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The consequences of the last storm we had. The next picture (and many others in my gallery) shows what the boathouse used to look like.
You can find me on Instagram @Elisabethaurora
Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio 1467-1516 Milan
Portrait d'une dame en Marie Madeleine
Portrait of a lady in Mary Magdalene
Milan Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
RENAISSANCE OU MALHEURS DES TEMPS ?
"La Renaissance" est une balise essentielle de l'histoire globale, et de l'histoire de l'art en Occident.
Un repère essentiel, certes, mais pour l'histoire faussée par l'idéologie des "Lumières".
En réalité la "Renaissance", à l'échelle de l'Europe comme à celle de la France, est un canular.
Les historiens le savent : la Renaissance de l'Europe se situe non pas aux 15è et 16è siècles, mais aux 11è-13è siècles.
En 1987 des universitaires français de renom international font paraître chez Larousse un ouvrage intitulé "Les Malheurs des Temps". L'ouvrage concerne plus particulièrement la France, mais ce pays n'est pas hors du temps et de l'Europe. Même si la France de l'époque est certainement plus éprouvée que d'autres régions comme la Flandre, ou l'Italie du Nord et les vallées du Rhin et du Danube.
Cet ouvrage de 500 pages comporte une énumération des faits, tels qu'ils ont été vécus par les populations, en France, de 1400 à 1600, c'est à dire pendant cette période de prétendue "Renaissance".
Les sources des historiens ne sont pas les oeuvres des humanistes ou des grands écrivains, mais les journaux tenus par quelques bourgeois, de Paris (1405-1449) , de Metz ou de Laval, les traités de la vie pratique, qui ont eu une grande diffusion dans la population, les humbles mais nombreuses chroniques de ce temps.
En 1400 l'Europe est toujours dans la période des hécatombes de l'épidémie de peste. Entre 1350 et 1450 la population de la France et de l'Europe a chuté d'environ 50%. Parfois des deux tiers, dans certaines régions.
La France connaît, en plus, les misères de la guerre et de l'anarchie de la période de la Guerre de Cent ans, qui ne s'achève que vers 1450.
Disettes et famines frappent sans cesse les habitants de la campagne comme des villes.
"les années 1420 et 1430 furent de loin les plus éprouvantes".
Choc de la fiscalité, mutations monétaires, révoltes populaires, peste, catastrophes climatiques, invasions de hannetons, peur des sorciers et sorcières...
"A partir de 1450 si la guerre veut bien reculer les épidémies demeurent"
Les maladies ne nous sont souvent pas connues, sauf certaines dont la peste et la syphillis.
La syphillis est un héritage des guerres françaises en Italie. Les italiens l'appellent "le mal français".
Certes globalement, les temps semblent un peu moins durs entre 1450 et 1520.
"les contemporains eurent ils le sentiment de vivre une période de rémission ? On a peine à le croire d'après la littérature de l'époque". Les chroniques de la mortalité sont nombreuses et répétitives : peste, vérole, petite vérole, rougeole, coqueluche... "Les doctes comme les simples gens vivent dans la conviction que la fin du monde est proche" notent les historiens. Y compris un humaniste comme Lefèvre d'Etaples.
La chute de Constantinople est parfaitement connue, et très mal vécue par la population. Ce sont aussi les ravages des Guerres d'Italie.
Les historiens observent que la légende des "peurs de l'an mille" est née à cette époque. Cette invention est très caractéristique, et reflète en réalité les "Peurs de la Renaissance". A l'époque de la Renaissance l'historien objectif ne voit pas vivre une humanité nouvelle, rationaliste et soulagée de ses maux, à nouveau épanouie après une période sombre.
Le monde européen se dérègle encore plus à partir de 1520. Les révoltes populaires se multiplient, pas seulement en France.
A Lyon avec la "Grande Rebeyne", mais aussi en Guyenne, à la Rochelle, au Tyrol, en Thuringe, en Alsace, en Franconie. Les anabatistes font régner la terreur à Münster. L'époque voit en effet naître la déchirure religieuse, cause de destructions considérables du patrimoine européen et de massacres sanglants, dont la Saint Barthélémy n'est qu'un épisode parmi beaucoup d'autres.
Non, la Raison raisonnable n'a pas pris le pouvoir en Europe avec la Renaissance !
Les historiens savent qu'en France les victimes catholiques furent aussi nombreuses que celles protestantes. Mais si les catholiques étaient les 95% de la population, les protestants, en France, représentaient environ 5% de la population.
Les campagnes militaires liées à l'affrontement de l'Empire et de la France provoquent des dégâts très sérieux. Rome est saccagée en 1525 par les troupes à la solde de Charles Quint. L'Allemagne perdra bientô plus de la moitié de sa population dans la guerre de Trentes ans.
Et toujours la peste périodique, la syphillis, les disettes graves et généralisées qui réapparaissent, les étés pourris, les gelée hivernales... les chroniqueurs de l'époque énumèrent avec constance une litanie : celle des décès.
Les auteurs de ce livre, de petite diffusion, se limitent à une énumération des faits qui sont à leur connaissance, sans trop conclure. Mais en page 269 on peut tout de même lire cette phrase instructive :
"A travers les récits de nos chroniqueurs, on ne perçoit guère, avouons le, les échos de ce qu'il est convenu d'appeler la Renaissance".
Ils n'en diront pas plus. Ils ont une carrière universitaire à faire. Et on les comprend.
"La Renaissance" en tant que période globalement significative dans l'histoire des peuples européens n'est pas seulement un canular, c'est une "Vache Sacrée". Les idéologies profanes ont elles aussi leurs catéchismes, leurs Croisades et leurs Inquisitions.
RENAISSANCE OR MISFORTUNES OF TIMES?
"The Renaissance" is an essential marker of global history, and of the history of art in the West.
An essential landmark, certainly, but for history distorted by the ideology of the "Enlightenment".
In reality, the "Renaissance", on the scale of Europe as well as that of France, is a hoax.
Historians know this: the Renaissance of Europe is not in the 15th and 16th centuries, but in the 11th-13th centuries.
In 1987, internationally renowned French scholars published a book entitled "Les Malheurs des Temps"( the misfortunes of times) in Larousse. The book concerns more particularly France, but this country is not out of time and of Europe. Even if the France of the time certainly undergoes more trials than other regions like Flanders, or Northern Italy and the valleys of the Rhine and the Danube.
This 500-page work contains an enumeration of the facts, as they were experienced by the populations, in France, from 1400 to 1600, that is to say during this period of so-called "Renaissance".
The sources of the historians are not the works of the humanists or of the great writers, but the journals held by a few bourgeois, from Paris (1405-1449), Metz or Laval, the treatises of practical life, who had a large spreading, among the population, the humble but numerous chronicles of this time.
In 1400 Europe is still in the period of hecatombs of the epidemic of plague. Between 1350 and 1450 the population of France and Europe fell by about 50%. Sometimes two-thirds in some areas.
In addition France also knows the miseries of the war and the anarchy of the period of the Hundred Years' War, which is not completed until about 1450.
Disasters and famines constantly strike the inhabitants of the country like towns.
"The years 1420 and 1430 were by far the most trying".
Shock of taxation, monetary changes, popular revolts, plague, climate catastrophes, cockatoos invasions, fear of sorcerers and witches ...
"From 1450 if the war wants to retreat the epidemics remain"
Diseases are not often known to us, except some, including plague and syphilis.
Syphillis is a legacy of the French wars in Italy. The Italians call it the French evil.
Overall, the times seem a little less hard between 1450 and 1520.
"Did the contemporaries have the feeling of living a period of remission? It is difficult to believe it from the literature of the time". The chronicles of mortality are numerous and repetitive: plague, pox, smallpox, measles, whooping cough ... "The learned as well as the simple people live in the conviction that the end of the world is near" note the historians. Including a humanist like Lefèvre d'Etaples.
The fall of Constantinople is perfectly known, and very badly experienced by the population. It is also the ravages of the Italian Wars.
Historians observe that the legend of the "thousand year fear" was born at this time. This invention is very characteristic, and in fact reflects the fears of the "Renaissance". At this time of the Renaissance, the objective historian did not see a new, rationalist humanity alleviated in his ills, blossoming after a dark period.
The European world is becoming more deregulated from 1520 onwards. Popular revolts are multiplying, not only in France.
In Lyon with the "Grande Rebeyne", but also in Guyenne, in La Rochelle, in the Tirol, in Thuringia, in Alsace, in Franconia. The Anabatists are reign of the terror in Münster. The era saw the birth of a religious laceration, the cause of considerable destruction of European heritage and bloody massacres, of which the Saint Bartholomew is only one episode among many others.
No, the Reasonable Reason did not take power in Europe with the Renaissance!
Historians know that in France the Catholic victims were as numerous as those of the Protestants. But if Catholics were 90-95% of the population, Protestants in France accounted for about 5-10% of the population.
The military campaigns linked to the confrontation of the Empire and the France caused very serious damage. Rome has been ransacked in 1525 by troops in the pay of Charles V. The Germany will soon lose more than half its population in the Thirty Years War.
And always the periodic plague, the syphillis, the serious and generalized shortages that reappear, the rotten summers, the winter frosts ... the chroniclers of the time consistently enumerate a litany: that of the deaths.
The authors of this book, of little circulation, limit themselves to an enumeration of the facts which are to their knowledge, without too much to conclude. But on page 269 one can still read this instructive sentence:
"Through the narratives of our chroniclers we hardly perceive, let us admit, the echoes of what is known as the Renaissance."
They will say no more. They have a university career to do. And we understand them.
The "Renaissance" as a globally significant period in the history of European peoples is not only a hoax, it is a "Sacred Cow". The profane ideologies also have their catechisms, their Crusades and their Inquisitions.
*** !!! RENAISSANCE OU HUMANISME ? RENAISSANCE OR HUMANISM?
La "Renaissance" n'est en aucun cas une époque de progrès politique, économique, scientifique ou technique, par rapport à la période antérieure, dite du "Moyen Age". C'est un phénomène essentiellement culturel qui ne concerne qu'une toute petite minorité, parmi les élites européennes. L'Europe intellectuelle porte un plus vif intérêt à la culture de l'Antiquité grecque et romaine que dans les siècle précédents. La culture gréco-romaine n'est plus filtrée aussi rigoureusement par la religion catholique. Les valeurs de l'antiquité retrouvent une grande importance. Mais il n'y a pas de lutte, d'affrontement, entre les valeurs de la religion catholique et celles de l'antiquité. Malgré leurs incontestables différences, la coexistence est pacifique. C'est ce que démontre l'alternance des tableaux inspirés par la religion catholique et par l'Antiquité. Le terme de Renaissance est idéologiquement orienté. Il fait croire que l'Europe, catholique, antérieure au 16è siècle, est arriérée. Arriérées les cathédrales romanes et gothiques ? Arriérés Van Eyck ou Giotto ? Le seul terme, exact historiquement, conforme à la réalité, pour désigner cette période, est celui d'Humanisme.
A la fin du 15è siècle un nouvel état d'esprit se fait jour qui valorise l'homme, indépendamment de toute référence à la religion catholique ou orthodoxe. L'époque n'est pas athée, elle va vivre très vite, dès le 16è siècle, de terribles affrontements de religions, entre le catholicisme et la nouvelle religion protestante. Le protestantisme, qui apparaît au cours du 16è siècle, fait cependant partie de ce cheminement de la pensée européenne vers une représentation plus profane du monde. Les réticences du protestantisme pour la représentation imagée de la Divinité et son choix en faveur d'une austérité apparente, vont avoir des conséquences sur l'art européen, pas seulement la peinture. Ce n'est pas un hasard si les Pays Bas protestants voient se généraliser au 17è siècle un art essentiellement axé sur le paysage, la vie de la société quotidienne, le portrait, la nature morte. Le protestantisme, n'est aucunement une religion plus tolérante que le catholicisme, mais il donne naissance à un art où la peinture religieuse a perdu beaucoup de son importance.
La civilisation européenne est en marche vers la mort de Dieu, mais cela se fera lentement. Il faudra encore attendre quelques siècles : Le 18è pour que l'idéologie athée s'élabore systématiquement et commence à séduire les élites, et le 20è pour qu'elle s'inscrive dans la vie quotidienne des peuples européens. La pensée occidentale va ainsi poursuivre son chemin d'un Humanisme qui n'excluait pas dieu, ni la religion, vers une idéologie de l'Homme ("l'Hommisme"), qui élimine dieu, et qui remplace les croyances religieuses par des croyances profanes. Ce cheminement se lit clairement dans l'art de la peinture.
The "Renaissance" is in no way a time of political, economic, scientific or technological progress compared to the previous period, known as the "Middle Ages". It is an essentially cultural phenomenon that affects only a very small minority of the European elites. Intellectual Europe has a greater interest in the culture of Greek and Roman antiquity than during previous centuries. Greco-Roman culture is no longer filtered so rigorously by the Catholic religion. The values of antiquity have regained great importance. But there is no struggle, no confrontation, between the values of the Catholic religion and those of antiquity. Despite their undeniable differences, coexistence is peaceful. This is demonstrated by the alternation of paintings inspired by the Catholic religion and Antiquity. The term Renaissance is ideologically oriented. It suggests that Europe, Catholic, prior to the 16th century, is backward. Are the Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals arrears? Van Eyck or Giotto overdue ? The only term, historically accurate, in conformity with reality, to designate this period is that of Humanism.
At the end of the 15th century a new state of mind emerged that valued man, regardless of any reference to the Catholic or Orthodox religion. The times is not atheist, it will live very quickly, from the 16th century, terrible clashes of religions, between Catholicism and the new Protestant religion. Protestantism, which appeared during the 16th century, is however part of this journey of European thought towards a more profane representation of the world. Protestantism's reluctance for the pictorial representation of the Divinity and its choice in favour of an apparent austerity will have consequences for European art, not only painting. It is no coincidence that in the 17th century the Protestant Netherlands saw the spread of an art form essentially centred on landscape, the life of everyday society, portraits and still life. Protestantism is by no means a more tolerant religion than Catholicism, but it gives birth to an art in which religious painting has lost much of its importance.
European civilization is on the way to God's death, but it will be slow. It will still take a few more centuries: the 18th century for the atheist ideology to systematically develop and begin to seduce the elites, and the 20th century for it to become part of the daily life of the European peoples. Western thought will thus continue its path from a Humanism that did not exclude God, nor religion, towards an ideology of Human , which eliminates God, and which replaces religious beliefs with profane beliefs. This path can be clearly seen in the art of painting.
Usual consequences of beaver infestation. Trees fallen or with bark stripped make interesting landscapes, so I'm not complaining.
It was cloudy and windy, I thought it's maybe a good idea to go out, and it was!
Apart from the weather there was another good reason. I haven't had much luck with normal lenses for Nikon system. 35-80 kit zoom was underwhelming, 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor must have been misaligned and lacked definition, and now I've been testing MC Helios-81H, Ukrainian lens made for Kiev SLR with native Nikon F mount. I wish I could say 'third time a charm', but apart from usual inferior mechanics and design that led loads of dust to the inside of the lens, this lens only focused as far as 7m. Not good, but fortunately quite easy to adjust. There were not many usable photos on the first roll. It seems to be the usual experience with gear hastily put together, if it's Asian or Ukrainian doesn't really matter. What made the difference was the Ukrainian lens was serviceable.
Made on 1 VI 2017.
"He focused on the world before him; the illusions and the mysteries of the future haunted his eyes.”
(From "Shattered Illusions" by Leigh Hershkovich)
I met this man at dawn along the Ganges in Varanasi.
We didn't speak but it seemed that he was carrying the world on his shoulders till that morning when he gave up as he might have realized that he had only "Shattered Illusions" left...
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Berlin boasts two zoological gardens, a consequence of decades of political and administrative division of the city. The older one, called Zoo Berlin, founded in 1844, is situated in what is now called the "City West". It is the most species-rich zoo worldwide. The other one, called Tierpark Berlin ("Animal Park"), was established on the long abandoned premises of Friedrichsfelde Manor Park in the eastern borough of Lichtenberg, in 1954. Covering 160 ha, it is the largest landcape zoo in Europe..
Im Tierpark Berlinsind 2023 rund 20 lebensgroßen Dinosaurier, über den Park verteilt, zu sehen.. Die tonnenschweren Nachbildungen sind nicht nur optisch bis ins Detail ihren lebenden „Vorfahren“ nachempfunden. Spezielle Technik lässt die Dinosaurier täuschend echt wiederbelebt erscheiunen. Sie zeigen so auch typische Bewegungsabläufe und geben akustische Laute von sich. Zusätzlich zu den beweglichen Exponaten erfahren die Besucher*innen in einer thematischen Ausstellung mehr über die Lebensweise der Dinosaurier und können erstaunliche Parallelen zur heutigen Tierwelt entdecken. „Dinosaurier gelten als das bekannteste Symbol für ausgestorbene Tierarten – die Faszination für T-Rex und seine Artgenossen ist bis heute ungebrochen“, verkündet Zoo- und Tierpark-Direktor Dr. Andreas Knieriem. „Und das Thema Artensterben ist hockaktuell – über 37.000 Arten gelten derzeit weltweit als unmittelbar vom Aussterben bedroht. Auch heutige Giganten, wie der Afrikanische Elefant oder das Spitzmaulnashorn, könnten – wenn wir nicht intervenieren – ausgerottet werden“, ergänzt Knieriem. Die Dinosaurier-Ausstellung ist von April bis Oktober 2023 zu sehen. Der Besuch bei Triceratops und Co. ist im regulären Eintrittspreis enthalten.
Quelle: www.tierpark-berlin.de/de/aktuelles/alle-news/artikel/din...
In 2023, around 20 life-size dinosaurs are on display in the Berlin Animal Park, spread throughout the park. The replicas, which weigh several tonnes, are not only visually modelled on their living "ancestors" down to the last detail. Special technology makes the dinosaurs look as if they have been brought back to life. They also show typical movements and make acoustic sounds. In addition to the moving exhibits, visitors can learn more about the dinosaurs' way of life in a thematic exhibition and discover astonishing parallels to the animal world of today. "Dinosaurs are considered the best-known symbol of extinct animal species - the fascination with T-Rex and his fellow species is still unbroken today," announces Zoo and Animal Park Director Dr. Andreas Knieriem. "And species extinction is highly topical - more than 37,000 species are currently considered to be in imminent danger of extinction worldwide. Even today's giants, such as the African elephant or the black rhinoceros, could - if we don't intervene - be wiped out," adds Knieriem. The dinosaur exhibition is on display from April to October 2023. A visit to Triceratops and Co. is included in the regular admission price.
Source: www.tierpark-berlin.de/de/aktuelles/alle-news/artikel/din... (German only)
Jean Miense Molenaer. 1609-1668 Haarlem
L'Opération du pied. Operation of the foot.
Avignon. Musée Calvet
LE RÉALISME NÉERLANDAIS.
Le réalisme néerlandais, plus exactement flamand et néerlandais, s'enracine dans une culture qui correspond au peuplement germanophone des Pays Bas au sens large (Pays Bas et Belgique actuels).
La partie sud du pays, flamande, se développe beaucoup plus précocement que la partie nord, néerlandaise. Dès le 11è siècle la Flandre est avec la plaine du Pô un des tous premiers moteurs de la Renaissance de l'Europe après les Ages Sombres consécutifs au lent dépérissement de l'Empire Romain et à la série d'invasion germaniques, scandinaves et arabo-berbères qui l'accompagnent et en aggravent encore les conséquences.
En peinture l'école de Bruges, que certains historiens d'art appellent encore "les primitifs flamands", n'a rien de primitif et constitue un excellent témoin du développement économique et politique de la Flandre au 15è siècle et 16è siècle.
L'Europe de l'ouest étant catholique, les oeuvres de ces peintres sont essentiellement orientées par les thèmes religieux. Mais le réalisme naturaliste, l'esprit concret et pragmatique de cette population apparaît déjà très clairement comme en témoignent Jérôme Bosch (1450-1516) et surtout Bruegel Pierre l'Ancien (1525-1569). Ce dernier notamment peint tout aussi souvent des tableaux profanes que des oeuvres sacrées, notamment ses kermesses, danses de mariage, travaux des saisons. Mais en outre ses tableaux religieux relèguent bien souvent le thème spécifiquement sacré en fond de scène, et en fait un prétexte à une restitution très détaillée de la vie quotidienne à son époque.
Cette caractéristique flamande va se développer encore, après la Réforme, aux Pays Bas du Nord dont le démarrage économique plus tardif prend tout son essor au 17è siècle.
La Réforme de tendance calviniste qui triomphe aux Pays Bas est religieusement presque iconoclaste. Le protestantisme néerlandais n'interdit certes pas absolument les représentations imagées religieuses -heureusement pour Rembrandt- mais il les limite considérablement. Les intérieurs des églises sont dépouillés du décor peint ou sculpté des temps catholiques. Les thèmes religieux qui demeurent sont essentiellement tirés de l'Ancien Testament, la Vierge et donc le Christ enfant, les Saints et les Saintes disparaissent. En outre l'Eglise ayant été chassée du pays un mécène essentiel disparaît.
Les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord doivent se reconvertir, ils vont le faire de manière exemplaire, en devenant les inventeurs d'une peinture profane, séculière, tout à fait particulière, qui restera originale en Europe encore jusqu'au 19è siècle.
Les artistes néerlandais n'ont peut être pas, dans l'absolu, créé les genres de la peinture de paysage, de la peinture de nature morte, ou de la peinture de moeurs, mais ils leur ont donné un tel développement, bien avant les autres régions de l'Europe, que cela équivaut à une invention.
Avant les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord le paysage est presque toujours le décor d'une scène historique ou mythologique. C'est aux Néerlandais que l'on doit le développement du paysage sans autre thème que la nature, et les banales et quotidiennes activités humaines contemporaines. Le thème certes déjà connu "des travaux et des jours" se généralise, se sécularise, et sort des livres d'heures.
Les peintres des Pays Bas vont aussi considérablement développer la peinture de moeurs en quittant les milieux aristocratiques pour s'intéresser aux paysans, artisans et bourgeois. Un domaine où leur réalisme et leur sens de l'observation font merveille. Les artistes flamands et néerlandais nous permettent, bien mieux que les peintres baroques ou classiques des écoles de l'Europe du Sud ou de l'Allemagne d'observer les modes de vie de l'époque.
Une vache qui pisse, un cochon qui ronfle, une femme qui boit, qui range son linge dans l'armoire, ou épouille sa fille, des paysans avinés qui se disputent, ou des bourgeois qui patinent sont des thèmes très distinctifs des Pays Bas. Des thèmes qui ne se rencontrent pas, ou très peu, ailleurs en Europe. Ce n'est pas du tout la peinture française de l'époque de Louis XIII et Louis XIV. Même les frères Le Nain sont très loin du réalisme flamand et néerlandais.
Enfin la nature morte, qui peut avoir quelques vagues connotations religieuses avec les "vanités", prend aussi un essor qui est spécifique de cette région de l'Europe.
Dans le domaine du portrait l'Europe catholique avait depuis longtemps ouvert la voie et les Pays Bas sont moins originaux, sauf à privilégier le portrait bourgeois par rapport au portrait aristocratique. Mais quand le milicien bourgeois des "grandes compagnies" porte l'épée on voit bien qu'il n'est pas un aristocrate. De même que les régentes des hopitaux, béguinages, orphelinats et oeuvres charitables diverses ne peuvent pas se confondre avec les grandes dames de la noblesse - et de la religion- française, hispanique ou germanique.
Les artistes des Pays Bas nous restituent ainsi, encore une fois, avec réalisme, le décor humain de leur époque, à un niveau social que les peintres du sud de l'Europe ignorent car leur clientèle est toujours ailleurs: Les Rois, les Princes, l'Aristocratie ou une très grande bourgeoisie assimilée, et bien sûr l'Eglise.
THE NETHERLANDS REALISM.
The Dutch realism, more precisely Flemish and Dutch, is rooted in a culture that corresponds to the German-speaking population of the Netherlands in the broad sense (the Netherlands and Belgium today).
The southern part of the country, Flemish, develops much earlier than the northern part, Dutch. From the 11th century Flanders was, with the plain of the Po and Tuscany, one of the first engines of the Renaissance of Europe after the Dark Ages consecutive to the slow decline of the Roman Empire and to the series of Germanic Scandinavian and Arabic-Berbers invasions that accompany it and further aggravate the consequences.
In painting the school of Bruges, which some art historians still call " the Flemish primitives", is nothing primitive and is an excellent witness to the economic and political development of Flanders in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Western Europe being Catholic, the works of these painters are essentially oriented by religious themes. But the naturalistic realism, the concrete and pragmatic spirit of this population, already appears very clearly as evidenced by Jerome Bosch (1450-1516) and especially Bruegel Peter the Elder (1525-1569). The latter, in particular, paints profane paintings as often as sacred works, notably his kermesses, wedding dances, works of the seasons. But in addition his religious pictures often relegate the specifically sacred theme to the background, making it a pretext for a very detailed restitution of everyday life in his time.
This Flemish characteristic will continue to develop after the Reformation in the Northern Netherlands, whose later economic growth took off in the 17th century.
The Reformation of Calvinist tendency which triumphs in the Netherlands is religiously almost iconoclastic. Dutch Protestantism does certainly not absolutely forbid religious images - fortunately for Rembrandt- but he limits them considerably. The interiors of the churches are stripped of the painted or carved decoration of Catholic times. The religious themes that remain are essentially drawn from the Old Testament, the Virgin and therefore the Christ Child, the Saints and the Holy Women disappear. In addition the Church having been expelled from the country, an essential patron disappears.
The artists of the Low Countries of the North must reconvert, they will do so in an exemplary way, becoming the inventors of a profane, secular painting, quite particular, which will remain original in Europe until the 19th century.
The Dutch artists may be not have, in absolute terms, created the genres of landscape painting, of still life painting, or painting of manners, but they have given them such a development long before other regions of Europe, that is equivalent to an invention.
Before the artists of the Low Countries of the North the landscape is almost always the decor of a historical or mythological scene. It is the Dutch to development of the landscape with no other theme than nature, and the banal and daily contemporary human activities. The theme already known "works and days" is generalized, secularized, and comes out of the books of hours.
The painters of the Netherlands will also considerably develop the painting of manners by leaving the aristocratic circles, to take an interest in peasants, craftsmen and bourgeois. An area where their realism and their sense of observation are wonderful. Flemish and Dutch artists allow us, far better than the Baroque or classical painters of the schools of Southern Europe or Germany, to observe the ways of life of the time.
A cow that pisses, a pig that snores, a woman who drinks, who puts her clothes in the cupboard, or chases his daughter's lice, drunken peasants who dispute, or bourgeois who skate, are very distinctive themes of the Netherlands . Topics that do not meet, or very little, elsewhere in Europe. This is not at all the French painting of the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Even the Le Nain brothers are far from Flemish and Dutch realism.
Finally, still life, which may have some vague religious connotations with the "vanities", also takes a boom that is specific to this region of Europe.
In the field of portraiture Catholic Europe had long opened the way, and the Netherlands is less original, except to favor the bourgeois portrait in relation to the aristocratic portraiture. But when the bourgeois militiaman of the "big companies" bears the sword, it is clear that he is not an aristocrat. Just as the regentes of hospitals, beguines, orphanages and various charitable works can not be confused with the great ladies of the nobility - and of the French, Hispanic or Germanic religion.
The artists of the Netherlands thus restore to us, once again, with realism, the human decor of their time, on a social level that the painters of southern Europe ignore because their clientele is always elsewhere: The Kings, Princes, The Aristocracy or a very large assimilated bourgeoisie, and of course the Church.
A consequence of the withdrawal of the 10 was the LTs being displaced to the 27, and then the ADHs from the 27 to the E3 to displace SPs.
This process is roughly half complete as of today, and this is the new order on the E3, with ADH45030 at Drayton Bridge. 7.12.18
2455 South Kensington-Shepherds Bush 49
TE1571 Shepherds Bush-Acton Central 607
TEH1464 Acton Central-Gypsy Corner 266
DE20077 Gypsy Corner-Acton 440
2572 Acton-Ealing Broadway 427
2451 Ealing Broadway-Greenford E1
ADH45030 Greenford-Drayton Bridge E3
2462 Drayton Bridge-Ealing Broadway E1
2571 Ealing Broadway-Acton 427
TEH1452 Acton-Hammersmith 266
DPS30694 Hammersmith-Barnes Stn 72
707019 Barnes-Waterloo
Donald Trump opened a Pandora’s Box when he and the Republican Party politicized the coronavirus. When he called it the “Kung Flu” and the “Wuhan Virus,” racists attacked Asian-Americans. As a new virus, we have no natural immunity. But Trump refused to heed the warnings to social distance and wear masks, playing down the severity of the disease for political gain. Instead, he promoted fake cures and dismissed science experts. His acolytes followed suit. Rather than follow the science, right-wing charlatans continue to tout fake COVID cures. Only recently has Trump promoted vaccines and boosters (in part to separate himself from potential presidential rivals like Ron DeSantis). Other GOP lawmakers have privately protected themselves while publicly refusing to convey the importance of being immunized. And over 800,000 Americans have died.
People reacted with anger and pseudo-science theories when President Biden first appealed to Americans to “get the shot.” Incentives encouraged vaccinations. While these motivated some, it was much less than needed to reach herd immunity. With vaccination rates lagging, President Biden forced the issue with mandates for businesses with over 100 employees. And now conservatives on the Supreme Court have overruled those.
Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School, recently wrote about the “psychology of regret” and its effect on vaccine hesitancy. “Alongside skepticism of institutions and experts, exposure to misinformation, and other often-cited reasons for resisting vaccines sits a clear emotional explanation: Many people are afraid that they’ll make a bad decision.” Fear can cause people to hesitate, no matter what the incentives might be. It may not seem rational, but many put more weight on the negative ramifications of their decisions than on any potential positive outcomes. They assign their actions greater importance than the consequences of not acting.
Ironically, this sense of regret explains why mandates have been so successful. When Biden first announced these mandates, the largest police union in New York City went to court to block them. They said they would lose thousands of officers who would quit rather than get inoculated. In reality, only three dozen officers ended up refusing. United Airlines instituted its mandate, and 99% of its workforce is vaccinated. This week they reported no deaths due to COVID. Mandates take the decision-making out of the individual’s hands. With the fear of making a wrong decision eliminated, most get vaccinated.
One of the most inane and insensitive protests over these requirements comes from those who show their opposition by wearing yellow Stars of David. Nazis required Jews to wear these stars with the word “Jude” at all times. Today’s protesters liken vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jews during World War II. They equate vaccination requirements with being sent to the gas chamber. At least, they say, it’s a slippery slope. They wear these stars as badges of resistance. However, Nazis forced Jews to wear them as signs of exclusion and disdain, signifying they were less than human. This false equivalent insults all Jews and their families who suffered during the Holocaust.
In June 2021, Jim Walsh, a Republican Washington State Representative, posted a video on Facebook showing him speaking to a group of conservatives while wearing the star. Posting on the social media platform, he said, “It’s an echo from history. In the current context, we’re all Jews.” We’re all Jews? During the Charlottesville protests, neo-Nazi’s chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” Now people are using the symbols of our annihilation to protest vaccine mandates. We’re tired of being used as scapegoats by neo-Nazis and examples of persecution by anti-vaxxers.
On November 14, 2021, anti-mandate protesters displayed the swastika and the yellow star in front of the offices of New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish. Dinowitz has been a vigorous proponent of mandates. The crowd gathered to protest Dinowitz’s bill, requiring all students be immunized against COVID in order to attend school. Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino, organized the rally. Assemblyman Dinowitz stated, “People are free to express their opinions on vaccine policy and on any issue, but I draw the line at swastikas. [T]o stand next to swastikas and yellow Stars of David outside of a Jewish legislator’s office shows a lack of integrity at best and an embrace of right-wing extremism at worst.”
In a hearing by the Kansas Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates, former Kansas City, Kansas mayoral candidate Daran Duffy, explained why he and his family were wearing these stars. “The reason I’m wearing the star is not to be offensive, but it’s to remember, and for everybody else to call to remembrance World War II. The Jewish people were forced to wear a yellow star to identify them as Jews. And they were ushered off to the death camps in accordance with that. There were medical tests; there were experimentations done on human people. And while this hasn’t reached that deprivation, we are definitely moving in that direction.” Despite his sincerity, he is oblivious to the insensitivity of his protest.
And, just this week, Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson likened vaccine mandates to Nazi atrocities by tweeting a photo of a Nazi Gesuntheitspaß (health passport) with the text, “It’s been done before. #DoNotComply” He went on to say, “Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them.”
People receiving COVID shots are not part of an experiment. The actions of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who conducted sadistic medical procedures on Auschwitz children, are a far cry from the science behind these vaccines. For over two decades, researchers have been studying mRNA, the foundation of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Scientists conducted vigorous trials involving thousands of volunteers before their release. No one forced people to enroll in these trials. It was an altruistic choice meant to help others.
Mandates do not force people to get the vaccine. They have a choice. Yes, it’s a serious one. Their lives and their livelihoods may depend on what choice they make. And there are serious consequences for refusal, like losing one’s job. Without the vaccine, they may suffer a horrible death or lifelong after-effects. Even if you survive on a ventilator in the ICU, your life may never be the same. The coronavirus is and will continue to be a public health hazard.
Our personal decisions affect the people around us. Children and the immunocompromised are at risk. Many of these “hesitants” are ardent supporters of “American Exceptionalism,” believing that God has bestowed special blessings on our country and its people. But there is nothing exceptional about this selfishness.
The exploitation of the Star of David is part of the conflict over racial identity politics. Many Whites are afraid of being marginalized. And the GOP creates false wedge issues that stoke this fear as a way of igniting voters’ outrage. They’ve been employing this tactic for decades. So why is everyone outraged? Because the GOP wants us to be outraged. Because their hold on power depends on it.
Since this pandemic began, we have lived in a world without reason. American society has devolved into a culture where many equate vaccine mandates with Nazi atrocities. Critical thinking is often missing. Jewish identity is just one tangent of racial injustice. White racists often invoke Jew’s supposed political and financial power for their hatred. We can often pass for “white-white.” But we’re really “off-white.” When White racial fears abound, Jews are targeted.
Fear of losing control fuels opposition to vaccine mandates. But anti-vaxxers are not innocent victims of a frightening mob with an irrational agenda. COVID is a dire public health issue. And resistance to vaccines, mandates, and fear of make-believe persecution does not make them martyrs.
One may object to mandates, but don’t use symbols of real suffering to do so. Signs of our persecution are not yours to appropriate whenever you see fit. It feigns solidarity with Jews. But, in reality, these protesters are using us. Until you see your family marched off to the death camps, never to see them again, stop using the Star of David to compare your fears and outrage to the extermination of European Jewry. You don’t know what real suffering is. Stop living your lives as if you do.
Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.
The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 extend to coaches used on registered local bus services from 1st January 2020. This directly affects Stagecoach in South Wales, who have been operating their surviving Plaxton Premiere Interurban (52401-3) and Jonckheere Modulo (52532 & 52633)-bodied Volvo B10Ms on registered schools services, but now need to be replaced by PSVAR-compliant vehicles.
Their replacements are six Alexander ALX400-bodied Dennis Tridents - 18006-8 and 18072/6/9 - which have transferred from the East Scotland fleet are being fitted with seatbelts. Three of these were new to the Devon fleet and transferred to Scotland a few years back.
They are slowly entering service at Cwmbran depot, where 18007 is pictured in early November 2019.
On Friday 24 March, hundreds gathered in central London to protest the rolling out of a red carpet at Number 10 Downing Street for Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
يوم الجمعة 24 مارس 2023 ، تجمع المئات في وسط لندن للاحتجاج على طرح السجادة الحمراء في رقم 10 داونينج ستريت لرئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو
ביום שישי ה-24 במרץ 2023, מאות התאספו במרכז לונדון במחאה על פריצת השטיח האדום ברחוב דאונינג מספר 10 עבור ראש ממשלת ישראל, בנימין נתניהו
Israeli liberals, angry at Netanyahu's attempt to crush the independence of the judiciary and protect himself from a corruption indictment, joined Palestinian and other activists infuriated by 56 years of Apartheid, since Israel's occupation of the West Bank in 1967.
Netanyahu is still on trial for corruption in three separate cases. In 2019 he had already been officially indicted for breach of trust, accepting bribes and fraud, and, as a consequence, he lost the support of his coalition partners in parliament. However, last November, he returned to power in coalition with the ultra-orthodox and ultra nationalist factions, forming what almost commentators agree is the most right wing government Israel has witnessed since its independence in 1948.
Israel has been rocked by massive protests and strikes ever since Netanyahu's justice minister, Yariv Levin, revealed the government's plan to overhaul the country's justice system in January. Activists pointed out that its intent was clear. To weaken judicial independence and to shield Netanyahu from corruption charges.
Resistance to the government's proposals escalated even further two days after this photograph was taken when Netanyahu returned to Israel and fired his defence minister, Yoav Gallant. Within an hour tens of thousands had taken to the streets in central Jerusalem and also surrounded Netanyahu's home.
Returning to Friday morning in London when this photo was taken, protesters waiting peacefully on the pavement opposite 10 Downing Street were doubtless surprised at the huge number of police, including dogs, deployed on Whitehall. Later, and despite heavy rain, around a hundred protesters made their way to the Savoy Hotel where Netanyahu was rumoured to be staying, where the police presence was far more low key.
Many activists carried placards such as "democracy and occupation cannot coexist" and "Free Palestine = Free Israel." They pointed out that Palestinians live in what both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have concluded is an Apartheid state, many without any access to clean water or electricity, many fearing the demolition of their homes and others the detention for lengthy periods of their relatives and children for protesting the continuing occupation. Meanwhile, Britain's ongoing military and diplomatic support for Israel make us complicit in the continued oppression of the Palestinian people.
Ladli — which in Indian languages (Hindi and Urdu) means ‘beloved daughter.’
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LADLI - The loved one! campaign by SOCIAL GEOGRAPHIC
Photo: Firoz Ahmad Firoz
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"Worst of all, violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence -- yet the reality is that, too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned." (UN SECRETARY-GENERAL in International Women’s Day 2007 Message.)
“Almost every country in the world still has laws that discriminate against women, and promises to remedy this have not been kept.” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the eve of International Women's Day 2008)
According to one United Nations estimate, 113 to 200 million women are “demographically missing” from the world today. That is to say, there should be 113 to 200 million more women walking the earth, who aren’t. By that same estimate, 1.5 to 3 million women and girls lose their lives every year because of gender-based neglect or gender-based violence and Sexual Violence in Conflict.
In addition to torture, sexual violence and rape by occupation forces, a great number of women and girls are kept locked up in their homes by a very real fear of abduction and criminal abuse. In war and conflicts, girls and women have been denied their human right, including the right to health, education and employment. “Sexual violence in conflict zones is indeed a security concern. We affirm that sexual violence profoundly affects not only the health and safety of women, but the economic and social stability of their nations” –US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, 19 June 2008 (Read more about UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict www.stoprapenow.org/ ).
Millions of young women disappear in their native land every year. Many of them are found later being held against their will in other places and forced into prostitution. According to the UNICEF ( www.unicef.org/gender/index_factsandfigures.html ),Girls between 13 and 18 years of age constitute the largest group in the sex industry. It is estimated that around 500,000 girls below 18 are victims of trafficking each year. The victims of trafficking and female migrants are sometimes unfairly blamed for spreading HIV when the reality is that they are often the victims.
According to the UNAIDS around 17.3 million, women (almost half of the total number of HIV-positive) living with HIV ( www.unaids.org ). While HIV is often driven by poverty, it is also associated with inequality, gender-based abuses and economic transition. The relationship between abuses of women's rights and their vulnerability to AIDS is alarming. Violence and discrimination prevents women from freely accessing HIV/AIDS information, from negotiating condom use, and from resisting unprotected sex with an HIV-positive partner, yet most of the governments have failed to take any meaningful steps to prevent and punish such abuse.
United Nations agencies estimated that every year 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure – which involves the partial or total removal of external female genital organs – that some 140 million women, mostly in Asia, the Middle East and in Africa, have already endured.
We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls and women’s deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and attitudes of the societies.
India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing” due to female foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-based neglect and all forms of violence against women.
Since the late 1970s when the technology for sex determination first came into being, sex selective abortion has unleashed a saga of horror in India. Experts are calling it "sanitized barbarism”. The 2001 Census conducted by Government of India, showed a sharp decline in the child sex ratio in 80% districts of India. In some parts of the country, the sex ratio of girls to boys has dropped to less than 800:1,000.
It's alarming that even liberal states like those in the northeast have taken to disposing of girls. Worryingly, the trend is far stronger in urban rather than rural areas, and among literate rather than illiterate women, exploding the myth that growing affluence and spread of basic education alone will result in the erosion of gender bias. The United Nations has expressed serious concern about the situation.
Over the years, laws have been made stricter and the punishment too is more stringent now. But since many people manage to evade punishment, others too feel inclined to take the risk. Just look at the way sex-determination tests go on despite a stiff ban on them. Only if the message goes out loud and clear that nobody who dares to snuff out the life of a female foetus would escape effective legal system would the practice end. It is only by a combination of monitoring, education, socio-cultural campaigns, and effective legal implementation that the deep-seated attitudes and practices against women and girls can be eroded.
The decline in the sex ratio and the millions of Missing Women are indicators of the feudal patriarchal resurgence. Violence against women has gone public – whether it is dowry murders, the practice of female genital mutilation, honour killings, sex selective abortions or death sentences awarded to young lovers from different communities by caste councils, rapes and killings in communal and caste violence, it is only women’s and human rights groups who are protesting – the public and institutional response to these trends is very minimal.
Millions of women suffer from discrimination in the world of work. This not only violates a most basic human right, but has wider social and economic consequences. Most of the governments turn a blind eye to illegal practices and enact and enforce discriminatory laws. Corporations and private individuals engage in abusive and sexist practices without fear of legal system.
More women are working now than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights nor voice at work according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued for International Women’s Day 2008. Are we even half way to meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals?
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Unite To End Violence Against Women!
Say No To Sex Selection and Female Foeticide!!
Say No To Female Genital Mutilation!!!
Say No To Dowry and Discrimination Against Women!!!!
Say Yes To Women’s Resistance !!!!!
Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !!!!!!
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Under pain of death, or at the very least insertion of pointy things into squishy things, PLEASE don't tell me anything about this last season.
We've managed to avoid any mention of the ending, how good or bad the whole series is, or anything. We're very much looking forward to seeing how it all ends.
So.. yup... I fear we may spend rather a lot of time staring at the tv this coming week...
PLEASE... don't tell me anything.
Really.
Nothing.
At all.
Thanks.
:-)
I know you'd love to:
The "Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland" is a Unesco World Heritage. The area is dominated by a vast limestone plateau. Human beings have lived there for some five thousand years and adapted their way of life to the physical constraints of the island. As a consequence, the landscape is unique, with abundant evidence of continuous human settlement from prehistoric times to the present day.
Unesco World Heritage, dossier 968.
Adriaen Brouwer 1605-1638 Anvers
Fête de Mai au village. May Day in the village. vers 1630
Schwerin.Staatliches Museum
Tableau d'un suiveur. Painting of a follower
LE RÉALISME NÉERLANDAIS.
Le réalisme néerlandais, plus exactement flamand et néerlandais, s'enracine dans une culture qui correspond au peuplement germanophone des Pays Bas au sens large (Pays Bas et Belgique actuels).
La partie sud du pays, flamande, se développe beaucoup plus précocement que la partie nord, néerlandaise. Dès le 11è siècle la Flandre est avec la plaine du Pô un des tous premiers moteurs de la Renaissance de l'Europe après les Ages Sombres consécutifs au lent dépérissement de l'Empire Romain et à la série d'invasion germaniques, scandinaves et arabo-berbères qui l'accompagnent et en aggravent encore les conséquences.
En peinture l'école de Bruges, que certains historiens d'art appellent encore "les primitifs flamands", n'a rien de primitif et constitue un excellent témoin du développement économique et politique de la Flandre au 15è siècle et 16è siècle.
L'Europe de l'ouest étant catholique, les oeuvres de ces peintres sont essentiellement orientées par les thèmes religieux. Mais le réalisme naturaliste, l'esprit concret et pragmatique de cette population apparaît déjà très clairement comme en témoignent Jérôme Bosch (1450-1516) et surtout Bruegel Pierre l'Ancien (1525-1569). Ce dernier notamment peint tout aussi souvent des tableaux profanes que des oeuvres sacrées, notamment ses kermesses, danses de mariage, travaux des saisons. Mais en outre ses tableaux religieux relèguent bien souvent le thème spécifiquement sacré en fond de scène, et en fait un prétexte à une restitution très détaillée de la vie quotidienne à son époque.
Cette caractéristique flamande va se développer encore, après la Réforme, aux Pays Bas du Nord dont le démarrage économique plus tardif prend tout son essor au 17è siècle.
La Réforme de tendance calviniste qui triomphe aux Pays Bas est religieusement presque iconoclaste. Le protestantisme néerlandais n'interdit certes pas absolument les représentations imagées religieuses -heureusement pour Rembrandt- mais il les limite considérablement. Les intérieurs des églises sont dépouillés du décor peint ou sculpté des temps catholiques. Les thèmes religieux qui demeurent sont essentiellement tirés de l'Ancien Testament, la Vierge et donc le Christ enfant, les Saints et les Saintes disparaissent. En outre l'Eglise ayant été chassée du pays un mécène essentiel disparaît.
Les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord doivent se reconvertir, ils vont le faire de manière exemplaire, en devenant les inventeurs d'une peinture profane, séculière, tout à fait particulière, qui restera originale en Europe encore jusqu'au 19è siècle.
Les artistes néerlandais n'ont peut être pas, dans l'absolu, créé les genres de la peinture de paysage, de la peinture de nature morte, ou de la peinture de moeurs, mais ils leur ont donné un tel développement, bien avant les autres régions de l'Europe, que cela équivaut à une invention.
Avant les artistes des Pays Bas du Nord le paysage est presque toujours le décor d'une scène historique ou mythologique. C'est aux Néerlandais que l'on doit le développement du paysage sans autre thème que la nature, et les banales et quotidiennes activités humaines contemporaines. Le thème certes déjà connu "des travaux et des jours" se généralise, se sécularise, et sort des livres d'heures.
Les peintres des Pays Bas vont aussi considérablement développer la peinture de moeurs en quittant les milieux aristocratiques pour s'intéresser aux paysans, artisans et bourgeois. Un domaine où leur réalisme et leur sens de l'observation font merveille. Les artistes flamands et néerlandais nous permettent, bien mieux que les peintres baroques ou classiques des écoles de l'Europe du Sud ou de l'Allemagne d'observer les modes de vie de l'époque.
Une vache qui pisse, un cochon qui ronfle, une femme qui boit, qui range son linge dans l'armoire, ou épouille sa fille, des paysans avinés qui se disputent, ou des bourgeois qui patinent sont des thèmes très distinctifs des Pays Bas. Des thèmes qui ne se rencontrent pas, ou très peu, ailleurs en Europe. Ce n'est pas du tout la peinture française de l'époque de Louis XIII et Louis XIV. Même les frères Le Nain sont très loin du réalisme flamand et néerlandais.
Enfin la nature morte, qui peut avoir quelques vagues connotations religieuses avec les "vanités", prend aussi un essor qui est spécifique de cette région de l'Europe.
Dans le domaine du portrait l'Europe catholique avait depuis longtemps ouvert la voie et les Pays Bas sont moins originaux, sauf à privilégier le portrait bourgeois par rapport au portrait aristocratique. Mais quand le milicien bourgeois des "grandes compagnies" porte l'épée on voit bien qu'il n'est pas un aristocrate. De même que les régentes des hopitaux, béguinages, orphelinats et oeuvres charitables diverses ne peuvent pas se confondre avec les grandes dames de la noblesse - et de la religion- française, hispanique ou germanique.
Les artistes des Pays Bas nous restituent ainsi, encore une fois, avec réalisme, le décor humain de leur époque, à un niveau social que les peintres du sud de l'Europe ignorent car leur clientèle est toujours ailleurs: Les Rois, les Princes, l'Aristocratie ou une très grande bourgeoisie assimilée, et bien sûr l'Eglise.
THE NETHERLANDS REALISM.
The Dutch realism, more precisely Flemish and Dutch, is rooted in a culture that corresponds to the German-speaking population of the Netherlands in the broad sense (the Netherlands and Belgium today).
The southern part of the country, Flemish, develops much earlier than the northern part, Dutch. From the 11th century Flanders was, with the plain of the Po and Tuscany, one of the first engines of the Renaissance of Europe after the Dark Ages consecutive to the slow decline of the Roman Empire and to the series of Germanic Scandinavian and Arabic-Berbers invasions that accompany it and further aggravate the consequences.
In painting the school of Bruges, which some art historians still call " the Flemish primitives", is nothing primitive and is an excellent witness to the economic and political development of Flanders in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The Western Europe being Catholic, the works of these painters are essentially oriented by religious themes. But the naturalistic realism, the concrete and pragmatic spirit of this population, already appears very clearly as evidenced by Jerome Bosch (1450-1516) and especially Bruegel Peter the Elder (1525-1569). The latter, in particular, paints profane paintings as often as sacred works, notably his kermesses, wedding dances, works of the seasons. But in addition his religious pictures often relegate the specifically sacred theme to the background, making it a pretext for a very detailed restitution of everyday life in his time.
This Flemish characteristic will continue to develop after the Reformation in the Northern Netherlands, whose later economic growth took off in the 17th century.
The Reformation of Calvinist tendency which triumphs in the Netherlands is religiously almost iconoclastic. Dutch Protestantism does certainly not absolutely forbid religious images - fortunately for Rembrandt- but he limits them considerably. The interiors of the churches are stripped of the painted or carved decoration of Catholic times. The religious themes that remain are essentially drawn from the Old Testament, the Virgin and therefore the Christ Child, the Saints and the Holy Women disappear. In addition the Church having been expelled from the country, an essential patron disappears.
The artists of the Low Countries of the North must reconvert, they will do so in an exemplary way, becoming the inventors of a profane, secular painting, quite particular, which will remain original in Europe until the 19th century.
The Dutch artists may be not have, in absolute terms, created the genres of landscape painting, of still life painting, or painting of manners, but they have given them such a development long before other regions of Europe, that is equivalent to an invention.
Before the artists of the Low Countries of the North the landscape is almost always the decor of a historical or mythological scene. It is the Dutch to development of the landscape with no other theme than nature, and the banal and daily contemporary human activities. The theme already known "works and days" is generalized, secularized, and comes out of the books of hours.
The painters of the Netherlands will also considerably develop the painting of manners by leaving the aristocratic circles, to take an interest in peasants, craftsmen and bourgeois. An area where their realism and their sense of observation are wonderful. Flemish and Dutch artists allow us, far better than the Baroque or classical painters of the schools of Southern Europe or Germany, to observe the ways of life of the time.
A cow that pisses, a pig that snores, a woman who drinks, who puts her clothes in the cupboard, or chases his daughter's lice, drunken peasants who dispute, or bourgeois who skate, are very distinctive themes of the Netherlands . Topics that do not meet, or very little, elsewhere in Europe. This is not at all the French painting of the time of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Even the Le Nain brothers are far from Flemish and Dutch realism.
Finally, still life, which may have some vague religious connotations with the "vanities", also takes a boom that is specific to this region of Europe.
In the field of portraiture Catholic Europe had long opened the way, and the Netherlands is less original, except to favor the bourgeois portrait in relation to the aristocratic portraiture. But when the bourgeois militiaman of the "big companies" bears the sword, it is clear that he is not an aristocrat. Just as the regentes of hospitals, beguines, orphanages and various charitable works can not be confused with the great ladies of the nobility - and of the French, Hispanic or Germanic religion.
The artists of the Netherlands thus restore to us, once again, with realism, the human decor of their time, on a social level that the painters of southern Europe ignore because their clientele is always elsewhere: The Kings, Princes, The Aristocracy or a very large assimilated bourgeoisie, and of course the Church.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANIFESTO GLEITZEIT 2015
BY STELLY RIESLING
Featured below is another original art work of mine in homage to THE PIONEER OF INVISIBLE ART — PAUL JAISINI. Forget all the copycats that came after him — Master Paul Jaisini was the *FIRST* of a totally original concept and the *BEST*. My favorite thing about him is that he’s a voice, not an echo, which is quite rare.
DISCLAIMER: This is for anyone who is a hater OR wishes to better understand me, what I’m all about, so you can decide whether I’m weird or normal enough for you — a kind of very loose manifesto, rushed and unrevised, full of raw uncut emotion that I don’t like to be evident in my writing as lately I prefer a more professional, formal style, so we can consider this a rough draft of the more polished writing to come when I have extra time. I might return to this text later and clean it up or break it into separate parts. Right now it’s a long-winded hot mess, so if you manage to make any sense of it, BIG PROPS TO YOU. lol …and if you manage to read it ALL, you have my solemn respect!!! in a day when reading has been reduced to just catchy headliners and short captions of images once in a while. The consequence of this one-liner internet culture is non-linear, tunnel thinking, which is baaaaaad.
There lives among us a most enigmatic and charismatic creature named Paul Jaisini who led me into the wonderful world of art, not personally, but through descriptions of his artworks in essays written and published online by his friend, which painted the most fascinating images in my mind. Early on as a kiddo, I experimented with photography, simple point and shoot whatever looked attractive to me. Digital manipulation of my photographs with computer software followed… and somehow I learned useful drawing techniques along the way to combine existing elements with nonexistent ones, which allowed me to elevate the context for my ideas. Later, I started creating my own digital art from scratch for my friends and family as a favorite pastime. They would shower me with praise and repeatedly encouraged me to share my “different” vision with the rest of the world… it took a while and wasn’t easy to overcome the insecurity of not being good enough along with a gripping fear of being harshly criticized, but one day I woman-ed up and started publishing my work on the web, reminding myself that my livelihood didn’t depend on a positive reception.
Paul Jaisini’s role in all this has been to not disgrace myself, even if what I do is just a hobby. And I would never do him and other genius artists the disservice of calling myself a professional because I know I’ll never be as good as any of the GIANTS of pre-modern history. Be the best or be nothing, no middle ground.
People’s jealousy in the past, future and present over my obsessive love of Paul Jaisini, which they are well aware is purely plutonic, has caused them to despise the man and has made many relationships/friendships impossible for me. I refuse to have such people in my life because by harboring any negativity towards Paul, they unknowingly feel that way about me and express it to me. It’s their own problem for not realizing this. Paul’s new art movement, Gleitzeit, shaped me into the allegedly awesome girl I am today, giving my art more edge, more “sexy” because it refined my vision of the world and propelled me to attain the skills necessary to not dishonor my family name through tenacious pursuit of perfection. Since the beginning of my life, I attempted to depict what I saw in visual, musical and literal forms, but continuously failed without adequate training and determination. Paul Jaisini’s Gleitzeit was the answer to my prayers. Who I am today I owe mostly to him and his selfless ideals of the artverse that I’ve given unconditional loyalty to (he has this cool ability for hyper-vision to see whole universes, not itty bitty worlds, hence I call it an artverse instead of art world, with him in mind). So again, anyone who hates Paul Jaisini hates ME because, regardless of what he means to you, he is the most important person in my life for making me ME. The way a famous actor, dancer or singer inspires others to act, dance or sing, Paul inspired me to become a better artist, better writer, better everything. More people would understand if he was a household name because they’re wired to in society. But we’re inspiring each other all the time in our own little communities without being famous, so if someone has the ability to change even ONE person’s life immensely with creativity, it is a massive achievement. And passionate folks like myself are compelled to scream it from the cyber rooftops. So here I am. It’s whatever.
Furthermore, I’d like to address here a few pressing matters in light of some recent drama brought on by both strangers and former friends. To start, I never judge the passions, interests or likes of others, which are often in my face all over the place, so likewise they have no right to judge any of mine. It is quite unfortunate and frustrating how very little understanding and education the majority of people have or want to have. Their logic is as primitive as a chipmunk when it comes to promotion of fine art on the web: “spamming, advertising, report!” It’s their own problem that they fail to understand what it’s about due to the distorted lens through which they see the world or inability to think for themselves; an inherent lack of perception or inquisitiveness. Well, guess what? Every single image, every animation, every video, every post dedicated to Mr. Paul Jaisini and “Gleitziet” (to elaborate: a revolutionary new art movement Paul founded with his partner in crime and personal friend, EYKG, who discovered him and believed in him more than anyone) has an important purpose. Every one of those things you run across is a piece of a puzzle, a move in a game, an inch down a rabbit hole; the deeper you go, the more interesting it gets; the more levels you pass, the more clues unfold, the greater the suspense and nearer the conclusion (yet further). You earn awesome rewards like enlightenment, spiritual revelations, truths, knowledge, wisdom and the most profound reward of all: the drive to improve yourself to the absolute maximum, so an unending, unshakable drive. People often make a wrong turn in this cyber game and go back a few levels or get stuck. Those that keep on pushing, however, will come to find the effort has been worth it. And what awaits you in the end of it all? The greatest challenge to beating the game: YOUR OWN MIND. You will be forced to let go of every belief you held before you had reached the last level, to completely alter your mindset and perception of the world, of life, of yourself. But by the time you’ve gotten to that point, it will be as easy as falling off a cliff! (It is a kind of suicide after all — death and rebirth of spirit.)
Paul Jaisini does NOT, *I repeat* does NOT use mystery and obscurity to his advantage as a clever marketing ploy, no, he’s too next level for that with a consciousness so rich, he should wear a radioactive warning sign (he’ll melt your brain, best wear a tinfoil hat in his presence as I certainly would.) The statement he makes is loud and clear, hidden in plain site for those who take the time to connect the dots and have enough curiosity to fuel their journey into unknown territory (an open mind and flexible perception helps a lot). Actually, anyone with an IQ above 90 is sure to figure it out sooner or later. Hint: You don’t have to SEE an extraordinary thing with your eyes to know it exists, to understand it and realize its greatness — you can only feel it in your bone marrow, your spinal fluid, your heart and soul. The moment you do figure it out, as the skeleton key of the human soul, it will unlock the greatness and massive potential buried deep within, changing the doomed direction humanity is undoubtedly headed. I don’t speak in riddles, I speak in a clear direct way that intelligent humans will understand, so I’m counting on them.
GIG is an international group of artists and writers that support Paul Jaisini’s Gleitzeit. We started off as an unofficial fan club of Jaisini in 1996, comprised of only 6 individuals spanning 3 countries, and eventually escalated in status to an official fan group across the entire globe. A decade later it had grown to hundreds of fans. Nearly another decade later, there are thousands. Let’s not leave out another delightful group of vicious haters that have been around for nearly as long as us since the late 90s and have also grown in impressive numbers. Now, for the record (and please write this one down because I’m sick of repeating myself), Paul Jaisini himself is not part of our group and has nothing to do with us. He loves and hates us equally for butchering his name and making him appear as a narcissistic nut-job in his own words. He casts hexes on us for the blinding flash we layer over the art that members contribute to GIG — “disgusting-police-lights, seizure-inducing-laser-lightshow, bourgeois-myspace-effects retarded-raver shit” in Paul’s words. Ahh, how we love his sweet-talking us. In a desperate attempt to please him, those among us who make the art and animations have spent countless hours and sleepless nights trying to solve a crazy-complex quantum-physics type of equation = how to not create tacky or tasteless content. He does fancy some of it now, we got better, that’s something! In the reason stated below, our mission just got out of hand at some point.
What little is known about Paul Jaisini, even in all this time, is he’s a horrible perfectionist who slaughtered hundreds of innocent babies — I mean — artworks of remarkable beauty created by his own right hand (mostly paintings, some watercolors and drawings). He’s a fierce recluse who wants nothing to do with anyone or anything in life. But those few of us who know of an incredible talent he possesses (one could go as far as calling it a superpower), could not allow him to live his life without the recognition he FUCKING DESERVES more than any artist out there living today and, arguably, yesterday. We use whatever means necessary to reach more people, lots of flash and razzle-dazzle to lure them into our sinister trap of a higher awareness. Mwahaha! The visual boom you’ve witnessed in both cyber and real worlds, that is GIG’s doing — two damn decades of spreading an art virus — IVA. InVisibleArtitis… or a drug as in Intravenous Art. It’s whatever you want it to be, honey.
Our Gleitzeit International Group (GIG) started off innocently enough and gradually spiraled out of control to fight the haters, annoying the hell out of them as much as humanly possible. They don’t like what we do? WE DO MORE AND MORE OF IT. But never without purpose, without a carefully executed plan in mind collectively. If we have to tolerate an endless tidal wave of everyone’s vomit — e.g., idiotic memes and comics; dumbed-down one-liner quotes; selfies; so-called “art photography” passed through one-click app filters; mindless scribbles or random splatters by regular folks who have the nerve to call themselves serious/pro artists; primitive images of pets, babies, landscapes, random objects, etc… then people sure as shit are gonna tolerate what we put out, our animated and non-animated visual art designed for our beloved master, Paul Jaisini, who has shown us the light, the right path to follow, taught us great things and done so much for us — and so in our appreciation of him, we stamp his name on everything, for the sacrifices he has made in the name of art, to save our art verse, he’s a goddamn hero. There’s a book being written in his dedication where little will be left to the imagination about him.
If Paul Jaisini was as famous as Koons or Hirst, for example, people would know it’s not him posting stuff online with his name on it but fans creating fanart like myself among others. But noooooo, such a thing is unfathomable to most people - the promotion of another artist. Like, what’s in it for us? Uhh, nothing?? This is all NON-PROFIT bitches, the way art should be. It’s a passion FIRST, a commodity/commercial product/marketable item LAST and least. Its been that way for us since the early 90s to this day. Not a single member of GIG has sold an art work (neither has Paul Jaisini who’s a true professional) and we want to keep it that way. We do it for reasons far beyond ego. So advertising? Really? How the hell do you advertise or sell thin air, you know, invisible paintings, invisible anything? Ha ha, very funny indeed. The idea here is so simple, your neighbor’s dog can grasp it. Our motives: replace fast food for the mind with fine art, actual fine art. You know, creativity? Conscious thought? Talent? Skill? Knowledge? All that good stuff rolled into one to bring viewers more than a momentary ooohand aaahh reaction. Replace the recycled images ad nauseum; repetitious, worn-out ideas; disposable, gimmicky, money-driven fast art for simpletons. Stick with the highest of ideals and save the whole bloody planet.
Fine art is often confused with craft-making. This often creates bad blood between classically trained artists who put out paintings that leave a lasting impression, that make strong conversation pieces, that are thought-provoking and deep… and trained craftspeople whose skills are adequate to create decorative pieces for homely environments — landscapes, still lifes, animals, pretty fairies, common things of fantasy, and other simplicity. Skills alone are not enough for high art, you need a vision, a purpose, the ability to tell a story with every stroke of your brush that will both fascinate and terrify the viewers, arousing powerful emotions, illuminating. I have yet to see a visible painting in my generation that does anything at all for me, other than evoke sheer outrage and disgust. What a terrible waste of space and valuable resources it all is.
Paul Jaisini leads, we follow. He wishes to remain unknown - so do most of us. I’m next in line, slipping into recluse mode, no longer wanting to attach my face, my human image to my art stuff. I wish to be a nameless, faceless artist as well, invisible like P.J., and in his footsteps I too have destroyed thousands of my own artistic photography and digital art made with tedious, labor-intensive handwork. The whole point of this destruction is achieving the finest results possible by letting go of the imperfect, purging it on a regular basis, to make way for the perfect. I love what I do so it doesn’t matter, I know I’ll keep producing as much as I’m discarding, keeping the balance. Hoarding is an enemy of progress, especially the digital kind as there’s absolutely no limit to it. It’s like carrying a load of bricks on your back you’ll never use or need.
The watering down of creativity that digital pack ratting has caused as observed over the years is most tragic. For the creative individual, relying on terabytes of stock photos or OSFAP as I call them (Once Size Fits All Photos) instead of making your own as you used to when you had no choice, being 100% original, is a splinter in the conscience. It’s not evil to use stock of, say, things you don’t have access to (outer space, deep sea, Antarctica, etc.), but many digital artists I know today can’t take their own shot of a pencil ‘cause they “ain’t got no time for that!” How did they have time before? Did time get so compressed in only a decade?
Ohhhhh, and the edits, textures, filters, plug-ins and what-have-you available out there to everyone and their cats… are responsible for the tidal wave of rubbish that eclipses the magnificent light of the real talents.
I can tell you with utmost sincerity there is no better feeling on earth than knowing your creation is ALL yours, every pixel and dot, from the first to the last. It’s not always possible to make it so, but definitely the most rewarding endeavor. I’m most proud of myself when I can accomplish that.
Back to Paul Jaisini, from the start there have been a number of theories floating around on what his real story is. One of my own theories is that he stands for the unknowns of the world who can’t get representation, can’t get exhibited at a decent gallery because highly gifted/trained artists aren’t good enough - those kind of establishments prefer bananas, balloon dogs, feces, gigantic dicks/cunts, and all kinds of what-the-fucks…
So again, you don’t get the Paul Jaisini thing? That’s your problem. Don’t hate others for getting it. People are good, very good, at making baseless assumptions and impulsively spewing it as truth. They criticize and judge as if they’re high authorities on the subject yet they clearly lack education in fine art or art history and possess little to no talent or skill to back up their bullshit. My little “credibility radar” never fails. When they say I know this or I know that, I reply don’t say “I know” or state things as fact as a general rule of thumb - instead say “I assume/believe” and state the reasons you feel thus to appear less immature, especially about a controversial topic like invisible art. I have zero respect or tolerance for egomaniacs who think they know it all and act accordingly like arrogant pricks. Who can stand those, right? Once again, a good example would be: I, Stelly Riesling, believe everything I’ve written in this little manifesto to be correct based on personal experience and observation from multiple angles, thorough research and sufficient data collected from verifiable sources (and don’t go copying-pasting my own words back at me, be original). Just because you or I say so doesn’t make it so. Just because you or me think or believe so doesn’t make it true or right. I only ask that my opinions are regarded respectfully and whoever opposes them does so in a mature, civilized manner. We should only be entitled to opinions that don’t bring out the worst in us.
I don’t normally take such a position, but the time has come to stand up for what I believe in! It’s quite amusing and comical how haters think calling me names, attacking me or my interests or members of the project I’m part of for years is going to change something. It only makes more evident the importance of what I’m doing so I push on harder still.
Words of advise to those who can identify with me, with my frustrations over people’s reluctance to change their miserable ways, with our declining art world…
DON’T waste time on people who sweat the small stuff, whose actions are consistently inconsistent with their words. DO waste time on people who always keep their eye on the ball—the bigger picture of life.
Paul Jaisini’s invisible paintings are more than hype, more than your lame assumptions. Here’s one I got that’s pure gold: a cult! It started out as A JOKE OF MINE that was used against me. I told a then-good friend that he should come join our little “art cult” in a clearly lighthearted manner, and later he takes this idea I put in his head first and accuses me of being in an (imaginary) cult—the jokes on me eh?. But wait, aren’t cults religious? Our group consists of people around the world of different faiths (or none at all) so how could that ever work? If religion was about making fine (non-pop) art mainstream and bringing awesome, fresh, futuristic concepts to the collective consciousness, the world would not be so fucked up today because talent, creativity, originality and individuality would be the main focus, not superficial poppycock; those things would be praised and encouraged and supported in society by all institutions, not demonized and stigmatized.
Here is one thing I CAN state as solid fact: only one person close to Paul Jaisini knows the TRUE story, or at least some of it: EYKG. Everything else that has ever been said about him is myth, legend, gossip, speculation, the worst of which is said by jealous non-artists (wannabes, clones, posers, hang-ons, unoriginal ppl in general) and anti-artists (religious psychos, squares, losers and -duh- stupid ppl). Sadly, people are unable to see the bigger picture by letting their egos run their lives or repeating after others as parrots.
Commercial art, consumerism, and ignorance of the masses truly makes me want to curl up in a ball, not eat or drink or move until I die, just die in my sleep while dreaming of a better world, a world where real fine artists rule it with real fine art as they used to and life is beautiful once again….
Well I hope that settled THAT for now, or perhaps inadvertently made matters worse. I hope I didn’t sound too pissed from all these issues that keep popping up like penises on ChatRoulette… just got to me already! Can you tell? I had to put my foot down, stomp ‘em all!
To be continued, still lots more ignorance and pettiness to battle… Till then peace out my bambini. MWAH!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MANIFESTO GLEITZEIT 2015
PROLOGUE
Paul Jaisini was like a messiah, as you wish, who saw/understood the impending end and complete degeneration of Fine art or Art become and investment nothing more than that. He predicted the bubble pops art when everybody would eventually become an artist, including dogs cats and horses, because they as kids followed the main rule: express yourself without skills or knowledge or any aesthetic concerns. J. Pollack started pouring paints onto canvases; Julian Schnabel, former cab driver from NY, suddenly decided he could do better than what he saw displayed in galleries, so he started gluing dishes on canvases; A.Warhol, an industrial artist who made commercial silk-screen for the factories he worked in, started to exhibit "Campbell's soup" used for commercial adds... and later the thing that made him an "American Idol": by copying and pasting Hollywood celebrities (same type of posters he made before for movie theaters).
When Paul Jaisini stood out against the Me culture in the US by burning all of his own 120 brilliant paintings (according to the then-new director of Fort Worth MoMa Museum, who offered hin an exhibition of his art in 1992, and later the Metropolitan Museum curator, Phillippe de Montebello, in 1994).Paul probably assumed all fellow true fine artists would join him or stand by him against corruption of the art world.
And after 20 years of his stand-off...the time has finally come today. Many artists and humanitarians around the world took a place beside him. His invisible Paintings became a synonym for the future reincarnation of fine art and long lost harmony. The establishment is in panic! The "moneybags" (as Paul Jaisini named them) are in panic, because they invested BILLIONS of dollars in real crap made by
craftsmen. Now they realize that the reputation of American legends of expressionism was nothing but a copy of Russian avant-garde" Kazimir Malevich, Vasiliy Kandinsky and tens of others from France and Germany.. US tycoon investors were spending billions on "Me more original, than you". "Artist Shit" is a 1061 artwork by the Italian artist Piero Manzoni. The work consists of 90 tin cans, filled with feces. A tin can was sold for £124,000, 180,000 at Sothebys, 2007.
EPILOGUE
Before I resume promoting and admiring a very important art persona on today's international art arena, I'd like to clear up some BIG questions; people ask continuously and subconsciously, directly & indirectly: "Why does the name Paul Jaisini, flood the Internet in such "obnoxious" quantities that it's started suppressing some other activities that my friends might share with the rest of the Internet's Ego Me only Me www society? I can't just answer this... so I'll try to explain why I'm writing this: Jaisini's followers keep posting art and info about,
He IMHO the only hope in quickly decomposing visual fine art. "Paul Jaisini realized many years ago, in 1994, when he declared (at that time to himself only) the start of a New era, a New vision, that he is trying to redirect from the rat race, started by an establishment in post-war New York, long before the Internet culture.
Sub related information: Adolf Gottlieb, Mart Rothko, etc (after visiting Paris France in 1933):
"We must forget analytical art, we must express ourselves, as a 5 year old child would, without a developed consciousness. Forget about results - do what you feel, EXPRESS yourself with your own unique style"
With this statement Mark Rothko starts to teach his students, degeneration of fine art begins, and the generation of war of styles took a start signal of the material race, greatly rewarded by establishment "individual" - eccentric craftsmen - show business clowns.
Sub related Information: In the summer of 1936, Adolf Gottlieb painted more than 800 paintings, which was 20X more than he created in his whole art career as a painter, starting from the time of Gottlieb becomes a founding member of "The Ten" group in NYC "Group of Ten" was a very peculiar, enigmatic group... Based on a religious point of view;(where a human figure was prohibited from being created)
GLOSSARY
IN 1997, Paul Jaisini's best friend Ellen Y.K.Gottlieb started a cyber campaign by promoting on a very young Internet, back then, Paul Jaisini's burned paintings as Invisible Paintings, visible only through poetic essays. She and a handful of people saw his originals and were devastated that nobody could ever see them again. "We, his fans, believe that someday Paul will recreate his 120 burned paintings if he has any decency and moral obligation to his fans, who have dedicated decades to make it happen, for their Phoenix to rise from the ashes and the whole world will witness that all these years we spent to get him back to re-paint the Visuals again were not in vain," - said E.Y.K.Gottlieb in 2014 during the 20th anniversary celebration of Invisible Paintings to GIGroup in NYCity. So now, hopefully, this clears up why I and others do what we do - our "cyber terrorism" of good art, dedicated to Paul Jaisini's return, which is & and was our mission & our goal. We post good art to fight "troll art" which is worthless pics, after being passed through 1-click filters of free web apps. We are, in fact, against this www pops pollution, done with "bubble art" by the out of control masses with 5 billon pics a day: Pics of cats, memes, quotes,national geographic sunsets and waterfalls, not counting their own daily "selfies: and whatever self-indulging Me-ego-Me affairs, sponsored happily by photo gadget companies like Canon, Nikon, Sony...who churn out higher quality madness tools at lower cost.
This way Government taking away attention from the real world crisis of lowest morality & economical devastation. The masses are too easily re-engineered/manipulated by the Establishment PopsStyle delivered to them by pop music and Hollywood "super" stars. In 1992 Paul Jaisini's Gleitzeit theory predict such a massive, pops self-entertain madness, following technologicalexplosion, but not in illusive scales.
Uber Aless @2015 NYC USA
NOTE Date's numbers and events can be slightly inaccurate.
#gleitzeit #paul-jaisini #invisible #painting #art #futurism #art-news,
analogue photography
MAGNIFICENT, when viewed in large size. Just getting to the point of what we would call dusk, it was so quiet, no birds tweeting, twitting, or bird song. Absolute calm! Waiting, like something is inevitable, something is going to happen any moment. Like standing at attention for the Remembrance Day Memorial. And then- nothing,complete darkness, it's as if you could visualize all the little critters and bugs scurrying to find a secure seat for the evening performance of Nature's Orchestra. Before the orchestration begins it's usual harmonious moonlight sonata.
Watching Donald Trump’s pandemic briefings is insufferable. The President is often argumentative and dispenses information that is superfluous and often dangerous. During his March 19 briefing, he first promoted the antimalarial drug hydroxychlorquine as a potential cure for COVID-19. By the next week, over 101,000 posts about the drug had appeared on Facebook, and by late March, there were hundreds of thousands of tweets about it per hour. Donald Trump is effective when using his bully pulpit.
There is no scientific evidence that hydroxychlorquine, a medication used by those with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, is effective against the coronavirus. In fact, scientists in Brazil cut short a trial when it showed this drug and its close relative, chloroquine, could adversely affect the heart. Hospitals in Sweden and American cardiology groups cautioned doctors these drugs could be harmful to those with existing heart problems.
Despite those warnings, in his April 4 briefing, the President was cavalier when he said, “What do you have to lose? I’ll say it again: What do you have to lose? Take it. I really think they should take it.” An Arizona man, heeding Trump’s advice, died when he ingested chloroquine phosphate, a drug that sounds like chloroquine, but is used to clean fish tanks. Lives are lost when people take the advice of someone with no medical background, including the President of the United States.
At his April 23 briefing, the President came up with another cure: injecting ourselves with disinfectants. These are effective in destroying COVID-19 on surfaces and countertops. But taken internally, they are toxic. His suggestion stunned the scientific community. Given the weight of his office, doctors and the makers of Lysol and Clorox warned the public against consuming bleach and other cleaning agents. The Maryland Emergency Management Agency received over 100 calls about this in the hours and days after Trump’s statement. Even more alarming, the New York Daily News reported the city’s Poison Control Center fielded over 30 calls the day after Trump’s comments from people who had taken Lysol, bleach, or other household cleaners.
The outcry was so great, Trump walked back his recommendations the next day: “I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen.” For the record, he offered his remedy with no prompting by reporters. But, what can one expect from a man who believes he has an innate understanding of medical science. The President has become the 21st century version of our 19th century snake oil salesman.
Mistrust of science and rational thought have always been part of the American zeitgeist. Scientific facts are often suspect, even when friends and relatives are sick and dying. Anti-intellectualism places education below the self-made man or woman. Donald Trump’s election is only the latest example of its resilience. Unquestioning followers reject any serious analysis of Trump’s temperament and beliefs, including their effects on social and scientific questions such as income inequality and climate change. Bias and emotion take precedence over inquisitive and unbiased reasoning. We often associate these positions with the under-educated and with religious groups, the historical base of the Republican Party. But they can also come from the left as with anti-vaxxers who claim vaccines cause autism.
Their interpretation of our Constitutional rights reinforce their belief that individual choice is more important than the greater good: “I don’t have to self-quarantine if I don’t want to. If you chose to, that’s up to you.” They see no connection between their actions as silent virus carriers and spreading disease to others. And they fail to see the hypocrisy between demanding their right to choose how to act during this pandemic and their objections to others’ right to choose, whether it’s to have an abortion or to marry your same-sex partner. There is no critical thinking.
Like the fervor of partisan politics, the coronavirus pandemic has once again revealed these fissures in American society. Self-interest is at odds with a communal one. To fix this, it’s important to remember Americans share a collective purpose and future. From this shared purpose, questioning our own needs with those of others can lead to discourse. But we must be curious enough to begin this process. Doing so engenders tolerance and respect for others’ beliefs. These are the seeds of the greater good.
I hate Donald Trump’s indifference and arrogance. But, he is not entirely to blame for the present state of our union. Both the Democrat and Republican Parties have ignored the poor and the working class for years. Yes, the GOP has been the most egregious of late. But if we are to survive this, all of this, together, our leaders must put their personal agendas aside for our greater good. I’d like to think this pandemic, affecting all of us whether we are rich or poor, men or women, gay or straight, young or old, or white or brown, will make us see not just our shared experiences as Americans, but as humans. But it won’t be easy to erase the differences that divide us. Our history is proof of that.
Peddling unproven cures for the coronavirus is reckless. Thinking critically might mean the difference between life and death. After three and a half years of the Trump presidency, Donald Trump’s principal motivation is clear: his self-interest. I have no hope he will change. While I’m often shocked by his behavior, I’m never surprised. I’m fighting for the greater good now. But I’m also preparing for the worst until Trump’s circus is cancelled.
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2018 through a six-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.
Cela Peut Arriver à Agen.
En observant ce qui se passe le long des voies, on comprend.
La situation doit-être traumatisante pour les conducteurs de trains!
In 2008 I visited the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard for a photograph & sailingtrip. An absolute must for nature lovers who are not afraid of the cold! Svalbard has always been seen as one of the most accessible polar bear populations on the world. Back then the local guide showed us that climate change poses a major threat to the Arctic. Like photographer Kerstin Langenberger Photography has captured the consequences of global warming for polar bears. Or not? Even now scientists discuss whether the consequences of global warming causes this bear to die. Let’s get on with this discussion and analysis, and take action! Read more: www.ibtimes.co.uk/svalbard-shocking-picture-shows-emaciat...
Wassily Kandinsky 1866-1944
Murnau, Blick aus dem Fenster des Griesbräu 1908
View from the window of the Griesbräu
Vue depuis la fenêtre du Griesbräu
München Lenbachhaus
1815/30-1940 UNE PERIODE PLURIELLE
DE LA PEINTURE EUROPENNE 1
De 1792 à 1815 l'Europe n'a pas le temps d'être artistique : Elle est totalement occupée par les grandes ambitions françaises de la Révolution et du Premier Empire. Une fois liquidées les aventures révolutionnaires et impériales, l'Europe entre dans une période d'expansion économique et politique qui se traduit dans la peinture par une des phases les plus créatives, les plus inventives et les plus diversement inspirées de l'histoire de la peinture européenne.
L'Europe continentale a pu enfin connaitre, après l'Angleterre, sa seconde renaissance, technique, scientifique et économique. La seconde naissance de l'Europe, après celle des 11è-12è siècles. Les révolutions industrielles peuvent se succéder.
Dans l'Europe en expansion économique du 19è siècle et du début du 20è siècle, l'art de la peinture voit apparaitre une explosion d'écoles et de mouvements totalement différents, qui coexistent sans problèmes majeurs, pendant plus d'un siècle. La peinture européenne n'est pas plus belle que celle antérieure, ou que la peinture d'autres civilisations, mais elle est certainement plus diverse. Plus diverse par ses techniques et par ses thèmes.
Comment expliquer cette diversité de l'art et cette liberté d'expression des artistes européens à cette époque ?
La diversité et la créativité des écoles de la peinture européenne est la conséquence d'une situation de pluralité culturelle et idéologique.
Dans la période qui va de 1815 à 1914, puis encore jusqu'en 1940, l'Europe n'est pas soumise à une idéologie, profane ou sacrée, unique et exclusive.
Dans cette Europe du 19è et du début du 20è coexistent, malgré de très graves tensions, plusieurs représentations du monde différentes, et même opposées, conflictuelles :
Catholicisme, orthodoxie, protestantismes, judaïsme, "Lumières" de toutes tendances, jacobines ou pragmatiques, socialismes modérés ou extrémistes, nationalismes raisonnables ou ultra, aucune de ces idéologies, sacrées ou profanes, ne domine absolument la pensée et la politique européenne, et ne monopolise son territoire de l'Atlantique à l'Oural.
Certes, cette Europe est loin d'être idéale. L'Europe connait des affrontements très graves, des guerres absurdes. Précisément parce qu'aucune idéologie, sacrée ou profane, n'est absolument dominante. Parce que aucune idéologie ne peut régenter totalement les sociétés européennes. La diversité idéologique, source de tensions et même de guerres, est aussi source de liberté, de diversité.
On n'en finirait pas de citer les écoles de peintures, du romantisme à l'art abstrait. Cette multiplication d'écoles à la recherche de nouveaux moyens d'expression est éminemment créatrice. Juste pour mémoire, sans aucune exhaustivité et même dans le désordre:
Romantisme, néo-classicisme, préraphaélites, académisme, réalisme, idéalisme, symbolisme, préimpressionnisme, impressionnisme, nabis, fauvisme, cubisme, orientalisme, expressionnisme, sécessionnisme, surréalisme, art abstrait, dada, néo-plasticisme......
Ce n'est pas seulement une floraison de noms nouveaux, des appellations inventés pour cacher le vide de l'art. C'est une explosion de formes, réellement nouvelles, de thèmes nouveaux, de sensibilités et de significations nouvelles, de beautés neuves.
L'Art Abstrait est une de ces recherches très positives qui renouvellent le paysage de la peinture européenne.
Pas de monolithisme de la pensée européenne, à cette époque qui va de 1815 à 1940 en dates grosses.
Conséquence : Pas de monolithisme de l'Art européen pendant la même période, et notamment de la peinture.
C'est bien ce que constate Aude de Kerros dans son livre " L'imposture de l'art contemporain" : "la création à Paris se définit comme autonome. Les artistes peuvent être reconnus et légitimés en dehors de la reconnaissance de ses principaux commanditaires, l’État et l’Église, et des critères de l'Académie".
Il faut seulement préciser que la cause de cette situation est la diversité des idéologies en présence, et que cette liberté n'est pas seulement parisienne, même si Paris est effectivement le grand centre inspirateur de l'Art Moderne, cette liberté et cette diversité sont européennes.
A l'exception de la Russie, qui rentre dès 1917 dans le monde de la pensée unique et du Non Art.
A l'exception aussi de l'Allemagne hitlérienne où l'art meurt à partir des années 1930 et suivantes.
Avant et ailleurs en Europe, toutes les écoles coexistent, depuis le figuratif académique jusqu'à l'art l'abstrait.
L'Art de la peinture de cette époque, appelé "Art Moderne", est ainsi un témoin du dynamisme européen. Sa diversité de styles et de sujets, sa créativité, son esprit de recherche, sans reniement du passé, sont comme un splendide chant du cygne de la diversité. Et effectivement cela ne durera pas.
C'est ainsi que s'est imposé dans nos musées d'Occident, à partir des années 1950, sans que personne dans le peuple ait donné son avis, l'Art Contemporain : un nouvel Académisme, un Art Officiel, qui cumule le Laid et le Non-Sens, et qui fait se ressembler presque toutes les oeuvres d'art, de tous les musées d'Art Contemporain, du nord au sud, et de l'est à l'ouest de l'Europe et de l'Occident. Le Massacre de la Peinture et l'Art de la pensée unique.
1815/30 - 1940 A PLURAL PERIOD OF THE EUROPEAN PAINTING 1
From 1792 to 1815 Europe has no time to be artistic: It is fully occupied by the great French ambitions of the Revolution and the First Empire. Upon completion of the revolutionary and imperial adventures, Europe enters a period of economic and political expansion, which reflected in the painting by one of the most creative, the most inventive and the most diversely inspired phases, from the history of European painting.
Continental Europe could finally know, after England, his second renaissance, technical, scientific and economic. The second birth of Europe, after that of the 11th-12th centuries. The industrial revolutions can succeed.
In Europe in economic expansion of the 19th century and early 20th century, the art of painting sees appear an explosion of schools, and totally different movements that coexist without major problems, during more than a century. European painting is not more beautiful than the previous one, or the painting of other civilizations, but it is certainly more diverse. More diverse in its technical and its themes.
How to explain this diversity of art and this freedom of expression of European artists at that time?
The diversity and creativity of the schools of European painting is the result of a situation of cultural and ideological plurality. In the period from 1815 to 1914 and then again until 1940, Europe is not subject to an ideology, secular or sacred, unique and exclusive.
In this Europe of the 19th and early 20th, coexist, despite very severe tensions, several different representations of the world, and even contrary, conflictual:
Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism, Judaism, "Enlightenment" of all tendencies, Jacobinical or pragmatic, moderate socialism or extremist, reasonable or ultra nationalism, none of these ideologies, sacred or profane, absolutely dominates the thinking and the European policy, and monopolizes its territory, from the Atlantic to the Urals.
Certainly, this Europe is far from ideal. Europe knows very serious confrontations, absurd wars. Precisely because none ideology, sacred or profane, is absolutely dominant. Because none ideology can completely govern European societies. Ideological diversity, a source of tension and even from wars, is also a source of freedom, of diversity.
There is no end to mention the schools of paintings, from romanticism to abstract art. This multiplication of schools looking for new means of expression is eminently creative. Just for memory, without completeness, and even in the disorder: Romanticism, neoclassicism, Pre-Raphaelites, academicism, realism, idealism, symbolism, pre impressionism, impressionism, Nabis, fauvism, cubism, orientalism, expressionism, secessionism, surrealism, abstract art, dada, neo-Plasticism ......
This is not only a flowering of new names, names invented to hide the emptiness of art. It is an explosion of formes, really news, new themes, sensitivities and new meanings, of new beauties.
Abstract Art is one of those very positive research which renew the landscape of European painting.
No monolithic quality of European thinking at that time that goes from 1815 to 1940 in large dates.
Consequence: No monolithic quality European Art, particularly in painting.
This is what Aude de Kerros notes in his book "The imposture of contemporary art": "the creation in Paris is defined as autonomous.The artists can be recognized and legitimized outside the recognition of its main sponsors , the State and the Church, and the criteria of the Academy ".
We must only specify that the cause of this situation is the diversity of ideologies present, and that this freedom is not only Parisian, even if Paris is indeed the great center of inspiration for Modern Art, this freedom and diversity are European.
With the exception of Russia, which arrived in 1917 in the world of the unique thought and of Non Art.
With the exception also of Hitler's Germany, where art dies, from the 1930s and followings years.
Before and elsewhere in Europe, all schools coexist, from the academic figurative art to abstract art.
The art of painting of that time, called "Modern Art", is thus a witness of European dynamism. Its diversity of styles and subjects, his creativity, his spirit of research, without denial of the past, are like a beautiful swan song of diversity. And indeed it will not last.
It thus has established itself in our museums of the West, from the 1950s, without that person in the people has given his opinion, the Contemporary Art: a new Academism, an Officila Art, which combines the Ugliness and the Non-Sense, and that make be similar almost all the works of art, of all museums of Contemporary Art, from North to South and East to Western Europe and the West. The Massacre of Painting and the Art of Single Thought.
Spanish postcard, no. 2872.
Ann Miller (1923-2004) was an American dancer, singer and actress. She was famed for her speed in tap dancing and her style of glamour: massive black bouffant hair, heavy makeup with a splash of crimson lipstick, and fashions that emphasized her lithe figure and long dancer's legs. Miller is best remembered for her work in the classic Hollywood musicals Easter Parade (1948), On the Town (1949) and Kiss Me Kate (1953).
Ann Miller was born Johnnie Lucille Ann Collier in 1923 on her grandparent's ranch in Chireno, Texas. Her father wanted a boy, so Ann was named Johnnie, and she later went by Lucille. Her father was a well-known criminal lawyer who had defended famous gangsters Bonnie and Clyde and Baby Face Nelson. Mrs. Collier enrolled her three-year-old little girl in dancing lessons to help strengthen her legs, which had become weakened from a case of rickets. When Miller was ten she met Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson at a local theatre and he gave her a quick tap-dancing lesson. She liked that style of dance very much and decided to concentrate on it with further lessons. After her parents divorced, she went with her mother to Hollywood, determined to get into show business. The eleven-year-old brunette, pretending to be of legal age, was soon hired to dance for $25 a week at the Sunset Club, a small lounge where gambling went on upstairs. Using the stage name of Ann Miller, she practiced her machine-gun tapping for the thrilled patrons. She also danced at the seedy Black Cat Club, where she scooped up the coins customers threw into her skirt to help pay the bills. Before long, Ann was netting unbilled extra roles in the films Anne of Green Gables (1934) and The Good Fairy (1935), and she got to dance in Devil On Horseback (1936). The next year the thirteen-year-old was dancing for a four-month run in a show at the popular Bal Tabarin nightclub in San Francisco. There, she was discovered by comedian Benny Rubin and future comedian, actress Lucille Ball. Ball introduced Miller to executives at RKO Studios. Pretending she was eighteen with the help of a fake birth certificate supplied by her father, Ann landed a seven-year contract and a role in the film New Faces of 1937 (1937).
Ann Miller's first great part was in Stage Door (1937), in which she danced with Ginger Rogers and acted with Lucille Ball, Katharine Hepburn, and Eve Arden. Other films in which Ann appeared include Radio City Revels (1937), the Oscar winner You Can't Take It With You (1938) with Jean Arthur and James Stewart, and Room Service (1938) with the Marx Brothers. Miller introduced Lucille Ball to Desi Arnaz, and, some years later, the famous couple bought RKO and re-named it DesiLu. Ann's last film at the studio was Too Many Girls (1940), in which she co-starred with friends Lucy and Desi. She then appeared on Broadway in George White's Scandals in 1939 and 1940, for which she won rave reviews. In 1940 Miller moved to Republic Pictures, where she enlivened Melody Ranch (1940) with Gene Autrey in his first musical film, and Hit Parade of 1941 (1941). Other films followed, many aimed at promoting the war effort, which includes True To The Army (1942), Priorities On Parade (1942), Reveille With Beverly (1943), What's Buzzin' Cousin? (1943), Hey Rookie (1944), and Jam Session (1944). In 1945, Ann briefly dated powerful MGM boss Louis B. Mayer. When the much older mogul asked Ann to marry him, she turned him down. Moaning and groaning to her on the phone, the dramatic Mayer swallowed sleeping pills and immediately sent his chauffeur to summon Ann to his death bed. An ambulance arrived first and he recovered. Later, Ann married Reese Milner, a rich steel heir, and they lived on the biggest ranch in California where they raised prized Hereford cattle. The marriage ended quickly after Reese threw Ann down the stairs of their home. Pregnant Miller filed for divorce from her hospital bed, with her broken back in a steel harness. Her baby, Mary, died a few hours after birth. Later, painfully returning to Mayer for a job, he told her, "If you'd married me, none of this would have happened."
Ann Miller was still in a back brace when she danced to Shakin' The Blues Away in Easter Parade (1948), co-starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland. She received fantastic reviews, and MGM gave Ann a seven-year contract. Ann then proceeded to make her most spectacular Technicolor musicals including On The Town (1949), Small Town Girl (1952), Kiss Me Kate (1953) which was extravagantly filmed in 3-D, and Hit The Deck (1955). Her last musical was a remake of the 1939 film The Women, named The Opposite Sex (1956). The glamorous, outgoing, and articulate Ann was also hired as MGM's Good Will Ambassador. She travelled the world in gorgeous designer ensembles while representing her studio with personal appearances and speaking engagements. When she flew to Morocco in July of 1957 to appear with Bob Hope on the Timex TV Hour, she entertained five thousand troops in 120-degree weather as she sang 'Too Darn Hot', and soon set a record for the world's fastest tap-dancing at 500 taps a minute. In 1958, Miller married her second millionaire, Texas oilman Bill Moss who, she quipped, "...looked exactly like my first husband. Three months later, he broke my arm." A third marriage to another oilman, Arthur Cameron, was annulled within a year, though they remained friends. From 1966-1970, Ann became a hit on Broadway in 'Mame'. In 1970 she turned to television and starred in a commercial for Heinz's Great American Soups, in which Miller tap-danced on an eight-foot can of soup surrounded by dozens of high-kicking chorus girls, 20-foot fountains, and a 24- piece orchestra. Then, tapping her way back into her kitchen, her husband cried, "Why must you make such a big production out of everything?" The song she sang was written by humorist Stan Freberg and choreographed by Danny Daniels. In 1972, in St. Louis, on the opening night of the musical show 'Anything Goes', Ann was knocked in the head by the steel beam of a fire curtain. Although as a consequence she was unable to walk for two years and suffered permanant vertigo, her life actually had been saved by her well-known, stiff, enormous, lacquered black wig. In 1979, she made a comeback and a fortune in 'Sugar Babies' with former teenage Hollywood acting schoolmate Mickey Rooney. The popular show ran for two years on Broadway and seven more years on the road. In 1998 she appeared in a successful revival of Stephen Sondheim's 'Follies' at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. In 1972, Miller published her autobiography, 'Miller's High Life', and more memoirs in 1981 with 'Tops In Taps'. Her last screen appearance was playing Coco in director David Lynch's critically acclaimed Mulholland Drive (2001). Ann Miller died of lung cancer in Los Angeles, California in 2004. She was buried next to her miscarried daughter, which reads "Beloved Baby Daughter Mary Milner November 12, 1946". The Smithsonian Institution displays her favourite pair of tap shoes, which she playfully nicknamed "Moe and Joe".
Sources: Steve Starr (The Entertainment Magazine), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Aunque en enero ya habíamos recorrido buena parte de Andalucía fotografiando el viaje organizado por PTG Tours, un nuevo periplo con este maravilloso tren atravesando el Directo Gallego y despidiéndose de la Rampa de Pajares era algo que, por mucho que costara, no nos podíamos perder. ¡Y vaya si nos costó!. A lo largo de todo el mes de noviembre habíamos sondeado a nuestros contactos solicitando información sobre este tren, pero nadie sabía nada de nada. A pocos días de su teórica fecha de salida, nos planteamos un Plan B con el Puerto de Pajares como alternativa. No iba a ser lo mismo pero ya que habíamos cogido días libres en el trabajo, algo había que hacer. La víspera del inicio del viaje nos llegó la noticia de que el tren chárter iba a partir de Madrid tal y como se había previsto...pero unas horas después nos llegó el rumor de que podía ser cancelado en el último momento. Todas las incertidumbres se disiparon favorablemente a última hora de la tarde cuando ya estábamos cerca del hotel en el que íbamos a pasar la primera noche. Al día siguiente, nos situamos a la entrada de Medina del Campo para hacerle la primera foto pero nada más llegar nos informaron de que el tren iba acumulando un importante retraso. Cuando por fin llegó a nuestra altura, nos sorprendió su escasa velocidad y, además, el sonido que emitían las locomotoras no era muy halagüeño. En la estación medinense las locomotoras tenían que invertir la marcha y aprovechamos esa circunstancia para una segunda foto en los primeros metros de la línea Medina del Campo-Zamora. La espera se nos hizo muy angustiosa porque unos amigos que estaban fotografiando las maniobras del tren nos transmitieron que estaban pasando "cosas muy raras". Finalmente, tras acumular otro importante retraso, el tren hizo su aparición a muy buena marcha así que, tras la correspondiente foto, partimos hacia Pedralba de la Pradería con la sensación de habernos quitado un enorme peso de encima. Paradojicamente, la demora del tren nos venía muy bien porque ésta iba a ser la foto estrella de un viaje de cuatro días y a la hora teórica del paso del tren, la posición del sol no iba a ser la ideal. Nuestro amigo Lucas nos apremió para salir disparados hacia la provincia de Zamora porque preveía que Pedralba de la Pradería estaría atestada de fotógrafos e iba a ser complicado aparcar y encontrar una buena posición. Sorprendentemente, al final fuimos los únicos fotógrafos que nos acercamos hasta Pedralba (consecuencias de toda la incertidumbre que rodeo al viaje) y pudimos movernos a nuestro antojo para hacer esta foto en un punto que me encanta y del que creía haberme despedido definitivamente hace un par de años cuando fotografié uno de los últimos Alvias que circularon por la línea.
Although in January we had already traveled a good part of Andalusia photographing the trip organized by PTG Tours, a new journey with this wonderful train crossing the Directo Gallego and saying goodbye to the Rampa de Pajares was something that, no matter how much it cost, we could not miss. And boy did it cost us! Throughout the month of November we had polled our contacts requesting information about this train, but no one knew anything about it. A few days before its theoretical departure date, we consider a Plan B with the Puerto de Pajares as an alternative. It wasn't going to be the same but since we had taken days off from work, something had to be done. The day before the start of the trip we received the news that the charter train was leaving Madrid as planned... but a few hours later we received the rumor that it could be canceled at the last minute. All uncertainties dissipated favorably in the late afternoon when we were already close to the hotel where we were going to spend the first night. The next day, we stood at the entrance to Medina del Campo to take the first photo but as soon as we arrived we were informed that the train was running into a significant delay. When it finally reached us, we were surprised by its low speed and, furthermore, the sound emitted by the locomotives was not very flattering. At the Medinense station the locomotives had to reverse the direction of travel and we took advantage of that circumstance for a second photo in the first meters of the Medina del Campo-Zamora line. The wait became very distressing because some friends who were photographing the train maneuvers told us that "very strange things" were happening. Finally, after accumulating another significant delay, the train made its appearance at very good speed so, after the corresponding photo, we left for Pedralba de la Pradería with the feeling of having lifted an enormous weight off our shoulders. Paradoxically, the delay of the train was very good for us because this was going to be the star photo of a four-day trip and at the theoretical time of the train passing, the position of the sun was not going to be ideal. Our friend Lucas urged us to rush towards the province of Zamora because he anticipated that Pedralba de la Pradería would be crowded with photographers and it would be difficult to park and find a good position. Surprisingly, in the end we were the only photographers who went to Pedralba (consequences of all the uncertainty surrounding the trip) and we were able to move around as we pleased to take this photo at a point that I love and that I thought I had said goodbye definitively a couple of years ago when I photographed one of the last Alvias that circulated on the line.
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Locandina:
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The municipality of Mongiuffi Melia (ME), not far from Taormina, is made up of two villages, Mongiuffi and Melia, separated by a valley, a bridge joins them, they climb up the opposite ridge of two mountains, looking at each other; in this municipality (defined as a "scattered municipality" for not having a single inhabited center), there are two patron saints, San Sebastian for Melia (his float was built with the money collected by Sicilian soldiers sent to the front, to fight in Greece during the Second World War, hoping in this way to receive His intercession to save their lives), and San Leonard di Noblac (or Abbot) for Mongiuffi; but in this municipality there is also the cult of the "Virgin Mary of the Chain", whose sanctuary attracts pilgrims from everywhere. I have made this description to introduce a singular coincidence that not everyone is aware of, and to do this it is necessary to describe the figure of Saint Leonard (a kind of Saint Francis), and that of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, trying to be concise. Saint Leonard was born in Orléans around 496 (and died in Noblac, on November 6 – the feast day – of 545 or 559), and for most of his life (very interesting) he lived as a hermit; one episode of his life in particular I would like to recall, he received from Clovis, king of the Franks, the privilege of being able to free those prisoners, who he believed had been unjustly imprisoned, so from that moment on, he incessantly committed himself to giving freedom to all those prisoners who were reduced to visibly critical conditions. Let us leave this Saint for a moment, the cult of the “Virgin Mary of the Chain”, this name given to the Blessed Virgin, derives from a prodigious event that occurred in Palermo in 1392, known as the “miracle of the chains”. In short, in August 1392 in Palermo, three men for a glaring miscarriage of justice, were sentenced to death by hanging, shortly before going up to the gallows a violent storm broke out, which forced the three unfortunates and the gendarmes to take refuge in the nearby church of Saint Mary of the Port, close to the sea, also called "Churc of the Chain" due to the presence of a chain that, when positioned, prevented the Saracen pirate ships from accessing the inside of the port; in this holy place, the three condemned, were tied with double chains, in the meantime the door of the church was barred, in fact the storm did not seem to stop and in addition night had come, clearly the execution was now postponed to the next day. The three desperate men, in chains, under the gaze of the gendarmes, approached the painting of the Madonna in tears, imploring her to intercede for them, a voice was heard coming from the painting, which reassured them of their new freedom, this while the chains broke, and the door of the little church was thrown open. From then on, the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain spread from Palermo throughout Sicily, and even beyond. Now let's get to the coincidences I mentioned before, both Saint Leonard and the Virgin Mary of the Chain (and also Her Child that She holds in Her arms) carry a long chain in their hands, in fact both the Saint and the Blessed Virgin have given freedom to prisoners, furthermore to access Mongiuffi Melia, coming from Letojanni, you have to pass through a tunnel, called "Gallery of Postoleone" dug in the rock in 1916, with bare hands or with pickaxe blows, as explosives could not be used, by 300 Austrian prisoners, during the First World War (and also on this occasion, in Mongiuffi Melia, there are prisoners forced to do forced labor). Finally, a curiosity, very often from the cult of the Virgin Mary of the Chain, comes a singular name, very common in these parts, both in the masculine with the name of "Cateno" and in the feminine "Catena" (to quote a well-known character, the writer Catena Fiorello). Furthermore, if it rains, whatever the religious procession-feast, with the float carried on the shoulders, the float with the saint does not come out, but if the rain arrives during the event, then the event becomes a source of strong psycho-physical stress for the devotee-bearers (not for the devotee-pullers or devotee-pushers...), as the ground made slippery by the rain (or perhaps, worse, by the presence of mud mixed with water) makes the route risky due to the possibility that one, or more, bearers, could slip, with the possible overturning of the float, and easily imaginable consequences.
The photographic story that I present here was created by assembling photographs taken on November 6, 2022, November 6 and 10 of this year 2024; the heart of the celebration-procession is when the priest hangs a large “cuddurra” (donut) on the hand of Sint Leonard, on that occasion small “cuddure” (donuts) are offered to the population (prepared by hand in the days preceding the procession); there are girls wearing a typical monk's habit-like dress, adorning their head with a veil, they belong to the congregation of the "daughters of Mary" (third order Carmelite); at the end of the procession, with the float that has returned to the church, we witness a rite that has the "affective" purpose of keeping it alive, it is done so as not to lose its memory, even if it has not lost its original meaning, what remains is now only a symbolic fact, it is the ritual of "weighing" (in some centers of Sicily, it has maintained its original meaning) a wooden board is placed "in balance" on one of the two beams that are used to carry the float with the Saint on the shoulders, at the two ends a child is placed on one side, and on the other side a sack with grain, filled until the weight of the grain reaches the weight of the child, and that grain will be given as a gift to the Saint, in reality the symbolic aspect of the procedure remains, and the donation is still made to the Saint, but in paper money.
Postscript: Our Lady of the Chain and Saint Leonard freed from chains, these as such, are not only physical, there are also psychic ones, and perhaps they are the worst….
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Il comune di Mongiuffi Melia (ME), non molto distante da Taormina, è formato da due borghi, Mongiuffi e Melia, separati da una vallata, un ponte li congiunge, essi si inerpicano sul crinale opposto di due monti, guardandosi l’un l’altro; in questo comune (definito “comune sparso” per non avere un centro abitato unico), si hanno due santi patroni, San Sebastiano per Melia (la sua vara fu costruita con i soldi racimolati dai soldati Siciliani mandati al fronte, a combattere in Grecia durante la seconda guerra mondiale, sperando così facendo di ricevere la Sua intercessione per avere salva la vita), e San Leonardo di Noblac (o Abate) per Mongiuffi; ma in questo comune vi è anche il culto per la “Madonna della Catena”, il cui santuario attira pellegrini da ogni dove. Ho fatto questa descrizione, per introdurre una singolare coincidenza della quale non tutti sono a conoscenza, e per far questo è necessario descrivere la figura di San Leonardo (una specie di San Francesco), e quella della Madonna della Catena, cercando di essere sintetico. San Leonardo nasce ad Orléans nel 496 circa (e morto a Noblac, il 6 novembre – giorno della festa – del 545 o 559), per gran parte della sua vita (interessantissima) visse da eremita; un episodio della sua vita in particolare desidero ricordare, egli riceve da Clodoveo, re dei Franchi, il privilegio di poter rendere liberi quei prigionieri, che egli riteneva fossero stati incarcerati ingiustamente, egli così, da quel momento, si impegna incessantemente a dare la libertà a tutti quei prigionieri che erano ridotti in condizioni visibilmente critiche. Lasciamo per un attimo questo Santo, il culto della “Madonna della Catena”, questo nome dato alla Beata Vergine, deriva da un evento prodigioso avvenuto a Palermo nel 1392, conosciuto come “miracolo delle catene”. In breve, nell’agosto del 1392 a Palermo, tre uomini per un eclatante errore giudiziario, furono condannati a morte per impiccagione, poco prima di salire sul patibolo si scatenò un violento temporale, che costrinse i tre malcapitati ed i gendarmi a riparare nella vicina chiesa di S. Maria del Porto, a ridosso del mare, detta anche “Chiesa della Catena” per la presenza di una catena che, quando posizionata, impediva alle navi pirata Saracene di accedere all’interno del porto; in questo luogo santo, i tre condannati, furono legati con doppie catene, nel mentre la porta della chiesa veniva sbarrata, infatti il temporale non accennava a smettere ed in più era subentrata la notte, chiaramente l’esecuzione era oramai rimandata al giorno dopo. I tre disperati, in catene, sotto lo sguardo dei gendarmi, si avvicinarono in lacrime al quadro della Madonna implorandola di intercedere per loro, dal quadro si udì provenire una voce, che li rassicurava sulla sopraggiunta libertà, questo mentre le catene si spezzavano, e la porta della chiesetta si spalancava. Da allora il culto per la Madonna della Catena si diffuse da Palermo in tutta la Sicilia, ed anche oltre. Veniamo adesso alle coincidenze di cui accennavo prima, sia San Leonardo che la Madonna della Catena (ed anche il suo Bimbo che regge in braccio) recano in mano una lunga catena, infatti sia San Leonardo che la Beata Vergine hanno dato la liberà a dei prigionieri, inoltre per accedere a Mongiuffi Melia, provenendo da Letojanni, si deve passare necessariamente da una galleria, chiamata “Galleria di Postoleone” scavata nel 1916 nella roccia, a mani nude o con colpi di piccone, in quanto non si poteva usare l’esplosivo, da parte di 300 prigionieri austriaci, durante la prima guerra mondiale (ed anche in questa occasione, a Mongiuffi Melia, si ha la presenza di prigionieri costretti ai lavori forzati). Infine una curiosità, molto spesso dal culto della Madonna della Catena, proviene un singolare nome, molto comune da queste parti, sia al maschile col nome di “Cateno” che al femminile, “Catena” (per citare un personaggio noto, la scrittrice Catena Fiorello). Inoltre, se piove, qualsiasi sia la processione-festa religiosa, con la vara portata in spalla, la vara col santo non esce, se invece la pioggia arriva durante la manifestazione, allora l’evento acquista per i devoti-portatori (non per i devoti-tiratori o devoti-spingitori…) un motivo di forte stress psico-fisico, in quanto il terreno reso scivoloso dalla pioggia (o magari, peggio, dalla presenza di fango misto ad acqua) rende rischioso il percorso per la possibilità che uno, o più portatori, possano scivolare, con il possibile ribaltamento della vara, e conseguenze facilmente immaginabili.
Il racconto fotografico che qui presento, è stato realizzato assemblando fotografie fatte il 6 novembre del 2022, il 6 ed il 10 novembre di quest’anno 2024; il fulcro della festa-processione è quando il sacerdote appende una grande cuddurra (ciambella) sulla mano di San Leonardo, in quella occasione piccole cuddure vengono offerte alla popolazione (preparate ed intrecciate a mano nei giorni precedenti la processione); sono presenti delle ragazze che indossano un tipico vestito “tipo saio di monaco”, adornando il capo con un velo, appartengono alla congregazione delle “figlie di Maria” (terz’ordine carmelitano); alla fine della processione, con la vara che ha fatto rientro in chiesa, si assiste ad un rito che ha lo scopo “affettivo” di tenerlo in vita, viene fatto per non disperderne la memoria, pur non avendo perso il suo significato originario, quel che resta è oramai solamente un fatto simbolico, è il rito della “pesatura” (in alcuni centri della Sicilia, esso ha mantenuto il suo significato originario) un asse di legno viene messo “in equilibrio” su di una delle due travi che servono a portare in spalla la vara col Santo, alle due estremità si pongono da un lato un bimbo/a, e dall’altro lato un sacco con del grano, riempito fino a quando il peso del grano raggiungerà il peso del bimbo/a, e quel grano verrà dato in dono al Santo, in realtà resta l’aspetto simbolico della procedura, la donazione viene ugualmente fatta al Santo, ma in cartamoneta.
P.S. La Madonna della Catena e San Leonardo liberavano dalle catene, queste in quanto tali, non sono solo fisiche, ci sono anche quelle psichiche, e forse sono le peggiori….
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Harper Lake used to be an oasis in the Mojave Desert that attracted bird and wildlife from all corners of the desert. In a region starving for water and resource, it was a valuable stop for birds and animals alike.
This is what it looks like today. You can go to goole maps and zoom in on a satalite and see the decline in just the time the older pictures were taken to the more accurate, closer ones of today. Barely any water at all remains, and we're the reason.
This is the ugly side of agriculture, the sad reality that the effects we have on the earth extend far beyond the glaciers of Antarctica, but right here at home. Where is this photo? Harper Lake, Lockhart, California. You can drive here from Los Angeles in less than 3 hours, but you don't see Hollywood cameras here. This is the side of us we like to ignore, this is the consequence of us.
It's up to us to decide how long we let it continue.
New England is laced with thousands of miles of abandoned railroads. Some were never of much consequence and should never have been built while others were once heavy duty signaled mainlines.
This is one of the latter types and arguably this structure was the most famous on the line. This is Joslin Arch on the former Boston and Maine Cheshire Branch that provided the Fitchburg Railroad and later the B&M a connection from the east west mainline at South Ashburn, MA northwest 54 miles to Bellows Falls, VT. Organized by businessmen in the important town of Keene, NH the Cheshire Railroat opened its thru route in 1849 and was independent for its first 40 years until being absorbed by the FRR.
Engineered and built to a gold standard it featured some 20 stone arch bridges but none more impressive than this one at MP 89.4 (measured from Boston) crossing the East Branch of the Ashuelot River in South Keene. The largest on the line it is 45 ft above the river and has an inside diameter of 60 ft with a total length including the wing walls of 186 ft. Built in 1847 of locally cut granite it served for over 120 years until the last train ran in late 1971 or early 1972, I don't know exactly. In its glory days however countless milk trains fro. the Rutland connection passed on their way to Boston as well as glamorous passenger trains such as the Green Mountain Flyer and the Mount Royal. But none were more famous than The Cheshire that from 1944 to 1952 used the famous number 6000, the pioneering 1935 Budd Built 'Flying Yankee' articulated streamlimer modeled after the Burlington's famed Pioneer Zephyr. To see a picture of the fluted stainless steel speedster on this very structure check out this link: blog.nhstateparks.org/from-railroad-to-rail-trail-a-histo...
If you care to learn more about the Cheshire I HIGHLY recommend the book Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region by Blodget and Richard's.
Keene, New Hampshire
Friday August 19, 2022