Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Friday Photos: Just Because the World is Burning…

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Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn is asking us to pause and consider.

All across the country protests, riots, and race-baiters doing what they do in order to disrupt civil society.

We don’t know about you, but here at Seraphic Secret we feel the need for some relief from the endless cycle of horrible, terrible, very bad news. We yearn for beauty, for images that, in one way or another, soothe the troubled soul.

We hope these images help carry our readers through the weekend.

“Thump” oil on canvas by James Nares.
“Thump” by James Nares, oil on canvas.

 

I rarely photograph nature, but this cloud formation and the edge of the tree begged to be shot.
I rarely photograph nature, but this cloud formation, the blush of pink, and the edge of the tree, begged to be shot.

 

Women's Rifle team, Drexel University, 1925.
Women’s Rifle team, Drexel Institute, 1925.

 

Anna May Wong in color with custom frame.
Anna May Wong in color with custom frame.

 

Gloria Grahame, “A Woman's Secret” '49.
Gloria Grahame, “A Woman’s Secret” 1949.

 

Miss Elsie Palmer, John Singer Sargent, 1889-90. Oil on Canvas.
“Miss Elsie Palmer,” John Singer Sargent, 1889-90. Oil on Canvas. Notice how her hair blends into the wood paneling imparting a mysterious presence to the young lady.

 

Lobby card for the obscure but superb silent film Desert Nights, starring John Gilbert and the tragically self-destructive Mary Nolan, 1929.
Lobby card for the obscure but superb silent film “Desert Nights” (’29) starring the self-destructive star John Gilbert and the even more self-destructive, Mary Nolan. Nolan was an orphan from Kentucky who became a Ziegfeld girl at the age of 15. She achieved brief stardom in silent films, then through the usual combination of bad men and narcotics, her career imploded. She overdosed—possibly a suicide—at the age of  45.

 

Barbara Stanwyck studies her reflection.
Barbara Stanwyck studies her reflection. The leopard’s bared fangs seems to be a commentary on Stanwyk’s formidable personality.

 

“lyje” acrylic on board by my good friend Tobi Kahn.
“lyje” Acrylic on board, by my good friend Tobi Kahn.

 

Brigitte Bardot with cigarette and hair blowing in the wind. Photo by Terry O'Neill.
Brigitte Bardot with cigarette and hair blowing in the wind. Photo by Terry O’Neill.

 

Lielle Meital celebrates her 4th birthday with her sister Maya.
Lielle Meital celebrates her 4th birthday with her sister Maayan Ariel.

Karen and I wish all our friends and relatives a lovely and inspirational Shabbat.

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Comments

  1. Lovely granddaughters, Robert. Perhaps for you and Karen a bit of fulfillment from Psalm 128.6 “May you see your children’s children and peace on Israel.”

  2. That Maayan might be a fashion model! She knows how to play to the camera. Usually modern art – Jackson Pollack style – does nothing for me but I like “Thump”.

    Question – who is the most photographed female actress? I would guess Marilyn but Bridget had to be in the top 5.

    Audrey was truly an elegant spirit.

    • It’s a toss-up between Joan Crawford, Marilyn and Brigitte. The latter two probably have the edge because they had the foresight to live in the age of the SLR.

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