Augustus Saint-Gaudens

If there's anything besides opera singing that I could never do, it is definitely sculpturing. I find sculptures mysterious and almost unreal and when I see any of them I just think: how did they even do it? Now that I've seen some Saint-Gaudens's sculptures, I'm just overwhelmed by the strong details that each component of his 'Robert Gould Shaw Memorial'; giving individual assets to each of those figures seems almost impossible to me, but he did it! I guess I have add another artist to my 'Appreciation list'.

Diana

Realism in Poetry

Realist poetry is so politically incorrect that it actually works -at least for me-. I found it enjoyable and funny; realist poetry can really change your mood.

Edwin Arlington Robinson's poems were unexpected. 'Richard Cory' seemed at first a happy kid's tale, but that end... THAT END. He has shown us how those 'fortunate' rich guys that have 'everything' can actually have nothing but a miserable suicidal life (which it's really true). On the other hand, 'Miniver Cheevy' actually reminded of Don Quixote's crazy mind longing for the old times.

Rupert Brooke's poems were equally plain and realistic. 'A Change Passage' just narrates in a skilful way how a lot of normal people feel in the sea, and I loved how he mixed and compared the sea-sickness pain with the love or soul pain. In contrast, I can say that 'Success''s ending <"And I'm alone; and you have not awoken"> is just so lovely; I don't want to sound cheesy at all, BUT this poem touched my heart and all I can say is that it is really beautiful.

Late 19th Century American Realist Painters: Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent

All Eakins', Homer's and Sagent's paintings pleased me in different ways. First of all, I loved Eakins' 'Miss Amelia Van Buren' and 'Wrestlers'; the characters of those paintings don't look as if they were posing to the public, they are just normal people going on with their sad (?), upsetting (?), violent life. The lights that are portrayed are just perfect for the scenes and, in a few words, the two mentioned paintings look just so magically real. 'The Swimming Pole' caught my eye too because there's something different in there: generally, in painting we get to see a lot of female nudity but we don't really get to see too much of a man's body, but in this painting, there are not only some naked women swimming, there are men with no bathing suits!

Wrestlers

Holmer's 'The Fox Hunt' at first enchanted me with that cute fox watched from behind just sit in the snow... then I noticed! It actually took me a time to see those threatening black birds coming for the fox; they completely changed the atmosphere of the painting. (I actually just finished a painting of a fox). 'Kissing the Moon' is genius; that unseen boat it's just perfect and I felt like Homer sort of wanted to play with the public with that. On the other hand, I found 'Snap the Whip' just too lovely: I feel it transmit a lot of tenderness.

Finally, my favourite: Sargent. I don't usually like portraits, but Sargent's are surely some great pieces! It seems that we actually know these girls; it's like they are looking at us, just waiting to say something... something that goes with their particular personality that enriches more the painting. I can only take my imaginary hat off.

Lady Agnew of Locklaw

Madame X

Giacomo Puccini and Verismo Opera

Of course, I have already heard about Puccini's 'La Boheme', but I have to admit I never took a time to actually listen to it. I've always thought that the operas offer the public an experience that any other form of art (painting, literature, cinema, etc.), or any other form of music so far can ever imitate. I consider opera singers as some sort of elite of music, and I don't really sing, but I can infer that opera is an upper level challenge for singers; I guess it takes years and years and years -and years- to actually become o good opera singer. 

The last opera I assisted to was 'Madama Butterfly' -another opera of Puccini- (sometimes this little city offers great shows) about one or two years ago. It really touched me... the story, the sopranos, tenors, even that minimalist scenery were just the perfect combination for the old Pablo de Villavicencio theatre.  Now that I have listened this short excerpt of 'La Boheme', I recognized that weird sensation I felt with 'Madame Butterfly'... Opera always leaves me speechless.