Waldo Peirce

Good morning, my most favorite princesses!

 

I hope this finds you well!  Things in NJ are moving along – in just three days I’ll be on the road to bring Einstein down to GramEs house.  I’m not sure how he’s going to like Florida, as rabbits tend to prefer things a little chilly and definitely like carpets better than tile floors, but I’m sure he’ll be able to make himself at home.  It makes me giggle a little to think of GramE, who is always so perfectly neat and tidy, living with an animal that tends to track bits of hay around with him.  J  We shall see how they get on!

 

This week I want to tell you about Waldo.  Not Waldo of Where’s Waldo fame (although I do love him), but Walso Pierce, an American painter from the early 1900s.

 

Here’s my favorite Waldo story, and it has nothing to do with his painting: he and his friend were taking a ship from Boston to England. As the ship was leaving, Pierce decided he didn’t like it…so he jumped off the back of the ship and swam several miles back to shore. When Waldo turned up missing, the ship's captain arrested Waldo’s friend – assuming he had murdered him! But when the ship got to England, Waldo was at the dock waiting to greet them — he had taken a faster ship to England.  So Waldo is clearly a bit of both crazy AND stupid, but it sure makes for an interesting story!  

 

Waldo fought in World War I, was friends with Ernest Hemingway, and was married 4 times.  Seems like he must have been an interesting fellow – and probably just about impossible to live with. His last name makes me cringe, because I want to spell it “I before E”, and that’s wrong.  Guess that rule doesn’t apply to last names.

 

Waldo painted lots and lots of pictures, mostly of people, usually with animals in them, and what I like best about the work I’ve seen of his is the consistency of the look – the pictures below are all of very different people doing different things in different kinds of settings, but they all look very much like they go together. His color choices, the way he moved the paintbrush, the textures and shapes are all the same, but they create such different vibes – the woman painting is so serene, but the people in the bar are just full of action! And he wasn’t afraid to reshape things a bit to make them work better in his pictures.  Look at the lamp by the boy – how it bends, and how the tops of the apple pickers ladders get WAY too tiny (unless they were a hundred feet long).  I like that he wasn’t so stuck in making things “real” and made them beautiful and interesting instead.

 

In any case, that’s a bit about Waldo Peirce, and I hope that you’re having a wonderful week. Know that I love you and think that you’re awesome.

Hugs and kisses,

Auntie Paula

XOXOXOXO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whistler's Mother

Hello My Lovelies!

 

So, it’s almost 2 exciting things this weekend – Mothers’ Day, AND your Mom & Dad’s anniversary!  What an excellent weekend all around! 

I remember your Mom and Dad’s wedding so very well because it was awesomely beautiful and everyone was so happy, and because of the lilacs.  It was a PERFECT weekend for lilacs.

 

Not many artists have painted paintings about your Mom & Dad’s anniversary (although they should!), but lots and lots of artists have done paintings about Mothers.  So this week, I thought I’d show you one of the most famous Mom paintings of all time, the one titled “Whistler’s Mother”, by an American painter named (shockingly) James McNeill Whistler (it really is a painting of his mom).  He painted it in 1871.

 

Some people say that James had his mom sit in as the model for the painting when his model didn’t show up that day. 

After it became a famous painting, James was annoyed by people who called it a "portrait." He thought it should be valued simply as a good painting, and the identity of the person in it shouldn’t matter.  I would disagree with him on that point – I would like this painting much less if the woman in it wasn’t his mom (I actually don’t really like it as is, but that’s more about the color choice and how severe she looks than about his skill as a painter).

Here’s what’s funny to me; this painting REALLY connected with people.  The post office made a stamp, dedicated to the “Memory and In Honor of the Mothers of America” of it.  A giant statue was made of it during the great depression as a tribute to Moms.  But looking at her, does she make you feel all warm and fuzzy?  Do you look at her, in her black dress, with no children or anything child-like or even joyful around her, and immediately think “Wow, she looks like a great Mom”?  I sure don’t.  but apparently a LOT of people really thought she exemplified what Mom should be!  Fascinating.

I’ve also included 2 of James’ other paintings, and these I like.  Still too neutral for my tastes, but they’ve stylistically quite different from the portrait and have a lovely, ghostlike feeling to them – like something in the mists of a dream, and that’s something I can appreciate a lot more.

In any case, know that I love you and think that you’re awesome.

Hugs and kisses,

Auntie Paula

XOXOXOXOXO