The Lovers’ Chronicle 2 December – desire – art by Georges Seurat – photos by Guy Bourdin

Dear Zazie, Here is today’s Lovers’ Chronicle from Mac Tag dedicated to his muse. What are your dreams and desires? Rhett

The Lovers’ Chronicle

Dear Muse,

the U2 song came to mind but
lets go with “Venus” by Shocking Blue;
“She’s got it
Yeah baby she’s got it”
an infectious tune and you
definitely have ‘it’ my dear
“Thanks my love”
most of what i have written
has dealt with losin’ and findin’
“Now you can write about lasting”
right, take it away babe
“Well, I’m your Venus
I’m your fire, at your desire”

everyone likes a resurrection story; gave ’em up for dead and gone they were buried so deep, deprivation worn easily, cannot say they were missed, acted upon would just have lead to distraction, besides some merit to savin’ ’em for right time, right one as was the case when you and desire showed up

the story of a journey,
but lets keep drama to a minimum,
imagine that it was long and arduous
that it included a life threatenin’ episode
and it was emotionally drainin’
but it includes survival
and the resurrection of desire

reckon anyone will buy it
well we are proof it happened

Pale Love, Pale Rider

i write because i want to get to somethin’ new
and the means of expression, a mixture of you
and my reactions followin’, the frame comin’
into a different view, in harmony aligned
to those of the tones, tints, and lines
of the vision, i see in you, poetry

words to live with,
she insisted;
“Don’t you understand!”

i pulled myself together
and wrote slowly

the last word
was her name

i heard a sigh
“I knew it, I was sure!”
i heard her weepin’

it seemed to me
that everything
would collapse
but, no, hear

words, rendered
into desire

tryin’ to tell everything
to think this and say it
since i paint this way

“Took long enough.”

(was it too long)
to find this approach

set aside doubt
ideas on tone
and precepts
on subtlety of tint
and verse

“Who were we?”

thoughts that come
photographin’ you
paintin’ you

reachin’ under,
“Yes.” whispered,
your dress

there from the start
always there

“More questions?”
sure, why not
“What do you want?”
oh, an easy one…
friendship
understandin’
to see
“To see? See what?”
your beauty and sorrow

comes that dream again
the one i welcome and curse
it comes with visions of hope
of what could be
it comes with an aide-mémoire
of what most likely
will never be

Desert stretches on
Starry night above
unfolds… forever
Mezcal buzz comes on
unfurls… Effortless
deadenin’ descent

“Closed, distant,
cold, defensive,
selfish, SOB!”……
“Hello!?”
Oh sorry! Here!

I can no doubt
Literally,
Figurative-
ly, mentally,
Physically,
Spiritual-
ly, totally
In every way
Possible, sweep
You off you feet

***

I have stood all
I can stand. No
More shall I brook
Any of your
Undue demands.

***

Conflicted to
Say the least. One
Minute I want
To fall madly
In love again
The next I think
I would, without
Doubt, be better
Off all alone

***

Just stood there and
Watched you walk down
Those steps, towards
The Piazza
Di Spagna, just
Stood there, despair
Comin’ over
Me wave on wave

I remember
The only sounds;
My heart beatin’
And the water
Flowin’ out of
The Fontana
(hear it!) della
Barcaccia,
When you kissed me

The words you taught
Me, amore,
Cuore, once meant
Everything to
Me. Now long since
Broken, without
Any meaning

***

Whispers on the
Wind, shadows in
The soul. Much as
I try to shut
Them out, they will
Not be silent

Dreams and Desires

So much has been said
So little has been said
So much remains to be said
Or does it

Which is better
To act out one’s desires

Or keep them to oneself
Hidden in one’s dreams
How to know
Which desires, when acted on,
Will bring more pleasure than pain
More good than grief

How to know
Which desires should be kept
Safely tucked away
Deep inside dreams

Desires versus dreams
Dreams and/or desires

That is the challenge
To balance the two
To live in the sunshine
To limit the what ifs
To limit the regrets
To live a life one can believe in

Today is the birthday of Georges Seurat (Georges-Pierre Seurat; Paris 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891 Paris); post-Impressionist painter and draftsman. He is noted for his innovative use of drawing media and for devising the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism. Seurat’s artistic personality showed both extreme and delicate sensibility; and a passion for logical abstraction. His large-scale work, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884–1886), altered the direction of modern art by initiating Neo-impressionism, and is one of the icons of late 19th-century painting.

Seurat concealed his relationship with Madeleine Knobloch (or Madeleine Knoblock, 1868–1903), an artist’s model whom he portrayed in his painting Jeune femme se poudrant. In 1889 she moved in with Seurat in his studio on the 7th floor of 128bis Boulevard de Clichy.

When Madeleine became pregnant, the couple moved to a studio at 39 passage de l’Élysée-des-Beaux-Arts (now rue André Antoine).

Seurat died in his parents’ home at the age of 31. The cause of his death is uncertain, and has been variously attributed to a form of meningitis, pneumonia, infectious angina, and diphtheria. His last ambitious work, The Circus, was left unfinished at the time of his death.

30 March 1891 a commemorative service was held in the church of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul. Seurat was interred 31 March 1891 at Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.

Gallery

Le Chahut (1890), Otterlo, musée Kröller-Müller

Les Poseuses (1886-1888), Philadelphie, Fondation Barnes

Poseuse de dos, 1887

Studie zu »Les Poseuses

le cirque

Jeune femme se poudrant (1889-1890), Londres, Institut Courtauld.

Un dimanche après-midi à l’Île de la Grande Jatte (1884-1886), Art Institute of Chicago

La Seine à Courbevoie (1885), collection particulière.

Le Nœud noir (vers 1882), musée d’Orsay (Paris)

peasant girl sitting on the grass

And today is the birthday of Guy Bourdin (Paris 2 December 1928 – 29 March 1991 Paris); artist and fashion photographer known for his highly stylized and provocative images. From 1955, Bourdin worked mostly with Vogue as well as other publications including Harper’s Bazaar. He shot ad campaigns for Chanel, Charles Jourdan, Pentax and Bloomingdale’s.

His work is collected by important institutions including Tate in London, MoMA, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Getty Museum. The first retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2003, and then toured the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume in Paris. The Tate is permanently exhibiting a part of its collection (one of the largest) with works made between 1950 and 1955.

In my opinion, one of the best-known photographers of fashion and advertising of the second half of the 20th century. He set the stage for a new kind of fashion photography. “While conventional fashion images make beauty and clothing their central elements, Bourdin’s photographs offer a radical alternative.”

Gallery