#gaston bussière

[the-evil-clergyman]

The Rhinemaidens by Gaston Bussière (1906)

[leatherandmossprints]

‘Nymphs’ by Gaston Bussière, c. 1910.

[lux-vitae]

The Rhine Maidens by Gaston Bussière (1906)

[gogandmagog]

Ophelia by Gaston Bussière, circa 1900

Gilbert Blythe, Anne of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

Was thinking today of Gilbert’s propensity for calling Anne “wife’o’mine” or else, as above, the way he reverently publicly refers to her as such in the company of friends.

And reflecting on this drew me immediately back to Anne playing at the Lily Maid (and herself nearly accidentally meeting the same fate as Tennyson’s Elaine), and the first time Gilbert saves her life (and the beginning of her softening on her grudge against him)… only to remember/realise;

Lancelot and Elaine (or the Lily Maid) by Lord Alfred Tennyson

So basically, I would bet my whole entire life that “wife of mine” is actually an in-joke, meant and originating as a private call back to Avonlea’s own Lily Maid of Barry’s Pond. 🥹🥹🥹 It’s even extra layered with meaning when we consider that the Lily Maid is essentially the story of a girl dying at the ‘hand’ of unrequited love. (Elaine professes she loves Lancelot [whose life she had a saved], but alas – he only wishes to be her friend. And then, of course, Elaine, weaken, later dies from her broken heart. If we reverse these roles, exactly who does that all sound like btw?)

[venustapolis]

Glory (Orpheus) (Gaston Bussière, 1890)

[ourstaturestouchtheskies]

Amazons – Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein (detail) // The Lookout – Vasily Polenov // The Revelation (Brünnhilde Discovering Sieglinde and Siegmund) – Gaston Bussière (detail) // The Brigand’s Wife – Anton Romako // The Amazon – Karl Ludwig Hassmann // The Heroine of Peralada – Antoni Caba // Judith and Holofernes – unknown artist // The Accolade – Edmund Leighton // Valkyries – Elisabeth Baumann // The Valkyrie – Servais Joseph Detilleux // Inkpot Gods – The Amazing Devil

[balkanparamo]

Gaston Bussière      Salammbô, la scène du serpent     1910

[arinewman7]

Gaston Bussière

[someday-dreamlands]

𝑳𝒂𝒔 𝑵𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒔 (𝑮𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒔𝒊è𝒓𝒆, 1902).

[honey-hymn]

Waternymphs

Gaston Bussière

[takeyoutothestars]

Isolde, The Celt Princess (1911) Gaston Bussière (French, 1862-1929)

[the-evil-clergyman]

Titania Endormie by Gaston Bussière (Late 19th - Early 20th Century)

[mysterious-secret-garden]

Gaston Bussière - Jeanne d’Arc, la Prédestinée, c. 1909.

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[visceral--feeling]

The Rhinemaidens - Gaston Bussière // Greyhound - Ashton Irwin

[venustapolis]

La Houille blanche (Gaston Bussière, 1902)

[ocearchives]

Nymphe by Gaston Bussière