Mariette Lydis

Mariette, Comtesse Govone, lived an extraordinary life of adventure and sexual intrigue. She was born Marietta Ronsperger in Vienna in 1887 (or, depending on which source you believe, 1890, 1892, or 1894). She married Jean Lydis in 1922, but left him for the Italian writer Massimo Bontempelli, who took her to Paris. In 1928 Mariette Lydis married the art publisher Comte Giuseppi Govone. Lydis had a great artistic success in 30s Paris, starting with a solo show at the Galerie Bernheim Jeune, after which she became a member and a juror at the Salon de Automne. Mariette Lydis fled the Nazis invasion of France with her lover Erica Marx, taking refuge in the sleepy Cotswold town of Winchcombe, before making a perilous voyage to Buenos Aires. Lydis was also close to the aviator Amelia Earhart. Mariette Lydis lived in Argentina for the rest of her life. Her style was influenced by that of the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita, whom she knew in Montmartre. There is always an edge of ambiguous sexuality and danger in the art of Mariette Lydis, well-represented in our prints, hand-coloured drypoints for Verlaine's Parallelement and etchings and aquatints illustrating the poetry of Baudelaire and Rimbaud. Her work is in many major museums and collections worldwide.


Mariette Lydis working with a model

Minoan Women's Costume

Lilith

According to midrashic literature, Adam's first wife was not Eve but a woman named Lilith, who was created in the first Genesis account.

When God created Adam, he was lonely, so God created Lilith from the same dust from which Adam was molded. But they quarreled; Adam [the proverbial domineering male] wished to rule over Lilith. But Lilith [a militant feminist] was also proud and willful, claiming equality with Adam because she was created from the same dust.

One day Adam commanded Lilith to lay beneath him, she refused. She left Adam and fled the Garden. God sent three angels in pursuit of Lilith. They caught her and ordered her to return to Adam. She refused again.

They let her go, and God created Eve to be Adam's mate [created from Adam's rib, so that she couldn't claim equality]. Lilith was banished from the world of Adam and Eve but she occasionally managed to sneak back. She became Adam's forbidden fruit or the evil serpent, someone he could not forget about.

Who was she? Was there another woman that God created before Eve that rebelled? Was she an ancient Sumerian demon? Was she a counterpart to Lucifer? Was she the originator of demons and vampires? These questions and many others have been theorized and studied for centuries. One thing all accounts seem to agree upon... Lilith was a force to be reckoned with.

http://www.trueghosttales.com/who-was-lilith.php

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/7evelilith.html

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/eve-women/lilithimages.html

Lady Godiva

Godiva was the wife of Leofric (968–1057), Earl of Mercia. was an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants. (People of Coventry, who were suffering grievously under her husband’s oppressive taxation.) Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who obstinately refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would ride naked through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word. Another theory has it that Lady Godiva’s “nakedness” may refer to her riding through the streets stripped of her jewellery, the trademark of her upper class rank.

Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828)

Famous Spanish painter Francisco Goya appeared during the transit of Old Masters to modern artist. His masterpieces were the Maja's : La maja desnuda, The naked Maja (1800) and La maja vestida, The clothed Maja (1803). Both are kept side by side in the Prado museum, Madrid.





Many people claim that The naked Maja has the first clear depiction of female pubic hair in a large Western painting (source: wikipedia).

He is also known for his tapestry cartoons. Here you can visit the galleries of his artworks.

Gallery 1:

Gallery 2:

The Birth of Venus

Don't know how to put captions. Well, these are my three favourite The Birth of Venus.

1) Alexandre Cabanel, 1863

2) William-Adolne-Bouguereau, 1879

3) Sandro Boiticelli, 1486

More Art-Work

A few more submissions. Titles wanted again.

My Rendition

Some of my old art-work. I had been looking for suitable titles.

Amrita Shergill

Amrita Shergil is one of the most remarkable artists of India. At the time of pre-independence such a bold skill was hard to imagine or observe. Here I have attached two beautiful paintings by her which reflect the women's beauty as well as her skill in contemporary art. One of these is her self-portrait and the other one is live study of her beautiful sister, Indira.