The Loves of the Winds and the Seasons

[jaxenro]

Albert Joseph Moore

The Loves of the Winds and the Seasons - 1893

Poem by the artist

Lo! fickle Zephyr chaseth wayward Spring,
It is a merry race;
Flowers laugh to birds that sing,
Yet frequent tears shall cloud her comely face.
The South Wind shall with blushing Autumn mate,
Contented with her lot;
Summer sigheth – such her fate
She and her burning kisses are forgot.
Two lovers rough for shudd’ring Winter strive,
Beneath a shroud of snow;
Heaven haply shall contrive
Their violence she may not further know.

Albert Joseph Moore banished family and friends in a race against death to complete this monumental painting (6 feet tall by 7 wide) completing it only 9 dys before his death from cancer. His legs were swollen to twice their normal size as he worked literally round the clock to complete the painting yet the few visitors he allowed remarked on his cheerful disposition and how he told jokes and funny stories as he smoked his pipe.

The frame is lacquer over bronze powder. I made this one to sit on my desk as I work

 

Edited Sunday at 07:46 PM by jaxenro

[jaxenro]

Hope no one minds the history lesson I just love the backstory behind the artwork when I can find it - it personalizes it

Edited Sunday at 07:18 PM by jaxenro

[havanaholly]

I find it fascinating.

[jaxenro]

Me too. Moore isn’t very well known today but Whistler considered him the best painter of their generation. 

[jaxenro]

You can see here Moore's "Musician" and Whistler's "Symphony in White, no 3" painted at roughly the same time.

Although who was influencing whom is open to conjecture. My own thinking is it was a mutual admiration that inspired both of them

(I plan to frame both of them for my "shop")

Edited Sunday at 10:58 PM by jaxenro

[MamaV]

I love the history lessons! I like learning about forgotten artists with talent, especially compared with modern "art" and AI creations. I'd much rather see the handiwork of a talented person - Like YOU! 🙂 Thanks again for sharing! 

[jaxenro]

Whistler was known for his acerbic wit. 

It was he who said the oft quoted response to a young Oscar Wilde who attended one of Whistler's dinners, and hearing his host make some brilliant remark, apparently said, "I wish I'd said that", to which Whistler riposted, "You will, Oscar, you will!"

In reponse to Philip Hamerton's review (in the Saturday Review) that "In the "Symphony in White No. III." by Mr. Whistler there are many dainty varieties of tint, but it is not precisely a symphony in white." he responded:

"How pleasing that such profound prattle should inevitably find its place in print!...Bon Dieu! did this wise person expect white hair and chalked faces ? And does he then, in his astounding consequence, believe that a symphony in F contains no other note, but shall be a continued repetition of F, F, F ? . . . Fool!"