#self portrait with her daughter julie

[annemarieyeretzian]

ROCOCO ART 🎀 love, ur local art mom 🩵

disclaimers and more information under the cut ✂️

hi I’m annemarie and I’m an art historian! not adjuncting for the first time in five years was rly hard for me so I threw some slides together so I could still (sort of) teach the same material as my language of art class but a) I threw these slides together for instagram so space was/is limited and b) language of art is a ten week run through art history so I’m presenting only the most accessible information here – there’s so much more to this art period and to this artist! – please don’t expect it to be comprehensive and please do ask if you have any questions!

oh p.s. my first ever class of art history students came up with the name ‘art mom’ for me at the end of the quarter and yes it does make me cry if I think about it too long thanks so much for asking

[nancydrewwouldnever]

Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, Self-portrait with her Daughter, Julie, 1789, oil/canvas (Musée du Louvre, Paris)

[holidays-events]

Elisabeth-Louise Vigée Le Brun

Self-portrait with Her Daughter - Étreinte maternelle

During the course of her lifetime, Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun painted many self-portraits, including her 1789 Self-Portrait with Her Daughter Julie (à l’Antique). In this intimate painting, she is seated on a bench as her daughter Julie leans into her body, and the arms of mother and daughter circle around each other. What differentiates this work from other self-portraits is her choice of attire. In this work, she appears to be wearing a one-shouldered dress that resembles the ancient Greek chiton, a garment not worn since antiquity. Why would the artist dress this way?

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with her Daughter, Julie, 1789, oil on canvas, 130 x 94 cm (Musée du Louvre). Speakers: Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

[thatchronicfeeling]

It has come to my attention that it's Period Drama Appreciation Week 2023. I love period dramas and grew up watching them. They have been a formative part of my life and I'm now too disabled to watch video. Even gifs are too difficult for my brain to process. It is also Bi Visibility Week and I'm posting this on Bisexual Visibility Day. Since I can't safely post a pile of gifs, here is a list celebrating actors/characters/moments from period dramas that have been significant to my bisexuality. [Yes, this is a big list. I am missing out on watching and re-watching A Lot of awesome period dramas and I hate it. This list is helping me reclaim a bit of joy. Also I've probably forgotten some favourites and may update this.]

Lori Petty in A League of Their Own

Jodhi May in any period drama

Mary Wickes in any period drama

Freddy Honeychurch in A Room with a View

Anne Hathaway playing cricket in that rust-coloured dress in Becoming Jane

Esther Summerson (disabled heroine!) & Allan Woodcourt in Bleak House

the freshly-painted yellow cabin door swinging shut with the names 'Calam & Katie' painted on it in Calamity Jane

the sequence where Doris Day sings 'Secret Love' in Calamity Jane

Michelle in Derry Girls (and James too, a wee bit)

George Eliot & Lenore in Edgar Allan Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party

the moment where Emma and Mr Knightley start dancing together and it feels like you're inside the music in Emma

Polly Waker's haircut in The Enchanted April

Matthias Schoenaerts in Far From the Madding Crowd

Idgie & Ruth in Fried Green Tomatoes

Suranne Jones in Gentleman Jack

recognising Marian Lister as a bisexual who hasn't realised it yet in Gentleman Jack

Mary Agnes McNue in Godless

Bel & Freddie in The Hour

June Allyson leaping over a hedge (or is it a fence?) as Jo March in Little Women

the Patricia Rozema adaptation of Mansfield Park

the whole sequence where Judy Garland strides onto the neighbours' porch to sock The Boy Next Door in the jaw in Meet Me in St Louis

Katie the cook in Meet Me in St Louis

the moment where Benedick braces his arm against a doorframe in a desperate panic to stop Beatrice from going to eat Claudio's heart in the marketplace in Much Ado About Nothing

Denzel Washington in Much Ado About Nothing

Mr Thornton's hands (ok, and also his face) in North & South

tomboy Doris Day in On Moonlight Bay

Valentine in Parade's End

all of Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Papi in Pose

Lizzy Bennet declaring that she would never marry someone she did not love in Pride & Prejudice

Mr Darcy diving into a pond in Pride & Prejudice

both Angel and Joanne in Rent (the 2008 broadway version)

Martha the maid in The Secret Garden

Lelia Walker in Self-Made

swashbuckling Margaret Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility

the dance sequences in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

the whole Thomas Kent situation in Shakespeare in Love

Maria (when she is not a nun) in The Sound of Music

Kitty Butler onstage in Tipping the Velvet

Annie and Janette and Jacques and Linh in Treme

Audra McDonald and Anne Hathaway and Raúl Esparza in that promotional photo for Twelfth Night

Julie Andrews and her male co-star singing a version of 'Home on the Range' with the line 'and the deer and the antelope are gay' in Victor/Victoria

Justine Waddell in Wives & Daughters

[captainschmoe]

Now I’m thinking about my Awakening OC children again, so here are their names, portrait texts and roster entries. Featuring gender lockpicking!

1. Sinjin

An enigmatic knight who devotes himself to his princess and sleep.

Frederick’s future son. Growing up with such a strict father made him snappish and uncooperative, but the calamity of the future drove him towards diligently serving Lucina in his own way. He rides atop a rescued wyvern named Cormag. The one who can and will sleep anywhere. Born on January 20.

2. Philibert

An enigmatic flier who writes poems about lovely men.

Virion’s future son. A gentle, refined, and beautiful nobleman who tends to immortalize the (always-male) objects of his affection in poetic ramblings. Despite appearances, he’s actually highly unnerving and dangerous in battle. The most difficult to startle. Born on March 9.

3. Sylva

An enigmatic cavalier who just doesn’t want anyone to die.

Stahl’s future daughter. A softhearted soul prone to anxiety, clinginess, and self-doubt. As such, she tends to inspire a sense of protectiveness in those around her (which only makes her feel bad about bothering them). The most frequent nail-biter. Born on January 17.

4. Aldhar

An enigmatic troubadour who powers through his old wounds.

Vaike’s future son. Originally raised to be a tough guy like his father, he sustained a back injury that prevents him from moving like he used to, though he fights through it as best he can. Looks up to his father and greatly overestimates his intelligence. The fastest puzzle-solver. Born on July 26.

5. Kallista

An enigmatic thief who can make herself vanish at will.

Kellam’s future daughter. Inherited her father’s invisibility, though she can seemingly trigger it on and off at will, effective at both confounding enemies and worrying loved ones. Otherwise a boistrous girl who likes to remind others of her dear old daddy’s existence. The least fond of talking about herself. Born on September 13.

6. Fen’la

An enigmatic swordswoman who keeps a healthy distance from others.

Lon’qu’s future daughter. Honed her skills with the blade from a young age and endlessly utilized them against the Risen. As such, she can consistently defeat her father (to his dismay). She doesn’t show emotions very strongly, but they’re definitely there. The most put off by touching. Born on February 2.

7. Reuben

An enigmatic mage with a heart as big as his muscles.

Ricken’s future son. A much earlier bloomer than his father, his ridiculously strong muscles led him to choosing magic to minimize extraneous damage. His gentle warmth draws children and elders alike towards him. The one who likes smelling books. Born on November 21.

8. Eustace

An enigmatic thief and spice hound with no sense of humor.

Gaius’s future son. Overexposure to sweets in his childhood led to a distate for them, preferring instead to drench his food in mouth-melting spice. The facial scars he keeps hidden stem from a cooking accident. The last one you’ll ever hear laughing. Born on October 3.

9. Barbara

An enigmatic barbarian who can’t help but make mischief.

Gregor’s future daughter. A rowdy woman with an unquenchable thirst for deviltry that no punishment has thus far dissuaded. She always prefaces her antics by introducing herself as “Barbara the Barbarian!” but does at least try to clean up her own messes. The most fiercely abstinent of liquor. Born on December 7.

10. Aries

An enigmatic (female) cleric who takes interest in Fell worship.

Libra’s future daughter. Perplexed by how anyone would worship the Fell Dragon, she took to learning as much history and lore about the religion as possible. Open-minded and willing to lend a helping hand or prayer to anyone, even - no, especially - the Grimleal. The one who bruises the most. Born on November 12.

11. Jack

An enigmatic dark mage who just wants to be an ordinary guy.

Henry’s future son. In stark contrast to his father, Jack somehow managed to turn out completely normal in the head. He can’t stand curses due to their use of dismembered animals, and sticks to a vegetarian diet whenever possible. The one with the touchiest stomach. Born on October 20.

12. Birdie

An enigmatic villager with simple dreams of a formal education.

Donnel’s future daughter, whose given name is Bernice. A bright and honest girl who aspires to become a veterinarian for the animals back home. She takes pride in teaching others the non-combat skills she’s learned. The most talented whistler. Born on May 19.

13. Aurora

An enigmatic princess who is surprisingly optimistic among the kids.

Chrom’s other future daughter. Too young to remember her parents or a peaceful world, she is endlessly emboldened by her sister’s fight for a bright future. She adores the past and often becomes distracted from the mission in favor of learning things. The best escape artist. Born on June 1.

[from1837to1945]

The Broken Heart (Self Portrait), 1901-1906

Self Portrait with Arrow in Bleeding Heart, 1902

Self Portrait with a Heart in His Hand, 1903

St. George and the Dragon, 1903

Parisian Drama, 1904

Ivar with Lillan, 1906 (left) / Ivar Arosenius with his daughter Eva (right)

Lillan, 1908 (left) / The Cat Journey, p.14 (right)

In July, 1906, Arosenius's daughter, Eva (Eva Benedikta Elisabet Arosenius, 1906-2004) known as 'Lillan' (Little one) was born; Arosenius was devoted to his daughter and her arrival caused him to give up his Bohemian habits for a more quiet family life; he married Lillan's mother, Ida "Eva" Adler (Ida Eva Andrea Cecilia Adler, 1879-1965) and created the children's book Kattresan for Lillan. Arosenius's later works reflect this change in personal circumstances, becoming more intimate in tone.

Arosenius died tragically early at the age of 31- a coughing fit resulted in a burst blood vessel and the blood choked him to death. Arosenius was a haemophiliac.

[thestarsfightagainstusmyfriend]

Self Portrait with her Daughter, Julie, 1789, Élisabeth Vigée LeBrun

[mermaidsirennikita]

Hello!

Do you have any recommendation for older heros pairing with younger heroines in historical romance genre?

For sure!

My Dirty Duke by Joanna Shupe--Novella. Heroine is 18, hero is her dad's 43-year-old close friend. She's determined to have him, he tries (and fails) to resist. Quite dirty indeed.

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long--Heroine is 20, hero is 39. Her brother slept with his fiancee, and as revenge the hero decides to ruin the heroine. However, she's interested in another man and catches on pretty quickly. Super romantic, the sexual tension is insane, and I really love the fact that she calls him on his shit.

After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long--Heroine is 25, hero is 42. He's an uptight war hero, she's a scandalous opera singer, they're both staying at the same boarding house. He's demeaning to her, and to make up for it he begins teach her Italian to aide in her singing. Some truly fabulous sexual tension ensues. Another very romantic read, and JAL's books are always hilarious.

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas--The primary romance of Aline and McKenna are close in age, but the secondary romance of Gideon and Livia (which is a pretty significant secondary romance, and so well done) has an age gap. It's kind of a big deal to him, as he sees himself as too old and jaded for her fresh, lovely self. Also, he's an alcoholic, and him needing to clean up for her is a big thing. It's really good; both romances in this book are amazing.

Duke of Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt--I'm not sure how significant the age gap is in this one, but it felt notable. The heroine is a cross-dressing street rat who fights crime as a vigilante, the hero is a king's bastard who also fights crime, but much more elegantly. He My Fair Lady's her a bit, and there's the infamous "fake out blow job in the street but she blows him for real and when he's like uh coast is clear you can stop she does NOT stop" scene.

The Portrait of a Duchess by Scarlett Peckham. Heroine is 18 and hero is 34 when she asks him to marry her and help her escape her manipulative relatives. They consummate the marriage and then don't see each other for twenty years, before they must reunite and make their secret marriage known in order for her to gain an inheritance. Has a slight femdom vibe, both characters are very unconventional for HR. Includes a mmf threesome, too, but is not a triad book.

The Arrow by Monica McCarty--Hero is 31-32, heroine is 20. He rescued her when she was a teenager, and she became his ward. She wants to take things to the next level, but he's resistant as he doesn't want to corrupt her.

Olivia and the Masked Duke by Grace Callaway--Heroine is 19, hero is 31. He's known her since she was 12, but it's always been platonic on both sides... until she catches him spanking and fucking another woman. The spanking thing REALLY intrigues her. Another "he doesn't wanna corrupt her" book. There are heavy dom/sub vibes in this book.

Fiona and the Enigmatic Earl by Grace Callaway--Heroins is 19, hero is 31. It's a marriage of convenience; both are vigilantes and figure they'll just not hang out and allow each other to do their own thing, but then it turns out they have a major sexual spark that grows into an emotional bond.

Glory and the Master of Shadows by Grace Callaway--Hero is 33, heroine turns 21 during the book. She's a duke's daughter, he fights crime/helps people dry out from opium addictions. She's very naive and innocent, and he's like... trying very hard not to corrupt her, but once she realizes there's a vibe? She gooooes for it. He's also her mentor/teacher, and that... adds to it.

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun - Portrait of Aglaé Angélique Gabrielle (1787-1842) by Pau NG Via Flickr: Elisabeth-Louise Vigée-Lebrun - Portrait of Aglaé Angélique Gabrielle (1787-1842) In July of 1789, in the wake of the fall of the Bastille, Aglaé Angélique Gabrielle’s mother (the Duchesse de Guiche), grandmother (the Duchesse de Polignac) and some of the most unpopular members of Queen Marie Antoinette’s entourage fled France in the first wave of the Émigration. For almost twenty years, they led a peripatetic existence in European countries that had not been invaded by French troops. Aglaé Angelique followed her mother from country to country in search of a haven, finally ending up in Latvia and Russia. In August of 1804 she was living in Mittau (Jelgava), where the exiled Bourbon King Louis XVIII and members of his court, which included the Duchesse de Guiche, were in residence. There the girl married an officer in the Imperial Russian army, the somewhat older Colonel Aleksandr Lvovich Davydov (1773-1833).1 The groom was one of the sons of Lev Denisovich Davydov (1743-1801) and his wife, the prodigiously wealthy Ekaterina Nicolaievna Samoïlova (1755-1825), a niece of Potemkine and a sister of Count Aleksandr Nikolaevich Samoïlov, whose wife and children sat to Vigée Le Brun for a full-length portrait now in the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. Davydov’s half-brother was General Nikolaï Nikolaevich Raevski. Aglaé Angélique and her husband had three children: Ekaterina Aleksandrovna (1806-1882), who in 1826 married Ernest de Cadoine, Marquis de Gabriac (1792-1865); Adel Aleksandrovna Davydova (1810-1881), who eventually became a nun in the convent of the Trinità dei Monti in Rome; and Vladimir Aleksandrovich Davydov (1816-1886), who also became an officer in the Russian army. Aleksandr Davydov took part in campaigns against Napoleon’s army and was present at Austerlitz (1805) and on battlefields in Poland and Finland (1807-1809). During the Campaign of 1812 he served at Winkovo, Maloiaroslavets, Viazma and Kraznoi. The following year he lead the troops under his command at the Battles of Lutzen, Bautzen, Dresden and Kulm. When France was invaded in 1814, Aleksandr Lvovich was assigned to Bar-sur-Aube, Troyes, Arcis-sur-Aube, Fère-Champenoise and Paris. He was promoted to the rank of major general in mid-June of 1815. After the Napoleonic wars had come to an end, Aglaé and Aleksandr Davydov spent considerable time with their children and other members of the Davydov-Raevski clan on their vast Ukrainian estate of Kamenka the Caucasus near Kiev, a center of the secret Green Lamp society whose membership was conspiring against some of the worst excesses of the czarist regime in their homeland, among them the system of serfdom, the Turkish domination of Greece and antisemitism. Aglaé Gabrielle de Gramont and her husband formed an odd couple. While she was svelte and physically attractive, he was a giant of a man, tall and monstrously overweight. In the course of her marriage, the flirtatious Aglaia Antonovna Davydova was a notoriously unfaithful wife. Russia’s greatest poet Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (fig. 1) was a friend of the Davydovs and a guest at Kamenka in late 1820. It was at this time that Pushkin was writing A Prisoner in the Caucasus, in which he gave vent to his liberal convictions. The writer, who was stationed as a translator with the army in the nearby Moldavian town of Kishinev, fell under the spell of both Aglaé (Aglaia) and her twelve-year old daughter Adel Aleksandrovna. Henri Troyat, Pushkin’s biographer, wrote of the general’s ravenous appetite for food and drink. He cites Pushkin: “Alexander Lvovich was a second Falstaff : gourmand, cowardly, a braggart but no fool, totally devoid of principles, full of self-pity, and obese. He had one distinctive feature, however, which gave him added charm: He was married. Shakespeare never had time to marry of his bachelor, and Falstaff died without knowing the joys of cuckoldom or fatherhood. In Eugene Onegin Pushkin wrote of A magnificent cuckold [an allusion to A.L. Davydov], Ever content with his person, His dinner, and his wife. (…) Repelled by serious manhood, Pushkin fell back on frivolous femininity. “Much champagne, few women…” True, there were not many women at Kamenka. But Mrs. Davydov, the “magnificent cuckold’s” wife, was as good as a harem. The fair Aglaia was born de Gramont; she was French, and thirty years old. She had a plump face, a pert nose, a soft and velvety mouth, a downy bosom. Her grace, her wantonness, her eternal coquetry turned the head of every general and cornet who came to the Kamenka estate. Aglaia was happy only when she was in the center of a ring of admirers, and there was always someone around to admire her. Pushkin himself fell in with the custom of the house and paid court to the pretty Frenchwoman, out of habit and because he had nothing better to do. But she wanted to play the romantic heroine in the grand manner, and the poet, frightened by her intensity, beat a hasty retreat before obtaining anything more from her than smiles and a brush of the lips. These flutterings with fat Alexander’s wife irritated Pushkin, and he relieved himself by composing epigrams [in “To My Promiscuous Aglaia” he quipped]: Some have had my Aglaia For their mustache and braided coat, Some for money—that I understand; Or because they were French. Leo was no doubt impressive, Daphnis sang so well; But tell me, my Aglaia, what Your busband had you for? Pushkin sent this epigram to his brother with the comment: “For the love of Christ, don’t let it get around. Every word of it is truth.” In another epigram, he preached restraint to the eager Aglaia: Let us leave impassioned fevers… (Our day is drawing to a close) You, my dear, to your oldest girl [sic, meaning Adel Aleksandrovna], And I to my young brother… Pushkin’s allusion to Adèle, Algaia’s eldest daughter, was not fortuitous. “She was a very pretty lass of twelve, and he was not above bestowing some of his attention upon her. Pushkin imagined,” [Ivan Dmitriyevich] Yakushkin wrote, “that he was in love with her, he kept ogling her, coming up to her, clumsily teasing her.” In December of 1834, after her Russian husband’s death and she had returned permanently to France, she wed the Corsican-born infantry general, Horace-François-Bastien Sébastiani della Porta (1772-1851), who in his youth had been so handsome that he was known as the ‘Cupid of the Empire.’ Having served in Italy in the revolutionary wars, he had been a high ranking officer in the Grande Armée of his fellow Corsican, the Emperor Napoleon; moreover, he had served as an officer in the Spanish (1808-1811), Russian (1812), Saxon (1813) and French (1814) Campaigns. In 1815, after Napoleon had returned to France from his exile on the island of Elba only to be defeated at Waterloo, Sébasiani alligned himself with him during the so-called Hundred Days. When Louis-Philippe d’Orléans came to power after the fall of Charles X in 1830, the liberal-minded Sebastiani served his government as Minister of War and then as French ambassador to Naples. By his first wife, Antoinette-Françoise-Jeanne de Franquetot de Coigny (1778-1807), he had a daughter, Françoise-Attarice-Rosalba (Fanny) Sébastiani della Porta (1807-1847). Aglaé Angélique died in Paris on January 21, 1842. Sebastiani della Porta survived her and went on to become Louis-Philippe’s Minister of War and his ambassador to England. Vigée Le Brun’s close relationship with Aglaé Angélique Davydova’s family were considerable. Prior to the revolution she painted several portraits of her grandmother, the Duchesse de Polignac,4 and her mother, the duchesse de Guiche.5 And during the period of the Émigration, she painted a bust-length portrait of Madame de Guiche wearing a blue turban, a red dress and a necklace of coral beads, a work done in Vienna in 1794, as well as pastel likenesses of two of her younger brothers, one of which, the profile portrayal of Jules de Polignac, was recently acquired by the Louvre. Finally, around 1805, Madame Le Brun painted a pastel image of Aglaé Davydova’s older sister, Corisande de Gramont, Countess of Ossultun and future Countess Tankerville (private collection). Vigée Le Brun’s portrait of the blue-eyed and still strikingly beautiful Aglaé Angélique Davydova, despite her thirty-seven years, depicts her subject in the open air against a cloudy sky. She is attired in a short-sleeved velvet gown with a deep neckline over a muslin chemise with gold trim, and around her long neck hangs a gold chain to which is attached a gold pendant. Her dark hair is styled in ringlets, or "anglaises" falling onto her brow, and those strands that are piled high on her head are held in place with a gold and coral diadem. Over this hairdo is draped a muslin veil she clasps to her bosom with the long, tapering fingers of the hands crossed over her breast, and the end of this length of sheer fabric floats in the wind behind her. The portrait was executed by the artist around 1824, the year of Louis XVIII’s death and the accession of his brother, Charles Philippe, Comte d’Artois, to the throne of France as Charles X. The portrait exists in two autograph examples: the present rectangular canvas and an oval version at one time in the Bartholini collection as a portrait of ‘Madame de Talleyrand’ and later with the Paris dealers Nathan Wildenstein and Arnold Seligmann (it is today in a private collection). An anonymous copy of the painting under discussion (oil on rectangular-shaped canvas, 81 x 65 cm.), in which Madame Davydova is shown without the gold chain, was featured in a recent Paris auction. Joseph Baillio www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2014/the-courts-o...

[abwwia]

Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie, 1789, Louvre, Paris, France.

Masterpiece Story: Self-Portrait with Her Daughter by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/masterpiece-story-self-portrait-with-her-daughter-by-elisabeth-vigee-le-brun/

[artejoke]

My significant mother

Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie, 1789, Louvre Museum

[back-and-totheleft]

Oliver's Twist

DECEMBER SUNLIGHT GLINTS OFF the bald, bronze head of a statue of the ever-serene Buddha, sitting in the lush backyard of a Mediterranean villa in Santa Monica. A few paces away, in a living room filled with Asian antiques, two more personages—also plump and sparsely haired—radiate inner peace. One is Tara Stone, 5 weeks old and deep in slumber. The other is her father—upon whose chest Tara sleeps as he lounges on an overstuffed sofa.

While Tara's mother, Chong Son Chong, 36, a Korean émigré and former actress and model, putters elsewhere in the house, the father smiles with deep satisfaction, dipping a finger into one of Tara's white booties to touch her baby skin. "She can feel my heart," says director Oliver Stone. "She's made me a happy man." He speaks again, examining the word like a flower: "Happiness."

Wait, wait—who is this zen, beatific puppy? The Oliver Stone we know is an angry, self-described provocateur. The familiar Stone is the one who, a couple of years ago, dismissed those who doubted the baroque conspiracy theories behind his film JFK as "chick s-t." He is a director so notorious for on-set tirades that Anthony Hopkins, who plays the title role in Stone's latest dive into history, Nixon, has said he expected "a kind of caveman." But while Stone doesn't deny there are brutish aspects to his character, he insists they are mere brush strokes—not the whole portrait. "There's no appreciation," he says, "that there's another side of me."

Stone now wants the world to see that other side. Chastened by the acrimonious end in 1993 of his 12-year marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth, 46—who lives with the couple's two sons, Sean, 11, and Michael, 4—the director insists he has embarked on a fresh, clear path in life. He has a new child, and a new relationship, with Chong. In their generally positive reviews of Nixon, critics, while not defending him against persuasive claims that he has taken his customary liberties with historical fact, have praised Stone's newfound "restraint." A Buddhist since he embraced the religion while making his 1993 saga of the Vietnamese experience of the war, Heaven & Earth, Stone says he has also found a degree of spiritual tranquility. In short, Oliver Stone wants us to know that at age 49 he believes he is growing up.

There are some signs it may be true—one being his decidedly un-Stone-like response to criticism of Nixon. Before it opened—to very disappointing box office business—the late President's normally private daughters, Tricia Nixon Cox, 49, and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, 47, read a script and issued a statement through the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif., decrying the movie as "character assassination." Since then, seemingly every Nixon Administration official, and a number of historians and neutral observers, have weighed in in a similar vein. "It is a despicable fairy tale," says former Treasury Secretary William Simon. "This is a vicious attack on a man," says onetime White House Chief-of-Staff Gen. Alexander Haig. Though Stone hasn't shrunk from defending his work, his responses have been far more measured than in the past. He wrote this month to John Taylor, head of Nixon Library, to suggest he convene a symposium on the late President's image, adding, "I understand the feelings you have about [the film]." In his turn, Taylor—who calls the movie sadistic—says he will invite Stone to a planned conference on movies about recent U.S. history.

Ironically, there are numerous parallels between Stone's life and Nixon's. Nixon, no matter how successful, never found personal peace; Stone has seemed equally driven. Growing up in New York City as the only child of Louis Stone (a stockbroker who died in 1985) and his wife, Jacqueline, Stone, like Nixon, rarely received much affection from his father. "Louis would never kiss Oliver," says Jacqueline. "He would shake his hand." Stone says his mother was loving but caught up in New York's arty social whirl. "When she was [home], she was perfect," he says. "But it was continual abandonment."

Compelled, perhaps, by a child's sense of powerlessness, Stone sought control. "He was not like other children—he was conscientious, tidy," says his mother. At age 6 on family visits to France, she says, he called upon his cousins to perform in sketches he wrote—and charged adults two francs to attend the show. "Oliver was the leader, and his cousins did the work. Oliver likes to have it his own way."

Behind it all, Stone says, "I was very insecure." The feeling intensified in 1960 when Stone was sent off to the Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., where he never felt he fit in. "I was nobody special," he says. "I felt invisible." Then, in his sophomore year, his parents divorced amid accusations of mutual infidelities, and Stone learned his father was deeply in debt. Stone's biographer, James Riordan, sees this as a formative moment. "After that, the whole world is like his parents," says Riordan, whose authorized bio, Stone, appeared last month. "There's always something deeper than the surface truth."

Hoping to find that something deeper, Stone says, "I took off into the world alone." He left Yale after his freshman year in 1965 to teach English in Vietnam. But he became bored and, craving to know "the bottom of life," enlisted in 1967 as an Army infantryman and was sent back to Vietnam. After a few weeks, he says, "I was becoming a jungle animal. I started out cerebral and civilized, and within two months I was operating on instinct."

Like many other soldiers, he was also operating on a range of drugs, from marijuana to LSD. After his discharge in 1968 he returned to the U.S. a heavy and indiscriminate user—a problem that plagued Stone, he says, until 1981, when he kicked a cocaine habit cold turkey.

Soon after he came home, drawing on a talent for writing stories and looking, he has said, for a way to "channel my rage" at the injustice he perceived in Vietnam, he enrolled in New York University's film program, graduating in 1971. After years of writing while getting by on odd jobs, he hit it big, winning the Best Screenplay Oscar in 1978 with Midnight Express.

The rage didn't disappear. James Woods, who starred in Stone's breakout film as a director, 1986's Salvador (and who plays White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman in Nixon), recalls how he and Stone would pound one another's heads on the floor of their Mexican inn over artistic disagreements. "He bends you out of shape," says Woods. "He keeps you on edge—but he gets performances you didn't know you had to give."

Anger has made an imprint, in one way or another, on every Stone project, from Platoon, Wall Street and Born on the Fourth of July to JFK, Natural Born Killers and, now, Nixon. Stone himself sees its source as fear. "It has taken many forms in my life," he says. "I can get a stab of fear anytime. Sometimes you can handle it, sometimes you can't. I can get moody and defensive." Or, friends say, turn it on others. When he filmed her autobiography in Heaven & Earth, says writer Le Ly Hayslip, Stone could be a bully. "His energy is too strong," she says. "He knows he can make people respect and fear him."

Which may be why he received such a comeuppance in his wrenching divorce from Elizabeth Cox, whom he met when she served as an assistant on his 1981 thriller, The Hand. (Stone's six-year first marriage to Najwa Sarkis, 56, an attaché at the Moroccan mission to the U.N., ended in 1977. They had no children.) During the last few years of their marriage, Stone had numerous affairs, and, in an act of colossal hubris—one Richard Nixon would sympathize with—Stone kept graphic accounts of his extramarital relations in his diaries. Elizabeth found them.

Today Stone's sense of chastisement is clear. "You lose your kids—it is so sad," he says. "I only get a little portion of them now." Then a bit of his old sense of grievance creeps in. "American divorce laws are very tough," he says. "For whatever reason, the system is geared to destroy people." Still, he hopes to rebuild some trust with his ex. "We're trying to work out a friendship," he says.

It is one project among many. He is busy revising an autobiographical novel he wrote at 19. There is Memphis, a film he is developing about the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—lest we think the new Oliver Stone will be moving on to romantic comedy. And there is Tara, named for the Buddhist deity of compassion. As Stone plays with the child, his face splits in a gap-toothed grin. "I've got a bond with her," he says. "There's a special relationship between a daughter and her father."

Tara's mother, whom Stone met at a New York City nightclub in 1994, says little about herself, except that "the baby makes me happy." Their pairing is, for Stone, uniquely honest. According to Jacqueline, her son has been frank with Chong. "He's said he will not marry her." His need for love, she says, "has been filled by Tara."

Stone would agree. "Love kills the demons," he says, standing, as Chong enters the room and reaches to take the child. But Stone pauses, bends over and kisses their baby girl—once, twice, three times—on the forehead. "I love these moments," he says. "I just don't have enough of them."

-Gregory Cerio, "Oliver's Twist," People magazine, Jan 22 1996

[journeydb]

April 14 2022 Barcelona

Frida Kahlo, the talented Mexican artist who suffered so much and turned that suffering into amazing and beautiful art, inspired this exhibition which I attended this morning at the Ideal Digital Arts Center in Poble Nou with Angie and Jessica, their daughters Iris and Laura, and our friend Constance’s daughter, Laura.  Because it’s Semana Santa (Easter vacation) the kids were off from school all week.

Frida was amazing prolific and the team at Ideal did a great job mixing her art into multi-media presentations.  According to Wikipedia:

“Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón  (July 6 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, she employed a naïve folk art style to explore questions of identity, postcolonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society.  Her paintings often had strong autobiographical elements and mixed realism with fantasy. In addition to belonging to the post-revolutionary Mexicayotl movement, which sought to define a Mexican identity, Kahlo has been described as a surrealist or magical realist.She is also known for painting about her experience of chronic pain.”

“Born to a German father and a mestiza mother, Kahlo spent most of her childhood and adult life at La Casa Azul, her family home in Coyoacán – now publicly accessible as the Frida Kahlo Museum. Although she was disabled by polio as a child, Kahlo had been a promising student headed for medical school until being injured in a bus accident at the age of 18, which caused her lifelong pain and medical problems. During her recovery, she returned to her childhood interest in art with the idea of becoming an artist.”

We were invited to tap into our creativity by coloring some of Frida’s art ourselves.  The girls and mothers all got into the mood and we had a great time expressing ourselves.

The Ideal space is large and the videos they create are awesome and display on the walls of the theater so we felt immersed in Frida’s world.  From Wikipedia again:

“Kahlo's interests in politics and art led her to join the Mexican Communist Party in 1927, through which she met fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera. The couple married in 1929 and spent the late 1920s and early 1930s travelling in Mexico and the United States together. During this time, she developed her artistic style, drawing her main inspiration from Mexican folk culture, and painted mostly small self-portraits that mixed elements from pre-Columbian and Catholic beliefs.” 

“Her paintings raised the interest of Surrealist artist André Breton, who arranged for Kahlo's first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York in 1938; the exhibition was a success and was followed by another in Paris in 1939. While the French exhibition was less successful, the Louvre purchased a painting from Kahlo, The Frame, making her the first Mexican artist to be featured in their collection.  Throughout the 1940s, Kahlo participated in exhibitions in Mexico and the United States and worked as an art teacher. She taught at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado ("La Esmeralda") and was a founding member of the Seminario de Cultura Mexicana. Kahlo's always-fragile health began to decline in the same decade. She had her first solo exhibition in Mexico in 1953, shortly before her death in 1954 at the age of 47.”

“Kahlo's work as an artist remained relatively unknown until the late 1970s, when her work was rediscovered by art historians and political activists. By the early 1990s, not only had she become a recognized figure in art history, but she was also regarded as an icon for Chicanos, the feminism movement, and the LGBTQ+ community. Kahlo's work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions and by feminists for what is seen as its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.”

Frida also designed clothing and her designs were as colorful as her art.

After the exhibition we went back to our place where Eva and her children, Laia and Oriol, were waiting for us to have lunch with them on our terrace.

Then the kids got a chance to be creative again, this time painting Easter eggs.  They all seemed to have fun and their eggs were all very different.

[llovelymoonn]

portraits by élisabeth vigée le brun

self-portrait in a straw hat \\ queen marie antionette \\ self-portrait with her daughter, julie \\ madame perregaux \\ marie-gabrielle de gramont, duchesse de caderousse (1784) \\ comtesse de la châtre (1789) \\ anna ivanovna baryatinskaya tolstoy (1796) \\ portrait de la comtesse maria theresia bucquo (1793) \\ julie le brun as flora (1799) \\ anna beloselskaya-belozerskaya (1798)

[philamuseum]

Happy birthday to Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, who was born on this day in 1755. One of the most prominent (and popular) French portrait painters of the late 1700s, she created over 800 paintings in her lifetime. Marie Antoinette was one of Vigée-Lebrun’s many patrons, and with her support the artist became one of fourteen women admitted to the Royal Academy prior to the French Revolution. Madame Le Brun caused a great scandal at her first Salon, when she exhibited “Marie-Antoinette in a Chemise Dress,” portraying the queen in a simple, informal white muslin garment. Deemed too inappropriate for the public eye, the artist was asked to remove it from the exhibition. Vigée-Lebrun continued to make waves when her painting “Self-Portrait with Her Daughter, Julie” was exhibited at the Salon of 1787, which portrayed the artist smiling open-mouthed, breaking traditional painting conventions.

This particular portrait is of Madame Du Barry, a longtime mistress of King Louis XV. Vigée-Lebrun painted Du Barry three times. It is likely that Du Barry gave this picture to her English lover, Henry Seymour.

“Portrait of Madame Du Barry” 1781, by Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

[onlyfreds]

TRP Prologue - Welcome to the Story of Y/N L/N

Summary: To others, being princess is living the dream. To Y/N, it’s a living nightmare. But, that was until the day that she received the letter that changed her life and met the people who love her for her true self.

Warning/s: use of the word “damn”

Series Masterlist

Anybody else would think that being the first-born Princess is literally living the dream.

Let me tell you, it’s not.

“Y/N, put down the book and head downstairs for the Family portrait.” My mother, Queen Ahnica, snapped as she entered my room.

I sighed, placing a bookmark on the page I was currently reading, “Do we honestly have to do this mother? We already did this last year.”

She glared at me, “Do you always have to ask? Now stop this nonsense and give them a smile when we get down. We don’t want the press giving a bad image, don’t we?”

I mentally rolled my eyes as I followed her out of the room, “Yes mother.”

We headed down to the lounge where the royal photographer, my father (King Michael), and my younger sister (Princess Christel) were waiting for us.

I sat down beside my sister, who gave me a sympathetic smile as she placed her hand on top of mine.

“Don’t worry.” She reassured, “This’ll all be over in a minute.”

And boy did that minute feel like an hour.

When we had finished, Clark, our chief of staff approached us.

“Your highnesses,” he greeted, giving a small bow, “There is someone wanting to see you.”

My mother and father exchanged a confused look, before we followed Clark into the guest lounge.

Standing there was a middle-aged woman, her hair in a tight bun and a stern but gentle look on her face.

“Good day Mr. and Mrs. L/N, or should I say your highnesses.” She said, giving a curtsy,

My father smiled, “Good day Ma’am. What assistance could we offer you?”

The woman chuckled, “My name is McGonagall and I’m just here to give your daughter, Princess Y/N, a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

I looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time, “Me?”

My sister looked at me excitedly.

The woman nodded, handing me an envelope with the words, Princess Y/N L/N, Montenaro Palace.

Christel nudged my shoulder, “Go on, open it.” She encouraged.

I opened it and pulled out the letter inside.

Dear Mr/Ms. L/N,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I looked up again at the woman, my parents were both stunned into silence, “Am I really going to learn magic?”

McGongall nodded, “Indeed dear, and at the best wizarding school Britain has to offer.”

“But magic isn’t real.” My mother interjected.

McGonagall brought out a thin, stick and with a small wave of her hand, bubbles erupted from it. She then pointed to a teacup on a nearby table, turning it into a teapot.

“So magic is real?” Christel asked in awe.

McGonagall nodded, “It is.”

I turned to my parents as I gave them a pleading look, “Please mum, dad. Can I go.”

My parents exchanged a silent argument before my father said, “You may go. But if this is some sort of scam. You will regret dragging my daughter into this.”

The woman nodded, “You will regret nothing your highness.”

She then turned to me, “I’ll be meeting up with you next week to get your school supplies.”

As soon as she left, my mother turned to my father, “How could you let her? She’s ten! She should be attending finishing school, not some sort of magic school with a bunch of idiots!”

My father sighed, “We’ve taught her everything that she could be taught in finishing school ever since she was five. She’ll be fine.”

--

When September first rolled around, McGonagall brought me to King’s Cross Station and she had instructed me how to board on to Platform 9 and 3/4. Thankfully, I was able to leave before my parents realized that I was wearing “normal” clothes. Because if they did, I would’ve received a full lecture about maintaining an image for the press.

To be honest, jeans and a shirt were a lot more comfortable than a corset and a gown.

At first, I thought it was absurd. But after seeing the serious look on her face, I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt and run into the barrier in between Platforms 9 and 10.

I closed my eyes, braced myself for impact. But a cold chill came over me before I heard the chatter of a lively crowd, I opened my eyes, seeing a red and black train with a sign that said, Hogwarts Express.

A hopped onto the train, looking for a spare compartment. I didn’t expect anyone to recognize me as the princess, and I wish they wouldn’t.

I found a compartment that was occupied by two identical looking gingers.

I gently knocked on the compartment door, sliding it open a bit before asking, “Excuse me, but is it okay if I sat here? Everywhere else was full.”

One of them nodded, “Of course you may. I’m George by the way.” He said, offering his hand with I shook, giving him a small smile.

He then nodded to the boy sitting opposite of him, “That’s my twin brother, Fred.”

Fred stared at me, his mouth slightly agape, “Bloody hell, you’re gorgeous.”

I bit my lip, feeling my cheeks heat up as Fred was snapped out of his trance by George laughing.

“Oh, sorry.” He apologized, grinning sheepishly.

I giggled, “It’s fine.”

The three of us bonded over the train ride and became fast friends.

Despite the fact that Fred and George were identical twins, I had absolutely no trouble telling them apart, though something about Fred made my heart race a bit faster and the butterflies to rise up to my stomach.

--

It’s been three years since I first met the twins. I was now in my fourth year at Hogwarts.

Before I headed down to the Great Hall for Lunch, I adjusted the necklace I was wearing.

Once I arrived, I immediately slipped into the seat between the twins.

Hermione took a sip of her pumpkin juice, looking up from her book, “Where did you get that?”

I looked at her, slightly confused, “Where did I get what?”

“That necklace.”

I looked down and realized that I wasn’t able to hide my necklace in my blouse properly.

“My mum gave it to me.” I managed to stutter out.

“Why? What’s wrong with her necklace?” Ginny asked, “It seems alright to me.”

Everyone in our group was watching me and Hermione, obviously interested in the exchange.

“Well, it’s not just any necklace.” Hermione stated, “There’s only one necklace like that.”

Fred chuckled, “Hermione, I’m sure that necklace is one of billions.”

“No.” She insisted, “There is only one necklace like that and it belongs to the first-born princess of Montenaro.”

She stared at me intently, I could almost see the gears turning in her brain. Besides, she was called the “brightest witch of her age” for a reason.

“Oh Godric!” She gasped and I knew she had come to her conclusion, “What was your last name again?” She asked.

I sighed, “L/N.”

“How did I not notice it before?” She said, most likely to herself, “It makes so much sense now.”

“Hermione, not all of us are geniuses here. So, mind catching us up on what exactly makes sense?” Harry joked.

“The reason why Y/N has that necklace, even though it’s super rare, is because she is the first-born princess of Montenaro. She’s part of the L/N family, she’s basically royalty.” Hermione explained excitedly.

The group looked at me for confirmation.

“Is it true love?” Fred asked softly, “You’re a princess?”

I nodded, letting out a quiet, “yes.”

Everyone was dead silent; you would have thought that someone had just dropped dead in front of us.

Angelina was the first one to break the silence, “Why didn’t you tell us?”

I sighed, “I didn’t want you guys to treat me differently. Because when your royalty and others see you, all people can think about is: she’s the princess, she’s next in line for the throne. And being princess, I’m never free. Every decision is made for me, every word, every moved has to be supervised because there’s always some sort of protocol that’s against it. You guys love me and care about me not because I’m the princess. But because you see the real me. You don’t see me as ‘Princess Y/N’, you guys see me as just Y/N.”

I felt Fred hold my hand under the table as I continued, “Here, I am able to be myself, without having to worry about the damn rules or the press. That’s why I spend every holiday I could at the Burrow. Because I like being free. Because I’ve felt more at home there that when I’ve spent a portion of my life at the palace. That’s why I kept my identity a secret. I feared that when you guys learned the truth, you would treat me differently.”

Fred and George encased me in a “Weasley twin hug” as the former kissed the top of my head.

“We’ll always love you darling.” He whispered, “Whether you’re royalty or not.”

I smiled, “Really? You’re not mad that I kept all of this a secret?”

George chuckled, “Of course we’re not.”

“Fred’s right. To us, your being a princess is just a title, but what matters is the side of Y/N that you want to show us.” Ginny added.

I laughed as all of them wrapped me in a group hug, “What did I do to deserve friends like you guys.”

Fred laughed, running a hand through my hair, “What did we do to deserve being friends with an actual princess?”

“Way to ruin the moment, Freddie!”

“Did you have to bring it up now?”

The rest of the group chimed as they playfully scolded Fred.

𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

@lumosandnoxwriting @gostupid-godumb @famdomhideout @nova-darling @gaycatlord-stuff  @pandaxnienke @escapingrealitybyreading @catching-the-train-to-hogwarts @lunylovelovegood @thefallengodesse (Send a Message/Ask or fill out my taglist form if you want to be added!)

𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚊𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝:

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