Tea at Trianon: Abstract Expressionism and the CIA

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Abstract Expressionism and the CIA

I did not know the two were connected but I guess nothing should surprise me. Joshua Snyder puts it all together. Share

3 comments:

Mercury said...: Elena, I love the painting. It's amazing how effortlessly Rockwell can imitate Pollock. Yet, Rockwell, who the avant garde types sneer at, is inimitable.; July 20, 2011 at 6:44:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Isn't that the truth....; July 20, 2011 at 6:56:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: A Reader writes:
"The painting you featured on your blog post today was very familiar! I saw that on exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum earlier this year. Steven Spielberg and George Lucas lent their Norman Rockwell collections, many hadn't been seen publicly in years. The actual painting is huge! Because the paintings and drawings were privately owned by both gentlemen, no photos were allowed.
Thought your blog readers would be thrilled."; July 20, 2011 at 11:00:00 PM EDT