The Backgammon Players Cabinet

I'm still working on a bit o' research for an upcoming blog, so today I thought I'd post a Lovely. I have a very very soft spot in my heart for the decorated items produced by the Morris & Co. firm...especially those done by Burne-Jones. I imagine the early days of the company of friends, running around Red House and laughing while painting walls and ceilings with murals and patterns, excitedly gifting each other with wardrobes, chairs, and furniture painted with what we now see as masterpieces of art. While the sheer quantity and quality of work that was eventually created by just a small handful of people can be intimidating, to look at their early days gives me hope to just start creating...just try. After all..."The life so short...the craft so long to learn..."

I digress...I am currently enjoying the book Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer. For such a prolific artist with such respect and profound influence, it's not that easy to find books and images of his work. He was already my favorite of the first and second generation Pre-Raphaelites, but perusing the images in the book just put my respect for him on a whole new level. For some reason, one of my favorite items by him is the Backgammon Players Cabinet. It amazes me infinitely how Burne-Jones was able to use a variety of mediums....paint, sketches, tile, mosaic, stained glass, woodwork...and yet maintain a style that made it clearly his own work on every piece.
The Backgammon Players sketch.
The Backgammon Players painting.

I admire how this same piece can be done as a sketch, painting, then piece of furniture, and each one can be admired separately as a masterpiece of art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a page at which you can zoom in and admire details of the Backgammon Players Cabinet.

The Beauty of the Undone

I'm currently reading William Morris and Red House. Today's blog features a picture found in the book. The image is of the doors to the settle in the entry way of Red House, painted by William Morris. Notice anything? It's not finished. William Morris most likely began painting the settle doors when he and his family first moved into Red House. I don't know the history of the settle from that point on, but I'm guessing it was probably moved with the family. The point is....William Morris most likely lived with this settle for the rest of his life, never finishing the figures on the doors.

I have always thought of William Morris as a figure of near superhuman voraciousness for lifelong learning. Famously, a doctor at his bedside diagnosed his cause of death as "simply being William Morris and having done more work than most ten men." His reputation is well-deserved, and I don't feel it is lessened at all by learning a lesson from the settle doors: even the greatest of artists leaves work undone.

I love to write and do art, yet I am often annoyed at myself for leaving so many projects half-finished. Sometimes I tend to get down on myself for this, and feel like I could never successfully leave a mark in any expressive field. At times like this, it is comforting to know that William Morris, a man of such accomplishments, also left things unfinished and lived with his unfinished projects and kept them around, moving ahead to accomplish so much.

Burne-Jones and the Colors of the Week

I recently finished the excellent book The Pre-Raphaelites at Home. One delightful thing about this book is that there were so many little tidbits of information scattered throughout. One of my favorite tidbits was the fact that Edward Burne-Jones saw the days of the week as different colors. I thought "oh why not" and decided to try for a week wearing the colors on their designated days.

Burne-Jones' colors are as follows (my pictures above start with Monday):

• Sunday: Gold
• Monday: Yellow
• Tuesday: Red
• Wednesday: Blue
• Thursday: Amethyst
• Friday: Sapphire
• Saturday: "Wet...ever since I was tiny -- but I don't know why"

The "wet" comment especially amuses me...I could just see a child Ned getting his bath every Saturday, and that sticking with him (total theorizing on my part).

What I learned from wearing the colors? Well, first, I apparently have nothing yellow in my entire closet. Second, where's the green? I love green, and with the Pre-Raphaelite affection for the outdoors, I'm really surprised that he didn't see a day as green.