Jacob's Dream

Cheap? Maybe.

(Jusepe de Ribera, Jacob's Dream, 1639)

The Son of Man

(René Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964)

Pallas Athena

I guess I'm not as up on my Greek mythology as I should be. Why is this (extremely creepy) Athena holding a small model of, perhaps, herself? And why is that dude's face between her boozums, stickin its tung owt? Those Greeks, man. I just don't know.

(Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athena, 1898)

Winter's Tale, Act II, Scene iii

(John Opie, Winter's Tale, Act II, Scene iii, 1793)

The Raising of Lazarus; Death of Orpheus

Apologies for the lack of posting yesterday, I was sans Intarwebz! Here's two.

(Juan de Flandes, The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1500-1510)

I have decided that resurrections should make a *ding* noise from now on.

(Albrecht Dürer, Death of Orpheus, 1494)

...I'm not quite sure why there's a random babeh as the Bacchante beat Orpheus to death. And I'm not sure why he had to take his pants off before they kill him. But it forms a nice frame tale with the blossoming of life earlier in this post. Happy weekend!

Jupiter and Thetis

I must admit, I'm running a bit short on ideas at the moment...

(Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, Jupiter and Thetis, 1811)

Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches

(Théodore Chassériau, Macbeth and Banquo Meeting the Witches on the Heath, 1855)

Bonjour Monsieur Courbet

Beard duels were surprisingly common in the mid-19th century, peaking in the 1868 throwdown between politicos Rutherford B. Hayes and Friedrich Engels that catapulted them both to stardom on the Transatlantic Bearding Circuit. Despite their popularity, the violent nature of these duels led to their depiction being censored by Christian family groups and stuffy Paris Salon judges until the 1880s, by which time the craze had waned. Courbet cleverly sidestepped the strict anti-beard statutes by portraying the initial challenge which led to the infamous Normandie Bearding of 1852 that left three Frenchmen dead and a Belgian fishwife four months pregnant.

(Gustave Courbet, Bonjour Monsieur Corbet, 1854)

Girl with a Wine Glass

That guy in the back looks so bored. Haz no boozims fur inspekshun.

(Johannes Vermeer, Girl with a Wine Glass, c. 1660)

Green Stripe (Madame Matisse)

(Henri Matisse, Green Stripe, also called Madame Matisse, 1905)

Christ in the Desert

In forty days, he must have thought this at least once.

(Ivan Kramskoi, Christ in the Desert, 1872)

Satyr and Maid with Fruit Basket

Regina sends us some fancy frootwork!

(Peter Paul Rubens, Satyr and Maid with Fruit Basket, 1615)

The Premature Burial

The fact that yesterday was Easter has absolutely nothing to do this one. Nothing at all.

(Antoine Wiertz, The Premature Burial, 1854)

The Raven

(Odilon Redon, The Raven, 1882)

Gold Marilyn

Happy 100th installment of mah blog!

(Andy Warhol, Gold Marilyn, 1962)

So, frequent contributor Regina and I both made versions of Carlos Schwabe's La mort du fossoyeur, and I can't decide which one I want to post. Then it occurred to me that as the Symbolists are so much fun to mess around with, maybe this would be an excellent opportunity for a contest? I really have no idea how many people read this blog, nor how many more would want to do such a thing, but let's give it a few weeks and see what happens. The picture is thus:

(Click for a larger version.) A couple suggestions: I use Impact font for all of mine, as that seems to be kind of a standard, at least for those that make these on PCs. Some creative use of word processing programs and judicious cut-and-paste suffices for almost all of the ones you see on this site. And you can send your submissions to stoptouchtell at gmail dot com. I'll keep reminding people for a while about it, and I'm curious to see what happens. Happy macroing!

Tilla Durieux as Circe

Maybe Regina's right... the Symbolists and Pre-Raphaelites (and most of the early Renaissance/Mannerists) are just too easy. It takes considerably more thought to do a Rothko or Mondrian for these, and I think one of these weekends I have to just sit down and work on some from other schools of art. There's only so much 14th/15th/19th century one can do. Tomorrow will be the 100th friggin' picture, which is pretty cool... after that, we may have to make some changes.

In the meantime, you know what soop she's holding? Iz chikum noobulz.

(Franz von Stuck, Tilla Durieux as Circe, 1913)

Penelope and the Suitors

(John William Waterhouse, Penelope and the Suitors, 1912)

A Dream of a Girl Before Sunrise

(Karl Briullov, A Dream of a Girl Before Sunrise, 1830-1833)

The Divine Breath

On da sixf dey da LORD made sum italium quizeen an on da seveumf dey he etted it all up!

(Melchior Broederlam, Altarpiece of Jacques de Baerze, detail "The Divine Breath", 1395)

The Painter's Room

(Lucian Freud, The Painter's Room, 1944)

Girl in Blue Kimono

She just looks SO FED UP with those fish. One wonders what they did. Probably they forgot the six-month anniversary or got her a blender for Christmas or something.

(Robert Lewis Reid, Girl in Blue Kimono, 1911)