For The New Year

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
1886
Tate Britain, London

Oil On Canvas
69 5/8 Inches By 61 1/2 Inches

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“Have you seen my Flora pass this way?”

“Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose.”

The lyrics of a sentimental 19th-Century parlor song provided Sargent with the title of one of his greatest masterworks.

Sargent worked on the canvas for fourteen months, always working at twilight in order to capture the precise light he needed. The painting is a technical marvel, portraying as it does both the natural light of dusk and the artificial light provided by lanterns. Only Pierre-Auguste Renoir, in both versions of his “Bal du moulin de la Galette”, was able to achieve anything comparable in blending natural and artificial light.

“Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” is almost always on display at Tate Britain, a museum notorious for keeping important paintings off-view. The painting is generally hung near or alongside the equally-riveting “Harmony In Grey And Green: Miss Cecily Alexander” by James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

It is ironic that the two greatest artists working in late-19th-Century Britain were Americans.

Both “Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose” and “Miss Cecily Alexander” were intensely criticized by the British art establishment when the paintings were new, largely because the paintings did not comport with the mawkish and colorless style favored by British painters of the period.

In the late 19th Century, British painting was as insufferably provincial as it is today—which is why one never sees Edwin Landseer, John Everett Millais or Luke Fildes paintings on museum walls outside the British Isles.

The Baillie Family

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
The Baillie Family
1784
Tate Britain, London

Oil On Canvas
100 5/16 Inches By 90 15/16 Inches

Agatha Bas

Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-1669)
Agatha Bas
1741
The Royal Collection, London

Oil On Canvas
42 3/16 Inches By 33 9/16 Inches

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One of the greatest of all Rembrandt portraits, “Agatha Bas” is another of my favorite Rembrandt works. It, too, is owned by Queen Elizabeth. The painting is generally on display in the Picture Gallery during summer openings at Buckingham Palace; I have seen it there twice.

Not one of the paintings in the Minneapolis Rembrandt exhibition was of the quality of “Agatha Bas”.

Collectibles

Sevres Porcelain Factory
Pot-pourri Vase
1759
The Royal Collection, London

Soft-paste porcelain, bleu lapis and green ground, overlaid with œil-de-perdrix and gilding
22 1/16 Inches By 15 1/8 Inches By 7 3/4 Inches

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Only twelve pot-pourri vases were produced by the Sevres Porcelain Factory—given their construction, the vases tended to collapse in the kiln—yet they were so prized and protected that ten of the twelve vases survive today.

France retains only one Sevres pot-pourri vase, which resides in the Louvre. The remaining nine are in Britain and the United States.

The most beautiful of the pot-pourri vases is the one now in The Royal Collection. The depth of its two primary colors is what lends it a unique beauty. Oddly, it is the only such vase whose artists are unknown (the painted scene is inspired by David Teniers The Younger).

Madame de Pompadour was the first owner of this particular pot-pourri vase. It was acquired for The Royal Collection by George IV, a great connoisseur of French decorative art. The vase now resides in The Green Room of Buckingham Palace, where it is the most striking object in a room filled with priceless works of art.

“Not So Much A Dwelling Place As A Battlefield”

The front exterior of Carlyle’s House, Chelsea, London.

Thomas Carlyle lived in the house from 1834 until his death in 1881.

In 1853, Carlyle added a light-filled study on the fourth floor. It was in this room that he wrote his massive six-volume biography of Frederick The Great and pondered the great questions of the day.


The study is the most interesting and most beautiful room in the house. It was intended to provide Carlyle with a quiet, peaceful, isolated space in which to contemplate and write.


The study was soundproofed insofar as possible, since Carlyle intensely disliked the strolling organ grinders that plagued the streets of London during the 19th Century. The soundproofing was not entirely successful.


Much has been written about Carlyle’s life. His marriage has attracted particular scrutiny.

In many respects, the relationship was entirely successful. However, there were significant tensions within the marriage not addressed and resolved for the duration of the union. Neither Carlyle nor his wife was a figure particularly easy to like.

Samuel Butler wrote: “It was very good of God to let Carlyle and Mrs. Carlyle marry one another, and so make only two people miserable and not four.”

Coast Scene With The Rape Of Europa

Claude Gellée (“Claude Lorrain”) (1604/1605-1682)
Coast Scene With The Rape Of Europa
1667
The Royal Collection, London

Oil On Canvas
53 13/16 Inches By 40 5/8 Inches

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This painting is the artist’s fifth and final—and finest—version of the subject.

A Page From The Luttrell Psalter

Unknown Scribes And Artists
The Luttrell Psalter: Harrowing
Completed No Later Than 1340
The British Library, London

Ink, Pigments, Silver And Gold On Vellum
14 3/8 Inches By 9 13/16 Inches

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The Luttrell Psalter, an illuminated book of psalms and canticles, was created by anonymous scribes and artists in the early 14th Century. The depictions of rural life in the margins of The Luttrell Psalter represent one of the best records of life in Britain during The Middle Ages.

The Luttrell Psalter remained in private hands for 600 years. Finally put up for sale in 1929, The Luttrell Psalter fetched an astronomical—and record—price. American financier J.P. Morgan made an interest-free loan to The British Library in order that The Luttrell Psalter join other Medieval illuminated manuscripts in the Library’s public collection.

“An Academy For Secret Police”

A view of the front exterior of The British Library. The view shows the large (and frankly unattractive) piazza through which visitors must pass in order to enter the building.

The British Library was the work of architect Colin St. John Wilson. It is the only building for which the architect is known. Wilson worked on the project for three decades, although visitors might be forgiven for thinking that the architect had devoted no more than three weeks to the design.

The British Library is a very bad building, resembling nothing so much as a medium-security prison. It reeks of the 1960s (the building opened in 1997), has an uninviting if not chilling atmosphere, and is constructed of exceedingly cheap materials. In the United States, it is very unlikely that such a bad building would ever have been built—and, if erected, would certainly have been quickly demolished.

The British Library was the largest public building erected in the United Kingdom during the 20th Century. I find it astonishing that the design passed any sort of review process.

The British Library has been praised for its architecture in a few quarters, and criticized in many others (Prince Charles took a few well-deserved public whacks at the building). Neither the building nor the architect—Wilson is now deceased—have any reputation in America.

It is for the display galleries that visitors make a trek to The British Library. The historic artifacts on view make The British Library an essential stop during any trip to London.

A Page From The Sherborne Missal

John Whas, Main Scribe
John Siferwas, Primary Artist
The Sherborne Missal: Feast Of The Assumption Of The Virgin Mary
Completed No Later Than 1507
The British Library, London

21 3/4 Inches By 15 3/8 Inches
Ink, Pigments And Gold On Vellum

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The largest and most-lavishly-decorated late Medieval service book to have survived The Reformation, The Sherborne Missal is one of the world’s great treasures. The Sherborne Missal was created between 1496 and 1507 by a host of scribes and artists working in or near Salisbury—and the names of the principal scribe and principal artist have been preserved, as they identified themselves in the book through text and art.

The Sherborne Missal is rendered in The International Gothic Style because The Renaissance was significantly late in arriving in Britain—and in no field was this as true as in the field of painting. Despite the fact that German painter Hans Holbein The Younger, a painter purely of The Renaissance, worked frequently in Britain in the early 16th Century, The Renaissance was to gain little ground in Britain until after the passing of Henry VIII in 1547. This explains why The Sherborne Missal was almost 200 years behind the artistic currents of the era in which it was created.

Despite its status as an anachronistic work, The Sherborne Missal remains a supreme work of art. It is one of the crown jewels of the rare-book collection on permanent display at The British Library.

We last saw The Sherborne Missal in September 2007.

It was Joshua’s first encounter with The Sherborne Missal.

Josh was overwhelmed.

The Adoration Of The Magi

Sebastiano Ricci (1659-1734)
The Adoration Of The Magi
1726
The Royal Collection, London

Oil On Canvas
130 5/16 Inches By 116 5/8 Inches

Georgiana, Lady Greville

George Romney (1734-1802)
Georgiana, Lady Greville
1772
Courtauld Institute Of Art, London

Oil On Canvas
30 1/2 Inches By 25 3/8 Inches

Cleopatra's Needle

The ancient Egyptian obelisk in London known as Cleopatra’s Needle.

Cleopatra’s Needle is situated in The Victoria Embankment Gardens near the banks of The Thames.

The obelisk has nothing whatsoever to do with Cleopatra. It was already 1000 years old during Cleopatra’s lifetime.

It seems as if every time we visit London we stroll through The Victoria Embankment Gardens and take another gander at Cleopatra’s Needle. Most recently, we did so in 2007, we did so in 2008, and we did so again this year.

The London obelisk’s twin is in New York’s Central Park. Both obelisks were gifted by the Egyptian government to London and New York in the 19th Century.

"The Haymakers"

George Stubbs (1724-1806)
The Haymakers
1785
Tate Britain, London

Oil On Wood
52 5/8 Inches By 35 13/16 Inches

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“The Haymakers” is one of George Stubbs’s most renowned paintings.

It is been accounted a great painting, and it has been accounted not a great painting in the least.

It is a striking, even moving, depiction of British agricultural workers during the time of The American Revolution. There is an unmistakable and quintessential British quality to the painting—the persons portrayed in the painting could never be mistaken for French, German or Italian workers—and the hallmarks of British landscape painting are all over the canvas.

Stubbs does not attempt to conceal the fact that life for these laborers was a difficult one—and yet he ennobles them in myriad ways: the canvas’s pyramid arrangement is borrowed from Italian Renaissance masters; the workers, beneath their heavy clothing, are seen in Classical pose; and the persons are dressed for Sunday Service, not for a day in the fields. Stubbs’s use of such devices has been both praised and criticized.

The central figure is shown staring from the center of the canvas, almost challenging the viewer to take in the scene and render philosophical judgment.

Unlike comparable French paintings of the period, there is no individuality in the persons depicted in “The Haymakers”. They are archetypes, not unique human beings.

“The Haymakers” is susceptible to many interpretations—it may be viewed as landscape painting or genre painting or history painting or political statement.

Great painting or mere “conversation piece”, “The Haymakers” has held a place of distinction in British art for over 200 years.

London’s Imperial War Museum

London’s Imperial War Museum, one of my favorite museums anywhere.

My middle brother and I have explored the museum and its collections exhaustively. We surely have visited the museum a dozen times.

When we last visited the museum in September 2007, my brother and I spent half a day guiding my parents and Joshua through a portion of the museum. We explored the giant atrium, where large-scale weapons and aircraft are on display, and we explored the art galleries. We also visited a large two-level special exhibition, “The Children’s War”, which examined the experiences of children during World War II. “The Children’s War” was supposed to be a temporary exhibition, but it remains on view today. It must have proved to be popular with visitors.

This year we plan to show my parents and Josh the rest of the museum. We plan to spend one entire day exploring the World War I galleries and the first half of the Holocaust exhibition. We plan to spend a second entire day exploring the World War II galleries and the second half of the Holocaust exhibition.

The two-level Holocaust exhibition is too sad to view the entire exhibition in one visit.

It is the finest Holocaust exhibition to be seen anywhere. The Holocaust exhibition at The Imperial War Museum puts the Holocaust Museum in Washington to shame.

We plan once again to see the art galleries, entirely reinstalled since 2007, and the atrium, with its giant weapons.

If we have any remaining time, we shall visit the display devoted to espionage and the exhibition room devoted to Field Marshall Montgomery. Everything else at The Imperial War Museum will be of limited interest to my parents and Josh, and we shall skip the other exhibitions, most of which are devoted to various 20th-Century British peace-keeping operations.

My mother will not object to spending two entire days at The Imperial War Museum. She will enjoy the exhibitions devoted to both World Wars, she will be moved by the Holocaust exhibition, and she will enjoy viewing the newly-installed art galleries. She also knows how much my father wants to explore the core of the museum’s collections.

Happily, The Imperial War Museum maintains an excellent restaurant. We shall be happy to have lunch in the museum restaurant both days.

Fundamental Liberties

John Singleton Copley (1737-1815)
The Collapse Of The Earl Of Chatham
In The House Of Lords 7 April 1778
1780
Tate Britain, London
Since 1968 On Loan To The National Portrait Gallery, London

Oil On Canvas
120 7/8 Inches By 89 13/16 Inches

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This grand history painting portrays the heart attack and collapse of The Earl Of Chatham (twice Prime Minister and better known as William Pitt or Pitt The Elder) during The House Of Lords’ single most important debate on the subject of The American Revolution, a debate held on April 7, 1778.

Pitt died on May 11.

The painting is an accurate depiction of the events of April 7, 1778, and is based upon numerous first-hand accounts of that fateful day. All sixty-five persons portrayed in the painting sat for Copley during the two years he worked on the canvas.

“The Collapse Of The Earl Of Chatham” was Copley’s second grand history painting, coming closely on the heels of “Watson And The Shark”. It was soon to be followed by “The Death Of Major Peirson”.

Even before The American Revolution, Chatham had urged a change in Britain’s policies toward the Colonies. An advocate of no taxation without consent, independent judges and trial by jury, Chatham had for years warned that America must be awarded fundamental liberties if it was to remain tied to Britain. Chatham had predicted a permanent rupture between Britain and America unless Britain radically changed its policies—and, further, he had foretold that America could never be conquered.

During the April 7, 1778, debate in The House Of Lords, Chatham had argued passionately on behalf of unlimited concessions to the Colonies—anything and everything short of actual independence must be granted immediately. Anything less, he warned, would be a resounding disaster for the nation: Britain would be destined to lose America entirely.

The House Of Lords rejected Chatham’s pleas for reconciliation.

The Queen Alexandra Memorial

Opposite Saint James’s Palace, and built into the garden wall of Marlborough House, is The Queen Alexandra Memorial, one of my favorite monuments in London.

Alexandra Of Denmark (1844-1925) was Princess Of Wales for thirty-eight years (1863-1901), holding the title longer than anyone before or since.

Alexandra was Queen-Empress Consort to Edward VII from 1901 until 1910. Upon the accession of George V to the British throne, Alexandra became Queen Mother from 1910 until her death fifteen years later.

The Queen Alexandra Memorial was designed by sculptor Alfred Gilbert in 1926, one year after Alexandra’s death. The Memorial was completed in 1932.

Edward Elgar composed his Queen Alexandra Memorial Ode (“So Many True Princesses Who Have Gone”) for the occasion of the public dedication of the Memorial. One of Elgar’s last works, The Queen Alexandra Memorial Ode has not survived. The work was never published, and no full score was preserved. Choral parts have been unearthed but instrumental parts—Elgar wrote one version for orchestra and one version for military band—have never been located.

Alexandra lived at Marlborough House for more than fifty years. She occupied Marlborough House while she was Princess Of Wales and she had a second residency at Marlborough House while she was Queen Mother.

Alexandra’s younger sister, Dagmar, was Empress Of Russia from 1881 until 1894. When Nicholas II became Tsar in 1894, Dagmar became Dowager Empress.

It was at Alexandra’s insistence that Dagmar finally left Russia in 1919, one year after Nicholas and his family had been murdered.

Alexandra sent The Royal Navy to retrieve her sister from The Crimea, where Dagmar had lived in seclusion (and relative safety) since the outbreak of The Russian Revolution.

The ship that carried Dagmar to the safety of Britain: The H.M.S. Marlborough.

“Twixt The Departing And The Upstarting”

Gerrit Van Battem (1636-1684)
Winter Scene Outside A Town
1670
The Royal Collection, London

Watercolor And Bodycolor On Paper
11 1/8 Inches By 16 5/16 Inches

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Goethe himself—master of the New Year poem, the New Year letter, the New Year quotation and the New Year thought—surely would have appreciated this superb Dutch landscape by minor master Gerrit Van Battem, a painter renowned for his small-scale but exquisite landscapes.

An artwork relevant to the bout of winter weather that currently grips much of the country, “Winter Scene Outside A Town” is a most suitable painting to greet 2011.

Heinkel 162 Volksjager

The amazing and remarkable Heinkel 162 Volksjager, the world’s first fighter jet, had its first test flight on this date in 1944 near Vienna.

Happily for the Allies, the aircraft came too late in the war to make an impact.

Two important and comprehensive scholarly studies of the development of this historic aircraft have been published within the last eighteen months, one originating in the U.S. and the other in Switzerland (the book published in Zurich was simultaneously released in two languages, English and German).

Although both books were well-received in specialist quarters, neither received attention in the mainstream press. The book published in 2009 has already gone out of print and the book published earlier this year no doubt will soon suffer the same fate.

I have seen many times, most recently in 2007, the Heinkel 162 Volksjager that hangs from the ceiling of the vast entrance lobby at London’s magnificent Imperial War Museum.

The Valley Farm

John Constable (1776-1837)
The Valley Farm
1835
Tate Britain, London

Oil On Canvas
58 7/8 Inches By 50 1/16 Inches

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Constable’s last major work, “The Valley Farm”, is perhaps my favorite Constable painting. It is one of few paintings kept on near-permanent display at Tate Britain, a museum renowned for keeping top-tier masterpieces off-view in favor of exhibiting marginal artworks.

Constable’s genius was first recognized by the French. Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix were among Constable’s earliest advocates. More Constable paintings were sold in France than in Britain during the painter’s lifetime.

Constable sold “The Valley Farm” in the year of its creation for the then-remarkable sum of 300 Pounds. It was the highest price Constable ever received for a painting.

The buyer donated the masterwork to London’s National Gallery in 1847. The painting was later consigned to The Tate Gallery (now Tate Britain), where it has generally been on display ever since.

Sir William-Peer Williams Of The 16th Light Dragoons

Allan Ramsay (1713-1784)
Portrait Of Captain Sir William-Peer Williams Of The 16th Light Dragoons
1759
The Courtauld Institute Of Art, London

Oil On Canvas
50 15/16 Inches By 40 7/16 Inches