Sunday Selections #425

Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
 
The meme is now continued by River at Drifting through life.  The rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent.  Post some photos under the title Sunday Selections and link back to River (Her hands are still giving her grief and sadly she may not be able to participate).  Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen. 
 
I usually run with a theme.  This week it is a recent outing of ours.

We went to the National Art Gallery to see a special exhibition brought over from the Tate.  The exhibition was called 'Love and Desire, and it was predominantly pre-Rapaelite works.  Not my favourite period but I am glad I went.

However, before I show one or two pieces from the exhibition I am going to focus on a new purchase our National Gallery recently made.  A controversional purchase costing $1 million.

Francesco 2017, a wax sculpture by Swiss artist Urs Fischer,was purchased and installed a few weeks ago.

This sculpture will melt away for six months, at which point it will be recast to its original form and lit again.  Publicity on the gallery's website described this process as ‘the birth, the life and the death of an artwork’.

Hmmm.  My grumpy self thinks that is a posh description of a very expensive (and not very attractive) candle.  What do you think?

 

For some reason that is a fridge he is standing on.  A fridge which had representations of fruit and vegies inside...

 The exhibition we came to see was beside this work.  Some of the pieces which caught my eye included these.

 This was one of the posters advertising the exhibition and features Ophelia by John Everett Millais.

The British Channel seen from the Dorsetshire Cliffs 1871 by John Brett.  I loved those shafts of light.

T

 The pet parrot 1853 by Walter Howell Deverell.

The Victorians had a passion for VERY ornate frames.

Of course my book loving self was drawn to The Kelmscott Chaucer

William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones discovered and developed a love for Chaucer as undergraduates at Oxford University. After Morris established the Kelmscott Press in 1891, the two old friends agreed that The Canterbury Tales and other works by Chaucer would be a major goal for the enterprise. Morris spent four years working on the book. Trial pages were printed in 1892, while final production began on August 8, 1894. The first two copies of the book were delivered to Morris and Burne-Jones on June 2, 1896. Morris was already in failing health; he died four months later on October 3, 1896.

I also really liked the Peacock and Serpent vase (1888-97) designed by William De Morgan and decorated by Fred Passenger.

 The Adoration of the Magi 1900-02 was another Morris and Co Production.  Edward Burne-Jones and JH Dearle were the designers.

The tapestry was incredibly detailed.  Some close ups of some of it are below.

 

As I said, some of the exhibition was not to my taste but I am not in the slightest bit sorry I went.

For those of you who celebrating beit Easter, Passover, or the weekend I hope they are very happy indeed.

  

Balloon Spectacular 2019

 
In March for about ten days my city goes a bit balloon mad.  Each year we have a Balloon Spectacular (which starts as Enlighten finishes) and up to fifty balloons are launched each day.  Bliss.  There is always at least one 'feature' balloon. 
 
Weather permitting they take off from the lawns of Old Parliament House shortly after dawn, and as well as the fortunate riders, it has become a tradition for people to come along and watch them inflate and take off (another free treat).  Some mornings there are hundreds of spectators.  Breakfast is available, and the crowd is happy.  

The balloons are weather dependent and sadly most days this year they were grounded.  My heart goes out to the participants some of whom have come considerable distances.  I suspect the costs are large too. My youngest brother is, like me, a balloon tragic.   The first day of the Spectacular was also his birthday and of course we were there.  We were lucky and the balloons did take to the air.  I showed you the feature balloons in a Sunday Selections.

Here are some of the others.

The smaller portion missed that day (he was visiting his sister in another state).  There were only a few days left of the festival when he returned, so naturally I rousted him out of bed on a cool grey morning to see if the balloons would fly.  Sadly when we got to the venue we were told that it was too windy.  Some of the balloons would be inflated and tethered and a few would attempt to fly from other unspecified parts of the lake.

Bah humbug.  Tethered balloons don't do it for either of us.  So we headed off around the lake foreshores, hoping, hoping, hoping.

And we were lucky.  He didn't see the feature balloons (which we assume were tethered, but did see quite a number of the others.  From a distance it is true, but we saw them.

I wonder whether the early morning rowers saw the balloons as a treat?  I hope so.

 I loved the kangaroo and the balloon in this final shot.  The roos were unperturbed.  The same cannot be said for the cockatoos who were shrieking their resentment at the invasion of their skies.