YELLOW AND PURPLE: ART AND THE ROYALS

Thank you all for your sweet comments on my last post -
I do appreciate and love every one of my Readers: 
you bring joy to my life.

Qld Art Gallery has recently opened 
'A fleeting bloom: Japanese art from the Collection'.
The exhibition focuses on moments of distinct and transient beauty found in portrayals of nature, history and spirituality in Japanese art.

Folding screens (byobu), a painting format at its peak during the Edo period (1603-1868) allowed artists to create ambitious landscapes of changing seasons and literary scenes across a series of panels:

Pair of six‑fold screens with pine trees c.1650

A wonderful pair of screens is consistent with the yamato-e tradition of showing change of seasons.  A depiction of Winter changing to Spring includes symbolic elements: the evergreen pine, associated with New Year, bamboo, and a blooming plum tree, seen late in the winter season, signalling Spring.
Birdlife includes pheasants, and behind the largest pin a silver moon, now black with age, can be seen.  How stunning it must have looked in its original silver state.

Six‑fold screen with nobleman's cart under a flowering cherry tree c.1650

This image of a cart under cherry blossoms against a gold background, may be an abstracted reference to a scene in a novel, play or poem set in the Heian period (794-1185), often referred to as Japan's 'Golden Age'.  

The cart, called a goshoguruma, was reserved for members of the imperial court, and would have been pulled by an ox, with attendants walking alongside.

The cart also became a textile motif often paired with flowers and streams.

This young lady will be going for a very special carriage ride later today.
Best wishes to Princess Eugenie of York, as she marries Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Richard Buckner: Portrait of Princess Eugenie.

Eugenie was named after Princess Victoria Eugenie (1887-1969), a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who became Queen consort of Spain.

After her maternity leave following the birth of Prince Louis, Duchess Kate is back on the royal circuit, stepping out at the Victoria and Albert Museum this week.
Love the long, swishy skirt, wide shoulder line, and these fabulous earrings:

Some gratuitous shots of the V&A from our last visit in 2016....

Long-term readers of the blog will know we always celebrate Jacaranda Season as the purple carpet spreads its charm over Brisbane each October.

R Godfrey Rivers (1858-1925) 'Under the Jacaranda', 1903.

Key to this is our annual sighting of the public's favourite painting at QAGoMA,
'Under the Jacaranda', 1903.

This year the gallery has mounted a special installation in the Children's Art Centre, with interactive activities designed around our purple patch..

And here one can pose for family photos ...

'Under the Jacaranda'

XXXX