Author: admin

Kevin Johnson: Portraits as Rich as Fine Cabernet.

While I often present artists’ paintings in various relationship to wines, it is not often that I directly relate the paintings to a specific type of wine. However, during a recent artist talk at Auric Gallery in Colorado Springs, where Johnson’s paintings were on display in a show called Serenity, someone who knows I write about wine mentioned his art and Cabernet in the same breath. It struck me that exploring that metaphor is indeed an interesting way to approach Johnson’s rich painting style and subject matter.

First let’s get a good grasp on Cabernet. It is a red wine made from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. It is one of the most popular types of wine because its flavors appeal to so many people. It tastes of dark berries, red fruits, with notes of soil and ash, dry spices, and sometimes even herbs. It is clearly of the earth. It is delicious and versatile when young, and it ages well. With that as an introduction, let us see where the wine, the art, and the artist take us.

The Conversation 36″ x 36″ oil on canvas by Kevin Johnson

The young man in this painting is more than a dreamer. His thoughts may have him floating in the clouds, but his clothing is of a practical nature. His interior monologue takes on the essence of a dialog with his future, with that which is divine inside of him and outside of him. While he will descend again at some point into the world where those practical clothes may take him to a job that requires his bodily stength, in this moment, he is lifted up by this conversation with the self and the Universe. His face is indeed serene, in keeping with the title of the exhibition, but his eyes see something in that distant horizon that he aims for and which gives him direction.

The rich violets, blue violets, and the earth tones are reminiscent of Cabernet and create a calm effect appropriate to quiet contemplation. The billowing clouds, though made of just vapor, provide a firm support for this young man’s imaginings. The russet color on the upper right seems to be lit by a bit of sunlight, sunlight which we see lighting up parts of the clouds in a hopeful manner. The calm that comes from this painting is not unlike a taste of a rich Cabernet, served at room temperature. It is earthy, but aromatic, like a thought that moves a dream into reality. The mood that Johnson creates is one of hope and possibility and a certain trust in the way that nature and the Universe can work things out.

This is a different type of contemplation. The young woman pictured here is not creating a dream. No, her mind is still and open to receiving the information she needs from the mysterious unknown that can send a sign, an indication, a turn of events that leads one on. She is not desperate or afraid. The white of her dress indicates the purity of her intentions. Remarkably the earrings seem like berries, and there are similar traces in her hair that bubble up and drift off into the atmosphere around her, carrying her request.

The earth colors in the background with their golds, reds, and oranges form a collage of the earthly, which are sprinkled in tiny squares in the foreground and background, the white of which echoes her garment and pure intent. The painting is called Seeking Guidance (36″ x 36″ oil on canvas). The tiny squares and circles bubble up from her throat and depart from her head like bubbles in sparkling wine, her own particular libation to connect herself to the divine.

Reflection 20″x 24″ oil on canvas

This painting is so very organic that it is as if the young man is nature itself. He grows out of the same firmament as the flowers, the same place that the hummingbirds come from. His brow and throat carry the color markings of the flowers and the leaves. The sweet combination of things makes him not unlike the grapes that produce a wine that is rich and full bodied. His is a mixture of the improbable, tenderness in a hoodie.

The hoodie is particularly important here because it so often has taken on a one-diminsional meaning in modern American society. It was a hoodie that young Travon Martin was wearing that drew the attention of self-appointed “neighborhood watchman” George Zimmerman. A hoodie on a young black teen fit the media-hyped stereotype of trouble that provoked Zimmerman, a full grown man, to get into a fight with a kid, which ended tragically with him killing a youngster who died with a package of Skittles candy in his hand. Martin’s case is far from the only one, and Johnson’s painting points out the fallacy of assumptions. The young man in the painting with his deep earthtoned skin surrounded by flowers and sweet hummingbirds is as worthy of love as any of the rest of us. Let us not forget.

Pink Monday 20″ x 24″ oil on canvas

A sprinkling of leaves and petals falling gently remind one of the berries, fruits, and spices in a sparkling Cabernet Sauvignon. The pink is a cheerful lift like the bubbles, but the expression on the face points out a fascinating layer of spicy complexity. Pink Monday gives a lie to Billie Holiday’s old song, “Gloomy Monday.” There is no gloom in this young woman’s face. Seriousness, yes, but also head-held-high attitude. She’s taking the world on in pink, and if you don’t like it – too bad!

Pondering the Dream 20″ x 24″ oil on canvas

There is more than a dream of being a great basketball star going on here. The ball and the shoes are just the outer trappings, his springboard to something greater. The red cape and the Superman shirt tell the real story. Yes, he may be thinking of getting on a great all-star team, but his aspirations go farther than that. So many Black athletes have distinguished themselves in terms of philanthropic endeavors that it has formed a message to the youth that there is more than just fancy houses, clothes, and cars to be done with the platform that fame can give. And even if one does not make it to the top tier of a sports profession, remember that Superman’s normal guise was very ordinary. Most days he was just Clark Kent, erstwhile reporter for the Daily Planet; however, when the time came to take action, he served. So, our young man contemplating the world represented by that basketball may also discover his own personal superpower, the one that lets him be someone’s superman..

Her Calmness 30″ x 40″ oil on canvas His Calmness 30″ x 40″ oil on canvas

One of the things that Kevin Johnson is working on now is digital sculpture – yes, sculpture created on a computer, but which can be printed out into a 3D object. While these figures show once again Johnson’s ability to create beautiful serene faces full of character, there is a strong sculptural quality to the planes of the face, the high cheekbones, the strong jawline, and the shape of the hair, as well as the orange object in the background of each painting. Serenity once again is the theme, along with quiet dignity. The beautiful highlight in pale lavender that delineate the structure of the young man’s face is a stroke of genius, as it lights both sides of his face and contrasts with areas of peach. Grays and earth oranges, colors perhaps more associated with the masculine, light the face of the young woman, making a yin-yang contrast to the male’s peach and lavender.

I shall lift a glass of earthy Louis Martini Monte Rosso in celebration of these paintings. Johnson has skillfully captured not only the look of Black youth but also has done it in a way that moves beyond media stereotypes. He reclaims the humanity of these young people, their style, and their dreams in a painted symphony of hope and aspirations.

An Interview with Kevin Johnson

For all of our talk about Cabernet, Johnson admits he’s a Chardonnay man, which he likes to combine with chicken dishes, Italian style calamari, or pasta with clams. He says this with the same resoluteness that he uses when he talks of his boyhood love of making art. “I knew when I was seven that I wanted to be an artist,” Johnson says. “It was just a matter of how to get there.”

Johnson got there by joining the army where he spent twenty-one years, rising in the ranks and becoming a Director of Food Services, managing the daily feeding of some 5,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. He applied those skills in his civilian life as Director for Brookdale Food Services, where yes, he even managed the serving of wines. However, the main thing that the army afforded him was the G.I. Bill’s tuition program, which allowed him to study at Full Sail, University in Winter Park, Florida, earning a B.A. in Computer Animation, and later coming near to finishing his master’s degree. He studied other artists, and studied with a famous artist, Thomas Blackshear (see Thomas Blackshear II) to hone his skills.

When asked what Johnson wants people to take from looking at a piece of his art, he says he wants people to see positive images that impower people. “As a sergeant in the army, I worked with so many young people who were trying to find their way in life but had no idea how to get to their dreams,” Johnson says. “I want my art to reflect positive images and to reinforce the will to achieve personal goals.”

When it comes to rules that must be followed in order to make good art, he goes back to the basics of some of the comic books that inspired him as a kid. He looks for composition, action, a good visual story, use of color, and emotional expression. Yet as he has matured as an artist, he also says that he has learned that art can be almost anything. Yes, there are rules, but often it depends on how the artist sees things. In terms of advice to young aspiring artists, Johnson says, “Learn to express, and be patient. You got to stick with it. It is not an overnight thing. Learn to network to find opportunities. Be consistent in what you produce in order to have a recognizable style.”

And as for Cabernet and Chadonnay, well the light and the dark make for contrasts, which an artist like Johnson knows are invaluable when creating images. 

Kevin Johnson has been represented by Black Art in America, a gallery owned by Najee and Satiria Dorsey. In Colorado Springs, he shows at Auric Gallery. His work is also in a group show currently in Boulder, Colorado at the Dairy Art Center in a show called Black Futures in Art: Can You Hear Me? As well, his work is featured in a wonderful book, Changing the Narrative. Johnson’s own website is kevjart.com

For those of you who want a good guide to the wonders of Cabernet, I shall turn you over to an expert, Wine Folly’s Madeline Puckette, whose Guide to Cabernet starts with a luscious photo of a fat burger with fries. winefolly.com

For a look at Chardonnay and its three main types, I have an Of Art and Wine article that pairs them with James McNeill Whistler’s Nocturnes. “Whistler’s Nocturnes and Chardonnay, Unoaked, Oaked, and Sparkling.” ofartandwine.com

©marjorie vernelle 2024

Love Letter, Loss, and Lizard:Would Wine and Chocolate Have Helped?

The High Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries produced many masters, so many that some of the very best still did not make it to the top. Enter Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556). Lotto was born in Venice in the time of the acknowledged greats of Giovanni Bellini and Giorgione, from whom he took his early inspiration, and the triumphirate of Titian, Tintoretto, and Veronese whose dominance sent Lotto journeying outside of the Veneto in search of work and acclaim. Yet as good painting never dies, in recent years, Lotto has become the subject of several great retrospectives, like the one in the National Gallery of London in 2018, which focused on his portraits. Given that Lotto did rather unique things in his portraits and since the romance of Valentine’s Day is now gone, let us take a look at his Portrait of a Gentleman in His Study (c. 1530) as a sort of after Valentine’s Day story.

Portrait of a Gentlman in His Study (1527-30) Lorenso Lotto en.wikipedia.org

As became customary in Lotto’s portraits, there are many mysterious clues to something that the viewer can only guess at. Yet, these items do tell us some things about the young man in this portrait. From his clothing, it would seem that he is quite well off. The fact the he holds a thick book and has various letters scattered on his table, which is draped in rich green cloth, tells us he is well educated as well as financially substantial.

Taking a closer look at what is on that table reveals a few odd clues to what might be going on with this young man. We see the open letter on the left with a scattering of rose petals torn from the flower. They sit atop a woman’s fringed shawl. Could it be that the letter is a certain woman’s rejection of the young man’s offer, hence the ripped apart rose? Photo from facebook.com Eoin Lane

And yes, there is a lizard there, that little brown thing in the silk shawl (see photo below). Lizards symbolized mystery, for their comings and goings are hard to keep track of. They crawl into hidden areas, under rocks, and into caverns, and as such they were also associated with death. We notice an odd box-like shape just behind and to the side of the young man. Some have suggested that it is a coffin and that the shawl may have belonged to the sitter’s mother. They say that the book is a type of ledger, and he is going over business dealings. While that box does have a crucifix casually hanging from it, it does not seem very much like a coffin to me. The book that the young man is perusing is far too thick to be a ledger book of accounts. It seems more like a book that one might read to gain wisdom from the writings of the great poets of the past, especially if one had suffered an emotional letdown.

Close up of the Gentleman in Lorenzo Lotto’s painting galleriaaccademia.it

The face of this young man is quite serious. Though not necessarily downcast, it certainly is not smiling with joy. One of Lotto’s techniques was to have his subjects look out at the viewer of the painting. Here, the young man gives us a direct and penetrating gaze. He knows we are looking at him in a moment when he should peacefully be able to sort out his feelings in private. That adds to the mystery of the painting. Why are we able to see him in this moment? And what exactly is this moment? Has he been rejected by his true love? Or has his bid for a wealthy marriage been cast aside by his intended? Or did someone really die?

So we come back to the lizard. In ancient Roman times, the lizard was the symbol of death and rebirth, as they hybernate in the winter and reappear in the spring. So that would give hope to this young man in his romantic pursuits. However, by the middle ages and the Renaissance, the lizard was a symbol of evil as well as death. (photo galleriaaccademia.it)

So, Lotto has stumped us once again. Which of these meanings applies to his situation? What fate is predicted by these items, the woman’s shawl, the open letter, the torn flower petals, and the lizard? Of course, we can just look upon all this as Lotto’s distinguishing technique, something that set him apart from his competitors. His studies of the subjects of his portraits are all quite psychological, with little bits and pieces of personal effects that leave one with clues but never an answer.

As an artist born in the High Renaissance but who lived into the beginning of the Baroque and one who had to travel away from the competition in his Venetian home, Lotto and his work are a study of art in transition. His use of the vertical shape for his portraits was an innovation. Even though this painting is in somber tones (as perhaps befits the subject of the lovelorn), he also used the brilliant pastels associated with the 16th century’s Bella Maniera (Mannerist style). His unique style sometimes lost him valuable commissions, as his use of (and possible overuse of) symbolic items was not always well received. Yet, while those symbolic clues do not reveal the nature of the mystery in his painting, they do add to it. What is your interpretation?

For more on Lorenzo Lotto, try looking him up on youtube.com, as there one finds many lectures and presentations on him and his work. For a rather amusing take on this portrait, see LadyKflo’s look at the painting and the young man’s “dating profile” (see this blog post on ladykflo.com).

Resources for this article:

April Oettinger, ” The Lizard in the Study: Landscape and Otium in Lorenzo Lotto’s Portrait of a Young Man.” academia.edu

My own notes from art history classes I took while in Avignon, France. The class was on Bella Maniera (Mannerism) and Venetian painting, including a trip to Venice and the Galleria Accademia, where I saw this painting.

© Marjorie Vernelle 2024

Wine and Chocolate, Dangerous but Delicious!

Photo by Alev Takil on unsplash.com

Okay, call me crazy, but yes, I am a believer in odd but interesting combinations, and that in certain circumstances, there can never be too much of a good thing. However, there is a certain wisdom in a bit of Puritan restraint, for there are things that can cause disasterous conflicts, spoiling both. That is particularly true of wine and chocolate. So, with those provisos and remembering the mysteries in Lorenzo Lotto’s paintings, we will bravely dive into the love chemistry of wine and chocolate.

Now, for those of you who are true lovers of dark chocolate, do remember that bitterness increases with higher concentrations of cacao. If the concentration of cacao is 80% or more according to Martha Stewart, then it is best to just enjoy the glory of those wonderous dimensions of darkness that invade your senses when you bite into bitter dark chocolate and leave the wine alone. Cacao may make you want to go off to conquor an empire, and once that is done, you can always join the rest of us who are moving on to the pleasures of milk chocolate and even white chocolate that mix well with wines.

Photo by Vachos Xantinides on unsplash.com

Ah yes, milk chocolate. While, personally, it has never been a favorite of mine, the idea of enjoying it with a glass of fine wine is right down my alley. The higher the sugar content and the lower the cacao, the wider the range of wines one can use to pair with the chocolate. High milk content aids in making the chocolate appropriate for wine pairing. One can start with a red that has fruit flavors and one with lower tannin levels. No one wants to get dry mouth, so do not bring out the Cabernet. Instead, you could try a sweet sparkling red like a Valpolicella or a Lambrusco di Sorbara, a choice from Madelinie Puckette of Wine Folly. I don’t know if the bubbles in the sparkling wines affect the taste on their own, but they certainly lend themselves to the feeling of doing something deliciously extraodinary.

Photo by emy for unsplash.com

White chocolate, which contains no cacao and is considered by chocolate lovers to be a suspicious non-chocolate interloper, combines very nicely with dry red wines. You can take the Pinot Noir out again or try a Beaujolais. White wines go well with it and most especially the sparkling ones. Rosé works well. Puckette recommends a new style of Port called Rosé Port, which has a “minerality” that adds a touch of sophistication.

Photo by Hari Nandakumar for unsplash.com

Now, for those who are health conscious, it is good to remember that wine and chocolate both are full of antioxidents. This brings us back to dark chocolates in which the antioxident flavanols are much higher (white chocolate, of course has no cacao thus no flavanols, and milk chocolate has some but nothing like dark chocolate). There are some intriguing possibilities for wine pairings. Puckette mentions an exotic combination of ginger dark chocolate with Orange Muscat. For the less daring of us, there is the pairing of chocolate mint with a Syrah or Petite Syrah Port.

Photo by Elena Leya on unsplash.com

Yum, yum, yummy!

Articles used for this section:

“How to Pair Wine with Chocolate,” by Caroline Miquelez marthastewart.com

“What Wine to Pair with Chocolate?” Madeline Pucketter winefolly.com

©marjorie vernelle 2024

An After-Christmas Story to Enjoy with a Digestif

Before this article begins, I must apologize to my regular readers for my long absence. It was fine and busy time (details can be found on vernellestudio.com under COPPeR 2023 and Author Page); however, those activities combined with my online teaching for a university meant that I had to drop a few things. Now, the New Year is almost here and time to start my return by sharing an art story for that odd period just after Christmas. Who better to tell an offbeat part of the Christmas story than Caravaggio, himself so often a refugee, fleeing for his life, though not for the same reasons as this family.

Caravaggio’s Angel and Rest on the Flight to Egypt

Holy family in pastoral setting being serenaded with violin music by an angel.

Rest on the Flight to Egypt by Caravaggio, c.1597

It is my favorite Caravaggio, a family taking a rest in an oddly somber but verdant landscape where they are being serenaded by an angel. Divine! Well, it is the Holy Family. Of course they are running for their lives in order to escape King Herod’s fury, as his troops go about massacring the innocents. Rest on the Flight to Egypt it is called, and this is not a layover at a Red Sea resort. Nothing in this landscape looks like the deserts of ancient Israel or Egypt. This is an Italian setting, somewhere in Lombardy perhaps, and not unlike some of Giorgione’s landscapes in the early 1500s. The family seems settled on the banks of a little lake (see the water in the distance on the right) under the shelter of trees, with various plants all around them. They are weary, and Mary’s slumped head and limp right hand would indicate that she and the baby are both napping. Joseph, being much older, bears the weariness of his age as well as his travels. They are not shabbily dressed, but they are humble people sitting on the bare earth.

Well, so much for the obvious; now for the oddities. Mary and the Christ Child have no halos. This was done during the beginning of the Baroque period; all holy figures had halos.

Close up of Joseph and the Angel with the donkey just behind.

As well, look at the size of the donkey. He’s an enormous beast; donkeys are small animals. Was it done so in order to get that magnificent head into a close frame with Joseph and the angel, a portrait of three existences: man, beast, and a divine entity? And, of course, the most outstanding character here is in fact the angel playing the music. His placement in front of the family, all sitting in a row with the donkey in the background, puts the angel in a dominant position. He is extremely pale, with little of the flesh colors of the humans in the picture, which indicates his other-worldliness. The angel is rather scantily clad, with the front of his body only covered at the waist and below the knee, as his white garb flows elegantly around his limbs. He stands with the right foot slightly elevated, throwing his weight (angels have weight?) onto his left side causing the left hip to curve slightly outward. His face is intent upon his violin and the sheet music. Yes, sheet music, held by Joseph no less, indicating that Joseph indeed sees this angel. What is going on here?

Musicians in a country setting with naked muses.

Concert Champetre by Giorgione, c.1509 (This painting is sometimes credited to Titian who may have finished it after Giorgione’s death in 1510.)

Well, I had to go digging through my art history notes looking for some answers. I kept looking at that donkey, and finally it came to me. It seems a reference to the classical images of the birth of Jesus, in which the shepherds are present and along with them a cow and a donkey. Here, because of their travel, the faithful donkey, probably taken from the stable in all those nativity scenes, is still with them. Of course, his calm intent regard seems to show he is soothed by the music. Ah yes, the music. In the picture just above, we see Giorgione’s (maybe Titian’s) Concert Champetre in which two musicians sit thoroughly engaged in music and conversation while naked women loll about.

Well, not exactly. The females are muses who are inspiring the musicians from the unseen, hence why these guys are oblivious to their presence. We can also see here the way a gown of some sort has draped itself around one of the muses. Caravaggio’s angel has a touch of this, though in a more elegant style, just hinting at the angel’s nudity. The main thing for me, though, is that Joseph is holding the sheet music. Is this the way that Caravaggio substitutes for not having halos? If Joseph’s family is indeed specially blessed, why would they not be able to see an angel and hold his divine composition?

Now, though Caravaggio painted this ethereally innocent angel, he, Caravaggio, lived a life far from the divine. He was a master of chiaroscuro, or the use of contrast of light and dark. His life seems to have followed the same course. When we look at his representation of the young men with whom he obviously “partied,” as he represents himself as The Young Sick Bacchus, we see quite a difference between them and the angel.

Young Sick Bacchus by Caravaggio, 1593-1594

Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio

Boy with a Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio, 1593-1494

These young men are all quite sensual, though in different ways. His young Bacchus character, the young man bitten by a lizard, and the young man with a basket of fruit are all done with a keen eye for human character and imperfection. Their coloring, of course, is that of flesh and blood. Their mouths are open, which heightens the sensuality. A sexual tone is quite evident as they handle ripe fruits, symbolic of their own youth and beauty. To the contrary, the angel’s mouth is closed, and he shows none of the flush of humanity. His eyes look down at his violin and the sheet music. His body has the allure of a purely beautiful form. He has come to earth in a perfect body, unashamed to be naked, as his sash covers little. He is divine innocence in all its beauty, untouched and untouchable.

The angel’s contrast with the seated figures, holy humans in this story, sets him apart from them but is not done using the strong contrast in dark and light that Caravaggio was so famous for. The toning down of the sharp contrasts allows for the scene to have a far gentler feel than many of his paintings of high drama. The style used here provides for a peaceful interlude during an otherwise harrowing trip, and the viewer can appreciate Caravaggio’s appropriate choice of subtlety to match the theme of the painting.

Caravaggio was many things, an enfant terrible, a murderer, and a hard-living capricious man, who was also a great painter. A painter as full of darkness and light as the chiaroscuro techniques he used; his brutal life perhaps only adds to the beauty of his paintings. What he knew of the divine; whether he believed in it or not; whether he mocked religion or prayed fervently, we truly don’t know. However, they say all painters paint themselves. He certainly did that when he painted his own self portrait as the head of Goliath after decapitation by David. I wonder what part of him was that divinely beautiful musical angel for whom Joseph holds the sheet music?

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio, 1610.

Paintings used are all in Public Domain and available on wikimedia.org

For more on Caravaggio’s life, here is a link to Simon Schama’s Power of Art segment on Caravaggio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiH_ootDtTs

#caravaggio #powerofartcaravaggio #restontheflighttoegypt #baroqueart

For more on Marjorie Vernelle, see the author page at amazon.com/author/marjorievernelle.

She also has an engaging art blog that talks of painting and profiles artists in her local community. This article is a reprint from that Art Blog on VernelleStudio.com

© Marjorie Vernelle 2019, 2023

The Digestif: A Satisfying Miracle

Digestif: A digestif is an alcoholic beverage served after a meal, traditionally believed to aid digestion even though there is not strong evidence to support.

“The Art of the After-Dinner Drink: Digestifs” from tastingtable.com

Strong evidence or not, for those who seek a bit of quiet time after a big holiday meal, a digestif is a good way to cozy up to the final warm glow of a good dinner. This can be made even better by also studying a fine piece of art, like Caravaggio’s Rest on the Flight to Egypt. Depending on your view of Caravaggio’s life, you might go for Amaro because it comes in both a light sweet version and a bitter one.

What is Amaro?

Amaro is a grape brandy mixed with all kinds of herbs, spices, citrus, flowers, and other aromatic items to make a liqueur suitable for those after-dinner moments. According to Ray Isle of FoodandWine.com, Amaro may not be everyone’s favorite, though it is something that one can acquire a passion for, as he has. Amaro means “bitter” in Italian, so the taste is normally bittersweet which somehow works well with the fact that the drink was first sold in Italy as a medicinal tonic to improve the health. (Aren’t those always a bit bitter?) This medicinal aspect seems to be a common theme for potent liqueurs, like Genepi, for instance.

I learned of Genepi when on an art trip to the Alps of Haute Savoie. The drink was a medieval remedy for “the burning sickness,” a disease marked by tingling in the toes and fingers, which signaled poor circulation to the extremeties that could lead to amputation. Genepi was designed to get the blood circulating. That still did not cure the disease which was caused by parasites in the rye that bread was made from. The cure came when the people began eating wheat bread, but Genepi’s warming effects linger on. For those who might look upon the Caravaggio painting from the point of view of the very humble, this after-dinner liqueur made from gentian flowers and stems from the high Alps might serve your viewing of the painting well, and it is a bit sweet.

Photo from wikipedia.org

However, let’s get back to Amaro. Somehow the sweet lightness of the angel in Caravaggio’s painting makes me think of Amaro Nonino, pictured above right beside the Genepi. It has all the right digestive elements of the other amari, but its use of grappa mixed with oranges and rhubarb plus other spices (mostly well-kept secret ingredients) calm the bitterness. Mary and Joseph in the painting, despite having been forced to flee, do not seem bitter. Perhaps it is the angel’s music that has soothed them, just ast Amaro Nonino may soothe you.

For those who take into account the rough life of Caravaggio not to mention the general plight of refugees, then the bitter taste might appeal more. Amaro dell’ Erborista is really a test even though it has spices, dried fruit and honey. If you like a taste of mystery, you might go for a Sfumato like Rubarbaro, which is made from Chinese rubarb or the slightly milder version called Zucca. Any of these will draw the mind to contemplate both the light and the darkness in Caravaggio’s painting. In terms of Amaro, it seems the best comment on the subject comes from Ray Isle, who welcomes arrivistes to the culture of Amaro, saying, “They have a lot to discover.”

As for me, I am sticking with Prosecco for the holidays, (though I might have a Genepi, just to digest the lemon and rosemary chicken I’ve planned for New Year’s day). So with that, here is my wish for a great New Year for all of you, for me, and for OfArtandWine.com

© Marjorie Vernelle 2023

Straight Out of the Nile Valley, Cheeky Harry’s Golden Bee.

Prince Harry in his Dior shirt with the embroidered golden bee. express.co.uk

Well, we all saw it when Prince Harry suddenly appeared in London recently. With his suitcoat open, it soon became evident that his fine Dior shirt sported a golden bee. My interest was immediately piqued about the messages that sent. Perhaps the prince is going to give a boost to men’s fashion by being a style icon for Dior (hopefully with a lucrative marketing deal). However, I wonder if there is not another more subtle message: a reminder that he is royal, whether his family likes it or not.

Bee and Reed Symbol – Ancient Egyptian Symbols – Egypt Tours Portal egypttoursportal.com

I admit that in the last year I have been deep into Ancient Egypt because of a novel I have written (see comments on that at the end of this article). In the process of my research, I discovered quite a few things that have come down to us literally through the ages. Among them is the bee as the symbol of royalty. (On a side note, Harry’s wedding ring is on full view in the photo above. The use of the fourth digit on the left hand – the ring finger – for wedding rings comes from the ancient Nile kingdom also. The pharaohs decided that the ring symbolized eternity. Find out more here rusticandmain.com .) The long history of the association of the bee with royalty is fascinating, and it also has a connection to the production of good wine. Let’s dive into this, shall we?

Ancient Egyptian beekeeper with clay cylinders for capturing honey and, of course, the bees. Find out more at planetbee.org

It seems that the ancient Egyptians kept bees starting around 4,000 B.C. and somehow, it became the symbol of the kings of Lower Egypt (that part near the Mediterranean) around 3,500 B.C. As with many countries, including ours, there was a north/south divide, and in ancient Egypt the symbol of the south was the reed. Ultimately, the two symbols were used together to show the unity of the country under the pharaoh.

Ancient Egyptian collecting honey from The History of Honey meli-feli.com

Honey is the bee’s most wondrous product and was used for a variety of things in ancient Egypt. Its powers as an antiseptic became known, so it was used to prevent wounds from becoming infected. Since it is acidic and lacks moisture, it is a natural perservative, which gave it a role in the mummification process. Honey found in King Tut’s tomb is said to still be edible – though this is not recommended (talk about the curse of the pharaoh!). Naturally it was used in the production of sweetcakes, an ancient dessert, and in flavoring sauces to go with dishes like roast duck. Those sweetcakes were often used to make amends with people and with the gods. Honey was offered to the deceased during the Opening of the Mouth ceremony which allowed the essence of the dead person to continue to eat and drink in the afterlife.

When it comes to magical thinking, the ancient Egyptians were among the best. The honeycombs produced by the bees were sometimes made into wax figurines to use in the practice of magic called “heka” (perhaps where our term “hex” comes from). This involved working magic to influence the actions of others, for good or for ill. Supposedly honey was thought to be the Tears of Re, the sun god, and therefore, precious enough to be used to pay one’s taxes. (Don’t try this with the IRS).

Ancient Egyptians making wine. egyptianstreets.com

When it comes to wine, our bees royal or not, play only an ancillary role, though it sometimes is very important. Since grape vines do not need pollination to produce fruit, the bees are free to do their magic elsewhere. That elsewhere involves their fertilization of cover crops like clover and mustard which balance the soil in and around the monoculture planting of grapevines. Grgich Hlls Estate in the Napa Valley has a wonderful article, “Why Vineyards Need Bees” on its website www.grgich.com, which gives some insight into this process.

Those old Egyptians started making wine about 3,000 B.C. in the southern part of Egypt using grapes, dates, and pomegranates. It was drunk by the upper classes and the royals but supposedly in moderation or “prescribed amounts.” The ordinary folk drank a nutrient rich beer that was commonly part of the payment, along with bread and grains, that workers were compensated with. Wine was for the elite, and from the Second Intermediate Period (1700-1550 B.C.) through New Kingdom (1550- 1070 B.C.) and later, it was imported from the Levant and beyond. Interestingly, some of the wine jugs in King Tut’s tomb show that he even had white wine. For more on ancient Egyptians and wine see “Oaks and Corks: A Brief History of Wine in Ancient Egypt” on the website, egyptianstreests.com

The Temple of Seti I in Abydos (1290-1279 B.C.) (Photo licensed from Shutterstock.com)

As I mentioned above I spent a lot of 2022 researching and writing about the temple pictured above and the pharaoh who built it, Seti I. In the process I discovered a treasure trove of information from various academic papers on aspects of ancient Egyptian life, from foods and wine to their debit and credit system, which was quite complicated since they did not have a coined money until the Ptolemaic Period in the 4th century B.C. In more ancient times they had a system of weights and measures to count out amounts of gold called “debens” which appear in their art as stacked rings of that metal.

All this to say, that coming perhaps by the end of summer will be the novel, Temple in the Sand, the Memoirs of a Pharaoh, that takes the reader into the last year of the life of a pharaoh who was a great warrior, and a great king. In his tomb and temple, he left some of the most beautiful art made in ancient Egypt, which has caused some Egyptologists to refer to him as an true art connoisseur. He also produced a great son, Ramesses II. Since I have gathered this information, I have created a Facebook page dedicated to the period, the temple and the book, facebook.com/templeinthesand

As for Harry’s golden bee, maybe it will translate into one of his conservation projects either here or in Africa. Preserve the bees, what a princely thing to do!

Photos and references come from the websites linked in the articles.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com. Her author page is at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

©marjorie vernelle 2023

April Fool’s Special: Rocking Rococo and Over the Top Wines!

The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1767.

This painting is known in French as Les Hasards heureux de l’escarpolette, or The Happy Accidents of the Swing. My, whatever might those be? This young woman’s lovely pink slipper does go flying off her much elevated foot. Yet the young man lying below in the shrubery does not seem to be focused on the lady’s soon-to-be-lost shoe. Rather his wide-eyed joyful expression is aimed directly to what is under her skirts (naughty!) Given that women in that age, while sporting lots of petticoats, did not wear any panties, it makes this even naughtier. The grotto-like environment of this area surrounded by overwhelming trees allows for dark, shadowy areas where details may hide, like the figure of an older man (the husband?) who is pushing the swing. Two statues of impish little cupids seem to watch the scene as if to anticipate what troubles their arrows might be about to cause. There is a lot going on in those bushes! (I’ll let your minds wander.)

Fragonard (1732-1806), of course, was the favorite painter of Madame de Pompadour, and she, the favorite of King Louis XV of France. Sadly the artist’s style of painting became somewhat passé before Madame died, and worse when the French Revolution broke out. Fragonard high tailed it to Grasse, his hometown, where his family home can still be visited. Note: The lovely paintings that adorn the walls there are copies. The orignals were purchased by Henry Clay Frick in 1900 for his museum in New York City.

Here is the great lady herself, in a painting that screams, “Think Pink!” This is one of the many done of her by another of her favorite artists, François Boucher. Boucher of course had a penchant for a certain young model named Marie-Louise O’Murphy whom he painted lying on her stomach while sprawled upon a sofa. (See a critique of it here www.independent.co.uk) Louise went on to become another of Louis XV’s mistresses.

Mezzetin by Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1718-1720 metmuseum.org

Louis XIV died in 1715 and most of the court moved back to their mansions in Paris from which they cast out the heavy Baroque decor in favor of that which was light, in search of a sort of eternal springtime. Much of the design work revolved around the use of shells, pebbles, small rock, stucco, and the like. From those shells, rocks, and pebbles called rocaille comes the name Rococo. Suddently as restraints were lifted, there was a lot of partying going on. It was the Roaring 20s fueled in 18th century style by a release from the repression of all that religion from the previous century.

No one captured the festive mood better than Jean-Antoine Watteau, whose paintings of richly dressed ladies and gents frolicking in luscious gardens, were also populated by commedia dell’ arte figures like the one above, dressed in striped costume with a floppy hat, knee pants and silvery white stockings (do notice the pink pom-poms on the shoes). Once again there is a figure in the darkness of this bountiful garden. Where might she be going? (Many were the allusions to assignations in the gardens.) Watteau’s most famous painting is Gilles or Pierrot, a character from the commedia, which oddly gives the flip side of all the merriment.

Here we see not just the character from the commedia dell’arte stock of characters but an actor in the costume of Pierrot, the lovesick clown. Pierrot’s unrequited love for Columbine puts him in competition with Harlequin, a battle that he loses since Columbine’s heart does not belong to Pierrot. The French call this painting Gilles, and he is the symbol of one who has lost his way. In the larger painting one sees his fellow actors laughing and having a good time, while this lonely figure stands full length in the foreground with his hands compliantly down to his sides and the face of someone who knows not who he is beyond his role on stage. Perhaps he is a true April Fool.

Il Ridotto by Pietro Longhi in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Hover over image to magnify.

Meanwhile in Venice, no place partied heartier than La Serenissima, where the custom of advertsing Venice as a city of charm used the yearly carnival as a lure. In the 18th century, the Rococo carnival began to last almost the whole year, which gave plenty of time for masked people (residents and visitors) to engage in mischief. Just think of Casanova who lived from 1725-1798, the perfect rococo character for the Rococo Age. The Venetian carnival became so notorious that in 1797, carnival was banned completely.

Thomas Gainsborough’s famous Blue Boy, 1770. Hover over image to magnify.

Let’s not leave out the distant shores of the British Isles. It was Huguenots fleeing religious persecution in France that brought the foundations of Rococo to England, where one of its most famous pieces of the period was created. The piece, originally called Portrait of a Young Gentleman, was rumored to have been done as a tour de force painting to disprove Sir Joshua Reynolds’ contention that blue should only be an accent color. That seems indeed to have been a rumor started by the press. (Oh, the British tabloids, already in full swing.) However, the depiction of this fine young man (it is still not clear who the sitter really was) could represent either a young man of standing who might become someone’s eligible marriage partner or simply a study for an overdone costume for an aristocratic masquerade ball. The costume for a ball idea dovetails with the clothing not being from Gainesborough’s time but from that of the painter he most admired, Anthony Van Dyke, who lived and worked in England in the 1600s during the reign of Charles I (the unfortunate one who had his head lopped off).

Looking at the painting and its frills and frou-frou, one does still get to see exceptional painting. In particular in The Blue Boy (the name Gainesborough’s work eventually was given), one sees the amazing rendering of satin and lace as well as fine portraiture in the face of the young man. He is elegant from the shiny satin cape hung over his arm right down to the big blue satin bows on his shoes.

In terms of how all this came about, of course, one could guess what would happen after the seriousness and religion of the 17th century’s Baroque period. Based on normal human behavior, the mood would swing to happier more joyful images. Yes, but in this case, the swing just kept going higher and higher. Rococo (sometimes dated from 1700-1790) was the kicking off of the shoe! Everything went over the top and eventually spilled over into the French Revolution, which could be seen as the excessive counterswing to the wild and frivolous Rococo.

That is the thing about the Rococo. There was a fanciful lightness to it, at least for those in a position to enjoy its loveliness. Few were the hints of dark clouds on the horizon, though old Louis XV himself must have known, for he is credited with saying, “Aprés moi le deluge” or “After me the deluge.” Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com. Her author page is at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Images used are in public domain and/or linked to specific websites where further information is given.

Over the Top Wines, Good for that Rococo Feeling.

Unusual Sparkling Wines www.beinspired.au

The Rococo looked for interesting combinations of things, and given that it was a movement in reaction to the stodgy, things that had a fresh new attitude were all the rage. Applying that to looking for wines to enjoy, sparkling wines certainly are at the top of the list, for nothing lifts the spirits like a glass of bubbly. The ones above bear considering if nothing more than they come from somewhat unusal places, England, Switzerland, Japan, as well as more commonly considered wine producers like Italy and Australia. Click the link above to check out what BeInspired has to say about them.

I went on a search with a few different criteria. I wanted choices that were light, summery, affordable but which also had some quirky differences. Here is what I found.

Summer in a Bottle by Wolfer Estate https://store.wolfer.com. It is a light sparking wine of pale golden color made mostly from Chardonnay but with Sauvignon Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Riesling and Pinot Blanc grapes. It is sophisticated, fruity and fresh. $26.00

Blanc de Bleu Cuvée Mousseux, a non-vintage brut that is true to its name – blue. It is flamboyant (how Rococo) but “delicious and pleasurable.” Pairs well with hors d’oeuvres. It is the first blue California sparkler. www.blancdebleuusa.com Their motto is “drink the unexpected.” $16.00

Peche Imperiale, well of course peaches are imperial. This one comes from La France from the region of Saumur in the Loire Valley. Made using the traditional Champagne Méthodoise, this sparkler is fruity with an “exquisite flavor” described as “unique and elegant.” $12.99 bottlerepublic.com

Rescue Dog, demi-sec, love the name because it has a raunchy side to it. They have a sparkling rosé, a demi-sec, and a blanc de blancs all between $27.99 and $37.99. And here is the Rescue Dog part, 50% of the profits go to animal rescue operations around the U.S.A. rescuedogwines.com

Finally, yes, I had to go there, just to honor the mistresses of Louis XV, Bitch Bubbly. This is a sparkling rose from Spain, and its story is what happens when you have thousands of cases of Grenache wine that you must find a way to use. $14.99 plummarket.com

Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day but none of these will fool you. Enjoy!

Note: I am not affiliated with any of the wines or wine merchants mentioned in this article.

©marjorie vernelle 2023

“From Below Upwards,” Tiepolo in Art and in Wine.

The Divine Lovers Perseas and Andromeda by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1730-1731. Modello in the collection of the Frick Museum, New York City. Hover over image to magnify.

It should be no wonder that Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770) would be the chosen artist to paint many a domed ceiling, for if there were ever a master of painting skies, it would be Tiepolo. This modello of what was once on the walls of the now ruined Palazzo Archinto (destroyed in World War II) was purchased in 1916 by Henry Clay Frick, and gives us the only view of the composition and colors of the original work. It leaves us to imagine how glorious this would have looked on the enormous walls and high vaulted ceilings of the palazzo. The main things to notice here in this allegorical painting of an Ancient Greek myth are the upward movement of the figures, which swirl upwards in an “S” shape into a golden heaven, and yes, that golden sky.

Venetian painters have always been noted for their use of color. In fact, it was one of the things the Florentines were quite snooty about. In their world view, drawing was the basis for every painting. They gasped with disapproval when it was reported that the great Titian might make only a light sketch then proceed to paint his figures paying no attention at all to that sketch. Added to this was the penchant of the Venetians for beautiful colors. Of course, as lovely as Florence is, it does not have the beauty of the sea and the wonderous effects it creates when it plays with the colors of the sky. Venice has that and lovely, colorful architecture to match. Tiepolo, like the other great masters of the 18th century, the Vedutisti (painters of Venetian scenes) Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, for example, infused his paintings with wonderful cloud-filled skies with colors ranging from misty blue-gray to these fiery oranges touched with a deep rose.

To settle into a session of viewing Tiepolo’s work, such as the masterpiece above, one must consider that modern classic Venetian drink, the Bellini. First created at Harry’s Bar in the 1948 when Giuseppe Cipriani poured a mixture of peach purée and prosecco, it was named for the

color of a saint’s cloak in a painting by Giovanni Bellini. Bellini, a 15th century Renaissance master, stands at the head of a long line of great Venetian painters. A sip of Bellini and a viewing of some of the Tiepolo’s work in the video Tiepolo in Milan, the Lost Frescoes of the Palazzo Archinto (youtube.com) is a fine way to escape the cares of the day and relax into the evening. And should you want to find out more about the Bellini (like the recipe) checkout the Eataly website: eataly.com (Photo credit: Eataly).

Würzberg Residenz Grand Staircase (commons.wikimedia.org) 1750-53 Hover over image to magnify.

It would be no surprise that Tiepolo’s talent would not remain only in Italy. In 1750, Prince Bishop Karl Philip von Greiffenklau commissioned Tiepolo to paint the interior of his residence in Bavaria. Tiepolo arrived with his son, Giamdominico, and tackled what would become the largest frescoed ceiling painting ever made, 190 x 30.5 meters (roughly 623′ x 100′). It depicts in fine Rococo style an elaborate piece called Apollo and the Four Continents. Once again the view has an upward movement with the figures around the base of the painting representing what was accepted in the 1700s as the continents: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.

At the center of the action of course is the Sun God himself. Apollo is carried aloft in the company of two women who hold his iconic lyre and torch. While a few other gods are present in the skies, it is Apollo’s journey across the skies as the sun that takes center stage in an otherwise clear sky of pastel blue and deep rosy pink clouds. The effect when walking up the staircase is that of seeing the open sky filled with divine beings. The whole sensation is one of being lifted up.

Bavaria – you thought it was only beer country. Think again. The Franconia area is quite favorable to winemaking, especially the Würzberg Stein, which produces a dry white wine made from Silvaner grapes, called steinwein. Beyond that you might try an off-dry Riesling while taking in a video of the palace (youtube.com)

If you are thinking of making an actual visit to Bavaria, certainly consider taking a wine tour in Franconia. The article, “You know Bavaria for beer, but you should be going for wine,” (matadornetwork.com) says it all. It is a good way to open your eyes to these wines or find one here at home before you settle in to viewing videos of Tiepolo’s beautiful work

The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1767-69 museodelprado.es

Tiepolo ended his career in Madrid (1762-1770) in the service of King Charles III who had him paint an enormous ceiling fresco in the throne room of the royal palace. It represented the Glory of Spain by depicting Spain’s then fading conquest of the Americas (revolutions freed those Spanish colonies in 1810-1820). However, the king took advantage of the great artist’s presence in Madrid for other projects as well. His royal church of San Pascual Bailón commissioned seven altarpieces. The close up above shows the beautifully modeled face of Mary, whose distinct features and porcelain-like skin contrast with the loose handling of the modest, tan, scarf that surrounds her head.

The larger painting seen here shows once again Tiepolo’s use of soft colors for the skies, while contrasting them with blues and beiges. A passel of putti (baby angels) surrounds her, with one trying to hide under her cloak. The faces put on those angels range from adoring to downright mischievious. Take a look at the full picture on the Museo del Prado website linked above. Regardless of their expressions, we see that Tiepolo presents Mary with a calm demeanor, her eyes turned to inner reflection. Once again the movement in the painting is upward with lots of open sky around the upper part of the painting.

Making beautiful paintings in Spain and the ever increasing demands of King Charles III helped to bring an end to Tiepolo who died in March of 1770 in Madrid. It may have even been difficult for the painter to be paid by the king, which only would have exacerbated conditions of poor health and old age. However, the glory of Tiepolo’s fabulous creations are the hallmark of the Rococo period in art and should be saluted, perhaps with a glass of good Spanish sherry from Jerez! To find out more about those see explorelatierra.com

One of the Five essential Sherries “Bodegas in Jerez” (devourtours.com)

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com. Her author page is at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Images used are in public domain and/or linked to specific websites where further information is given.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and    CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2023

Coming Soon: Rocking Rococo and Some Wines to Go With It.

Jean-Honore Fragonard’s The Swing, 1767. Hover over image to magnify.

The Baroque period brought back the human figure as it had been seen in classical times, as opposed to the elongated, often twisting figures of the Mannerist Period in the 16th century. However, the 18th century decided that Baroque did not go far enough, so what we now call Rococo came into fashion to amuse everyone with its frills and fantasy, as the world of European royal courts headed to the French Revolution. And yes, they did drink a lot of wine.

Old Quebec, the Art of Chrismas and Wine!

La Boutique de Noel in Old Quebec City

You know you have found Christmas when there is a shop that is dedicated only to the holiday. Open every day of the year, except Christmas Day, this shop is several floors of wonderful decorations. Decoration and Christmas are fine arts in Old Quebec City, the provincial capitol of Quebec and a United Nations World Heritage site. Last year, I found myself longing for that “Christmas feeling,” as the holiday itself slipped by me. It wasn’t until two days after the big day that I found a a series of wonderful videos (see link below) on Quebec City at Christmas. I immediately decided I wanted to go there for the holidays, and this year I did.

The Chateau Frontenac, named for the first governor of New France, the Count of Frontenac, was actually built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad in 1893. It was designed from the beginning to be a grand hotel of the kind that would appeal to the patrons of long-distance, luxury railroad travel. Quebec City, itself, was founded in 1608, a date celebrated in the Frontenac, which is now a Fairmont Hotel, in its 1608 Bar, a fine place to taste some Quebecois wine and/or Romeo gin, also from Quebec. The 1608 makes a very good dry martini.

While there was no snow during my visit, a blessing when I had to navigate Côte de la Montagne street (Side of the Mountain St.) and the Escalier Casse Cou (Break Neck Stairs), on any visit to the Frontenac, where many a tourist stops to get warmed up, one could enjoy the virtual snowfall projected onto the elevators. The city shows its charms in its lively Christmas markets, where all kinds of local products and foods are sold. There are puppet shows for the children, vin chaud (hot wine) for the adults, and various choral groups that sing carols in the streets. After a visit to the very modern Museum of Civilization, I happened upon a crowd that was cheering on a highwire performer (yes, without a net), as he did a headstand, seemingly without fear of falling to the cobblestone street below!

Pictured here: Break Neck Stairs, View from Funicular, and a Tightrope Walker

Quebec City is a very walkable city though it is built upon a high plateau. In the Haute Ville, the upper city, dominated by the Chateau Frontenac, one can find plenty to do, and many fine places to eat. Three Christmas markets line the streets that are themselves full of shops. My favorite little side street is La Rue du Tresor (The Street of the Treasure) which is lined with art work. The artists along this street put their work outside, making a delightful display for those passing by.

La Rue du Tresor with its open air art galleries

As I traveled downhill to the lower city to find the wonderfully modern and beautifully designed Musée de la Civilization, I discovered an area full of fine art galleries on Sault du Matelot (Sailor’s Jump). Of course, as seems to be the custom, they were nicely decorated for the season.

Sault du Matelot on the way to ehe Musée de la Civilization is full of art galleries.

On the hill with the Frontenac are a number of prestigious old chateaux. Most have been wisely converted into hotels. I stayed at such a one, the Hotel Nomad (featured also in the Walking Alice video mentioned below). The old building has been delightfully converted into a charming space that is filled with its own artistic touches. One of my favorites is how they preserved this 18th century sofa by suspending it at an angle and enclosing it in a giant picture frame. The charms of the place do not stop there, as you can see in the photos below. This is added to by a warm, friendly, and helpful staff.

The charming environment of the Hotel Nomad, with a French spiral staircase, held many delights. My room had a wild animal theme and bedside tables made from old suitcases, plus all the normal conveniences. The big red chair at the reception area was always a welcome place to put on the heavy coat needed for those freezing temperatures.

So where is the food and wine?

I hear you. I must admit that while I had some excellent food and wine, I did not in my short stay in Old Quebec have time to do a lot of wine tasting. (I dream of doing that on a summertime trip.) However, for those who think that Quebec has no wine culture, au contraire mes chers amis! In the Eastern Township area, one finds L’Orpailleur Winery, started in 1982 and open year round for tastings. Côte d’Ardoise is literally a route through an area of 25 vineyards that produce red, white, rose, and ice wines.

This lovely dish was served up at the 1640 Restaurant, a great place to stop on a day that was -2 degees Farenheit, and is in the upper city near the Frontenac. I had a grilled pork chop covered in goat cheese which rested on a bed of vegetables: asperagus, carrots, red pepper, baby bok choy, and scalloped potatoes in a sauce with a touch of white wine. The wine I drank was Canadian, a Pinot Grigio from Sandbank Estates in Prince Edward Island. My food delights continued daily with grilled salmon and fabulously fresh salad, and the seafood classic you see below.

Moules et Frites, a French tradition with a glass of Les Jemelles Sauvignon Blanc from Burgundy.

Of course when it came to sitting out in an outdoor patio in a balmy 19 degrees Farenheit, I went for the vin chaud, hot wine, made in the Côte de l’Ardoise area in Quebec. The outdoor patios have fire installations, the flames of which keep you warm while you relax with that hot wine.

Ways to warm up: Museum of Civilization with red chairs around a warming station, at the Tresor de la Rue restaurant outdoor patio, and just on the street.

So I will end this little tour of Old Quebec at Christmastime by saying that it is a delight. I am sure that is true in other seasons as well; however, Christmas is really special. I’ll sign off with my favorite dessert and a Merry Christmas salute!

Creme brulée and Marjorie having a good time in Old Quebec. Merry Christmas!

Photos used in this post are ones taken by me on my recent winter vacation to Quebec City.

For some excellent videos on Christmas in Quebec, look at these by Walking Alice and there was snow. youtube.com

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and   CellarsWineClub.com  and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022

Coming Soon: The Magic Skies of Tiepolo, Smooth as Venetian Soave.

Divine Lovers

Certainly the grand works of this 18th century master of Venetian painting are a wonder to see, and best served with an essential wine from the Veneto, Soave.

Ballpoint Pen Magic, Plus Châteauneuf du Pape.

Le Palais des Papes The Popes’ Palace in Avignon, France

Perhaps it is the winter winds that bring to mind my years studying art history at the Petit Palais Museum in Avignon. How many Mondays did I leave the small palace to come out to the view of the looming medieval Popes’ Palace, with its crenulated defensive walls and arrow slits? Many Mondays, but none of which I ever regretted. Seeing the old palace in the grays of winter with the winds whipping up from the Rhone River and whirling about the plaza in front of that wonderful old historic building made impressions that will never leave my soul.

Avignon, medieval demeure of the Popes, walled city of Mistral winds, cobbled stone streets, and Côte du Rhone wine also presents numerous ways to engage the arts. From museums with programs to teach the art history of the middle ages to a university for those who have free time (Université de Temps Libre) to take art history courses and art history trips, there are many ways to be involved with the arts. And not everything relates to the city’s glorious past in the 14th century.

Among my favorite associations is the Maison d’Art Contemporain de Avignon or MACA for short. Its sincere dedication to contemporary art manifests every March in a substantial show of art from known artists in the region. Presented at the Cloitre Saint Louis, a beautiful cloistered building with an elegant hotel on one side of a large courtyard with a fountain and gigantic plane trees, the exhibition takes up the other side of what had been a convent. In this huge, elegant exhibition space of three floors, the MACA exposition is a cultural highlight of the many such events in Avignon. With MACA I traveled to the Biennale in Venice, to the Côte d’Azur, and to artists’ studios all throughout the Provençal countryside.

A Collection of Animals by Xavier Spatafora as shown on Maison France5 https://www.france.tv/france-5/la-maison-france-5/

However, it was not necessary to leave the city itself for one of the most memorable studio visits I experienced – the studio of Xavier Spatafora. At the time his studio was just east of the Place de l’Horloge in the center of town. We entered a rather lovely older apartment with fireplaces, high ceilings, and carved wooden door frames. Its state at the time, however, was not that of a classically French apartment. No, this was a live-in art studio, filled with the materials that were the making of the surfaces Spatafora used for his drawings.

He collects old posters, shreds them, then molds them together to make sturdy heavily layered supports in organic shapes like torn pages. Upon these surfaces of thick compressed poster paper, where lines of print and bits of color from the old posters remain, he draws in fine ink lines fabulous animals, portraits, and objects (a pair of dice, for instance). At the time of my visit, he was doing this precise drawing with ballpoint pen. Yes, ballpoint pen, and this artist goes through a lot of them (buy stock in BIC). The pieces are huge, some from floor to almost the ceiling, which makes walking through the studio a series of surprises, as you never know what animal you may be confronted with next.

Elephant by Xavier Spatafora

Once you become accustomed to the size of these creatures and the detail of their rendering, other aspects emerge. Here is where the effect of the shredded posters comes into play, for these wild creatures stand out against the remnants of newsprint, ad copy, names, and other tidbits of modern society. The effect is that of a startling juxtaposition of nature against what we call civilization. That gigantic elephant which walks so slowly forward seems symbolic of the patience of Nature that tolerates us, knowing full well it can destroy us in an instant.

The making of the supports for the huge drawings is quite an act of creation itself. Spatafora has been called an archeologist, because of his collecting of posters that in themselves show the history of all kinds of events in Avignon. In some ways, though, his creations of layers and strata of papers and posters create objects more akin to sedimentary rock, making him perhaps a geologist as well.

In case you wondered if this artist does anything small and delicate, you have only to look at this little fragment showing a twig and small bird to understand that he appreciates the tiny creatures as well as the large ones that roam the earth and the sea.

Spatafora’s work has continued to grow over the years since I first saw his beautiful creations in his studio in Avignon. The magnificence of his drawing skills continues to astound. This portrait of his own hand makes a comment on both the artist and art history. It is positioned very much like the hand that Michelangelo’s Adam reaches toward the figure of God in the Sistine Chapel. Yet this is not an elegant hand, but rather one of a skilled workman. Spatafora etches for us all of the muscles, lines, wrinkles, cracks, and crevices developed through the working of materials to make the art. This drawing of the hand in monumental size, more than a drawing is a badge of courage.

The artist in front of another drawing of a hand midilibre.fr

You can find more of Xavier Spatafora’s work on the following websites:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xavierspatafora/?hl=en

His website: https://spatafora.fr/home

Images used for this post are used in accordance with Fair Use Policy for purposes of critique, review and discussion.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com.

Châteauneuf du Pape – Divine Wine.

Châteauneuf du Pape The summer palace called the New Palace of the Pope. Photo from wikipedia.org.

Having the grand palace in Avignon (see first photo in this post) was not quite enough for the old popes of the 14th century. They decided that they liked spending the hot summer months high on a hill overlooking a lush valley which they filled with vineyards. So, off they went along the Rhone River to a new location which became known as Châteauneuf (new chateau) du Pape (of the Pope). Little wonder then that the vineyards started by Pope John XXII would bear the same name as the chateau.

Châteauneuf du Pape is the premier wine of the Côte du Rhone region. It was the first wine in France to be granted its AOC (appellation d’origine controlée) in 1936 when that process of verification of quality began. The vineyards in the area have perfect grape growing conditions since the area is near the Mediterranean, which has hot sunny days that cool a bit at night.

The soil varies from sand to gravel to red clay. However, one important feature are the “pudding stones” or galets roulés, which refer to the round quartzite stones that cover much of the ground which was once a river bed. From the photo here one can see what these stones look like. They absorb the summer heat but then keep the earth warm at night so that the vines have a more even distribution of heat day and night. (Photo from tasteoffrancemag.com

The wines from this area are normally blends of red wines, though some are made from just a single grape, the grenache. Chateau Rayas, for example, grows only grenache grapes on its 32 acre vineyard and uses only those grapes for its wine. Other versions with the Châteauneuf appellation can be made from up to 13 different wines, though most will still be 80% grenache. The normal mixture is granache, syrah, and mourvedre or GSM combination.

The iron-rich soil gives the wine a certain punch but not so much tannin. The winemakers here do blend white grenache into the mix with the regular red grenache. Most of them also make a white wine from the white grenache grapes, though the wine wines only account for 7% of the wine production of Châteauneuf du Pape wines. Many of the winemakers are now also making organic wines. This can be especially true for the smaller vineyards where they may specialize in just one type of grape. The least expensive Châteauneuf du Pape wines can run from $15 to $26. The most expensive can run from $150 to $2,000.

My personal experience of the wine was at the chateau for a harvest celebration put on by the local vintners. They had called upon members of the regional opera ochestra, OLRAP, which was located in Avignon but which served the cultural musical needs of the surrounding area. One of the musicians is a close friend of mine so I was lucky enough to attend the event. The music was good and so was the wine.

Boeuf Bourguignon meatandwinetravel.com

You will notice that the delicious concoction above comes from a website mentioning meat in its URL. That is because this wine is definitely for meats. Anything from beef to lamb to venison and roasted duck or wild game is great with these wines. Top of that list of meaty fair would be the noble hamburger smothered in mushrooms. To take a look at some of those recipes go to drinkandpair.com (You’ll see that hamburger gets a 4.5 star rating!)

So thank you for indulging my walk down memory lane in my old “hometown” of Avignon and its surroundings. May you someday go there, visit the Pope’s summer palace and enjoy the wine.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and  CellarsWineClub.com  and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022

Coming in December: Quebec City, the Art of Christmas and Wine.

Christmas Lights in Quebec City.

Yes, I found where Christmas hangs out – Quebec City, Canada. And Of Art and Wine will take you there. Happy Holidays!

Halloween Special: Five Haunting Paintings, and Tales from the Vines.

While the most haunting (haunted?) painting is the portrait of Dorian Gray, it lives only in the words of Oscar Wilde and not on canvas. However, there are a few on canvas that will raise the hair on the back of your neck. Let’s take a look.

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio, 1607 Hover over image to magnify.

Caravaggio, whose first name was also Michelangelo, gives us two to look at. Medusa (1597) shows the terrified face of the gorgon whose gaze turned one to stone. Perseus caught her gaze in the mirror of his polished shield so was able to avoid her direct stare and behead her without turning to stone himself. Clever old Greek. Caravaggio’s version hints at his own self-portrait.

In 1607, Caravaggio goes there – yes, his head of Goliath is a self-portrait (see painting at top of the page). The severed head as self-portrait became a consistent theme for the artist after he had to flee Rome for having committed murder. He had fled to Rome after killing someone in Milan. Then having a death sentence on his head after his misadventure in Rome, he scurried farther south to Naples. Many of the paintings he did after he fled Rome were done as a way to expiate his sins. It is thought that the youthful David represents the artist’s wish to cleanse his soul and renew his life. Sadly that did not happen.

Saturn Devouring His Son by Francisco Goya, 1819-1823.

Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, one of Spain’s greatest painters, lived through many good times and a whole lot of bad ones. When his country was invaded by Napoleon, who put a relative on the throne of Spain, Goya painted an execution of Spanish citizens by French troops, Third of May (1808). That patriotic fervor, however, did not keep him from painting pictures for the new regime. When the Spanish monarchy was finally restored under Ferdinand VII, the king said to Goya, “You should be hanged, but since you are a great painter, we forgive you.” Whew!

Goya lived for a number of years in a house known as The House of the Deaf Man (La Quinta del Sordo), and yes, he was deaf, though not the one the house was named for. In that house, Goya painted a number of gruesome pieces known as the Black Paintings. They were comments on human behavior. One of the ones in the dining room was Saturn Devouring His Son, based on the myth that Saturn, having become afraid of the rising power of the younger gods, his children, decided to devour them. We see Saturn’s psychopathic fury in the bulging eyes and gaping black hole of a mouth that the painter gives him.

The Scream by Edvard Munch (1892) is the artist’s visual for a panic attack he suffered when crossing a bridge in Kristiania near Oslo, Norway. The red of the sunset seemed to him to be a howl or scream by nature. Munch is known for psychologically stirring paintings, like The Child and Death, which shows a young girl with her hands to her head as she stands beside the bed in which her mother is dying. Interestingly, when the Nazis were in Norway during WWII, they visited

Munch’s studio to see if his art should be declared decadent and then destroyed. Munch was terrified. The Nazi inspectors came. They looked around in wonder. They left and never returned.

The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein, the Younger, 1533.

Holbein shows off his skills in this painting, and it is thought that was one of the motivations for his anamorphic representation of a skull. (Yes, that is the thing you see a sliver of in the foreground of the painting). The fine young men in the painting are men of the world, as represented by the items that surround them, a globe, books, a mandolin, and their own fine robes. However, life is temporary, and all good things come to an end, hence the skull. The trick to this skull is that it was painted to be fully visible when seen from the side. Thus, it is thought that the painting was meant to hang on a stairway, where one might get a sideview as one ascended or descended the stairs.

The anamorphic skull in The Ambassadors Hover over image to magnify.
The Blue Mustang (“Blucifer”) at Denver International Airport by Luis Jimenez. Hover over image to magnify.

Okay, this isn’t a painting, but since we started with a piece of literature, why not end with a sculpture? This mustang, a rightful image of the west, is a 9,000 pound fiberglass sculpture that has taken on the demonic local name “Blucifer.” Not only is this electric blue animal of frightening proportions (oddly its long front legs might make it impossible for this creature to walk should they ever straighten out), but also because it committed patricide. Yes, part of it fell off and severed an artery in the leg of the sculptor! He died from the wound.

So there you have it, a few spooky things from the art world to kick off your Halloween. Now let’s move on to wines, ghostly vineyards and wineries.

Tales from the Vines: Haunted Wineries, Vineyards and Spooky Wines.

The inspiration for Byron Blatty’s Ghost Cat Wine byronblatty.com

Before the agricultural areas around Los Angeles became citrus groves, they held California’s fledgling wine industry. Prohibition, plant diseases, and property development killed off the area’s early winemaking efforts. However, Byron Blatty is bringing winemaking back to the area with his selection of red wine blends. The most intriguing is Ghost Cat, inspired by a puma that roams the hills near the famous Hollywood sign. In keeping with its quality and the rare sightings of the big cat it is named for, this wine goes for $44.99 a bottle. The wine has aromas of candied black fruit and goes divinely well with cheeseburgers and jalapeno-accented dishes.

Autumn Wine from simplemost.com “13 Spooky Wines Under $20 for Halloween”

Wines that conjure up the spirit(s) of the season have names like Hocus Pocus, Slight of Hand, Phantom Chardonnay, Sinister Hand, and other such spooky names wine.com. Most of these are red wines and some like The Dip, named for a demon dog of Catalan fame, even come in a black bottle with red print. Red, the darker the better, is the preferred color, and if you think about vampire activity, then you can guess why that might be. Reds also go well with the heavier foods served in the chill autumn weather, especially heavily ladened burgers and peppery Mexican dishes.

The Beringer Winery in the Napa Valley of California thewinetraveler.com

When it comes to haunted vineyards and wineries, just the look of some of the main buildings at a winery can call up memories of Dark Shadows and Barnabas Collins. While the Beringer Winery has this wonderful old chateau, The Rhine House, which was modeled after buildings in France’s Bordeaux region, it seems to be so full of mysterious sightings, noises, and other odd things that the staff keeps record of them, and when and where they happen. Kenwood Winery, also in California seems haunted by a little girl, perhaps the daughter of the original owners. She seems to run and play in the vineyards. Buena Vista Winery in the Sonoma Valley lost its original owner to an alligator in Nicaragua. Though his body was never recovered, his spirit seems to haunt the winery.

Don’t think that haunted vineyards and wineries are only in California. In places where one does not immediately think of wine and wineries, like in the Rocky Mountains, Wild Women Winery in Denver (home of “Blucifer”) hosts a Haunted Denver Wine Tasting. Guests are given a guided lecture through some of the city’s most famous haunted places while relaxing and enjoying a wine tasting. So there is plenty that you can do to spice up your Halloween either by buying one of these wines or finding a ghost tour at some local winery or wine bar. Be careful out there!

Paintings referred to are in public domain. Other photos are linked to websites where they appear.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com and etsy.com/shop/VernelleArt Studio

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and     CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022

Coming Soon: Ballpoint Pen Magic, Plus Châteauneuf du Pape.

Hand by Xavier Spatafora

Xavier Spatafora is a master at pen and ink drawing. Not only that, he makes the surfaces that he draws on from old posters that he gathers from in and around Avignon, France. The combination of the refined drawing and the rough mixture of old posters some of the print of which shows through in the drawing makes for a great combination of the classical and the modern.

Disrupted Realism, Blogging, and Wine.

“Disrupted realism is a term that describes works of art made by artists who have deviated from the norms of realism. These deviations, which may include one or more formal elements – such as, line, form and color – are made intentionally, often through improvisation, to serve expressive purposes. By “disrupting” and expanding the tradition of realism, artists may suggest time, memory, and individual experience or refer to digital, photographic, or cinematic sources. It is a subjective approach to painting that favors perception over seeing and embraces subjectivity.” from Disrupted Realism, Paintings for a Distracted World by John Seed.

Portrait (red bathrobe) Anne Harris, 2012. Hover over image to magnify.

Anne Harris takes us into that feeling of disruption in a way that we can all relate to: the early morning brain fog. You don’t have to be a psychologist or an art historian to understand this one. The frazzled ends of the woman’s hair wave about like antenna seeking a signal from somewhere, something that can be latched onto to guide this figure forward. The extremely long red robe seems like a fun-house mirror’s reflection of reality, yet is the actuality perceived in the morning haze of the figure’s mind. The red bathrobe stands in a surround of pale, fuzzy, gray highlights, representing the presence of life which will emerge to become the day-to-day world of activity. Yet, for the present, all is safeguarded in the comforting warmth of the red robe. When John Seed asked the artist how her work disrupts or deviates from traditional realism, Harris said, “I can’t even engage with the term’traditional realism.’ Painting is fiction, invention. That is what interests me.”

Stories #10 by Radu Belcin. Hover over image to magnify.

We all know times when the figure in this painting represents how we feel. Some incorporeal fisherman has netted our brains. We are pulled first one way and then another, trying to understand surroundings which can’t be seen clearly. At the same time, we do not struggle because the whole thing is just too bizarre, and we don’t want to admit that we have been caught in the net. The Net metaphor can have some obvious implications with regard to our daily lives in cyberspace; however, this figure can surely imply other nets into which we have fallen in terms of our belief systems, whether religious, political, or historical. This man in gray, positioned in a beige/brown surround, may be a type of modern Everyman caught in a trap of conflicting perceptions that originate he knows not where. When Belcin was asked how his work disrupts reality, he responded, “…the main element that I work with is the action that’s taking place behind the visual elements: that which is not actually represented but only felt or perceived.”

The Magician, Justin Bower, 2015 Hover over image to magnify.

“My aim is to make images that resonate today and that could only be made in this era,” says Justin Bower. The doubled imagery of the figure in the painting above takes us into the world of bits and bites, mega and giga, yet the face is still recognizably human while it is being shape-shifted by whatever technology attempts to reorganize it. I posit that were this image shown to someone before the computer age, there would have been no way for it even to be “seen.” Yet, we in this age recognize it at least as what can happen when one’s computer is having a bad day. On the level of “The Magician,” this image of the coming apart and reshaping of reality is very much akin to the meaning of the tarot card of the same name. Only here instead of earth, water, air, and fire, the computer wizard uses the elements in his or her toolbar to rework reality. When asked how his work distrupts reality, Bower says,”I paint my subjects as destabilized post-humans in a nexus of interlocking spatial systems.”

The cover of John Seed’s book uses a painting by David Bilodeau called Solace (2018). The face and the hand of this figure are finely wrought, but covered with a variety of substances that fall upon it like plaster, as though someone wanted to cover up what was underneath, and hide the reality of solitude. Bilodeau says, “Realism is just a tool to make the dance of painting subtler by calling on me to observe the visual world closely.”

All this disussion of disruption in terms of painting leads to taking a look at another disruptive force that has come to the fore in recent years: Blogging. Blogging can be seen as a move toward the democratization of the word and the resulting loosening of the grip of the literary gatekeepers. John Seed relates how he came to blogging in a way that fits with the whole idea of disruption. In his case, being an artist and art instructor, he had a lot to say about art. However, when he wrote a review of a local art show, in which he seriously wrote about the art, the editors redacted his piece down to comments on a cozy garden art exhibit, so he returned the fee and told them to take his name off the article.

From there he started blogging on art, so he could say what he needed to say, and from there he became a contributor to the Huffington Post, an online news journal. One thing that stood out to me about his approach to the art in this book is that he allowed the artists to explore their own work publically. He worked from the point of view not of an art critic but of an artist who wanted to allow his fellow artists to speak . His approach was to ask a series of questions, the same ones, to each artist and present their responses along side photos of their work.

When I started to do the Art Blog on my vernellestudio.com website, not knowing of Seed, I proceeded in the same way. I am an artist not an art critic, but I have also studied lots of art history and have things to say about the art I see. I approached my fellow artists with a series of questions designed to elucidate their feelings about art and their own process. Finding another art blogger who had instinctively done the same thing was a nice confirmation that I had landed on the right path.

It seems to me that many things are shifting in our world, not the least of which is the variety of ways in which we can perceive the world around us and express that perception. In order for new things to emerge, the old must be disrupted and the ground broken open so that what germinates below may reach the sun.

The book discussed in this post is Disrupted Realism, Paintings for a Distracted World by John Seed, 2019.

The copyright to the paintings used here and in Seed’s book belong to the artists who created the paintings.

Photos of the paintings were taken by me and used here in accordance with Fair Use Policy for discussion, critique and review.

Marjorie Vernelle is an artist, writer, college professor, and traveler. For more see the Pages at ofartandwine.com or her author page at amazon.com and her art at Vernelle Art Boutique vernellestudio.com and etsy.com/shop/VernelleArt Studio.

Wine! Oh, the Art of It.

Wine has been around since mankind first started cultivating land. As I have stated in my About page, two things that one can count on as universal human productions are art and alcoholic beverages. Here, of course, we focus on painting and wine. For sure, artists have said a few things in their paintings about the dizzying (dare I say disruptive) effects of the fruit of the vine.

The Girl with a Glass of Wine by Johannes Vermeer, 1659-1660

Oh, this picture looks like potential trouble. The young woman’s eyes are a bit too excited – all this attention and the wine, too! The man’s eyes show that he is quite pleased by the effect that his offerings of drink are having. Where might this lead? Well, the complete painting is set in a very well appointed room where not many shenannigans would take place; however, she might just say yes, to a marriage proposal. It has been discovered that the aroma of different wines replicate that of various human pheromones associated with the libido. It obviously didn’t take modern science for Vermeer to know about this – just look at the young woman’s eyes again.

Edouard Manet’s Bar at the Folies Bérgére, 1882

Edouard Manet certainly knew of the folly of wine, notice all of the bottles of champagne that line the bar and the joyous evening activities reflected in the mirror (see the lady’s legs on the trapeze in the upper left corner). Manet’s keen eye also sees another activity. He shows us the face of the barmaid, who looks rather glum despite all the gaiety around her. The barmaids were often known to dispense more than just drinks. Manet has done a bit of a trick with perspective in the way he shows the reflection of the barmaid so that the viewer of the painting can see who is talking to her. To the right of the painting, one sees the reflection of a man’s face, rosy with wine, who may in fact be propositioning the barmaid, something she doesn’t seem too happy about.

Jan Steen’s The Dissolute Household, 1663-64.

Jan Steen, one of the masters of the Dutch Golden Age is known for his earthy representations of life and excess in the time when the Dutch ruled the trade in just about everything. There is a lot of merriment going on in this scene, though it does not seem to come from any special occasion. Rather it is daily life in this affluent Dutch household. There is food everywhere, including on the floor. The lady of the house seems to be “in her cups” and asking for yet another glass of wine, while the husband cheerfully plays fiddle fingers with the maid who is pouring that glass. One child tickles the neck of a sleeping nanny. (Did she have too much wine, too?) A youngster is serving up more food while being distracted by a beggar who has poked his head and outstretched hand through the window. As for anything approaching the intellect, we see that the family is rich enough to afford books, but the lady of the house uses an open book as a footrest. This is a painting of too much of everything and wine is contributing to the disruption – dissolution – of this household.

We’ve all heard of the “sorrows of gin,” but what about the joys of wine?

This portrait from the 19th century shows a gentleman about to enjoy a glass of sherry. He has properly decanted it, and is appraising its wonderous color with a keen eye. The smile on his lips would indicate that his taste buds are warming to the idea of his first sip. We shall presume that he won’t drink the whole bottle, but he does seem to be enjoying this drink in the solitude of his study. Certainly this is a depiction of someone who enjoys a little nip, we hope after having a fine meal.

Officer and the Laughing Girl by Johannes Vermeer, 1657. Hover over image to magnify.

While there are many paintings that warn of the dangers of drink, there are also ones that show the delight of sharing a glass with someone special. It is clear in this Vermeer painting that the young woman is enjoying the company of this officer. There is no public activity depicted. The setting would seem to be the quiet of a well-kept home, in a space where the woman, who is quite well covered in terms of her clothing, feels comfortable. The man wears a very expensive hat showing that he is someone of rank. One gets the idea of two people who are enjoying one another’s company. This woman’s face seems shiny and warm, not half delirious like the young woman in Girl with a Glass of Wine. This is a scene of appropriate behavior and yes, wine is there as a complement to the occasion of this visit.

Wine, wine, fruit of the vine, can certainly influence any situation, though it need not be disruptive. Of Art and Wine supports drinking responsibly, and enjoying it.

Paintings used in this segment of the post are in Public Domain.

Of Art and Wine affiliates with Bluehost.com and    CellarsWineClub.com and may earn from qualifying purchases.

©marjorie vernelle 2022