Thursday, March 5, 2009

Redheads and Postcards

Besides researching the exciting lives of redheads, travel is one of my other passions. By travel I don't mean a road trip through the Pacific Northwest, but rather a rich cultural tour of Italy, London, Paris, etc. I've been super fortunate to have spent time among the incredible architecture of Florence (and I don't mean Alabama), the piazzas of Venice, the quaint streets of Paris, and the British cup of tea culture of London ( and please don't be thinking Ohio). Art Museums may not be on everyone's travel to do list, but for me it's an opportunity to see the real life brush strokes belonging to many a talented and tortured artist of bygone times. It also means museum shops, which are ideal for picking up inexpensive art souvenirs in the form of postcards of your favorite paintings. Over the years I've amassed a small collection of these postcards, which I'm excited to share with you, and wouldn't you know it the majority of these tiny paintings are of glorious redheads depicted in a most romantic way by great painters such as John William Waterhouse , Gustav Klimt, and Karl Albert Buehr. One of my favorite postcards is of a vivid red poppy field by British artist David Curtis. Can you also spot the lone red poppy in one of Waterhouse's paintings below? This is Redhead symbolism at its best.

'My Sweet Rose' - John William Waterhouse

'The Lady of Shalott' - John William Waterhouse

(Duet for) 'St. Cecilia' - John William Waterhouse

'The Kiss' - Gustav Klimt

'Young Woman with a Parasol' - Karl Albert Buehr

'Detail from Poppies' - David Curtis

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