A Spooky Stupor

Autumn—late afternoon or evening is a delicious time to pull out an old anthology of ghost stories or a supernatural mystery. After dinner, you can read yourself into a spooky stupor where the narrative melts into a dream state and you're not sure if you are awake or asleep as you feel icy fingers caressing your neck.

Delphin Enjolras — early 20th century

Enjolras' favorite subject matter was a woman 

reading or writing by lamplight.

Druids

This time of year seems perfect for Druidic Rituals . . .

Sorry, again I don't know the artist or source

Spiders

Spiders are a part of the traditional Hallowe'en mash-up, and I despise spiders. Yet, I'd pay good money for a steampunk brass spider like this guy (if I had good money)...(which I don't). Steampunk and Hallowe'en seem like a fabulous match.

Sorry, I don't know the source of this creation.

Like Some Forlorn Ghost

The old cemeteries are wonderfully spooky celebrations of peoples' lives — with spacious tombs, sculptures that mourn,  and tombstones that portray the deceased, as here. 

It was spooky to stand in front of this tombstone, knowing that this gentleman's 200-some year old bones were 6 feet under me, even as he glowered like some forlorn ghost.

Changing of the Colors

Let's start the countdown with some Autumnal imagery. 

Frank Godwin (Looking ever-so like Maxfield Parrish)

 1919

The Spooky and Strange

Autumn is my favorite time of year, as it is for many. It's a time of embracing melancholy, a time of acknowledging decay and our own mortalities. It's bitter and it's sweet.

©Thomas Haller Buchanan — Autumn — 2014

This year I was going to refrain from posts about Autumn and Hallowe'en. But with encouragement from my cyber friend Tam B, I've decided to really embrace the theme, as my archives are bursting with eclectic images that demonstrate darkness, death and decay, yet many are sparked with accents of light and love. 

I avoid horror and violence in my collections, but I adore the spooky and strange. Some of my images may not be obvious to the theme, but resonate with me in some way. 

This will be my countdown to Hallowe'en. 

Favorite Kind of Princess

A madcap princess is my favorite kind of princess!

Swell Lookin' Frail

A swell lookin' frail in a semi-Art Deco-esque sort of way...

Edward Mason Eggleston — circa 1933

Queen of the Night

Now THIS looks like a sleepwalker, but it's the Queen of the Night!

Charles Folkard — Queen of the Night — circa 1915

Nocturnal Fantasy

A nocturnal fantasy, this is titled "The Sleepwalker", though it seems she's left walking far behind her . . .

Julius Diez — The Sleepwalker — 1907

Now, THAT's Entertainment!

 circa 1900

Seldom Seen

To be perfectly honest, I'm pretty tired of Monet's lily ponds and such, having seen them a kajillion times in my lifetime. Ah, but this seldom seen beautiful painting strikes a resonant chord with me!

Claude Monet

L'Église de Varengeville; soleil couchant

1882

Sweet Profile

A sweet profile painting, without being saccharin. I love the delicate 'lines' — a style used by a number of artists of this era. 

Paul Rink — 1890s

Arcadian Fantasy

Art Deco illustration makes any scene look like an arcadian fantasy.

George Brandt — 1921

Arcadian Deco

Art Deco Arcadia from just about a hundred years ago...

Thomas Baumgartner — circa 1915

Tromping Angels

Illustrations of Alphonse Mucha are very satisfying to my eyes, even when I'm not familiar with the story involved. Here, the young lady hears something...possibly the angels tromping by or the bells swinging like there's no tomorrow. Either way, it's a lovely graphic work, is it not?

If you know the story involved here, please do share.

Where Holy Men Fell to Earth

The old days, the old ways, promoted world travel with most compelling graphics. Travel posters were glorious.

Isipatana means the place where holy men fell to earth, based on the legend that when the Buddha was born, devas came down to announce it to 500 holy me. The holy men all rose into the air and disappeared and their relics fell to the ground.

Sounds like an extraterrestrial close encounter.

This poster portrays a Buddhist pilgrimage to the sacred site. 

Art by Dorothy Newsome — 1930ish

Color Variant

I've seen several different color variations of this piece, 

but this is the most pleasing one for me. 

Alexander Benois — Chinese Pavilion — early 20th century

The Night

This is "The Night", as it was 99 years ago . . .

Gruber_ 1915

Spooky!

I love spooky scenes in art, as long they're not violent. This one is yummy spooky—called Lithuania by Artur Grottger, 1864

Not by Mucha

This piece is what art elitists would think of as lowbrow art, kitsch, or art for the masses.

Yeah . . . so?

I think it's a charming Art Nouveau graphic that isn't by Mucha for a change. It's from an old postcard.

1903-ish, artist: I. Dunno.

Handsome Is as Handsome Does

A handsome character sketch of a handsome rake of a character...

Anton von Werner — 1875

The Mountain Spirit

This is a freaky cool German ad from 1917. Attention getting, ey?

Go Figure!

This art looks like it was drawn by Peter de Sève, for the New Yorker or such. Yet it was drawn by Otto Flechtner some 98 years ago. 

Go figure!

They Seized the Woman and Made Her a Goddess!

Riders of the Wind by Elswyth Thane was published in 1927 and was a property that was optioned by The Banner Group. There was an effort to shop it around for a movie, but I don't see that it was ever made—though modern reviews of the book are positive. 

This ad in a movie promotional book is quite striking for its Art Deco/Nouveau-esque qualities. This ad is rare and lovely, is it not?

Timeless Environment

A philosopher has some mighty heavy thoughts to ruminate about, needing a solitary and timeless environment to uncover some truth.

Looks like this theorist has found such a place, lucky fool.

Karl Spitzweg — The Philosopher — 1917

update: the artist died some years before this image was printed in 1917

Another Green Umbrella

Yep, another impressionist painting by Richard Edward Miller. Yep, another green umbrella. Nope, I'm not complaining.

Going Green, Staying Green

There's something about Impressionists—American Impressionists at that—that liked to paint women with parasols and umbrellas—women with green parasols and umbrellas at that.

Richard Edward Miller, early 20th century

Beautiful to Behold

California impressionism is easy to recognize and is beautiful to behold. Here, The Green Parasol by Guy Rose, early 1900s.

Two Words

I can describe most of Georges Barbier's work in two words: 

Poetic Sexuality!

Georges Barbier

House of Cards

It's always fun to study the little world of The Teeny Weenies by William Donahey. I would think kids, of the contemplative nature, would get a kick out of a book of their adventures.

This appears to be a 'house of cards', which reminds me of the series 'House of Cards'. Have you been watching that? Here's a quote from Kevin Spacey's ruthless character:

Money is the Mc-Mansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries. I cannot respect someone who doesn't see the difference."

I see the difference, but I'll take the money, thank you.

William Donahey

Two Studies

A mural, done properly, requires lots of sketches and preliminary studies to determine structure and tonal values, as well as composition. These are but two studies for a mural by Ludwig Zaiser back around 1910. It's unlikely that the mural itself survived two world wars.

The Woeful Dark Prince

"I have heard it related that a a certain time one of the younger cherubim wandered from Heaven in his play and came into the Realm of Hell: and there, it is said, the woeful Dark Prince of that domain, before he bore the youngling back to Paradise, its little wings being weary, nursed it on his knees and warmed it at his fires, remembering . . . . . ."

A remarkable work by Rose O'Neill, she of 'Kewpie' fame

Bad Day

Next time you feel that YOU are having a bad day, think of this guy...

Spirit Shines Through

Here is another paean of the wonder of books, this by Jessie Wilcox Smith. The spirit shines through!

Bear Us Leagues Away

 

Art by someone in the circle of Elizabeth Shippen Green

somewhere around 1900

Annie did some research to find that this post's lovely painting was by Violet Oakley. Oakley was one of the early female muralists, creating an outstanding body of work in 60 some years of productivity. Associated with Elizabeth Shippen Green and the Brandywine tradition, Oakley deserves more recognition. I will post a bit of her mural work sometime.

Finally

Have a HAPPY Fourth of July!

This message from 1949 is just as relevant today in 2014!

He's not a Saint, He's only a Mister . . .

Happy Mr. Valentine Day!

WinterFest

Simpler days and ways from exactly 100 years ago. It's nice that somewhere, somehow we can still do this kind of thing today, hopefully without having to buy a ticket or pay a fee.

Hermann Stockmann — WinterFest — 2014

Dusty

How many times this has happened to me when I've gone to clean the bookshelves! No wonder my books are all so dusty...

Coles Phillips

Sensual Exotics

This image shows up all over the place, but I can never see it too much. Many of my favorite paintings of the '20s and '30s are sensual exotics—color saturated and contrasted color temperatures.

Rolf Armstrong

People All Over the Web

Parts Unknown

Oh, this makes me want to simplify my life and move to parts unknown. I don't know the painter or the year, but I feel like I've been there in some other lifetime.

A Winter's Day

Quite a bit of yummy color for a winter's day . . .

Juegos de Hiel

Heads Up

Before you think I'm getting too sentimental in my old age with my postings, here's a pretty splash page from 1942 by Charles Biro that should keep us feeling heady.

Full disclosure: I don't think anyone actually lost their hat-holder in this story, thanks to Crimebuster and his monkey. 

I jes' love the old comics.

An Old Chestnut

Here's an old chestnut . . . roasting on an open fire?

By now it seems like every man, woman and chile in the world must have seen everything that Mary Engelbreit ever conjured up. Then again, perhaps there are some new comers to the scene, so this graphical message is for them.

©Mary Engelbreit — Believe

The Kid in Me

Holiday comic covers like this one by Daan Jippes are so appealing to the kid in me. And it's a good reminder that now's the time to find your tree, if you celebrate that way.

Daan Jippes — Walt Disney's Christmas Parade #2 — 1989

Slap Him Out've the Air!

Comic book artists have an undeniable talent for telling expansive stories in confined areas. Imagine putting all this action into two small panels and giving it believable perspective and superb rendering. Many comic book artists are graphic geniuses. The graphic genius of these two panels is Russ Heath (I don't know if the breakdowns are by Heath or Joe Kubert.