Vintage Art Appreciation: Orchids and Poppies

It is in your power to withdraw yourself whenever you desire. Perfect tranquility within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm of your own.
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself.
― Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired.
Smile, even when you're trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision.
Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy.
Trust, even when your heart begs you not to.
Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see.
Frolick, even when you are made fun of. Kiss, even when others are watching. Sleep, even when you're afraid of what the dreams might bring.
Run, even when it feels like you can't run any more.
And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart. Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience---you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric. What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So don't live life in fear. Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.
― Alysha Speer

Both painting are by Lovis Corinth (1858–1925). Originally found on Wikimedia here and here. Digitally altered versions of these paintings can be found as 6" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEGs here (click on the download icon at top right of images).


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Iris, Bindweed and an Ear of Corn

This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience - it looks for a way of being constructive.
Love is not possessive.
Love is not anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own ideas.
Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.
Love is not touchy.
Love does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
Love knows no limits to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that stands when all else has fallen.
― Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman

Painting is called "Iris, Bindweed and an Ear of Corn" by Cornelis van Spaendonck (1756-1839). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 9" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Cyclamens for Love

…The shaking aspect of the sea
And man’s defenceless bare face
And cyclamens putting their ears back.
Long, pensive, slim-muzzled greyhound buds
Dreamy, not yet present,
Drawn out of earth
At his toes.
Dawn-rose
Sub-delighted, stone engendered
Cyclamens, young cyclamens
Arching
Waking, pricking their ears…
― D.H. Lawrence, Sicilian Cyclamens

The name cyclamen comes from the Latin "cyclamnos" which in turn comes from the Greek "kuklaminos" and "kuklos" which means cycle, circle, or wheel. Cyclamen species are native primarily to the Mediterranean region: Greece, Italy, Cypress, Crete, Turkey, Lebanon and Israel (where they are the national flower). Some species have radiated from this center of diversity north to Belarus, south to Somalia, west to Libya, Spain and France, and east to Iran. [Source: Plant Delights]

A Chinese fairy tale tells the story of the origin of the cyclamen flower. Chang’e stole an elixir of immortality from her husband Hou Yi (the God of Archery) and then escaped to the Moon, becoming known as the Goddess of the Moon. The jade rabbit was her faithful companion. Chang’e, dearly missing her family, one day decided to pay a visit to Hou Yi. The jade rabbit, giving them privacy, chose to play in the garden. There he met a gardener and grew very fond of him. When it was time to return to the Moon, the jade rabbit took a flower seed from his ear and gifted it to the gardener. This seed sprouted into a cyclamen flower whose petals resemble the ears of a rabbit. Cyclamen is also called the ‘bunny-ear flower’ in the Far East. [Source: Pansy Maiden]

Due to its tuber which allows the cyclamen plant to withstand even the most difficult conditions, the cyclamen flower is regarded as a symbol of deep love. This is why these flowers make wonderful gifts on Valentine’s Day, along with roses. Giving someone cyclamen is a way of expressing genuine love. In Japan, this flower is called the ‘Holy Flower of Love’ and is considered as Cupid’s love child. This is another reason why it’s associated with Valentine’s Day.[Source: Symbol Sage]

Going into February and the season of love, I hope you will find an opportunity to share a cyclamen or two with a treasured partner, friend or family member. These wonderful flowers can be grouped on a windowsill or tabletop to brighten up a room during these gray, cold months. Then, as the weather warms up, plant them in a shady corner of your garden to enjoy until the autumn.

Love starts as a feeling,
But to continue is a choice;
And I find myself choosing you
More and more every day.
― Justin Wetch, Bending The Universe
Paintings:
Top ― "Cyclamens in Front of a Wallpaper Background," painted in 1935 by Josef Jungwirth (1869–1950). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 4" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.
Bottom ― "Cyclamen," painted in 1935 by Endre Rozsda (1913–1999). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 8" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: by Crow on a Roundpole Fence by Bruno Liljefors

Crow on a Roundpole Fence, 1887
by Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939)

☀ ☁ ☀ ☁ ☀
Roads Go Ever On

Roads go ever ever on,
Over rock and under tree,
By caves where never sun has shone,
By streams that never find the sea;
Over snow by winter sown,
And through the merry flowers of June,
Over grass and over stone,
And under mountains in the moon.

Roads go ever ever on,
Under cloud and under star.
Yet feet that wandering have gone
Turn at last to home afar.
Eyes that fire and sword have seen,
And horror in the halls of stone
Look at last on meadows green,
And trees and hills they long have known.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.

The Road goes ever on and on
Out from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone.
Let others follow, if they can!
Let them a journey new begin.
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Painting originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as an 11" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Garden Idyll by Hugo Charlemont

I am an optimist! What a wonderful time it is to be alive, here at the turn of a milestone century! With that frame of reference, my plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we “accentuate the positive.” I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment and endorse virtue and effort.
― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

Painting is titled "Garden Idyll" by Hugo Charlemont (1850–1939). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as an 8" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Printable Vintage Art: Swans by Bruno Liljefors

Swans, 1918
by Bruno Liljefors (1860–1939)

There was something in the clear, pine-scented air of that winter morning that seemed to bring him back his joyousness and his ardour for life.
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

He thought that she looked like Winter; meaning both the girl he had once known and the season. He had always believed that winter's beauty deepened further into the season, when the memory of fall and the promise of spring were stripped away and there was nothing to do but accept the day-in, day-out reality of what winter entailed. This was what he thought when he looked at her: that the embattled woman before him was a wonder to behold, and, as much as he wished he might have spared her the pain of the last eleven years, it contributed to her spellbinding presence.
― Ben Spencer, Many Savage Moons

Painting originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 10" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: The Little Gardener by Gustav Gaupp

A wise parent humors the desire for independent action,
so as to become the friend and advisor when his absolute rule shall cease.
― Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South

We could never have loved the earth so well if we had had no childhood in it,
if it were not the earth where the same flowers come up again every spring
that we used to gather with our tiny fingers as we sat lisping to ourselves on the grass,
the same hips and haws on the autumn hedgerows,
the same redbreasts that we used to call ‘God’s birds’
because they did no harm to the precious crops.
What novelty is worth that sweet monotony
where everything is known and loved because it is known?
― George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss

Painting is titled "The Little Gardener". Painted c1918 by Gustav Gaupp (1844–1918). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 10" x 15" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: God's Care by Mihael Stroj

God's Care, 1842
by Mihael Stroj (1803–1871)

Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you,
and to give thanks continuously.
And because all things have contributed to your advancement,
you should include all things in your gratitude.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Think big. Pray bigger. Grace is at work for you in ways you're too human to understand.
― Andrena Sawyer

Even when you don't see Him working, He's busy working on your behalf.
Forever grateful for God's grace!
― Yvonne Pierre, The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir
Painting originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 7" x 5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Winter Landscape with River and Bird by Julian Fałat

Winter Landscape with River and Bird, 1913
by Julian Fałat (1853–1929)
But now she loved winter. Winter was beautiful "up back" - almost intolerably beautiful. Days of clear brilliance. Evenings that were like cups of glamour - the purest vintage of winter's wine. Nights with their fire of stars. Cold, exquisite winter sunrises. Lovely ferns of ice all over the windows of the Blue Castle. Moonlight on birches in a silver thaw. Ragged shadows on windy evenings - torn, twisted, fantastic shadows. Great silences, austere and searching. Jewelled, barbaric hills. The sun suddenly breaking through grey clouds over long, white Mistawis. Ice-grey twilights, broken by snow-squalls, when their cosy living-room, with its goblins of firelight and inscrutable cats, seemed cosier than ever. Every hour brought a new revalation and wonder.
― L.M. Montgomery, The Blue Castle

December is an old friend; it reminds you of the past, together you share some laughs and tears, you feel warm-hearted though it’s freezing outside. But, the goodbye is inevitable. May the memories we share with this friend next year be filled with comfort, peace and Love.
― Mohamed Atef

Following dark winter's strife, a warm air rises, teemed with life. Birth, rebirth, as the waiting die. Old love, new love sprouts wings to fly.
― Phar West Nagle

Vintage Art Appreciation: Study of Pink Hollyhocks in Sunlight, from Nature

Hollyhock symbolism extend to the realm of Faery, as fairies were believed to use the blooms as skirts, and Hollyhock seedpods were known as fairy cheese because they resembled a cheese wheel. There is even a recipe dating from 1660 that recommends combining Hollyhock, Marigolds, Wild Thyme and Hazel buds in order to allow mortals to see the fairy folk. (Source: The Witchery Arts)

The painting seen above is titled "Study of Pink Hollyhocks in Sunlight, from Nature", painted in 1879 by John La Farge (1835–1910). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 4" x 5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: In the Rose Garden by Jules Scalbert

I think if I've learned anything about friendship,
it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you.
Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired,
don't take them for granted.
Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.
― Jon Katz
Painting is titled "In the Rose Garden" by Jules Scalbert (1851–1928). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 7.5" x 10" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Lawn Billiards, 17th Century

Gentlemen playing troco or lawn billiards while ladies and gentleman dine in an ivy-covered pergola near a formal garden, early 17th century. Artist unknown.

Leisure is only possible when we are at one with ourselves. We tend to overwork as a means of self-escape, as a way of trying to justify our existence.
― Josef Pieper, Leisure: The Basis of Culture

My father taught me to work, but not to love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh -- anything but work.
― Abraham Lincoln

Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.
― George Mac Donald, Wilfrid Cumbermede

I do not particularly like the word 'work.' Human beings are the only animals who have to work, and I think that is the most ridiculous thing in the world. Other animals make their livings by living, but people work like crazy, thinking that they have to in order to stay alive. The bigger the job, the greater the challenge, the more wonderful they think it is. It would be good to give up that way of thinking and live an easy, comfortable life with plenty of free time. I think that the way animals live in the tropics, stepping outside in the morning and evening to see if there is something to eat, and taking a long nap in the afternoon, must be a wonderful life. For human beings, a life of such simplicity would be possible if one worked to produce directly his daily necessities. In such a life, work is not work as people generally think of it, but simply doing what needs to be done.
― Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution

Vintage Art Appreciation: Path from Loschwitz to Rochwitz by Gustav Otto Müller

Path from Loschwitz to Rochwitz, 1896
by Gustav Otto Müller (1827-1922)

Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars. Learn how to drive a stick shift. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back. Say no when you don’t want to do something. Say yes if your instincts are strong, even if everyone around you disagrees. Decide whether you want to be liked or admired. Decide if fitting in is more important than finding out what you’re doing here. Believe in kissing.
― Eve Ensler

Solitude is independence. It had been my wish and with the years I had attained it. It was cold. Oh, cold enough! But it was also still, wonderfully still and vast like the cold stillness of space in which the stars revolve.
― Hermann Hesse, Steppenwolf

Find meaning. Distinguish melancholy from sadness. Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park, spring at its most spectacular moment, flowers and smells and outstanding poetical imagery smoothly transferring you into another world. It doesn’t have to be a walk during which you’ll have multiple life epiphanies and discover meanings no other brain ever managed to encounter. Do not be afraid of spending quality time by yourself. Find meaning or don’t find meaning but 'steal' some time and give it freely and exclusively to your own self. Opt for privacy and solitude. That doesn’t make you antisocial or cause you to reject the rest of the world. But you need to breathe. And you need to be.
― Albert Camus, Notebooks 1951-1959

Vintage Art Appreciation: In the Garden by Jindřich Tomec

The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.
Don’t wait for good things to happen to you.
If you go out and make some good things happen,
you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.
― Barack Obama

This is the real secret of life --
to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now.
And instead of calling it work, realize it is play.
― Alan Watts
Painting is titled "In the Garden," (?) c1920s by Jindřich Tomec (1863–1928). Originally found on Wikimedia. Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 11" x 8" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Girl with Cats in a Summer Landscape

"Girl with Cats in a Summer Landscape"
painted in 1892 by Elin Danielson-Gambogi (1861–1919).

Originally found on Wikimedia.
Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 14" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Three Girls in the Garden by Eliseu Visconti

"Três meninas no jardim" (Three Girls in the Garden),
painted in 1935 by Eliseu Visconti (1866–1944).

Originally found on Wikimedia.
Digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 12" x 15" @ 300 ppi JPEG here.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Children in the Garden by Władysław Podkowiński

No matter the state of the world,
or how dark the shadow that has fallen on our city,
I find it curiously comforting to know that if you plant a seed
and give it sunlight and water, it will grow.
― Sarah Jio, All the Flowers in Paris

Altered vintage painting titled "Children in the Garden," originally painted in 1892 by Władysław Podkowiński (1866–1895). You can find the image of the original painting on Wikimedia or you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 8" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Simply print and frame for tabletop or wall artI but could also be used as a cover for a journal or scrapbooking project.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Fernanda Gioli and Her Friends by Francesco Gioli

The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand,
not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship;
it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one
when you discover that someone else believes in you
and is willing to trust you with a friendship.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love people who make me laugh.
I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh.
It cures a multitude of ills.
It's probably the most important thing in a person.
― Audrey Hepburn

Altered version of a painting titled "Fernanda Gioli and Her Friends," originally painted circa 1885 by Francesco Gioli (1846–1922). You can find the image of the original painting on Wikimedia or you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 9" x 6" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Simply print and frame for tabletop or wall artI but could also be used as a cover for a journal or scrapbooking project.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Madame Lerolle by Henri Fantin-Latour

Stephen kissed me in the spring,
Robin in the fall,
But Colin only looked at me
And never kissed at all.

Stephen’s kiss was lost in jest,
Robin’s lost in play,
But the kiss in Colin’s eyes
Haunts me night and day.
― Sara Teasdale, The Collected Poems

Altered version of a painting titled "Madame Lerolle," originally painted in 1882 by Henri Fantin-Latour (1836–1904). You can find the image of the original painting at the Cleveland Museum of Art's site or you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 12" x 16.5" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Simply print and frame for tabletop or wall artI but could also be used as a cover for a journal or scrapbooking project.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Geraniums by Childe Hassam

Summer is a period of luxurious growth.
To be in harmony with the atmosphere of summer,awaken early in the morning
and reach to the sun for nourishment to flourish as the gardens do.
Work, play, travel, be joyful, and grow into selfless service.
The bounty of the outside world enters and enlivens us.
― Paul Pitchford, Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition

Altered vintage painting titled "Geraniums" by Childe Hassam (1859–1935). You can find the image of the original painting on Wikimedia here and you can download my digitally enhanced version of the painting as a 8.5" x 11" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. Simply print and frame for tabletop or wall artI but could also be used as a cover in a garden journal or scrapbooking project.


Digitally enhanced reproductions of public domain fine art are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.