An artist known for his depictions of spanking…

Louis Malteste (1862-1928) was a creative French artist, skilled in various forms of art, including engraving, designing, writing, and creating illustrations. It is the last skill that he is best known for today.

He is especially known for his many illustrations of spanking, a form of punishment that was in most parts of the world much more common in the past than today. As you can see in these four illustrations, the people executing the punishment and the people surrounding them seem to derive a lot of pleasure from this activity.

Malteste created these illustrations with a sense of humor, though they were probably also a social commentary on the practice of spanking during his time.

 An artist known for his depictions of spanking… Louis

Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica is an illustration made by the French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883).

It is part of a series of illustrations Doré made for the famous book Orlando furioso (The Frenzy of Orlando) written by Ludovico Ariosto and published in 1532. It is an epic poem centered around the Christian knight Orlando (Roland in English).

The book takes place during the war between the Christian paladin’s of Charlemagne and the Saracen army which had invaded Europe to overthrow the Christian empire. The book contains an enormous amount of characters, and takes place across the whole known world (and even a trip to the Moon). It is a true classic, which mixes realism, fantasy, humor, and tragedy.

Among the more important story lines are the love affairs between people from the opposite camps, particularly the unanswered love of Orlando for the Saracen princess Angelica, and the love between the Saracen Ruggiero and the Christian Bradamante. And the illustration by Doré shows a scene in which the tied-up Angelica is rescued from a scary monster by Ruggiero.

And just keep in mind that this is a really short summary of the events in this book and painting, and they don’t really do justice to the book. So, if you are interested, just read a longer summary of the book, or get the book itself (I can recommend the version that is part of Oxford World’s Classics).

 A classical storyline. Ruggiero Rescuing Angelica is an

A promotion for a spectacular French 19th-century opera.

Fervaal (1898) is an illustration by the Swiss painter and printmaker Carlos Schwabe (1866-1926).

This illustration was made for the similarly-named opera, Fervaal, by Vincent d’Indy. It was first performed in 1897, and this illustration was used for a poster to promote the opera at the Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique, Paris, in 1898.

This illustration shows some of the main characters in this opera. In the red is Fervaal, a Gaul, who was ambushed in the beginning of the opera. He was saved by Guilhen, a daughter of the Saracen emir and a sorceress. After the rescue, they fall in love.

But Fervaal has to leave her. He is the son of a Celtic king and needs to go on a mission to save his homeland. Guilhen feels abandoned and sends a mob after him. After a lot of fighting, the two of them meet again, fall in love all over again, and here we see Fervaal carrying Guilhen off the battlefield to the top of a mountain, where Guilhen will die off exhaustion.

 A promotion for a spectacular French 19th-century opera

The Red Shawl (1921) by Dean Cornwell (1892-1960) is a story about love and commitment.

This painting was made as an illustration for a fictional story written by F. Britten Austin in 1922 for Hearst's International. The teaser for the story is as follows:

"Will the love of a man for his friend triumph, in a crisis, over even the most ruthless primal desire of the male for his mate? Or will he wantonly slough off the loyalties of friendship and yield to the old, instinctive desire to destroy the rival, whoever he may be, who comes between him and the woman he wants?"

It's a story about two Spanish bullfighters, Gregorio and Manuelito, who fall in love with the same woman. And the text below this illustration is as follows: 'Go!' she ordered, all her soft seductiveness turned, in an instant, to fury. 'Come to me again after you have killed Gregorio.'

So, that explains why the beautiful woman has a knife in her hand. The man, Manuelito, has just confessed his love for her. And now, she wants her potential new lover to prove his love for her first before allowing him to kiss her.

You can imagine the drama of the story. It's a nice, very readable story of a few pages and you can find it online.

 Can you guess the story here? The Red Shawl (1921) by Dean

The Other Side (1918) is an intriguing story illustration by Dean Cornwell (1892-1960).

It was hard to figure out for which story this was an illustration, but my best guess is that it was for a short story called The Other Side by F. Britten Austin. Cornwell was interested in capturing scenes related to the war, especially during WWI, when he created this painting.

And in this context, my personal interpretation of this painting is as follows, but I would love to hear any thoughts that you may have. The woman dressed in white is dreaming about meeting her partner again "on the other side". You can see a person, probably the same woman, laying down with her hands folded on the bottom left. She probably lost him during the war, and now they meet again.

She is in her wedding dress, and he appears as an angel. It's a moment of love and passion, after not having seen each other for so long, painted in an ethereal fashion.

 The Other Side (1918) is an intriguing story illustration

What is your favorite season and illustration?

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) created many series of nymphs representing the four  seasons. This theme was old, but Mucha revived it by giving it a modern feel.