#cincinnati artists

[handeaux]

Artists and Models: Lots Of Inuendo But Little Romance Among Cincinnati’s Bohemians

Artists and their models have attracted uncharitable suspicion for centuries. A nude woman behind closed doors with a bohemian man? Fervid imaginations erupted in the form of novels, movies and Broadway shows to insinuate all sorts of hanky-panky.

In Cincinnati, the male gaze was no less intense, though, in typical Midwest fashion, Queen City men indulged in their fantasies vicariously, enlisting disreputable journalists such as Lafcadio Hearn to actually infiltrate a painter’s studio. Hearn’s exposé in the Cincinnati Enquirer [18 October 1874], headlined “Beauty Undraped: What A Wicked Reporter Saw In An Artist’s Studio,” was very much on-brand for our most peculiar scribe. The premise of the article involved a local artist informing Hearn that a “ravishingly beautiful female model” had been procured for a sitting by one of Hearn’s artist acquaintances. Hearn’s source was most likely his pal, artist Henry Farny.

Of course, Hearn cadged an invitation to the atelier and did his best to imitate a student artist or a wealthy patron or both. Inside, while a couple of students sketched on paper tablets, the master daubed a canvas mounted on an easel. Hearn was gobsmacked by his first glimpse of the naked nymph:

“She lay at full length upon a long sofa, unclad and unadorned save by the matchless gifts of nature, her white limbs lightly crossed, both hands clasped over her graceful little head, and her luxurious blonde hair streaming loose beneath her in a river of tawny gold.”

By the close of his brief essay, Hearn was overcome by the vapors and had retired to a convenient divan, cigar dangling from his tremulous lips.

For the artists themselves, nudity was business, just another product line like flowers or landscapes or grandiose portraits of corporate magnates. Posing was also business for the models, and good times yielded fewer models than recessions. The Cincinnati Post [27 March 1907] headlined a report “Prosperity Causes Famine In Models.” The recent boom in business, according to the newspaper, created a scarcity of models because so many other, less demanding, jobs attracted women and men who declined to sit motionless for hours underdressed in a drafty studio.

“All the artists are busy preparing for the spring exhibition, and without models they can’t paint pictures.”

In Cincinnati, only Wilson Russell, who apparently possessed a classic “dad bod,” was committed to posing full-time. Russell was recruited to portray “Burgomasters and peasants, devils and St. John the Baptist.” His repertoire serves as a reminder that nudity was rarely a necessity in the art world. Cincinnati artists churned out all sorts of subjects, from religious icons to genre scenes, from civic murals to family portraits.

Posing was hard work. The Commercial Tribune recounted the declining career of a once in-demand model who fell asleep while posing and had been ignored by artists ever since. Even a strapping young man was unprepared for the rigors of artistic modeling:

“An artist was lately searching for a youth with a finely developed physique to pose for the figure of a stalwart Roman. After many discouraging efforts, a young athlete was found. He performed feats of strength for the edification of the artist. Notwithstanding his accomplishments, after he had been posing for, perhaps, fifteen minutes he became so fatigued that he gave up in despair. He has not since been seen about the ateliers.”

Sometimes it was the artists who turned models against posing. Arline Haworth, an in-demand model, told the Cincinnati Post [13 November 1903] that women artists were the worst:

“Who wants to pose for women? They open the windows, give you a cold, scold you when you get tired and discuss your weak points most unfeelingly right before your eyes. Those girl students at the Academy won’t paint me, I guess. Not while there is a man artist left in this burg.”

Others found the chores of standing stock-still more appealing. If you look up at the sculptural frieze above the cornice of Memorial Hall, you will see multiple statues of soldiers and sailors, all of them replicating the virile form of James Rollins, known as the “best man-model” in the city. Rollins told the Post [23 February 1909] that years of posing had cured his chronic pleurisy. Rollins posed for painters and sculptors on the side. In his day job, he was a butler for one of Cincinnati’s Blue-Book families.

Cincinnati artists, in their own way, promoted a diversity of subjects. African Americans frequently posed for local painters. Martha Ward, an African American woman, was among the go-to models at the Cincinnati Art Academy for many years before her death in 1904.

Native American models also enjoyed artistic favor, especially for Henry Farny and his Fourth Street colleagues Joseph Henry Sharp and John Hauser. Farny was particularly attached to a Sioux tribesman known locally as Indian Joe, but among his people as Ogallala Fire. Farny got his friend a job as janitor at the Cincinnati Art Club on Fourth Street. The Art Club offered generous flextime and Ogallala Fire could take off for weeks at a time if a decent vaudeville gig came around.

Modeling was among the routes followed by young folks, mostly women, to careers on stage or in films. One of the ingenues discovered by the Cincinnati art crowd was Autumn Sims, who left small-town Indiana for the lures of Cincinnati’s Fourth Street, where she was proclaimed the “ideal type of American beauty.” Throughout the 1920s, in addition to gracing the downtown studios and the Art Academy classrooms, Miss Sims parlayed her good looks into a handful of film roles and prominent placement in a couple of magazine advertisements for cosmetics.

Cincinnati had some scandalous models, such as Elizabeth McCombs, who graced hundreds of life-sized posters advertising Cincinnati’s Fall Festival. Miss McCombs had the eye of many Cincinnati artists, but she also acquired a taste for beer and for the better things in life. She was pursued by a German baron, who decided that money was more important than beauty and transferred his affections to a Cincinnati heiress. When the police raided an after-hours saloon on Liberty Street, Miss McCombs was hauled into court and attempted to disguise herself but everyone in the courtroom knew her on sight.

Although they continually complained about the dearth of women models, Cincinnati artists were not desperate enough to hire just any young thing who strolled through the door. Farny told the Post [1b August 1904] about one such applicant who wandered in from deep in Kentucky, drawn by the allure of romance. To quote Farny:

“She was a six-foot, slab-sided woman with a face like half-ripe blackberries, and sunburnt hair, twisted in a hard, tight knot at the back of her pear-shaped head.”

The applicant refused Farny’s offer of a position as a cleaning lady, her head full of the romance she had read about in some dime novel or unsavory magazine.

Other applicants were more warmly received, although some were considerably timid about the prospect of that romantic stuff. The Post [11 July 1907] reported the arrival of a young woman, identified by the pseudonym “Miss Peachblossom” at the “Little Bohemia” on the top floor of the Harrison Building on Fourth Street. It was summer and female models were nonexistent in Cincinnati, so when she knocked on the door of David Rosenthal, she was immediately admitted and offered an opportunity to sit the very next day. She appeared promptly on time, in the company of her mother and a maiden aunt, who sat on either side of the model while the artist painted, determined that Miss Peachblossom would be exposed to as little romance as was humanly possible.

[thelensofyashunews]

Cincinnati's Skylar Blatt is the Midwest's Next Hip-Hop Princess

Cincinnati is a blue collar town, known as the home of the Bengals, the Reds, Skyline Chili, and Procter & Gamble. But despite a bustling scene, the Queen City isn't really known for its hip-hop. Enter rising rapper Skylar Blatt, who has the talent and charisma to put her city on the rap map. Her crushing bars and knack for easy melody has earned her co-signs from some of the biggest artists in the game, and with ILWT/Saint Ka$h/Arista Records at her back, the sky is the limit.

Raised by a single mother as one of six kids, Skylar learned early lessons about the high stakes of life on the Cincinnati streets. When her mom lost her job, she moved in with her Grandma–who Skylar describes as a "gangsta"–who taught her how to survive on her own. She found a safe harbor in hip-hop, escaping her troubles by listening to rappers from all regions–she learned free associative rhyming from Lil Wayne, picked up feminine fury from Nicki Minaj, took notes on the creative use of melody by artists like Young Thug and Future, and implemented plenty of the tough-talking bravado she learned from NY rappers like 50 Cent, Juelz Santana and Jadakiss.

With 10,000 hours of hip-hop study in the bank and a style that she knew stood out from others in her city, she started to embark on her own hip-hop dreams. At first, she uploaded freestyles to her personal Facebook and Instagram pages, and when those gained traction, she started writing her own songs.

After gaining an early co-sign from Meek Mill, and a glowing profile from Lyrical Lemonade, the young rapper started collaborating with many of the Midwest's finest rappers, connecting with Babyface Ray and fellow Cincinnati rapper Midwest Milly for "Exactly," racking up over 800k YT views, and teaming with Icewear Vezzo for the sinister "God Forbid." A lifelong Bengals fan, she teamed with fellow Ohioan Doe Boy to craft "BENGALS (SUPER BOWL)," an anthem meant to cheer on Joe Burrow and company as they played in Super Bowl LVI. In October 2023, Skylar shared her mixtape Blatt SZN, home to "God Forbid" and ten other Cincy slappers. The tape won her a fan in Lola Brooke, who hopped on a remix to her song "F*ck Fame."

Skylar is currently riding a wave of momentum from her new single “Laughin To Tha Bank,” a hard-hitting anthem that is already beginning to impact local radio in Cincinnati. Produced by Too Dope and Akachi, “Laughin To Tha Bank” is a perfect exemplar of what makes Skylar a special talent: rhyming through a sly grin, Skylar crafts an addictive cadence, alternating rich life flexes with intimidating tough talk with effortless ease: "See I'm the type who took her on a date/Just so she can show me where she stay if you ever at her place," rhymes Skylar.

Now, as the inaugural signee to Saint Ka$h Records, the record label founded by Kendell "Sav" Freeman, Skylar is looking to become the next Midwest rapper to break things open. With more music and, "Wake Up," a major collaboration with Chris Brown coming this Friday, April 26th, the Queen City queen is ready to defy the odds. Watch this space.

Follow Skylar Blatt on socials: instagram | spotify | youtube | twitter | tiktok

Pre-save "Wake Up" ft Chris Brown: http://skylarblatt.lnk.to/WakeUpPreSave

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Hiram Powers (1805-1873) "Proserpine" (1844) Marble Neoclassical Located in the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

The Hand That Holds The Bread • The Anti-Monopoly War Song • The Pacific Railroad • The Song Of The Red Man • The Future America • Drill, Ye Tarriers, Drill • A Laborer You See, And I Love Liberty • Out Of Work • Eight Hours • The Chinese, The Chinese, You Know • Little Ah Sid • No Irish Need Apply • Uncle Sam's Farm • Jim Fisk, Or He Never Went Back On The Poor • Kick Him When He's Down • We Never Speak As We Pass By • When The Girls Can Vote • The Fatherhood Of God And The Brotherhood Of Man • Ma! Ma! Where's My Pa? • Little Brown Jug • Father's A Drunkard, And Mother Is Dead • Crooked Whiskey • After The Fair • Ta-Ra-Ra Boom-De-Ay

Submitter's note: "The Chinese, The Chinese, You Know" and "Little Ah Sid" are blatantly racist, and "The Song of the Red Man" is meant to be anti-racist but still expresses stereotypes. Based the research I have managed to do, the creators of the album only included these songs for historical recording reasons rather than endorsement of the racism

Spotify ♪ YouTube

[lionofchaeronea]

The Harvest Dance, Joseph Henry Sharp, 1893-94

[lovingjoeyb]

Joe Burrow cartoon made by me ✨

[brunkenart]

“Breathe”, 44 x 52 inches, from early February of this year is one of the larger paintings showing right now at The Wash Park Gallery in Cincinnati.

It was inspired by that dormant time in mid-Winter when everything quietly waits for Spring. The trees are bare and the undergrowth lays over waiting to be reborn. Optimistic but also meditative.

I had fun mark making with this one, dragging the paint, but also drawing back in to it. It’s important to use a variety of techniques and different sized brushes and knives to create an interesting energetic painting.

[pleasantglitterflower]

Brazilian holidays (Joe Burrow x Adriana Lima)

JOE’S POV

- Baby, have you finished packing your bags? - Adriana asks me

- Yes, my dear, I've already finished and separated all the special kit you sent 

- You're not forgetting any warm clothes, sunscreen and new beach underwear, right?

- Everything is ready, general - I saluted, she rolled her eyes and gave me a peck.

   We are going on vacation in Brazil, more specifically in Salvador, located in the northeast region of the country, and it is my wonderful girlfriend's hometown. Yes, I'm dating the glamorous angel Adriana Lima.

 Adriana and I met during a photo shoot for a magazine. When my agent arrived with the rehearsal proposal, at first I didn't want to do it at all, because I'm very shy and I've never been a fan of these media commitments, for me what matters is just football, but my agent justified that I'm one of the most popular NFL players today and that my image attracts a lot of interest from the media and fans, and that it would be good for my personal marketing, after a lot of convincing I decided to accept. When I arrived at the studio and saw that I would be taking photos with Adriana, my heart started to race quickly, and at that moment I put myself in the shoes of the girls who are my fans and who freak out when they see me in person. I've had a crush on Adriana since I was a hairless virgin boy, I watched all the Victoria Secret fashion shows just to appreciate her beauty and I made my mother buy every magazine she was on the cover of, and I've lost count of How many times have I masturbated thinking about her, damn, who can resist those blue-green eyes, that full mouth, that tanned and curvy body?

 The chemistry between Adriana and I was instantaneous, which was reflected in our rehearsal, I'm glad I changed my mind, it was wonderful. After the photos were finished, we started talking and I asked for her phone number and invited her on a date, I knew she had recently separated. Our first date was perfect, we were very transparent with each other about our past and it was wonderful to know more deeply about the woman I longed for so much during my childhood and adolescence, the weather was very favorable for us and our first kiss took place there really, and from then on, we started a relationship that has lasted six months, and up until now we have managed to hide it from the media very well, we are very reserved and because Adriana has been in the middle of this media exposure for many years, she gives me a lot of advice about how do I deal with this, since now I'm America's sweetheart, damn I hate it, I just want to play football, why can't they just appreciate my sporting skills instead of just looking at my physical appearance?

We're taking advantage of the fact that I'm in the off-season and we're going to visit her family and also get to know the city, as Adriana assured me that after I get to know Salvador in depth, I won't see anything like it. In fact, Brazil is not completely strange to me, Adriana is not the only Brazilian woman who has passed through my life.

 My long relationship with my ex-wife Anna Rodrigues, currently the best football player in the world, is public knowledge. We met in high school and built a solid relationship, which later evolved into marriage and gave birth to our boys Joshua and Samuel. Anna and I faced this great media exposure, as we were the most powerful couple in the sport, with me scoring touchdowns and her scoring goals ,whenever I went to one of her games or she went to one of mine, the media created a whole circus, since She was responsible for leading the Brazilian team to win the World Cup, the harassment towards her increased fiercely, something she loved, but at the same time it bothered me, not because she was achieving her dreams, but because she started to change of personality and was no longer that kind girl I met when I was 16, Anna began to become arrogant, self-centered and began to humiliate me, making a point of highlighting that I was a failure for having suffered many injuries throughout my career in NFL and that the chance I had to win the Superbowl, I wasted it.

The situation became untenable and I decided to ask for a divorce, she didn't accept it at all, I had to go to court to ask for a dispute as she refused to sign the papers. All I wanted is for us to continue maintaining cordiality for the sake of our children, they need their parents to have a healthy relationship, but if it's up to Anna, she won't rest until she sees me in shit.

We only spoke through our lawyers and, as we have joint custody, it is my parents who pick up the boys to come to my house and take them back to Anna's house.

Unlike Adriana, who gets along very well with the parents of her three children, I need to beg Anna for crumbs, if it were up to her, I would never see the boys again. In fact, she doesn't even know that I'm dating Adriana, when she finds out, I already know that she's going to make a huge scandal, but I don't want to think about that now, I'm focused on enjoying this trip with my girlfriend. As I said before, I've already been to Brazil, but I only know Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, but I'm going to visit a completely different city and I'm really excited, especially because we're going there during carnival time, damn I'm really excited, I feel like After this trip I will not be the same person.

After more than 15 hours of traveling, with several stops, we finally arrived in Salvador, state of Bahia, Brazil. We were greeted at the airport by Carlos, Adriana's cousin and he was very friendly to me, giving me a handshake and a big hug, I confess that I'm still not used to these greetings from Brazilians like kisses and hugs. We drove to Adriana's family's house, and when we got there, I was surprised by a banner saying “Welcome Joe” and a table with a large banquet. I was emotional, I didn't even know them well yet and they were already treating me like an integral part of the family. I hugged all of her family members and then we went to dinner, I was lost with the variety of foods and was willing to try everything, the Bengals' nutritionist is going to go crazy when I get back.  The first dish I ate was some kind of fish soup.

- This food is called moqueca Joe! - Adriana tells me

- Hmmmm-damn, what delicious food, I put a larger amount on my plate

- Moqueca is a recipe with African and indigenous origins, it contains fish, onions, tomatoes, peppers and can only be prepared in a clay pot. - Graça, my mother-in-law explains

- It's very delicious - I respond with my mouth full

- Joe, my love, take it easy, Bahian food is made with many exotic ingredients and strong seasonings that you are not used to, soon you will end up feeling sick - Adriana warns me

- Love, it's not every day that I have the chance to get off the diet and allow myself to eat different foods. And when I come to Brazil, I eat everything I'm entitled to, I don't care about my eating plan.

- Joe try the acarajé now, you'll love it - Adriana's mother says 

- How do you say?

- ACARAJÉ

- A..ca.ra.. jeeee- I try to speak

- Your boyfriend is very cute Drica - one of the model's cousins ​​comments enchanted 

I look at the cupcake in front of me and start to taste it, quickly my mouth starts to burn and I grab the juice on the table and start drinking it.

- Sorry, I forgot to mention that there is pepper in acarajé - Adriana laments

- No problem, my love - I smile, still feeling the strong taste of pepper in my mouth

    - Adriana, you can't forget to take Joe to see Oludum's presentation.

- I know mom, I've already organized the list of places I'm going to take him to see, we're only going to stay here for five days so he has to take the opportunity to see as much of the city as possible

- Olodum? What is this Adri?

- It's a drum school, the band is practically a symbol of Salvador, you'll love seeing them

- Will they also be at carnival? - I ask

- They always are, but when we go to shows we will see other singers perform

The next day, the first day of Joe's tour of Salvador began, with Adriana explaining the history of each place and the quarterback just had to open his eyes, he was enchanted by the rich culture of the place.

- We are in the Historic Center of Salvador, this is Pelourinho, without a doubt it is my place of refuge in the city, I walk around here for hours. Look at this architecture Joe, it's so beautiful and full of personality, there's so much cool history here, that Pelourinho has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

- I can't stop looking at this colorful Dri, it's really beautiful - the man is very enchanted with the place.

During their walk through Pelourinho, Adriana showed Joe the exact house in which Michael Jackson recorded the music video for the song “They don’t care about us”, in 1996, the same year Joe was born. Adriana, who was 15 years old at the time and was starting her modeling career, says that the city stopped when the king of pop arrived and that she felt an inexplicable emotion in seeing Michael up close, because at that time, it was very difficult for big artists to global reach to go to other Brazilian cities that were not Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

The couple had the chance to see a live performance of Olodum, directly from Pelourinho. Joe didn't stop filming and taking photos, it was something totally different from what he had seen before. Olodum is much more than a musical drum group, it is also an act of resistance, developing actions to combat racial discrimination, stimulating the self-esteem and pride of Afro-Brazilians, defending and fighting to ensure civil and human rights of marginalized people, in Bahia and Brazil.

The couple also went to visit Farol da Barra, the first nautical signaling system to come into operation in the Americas and it is the oldest lighthouse on the continent still operating, it was a day of great learning and unforgettable for Joe, who was sharing this special moment with his loved one.

ADRIANA’S POV

  These vacation days with my love in my city have been perfect, I can barely describe the feeling. I was very insecure when Joe asked me to be his girlfriend, because he, who is one of the current American football players, wanted to date a woman fifteen years older, divorced, with three children, and who no longer has the beauty of my 20s. I continue to do my fashion shows and campaigns with brands that I have a contract with, however it is sad to see that the fashion industry nowadays prefers these Instagram models, who have no idea what a catwalk is, and nepobabies than the girls who work hard to have an opportunity. I've reached a level in my career where I can choose the work I want to do, and for a few years now I no longer want to do campaigns with futile messages, I want to feel like a real-life woman, who has my imperfections, my happy and vulnerable days. , and not be held hostage to an unrealistic beauty standard. Truly, the golden age of fashion is over, models like me, Gisele Bündchen, Naomi Campbell, Alessandra Ambrosio, Heidi Klum and other wonderful women will no longer exist.

  Joe and I are going to an electric trio today and I'm going to show him what Bahia's carnival is like. In most of Brazil, carnival starts in February, but here in Bahia, carnival is year-round, there is no time here to not celebrate, it's a party all year round. I'm proud of my roots, and with all due respect to other countries, but there's nothing better than being Brazilian, here is a great diversity of cultures and ideas, which no other place in the world has, I can say this as someone who spent almost his whole life traveling all over the world.

Joe and I arrived in the early afternoon at the trio electric box, we were going to see shows by great local artists from Bahia, including my friend Ivete Sangalo.

It would be the first time that Joe and I would make our first public appearance as a couple, both he and I were comfortable with it, at some point we would have to come out. Ivete's show started until she saw me and Joe hugging and commented:

- Wow, my friend Dridrica is very well accompanied by her prince, let's shout a lot guys - the whole crowd shouts

- Come on Drica, you come too, young man - I quickly translate what she's saying to Joe and we head towards the audience, who shout fiercely when they see us 

We stayed there on the stage dancing while Ivete sang, until she started singing along with the audience so that we could kiss right there. Even though Joe didn't understand Portuguese very well, he understood the context and grabbed my face and we kissed right there, to the delight of Veveta and the public, our relationship was no longer a secret, and honestly I don't care about other people's opinions, the What matters is that we are in love and want to live intensely, and to be living this moment with this Brazilian energy, there is nothing better.

[coolhubarts]

NFL Anime Girls part 1 (Jackie & Caroline, Cynthia, Leona, Texxie, Francine)

[paprikamahomes]

RIVALS RIVALS RIVALS RIVALS RIVALS RIVALS

This took two days because my Wacom tablet is both my lover and also my worst fucking enemy 💕

[couer-magique]

before - during - after

tattoo i did yesterday <3

[aslanjadecarlyle]

Sooo… I have a photography website

*drumroll please*

I have… officially published my own photography website!

https://learntoflyphotography.mypixieset.com

I spent 2 days building this photo gallery, and I’m actually super proud of it. Please consider checking it out, and… hey, I certainly wouldn’t object if you shared it with your friends. 🙂 You will be able to find links to my Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram on this site, as well as a form to contact me directly.

Thank you so much for all the support!

I ALSO HAVE AN ETSY!

Etsy: https://learntoflyphotos.etsy.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553286001488

Instagram @learntoflyphotography

ALL Pictures Are My Own, Taken AND Edited By Britt. DO NOT REPOST, Only Reblog

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) "Portrait of Ann Ford (later Mrs. Philip Thicknesse)" (1760) Oil on canvas Located in the Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States Ann Ford a well-known beauty and amateur musician, her public musical performances were quite notorious in the polite world of Georgian England, leading to a pamphlet war between her supporters and her critics. As Gainsborough himself would later put it: “[She was] partly admired and partly laugh’d at at every Tea Table.”

[adacarii]

pastel drawing! she’s unfinished but cute!!

[filmcourage]

Breaking Into Feature Filmmaking - P.M. Lipscomb [FULL INTERVIEW]

Watch the video interview on Youtube here.

[lovingjoeyb]

Sam Hubbard cartoon made by me ✨