The glass of fashion*

Magnet #756 - John Everett Millais' Ophelia

I know. I can't help it. She kinda looks how I feel right now, a little bedraggled and run over.

Part has to do with this crazy rain today. The other part, well, whatever, it's a magnetblog, dudes.

So, I bought this magnet at the Yale Center for British Art - such a great museum, for the art, for the architecture. Still, I squealed a little dance of joy because this was my best find of the day. I was so happy to find this as a magnet, because I saw this painting at the Tate in London, and they didn't have the magnet for it!

I absolutely love this painting of poor drowned Ophelia, Hamlet's sister. I'll concede it's a more than a little dark, and I know when I saw it in person, it irked crap out of me, because I was in London and not able to see David Tennant's Hamlet and I was still ticked over that and will likely not get over it for a while, but whatever, because you know he's totally coming to Broadway at some point in his life, and it'll probably be in a play that I'll never want to go see, but will go see more than a couple times, and probably stalk the theatre door, just because he'll finally be on my home turf. Anyway, moving on.

I'll leave the background learning up to you and the Tate description, mostly because I'm refusing to use the word Pre-Raphaelite in a magnetpost and not really know (or honestly care) what it means. Of course, now I know having read that description what it means, but I'm still not using it.

The very word just seems too, too lofty here on joy magnetism. So, lay on, Macjoy.

What? Oh, like I wasn't going to pun it. Or include David Tennant in reference to this particular magnet. Hahaha. Nope. I'm not bitter at all.


*Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1, 150–154

eta:
Why? Why do I always think that Ophelia is Hamlet's sister? Kudos to Jenny for pointing it out. But I shan't fix it above. Because I'm kinda wondering what my mental block is about it!

eta2:
She's Laertes' sister. And yet, in my head, Ophelia/Hamlet, sibyay. You'd think I didn't go see Hamlet.

I did, though. I have the notice about David Tennant's absence to prove it. Grrr.

I want! I want!

Magnet #605 - William Blake's I want! I want!

It feels like everyone knows William Blake for his romantic poetry. At least, that's how I know him. And then, it's really only a cursory knowledge.

So yesterday, when I saw this magnet in the little shop, I was honestly surprised to find out that it was a Blake engraving done in 1793. And then this morning, I learned a little more about Blake being a professional engraver.

Annnnd that's about where my knowledge ends. I tried to skim The Engravings of William Blake by Archibald G. B. Russell, uploaded on Google Books. Tried anyway.

As much as I want to do a tutorial on my newfound Blake knowledge, and what he was hoping to convey with this engraving, I think I shall opt out for a more literal translation. Lord knows, I could have totally made this a rather maudlin magnetpost about climbing up the ladder to the crescent moon to get what I want.

But I won't. Besides, the whole reason I ended up buying it is because that's pretty much all I did yesterday walking around New Haven and its various museum shops.

Pointing at magnet displays and saying, "I want! I want!"

That magnet. And the seven others I picked up yesterday.

Stop. I see you judging me!

eta:
Actually, yesterday was a terrifically fun (if soggy day) wandering around Yale and their Center for British Art, and their Art Gallery. Both buildings were designed by one of the leading architects of last century - Louis I. Kahn - who taught at Yale in the 40s/50s.

Both buildings were pretty cool. According to the site, the Center for British Art was his last building, and one of the first U.S. museums to take into consideration retail space.

Huh. I knew there was another reason I loved the building. I mean, aside from the great museum design and exhibition displays and great lighting design and the collection and the...yeah.