War and Peace begins

Today was meeting 2 of my meetup group on War and Peace. It's going to be a long slog effort, it's probably more than a year, every 2 weeks.

So far, having a bit of difficulty getting into it, but getting great tips from the group to help me settle in.

Advice for far:

• Tolstoy is just setting the scene for us 
• Don't worry about going to back to re-read what I didn't 'get' already. 
• We are just meeting the three main families
• We are being introduced to different settings: the aristocracy, in a home, at a formal dance, a dinner party, at a deathbed
• Tolstoy is revealing how human the aristocracy is: they are petty, acting out, showing off, judging others
• The setting in time is being revealed: the time of Napoleon (he has been Emperor for only a year, lots of differences about how people felt about him)
• Write a list of characters as they appear, and draw the relationships as I discover them
• Download character maps (I have done this already)

I'm coming to think I might start a large doodle that I build on over time. This will need a large piece of paper, or separate journal!

We are using the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation for this Meetup series. I have been listening to Audible, with a free Kindle version to mark where I am in the book. Fortunately the parts and chapters line up with the printed book. I used this approach with Anna Karenina, and it worked well, but am starting to think the physical book might be called for....

In our first meeting, I wondered out loud whether it would help me to study more Russian history... and I received the suggestion that French history would serve me better (!). The setting is 1805

Learnings about French/Russian in the book:

• Some are speaking French, some are speaking Russian (during 1805 French was the predominant language amongst the aristocracy)
• Why this is:
• the influx and influence of the French on Russian culture
• people would speak French to hide what they are saying from servants
• Catherine the Great imposed French as the language of the court in Russia
• Conflict between Eastern and Western thought is important here 

This book is part of a longer journey for me - read about My Tolstoy Adventure here. The good news is that I have learned to love Tolstoy's writing. 

Anna Karenina continues

 Now onto part 7 of the 8 parts of my Anna Karenina journey....

I like this image from a Spanish translation

Just a couple interesting links: 

Here's Why Anna Karenina Is Considered The Best Novel Of All Time - Grunge
Includes great stuff on how Tolstoy intentionally uses repetition strategically

Leo Tolstoy's Crazy Real-Life Story - Grunge

Links: 

Read more about what I'm doing here: Anna Karenina stuff

Read about My Tolstoy Adventure

War and Peace is next...

Anna Karenina stuff

My Tolstoy adventure continues with Anna Karenina today.

I almost missed it, and realized I wasn't prepared. Power-listened to half of the first part  before meeting 1 starts. This will be an 8-part series. 

Resources: 

Anna Karenina - Chapter by Chapter Character list (supposedly spoiler free) 

Anna Karenina Family Tree

Free downloadable book in PDF - Tolstoy.com

15 Surprising Facts About Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy (good quick facts)

21 Powerful Leo Tolstoy Quotes from Anna Karenina

The Writing of Anna Karenina - article on Tolstoy.com (great images)

Creating Anna Karenina: Tolstoy and the Birth of Literature's Most Enigmatic Heroine, by Bob Blaisdell - a book that our group also covered, but I missed

Read about My Tolstoy Adventure 

I've enjoyed looking at some of the old book covers: 

Hemingway: @ 125

Tonight I joined a book club that was celebrating Ernest Hemingway on the occasion of his 125th birthday. We focused our discussion around The Sun Also Rises, his first novel. It was a the first in a series of four Hemingway's books this year. 

I really enjoy Hemingway's writing so am looking forward to this series. 

A few memories and resources about Hemingway... 

Best Bar Moments in Venice - my blog post from2009 when I visited Harry's Bar in Venice, where Hemingway had a table

I have this on my wall: it's a doodle I made while
in Harry's Bar (read my blog post about the
version I left behind with the bartender)

So cool to see the doors of Harry's Bar
in Venice, then opening them and stepping in...

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece 'The Sun Also Rises' by Lesley M. M. Blume - I just found this book and am listening to it now, and it's fantastic!

Ernest Hemingway with Lady Duff
Twysden, Hadley Hemingway, and three
unidentified people at a cafe in Pamplona,
Spain, July 1925, Wikipedia

The image above is the one that is on the cover of Everybody Behaves Badly... and it seems so fitting, once you realize The Sun Also Rises is based on this trip he made to Spain. 

The Undefeated

1968 standalone edition, Wikipedia

In my book club tonight one of the participants recommended Hemingway's short story, The Undefeated, as a companion to The Sun Also Rises, for a deeper look at matadors, Wikipedia

Ernest Hemingway's 8 Favorite Bars Around the World - Architectural Digest (great article, includes Harry's Bar) 

Sonia Delaunay

A new-to-me artist today: Sonia Delaunay

Sonia Delaunay, 1914, Prismes électriques
oil on canvas, 250 x 250 cm
Musée National d'Art Moderne

An art collector in my art club named the works on the wall behind him today, and one was by Sonia Delaunay. I say new-to-me, as I don't remember her name, but when I googled her, I wondered if I had been exposed to her work before (at the Centre Pompidou in Paris).

Sonia Delaunay, Rythme, 1938
oil on canvas, 182 x 149 cm,
Musée National d'Art Moderne
Centre Pompidou, Paris

Sonia Delaunay
wearing Casa Sonia creations
Madrid, c.1918-20

Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979) was a Russian-born French artist who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was part of the School of Paris and co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes, with her husband Robert Delaunay and others. 

Sonia Delaunay was the first living female artist to have a retrospective exhibition at the Louvre in 1964. Her modern design included the concepts of geometric abstraction, and the integration of furniture, fabrics, wall coverings, and clothing into her art practice.

In 1967 (25 February – 5 April) she was a part of an exhibition of artist-decorated cars entitled 'Cinq voitures personnalisées par cinq artistes contemporains' ('Five Cars Personalized by Five Contemporary Artists') organized by the journal Réalités as a fundraiser for French medical research. She designed the pattern for a Matra 530 by experimenting with optical effects causing the car to recompose the pattern into a light blue shade when in motion 'so as not to attract other drivers' attention to the point of causing accidents through distraction. See pic below. 

Sonia Delaunay Was a Multimedia Artist Before the Term Was Invented - 1000 Museums

One for the Ages: Sonia Delaunay’s Wearable Abstractions - NY Times

‘Sonia Delaunay: Living Art’ Review: Radiantly Modern - WSJ

Sonia Delaunay on Wikipedia

Sonia Delaunay or Robert Delaunay
(or both), 1921-22
published in Der Sturm
Volume 13, Number 3, 5 March 1922

Mondial de l automobile de Paris
(October 2006)

Sonia Delaunay, Blaise Cendrars, 1913,
La prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France
(illustrated book)

The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

 One of my book clubs introduced me to this book, which I really enjoyed. I listened to the Audible audiobook.

Source: Wikipedia

The Well of Loneliness is a lesbian novel by British author Radclyffe Hall. It follows the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose "sexual inversion" (homosexuality) is apparent from an early age. It was published in 1928.

She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver during the First World War, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection.

Publicity over The Well of Loneliness's legal battles increased the visibility of lesbians in British and American culture. For decades it was the best-known lesbian novel in English, and often the first source of information about lesbianism that young people could find.

The novel was subject to great criticism in its time but has come to be recognized as a classic of queer literature.

The author, circa 1930

Interesting resources:

The Well of Loneliness: The book that could corrupt a nation - BBC (great images!)

Why Was The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall Put on Trial? - super interesting, including how Ernest Hemingway, TS Eliot, EM Forster, Virginia Woolf and others protested against suppressing the book and spoke in her defense (great photos!)

I haven't been exposed to queer literature and the history of lesbianism, let alone from that era, so there was a lot for me to learn with this book. I recommend it. 

Leo Tolstoy articles - great resource

Leo Tolstoy at age 20, c. 1848

In looking for articles on  Leo Tolstoy, I discovered leo-tolstoy.com - it's a great site, and I loved this:

This is not an official site of Leo Tolstoy. Such a great person as Tolstoy cannot have an official website. But we are trying to collect all the most useful and interesting information about the life and work of Leo Tolstoy.

I've started to scour the site and have saved articles that jumped out at me below. 

I will add to this list as I explore (this is really for myself). 

Articles

Iconic Characters in Leo Tolstoy’s Literary Universe

Leo Tolstoy: Life Events that Shaped his Literary Journey

Leo Tolstoy’s Complex Family Dynamics: A Closer Look

Read about My Tolstoy Adventure

Tolstoy: The Cossacks

In my Tolstoy book club today, discussing The Cossacks. 

Leo Tolstoy began work on the short novel in August 1853. In August 1857, after having reread the Iliad, he vowed to completely rewrite The Cossacks. In February 1862, after having lost badly at cards he finished the novel to help pay his debts. The novel was published in 1863, in the popular literary magazine The Russian Messenger. 

Tolstoy in 1908

The Cossacks is believed to be somewhat autobiographical, partially based on Tolstoy's experiences in the Caucasus during the last stages of the Caucasian War. Tolstoy had a wild time in his youth, engaging in numerous promiscuous partners, heavy drinking and gambling problems; many argue Tolstoy used his own past as inspiration for the protagonist Olenin.

Overall, enjoying the discussion on this one. Lots on his descriptive language. 

From my hunt for articles on this work: 

Creation history and plot of Tolstoy’s story “The Cossacks”

Read about My Tolstoy Adventure. 

Alexander Litovchenko (1835-1890)
Portrait of a Cossack,
Wikipedia

I went hunting for a definition of the Cossacks: 

The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Orthodox Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. 

Historically, they were a semi-nomadic and semi-militarized people, who, while under the nominal suzerainty of various Eastern European states at the time, were allowed a great degree of self-governance in exchange for military service. 

The Cossack way of life persisted via both direct descendants and acquired ideals in other nations into the twentieth century, though the sweeping societal changes of the Russian Revolution disrupted Cossack society as much as any other part of Russia. 

Many Cossacks migrated to other parts of Europe following the establishment of the Soviet Union, while others remained and assimilated into the Communist state. Cohesive Cossack-based units were organized and many fought for both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. (Wikipedia)

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

 

I discovered a new-to-me artist today, via my online art club: 

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (1908–1992) was a Portuguese abstract painter. She was considered a leading member of the European abstract expressionism movement known as Art Informel. Her works feature complex interiors and city views using lines that explore space and perspective. She also worked in tapestry and stained glass.

Miniville, Arpad Szenes-Vieira da Silva Foundation, Praça das Amoreiras, Lisbon, Portugal
Creative Commons via Pedro Ribeiro Simões

Self-Portrait, Wikipedia

The above is a tile mural from 1970 by Helena Vieira da Silva Mural at the Largo do Rato Metro Station in Lisbon, Portugal (click to enlarge!)

(WikiCommons) 

Something to seek out in Paris!
WikiCommons

The above is a small detail of tile panel, present at Cidade Universitária station of the Lisbon Metropolitano by Maria Helena Vieira da Silva (WikiCommons)

Resources:

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva at the MoMA (4 works) 

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva at the Guggenheim (2 works)

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva at the Tate (4 works) 

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva on ArtNet

Tolstoy: Childhood

 

Tolstoy and his grandchildren, c. 1909

The first book in my Tolstoy book group is Childhood.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book! I listened to this Audible version:
The Leo Tolstoy Complete Collection

Childhood is the first in a series of three novels, followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success. 

Today's discussion was great... and I'm grateful that it didn't go over my head! I was interested to learn that it was semi-autobiographical. 

We will be discussing Boyhood and Youth in the next two meetings. 

Childhood (Tolstoy novel) - Wikipedia

Read about My Tolstoy Adventure

My Tolstoy adventure

 I am embarking on an adventure: reading all the works of Leo Tolstoy. It's part of a Meetup group. We are meeting once or twice a month, so I think it will take about 2 years (!)...

I am reading via listening on Audible. This is the best collection I found:

The Leo Tolstoy Complete Collection
War and Peace; Anna Karenina; Resurrection; Short Stories; Novellas; and Non-Fiction
Written by: Leo Tolstoy
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Malk Williams, Emma Gregory
Length: 186 hrs and 39 mins
Public Domain (P)2023 SNR Audio

Includes:

Novels

• War and Peace - now started (my first post about it)
• Anna Karenina (read it, enjoyed it) (my post)
• Resurrection

Novellas and Short Stories

• The Death of Ivan Ilyich
• Childhood (read, my first Tolstoy, loved it!!!!) (my post)
• Boyhood (read, loved it)
• Youth (read, very good)
• Family Happiness (read it, pretty good)
• The Cossacks (read it, interesting insights to a way of life) (my post)
• The Kreutzer Sonata
• The Forged Coupon
• Hadji Murat
• Sevastopol Sketches (read - it was ok, war-heavy)
• The Coffee-House of Surat
• Master and Man (read, not remembering it)
• How Much Land Does a Man Need?
• Alyosha the Pot
• Ivan the Fool

Non-Fiction

• The Kingdom of God Is Within You
• A Confession
• The Inevitable Revolution
• What Is Art?

Also reading, from Kindle:

• Landowner's Morning (read, liked it)
• Two Hossars (missed this one, will come back to it)

Read about Tolstoy, but not by Tolstoy:

• The Hedgehog and The Fox (about Tolstoy, by Isaiah Berlin)

We are doing them in the sequence, in the order he wrote them. Childhood is up first. 

Resources: 

GREAT Leo Tolstoy website (leo-tolstoy.com) sections:

• Articles 
• Books
• Quotes
• Bio
• Gallery

Leo Tolstoy bibliography

Leo Tolstoy articles (another of my blog posts)

Update: adding notes for myself on what I've read so far...

Artemisia Gentileschi

Today I learned about the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Her work is quite stunning... and very haunting (think Caravaggio!).

Highlights from Wikipedia: 

• Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of 15. She was also known as Artemisia Lomi.
• In an era when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, Gentileschi was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence and she had an international clientele.
• Many of Gentileschi's paintings feature women from myths, allegories, and the Bible, including victims, suicides, and warriors. 
• Gentileschi was known for being able to depict the female figure with great naturalism and for her skill in handling colour to express dimension and drama.
• Her achievements as an artist were long overshadowed by a trauma as a young woman. I'll let you read about it in Wikipedia. 

Gustave Caillebotte's Floor Scrapers

Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers 1875
Musée d'Orsay, Paris (wikicommons)

This is one of my favourite paintings. 

Named in French as Les raboteurs de parquet, The Floor Scrapers was painted painting by French Impressionist Gustave Caillebotte in 1875. It was painted in oil on canvas and measures 102 by 146.5 centimetres (40.2 in × 57.7 in).

In the scene, the observer stands above three workers on hands and knees, scraping a wooden floor in a bourgeois apartment—now believed to be Caillebotte's own studio at 77, rue de Miromesnil, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

This is one of the first paintings of the time to feature the urban working class. Instead of the heroes of antiquity, here are the heroes of modern life—sinewy and strong—in stooped poses that would appear demeaning if they did not convey a sense of masculine strength and honest labor.

Sadly, Caillebotte's magnificent work was rejected by France's most prestigious art exhibition, the Salon, when he first showed it, but this was common of the times, when anything nearing nudity was considered vulgar. The painting received praise from many critics, though.

I first saw this painting at the Musée d'Orsay during my first visit to the city. I was entirely captivated and enthralled, and kept returning to it to look again. The quality of the light and the reflections were stunning. More recently, when I re-discovered the painting (I had lost the name of the artist and artwork for many yars!), I have come to appreciate the artist's use of perspective. 

More about the work on Wikipedia

Musée d'Orsay's write-up on the work

Great description of the work on TheHistoryOfArt.org

Bio of the artist on Brittanica.com featuring the work

 

When Picasso met Lump

 

Lump didn't start out as Picasso's dog, Lump was David Duncan's dog. David Duncan was Picasso's photographer and wrote several books about Picasso (highly recommended). David brought his dachshund by when he visited Picasso in the south of France, and the two fell in love (Picasso and Lump, that is).

Read the full article below, but here is my favourite quote:

Lump and Picasso remained friends for the rest of their lives.  Lump lived to 1973 reaching the ripe old age of 17. Picasso died ten days later.

Duncan’s Dog meets Picasso - Lewis Art Café (lewisartcafe.com)

Lump (dog) - Wikipedia

Krakow virtual tour

Today I attended a great virtual tour of Krakow Poland with Olga from World Virtual Tours (supported entirely by donations). 

With roots back to the Stone Age, today the city's Old Town has been lovingly restored. The city's Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the world's first sites granted the status. 

After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, Krakow became the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population was forced into a walled zone (the Kraków Ghetto) from where many were sent to the nearby Auschwitz extermination camp. If there was any good from this time it is that the city was spared from destruction and major bombing.

These are all high quality Creative Commons images from Wikipedia, so click to enlarge them for exceptional detail.

Wawel Castle (left) and Wawel Cathedral (right)

Kanonicza Street, at the foot of the Wawel Castle

Depiction of Krakow in the 16th century

Paradise Bliss (Jan de Kempeneer's workshop, ca. 1550), one of the Jagiellonian tapestries

The Jagiellonian tapestries, woven in the Netherlands and Flanders, originally consisted of 365 pieces assembled by the Jagiellons to decorate the interiors of Wawel Castle. 

The citizens of Krakow saved the Jagiellonian tapestries during World War II by sending them to Canada

Resources:

Krakow map - a great detailed map that you can zoom in and out of

Evacuation of Polish National Treasures during World War II 

Woodcut of Krakow - from the Nuremberg Chronicle