1. 21 Apr


    Britt Bergmeister reading Shakespeare. Madame Air France. Spring Issue. No. 153, April-May 2013. Photo by Frances Tulk-Hart. Fashion by Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, Hermès, American Apparal, Dior Joaillerie.

    Britt Bergmeister reading Shakespeare. Madame Air France. Spring Issue. No. 153, April-May 2013. Photo by Frances Tulk-Hart.

    Fashion by Marc Jacobs, Lacoste, Hermès, American Apparal, Dior Joaillerie.

     

  2. 21 Jan


    Ophelia (1888). Marcus Stone (1840-1921). Shown in 1888 in an exhibition titled Shakespeare’s Heroines of 21 paintings sponsored by the newspaper Graphic. Composed, serene Ophelia, decorously garbed in white, idly fingering gathered flowers, seems to be kneeling, perhaps in prayer or quiet contemplation. Beside her is the neck of a lute; does Stone imagine her using the instrument while singing in Act IV, scene v? The “keepsake” qualities of the painting—the pose and Ophelia’s expression—are not convincing; nothing really conveys her madness and her eminent self-destruction.

    Ophelia (1888). Marcus Stone (1840-1921). Shown in 1888 in an exhibition titled Shakespeare’s Heroines of 21 paintings sponsored by the newspaper Graphic.

    Composed, serene Ophelia, decorously garbed in white, idly fingering gathered flowers, seems to be kneeling, perhaps in prayer or quiet contemplation. Beside her is the neck of a lute; does Stone imagine her using the instrument while singing in Act IV, scene v? The “keepsake” qualities of the painting—the pose and Ophelia’s expression—are not convincing; nothing really conveys her madness and her eminent self-destruction.

     

  3. 13 Jan


    Rosalind and Celia (c. 1854-1858). James Archer (Scottish, 1823-1904). Oil on canvas. Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture. This work depicts a scene from Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As You Like It.’ In the catalogue for the RSA Annual Exhibition, 1854, the entry for this painting was accompanied by the following quote: “Celia. Why, cousin; why Rosalind! – Cupid have mercy! – not a word? Rosalind. Not one to throw at a dog.” – ‘As You Like It,’ Act I, Scene iii.

    Rosalind and Celia (c. 1854-1858). James Archer (Scottish, 1823-1904). Oil on canvas. Royal Scottish Academy of Art & Architecture.

    This work depicts a scene from Shakespeare’s comedy ‘As You Like It.’ In the catalogue for the RSA Annual Exhibition, 1854, the entry for this painting was accompanied by the following quote: “Celia. Why, cousin; why Rosalind! – Cupid have mercy! – not a word? Rosalind. Not one to throw at a dog.” – ‘As You Like It,’ Act I, Scene iii.

     

  4. 14 Oct


    Titiana. Thomas Francis Dicksee (English, 1819-1895). In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titiana is the queen of the fairies. Shakespeare took the name “Titania” from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where it is an appellation given to the daughters of Titans. Titania is a very proud and forceful creature. The marital quarrel she and Oberon are engaged in over which of them should have the keeping of an Indian changeling boy is the engine that drives the mix ups and confusion of the other characters in the play.

    Titiana. Thomas Francis Dicksee (English, 1819-1895).

    In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Titiana is the queen of the fairies. Shakespeare took the name “Titania” from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where it is an appellation given to the daughters of Titans.

    Titania is a very proud and forceful creature. The marital quarrel she and Oberon are engaged in over which of them should have the keeping of an Indian changeling boy is the engine that drives the mix ups and confusion of the other characters in the play.

     

  5. 9 Oct


    Bianca (1868-69). William Holman Hunt (English, Romanticism, 1827-1910). Oil on canvas. Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, UK. The model for Bianca was an American girl named Miss Lydiard: ‘a very beautiful fair American girl’ according to Hunt. Depicts Bianca, a character from Shakespeare’s Othello. She is Cassio’s jealous lover. Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago’s scheme to incite Othello’s jealousy of Cassio. Traditionally regarded as a courtesan, Bianca was occasionally cut from performances in the 19th century on moral grounds.

    Bianca (1868-69). William Holman Hunt (English, Romanticism, 1827-1910). Oil on canvas. Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, UK.

    The model for Bianca was an American girl named Miss Lydiard: ‘a very beautiful fair American girl’ according to Hunt.

    Depicts Bianca, a character from Shakespeare’s Othello. She is Cassio’s jealous lover. Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago’s scheme to incite Othello’s jealousy of Cassio. Traditionally regarded as a courtesan, Bianca was occasionally cut from performances in the 19th century on moral grounds.

     

  6. 28 Jul


    Dog with glasses reading. “Though he had very little Latin beyond ‘Cave canem,’ he had, as a young dog, devoured Shakespeare (in a tasty leather binding).” (Dodie Smith, 101 Dalmatians)

    Dog with glasses reading.

    “Though he had very little Latin beyond ‘Cave canem,’ he had, as a young dog, devoured Shakespeare (in a tasty leather binding).” (Dodie Smith, 101 Dalmatians)

     

  7. 28 Jul


    Ophelia (1864). Thomas Francis Dicksee English, 1819-1895). Oil on canvas. Her look of concern alerts us to the troubling spectacle of Hamlet that she sees before her. Her crossed arms suggest a protective stance, one that reminds the viewer of what she is soon to suffer as the scene unfolds. (Hamlet and the Visual Arts, 1709-1900, Alan R. Young). Dicksee was a portraitist and painter of historical, genre subjects - often from Shakespeare.

    Ophelia (1864). Thomas Francis Dicksee English, 1819-1895). Oil on canvas.

    Her look of concern alerts us to the troubling spectacle of Hamlet that she sees before her. Her crossed arms suggest a protective stance, one that reminds the viewer of what she is soon to suffer as the scene unfolds. (Hamlet and the Visual Arts, 1709-1900, Alan R. Young).

    Dicksee was a portraitist and painter of historical, genre subjects - often from Shakespeare.

     

  8. 22 Jul


    Gene Tierney with book (1945). Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American 20th Century Fox Technicolor film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, and others. The story revolves around a femme fatale who entraps a husband and commits several crimes motivated by her insane jealousy. The title is a quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Act I, Scene V, the Ghost urges Hamlet not to seek vengeance against Queen Gertrude, but rather to “leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.”

    Gene Tierney with book (1945).

    Leave Her to Heaven is a 1945 American 20th Century Fox Technicolor film noir motion picture starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, and others. The story revolves around a femme fatale who entraps a husband and commits several crimes motivated by her insane jealousy.

    The title is a quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In Act I, Scene V, the Ghost urges Hamlet not to seek vengeance against Queen Gertrude, but rather to “leave her to heaven, and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her.”

     

  9. 18 May


    Portia (Kate Dolan), 1886. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sir John Everett Millais  (English, 1829–1896). Actress Dolan as Portia in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.”  Millais is best known as one of the artists who founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. As a result of what have been called his “concessions to the sweetness of Victorian taste,” he was made as associate of the Royal Academy in 1853. By the time he painted “Portia,” there was hardly a trace of the Pre-Raphaelite style in his work. Instead, he worked in an academic-realist manner.

    Portia (Kate Dolan), 1886. Oil on canvas. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sir John Everett Millais  (English, 1829–1896). Actress Dolan as Portia in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” 

    Millais is best known as one of the artists who founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. As a result of what have been called his “concessions to the sweetness of Victorian taste,” he was made as associate of the Royal Academy in 1853. By the time he painted “Portia,” there was hardly a trace of the Pre-Raphaelite style in his work. Instead, he worked in an academic-realist manner.