"Riddle me no riddles"

Early last year and early in my enchantment with Pontormo, I had a rather obscure book from the library -- enticing because it also referred to his pupil Giotto, who was said to be beloved by Matisse.

It turned out to have a great deal of general information about the making and preserving of Italian frescoes.  And in that context, I came across this intriguing image of young girls' faces:

From the accompanying text, I learned that these were evident "St. Ivo's Schoolgirls" (as I came to call it). 

St. Ivo?  Hmmm....I thought.  He must be one of those little known local saints that show up all over Europe.  And then suddenly popped into my head:  St. Ives!  Remember the childhood rhyming riddle?

As I was going to St. Ives,

I met a man with seven wives,

Each wife had seven sacks,

Each sack had seven cats,

Each cat had seven kits:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were there going to St. Ives?

I was just beginning the on-line course that focussed on the portrait, and these schoolgirls with their quirky faces enchanted me.  And now:  Cats!!!  It was irresistible.  Forget the sacks.  Forget the head count.  I decided I'd do a spin-off, packing as many kits or cats into their schoolgirl arms as I could.

Very briefly I thought ....maybe I should replace the schoolgirls with all the women I know who have beloved cats and put their own cats in their arms.  Luckily, sanity prevailed, and I stuck with Plan A.  Over the months, I would use up extra paint from my studio sessions and work on "St. Ivo's Schoolgirls". 

I put the final outcome on the sidelines and forgot about it until I began a major studio reorganization a couple weeks ago.  Here it is:

I know there's good cause to conclude from this blog that I've never really grown up.  But the St. Ives riddle is serious business.   The Wikipedia synopsis lists several historic versions of the riddle -- even a mathematical problem in an ancient Egyptian papyrus (c. 1650 BC) that has to do with numbers of houses, cats, mice, and bags of grain.

This link for serious math folks examines the possibilities that arise from the riddle's ambiguous wording -- yielding answers to "how many?" ranging from zero to 2801.

And finally, maybe you can help me with what I'd really like to know:  What is the origin of the expression, "Riddle me no riddles"?

The Real Thing

Over a year ago, a generous artist-teacher agreed to come to The Yellow House and review my paintings.  At that time, I'd completed my 10-part "Flash Mob Series" -- variations on the theme of jumbled bodies in motion like this first one, "Lean In." (copyright 2016)

He was a teacher who resonated with me, and I would later take a couple of one-day Figure Drawing workshops from him.  In one of these, he happened to say at a coffee break, "Well, check out Pontormo.  He's someone I really like."  That was recommendation enough for me, and I quickly snagged the library's one book on Pontormo.

I fell in love with two things about this artist:-- His swirling interlocking figures (Flash Mob, anyone?) and his sensitive faces, even -- or especially -- among secondary figures in his crowds.

Sometimes I wrap up my studio session by using any leftover paint to do a quick sketch -- just postcard size.  It was only natural that this thrifty practice led to a few "Pontormo Postcards" modelled on those haunting faces.

By then, I'd used up all my library renewals and decided, when I returned the book, to report a tear on one of the pages (I didn't do it!! It was there before!!)   Off it went to the Library Elves' Repair Workshop, and I've never seen it again.  When my birthday rolled around, I checked out Amazon.com and found a real steal:

Okay, so I don't speak Italian but even I could figure out that this is "The Complete Works of Pontormo" -- and it's the pictures I crave, anyway.  I was taken with a lovely face-in-the-crowd in the lower right of one of his frescoes:

This summer, I turned it into a quick study on a piece of cardboard:

And then things started to get really interesting.   Making a list of "must-sees" for my anticipated trip to New York, I was gleaning through museum collections -- and found to my astonishment and delight that The Morgan Library & Museum was hosting a special Pontormo exhibit (still showing!).

What an exciting walking-on-air day when I approached the exhibit room!

And there, waaaay beyond the glory of any reproductions I'd seen was the real thing  -- "The Visitation," one of Pontormo's most glorious works.  The colours truly can't be reproduced, and the fabric swirls seemed almost alive.

The small exhibit featured just one more from among his most famous paintings, "Portrait of a Young Man in a Red Cap" along with half a dozen drawings that could not be photographed.

Back home in the studio, I picked up my Pontormo enthusiasm and decided to use the fresco face for a second painting of "Children's Entertainer."

The first version  was done in midsummer as an assignment in my on-line course.   Despite this second try, it's still easy to ask (and answer), "What's wrong with this picture?"  -- but it was fun and instructive to give it a try.

During my personal year of Pontormo, I came across someone else who was inspired by "The Visitation" -- the video artist Bill Viola.  His brief video "The Greeting" is both odd and fun.

One of the oddities of this piece is that it omits the fourth Pontormo figure -- the one I find particularly astonishing.  Watch this spot.  You'll be seeing more of her.