August 25, 2017

At the Questionable Artwork Café...

P1140497

... it's a café, so you can talk about anything. There's the Category 4 hurricane, Harvey, that's about to hit Texas and stay there for days. There's whatever else you may want to discuss. I did just put up a new post for the Arpaio pardon, so please go one post down if that's your topic. Other than that, feel free. But I needed a picture, so I'm giving you this painting which is surely politically deplorable for any number of reasons. I'll just assume 5 reasons.

And please use The Althouse Amazon Portal.  You can buy a hat with feathers, a white cape, and a walking stick.

ADDED: Here's the wall card for the painting, which is — as I showed you here — hanging next to a Tiffany window depicting the angel Gabriel:

56 comments:

Earnest Prole said...

This "questionable" business just encourages your dopey commenters to be philistines.

john said...

Well, bamboo is certainly cultural appropriation. Unless it's Arundo, in which case it's is an invasive exotic that is taking over riparian areas. Environmental.

And then she is a redhead. Albion, oppressive class.

That's 3.

Big Mike said...

I'll just assume 5 reasons.

Oh, no, lady. You're not getting me to fall for that trick twice.

And I bought a pile of stuff through your portal earlier today. Trouble is, I paid with a gift card so the order was free to me. Hopefully you and Meade will get credit based on the cost of the items and not what I paid for them.

buwaya said...

Questionable?
I question that.
Seems rather nice.
The lady might not have liked it but thats on her I think.
A rather Goya-esque portrait, the subject being more as she really is.

Ambrose said...

Lovely red head living on in a painting; little did she know when she posed for this portrait that she would live digitally forever.

That umbrella reminds me of something - not quire sure what.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Tweet: "Water is coming into the hotel where our crews are live in Rockport.
LIVE update NOW on KXAN TV: kxan.com/live-stream?ut…

mockturtle said...

The top half is good, the bottom half should have been cropped out.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Statues are causing a great deal of offense these days.

It just dawned on me why the questionable art series Althouse has embarked upon.

Getting rid of the statues has been easy peasy.

Etienne said...

Kelly got rid of another loser in the Trump administration. Sebastian Gorka didn't have a good answer as to why he was on a long vacation, so Kelly emptied his desk for him.

adieu à jamais...

tcrosse said...

Another work in the retrospective of the Indiana Renaissance.

Howard said...

The poser has bad posture and the drawing seems way off like she has orangutan arms.

Heartless Aztec said...
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Heartless Aztec said...
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mockturtle said...

Surfed observes: As seen on NBC this afternoon: reporter is leaning sideways in 100mph winds reporting on the stupidity of a person riding by in a big 4X wheel drive Texas sized pick up truck. I'm thinking the huge pick up looks way safer than standing out in a hurricane subject to flying debris, 100mph+ gusts, rain like bullets, tornados and freak storm surges. The truly stupid pointing out the merely dumb and hector-lecturing the audience as if we were callow twelve year olds and cluless enough to stand unprotected before God in the winds of the apocalypse.

They don't even know enough to come in out of the rain.

Heartless Aztec said...

As seen on NBC this afternoon: reporter is leaning sideways in 100mph winds reporting on the mental fitness of a person riding by in a big 4X wheel drive Texas sized pick up truck. I'm thinking the huge pick up looks way safer than standing out in a hurricane subject to flying debris, 100mph+ gusts, rain like bullets, tornados and freak storm surges. The truly stupid pointing out the merely dumb and hector-lecturing the audience as if we were callow twelve year olds and cluless enough to stand unprotected before God in the winds of the apocalypse.

Heartless Aztec said...

Had a couple typos that needed to be corrected. Apologies for the delete and repost.

buwaya said...

The lady was long and thin, stooped, and had an expression like Eeyore.
Not, it seems, a vivacious sort, no paragon of energy or high spirits.

The artist captured all the "not" quite well.

Scott said...

1. She's rich.

2. She's white.

3. She's blue eyed.

4. She's wearing no bra.

5. Her generous skirt is covering her nubile paramour, who is giving her vigorous clitoral stimulation with her tongue.

Jay Vogt said...

Ruth Pratt Bobbs is a generation removed from John Singer Sargent. She is classically trained, and a aspiring continental modernist. Her work is solid, disciplined, respectful of her genre but not much more than that - though really that's a lot.

Jay Vogt said...

And while the model is timeless beauty, she has a freakishly long humerus!

D 2 said...

Lem: thank you for your comment. It makes you think. Look upon what you can, now, before today becomes tomorrow, which may belong to others. I may have to try to watch a Columbo episode this weekend.

As for the painting:
The woman is Russian, circa 1920s. Had known a better existence. It was not full decadence by any means - but there was some comforts. For example, there had been books - silly french novels mostly - on her shelf, now long destroyed. Her pre1914 existence still meant one sister had had an untimely, unpreventable death, but the family endured as they could. Then, suddenly, all gone. Any close male figures - father, brothers, cousins - killed or disappeared. Saw horrid things. The randomness still unnerved her. A long exodus to the other side of Europe. A boat to the New World. Her speaking french and sad bearing attracted a painter eyes. The outfit was stage clothes, a bit of dressup, a laugh of sorts.
During the sitting she wonders, as someone did earlier this week - a point that still lingers on in my mind - why there was less grace in the world. It wasnt just New York, or her circumstances.
Suddenly, in a flash, she chides herself, and realizes that Grace only starts by asking it first from yourself.
Thats the look that the painter captured. A woman set on being a better person tomorrow, regardless of the envy, anger and despair of yesterday.

Politically incorrect.

wildswan said...

Pretty good painting. She looks arrogant but as you think that she looks sad. You think, "Oh, she's sad" and then you see that underlying arrogant sneer. It keeps changing. Then you see her right eye following you as you move left or right and giving you a straight look wherever. A nice simple clear look to the whole but not quite as simple as it looks.

David said...

1. White privilege
2. Class privilege (she's just gotta be royalty or wealth aristocracy)
3. Hotness privilege
4. Animal rights (the poor ostrich!)
5. Animal rights again if that's a beaver hat.
6. Did I mention hotness?
7. Cultural appropriation (the Asian Screen) or if it was actually painted in Asia, glorification of Imperialism.
8. I mentioned hotness, didn't I?

David said...

The model, Jessica Penn, remains a woman of mystery (with a Wisconsin connection.)

http://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/jesseca-penn

Etienne said...
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David said...

"(she's just gotta be royalty or wealth aristocracy)" (I said.)

Nope. Turns out she was just beautiful.

Etienne said...
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David said...

My wife is a read head, Mary, and every bit as beautiful as Jessica Penn. My wife understands that I admire beauty and spirit in women and is perfectly comfortable if I express it, which I tend to do.

My grandsons are ages 4 and 2. Not ready for prime time.

All comparisons to Phillip Roth are gratefully accepted.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Unless Scott is right about (5) I see nothing objectionable.

Etienne said...
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rehajm said...


1926-1969 (44 years) = 14
Category 4+ US landfalls

1970-2017 (46+ years) = 4
Cat 4+ landfalls

Decrease of >70%

rhhardin said...

Breasts in the wrong place, at least the two you notice.

Greg Hlatky said...

Steady rain for the last 12 hours, sometimes heavy. The cumulative total has been about 7 1/2 inches. My area has been trapped under a feeder band that never moves. It's the heaviest rain band in the entire storm. Winds have been steady at about 20.

Laslo Spatula said...

At first glance I thought she was on horseback.

Like a Catherine the Great homage.

Women love the Horse Cock.

I am Laslo.

rehajm said...

On behalf of meteorologists & hurricane forecasters, don't politicize #Harvey until after everyone is safe.
@neiltyson


Burn.

Laslo Spatula said...

I had a girlfriend that made that same facial expression to me at times.

I never could figure out what it meant.

But it usually happened when she thought I was being an asshole.

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

It's one thing to come home early and find your girlfriend on the bed on all fours getting rammed from behind by the Mexican gardener.

It's quite another when it isn't the Mexican gardener but her German Shepard.

We broke up four months later.

I am Laslo.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Salon took a shot at Dolly Parton.

There's a apt definition of unhinged.

Humperdink said...

"After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military," Trump said in a series of tweets. "Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail." (Via CNN)

Hmm, does this mean Obama did not consult with the Generals? Or maybe they were different Generals?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

CNN theorizes that Trump pardoned Arpaio and ousted staff while Harvey was raging because he couldn't stand not being the center of attention. Like doing these two things didn't take a reams of time consuming red tape.

CNN doesn't think much of its audience.

Humperdink said...

Any martial artists out there think Colin McGregor has a shot tonight?

Laslo Spatula said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laslo Spatula said...

Humperdink said...
"Any martial artists out there think Colin McGregor has a shot tonight?"

I'm waiting for Althouse's post on McGregor's erection at the weigh-in.

He certainly seemed up for the fight.

I am Laslo.

Kansas Scout said...

I am enjoying these exercises in understand Art. Made me realize how superficial I was in my enjoyment and how much I missed! Thanks. Keep it coming.

narciso said...

http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/25/heres-the-real-reason-trump-is-angry-with-mcconnell-and-ryan

Big Mike said...

The model has such a vacant, empty expression, particularly in her eyes, which makes me think that if I knew her I wouldn't enjoy her company. Or is the problem with the skill (or lack thereof) of the artist? Contrast with John Singer Sargent and "Lady Agnew of Lochnaw."

Robert Cook said...

"Kelly got rid of another loser in the Trump administration."

Hmmm...a lot of losers have left the Trump administration in the few months of his presidency. How did such a winner hire so many losers? How many more losers will be winnowed out in the weeks and months ahead? So sad that such a winner is so ill-served by the armies of losers surrounding him!

Robert Cook said...
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Robert Cook said...

This is the only painting I've ever seen by Bobbs, but I think it's lovely. The sitter's upper figure (and humerus) do appear elongated, but then, Ingre sometimes elongated the limbs of his figures.

William said...

I like the portrait. That's always a sure sign that the artist is hokey or lacking in sublimity.

Ann Althouse said...

"And while the model is timeless beauty, she has a freakishly long humerus!"

This is the key to the political analysis I am seeking!

There's the freakishly long humerus, hidden under the cape, but then there are the long-humerus-like things elsewhere in the composition: the walking stick and all that bamboo in the background.

These things are all not only long, but very skinny. How can a woman find her strength in the phallocracy?

She's enveloped in a white cloak, weighing her down, immobilizing her. It's white privilege, wealth privilege. All that gold!

tcrosse said...

This parsing process must occur at the WaPo or NYT or popular Hate Site Salon: here's a statement by Donald Trump, which must be politically deplorable for any number of reasons. List five.

Howard said...

Robert Cook, spot on Ingres. This is the classic example of inaccurate drawing for the sake of the design which actually works and, therefore, hangs in the Louvre
Grande Odalisque

mockturtle said...

This is the key to the political analysis I am seeking!

There's the freakishly long humerus, hidden under the cape, but then there are the long-humerus-like things elsewhere in the composition: the walking stick and all that bamboo in the background.

These things are all not only long, but very skinny. How can a woman find her strength in the phallocracy?

She's enveloped in a white cloak, weighing her down, immobilizing her. It's white privilege, wealth privilege. All that gold!


LOL, Ann! I'll bet you can do wonders with a Rorschach test. ;-)

buwaya said...

The Grand Odalisque is incredibly sexier.

David said...

Mary Glynn removed her anti Semitic comments from this thread. Perhaps she sought professional help and this is the first step.