Five suitably autumnal paintings (below) for the autumnal equinox coming up on Sunday. These are by Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896). He was one of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood whose paintings I've always loved. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, from around 1848 in England, began as a secret, select group of artists: Dante Gabriel Rossetti, his brother William Michael Rossetti, Thomas Woolner, William Holman Hunt, Frederic George Stephens, James Collinson, and John Everett Millais. They banded together to rebel against the current art establishment, the British Royal Academy and their then formulaic approach to art instruction. More
HERE.
Sir John was never my favourite member of the Brotherhood, but I suspect the digital images below do no justice to his paintings. I've seen some of the Pre-Raphaelites' works "in the flesh", and they are breathtaking. There's
an old post of mine on those artists and their natal charts here.
It'll be several weeks more before the Oklahoma autumnal scene catches up with the season shown in these paintings; at the moment it still seems like high summer. I wait with increasing impatience!
(For enlarged versions click on the images.)
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| Sound of Many Waters |
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| Autumn Leaves |
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| Winter Fuel |
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| A Dream of the Past |
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| Rosalind in the Forest |
10 comments:
The equinox is upon us again. The sun's light is certainly at ebb, but the leaves falling and chilly nights won't arrive here for another couple of months. Here in the deep south, it's the holidays that mark the season more than the apparent weather: Halloween and Thanksgiving. December contains both fall and winter for us...the briefest of seasons here, with winter ending in February (sometimes, spring ends right along with it!). We haven't had a freeze for the past several years.
I grew-up in Kansas and the warm days and cool nights of autumn, interspersed with bouts of frost were delicious. I particularly enjoyed the wonderful apple cider. apple pies, and caramel apples that were attendant with the fall's apple harvest.
We've both discussed our fondness of Maxfield Parrish's paintings. I suppose it's because of his over-use of striking, autumnal colors, but he's my quintessential painter, when I think of autumnal scenes on canvas.
Happy solstice, Twilight! I hope you have an extended Oklahoma "Indian summer" this year.
mike ~ I think I'd have felt more at home in Kansas, climate-wise at least. It's a pity my husband moved to Oklahoma from there.
:-)
We have a fairly short winter here, but it can be intense with occasional damaging ice storms.
I'm really fed up with the heat this year. It has been more humid than usual which doesn't help. I'm longing for the first really crisp cool morning air, and really cold cold water coming from the tap/faucet.
I think Maxfield Parrish is a modern American variation of the Pre-Raphaelites' style. I bet he admired their work.
Happy Equinox to you too, mike!
Here's to being cool - in the old fashioned sense. :-)
thank you Twilight..
I was able to get Dreams of the Past as my background on the laptop..
Love that one:)
Pumpkin pickin time here soon. I've been in NC for 31 years so this is home to me.. Our seasons overlap each other this time of year. 48 in the early morning and close to 80 by afternoon.
I too look forward to cool crisp weather so I can take my coffee mug out on the porch, snugly up tight with a quilt and wait the sun to come up.
I'm not sure if you ever visit my blog but this summer I got a loveseat and 2 deep wicker chairs for it..
we'll leave the light on and the hot chocolate steaming for Ya..
Happy Solstice
Sonny ~ I liked that painting the best of the 5 too. :-)
I've visited your blog a few times in the past, but I think it was when you were taking a break - went to take a look just now. Wow!
You are so industrious, and so artistic in your choice of decor. Your porch looks beautiful, your strip of garden so neat. Congratulations of such a lovely job!
Our front porch is a bit of a no man's land really, too many bugs out there for my liking - and they like me too much, so it's not furnished at all, apart from a wreath and a peace sign, and a couple of metal sculptures. Our strip of garden will just not stay neat whatever we try, so we don't - much. ;-)
Sonny - And forgot to say.. Happy Equinox - or Solstice, or everything!
Time seems to pass so quickly these days, though where we live there's little in our immediate environment (other than shorter days and a few seasonal decorations) to mark the changing seasons. That's okay, falling leaves of red and gold are just a short drive away, and there's always art - thanks Twilight.
Some Pre-Raphaelite paintings are hauntingly beautiful, soul-stirring. They remind me of something, only I can't quite remember.:0 Of the ones you've shown today, my favorites are "Autumn Leaves" and "A Dream of the Past".
Happy Autumnal Equinox.:)
LB - A Happy One back atcha, LB!
:-)
I like Holman Hunt and Rosetti better than Millais.
Look at this, for instance, by Rosetti - the velvet, the face - everything:
http://pleaseandthankyouverymuch.tumblr.com/post/31602422534/vernoica-veronese-by-dante-gabriel-rosetti
Twilight, I wouldn't be too disappointed that hubby left Kansas for Oklahoma! Kansas might be about 2% better, but questionable. I've lived in way-many cities across the USA, north, south, east, and west; coastal and inland. None of my favorites for weather and-or culture are in the upper, central, or southern middle.
Hopefully, you'll have the opportunity to explore farther reaches of the USA sometime, than those you've already explored...you'll be amazed. Could be dangerous...you'll want to relocate.
mike ~ I doubt we'll get to explore the far eastern and western reaches of the USA now, mike. Too far to drive and not inclined to take planes anymore - I've done my fair share of that through my lifetime.
As you say, that's probably a good thing, it'd be dangerous.
If I'd arrived here before being well into ultra-maturity, my itchy feet would have taken us far from Oklahoma - and stayed there!
;-)
Twilight ~ You're right, it's beautiful.:)
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