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José María Sicilia

Spain, b. 1954    

La luz que se apage || The Fading Light, 1998    

oil and wax on board   46 x 31½ in. | 117 x 80 cm.

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The Rocks with Oak tree, 1888, Vincent van Gogh

Medium: oil,canvas

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Just as every 30s Exposition had to have nude or “nude” girls, every one had to have a working robot. San Diego chose Alpha, the creation of “Professor” Harry May, who debuted him at the 1932 London Radio Show. Alpha had been making a tour of the States, landing a long article in Time magazine based on a publicity appearance in Macy’s New York.

Trumpeted as “almost human,” the robot could talk, sing, whistle (for half an hour), laugh, carry on a conversation, tell time, fire a revolver and read the small print of a newspaper. When May inquired what the automaton liked to eat, it responded with a minute-long discourse on the virtues of toast made with Macy’s automatic electric toaster. Finally when May requested the creature to raise its arm and fire the pistol, the arm went up, the metal forefinger pulled the trigger, the firing-pin fell with a click. Professor May explained that store officials would not permit him to use blank cartridges.

Which probably was best for everyone around, since premature firings of the gun had badly burned May in England. The repartee sounded good, if one got past Alpha’s heavy cockney accent, but was supplied by a synchronized phonograph hidden off stage. Or perhaps by Alpha’s handlers. Nobody really knows for certain what if anything Alpha could do other than be a giant metal puppet typical of his day. Answering questions, firing a gun, merely standing up, were part of the standard bag of audience-astounding tricks for most of the dozen or so robots who went on display on the department store and electric utility appliance dealership circuit in the late 20s and 30s. A metal statue that weighed 2000 pounds had no capacity to do more, even with discrete cables running offstage. Alpha’s only real distinction is that despite May’s changing his appearance several times, he had the most hideous face of any early robot.

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Egon Schiele  

1890-1918  

Mädchenkopf (Frau Sohn), 1918  

charcoal on paper 14 1/8 x 11 7/8 in. | 36 x 30 cm.

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wien.

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Page from a Japanese herbal (17th century). Hand-coloured drawing of plant (allium genus?) .

Image and text information courtesy Wellcome Collection.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

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Nude under the Trees, Jeanne

Henri Manguin, 1905

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Henri Manguin (French, 1874-1949), Les Gravures, 1905. Oil on canvas

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Perugino (1445-1524)  : La vierge à l’enfant entre S.Caterina D'Alessandria et une Sainte (Detail)  1490

Musée du Louvre Paris

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Henri Manguin (French, 1874-1949), Rade de Villefranche, 1913. Oil on canvas, 73.5 x 92.5 cm.

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Le Matin à Cavalaire, 1906, Henri Manguin, Hermitage museum

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Henri Manguin (French, 1874-1949), Les Oliviers à Cavalière [Olive Trees, Cavalière], 1906. Oil on canvas, 81.5 x 65.5 cm.

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La robe de chambre rouge (The Red Dressing Gown), Henri Manguin, 1902

Pastel on canvas 19 ⅞ x 24 ¼ in. (50.5 x 61.6 cm)

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The Model (c.1904). Henri Manguin (French, 1874-1949). Oil on canvas.

Though best known as a Fauve painter, Manguin was inspired early on by Impressionism. His wife Jeanne, married in 1899, was often used as a model. He had his first exhibition in 1900 at the Berthe Weil Gallery, and then at the Salon des Independents in 1902. His work is often compared to that of Matisse, and in the grand scheme of Fauvism, his compositions are far more peaceful and less intense than those of his contemporaries.