THE SKETCH/ Poetry Potluck #36

                                                            Edgar Degas


This week's Poetry Potluck #36, brought to mind a time gone by, when I used to go to Greenwich Village with my friends, and just hang out.  We liked the art exhibits and one day an artist asked me to pose for him.  For free..so people would stop, admire his work, and want a sketch. 
I was about 15 at the time and it sounded like a good deal to me, because I got to keep the sketch.


THE SKETCH

The wind blew dust from the sidewalk
in little whirlpools,
picked up a smudge of blue
that flaked from the pastel crayon.

It lodged in the corner of my eye.
I squinted, as the artist
sketched my face one Sunday afternoon.
I sat for him in the shifting glare
and shadow of a chiaroscura day.

Placing a chair beside the Arch
in Washington Square,
I posed as the Little Dancer at rest.

The artist appraised the pose,
moved my hand to my chin.

A beret tilted over his windswept hair.
Tourists stopped, stared at me.

Sketched with hints of Degas,
a dot of chalk blue
appeared as a tear in my eye.


copyright/ all rights reserved/2011

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A Plan

ST. TERESA BENEDICTA of the CROSS (EDITH STEIN) 1891-1942
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I WAS MILDLY SURPRISED TODAY WHEN I CAME ACROSS AN ARTICLE that seemed to connect up with my previous post. When coincidence presents itself, I appreciate how the world seems to flow. It wants me to pay attention. I don't know anything for certain, so I'm always pleased when all I have to do is follow the trail.
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My last post discussed the bravery of a woman, an artist, whose great courage saved her from extermination in Auschwitz. This morning I learned about a woman, Edith Stein, who became a Carmelite nun and experienced a different fate entirely.
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Edith Stein was born into a prominent Jewish family in Breslau, Germany, (now Wroclau, Poland). She was a brilliant young girl, philosophical in outlook, and abandoned her faith at the age of 14. She became captivated by the autobiography of Teresa of Avila, and began her spiritual journey, which led to her Baptism in 1922. Twelve years later she took the name of Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, becoming a Carmelite, as her namesake had. Her appointment as lecturer at the Educational Institute of Munich ended under pressure of the Nazis. She lived in Cologne as a Carmelite (1934-1938), then moved to the Carmelite monastery in Echt, Netherlands.
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The Nazis occupied that country in 1940. Dutch bishops denounced the Nazis, who arrested all Dutch Jews who had become Christians. Teresa Benedicta and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz on August 9, 1942.
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Pope John Paul II beatified Teresa Benedicta in 1987 and canonized her in 1998. The artist, Dina Babbitt, also a prisoner at Auschwitz, survived after making a deal in her favor with the Nazis. You can read about her exploits in the previous post, "Survivor".
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Edith Stein...St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, said," Whatever did not fit in with my plan, did lie within the plan of God.."


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXEDITH STEIN

Survivor.

DINA BABBITT with her mother, Johanna Gottlieb, in Nice, France, after the War.
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DINA BABBITT / JANUARY 21, 1923- JULY 29, 2009

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With a portrait of a Gypsy she painted in 1944 at Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

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As a prisoner at Auschwitz, Dina Babbitt used her talent as an artist and portrait painter to save her life and that of her mother's.

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As a Czech Jew she was sent to Auschwitz in 1943. An art student, she was singled out to decorate the walls in a children's barrack. As bizarre as this seems, someone decided to have this done. She found or stole paints to accomplish this and painted Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as animals, on the walls. Eventually this came to the attention of Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor known as the Angel of Death. He wanted her to document his experiments, but also asked her to paint portraits of gypsy prisoners. She replied that she would only do this if her mother also was spared. Otherwise she said that she was prepared to walk into the camp's electric fence. The Nazis allowed Dina's mother to join her.

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After the war she lived in Paris with her mother. She was interviewed for a job with a cartoonist, an animator, Art Babbitt. She didn't get the job, but eventually married him. Coincidentally, he had worked for Disney on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They moved to Los Angeles where she worked as an animator in films, and on cartoons. Her favorite was the commercial she did for Cap'n Crunch cereal.

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In recent years Ms. Babbitt sought to bring her paintings home from the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial State Museum in Poland. The Museum wouldn't allow her to retrieve them, saying their historical value outweighed her ownership. Recently the Museum has allowed reproduction of the art, allowing them to go to her, but the originals must remain in Poland to maintain their authenticity.

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She treasured the paintings as much as the Museum did. A comic book version of her story has been made into a short film,"The Last Outrage". She died in Felton, Cal. at the age of 86

Drawings.

A GOSPEL FROM CANTERBURY, 1000 AD,
OF ST. MATTHEW. The Pierpont Morgan Library.
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An exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
of medieval drawings, "Pen and Parchment:
Drawings in the Middle Ages",
is surprising in its diversity,
attention to line, and perspective.

The vitality and spontaneity, and of

course spirituality, are to be seen in

this presentation, from 9th Century

monasteries to the 14th Century

French Court. The realism of line,

the color and gold leaf were

mastered by skilled artists and

draftsmen, talented precursors

to the Renaissance.

Drawing of th Evangelist John, from the
Corbie Gospels. Ink rendering of a facade of Strasbourg Cathedral.
About 1260.

Eleventh Century French codex, the Maccabees

pursue their enemies. Leiden University library

Drawing by Opicinus de Canistris, 1296-1354.

Cleric trained in the art of illumination and

cartography. Vatican City.

Thirteenth Century English artist, Matthew Paris,
portraits of the Madonna and Child and two images
of Jesus. Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Illustrated copy of the plays of the Roman, Terence,
St Albans, England. Bodleian Library, Oxford.

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Click on photos to enlarge.

Tribute

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxW.Eugene Smith/ Life Magazine

HONORE' SHARRER, American Artist,

July 12, 1920 / April 17, 2009

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Honore' Sharrer, who recently died at the

age of 88, was known, throughout her

long career, for her exceptional use of color

and masterly command of detail. She is

seen in the photo, with her best known painting,

"Tribute to the American Working People",

a five part polyptych.

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The painting is reminiscent of Old Masters

and Renaissance altar pieces. The oil

painting, which took 5 years to complete,

depicts a factory worker, surrounded by

scenes of people at a picnic, on a farm,

in a parlor, and in a schoolroom.

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"Tribute" is in the permanent collection of

the Smithsonian Institution. Ms. Sharrer,

also an exponent of the Ashcan School,

developed, in later years, a style that evolved

into magic realism. Also a deep interest in

women's roles produced the paintings,

"Resurrection of the Waitress" 1984, and

" A Dream of Monticello", 1996.

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Honore' Sharrer's work is also in the collections of

the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of

Modern Art.

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Her paintings are well worth the effort of viewing.

Unfortunately my computer was being stubborn

today. I apologize for the lack of paintings,

which I truly tried to include.

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I acknowledge the information received from

The New York Times, May 13, 2009