Something different from my norm π Was playing around with filters on a fireworks photo I took and came out with this. I thought it looked kind of fantastical! π
Tag Archives: Art
“Every Woman”
Art Forgery Trial Asks: Were Dealers Duped, Or Did They Turn A Blind Eye?
11 Feb“Art Forgery Trial Asks: Were Dealers Duped, Or Did They Turn A Blind Eye?”
by Joel Rose via “NPR“
The New York art world was shocked when the city’s oldest gallery abruptly closed its doors more than four years ago. A few days later, news broke that Knoedler & Company was accused of selling paintings it now admits were forgeries for millions of dollars each. The gallery and its former president face several lawsuits by angry collectors and the first trial began this week.
The forgeries at the center of the scandal look like masterpieces by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and other prominent abstract expressionists. They were good enough to fool experts, and even Ann Freedman, then-president of Knoedler & Company, says she was duped.
Her lawyer, Luke Nikas, says, “Ann Freedman believed in these paintings. She showed them to the whole art world. She showed them to experts. And she has piles and piles of letters from all of these experts informing her that the works are real.”
Nikas says Freedman even bought some of the paintings for her own personal collection. But the plaintiffs in this case and other pending lawsuits say Freedman overlooked glaring problems with the paintings’ backstories. The art dealer who sold the paintings to the gallery, a woman named Glafira Rosales, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering charges in 2013. According to Freedman, Rosales told an elaborate story involving a European collector (known only as “Mr. X”) who bought the paintings with cash in the 1950s, when he was having an affair with an assistant at two top New York galleries.
“It’s quite a tale, and people bought it,” says Amy Adler, who teaches art law at New York University. “I suppose the temptation would be there β not just for buyers, but, yes, even for sellers β to think they’d happened upon these magnificent, undisclosed masterpieces.”
In the end, Rosales admitted to selling Knoedler 40 counterfeit paintings over more than a decade. The plaintiffs argue that Freedman knew β or at least should have known β that something was amiss. It’s hardly the first time an art dealer has been accused of deliberately looking the other way.
Ken Perenyi is a professional art forger who wrote about his career in the book Caveat Emptor. “From over 30 years’ experience with art dealers,” he says, “I would say there most certainly are individuals out there in the trade that will turn a blind eye.” . . .
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“Every Woman . . . “
9 Feb“Every Woman”
by Pamela Redmond Satran
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
Enough money within her control to move out
And rent a place of her own
even if she never wants to or needs to
Something perfect to wear if the employer
or date of her dreams wants to See Her in an hour
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
A youth she’s content to leave behind
A past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to
retelling it in her Old Age
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
A set of screwdrivers,
a cordless drill, and a black lace bra
One friend who always makes her laugh
And one Who lets her cry
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE
A good piece of furniture not previously owned
by anyone else in her Family
Eight matching plates,
wine glasses with stems,
And a recipe for a meal that will make
her guests feel Honored
A feeling of control over her destiny
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
How to fall in love without losing herself
HOW TO QUIT A JOB,
BREAK UP WITH A LOVER,
AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT
RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP
When to try harder
And WHEN TO WALK AWAY
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
That she can’t change the length of her calves,
The width of her hips,
or the nature of her parents
That her childhood may not have been perfect
But it’s over
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
What she would and wouldn’t do for love or more
How to live alone
Even if she doesn’t like it
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
Whom she can trust,
Whom she can’t,
And why she shouldn’t take it personally
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
Where to go
Be it to her best friend’s kitchen table
Or a charming inn in the woods
When her soul needs soothing
EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW
What she can and can’t accomplish in a day
A month
And a year.
ζ°εΉ΄εΏ«δΉ (Happy New Year!)
8 Febζ°εΉ΄εΏ«δΉ (XΔ«n NiΓ‘n KuΓ i LΓ¨) means Happy New Year in Chinese π This year is the Year of the Monkey! I think tomorrow I will try to add a description of the Chinese animals theory to DeceptivelyBlonde πΒ
Anyway, Happy New Year from us in China! Here’s one of the beautiful fireworks that lit up the sky on New Year’s Eve π No one does firework like the Chinese!
Discovery of the World’s Oldest Tea
31 Jan
Β Archaeologists have uncovered the world’s oldest set of tea leaves from the tomb of an ancient Chinese emperor!Β
Β Living 2,150 years ago in the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing was a major fan of the delicious drink. Β Like all the rest of us tea lovers, Emperor Jing understood the power of the tea leaf and its healing/renewing abilities. Β
The collection of tea leaves was 42 feet x 8 inches. That is a major tea haul! If you ever tried drinking tea from leaves rather than a lipton bag, you’ll know that it only takes a small amount to go a long way. This amount probably lasted him a long while in the afterworld! Β
This particular type of tea, Camellia Sinesis, comes fromΒ a typeΒ ofΒ small evergreen shrub known as a tea tree. The leaves and buds of the tree are used to create a special, expensiveΒ green tea. Β There are actually two varieties of the tree–one is used to create the Chinese teas (such as White Tea, Oolong, Pu’er, Green Tea, etc.) and the other is used to create Indian Assam teas.Β The leaves of the tree have long been applied in Chinese traditional medications and as a caffeine provider. Β I’m guessing it was pretty easy to bring the emperor over as a tea supporter π
The tomb was located in Xi’an, China. Xi’an is now world-famous due to the discovery of the Terra Cotta army buried under the local hills and is only about an 8 hour drive from where I live! Β I’m really excited; maybe I could see this tea pile π Emperor Jing’s tomb contained “50,000” terra cotta animals and statues, along with other great treasures.
The extra amazing thing about the tea beyond its age is the fact that it is some of the earliest proof that researchers have about the Silk Road. Β It is believed thatΒ the emperor may have tradedΒ his tea withΒ Tibet where similar tea remains were found dating not long after. Β This shows the the Silk Road probably moved thorugh Tibet at the time. Β
Resources:
Music I Love ~ Toto’s “Africa”
27 JanThe beginning is a really amazing twist on the traditional song. Β I love it when people use nature to replicate nature. Β π
“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou
22 DecStill I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
βShe was free in her wildness. She was a wanderess, a drop of free water. She belonged to no man and to no cityβ ~ Roman Payne
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Deceptively Blonde 