can almost hear de Gaulle’s voice.

The Simpsons. On the way up to Montmartre.

“The little Parisian”. Willy Ronis. 1952. A time when you could still send your little kid alone in the street to buy bread. Ronis was a wonderful photographer of Parisian life in the 50’s.

“The two young girls”. Aristide Maillol. 1891. Maillol is better known for his sculpture, but I’ve come to love his painting too. (Musée Maillol, Paris)

“Air”. 1932. By the same Maillol. Tuileries garden. One can see the Arc de triomphe du Carrousel and the Louvre in the background.

Van Gogh at the Atelier des Lumières, Paris. The audience shadows become a part of the painting.

Japanese woodblock. By Hiroshige I believe. Or is it Utagawa? Given the Asian custom of putting the surname first I’m not sure we have it right in the west. If I’m not confused this is one of the 53 stations of the Tokaido. Musée Guimet, Paris. I’ve said it again and again. Guimet is probably one of the best muesums of Asian art in the West.

As a note, when Japan opened up in 1853, their hand just a bit forced by Commodore Perry, traditional Japanese woodblock prints started reaching Europe with a strong impact on European painters from the Impressionists to Gauguin to van Gogh. Japanese art changed perspective in the West.

Rasputin, (not the Russian monk), by Hugo Pratt in The ballad of the salty sea, 1967.

Dr Sigmund I presume? By Erik Rivera, a contemporary Mexican artist who paints well-known figures as children. Of sorts. (Hence the lollypop)

Buddha Maravijaya. Laos, 1792. Musée Guimet. (There is a room in Siem Reap, Cambodia, near the ruins of Angkor, that is called the room of the thousand Buddhas. No photos allowed… one can only use one’s eyes. Amazing)

Do you like my hat? (Untitled) by Francisco Icaza, 1969. MUAC, Mexico city.

“Step sister’s hen”, or “Marigold, Marigold, tell me your answers do”. Leonora Carrington, 1952. By then Carrington was already settled in Mexico consolidating her reputation as one of the major surrealist artists in the world. (FEMSA collection, Mexico). I did some research, it would seem most of her work is in a museum in San Luis Potosi. Not in Mexico city. Darn.

“Fable de Venise”, by Hugo Pratt. 1977. Seen at a unique expo of Pratt’s work, a wealth of originals, in Lyon, a few years back.

Thank you for visiting Equinoxio’s on-line museum. Don’t forget to tip the guide…

106 thoughts on “My virtual museum, cont’d…

    • Bacano Fer. Que bom… Aqueles exames tem q ser un pouco de agustia até chegar os resultados… Que bom!!!
      O menino é um clásico Francés… Jà parte da historia…
      Abraço grande irmão…

    • Haha! I couldn’t agree more… Though I studied him for two years in College. Practically know the “Introducition à la psychanalyse” by heart.
      Great to see you! How have you been? (I’m terribela t keeping track. Hopping to “your place” right now…

  1. My time-money was well spend again in this exibition. Highlights for me are the orange woman from Cabral, Willy Ronis’ picture of the boy with a baguette almost longer then the kid himself, the Japanese woodblock by Hiroshige ( I realy should go visit Musée Gumet), The hat-lady of Icaza and Pratts Fable de Venise. If I were to visit a real museum and was presented with only these five works, I would be a happy man. Gracias Brian, et tot ziens.

    • Everybody does… So alert and shining… By my calculations he would be about 76. My brother’s age… (I have a photo of my brother at that age with his school blouse…)

      • Oh sorry, I meant I simply love it. There I go again, forgetting things. Have you read that our WordPress blog would eventually be handled by Jetpack? You better install it now.

      • I’ve seen announcements about jetpack… TBH, I’ve barely digested the “New editor”, I’ll try to install Jetpack, whatever it is, as late as possible… LOL

  2. These pictures and the sculpture are all excellent and thought provoking. The little boy with the huge French loaf is very poignant. My childhood was quite free like this and a far cry from my children’s childhoods. They couldn’t even ride bicycles to the local park alone because of the risk of their being mugged and their bicycles stolen.

    • Yes it is a very powerful photo. And indeed, all our childhoods have been safer. I tend to think that in the balance of stupid mankind, violence has to grow and grow and grow, until peace comes back. In other words, Peace is not the opposite of War, it is the consequence of War…

      • I often think of my parents, my parents’ close freinds who’d been in the war, my uncle, my grandfather… All were very peaceful people. As if they’d seen (or done?) enough to cultivate peace. But as they die away, new generations come who think war is a piece pf cake. It ain’t.

      • Yes, most of the time this passion is great but sometimes kids get carried away and it can lead them into destructive behavior. My hubby is starting back at work today. He has recovered very well. Thanks for asking.

      • All things human must be exercised with measure. 😉 There must be a dozen Chinese philosophers who’ve written on the subject. (I still vouch for Passion!)
        Great news… very glad for y’all (As they say in the South)
        Cheers.

  3. I like the variety today in your set. My fav is “Step sister’s hen”, or “Marigold, Marigold, tell me your answers do”. Leonora Carrington, 1952. Surrealism fascinates me.

    • Carrington is my “hero”. 😉 When she died, in Mexico, a few years, the city put up an outside expo of her sculptures in one of the main avenues here. It was fabulou…

    • First and last. A classical “writing” trick… Pratt is fabulous. A shame he died “young”. Relatively. He still could have given us more magic…
      We have talked about him before haven’t we?

      • I recommend La ballade de la mer salée. His first graphic novel of Corto Maltese. I don’t know whether you can find it in French. The French translation is very good. Otherwise I’m sure the English version is okay… Try it.

  4. Wonderful ones, Brian. There’s so much story in the image itself and your captions are charming add-ons. Love how those shadows seem like they belong there. I suppose art is open to so much variation and interpretation. Great post as always. Bahut khoob! Shabaash! 🙂

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