All About Xavier
Today’s post comes from Wendy Hughes Chuck who, like many of us, has discovered a new ‘COVID celebrity’. Wendy writes: Cocktails with a Curator “Good evening and welcome to this …
The ‘Blanche’ rabbit
After last week’s hiatus, ‘Cocktails with a Curator’ from The Frick Collection has returned. In this episode, curator Xavier Salomon swigs on a Sake highball as he reflects on James …
The first cartoon hero?
In 1809 the writer William Combe and the artist Thomas Rowlandson created a character called Dr Syntax who is believed to be the world’s first cartoon character. William Combe (1742-1823) …
The naked snollygoster
Early this year I bought a book titled ‘Lost Words – Collywobbles, Snollygosters, and other surprisingly useful terms worth resurrecting’ by Joe Gillard. It was the word ‘snollygosters’ that made …
Powolny’s putti
Yesterday’s post looked at gargoyles, so today I will move from ‘the dark to the light’ and look at the other carved objects we might find overhead – putti. A …
Observing the world from afar
While I am watching the ‘world from afar’ I am reminded of gargoyles – those carved architectural fantastical forms that perch on the roofs of old buildings to prevent the …
Lifters and Leaners
As the economy is now in a recession the focus is clearly on ensuring jobs are available and secure. With programs like JobSeeker, JobKeeper and JobMaker, we have fortunately moved …
Vale Christo
1969 was a year when big things happened. Apollo 11 landed on the moon and mankind took a giant leap. The Woodstock music festival ran for three days in upstate …
‘a full dish of various kinds of fruits’
Watching the anger, frustration and despair in America, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless. There is no easy resolution to these longstanding and entrenched difficulties – particularly when …
No words can describe…
‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ George Santayana, 1905