POETRY JAM - TRIBUTE

“Death is better than slavery.” - Harriet Ann Jacobs
 
Poetry Jam this week has invited participants to write a tribute poem to honour someone, famous or not, who is nevertheless admired and is worthy of praise. The poem below was written after I watched a documentary on serf labourers, so common in many rural situations in Europe until the late 19th century. These people were no better than slaves and their life was long struggle for survival under cruel circumstances where the bondsmen had no rights and no avenue to appeal against whatever ill-treatment they received.
 
Most of us have family trees that are of fairly ordinary wood and which include ancestors who are common people of no other distinction than a will to survive in adverse circumstances. My poem is a tribute to those forebears who have lived and survived and whose issue we are.
 
With Eyes Closed
 
With eyes closed firmly, I sit and ponder,
Thinking of you, my distant forebear;
My thoughts unhindered run and wander
Through all the common history we share.
 
Your name, your fate and date of death
Is all I know; but that for me is ample
To give your picture life and breath,
So that I draw strength from your example.
 
You had a dream, you lived your life
Battling with dragons, just to survive;
Your children to protect, your wife –
And proof of your success, is that I thrive.
 
A yellowed photograph, your tattered bible,
The names of my ancestors written there;
A wooden statuette – memories ancient, tribal,
Enough to make me offer thankful prayer…
 
I have you in my heart, and give respect,
And through the ages we touch souls, connect;
Your blood flows in my veins and I bear fruits
Proud of your struggle, my heritage, my roots.

MIRROR REFLECTIONS

“Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.” - Ernest Holmes
 
Mirrors have a long history of use both as household objects and as objects of decoration. The earliest mirrors were hand mirrors; those large enough to reflect the whole body did not appear until the 1st century AD. Hand mirrors were adopted by the Celts from the Romans and by the end of the Middle Ages had become quite common throughout Europe, usually being made of silver, or of polished bronze, as a cheaper alternative.
 
A typical mirror nowadays is a sheet of glass that is coated on its back with aluminium or silver such that it produces images by reflection. A method of backing a plate of flat glass with a thin sheet of reflecting metal came into widespread production in Venice during the 16th century; an amalgam of tin and mercury was the metal used. The chemical process of coating a glass surface with metallic silver was discovered by Justus von Liebig in 1835, and this advance inaugurated the modern techniques of mirror making.
 
Present-day mirrors are made by sputtering a thin layer of molten aluminium or silver onto the back of a plate of glass in a vacuum. In mirrors used in telescopes and other optical instruments, the aluminium is evaporated onto the front surface of the glass rather than on the back, in order to eliminate faint reflections from the glass itself. This gives clearer and sharper images of astronomical bodies.
 
Mirrors are much more than accessories of vanity.  Throughout history they have been used to predict the future, believed to have been capable of capturing and transporting souls, and to have been capable of reflecting happenings at other places and times.  Mirrors have also served as metaphors with many meanings, as symbols of divinity and power, implements of distortion, and tools for self-reflection.  The mirror, in its variety of forms and applications, has captured the human imagination and is the subject of much symbolism, folklore and myth.
 
In symbolism, the mirror can point towards truth, clarity and self-knowledge because its reflective qualities represent thinking. It is also an obvious symbol of vanity. Breaking a mirror is often said to bring bad luck because it is said to be harming oneself. However, this may have to do with first glass mirrors that were made which were extremely expensive and the bad luck story may have been a cautionary strategy in order to get people to look after these precious objects well.
 
Sylvia Plath, writing in 1961, gave the mirror the role of a rather cold, dispassionate companion on life’s journey:

“I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see I swallow immediately
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike.
I am not cruel, only truthful-
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.”

St. Paul’s mirror metaphor in 1 Corinthians 13:12 relates: “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: Now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” This has been interpreted as meaning that man only sees through a glass, darkly and inaccurately, and signifies man’s earthly ignorance. St Paul implies that we can only become aware of the true face of God by gazing directly at him in the next life, as opposed to our perception of God “through a glass darkly” when we are alive.
 
In “Snow White”, the Mirror plays a very important role, being a cold, honest observer of the world and functioning much like Sylvia Plath’s looking glass. The mirror is both the servant and the master of the evil queen, forcing her to act in desperation in order to make the mirror reflect again the new truth of her own beauty once she destroys Snow White.

In “Alice’s Adventures Through the Looking Glass”, Lewis Carroll has Alice travel through the flat boundary of the mirror’s glass in order to reach a magic land full of surprises and quirky creatures that represent a distorted version of reality within the depths of Looking Glass Land.
 
Catoptromancy is the word used to describe the use of a mirror to predict the future. This is a more specific term than “scrying”, which means to foretell the future gazing into a crystal ball or any other reflective object or surface. Catoptromancy can involve an oracle that scries into a mirror and foretells the future, or it can be catoptromancy in which a god or a demon is invoked and it is these supernatural beings that will proclaim the future using the mirror as portal. Mirrors have always been regarded as “supernatural” and their use in catoptromancy as a means to revelation is not surprising.
 
Mirror images have been immortalised by many artists throughout the ages. For example, Van Eyck’s “The Arnolfini Portrait”, Velaszquez’s “Las Meninas”, Johannes Gumpp’s “Self-Portrait”, Manet’s “Bar at the Folies Bergére”, Picasso’s “Girl Before a Mirror” and M. C. Escher’s “Hand Holding a Reflective Sphere”. The way in which the artist may use the mirror as means of self-consciousness, both for himself as well as for the viewer is a powerful technique in such a voyeuristic medium as the portrait or self-portrait in art. This goes back to our own infancy, when we first begin to recognise our own reflection as being “us”, and this occurs at about the same time we first master the use of the pronouns “I” and “me” (from 20 to 24 months, when 65 percent of infants demonstrate recognition of their mirror images).

MOVIE MONDAY - DENIZDEN GELEN

“For what purpose humanity is there should not even concern us: Why you are there, that you should ask yourself; and if you have no ready answer, then set for yourself goals, high and noble goals, and perish in pursuit of them! I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible...” - Friedrich Nietzsche
 

We seem to be going through a Turkish film viewing phase at the moment as our public library has brought in some very good DVDs lately. Turkish cinema has come very far in the last two decades and film production values are of a high standard, scenarios are varied and interesting and the acting is excellent. At the weekend we watched another such movie, which dealt with a current issue sensitively and explored some problems that Turkish society is coping with at the moment.
 

The film was the 2010 Nesli Çölgeçen movie “Denizden Gelen” (From the Sea), starring Onur Saylak, Ahu Türkpençe, Jordan Deniz Boyner, Burak Demir, and Emin Gursoy. It deals with Halil (Saylak), a policeman accused of killing a black illegal immigrant. His trial hearing in Izmir is suspended pending the evidence of an expert witness. Halil decides to take some time off and goes back to his hometown of Mugla to put in order his thoughts and make sense of his life. While on the beach he discovers a small black child, Jordan, floating in the water near the shore. The boy is nearly dead and Halil saves him and rushes him to hospital where the child is looked after. Yaren (Türkpençe), a nurse at the hospital develops a bond with the child and stirs Halil’s conscience regarding not only the child, but also his whole attitude towards illegal immigrants. Together, the nurse and Halil help the child try to contact his father as his mother has drowned in the boat that was taking the family to Greece.
 

The film deals with a burning issue that is causing concern around the world. Illegal immigrants and refugees are seen with increasing frequency and in increasing numbers in most Western-type countries. Globally in 2012, 45.2 million people became refugees because of forced displacement This figure includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers and 28.8 million internally displaced persons. Between 1993 and 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) resettled more than 800,000 refugees. The top 10 countries of origin were Iraq (140,367), Burma (138,751), Somalia (97,912), Bhutan (74,470), Sudan (46,748), Afghanistan, (42,989), Iran (40,875), Bosnia and Herzegovina (27,368), Dem. Rep. of Congo (25,283) and Ethiopia (24,762).
 

Political, social and economic causes are the main reasons for refugee movements across great distances and at even greater risk, such that they find a better life or avoid imprisonment or death in their home country. Countless numbers of such refugees find tragic deaths in their attempt to survive and live a better life. Turkey and Greece are a nexus for the movement of illegal immigrants into the European Union and both countries try very hard to deal with this problem in a humane way. Needless to say that tragedy is never far, with many refugees dying or living a life of slavery and working in inhumane conditions as they are taken advantage of by unscrupulous people.
 

We were thoroughly absorbed by this movie, which kept our interest up throughout and dealt sensitively with a thorny issue. The acting was very good and the little child playing Jordan did a sterling job of conveying a range of emotions and coming across as a believable character. The issue of racism and prejudice is highlighted by the plot and the range of characters involved and the transformations they go through. A couple of weaker subplots regarding father/son relationships and problems faced by single women in Turkey are not developed fully, but nevertheless find a place in the main story and support the main theme.
 

Living in Australia, the film was particularly relevant to us as one constantly hears that we are being swamped by boat people and refugees, with much negativity and adverse public opinion about refugees being rampant within the community. The number of people arriving in Australia to claim asylum jumped by more than a third last year to 15,800 people, driven by an increase in arrivals from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Australia resettles the third largest number of refugees of any country per capita, but the actual asylum seeker numbers in Australia, while politically sensitive, remain numerically small. The UNHCR says Australia receives about three per cent of the total asylum claims made in industrialised countries around the world and, “by comparison, asylum levels in Australia continue to remain below those recorded by many other industrialised and non-industrialised countries”.
 

Watch this film if you can get your hands on it as it is well-made and deals well with the issues of refugees and displaced persons.

ART SUNDAY - PAUL RANSON

“The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love colour the most.” - John Ruskin
 

Paul Ranson was a French painter and designer (born Limoges, 1864; died Paris, 20 Feb 1909). He was the son of a successful local politician and was encouraged from the outset in his artistic ambitions. He studied at the Écoles des Arts Décoratifs in Limoges and Paris but transferred in 1886 to the Académie Julian. There he met Paul Sérusier and in 1888 became one of the original members of the group known as the “Nabis”.
 

The Nabis, was a group of artists who, through their widely diverse activities, exerted a major influence on the art produced in France during the late 19th century. They maintained that a work of art reflects an artist’s synthesis of nature into personal aesthetic metaphors and symbols.
 

The Nabis were greatly influenced by Japanese woodcuts, French Symbolist painting, and English Pre-Raphaelite art. Their primary inspiration, however, stemmed from the Pont-Aven school, which centred on the Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin. Under Gauguin’s direct guidance, Paul Sérusier, the group’s founder, painted the first Nabi work, “Landscape at the Bois d’Amour at Pont-Aven” (1888; also called “The Talisman”), a small, near-abstract landscape composed of patches of simplified, non-naturalistic colour.
 

From 1890 onwards, Ranson and his wife France hosted Saturday afternoon meetings of the Nabis in their apartment in the Boulevard du Montparnasse, jokingly referred to as ‘Le Temple’. Ranson acted as linchpin for the sometimes dispersed group. Noted for his enthusiasm and wit and for his keen interests in philosophy, theosophy and theatre, he brought an element of esoteric ritual to their activities. For example he introduced the secret Nabi language and the nicknames used familiarly within the group. He also constructed a puppet theatre in his studio for which he wrote plays that were performed by the Nabis before a discerning public of writers and politicians.
 

Ranson’s work showed a consistent commitment to the decorative arts: Like Maillol he made designs for tapestry, some of which were executed by his wife. His linear, sinuous style, seen in works such as “Woman Standing beside a Balustrade with a Poodle”, had strong affinities with Japanese prints and with contemporary developments in Art Nouveau design; it was a style suited to a variety of media, stained glass, lithography, ceramics or tapestry.
 

Ranson tended to favour exotic, symbolic or quasi-religious motifs rather than subjects observed from nature. In his Nabi Landscape of 1890, for example, he sets a variety of obscure feminine symbols within a fantasy landscape. After his early death in 1909 his wife continued to run the Académie Ranson, which they had opened in 1908 to disseminate Nabi aesthetic ideas and techniques to a younger generation. Teaching was undertaken on a voluntary basis by other Nabis, especially Denis and Sérusier.
 

The work above is “A Clearing at the Edge of the Forest” (1895). The strong decorative elements of the work show a kinship to the sinuous forms of Art Nouveau and its colours are similar to Gauguin’s palette, and contain the seeds of Fauvism. The painting also shows a relationship to Japanese prints with the gradations of colour in sky and background behind the yellow trees that show an almost abstract silhouette, against which the trees of the foreground are placed. It is a highly satisfying work and possesses an other-worldly beauty that invites the spectator into it.

MUSIC SATURDAY - MOZART'S REQUIEM

“Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them.” - George Eliot 

For Music Saturday, the renowned W. A. Mozart, “Requiem” KV 626 performed by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Herbert von Karajan. Singers: Anna Tomowa-Sintow (Soprano); Helga Müller-Molinari (Alto); Vinson Cole (Tenor); Paata Burchuladze (Bass).
 

The Requiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer’s death on December 5. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the February 14 anniversary of his wife’s death.
 

It is one of the most enigmatic pieces of music ever composed, mostly because of the myths and controversies surrounding it, especially around how much of the piece was completed by Mozart before his death. The autograph manuscript shows the finished and orchestrated introit in Mozart’s hand, as well as detailed drafts of the Kyrie and the sequence Dies Irae as far as the first nine bars of “Lacrimosa”, and the offertory.
 

It cannot be shown to what extent Süssmayr may have depended on now lost “scraps of paper” for the remainder; he later claimed the Sanctus and Agnus Dei as his own. Walsegg probably intended to pass the Requiem off as his own composition, as he is known to have done with other works. This plan was frustrated by a public benefit performance for Mozart’s widow Constanze. A modern contribution to the mythology is Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play Amadeus, in which the mysterious messenger with the commission is the masked Antonio Salieri who intends to claim authorship for himself.
 

The Requiem is scored for 2 basset horns in F, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets in D, 3 trombones (alto, tenor & bass), timpani (2 drums), violins, viola and basso continuo (cello, double bass, and organ). The vocal forces include soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass soloists and a SATB mixed choir.

FOOD FRIDAY - SUMMER SALAD

“Life lesson: Don’t shake the bottle of salad dressing until you’ve made sure that the top is closed.” - Steve Carell
 

We are at the height of Summer now and we are experiencing some very hot days. While we enjoy eating salads year-round, in Summer they are an absolute necessity, making a full meal in themselves or accompanying something more substantial. While our garden is primarily a flower garden, there are many herbs and a few seasonal vegetables always growing here and there amongst the flowers. It is always a pleasure to be able to take a few fresh-picked vegetables and herbs and make a salad according to the bounty of the season.
 

SUMMER SALAD
Ingredients
 

4 small ripe tomatoes
2 Lebanese (small) cucumbers
A handful of tender New Zealand spinach tops
A bunch of tender purslane tops
3 small carrots
2 Spring onions, chopped
Some fresh thyme
A few sprigs of parsley
A few sprigs of dill
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
salt, pepper
1 lemon, juiced
olive oil
vinegar
 

Method
Dice the tomatoes, peel and slice the cucumbers and peel and grate the carrots finely. Mix all together in a salad bowl. Wash well the spinach, purslane and herbs. Chop the greens roughly and add to the salad. Chop finely the herbs, Spring onions and add to the salad. Mix together the mustard, seasonings, lemon juice a dash of vinegar and some olive oil. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKEN

“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” - Doug Larson
 

In English, poor spelling can confound meaning and perplex the reader. The reason for this is that so many words are the same or very similar in sound but spelt differently (=homophones: cf - “They’re to “their” to “there”).
 

Just to complicate matters slightly, there are also homonyms, which are spelt the same and pronounced the same, but have different meaning: “Pole” as in electric light pole cf to “Pole” – someone from Poland. Homographs are written the same way but pronounced differently – “Polish” as in “shine” cf to “Polish” as from Poland…
 

Other words for one or another reason are confused by users and they can make the reading of a document onerous or funny, or simply inelegant. As an example of some commonly misused words, consider:

• This drug will *effect* a quick cure, but will *affect* your liver adversely.
• The *brake* fluid leaked out and caused the cable to *break*.
• *By* the way, when you go to say *bye* to aunt Stella, stop *by*and *buy* some milk.
• When you *allot* the paperwork, make sure that Barbara doesn’t have *a lot* to do, she is still recovering from her hand injury.
• The grandest *capitol* is surely in the national *capital*.
• He looked at the weather *vane* and saw the West wind had started to blow, but he could feel it too as the blood rushed in his *veins*. Now all was in *vain*, he had to stop working.
• When you finally catch *sight* of the *site* that is being built illegally, don’t forget to ring me and *cite* the offenders.
• Go *forth* and be the first! Not the second or the third or the *fourth*, the very first!
• He made an *allusion* to artist’s fine technique that created an *illusion* of three-dimensional space on his canvas.
• If you have *loose* knot on that anchor, you are likely to *lose* it in the bottom of the sea.
• He had to *alter* the plans for the *altar* of the church as there was not enough space to build it.
• *Two* of them had gone back *to* see the principal, *too*.
• *Quite* a few people had *quit* their jobs at the office, which explained why it was so *quiet* that morning.
• *Where* did you put those shoes that *were* on the chair, I wanted to *wear* them.
• *They’re* here, in *their* place - I didn’t want them to be *there* in plain view.
• The *plane* flew over the flood *plain* by the Mississippi river.
• *Lie* here close to me and you can see the hen *lay* her eggs.
• He is a habitual liar, so it’s no surprise he *lied* to you about the treacherous plans he *laid*.
• Yesterday, I *lay* down a little in the afternoon as I was tired. I shall probably *lie* down again today.
• The hen *laid* ten eggs, but he *lied* and said it laid five.
• Other words for one or another reason are confused by users and they can make the reading of a document onerous or funny, or simply inelegant. As an example of some commonly misused words, consider:

FRANCIS, FREDERICK, IGNATIUS

“Poetry is a way of taking life by the throat.” - Robert Frost
 

January 29 is for Roman Catholics St Francis de Sales’ Feast Day, while the Greek Orthodox faith celebrates the Removal of the Relics of Ignatius the God-bearer (Ignatius of Antioch).
 

It is the anniversary of the birth of:
Daniel Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (1700);
Thomas Paine, writer (1737);
William McKinley, 25th president (1897-1901) of the USA (1843);
Anton Chekhov, writer (1860);
Frederick Delius, English composer (1862);
Romain Rolland, French writer (1866);
Vicente Blasco Ibàñez, Spanish novelist (1867);
W. C. Fields (William Claude Dukinfield), comedian (1879);
Ernst Lubitsch, film-maker (1892);
Victor Mature, US actor (1915);
Paddy (Sidney) Chayevsky, writer (1923);
Abdus Salam, Pakistani physicist (1926);
Leslie Bricuse, composer (1931);
Sacha Distel, French singer/songwriter (1933);
Germaine Greer, feminist (1939);
Katherine Ross, actress (1943);
Tom Selleck, actor (1945);
Greg E. Louganis, diver, Olympic medal winner (1960);
Athena Onassis, Greek heiress (1985).
 

Begonia, Begonia semperflorens, is the birthday flower for today.  The genus is named in honour of the 17th century Governor of French Canada, Michel Bégon.  Semperflorens means that it is ever flowering, a good description for these freely blooming perennials originally from Brazil.  The plant symbolises dark thoughts.
 

Francis de Sales (21 August 1567 – 28 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honoured as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God.
 

Ignatius of Antioch (Ancient Greek: Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, also known as Theophorus from Greek Θεοφόρος “God-bearer”) was born about 42 AD and died about 105 AD) was among the Apostolic Fathers. He was the third Bishop of Antioch, and was a student of John the Apostle. En route to Rome, where according to Christian tradition he met his martyrdom by being fed to wild beasts, he wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an example of very early Christian theology. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.
 

Frederick Delius (1862–1934) was an English composer of German parentage. He was influenced by Grieg and combined romanticism and impressionism in music characterized by a loose structure and richness in chromatic harmony. His best-known works include “Brigg Fair” (1907), “On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring” (1912), and “North Country Sketches” (1914). His operas include “A Village Romeo and Juliet” (1907). Here is "A Song of Summer":

On this day, the following notables died:
In 1119, Gelasius II (John of Gaeta), Pope of Rome.  George III, king of England in 1820 in London on this day. At that time he was the longest reigning (59 years) and longest lived (81 years) English monarch. Edward Lear, British poet and illustrator in 1888. Alfred Sisley, French artist in 1899. H.L. Mencken, US man of letters in 1956. Fritz Kreisler, the Austrian violinist in 1962. Robert Frost, US poet in 1963. Jimmy Durante US actor in 1980.

WHERE I'M AT

“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well…”

'The Little Prince' – Antoine de St Exupéry
 
Poetry Jam this week has suggested that we write about where we live, where we are at, telling something that people may not know. I live in Australia, the Great Land Downunder, the island continent!
 
Occupying the entire continent of some 7.6 million square kilometres, Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. Its ocean territory is the world’s third largest, spanning three oceans and covering around 12 million square kilometres. Nearly seven million square kilometres, or 91 per cent of Australia, is covered by native vegetation. Although this figure may seem high, many of Australia’s desert landscapes are covered by native plants such as saltbush, albeit sparsely.
 
Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with the least amount of water in rivers, the lowest run-off and the smallest area of permanent wetlands of all the continents. One third of the continent produces almost no run-off at all and Australia’s rainfall and stream-flow are the most variable in the world.
 
Human activity continues to exert pressure on the environment, land as well as marine. Pollution is the most serious problem and the vast majority of marine pollution is caused by land based activities—soil erosion, fertiliser use, intensive animal production, sewage and other urban industrial discharges.
 
Here is my poem about one of Australia’s perennial enemies – drought. Especially relevant as we are in the midst of a hot and dry Summer.
 
The Iron Sunflower
 
The sun bakes the red earth
And sky above is blue as blue bottles can be
With light streaming through them.
 
Drought, and the only noise of midsummer noon,
Is the hum of the machine and the smell of diesel
As water is pumped from deep secret caverns, below.
 
The bluebottle fly buzzes lazily, imitating the pump,
Sated on her feast of rotten thirsty carcass,
With her eggs safely secreted therein.
 
The listless children drone in the schoolhouse,
Overcome by heat, repeating by rote the lesson in chorus
Reminiscent of a dirge of Greek tragedy.
 
The precious water, hard-won by efforts of man and machine
Is stored, as treasured things are, safely locked up,
In corrugated iron tank, not to be wasted on useless things – like flowers.
 
The head of one of past seasons’ large sunflowers
With a few black, shiny seeds hangs up deep in the dark recesses of the shed,
Strung up high, safe from rodents and birds, a sad souvenir of old times.
 
The sun bakes the earth and cracks it, breaks its spirit:
No touch of green, no sunflowers this year,
And the wind blows, only to lift great clouds of red dust.
 
Fallen by the wayside an old mill-head rusts away mirroring the dusty soil.
Its sails are petals of an iron sunflower – the only flower this year.
As the monotony of the pump numbs the ear,
And the stench of petrol deadens the nose,
The rusting iron flower is a reminder of gentler times,
When machines were driven by wind, and their creaks were musical
And the air carried only the faint smell of fresh sunflowers –
Water could be spared then for useless things…

MOVIE MONDAY - GIRDAP

“Surely the hypocrites strive to deceive Allah. He shall retaliate by deceiving them.” – Qur’an 4:142
 

We watched quite an interesting Turkish film at the weekend. It was the 2008 Talip Karamahmutoglu movie “Girdap”(meaning “Whirlpool”), starring Rahman Altin, Ufuk Bayraktar and Ozan Bilen. The film was essentially a morality tale highlighting some of the problems arising out of religious fundamentalism in secular political systems. It may be worthwhile to put the action of the film in perspective by considering firstly, the politics and religion of Turkey.
 

The political system of Turkey is a strictly secular parliamentary representative sytem operating in a democratic republic. The Prime Minister of Turkey is the head of government, and the head of the ruling party in a multi-party system. The President of Turkey is the head of state who holds a largely ceremonial role but with substantial reserve powers. Turkey’s political system is based on a separation of powers. Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
 

As a secular state, Turkey has no official state religion with the Turkish Constitution providing for freedom of religion and conscience. Nevertheless, Islam is the dominant religion of Turkey, exceeding 99% if secular people of Muslim background are included. The most popular sect is the Hanafite school of Sunni Islam. The highest Islamic religious authority is the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Turkish: Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı), it interprets the Hanafi school of law, and is responsible for regulating the operation of the country's 80,000 registered mosques and employing local and provincial imams. Academics suggest the Alevi population may be from 15 to 20 million. According to Aksiyon magazine, the number of Shiite Twelvers (excluding Alevis) is 3 million (4.2%). There are also some Sufi practitioners.
 

According to the KONDA Research and Consultancy survey carried out throughout Turkey in 2007: 9.7% defined themselves as “a fully devout person fulfilling all religious obligations” (fully devout); 52.8% defined themselves as “a religious person who strives to fulfil religious obligations” (religious); 34.3% defined themselves as “a believer who does not fulfil religious obligations” (believer); 2.3% defined themselves as “someone who does not believe in religious obligations” (non-believer/agnostic); and 0.9% defined themselves as “someone with no religious conviction” (atheist).
 

The plot of the film centres on Umut (Ozan Bilen), a young man in his twenties, who is accepted to study economics in Istanbul University. When he moves to Istanbul he needs to find accommodation and through a billboard at his University’s café finds two flatmates and a flat. Umut is the son of a middle class Turkish family from a provincial city, who at the very beginning of his university days has an apolitical view of the world and is relatively non-religious. The film traces his transformation to a staunch believer and his increasing politicisation.
 

Umut and his other two flatmates experience some supernatural events in the flat that they live in. Ideed, initially one may be misled into thinking that this is going to be a supernatural horror story. These supernatural experiences cause Umut to be drawn towards Islam and the neighbourhood Hodja (spiritual leader) as a way of finding answers. Umut discovers religion and enjoys this new life style of Islam, joining Friday prayers in the mosque and discussing religion with his fellows and spiritual leaders. Everything goes well for him, but stress develops in his relationship with a fellow student who finds it difficult to accept Umut’s change and the new way he wants structure their relationship.
 

His new life brings new friends and a completely new environment, which push him towards a more political religious view of the world; as a result of this, Umut’s religious life is not just limited by the Qu’ran or pure religious requirements, but rather he becomes politicised and changes to an Islamic fundamentalist. This transformation into a fanatic forces Umut to extreme behaviour and a causes a complete upheaval in his life with tragic consequences.
 

The film is a well-made cautionary tale, albeit of a moralistic tone, which nevertheless manages to drive home the point of the dangers naïve young men face when proselytised by fanatics of any sort. The story is well constructed and all events are explained in the end, even the seemingly irrelevant ones. We enjoyed watching this movie and we were interested in the way that it portrayed the relationship between religion and politics in Turkey.

AUSTRALIA DAY ART - ARTHUR STREETON

“Australia is a nation of compassion. Courage and compassion. And the third of these great values: resilience.” - Kevin Rudd
 
As it is Australia Day today, Art Sunday is devoted to an Australian artist. Arthur Streeton was born on the 8th April 1867, at Mt Duneed, Victoria, Australia. Streeton is one of Australia’s best known landscape painters and member of the ‘Heidelberg school’. He studied at the National Gallery School from 1884 to 1887. He was apprenticed as a lithographer with Troedel and Cooper, Melbourne, until 1888 when he left to take up painting full-time.
 
During the 1880s Streeton was one of a group of young Australian artists who took up the French tradition of painting outdoors. He produced direct works that were believed to capture the distinctive qualities of the Australian sunlight. Later paintings created images of Australia that were widely regarded as embodying the essence of national character.
 
Anxious for success overseas, Streeton left Australia for Europe in 1897. When the First World War broke out he was living in London. Since he was too old for military service he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps and worked as an orderly at the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth, alongside other Australian artists, including Tom Roberts, A. Henry Fullwood and George Coates.
 
After his discharge as medically unfit, Streeton lobbied for the establishment of an Australian war art scheme. He was offered a commission by the Canadian government but declined, preferring to work for Australia. He was appointed an official war artist in May 1918, sent to France and attached to the 2nd Division AIF.
 
Streeton worked mostly around the Somme battlefields until mid-August 1918, when he returned to London. His drawings, watercolours and paintings show the AIF headquarters at St Gratien, Glisy and Heilly, the dressing stations at Villers-Bretonneaux, landscape studies and scenes of wrecked machinery. In October and November Streeton returned to France, again with the 2nd Division. This time his works concentrated on the destruction around Peronne.
 
Back in London, Streeton completed his contract as an official war artist with The Somme valley near Corbie, a large landscape showing the opening stages of the third battle of the Somme. With a peaceful rural landscape dominating the foreground and an artillery barrage set in the far distance, the painting embodies Streeton’s observation, (in a letter to Sir Baldwin Spencer) that: “True pictures of Battlefields are very quiet looking things. There's nothing much to be seen - everybody & thing is hidden & camouflaged - it is only in the Illustrated papers one gets a real idea of Battle as it occurs in the mind of the man whose never been there”.
 
Streeton returned to Australia in 1920, a famous and popular artist. He made painting trips to many Australian sites and in 1928 was awarded the Wynne prize for landscape for “Afternoon Light: the Goulburn Valley”. In his later years Streeton became a national institution. He continued to paint sunny, pastoral landscapes, but many were mannered, fluent and facile, and devoid of the inspiration of his radical early work. Leading critics, particularly J. S. MacDonald and Lionel Lindsay, extolled his art which (with that of Roberts and McCubbin) was to some extent appropriated by the art establishment in the cause of a conservative, isolationist nationalism. Most responded to the optimism of Streeton’s romantic blue and gold vision of a pastoral Australia. He was knighted for his services to art in 1937 and died at Olinda, Victoria, on September 1st, 1943.
 

The painting above, painted in 1895, is: “Sunlight (Cutting on a hot road)” - oil on canvas (Height: 305 mm; Width: 458 mm; National Gallery of Australia.

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Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Celebrated annually on 26 January, it marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, and raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip. In contemporary Australia, celebrations reflect the diverse society and landscape of the nation, and are marked by community and family events, reflections on Australian history, official community awards, and citizenship ceremonies welcoming new immigrants into the Australian community.

The meaning and significance of Australia Day have evolved over time. Unofficially, or historically, the date has also been variously named “Anniversary Day”, “Invasion Day”, “Foundation Day”, and “ANA Day”. 26 January 1788 marked the proclamation of British sovereignty over the eastern seaboard of Australia (then known as New Holland). Although it was not known as Australia Day until over a century later, records of celebrations on 26 January date back to 1808, with the first official celebration of the formation of New South Wales held in 1818.
 

On New Years Day 1901, the British colonies of Australia formed a Federation, marking the birth of modern Australia. A national day of unity and celebration was looked for. It was not until 1935 that all Australian states and territories had adopted use of the term "Australia Day" to mark the date, and not until 1994 that the date was consistently marked by a public holiday on that day by all states and territories.
 

In contemporary Australia, the holiday is marked by the presentation of the Australian of the Year Awards on Australia Day Eve, announcement of the Australia Day Honours list and addresses from the Governor-General and Prime Minister. It is an official public holiday in every state and territory of Australia, unless it falls on a weekend in which case the following Monday is a public holiday instead. With community festivals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies, the day is celebrated in large and small communities and cities around the nation. Australia Day has become the biggest annual civic event in Australia.

MUSIC SATURDAY - VIVALDI'S CELLO CONCERTOS

“When I started learning the cello, I fell in love with the instrument because it seemed like a voice - my voice.” - Mstislav Rostropovich
 
For Music Saturday, the complete Cello Concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Ofra Hanoy and the Toronto Chamber Orchestra.
 
They are the following concertos:

Concerto for Cello, RV 405 in D minor

Concerto for Cello, RV 401 in C minor 10:23

Concerto for Cello, RV 423 in B-flat 22:34

Concerto for Cello, RV 399 in C 32:45

Concerto for Cello and Bassoon, RV 409 in E minor 41:18

Concerto Movement for Cello, RV 538 in D minor 50:15

Concerto for Cello, RV 403 in D 53:51

Concerto for Cello, RV 424 in B minor 1:02:23

Concerto for Cello, RV 422 in A minor 1:12:32

Concerto for Cello, RV 402 in C minor 1:23:54

Concerto for Cello, RV 412 in F 1:34:20

Concerto for Cello, RV 414 in G 1:43:18

Concerto for Cello, RV406 in D minor 1:56:58

Concerto for Cello, RV 411 in F 2:07:16

Concerto for Cello, RV 404 in D 2:13:47

Concerto for Cello, RV 420 in A Minor 2:21:29

Concerto for Cello, RV 407 in D Minor 2:34:31

Concerto for Cello, RV 417 in G Minor 2:44:38

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, RV 544 in F 2:55:07

Concerto for Cello, RV 418 in A-Minor 3:06:21

Concerto for Cello, RV 408 in E-Flat 3:17:46

Concerto for Cello, RV 416 in G Minor 3:28:58

Concerto for Cello, RV 419 in A Minor 3:38:44

Concerto for Cello, RV 413 in G 3:48:03

Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, RV 547 in B-Flat 3:59:09

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso (“The Red Priest”) because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, Catholic priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognised as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over forty operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as "The Four Seasons".
 

Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi had been employed from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna, hoping for preferment. However, the Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival and Vivaldi himself died less than a year later.
 

Though Vivaldi’s music was well received during his lifetime, it later declined in popularity until its vigorous revival in the first half of the 20th century. Today, Vivaldi ranks among the most popular and widely recorded of Baroque composers, second only to Johann Sebastian Bach.

FOOD FRIDAY - CAMEMBERT OMELETTE

“I’d like an omelette named after me.” - Rufus Sewell
 

When I lived in Europe I often had this omelette for breakfast in the Winter as it was a good start for the cold day ahead and tided me over till the substantial lunch I used to have. Then dinner was very light, some yoghurt or fruit.
 

CAMEMBERT OMELETTE
 

Ingredients
3 eggs
60 g (more or less) of butter
3/4 of a cup of condensed milk
2 tablespoonfuls of water
Salt, pepper
Pinch of curry powder (optional)
Pinch of nutmeg
Dill, oregano, mixed herbs to taste
Several slices of camembert cheese at room temperature
A slice or two of brown bread
 

Method
Beat the eggs with the milk, water, herbs and spices.  Melt the butter in a flat omelette skillet and heat until it is sizzling and turning brown.  Fry both sides of the bread in the butter until golden. Put the bread on a plate and add some more butter to the pan if there is not enough there to cook the omelette.
 

Cook the egg mixture well in the pan, turning over once.  Put the cheese on the surface of the omelette and heat gently to melt it (can be done as a last step in the microwave oven directly in the serving dish).  Put the omelette on top of the fried bread and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,

and also part of the Food Trip Friday meme.

THE WORLD OF THE ANCIENT GREEKS

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.” - Norman Vincent Peale
 
The ancient Greek poets believed the earth to be flat and circular, their own country occupying the middle of it, the central point being either Mount Olympus, the abode of the gods, or Delphi, so famous for its oracle. Delphi, in fact, was the place where the “Omphalos” (= “navel”) stone was housed. Most accounts locate the Omphalos in the holy of holies of the temple near the seer, Pythia. The stone itself is in the Delphi museum and has a carving of a knotted net covering its surface, and a hollow center, which widens towards its base.
 
The circular disk of the earth was crossed from west to east, and divided into two equal parts by the sea, as they called the Mediterranean, and its continuation the Euxine Pontus (Black Sea). Around the disk of the earth flowed the River Oceanus, its course being from south to north on the western side of the earth, and in a contrary direction on the eastern side.  It flowed in a steady, equable current, unvexed by storm or tempest.  The sea, and all the rivers on earth, received their waters from this great and wide “river”.
 
The northern portion of the earth was supposed to be inhabited by a happy race named the Hyperboreans (this word meaning “those who live beyond the north” from the word “hyper”, =beyond, and “boreas”, =the north wind). These people lived in everlasting bliss and eternal Spring, beyond lofty mountains whose caverns were supposed to send forth the piercing blasts of the north wind, which chilled the people of Hellas (Greece).  The Hyperboreans’ country was inaccessible by land or sea. They lived exempt from disease or old age, from toils and warfare.
 
On the south side of the earth, close to the stream of Oceanus, dwelt a people as happy and virtuous as the Hyperboreans.  They were named the Aethiopians.  The gods favoured them so highly that they were wont to leave at times their Olympian abodes, and go to share their sacrifices and banquets.
 
On the western margin of the earth, by the river of Oceanus, lay a happy place named the Elysian Plain, where mortals favoured by the gods were transported without tasting of death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss.  This happy region was also called the “Fortunate Fields”, and the “Isles of the Blessed”.
 
These very old myths point out that early ancient Greeks knew very little of any real people living far away from them, except those to the immediate east and south of their own country, or near the coast of the Mediterranean.  Their imagination peopled the western portion of this sea with giants, monsters, and enchantresses. They placed around the disk of the earth, which they probably regarded as of no great width, nations enjoying great favour of the gods, and blessed with happiness and longevity.

POETRY JAM - CLOUDS

“Shining through tears, like April suns in showers, that labour to overcome the cloud that loads 'em.” - Thomas Otway
 
Poetry Jam this week has given us the theme of clouds as a means of stimulating creative literary endeavours. Here is my poem:
 
Winter Song
 
The song of parting Winter is a dirge
Murmured by bitter mouths through pursed lips;
The first Spring days mourn, bedecked in black,
Under grey cloudy skies, murky with free flowing tears.
 
As days dilate, the night is slowly strangled,
Sunlight lingers on palely, lengthening twilight time.
A hesitant warmth pervades the bony leafless twigs
And I can hear the sap begin to flow anew.
 
The first few flowers blooming snowy white
Adorn the corpse of Winter, deathly cold,
While clouds dark and brooding are loath to go,
With pale petals scattering in persistent drizzles.

ST AGNES & THE VIRGIN OF ALTAGRACIA

“Drunkenness is simply voluntary insanity.” - Seneca
 

January 21st is Altagracia Day in the Dominican Republic. This is a day commemorating “Our Lady of Altagracia”, patronal image and protector of the people of the Dominican Republic. It is a Feast Day and annual public holiday. “Our Lady of Altagracia” is a devotional image of the Virgin Mary painted in the 16th century, to depict the patron saint of the Dominican Republic. The portrait is kept in The Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia in the city of Salvaleón de Higüey. The festival was originally held on August 15, but was moved to January 21 to celebrate victory over the French in 1690.
 

Today is the anniversary of the birth of:
John Batman, Melbourne City founder (1801);
John Charles Fremont, explorer (1813);
Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general (1824);
Oscar II, Swedish/Norwegian king (1829);
Henri Duparc, composer/painter/writer (1848);
R. Irwin, talking books pioneer (1892);
Cristóbal Balenciaga, fashion designer (1895);
Christian Dior, fashion designer (1905);
Igor Moiseyev, ballet master (1906);
Paul Scofield, actor (1922);
Benny Hill, comedian (1925);
Telly (Aristotle) Savalas, actor (1925);
Steve Reeves, actor (1926);
Jack (William) Nicklaus, golfer (1940);
Placido Domingo, tenor (1941);
Martin Shaw, actor (1945);
Geena Davis, actress (1957).
 

The birthday plant for this day is Artemisia abrotanum, southernwood.  It is also known as lad’s love, maiden’s ruin and old man’s tree.  The herb is named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and the hunt.  The plant was credited with aphrodisiac properties, hence the alternative common names.  In order to “provoke men to multiplying of their kind”, the plant was placed under their pillows.  Southernwood was a strewing herb and also was included in posies, both due to the aromatic smell of the plant.  The herb symbolises jest and bantering. Astrologically, it is under the dominion of Mercury.
 

Today is also the Feast Day of St Agnes, who is the patron saint of young virgins and her name in Greek means “pure”.  The Christmas rose, Helleborus niger, is dedicated to St Agnes. She was martyred at the age of thirteen in third century Rome for refusing to renounce Christianity. Young girls in England made cakes on this day to commemorate her martyrdom. In some villages, once the cakes were made, the young women took one and climbing the stairs backwards, prayed to St Agnes then eating the cake. This ritual was meant to reveal in a dream the man the young woman was to marry.
 

Died on this day in 1118, Paschal II (Rainerius), Pope of Rome. On this day in 1793, Louis XVI, king of France was guillotined after having been found guilty of treason. His wife, Marie Antoinette would suffer the same fate on the 16th of October 1793. Also dying on this day: Lenin, the famous Russian revolutionary in 1924; George Orwell, the English novelist of Animal Farm fame, in 1950; Cecil B(lount) de Mille, film-maker, in 1959.

MOVIE MONDAY - MOONRISE KINGDOM

“Distance not only gives nostalgia, but perspective, and maybe objectivity.” - Robert Morgan
 
A few days ago we watched an enjoyable and rather quirky film, Wes Anderson’s 2012 “Moonrise Kingdom” starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton and Frances McDormand. Essentially a coming of age film, it is also a nostalgic look backward to more innocent times and in its way is also a statement on the problems faced by children who are or feel neglected.
 
The film is set on an island off the coast of New England in 1965, in September, as a severe storm approaches. At an island camp, a Khaki Scout has gone missing. It is 12-year-old Sam, 12 (Gilman), a bespectacled misfit and an orphan. Ward (Norton), his enthusiastic scoutmaster, organises a search after calling Captain Sharp (Willis), the local policeman. Sam is running away with Suzy (Hayward), his pen pal. She is the taciturn oldest child in a quirky and unhappy household of two lawyers (Murray and McDormand, the latter having an affair with Sharp).
 
Sam and Suzy are well-organised and camp in the great outdoors, but need to sort through their own issues. They nevertheless manage to stay a step ahead of the searchers, while the storm gets closer. Social Services is called in and the representative (Swinton) suggests Sam may need electroshock therapy and afterwards to be confined in an orphanage. Various factions of the town mobilise to search for the missing children and the town is turned upside down, which might not be such a bad thing.
 
The film is a tender and nostalgic love story. As the screenplay is written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, I suspect that it may be a little autobiographical, once again influenced (as is evident in some of his other films) by the sixties of Anderson’s youth. This film has a superficial childlike innocence and simplicity, but it treats the problems of childhood and puberty with candour and seriousness. The result is an accurate and deeply heartfelt memoir.
 
The two children play their roles wonderfully and Gilman especially, does a sterling job in bringing the wayward Sam to life. Bruce Willis as the policeman and the parents of Suzy (Bill Murray and Frances McDormand) play in an understated manner that supports the main story very well, but at the same time allows the subplot of the unlikely torrid love affair to work its humour through. Edward Norton who plays the dorky scout master is fantastic and Tilda Swinton as “Social Services” has a lot of fun with her brief, villainous role.
 
The film is quietly humorous, whimsical and almost like a modern-day (well, sixties…) fairy tale. There seems to be some affinity with Anderson’s “The Royal Tennenbaums”, but also dwells on a nostalgic view of the past and achieves a certain haunting beauty as the tale develops and concludes. We enjoyed it greatly and would recommend it highly. It is good to keep in mind, however, that the film polarised critics and public, with some viewers detesting it with a vengeance. Wes Anderson does have that effect on the viewing public.

ART SUNDAY - PAUL CEZANNE

“When I judge art, I take my painting and put it next to a God made object like a tree or flower. If it clashes, it is not art.” - Paul Cezanne
 
The French painter Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), who exhibited little in his lifetime and pursued his interests increasingly in artistic isolation, is regarded today as one of the great forerunners of modern painting, both for the way that he evolved of putting down on canvas exactly what his eye saw in nature and for the qualities of pictorial form that he achieved through a unique treatment of space, mass, and colour. Cézanne was a contemporary of the impressionists, but he went beyond their interests in the individual brushstroke and the fall of light onto objects, to create, in his words, “something more solid and durable, like the art of the museums.”
 
Cézanne was born at Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on January 19, 1839. He went to school in Aix, forming a close friendship with the novelist Emile Zola. He also studied law there from 1859 to 1861, but at the same time he continued attending drawing classes. Against the implacable resistance of his father, he made up his mind that he wanted to paint and in 1861 joined Zola in Paris. His father’s reluctant consent at that time brought him financial support and, later, a large inheritance on which he could live without difficulty. In Paris he met Camille Pissarro and came to know others of the impressionist group, with whom he would exhibit in 1874 and 1877. Cézanne, however, remained an outsider to their circle; from 1864 to 1869 he submitted his work to the official Salon and saw it consistently rejected.
 
His paintings of 1865-70 form what is usually called his early “romantic” period. Extremely personal in character, these works deal with bizarre subjects of violence and fantasy in harsh, sombre colors and extremely heavy paintwork. Thereafter, as Cézanne rejected that kind of approach and worked his way out of the obsessions underlying it, his art is conveniently divided into three phases. In the early 1870s, through a mutually helpful association with Pissarro, with whom he painted outside Paris at Auvers, he assimilated the principles of colour and lighting of Impressionism and loosened up his brushwork; yet he retained his own sense of mass and the interaction of planes, as in “House of the Hanged Man” (1873; Musee d’Orsay, Paris).
 
In the late 1870s Cézanne entered the phase known as “constructive”, characterised by the grouping of parallel, hatched brushstrokes in formations that build up a sense of mass in themselves. He continued in this style until the early 1890s, when, in his series of paintings titled “Card Players” (1890-92), the upward curvature of the players’ backs creates a sense of architectural solidity and thrust, and the intervals between figures and objects have the appearance of live cells of space and atmosphere.
 
Finally, living as a solitary in Aix rather than alternating between the south and Paris, Cézanne moved into his late phase. Now he concentrated on a few basic subjects: Still lifes of studio objects built around such recurring elements as apples, statuary, and tablecloths; studies of bathers, based upon the male model and drawing upon a combination of memory, earlier studies, and sources in the art of the past; and successive views of the Mont Sainte-Victoire, a nearby landmark, painted from his studio looking across the intervening valley. The landscapes of the final years, much affected by Cézanne’s contemporaneous practice in watercolor, have a more transparent and unfinished look, while the last figure paintings are at once more somber and spiritual in mood.
 
By the time of his death on Oct. 22, 1906, Cézanne’s art had begun to be shown and seen across Europe, and it became a fundamental influence on the Fauves, the cubists, and virtually all advanced art of the early 20th century. Apparently, Cézanne was not an easy man to love, but professors and painters adore him. Art critics lavish him with superlatives, including “a prophet of the 20th century”, “the most sensitive painter of his time”, “the greatest artist of the 19th century”, and “the father of modern art”. But he’s not quite a household name, and his posters have never been best-sellers at museum shops around the world. In fact, most non-professionals wouldn’t stand a chance of recognising a Cézanne unless it was clearly labelled. Even then, there’s no guarantee of popular appeal…
 
The painting above is “The Card Players”, 1890–92, exhibited in the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is the largest version and is the most complex, with five figures on a 134.6 x 180.3 cm canvas. It features three card players at the forefront, seated in a semi-circle at a table, with two spectators behind. On the right side of the painting, seated behind the second man and to the right of the third, is a boy, eyes cast downward, also a fixed spectator of the game. Further back, on the left side between the first and second player is a man standing, back to the wall, smoking a pipe and presumably awaiting his turn at the table.
 
It has been speculated Cézanne added the standing man to provide depth to the painting, as well as to draw the eye to the upper portion of the canvas. As with the other versions, it displays a suppressed storytelling of peasant men in loose-fitting garments with natural poses focused entirely on their game. Writer Nicholas Wadley described a “tension in opposites”, in which elements such as shifts of colour, light and shadow, shape of hat, and crease of cloth create a story of confrontation through opposition. Others have described an “alienation” displayed in the series to be most pronounced in this version.