“I read Dante and realized how much power a writer could have. A writer could put people in hell who weren’t even dead yet.” —Ishmael Reed
buff.ly/49EgRQw

“The world is wonderful, it was said, if you take the trouble to travel through it on foot.”
~ Robert Walser,
from “The Assistant,”
(15 April 1878 – 25 December 1956)

Have a glimpse of incomprehensibles, and Thoughts of things, which thoughts but tenderly touch.

-Thomas Browne

« La chute des grands hommes rend les médiocres et les petits importants. Quand le soleil décline à l'horizon, le moindre caillou fait une grande ombre et se croit quelque chose. »
Victor Hugo

'An Unkempt Bouquet.' (1946) A master of the still-life as few in the 20thC could claim, Georges Braque saw himself as the heir of Chardin and Cézanne. We are used to seeing Braque's Cubist pictures (miracles of dematerialisation, as one art critic once put it) but his life after…

The long story...

Smoker, 1892 botfrens.com/collections/43…

John Trumbull - Washington Resigning His Commission

Trumbull described the painting in the catalogue for his exhibited works at Yale University in 1835:

'What a dazzling temptation was here to earthly ambition! Beloved by the military, venerated by the people, who was there to

Soon after moving to London in 1930, the Australian artist Roy de Maistre began a close friendship with the then 21 year old Francis Bacon who had begun to establish himself as a fashionable furniture designer. de Maistre provided technical advice and support, which helped Bacon…

A touching love story about two middle-aged people at a crossroads in life, Delbert Mann’s DEAR HEART is a heartbreaking romantic comedy anchored by Geraldine Page in a standout performance.

Henry Mancini’s melancholy title song was nominated for an Oscar® for Best Song.

Ready for a walk through the English countryside?

Dear Readers,

If you are in or around Chicago-land on May 2, join us at this conversation on Mark Shiffman's gem-of-an-essay What is Ideology?

wisebloodbooks.com/store/p134/Wha…

Thank you so much, Lumen Christi.

“People settle for a level of despair they can tolerate and call it happiness.”

Earthlings are the great explainers, explaining why this event is structured as it is, telling how other events may be achieved or avoided.

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaugtherhouse-Five or The Children's Crusade

Feast day of St Bernadette. My reflections in Give Us This Day

'The most precious aspect of human community - the connection among the dead, living, and yet-to-be born - is the most delicate, the easiest to destroy. The most effective way to destroy the solidarity of a people is to undermine and sever their connection with the

I thought I'd start today with one that I haven't shown for quite a long time. This is 'Heybridge Basin' by Harold Steggles. Which is undated but most likely comes from c.1932/33. #HaroldSteggles #Heybridge #Essex #EastLondonGroup

One of the most versatile talents in music, Henry Mancini was synonymous with great motion picture and television scores.

Join us as we celebrate his centennial with a 24-hour salute tomorrow beginning at 6am ET.

Channel Steamer Leaving Harbour, Eric Ravilious, 1935. It depicts a cross-channel ferry leaving Newhaven harbour in East #Sussex . The original artwork is in a private collection but is on display at Towner Eastbourne.

'Shore Pattern,' (c1950) is painted in Alfred Joseph Casson's crisp, assured style of working. He owed much to his friend Franklin Carmichael, a member of the Group of Seven from its inception in 1920; through his influence, a feeling of otherworldliness is added to the scene.