Tag Archives: Author

April 2, 1851~ Rama IV crowned King of Thailand

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First King of Siam in State Costume by John Thomson

1865 / Wet-plate collodion process print / 8 11/16″x6 3/4” / Various, including Wellcome Collection, London

The Real Thai Story of The King and I
https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/the-real-thai-story-of-the-king-and-i/

https://www.coinsweekly.com/en/The-King-and-Anna-and-the-monetary-reform-of-Thailand/8?&id=107&type=a
https://blogs.loc.gov/international-collections/2019/01/the-king-of-siam-speaks-rehabilitating-a-kings-image/

Previous April 2 posts:

Spring~ April 2

Clifford Berryman: Born April 2, 1869

Jan Tschichold: Born April 2, 1902

Artist Birthday Quiz for 4/2~

February 27, 1924~ Artist, author, & art historian Samella Lewis born

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Together We Stand (Poetry By Maya Angelou) by Samella Lewis

1997 / Hand embellished lithograph / 30 1/2”x37 3/4” / Various private collections

February 27, 1924: Samella Sanders Lewis, artist, art historian, author and educator, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Lewis earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hampton University in 1945 and her Master of Arts degree in 1948 and Ph. D. in 1951 from Ohio State University. She was the first African American woman to receive a doctorate in fine arts and art history. Lewis became chair of the Fine Arts Department at Florida A&M University in 1952. From 1969 to 1984, she was professor of art history at Scripps College. She founded Contemporary Crafts in 1969, the first African American owned art publishing house. Lewis founded the International Review of African American Art in 1975 and was a co-founder of the Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles, California in 1976. Lewis published “African American Art and Artists,” a history of African American art since the colonial era, in 1978. She has also published works on Elizabeth Catlett and Richmond Barthe.
https://thewright.org/index.php/explore/educational-resources/2013-11-28-11-27-37/entry/today-in-black-history-2272015

Previous February 27 posts:

February 27~ African-American visual artists

Marian Anderson: Born February 27, 1897

Elizabeth Taylor: Born February 27, 1932

Artist Birthday Quiz for 2/27~

February 8, 1828~ Author Jules Verne is born

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Illustration by N.C. Wyeth for Jules Verne’s book “The Mysterious Island”
Originally published 1874; N.C. Wyeth version first published 1918

1918 / Oil on canvas / 38 5/8”x28 3/16” / Brandywine River Museum of Art, Chadds Ford, PA

Previous February 8 posts:

February 8~ African-American visual artists

February 8~ First Opera in North America

February 8~ Chinese New Year 2016

Artist Birthday Quiz for 2/8~

February 2~ Groundhog Day

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Illustration by Arthur Rackham of woodchuck* family
for Margery Williams Bianco’s book “Poor Cecco”

Originally published 1925 / Illustrations: photomechanical color process /
175 pages / George H. Doran Company, New York

* Groundhogs are also variously referred to as woodchucks, whistle-pigs, or land-beavers

Previous February 2 posts:

February 2~ African-American visual artists

Loren MacIver: Born February 2, 1909

Artist Birthday Quiz for 2/2~

 

Self Portraits~August 25

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Early Works #25: Self-Portrait  by  Faith Ringgold

1965 / Oil on canvas / 50”x40” / Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, Brooklyn Museum

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Reflection with Two Children (Self-Portrait)  by  Lucian Freud

1965 / Oil on canvas / 35 3/4”x35 3/4” / Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid

Love & War~ May 28

Posted in Love & War by

In Flanders Field-Where Soldiers Sleep and Poppies Grow / Robert Vonnoh
1890 / Oil on canvas / 58”x104” / The Butler Institute of American Art

In Flanders Fields By John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

“In Flanders Fields” is a poem written by the Canadian army physician and poet John McCrae. He wrote it in early May 1915 in his medical aid station near Essex farm, 2 km to the north of the centre of Ypres. The poem was published on 8 December 1915. John McCrae died on 28 January 1918, while in charge of the Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne. He is buried in Wimereux cemetery (Pas-de-Calais, France).

“In Flanders Field” became popular almost immediately upon its publication. It was translated into other languages and used on billboards advertising Victory Loan Bonds in Canada. The poppy soon became known as the flower of remembrance for the men and women in Britain, France, the United States, and Canada who have died in service of their country.

^^  (Learn more by clicking on embedded hyperlinks)  ^^

The Birthplace of “In Flanders Fields”
How the poppy became the symbol of sacrifice
A Wall Of Poppies On The National Mall Honors Fallen Soldiers
Dedicate a digital poppy online:

Anna Sewell: Born March 30, 1820

Posted in Other Notable Birthdays by

sewellWhile in her fifties Sewell first devised the idea to write her own book about horses. Initially intended, as she wrote in her diary, to be an instructional work to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses little did she know it would become a best-seller. Bustling Victorian London’s society, transportation and industry was dependent on horse power, but there were also emerging vegetarian and animal anti-cruelty groups. Through the trials and tribulations of Black Beauty we see a cross-section of the working conditions and quality of life for horses.
http://www.online-literature.com/anna-sewell/

Black Beauty is widely credited with helping to change the way horses were cared for. There is little doubt that the book helped hasten the abolishment of the “bearing rein” — a strap used to pull a horse’s head in toward its chest to force the appearance of a noticeable arch of the neck. BlackBeauty(This was a highly desired look in aristocratic society, but it created great pain and difficulty for the horses. The animals could not use their neck and chest muscles to pull weigh properly or to breathe correctly. The unnatural arch weakened the horses and usually led to respiratory problems.) Black Beauty also placed a harsh spotlight on the practice of “docking” or cutting short a horses tail, largely for the sake of appearances — a practice that is still widely debated.
How ‘Black Beauty’ Changed The Way We See Horses
http://www.npr.org/2012/11/02/163971063/how-black-beauty-changed-the-way-we-see-horses

Read Black Beauty online or download the free ebook:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/271silentmovie

Free downloads of Black Beauty in Mp3 (audiobook) format.
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/125/black-beauty/