January 28, 2024
# 1641
National Arts Week
Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Pablo Picasso, 1907, oil on canvas, 244 x 234 cm; arguably the first cubist painting
Pablo Picasso - Museum of Modern Art, New York
"Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," a seminal work by Pablo Picasso created in 1907, is a revolutionary oil painting that reshaped the direction of 20th-century art. Housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, this artwork portrays five nude female figures, depicted as prostitutes in a brothel on Carrer d'Avinyó in Barcelona.
The painting is notable for its radical departure from traditional Western art. The figures in "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" are rendered with sharp, angular forms, a striking contrast to the soft, curved lines typical of feminine portrayals. This stylistic choice reflects Picasso's interest in tribal art, particularly African and Iberian, which influenced the mask-like faces and disjointed body shapes seen in the painting. The leftmost figure displays Egyptian or southern Asian features, contributing to the painting's exotic and non-traditional aesthetic.
Picasso's innovative approach in "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" was inspired partly by a desire to surpass his contemporary, Henri Matisse, as the leader of the avant-garde. Art historian John Richardson remarked that this painting positioned Picasso as a pivotal artist in Western painting, comparable to the impact of Giotto. The painting laid the groundwork for the development of Cubism, a movement co-founded by Picasso and Georges Braque, which profoundly influenced modern art.
Despite its significance, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" initially faced significant controversy and criticism, even among Picasso's close associates. Matisse viewed it as a provocation, and Braque was initially repelled by it, though he later studied it closely. The painting's influence is evident in the works of these artists and in its echoes of Cézanne, Gauguin, and El Greco.
First exhibited publicly in 1916 at the Salon d'Antin, organized by poet André Salmon, the painting was considered immoral at the time. Picasso, who preferred to call it "my brothel" or "Le Bordel d'Avignon," never approved of Salmon's less provocative title, "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon," preferring a more direct reference to Avignon. Despite its initial mixed reception, the painting remains a landmark in the history of modern art.
Georges Braque, 1908, Maisons et arbre (Houses at l'Estaque), oil on canvas, 40.5 x 32.5 cm, Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art
Georges Braque - Lille Métropole Museum of Modern, Contemporary and Outsider Art
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Commentary
I thought about my solo trip to Cancun: how would I feel surrounded by couples or groups enjoying each other’s company.
I would be alone.
Walk alone.
Eat alone.
Café alone.
No company.
On the other hand,
complete freedom
mindfulness of surroundings and locals
self-discovery
meet others.
But really, I want only to walk the beaches and the boulevards, eat decent food, drink coffee, people watch, suck up the warmth, read, and write. What fun. For just four days and three nights, I’m very pleased to be going.
Above, from left to right: Aerial view of the tourist area, Kukulcán Boulevard, beach, Alacrán Temple in the Yamil Lu'um Archaeological Zone, El Rey Archaeological Site, View of the hotel zone, Caracol Beach and Puerto Juárez.
Microstar - File:Cancun Strand Luftbild (22143397586).jpg, por Dronepicr (CC-BY-2.0) File:Boulevard Kukulcan, Zona Hotelera, Cancún, Mexico - panoramio (34).jpg, por Panoramio upload bot (CC-BY-3.0) File:Gone to Lunch. - panoramio.jpg, por Panoramio upload bot (CC-BY-3.0) File:Yamiluum1.JPG, por Feliks~commonswiki (CC-BY-SA-3.0-migrated) File:El Rey Zona Arqueologica, Cancun, Mexico RFDZ1265.jpg, por Xe3osc (CC-BY-SA-3.0) File:Cancun Luftbild (22143391876).jpg, por Dronepicr (CC-BY-2.0) File:Cancún, Playa Caracol - panoramio.jpg, por Panoramio upload bot (CC-BY-3.0) File:Ferry Port in Cancun.jpg, por Nv8200pa (CC-BY-SA-4.0)
COMMENTARY PART TWO
The editor asked Kat about the new job she’ll be starting on her return from India.
Although she’s having so much fun and learning so much about yoga and herself she may not want to come back.
Fortunately, her Will lives here.
She’ll be back.
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Kat’s Gen Z Corner
New job. new Brad.
(His name is Brad Lander)
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/about/about-brad-lander/
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander Comptroller Brad Lander serves as New York City’s chief financial officer, leading an office of roughly 800 public servants in their work to promote the financial health, integrity, and effectiveness of city government and secure a more thriving and sustainable future for all New Yorkers....
comptroller.nyc.gov
He's the NYC Comptroller -- AKA the CFO and government watchdog of NYC. He's fiercely progressive and uses money/reports/quantitative data to back it. A real political rock star.
Will try to explain more over the phone when I'm not recovering from 4 shots.
I so appreciate you asking.
Love you
Kat
Editor asks, “And what will you be doing for your second Brad boss?
Kat says:
Senior Press Officer.
Below Press Secretary, Above Press Officer
NYC Comptroller has 800 employees
Press is team of six.
But Kat’s still in India. Here’s some of what she’s learning.
Before dinner, we have an 1.5 hour posture clinic to learn about various poses and their benefits, safety precautions, and adjustments for different kinds of students.
Pictured are me and two peers prepared to demonstrate varying depths in a forward fold. Look how beautiful the space is!
Ed: Kat is in front row on right.
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Tucker’s Corner
It’s been almost three years since Fargo was last on TV, its fourth season representing something of a low point for Noah Hawley’s scattered take on the Coen brothers’ classic. At its best, Fargo has been a fascinating and worthy addition to the name, borrowing mostly just vibes from the film, rather than a bunch of Easter eggs and character names. Even with the more recent rocky history of the show I was overjoyed to hear they’d be getting a fifth outing and I’m here to tell you: Fargo is BACK!
We start, as all good stories must, in the middle of a slow motion, all-out brawl at the Scandia Middle School Fall Festival Planning Committee. We have no idea what caused such mayhem, but it appears everyone in the auditorium is ready and willing to throw down. Save for Dorothy Lyon (Juno Temple) and her daughter, Scotty (Sienna King). On their way out of the melee, Dot accidentally tases a cop, and is swiftly arrested. “Wrong place, wrong time,” she muses from the backseat of a police car, and later admits to her husband, Wayne (a superb David Rysdahl), “On second thought, maybe better if I hadn’t been so freewheelin’ with the taser.”
A brief stint in jail later, Dot is bailed out and on her way to somewhere she seems to find even less appealing: her mother-in-law’s horrendous limestone McMansion for a Christmas card photoshoot. Jennifer Jason Leigh, who never met a matriarchal role she couldn’t spin into gold, sinks her teeth and then some into Lorraine Lyon, offhandedly murmuring “how progressive” at the sight of Scotty in her preferred outfit, a sharp suit. There’s time left over for the microaggressions to simply become aggression, too, when each member of the family is handed a simply massive assault rifle to pose with. “It’s about projection of our values as a family,” Lorraine says. Got it.
Sore thumb as she is at Lorraine’s dinner table, Dorothy’s happy and active in her own domain, putting Scotty to bed with a well-acted pirate story and kindly rebuffing Wayne’s suggestion for a roll in the hay. Settling down, she’s beset with ominous visions of a ranch-like compound complete with people in freaky masks, a crumbling old barn, and Jon Hamm in a bolo tie. It’s all a bit cryptic, but surely has something to do with her being attacked in her home by two men the very next day. Dot’s reaction to this attack is something new for Fargo which I won’t ruin but some makeshift weapons are made from a can of hairspray and an ice skate. This sequence and the rest of the episode explain in detail why they decided to cast Temple, who’s always been capable of the vicious beneath her warmth.
Dot’s encounter with the home invaders leads to a gas station where even more chaos ensues. The path that leads them there results in the death of a police officer and the wounding of another, Deputy Whitt Farr (Lamorne Morris). “How do you know how to do all this?” Farr asks as Dot applies a makeshift tourniquet. “Not my first getaway,” she says, never once wincing at all the broken glass beneath her bare feet. By the time backup arrives, she’s in the wind again. When she returns home looking worse for wear, she simply tells her husband she had a tough day.
One of Fargo’s pet themes, dating back to the film, has been the signature ability of people to ignore and deny while they slowly get sucked into an irrecoverable position in a story that’s far bigger than they possibly know. But this doesn’t feel like that. If anything, it appears Dot’s already lived one of those stories, and is adamant she never will again.
Of course, another thing Fargo likes to remind us is that those kinds of preferences are rarely up to us, and Sheriff Roy Tillman (Hamm) is hunting Dot down. The pieces are still falling into place by the time this premiere comes to a close, but it’s clear Dorothy was once part of Tillman’s commune, serving as his “wife.” In a show full of scoundrels, Tillman’s one of its most vile creations yet, simultaneously a cult leader and a tyrant in his greater role “serving” the community. Meeting with two of his constituents, a woman and her husband who’s been physically abusing her, Tillman chastises the man, but only for the imprecision in his brutality. “Under the husband, the woman abides” he says almost ceremoniously.
By the end of this first episode Dot is getting it from every angle. Her husband doesn’t believe her. Neither does her mother-in-law. Neither do any of the police involved in the investigation of her initial disappearance. Kidnappers and corrupt police are involved. Everyone’s path ends in doom for Dot. Ten years ago, Dorothy Lyons made some promises. Now, it seems, payment is due.
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Writing
I’ve only been trolling agents for ten days and i’ve gotten two positive responses. One of them passed on the project but the other has asked for the full manuscript. “I’m excited to read it,” she says. She’s already read the first few pages and she’s still in. Her decision will be made in 3 to 6 weeks.
I’m excited.
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Food: Slow Roasting
Slow roasting has several benefits that contribute to both the flavor and texture of cooked meat.
For one, slow roasting allows the heat to penetrate to the center of the chicken more evenly.
This reduces the risk of having undercooked parts while other parts are overcooked.
The gentle cooking process helps the roast or poultry retain moisture and
also ensures that the meat tissues have enough time to break down properly without drying out resulting in a more tender roast.
In contrast, high-heat cooking can tighten and toughen the roast, making the meat tougher and drier.
While I don’t apply a marinade to the roast while it’s in the oven (the moisture of the marinade will make a crispy skin or a caramelized exterior difficult to achieve)
I do generously season the meat, sometimes adding oil to the herbs and spices.
The extended cooking time gives the meat more time to absorb the flavors resulting in a more complex and richer taste.
I finish the roast with a brief period of high heat to achieve a crispy skin while keeping the meat underneath moist and tender.
Slow roasting is more forgiving than other methods. It's less likely to result in overcooked, dry meat, which can be a risk with higher temperature cooking methods, especially for those who are less experienced in cooking poultry.
Sunday Roast Rib of Beef
Roderick Eime - https://www.flickr.com/photos/rodeime/15768155194/
I forget what prompted me to try my first slow roast, but it was more than a decade ago. After my first effort, I never went back. I have ever since cooked all of my meats in a slow roast oven, i.e., 200°F.
The recipe is ridiculously easy.
At some point before the cook, prepare the meat by unwrapping it and trimming it where necessary.
Weigh it so you know how long the roast is going to take.
Then season it.
While the meat is in the refrigerator, the exterior will dry which will make it easier to gain an attractive color.
When it’s time to cook, take the poultry or other roast directly from the refrigerator and set it in the oven.
Turn the oven to 200.
The Hot Finish
For roasts, we’ll finish the cook by cranking the temperature to 500*
Chops and steaks do better in a very hot frying pan or close to the broiler. And for just 3 minutes a side for color.
Of course, some like their food more well-done than others so you will make adjustments as you get more familiar with your own equipment and palate.
The Timing Chart
This timing chart simplifies the cook by working with meat right out of the refrigerator and a cold oven.
SETTLE
After the Hot Finish, the juices are racing around the meat and if the meat is cut immediately after you take it out of the oven, the juices will pour out.
Always allow time for roasted meat to calm a bit.
Thirty minutes for larger roasts. Just 5 minutes for chops and steaks.
GRAVY
For Chicken or Turkey:
Note that when you slow roast, there are no drippings so you can’t make a gravy.
Cooking the chicken or turkey at such a low temperature means the juices that normally flow out of a bird in a hotter oven stay in the bird.
So, no gravy. But much juicier birds.
Salt and pepper is all you really need for these.
To make a chicken or turkey gravy: when I make a soup I remove some of it.
Then I reduce that soup until it’s strong enough to serve as a gravy.
To thicken the concentrated soup I mix it with a roux.
That Gravy goes into my freezer to wait until I want a gravy for my roast chicken or turkey.
For Beef or Lamb:
If I want Gravy, and for Roast Beef and Roast Lamb gravy is almost required, I make a Beef or Lamb Stew, adding extra liquids to the stew.
When the stew is done, I remove a small tub of the gravy.
Then I concentrate this gravy, label it and freeze it for my next roast.
If I want to thicken it, I add some roux.
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Sunday roast consisting of roast beef, roast potatoes, vegetables, and Yorkshire pudding
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Chuckles and Thoughts
The world is open for play, everything and everybody is mockable in a wonderful way.
Robin Williams
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Six Word Stories
“Unseen paths, brave hearts, destined journey."
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Mail and other Conversation
We love getting mail, email, or texts, including links.
This from dear friend, Sally C, re: the writings of Tucker and Ralph:
Re: The January 14 newsletter
brasscastlearts@gmail.com
To: You
Sat 1/13/2024 2:33 PM
Dear Dom,
I found much in your latest newsletter, for January 14, deep and powerful.
What hit me hardest was your friend Tucker’s raw grief over the loss of Jeff, long-time friend of him and his wife, as a prelude to his review of the film “All of Us Strangers.” It’s hard enough to lose someone to old age, when it’s expected, or following a long illness without hope of cure, but sudden deaths, from accident or murder or some other form, are perhaps those that strike us most deeply. I admire Tucker’s control over his words about his loss, how he has conveyed its depth in a few words without being weepy, sentimental, or maudlin (which couldn’t have been easy), and how the film has helped him to find an eternal intimacy (tying in the theme from Raphael further along in the newsletter). Somehow it is telling that these two sections are so closely related and appear in the same newsletter.
With regards to Raphael and his comments on intimacy, I agree wholeheartedly that it has little to do with sex. The physical act of sex should blossom with intimacy, but intimacy doesn’t necessarily blossom from sex. Like the different kinds of love – eros, philia, storge, and agape – intimacy has many facets, most of which perhaps are more deeply needed than the physical kind only, and most of which are impossible to capture fully in thoughts, words, or other means of expression. Yet when we continue to reach for adequate expression, we do come ever closer.
Many thanks to your friends who contribute so freely to the newsletter.
Sally
And Ralph responds:
It made a difference sharing this Dom. Thank You.
And Tucker responds:
Sally,
You're incredibly kind to write us such a thoughtful and heartfelt response. I'm fortunate to have not lost too many in my life yet so Jeff's passing felt like I needed to remark upon it somewhere. Writing is so therapeutic and when you're gifted with the power to express yourself through it (I'm talking about you not me) you have the power to move others as much as you're helping yourself.
Your letter about Ralph and I's pieces warmed me deeply. I'll think of it every time I sit down to write a piece that would be bettered by something personal.
And this from Sally:
Dear Dom, Tucker, and Raphael,
It’s heartwarming indeed when diverse individuals come together to share emotions on a spiritual plane of sorts. That’s why we are here on Earth, after all, to lift each other up in a multitude of ways.
This has just reminded me of what Dom’s and my mutual friend Colleen posted to me after my mother died (at age 96) three years ago: “Grief takes up all the space in your head.” She was absolutely right! And there’s no right or wrong amount of time to take to learn how to incorporate it and its lessons into your soul. It’s different for each one of us, and it’s different for each of those we have lost.
Go well, my friends!
Sally
Editor’s Note:
Observing three hearts spontaneously combust in this warm moment of soul-sharing is the reason we at existentialautotrip strive to provide this platform.
Send comments to domcapossela@hotmail.com
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Last Thought
Run, Nikki, Run
If only because of Donald Trump’s health.
He’s on the older side.
He’s overweight.
He’s under a great deal of stress. Daily, bad things of his own making, are happening to him.
And his mind is going. Have you heard him lately? Seen the multitude of photos of him looking stressed, beset.
Is it implausible to think that Donald Trump might take suddenly ill?
No. It is not.
So run, Nikki, run.
If the lead candidate suddenly goes missing, you are the only game in town.
Run, Nikki.
Run.
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