pictures to come . . .

A few of us did a little FReeping down in Modesto, CA today also. Keep up the good work Big Guy and Rusty 99.

EAGLES UP!!!!!!!!

Michaelje and Little Bill organized, they deserve the real credit. We had plenty of people right off the street who joined us, perhaps future freepers.

A Big TexansSalute from a Massachusetts native.
I knew there were SOME intelligent Yankees up there.

When I think of, "Copley," and "Boston," I think of this...

"The year 1768 was an important one for two young Bostonians: John Singleton Copley, who painted this picture, and Paul Revere, who sat for it. They were both in their early thirties, and they could not have been more different. This was a time of extreme political tension, when Boston was divided into Whigs, who wanted freedom, and Tories, who were content to stay British. Paul Revere was deeply political - and 100 percent Whig. Copley, on the other hand, was completely uninterested in politics; he wanted only to be neutral, which was not possible. He was about to marry into one of the leading Tory families, the Clarkes (owners of the notorious tea concession). Copley was performing a balancing act, but this was the year when he wrote that he felt he must leave America and go to live in England. There he could be an artist and a gentleman - while silversmith Paul Revere was happy to be a craftsman.

"It was costly to have one's portrait painted, and very unusual to be painted without a gentleman's coat. Revere's descendants misunderstood this picture. They thought it made him look like a workman, and they hid it in the attic, but Revere is wearing an elaborate vest with gold buttons. The great expanse of bare sleeve - a fullness of flowing linen - makes a political statement. There was supposed to be no linen in America unless it was imported. The ladies of Boston objected to this, and in this very year they produced a hundred ells (about 125 yards) of linen. Revere is honoring this act of defiance, sporting a symbol of his country's freedom. The problem is the teapot, because tea was a burning issue. Only the Tories drank tea; the Whigs drank "Boston Tea," which was punch. Why does Revere hold a teapot? Is Copley deliberately trying to balance the Whiggish sleeve? Or was it Revere's own choice - to show off his skills as a silversmith? I see this picture as almost a confrontation between the two young men. Looking at Revere's solid, brooding face, I am not surprised that he won. Copley signed the portrait, but in letters so minuscule that hardly anyone could read them."

-Sr. Wendy Beckett

Nice.

Doc

Interesting. My favorite patriot has always be Ben Franklin.

The other day I replied to a post regarding the utility of art as an academic discipline. One of my B.A.s is in Art History, and my argument was that IF AND WHEN it is properly taught, it is an all encompassing discipline, entailing chemistry, biology, anatomy, history, geology, geography, religion, musicology, literature, architecture, engineering, and politics. I think Sister Wendy's analysis of Copley's Revere Portrait demonstrates nicely, the utility of the discipline.

I wish I had more time to study art.

I wish I had more time to study art."

So do I...once you've dipped your toe into it, it kind of sucks you in. I was very fortunate to have some incredibly conservative profs who taught from a western/ U.S. perspective, and had resisted the trendy marxist/deconstructionist/communist/feminist overtones the discipline has sadly adopted.

A great, concise, yet comprehensive overview of western art and its impact on, and reflection of society can be had in (Lord)Kenneth Clark's Civilisation.

It was a BBC series, and is available in both print and video.

I hate the Marxist view of everything.

"I hate the Marxist view of everything."

I consider Senator Joe McCarthy one of my personal heroes. I'm not a Bircher, but in most cases can align myself with their views.

same here.

I'm very slow, what was this all about?

I wish I had said that!

Kudo's for a brilliant observation.....

Doc

Pimg

PICTURES?

They had an anti-war protest, so we crashed it with an anti-anti-war protest.

Nice job fellas. It couldnt have went smoother....