Month: January 2011

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Frank Godwin

Paintings by Frank Godwin (1889-1959), the first from The Book of Courage (1930) illustrating an essay on Sir Frances Drake, and the second, “Treasure,” from The Blue Fairy Book (1921) by Andrew Lang. Godwin summered on Skaneateles Lake from 1928 through 1938, hosting other artists, writers, musicians, dancers, which is how I came upon him.

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The Hammock

Who knew that hammock paintings constituted a genre?

“Girl in a Hammock” by Jules Octave Triquet  (1867-1914)

“The Hammock” by Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931)

“Girl In A Hammock” by Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

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With thanks to the amazing, wondrous Art Renewal Center

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No Way Out?

A pane from “Carol Day,” a British newspaper comic strip by David Wright that ran from 1956 to 1967, beginning its run in The Daily Mail. The strip was syndicated in newspapers around the world, but never appeared in the United States; it was judged too sophisticated. For more information and an appreciation of the artist, do visit the Carol Day website.

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Batik Post

“Double Pillar Box, Dublin,” a batik print by Irish artist Bernadette Madden. Aidan Dunne, in the Irish Times, notes, “In Ireland, the name Bernadette Madden is virtually synonymous with batik. That is so because she has taken a medium that was chiefly associated with decorative craft and developed it as a means of artistic expression. In doing so she has, with exceptional technical virtuosity both revealed the versatility of batik and exploited its painterly possibilities as never before. It is evident from her work that she exercises a remarkable degree of control over the play of rich, saturated colour and tonal variations that the technique of fabric dyeing allows.”

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Mail Rescue

Correspondence was crucial during the Second World War, not only for military or governmental purposes but to maintain social morale. The British Post Office’s intention was that no letter should be delayed more than 48 hours due to enemy action. But from 1940, with the continuous bombardment of London, as well as other parts of the UK, this aim became more challenging. Frederick G. Gurr, a postman close to retirement in the City of London, was concerned that existing salvage squads did not recognize the importance of the mail; he set up the GPO Rescue and Salvage Squad to rescue mail, money and supplies from post offices and letterboxes bombed in London. Above is a hand stamp that distinguished mail delayed, but delivered.