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: 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: 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.

Vintage Art Appreciation: A Spanish Garden by Martín Rico

I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days
― three such days with you I could fill with more delight
than fifty common years could ever contain.
― John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

A tale begun in other days,
When summer suns were glowing ―
A simple chime, that served to time
The rhythm of your rowing ―
Whose echoes live in memory yet,
Though envious years would say 'forget.'
― Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There

Altered vintage painting titled "A Spanish Garden" by Martín Rico (1833 – 1908). 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 6" x 9" @ 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.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Las Glicinas by Pedro Blanes Viale

Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving,
we get stronger and more resilient.
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

Resilience is accepting your new reality,
even if it's less good than the one you had before.
You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost,
or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.
― Elizabeth Edwards
The above public domain painting is titled "Las glicinas" and it was painted in 1923 by Pedro Blanes Viale (1879–1926). Wisteria flowers have at times symbolized rejection and lost love but it is also a longstanding symbol of resilience due to the plant's hardiness and longevity.

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 13" x 14" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. I thought this might be a pretty addition to a garden journal or scrapbooking project but you can also simply print and frame for tabletop or wall art.


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

Vintage Art Appreciation: Portrait of O. F. Tomara by Valentin Serov

I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.
― Walt Whitman

When what you want is a relationship, and not a person, get a dog.
― Deb Caletti, The Secret Life of Prince Charming

The above public domain artwork is titled "Portrait of O. F. Tomara" and it was painted in 1892 by Valentin Serov (1865–1911). 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 6" x 9" @ 300 ppi JPEG here. I thought this might be a pretty addition to a garden journal or scrapbooking project but you can also simply print and frame for tabletop or wall art.


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

Vintage Art Appreciation: Elena Among Roses by Joaquin Sorolla

Elena Among Roses, 1907
by Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923)

Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you,
it's not because they enjoy solitude.
It's because they have tried to blend into the world before,
and people continue to disappoint them.
― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am,
the more I will respect myself.
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

I had already found that it was not good to be alone,
and so made companionship with what there was around me,
sometimes with the universe and sometimes with my own insignificant self;
but my books were always my friends, let fail all else.
― Joshua Slocum, Sailing Alone around the World

Vintage Art Appreciation: The Old Stairs, Raixa by Santiago Rusiñol

The Old Stairs (Pedres velles), Raixa, 1907
by Santiago Rusiñol (1861 - 1931)
The painting:
Santiago Rusiñol's burgeoning success as a painter enabled him to concentrate almost completely on the subject closest to his heart, Spain's gardens and landscapes. When Rusiñol travelled to Mallorca, he sojourned in the locality of Bunyola whose opulent gardens became the inspiration for works such as this.

The present work depicts the upper half of the flight of stairs dedicated to Apollo in the Raixa Gardens, north of Palma de Mallarco. Originally laid out by the Moors, the Raixa Gardens were redesigned by Cardinal Antoni Despuig i Cotoner during the eighteenth century. Begun in 1902 and completed in 1907, Pedres velles is one of four pictures Rusiñol painted of the steps.

The artist:
The charismatic leader of Catalan Modernism, and a founder of Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona, Rusiñol travelled widely and spent extended periods in Paris. Notwithstanding his position as a leading member of the international avant-garde, however, it was in Spain that he was able to explore the full range of his resonant palette and where many of his most powerful and evocative works were completed.

Source: Sotheby's.

Vintage Art Appreciation: On an Apiary by Aleksandr Makovsky

On an Apiary, 1916
by Aleksandr Makovsky (1869 - 1924)

The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist.
For man it is to know that and to wonder at it.
― Jacques Cousteau

It is so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun,
to have lived light in the spring,
to have loved, to have thought, to have done.
― Matthew Arnold

And we should always remember that, in matters of evolution, nature will select for the ability to adapt and survive, not for maximum convenience to mankind.
― Phil Chandler, The Barefoot Beekeeper

Don't Just
Don't just learn, experience.
Don't just read, absorb.
Don't just change, transform.
Don't just relate, advocate.
Don't just promise, prove.
Don't just criticize, encourage.
Don't just think, ponder.
Don't just take, give.
Don't just see, feel.
Don’t just dream, do.
Don't just hear, listen.
Don't just talk, act.
Don't just tell, show.
Don't just exist, live.
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Vintage Art Appreciation: Garden View with a Dog by Tomás Yepes

Garden View with a Dog, 1660s
by Tomás Yepes (1595 – 1674)
All his life he tried to be a good person. Many times, however, he failed.
For after all, he was only human. He wasn't a dog.
― Charles M. Schulz

Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.
It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them.
― John Grogan, Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

People leave imprints on our lives, shaping who we become in much the same way that a symbol is pressed into the page of a book to tell you who it comes from. Dogs, however, leave paw prints on our lives and our souls, which are as unique as fingerprints in every way.
― Ashly Lorenzana

Vintage Art Appreciation: Last Flowers by Jules Breton

Last Flowers, 1890
by Jules Breton (1827 – 1906)

The magic fades too fast
the scent of summer never lasts
the nights turn hollow and vast
but nothing remains...nothing lasts.
― Sanober Khan

If today is not your day,
then be happy
for this day shall never return.
And if today is your day,
then be happy now
for this day shall never return.
― Kamand Kojouri

Life is made up of a collection of moments that are not ours to keep. The pain we encounter throughout our days spent on this earth comes from the illusion that some moments can be held onto. Clinging to people and experiences that were never ours in the first place is what causes us to miss out on the beauty of the miracle that is the now. All of this is yours, yet none of it is. How could it be? Look around you. Everything is fleeting.

To love and let go, love and let go, love and let go...it's the single most important thing we can learn in this lifetime.
― Rachel Brathen

Vintage Art Appreciation: Moonlit Nigt by Ivan Kramskoi

Moonlit Nigt, 1880
by Ivan Kramskoi (1837 - 1887)
Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it's not because they enjoy solitude. It's because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.
― Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper

I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

For now she need not think of anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of - to think; well not even to think. To be silent; to be alone. All the being and the doing, expansive, glittering, vocal, evaporated; and one shrunk, with a sense of solemnity, to being oneself, a wedge-shaped core of darkness, something invisible to others... and this self having shed its attachments was free for the strangest adventures.
― Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse

Vintage Art Appreciation: Sunlit Conservatory with Parrots by Olga Wisinger-Florian

Sunlit Conservatory with Parrots
by Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844 - 1926)
Most things are forgotten over time. Even the war itself, the life-and-death struggle people went through is now like something from the distant past. We’re so caught up in our everyday lives that events of the past are no longer in orbit around our minds. There are just too many things we have to think about everyday, too many new things we have to learn. But still, no matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away. They remain with us forever, like a touchstone.
― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

“Sometimes," he sighed, "I think the things I remember are more real than the things I see.”
― Arthur Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha

“But that's how memory works," Bitterblue said quietly. "Things disappear without your permission, then come back again without your permission. And sometimes they came back incomplete and warped.”
― Kristin Cashore, Bitterblue

Vintage Art Appreciation: Celebrating Fall Colours with Franz Bischoff

Autumn Moods by Franz Arthur Bischoff (1864 - 1929)
Franz Bischoff was born in Austria but immigrated to the United States in 1882. Trained in ceramic decoration as a boy, he continued to further his career in porcelain painting in his new homeland. He became well-known as a leading teacher of the craft, founding the Bischoff School of Ceramic Art in Detroit and in New York City, and as a master ceramicist who manufactured many of his own glazes.

Vase decorated by Bischoff (acclaimed as "King of the Rose Painters")
He decided to settle in California in 1906, ultimately building and completing a landmark studio home at 320 Pasadena Avenue in 1908. A description of the home says: "The building was poured of solid concrete and was one-and-a half stories high. It was designed in the Renaissance style, with an imposing entry through massive oak doors with stained glass panels. The doorway was set beneath a classical pedimented portico, supported by two columns. The interior was divided between a large gallery, a studio and a complete ceramic workshop in the basement.

The gallery measured 36 feet by 40 feet. It had high, concave ceilings lighted by several half-circle skylights. The floors were of solid oak covered by old Turkish rugs and polar bear skins. All interior doors and paneling were of natural redwood in the Gothic style. The furniture was of massive oak in the Mission style. At the west end of the gallery was a huge tile-covered fireplace. The wall space throughout was covered with paintings of flowers and landscapes, and in one corner were several oak display cases containing examples of Bischoff's painted ceramics.

The painting studio had a large picture window that overlooked the Arroyo Seco, with a wide vista of the distant mountains. The studio furniture consisted of an easel, several easy chairs and low divans, all of Flemish oak."

The Arroyo Seco, Pasadena, c1918 by Franz Bischoff
- a possible view from his studio window?
In 1912, Bischoff went on an extended tour of Europe where he studied the works of the Old Masters and the Impressionists. On his return to California, Bischoff turned to landscape painting and gradually abandoned porcelain decoration (Source: The Irvine Museum).

Although I've categorized Bischoff's works under Impressionism, I think they may fall somewhere in between Impressionism and Fauvism, particularly his later works (c1920s) which show very strong, vivid colours. His background in design comes through his compositions - look how his landscapes follow clearly the rules of linear perspective, and he seems to have retained quite a bit of art nouveau graphical influence in his stylized renderings of landscape elements such as trees, rocks and mountains. This unique treatment, in addition to his use of jewel-like colour blocks, makes me feel like I'm looking st a Tiffany stained glass window.

Autumn landscape window from Tiffany Studios (1902 - 1932),
design attributed to Agnes F. Northrop (1857 - 1953) (Source: The Met)
Finally, I am closing the post with two Bischoff paintings of fall's most popular flowers - the quintessential chrysanthemums!

Chrysanthemums by Franz Bischoff

Spider Mums by Franz Bischoff
Aren't these warm colours lovely? I hope you have the opportunity of using these golden hues in your fall decorating to stave off the encroaching cooler temperatures. Pretty soon, possibly after Halloween, I'll be filling up the house and front yard with more blue-greens and reds as we head into the Christmas season but it is really nice to savour the yellows, oranges, and golds while summer is still fresh in our minds.

Originally published 2018. © FieldandGarden.com. All rights reserved.

Vintage Art Appreciation: Natural History Studio at RCA by Richard Bell

Natural History Studio at RCA
by Richard Bell (Image source: here)
Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
— John Muir, Our National Parks

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
― Albert Einstein

The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had the eyes to see.
― Edward Abbey