"Ce grand diable de milord anglais"That's John Singer Sargent's portrait of Lord Ribblesdale above. Isn't it grand? Does he not perfectly epitomize a bygone era of arrogant English noblemen? Our Heroine is an American and a democratic republican, but I still lament we shall not see this type again.
And I do so love this quote of his Lordship's regarding the portrait. When one is already so great, I s'pose any additional greatness thrust on you just becomes burdensome.
"My picture here looks exceedingly well, and I am assured is regarded as the great feature of the Exhibition. It has forced a greatness on me which is quite embarrassing; and wherever I go, I am recognized and much chuchotement and pointing out to friends goes on. At the vernissage, which I just dropped in for, it was really tiresome; and several people - but all I think artists - have introduced themselves to me, on the plea of not being able to resist offering their congratulations."I'm sorry y'all, I'm not sure why, but I am feeling very in love with the Victorians these days, and I'm dragging all of you down Fin de Siècle Lane with me.
But I promise that tomorrow I will firmly plant myself in the present day to tell you why I hate Twilight. Gah! It's just the worst. Lord Ribblesdale would have loathed it.
5 comments:
Mmmm, what a wonderful painting!
Not sure if you've perused Victorian Paintings or not. You might enjoy it although it seems to run heavily to landscapes and not so much to the delightful male specimens a la Lord R. :-D
Ohmigoodness, what a cornucopia of good things that blog is, I had never heard of it, thank you for the recommendation!
Yes, isn't Lord R marvelous? I looked him up on Wikipedia, he really was the last of his kind.
I've been reading a lot about John Singer Sargent. Sargent quickly received several portrait commissions, and it was the best way to earn some money. His career was launched (I've got a couple of his works at home, they are the originals..). He immediately demonstrated the concentration and stamina that enabled him to paint. Nice post and keep up with this blog.
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