The original phrases in the poem here date back to 1597 and John Gerard’s The Herball or, Generall historie of plantes. The Herball was revised in a later publication of 1633 which is my main source document. You can see…
poem
In Service to Chocolate – A Poem
French King Louis Philippe I (1773–1850) commissioned this ornate service for his Queen Marie-Amélie (1782–1866). It was manufactured in 1836, six years after the Second French (July) Revolution (when Charles X was ousted, and Louis Philippe was proclaimed king). And…
Sweetmeats – A Poem
In earlier centuries, “sweetmeats” was a broad term encompassing a variety of sweets including cakes, puddings, candied fruit and seeds, and preserves. Samuel Pepys, in his 17th century diary, spent a nice amount of time visiting people and eating their…
Self-Taught Artist – A Poem
For women, professional art school was out of the reach until relatively recently. Painting and drawing, however, were considered basic accomplishments for the well-bred Victorian lady. If you had the money you took lessons or engaged a teacher. For a…
Cézanne’s Model – A Poem
My inspiration for this poem came from The Met description of Dish of Apples. The Met pointed out that the napkin in this painting is shaped like Mont Sante-Victorie near Aix-en-Provence in southern France. Cézanne’s father had a house in…
Blackberries – A Poem
The internet is divided on the name of the painter here. The National Gallery of Art and Christie’s call him “Carducius”, but he is referred to as “Cadurcis” here, and by the Illinois Historical Art Project. Wikipedia uses both, as…
Homestead by the Sea – A Poem
Jean-Charles Cazin (1841-1901) was a major figure in French landscape painting. I was drawn to Homestead by the Sea not just because of the peachy, dreamy atmosphere, but because it was like a story – a glimpse into this other…
Lemons – A Poem
When I was growing up, a large and very prolific lemon tree was the centrepiece of our back yard. In fact, a lot of my childhood photos seem to have that lemon tree in them. Lemon juice was used in…
Vodka – A Poem
The artist Natalia Goncharova said: “Colours have an effect on one’s psychological makeup.” In this painting Goncharova used bold Fauvist colours and curved lines to show the peasants’ joyful movement, and borrowed stylized techniques from woodcuts and iconography for the…
Baked Pears in Duane Park – A Poem
This poem was inspired by The Met Museum’s description accompanying William P. Chappel’s Baked Pears in Duane Park. Writing in the 1880s, one New Yorker fondly reminisced about the black women who stood in the streets tempting passersby with a…
Man with a Hoe – A Poem
Georges Seurat (1851-1891) was famous for developing the technique of pointillism, using tiny dots of colour, and scientific theory about colour perception, to create his gorgeous post-Impressionist paintings. There is more about Seurat here and here: “In Seurat’s method, which…
Dining Room Chair from the Speaker’s House, Palace of Westminster – A Poem
There was something so steadfast, and slightly pompous, about this dining room chair, that called for closer examination. In 1859, this chair was carved for the Speaker’s House, which was opened that same year. The House had been rebuilt after…
