—Elizabeth Taylor
16th century
Iron, lacquer
H. 16 1/8 in. (41 cm)
1938
Decorated by Tiffany & Co., ca. 1890–93
Steel, silver, enamel, wood, leather, copper alloy, gold.
Soldier’s Farewell, 1943
Beneath the Hollywood sign, Los Angeles, Nov. 2016
“Esther Before Ahasuerus”
Oil on canvas
82 x 107 3/4in. (208.3 x 273.7cm)
—Walt Disney
Mt. Katahdin (Maine), Autumn #2
1939–40
Oil on canvas
30 1⁄4 x 40 1⁄4 in. (76.8 x 102.2 cm)
Petersen Automotive Museum, Los Angeles, Nov. 2016
Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, MacKinlay Kantor
Based on “Gun Crazy” 1940 story in The Saturday Evening Post by MacKinlay Kantor.
A Young Consumptive Girl
oil and canvas
“Seated Young Girl”
1894
Teenagers listening to the latest hits, New York, 1957
…Both of us were fundamentally American actors, with the qualities and virtues that characterize American actors: irreverence, playing on the other’s flaws for fun, one-upmanship — but always with an underlying affection. Those were also at the core of our relationship off the screen.
Paul was very engaged at work. He was there. He liked a lot of rehearsal. But he was fun too. Whenever he’d make a mistake on set, he would enjoy it more than anybody. I’d look at him, and he’d look at me, and I’d say, “You’re not fooling anybody. You’re not staring at me intensely; you’ve lost your line.” And he’d roar with laughter…We played lots of pranks on each other. I used to race cars, and after he took this rare Porsche I owned for a drive, he began to get into racing. He had incredible reflexes, and he got really good, but he talked so much about it that I got sick of it. So I had a beaten-up Porsche shell delivered to his porch for his 50th birthday. He never said anything, but not long after, I found a crate of molten metal delivered to the living room of my (rented) house. It dented the floor. I then had it turned into a really ugly sculpture and dropped into his garden. To this day, neither one of us has ever mentioned it.”
—Robert Redford, 2008
Horst. P. Horst
Nina de Voogt on Striped Sofa II, 1951.
See Saw
1979
72 × 92-½ × 1-½ inches
acrylic on canvas
Poetry (Poesia), late 1640s. Oil on panel, 21 1/3 x 16 3/6 inches (54 cm x 42 cm). Florence, Galleria Corsini.
“View from Notre Dame”, Paris, 1955
18th century, possibly Alsace, Ink and gouache on parchment, 5 × 99 1/8 in. (12.7 × 251.8 cm)
The Jewish Museum, NY
Gift of Dr. Harry G. Friedman
This scroll is profusely illustrated and unique in its emphasis on legends concerning King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, above the text. Depicted at bottom are scenes from the Book of Esther.
I like Elizabeth Taylor’s quote. Lately I have come to believe that one of the main reasons we are put on this earth is to help the lives of others.
I’m reminded of a Peanuts cartoon in which Linus (I think) makes a similar observation. Charlie Brown (I think) muses on it for a moment, then asks, “What were the others put here for?”
It’s one reason, but it can’t be the only one.
Beautiful quote, and beautiful photo of Elizabeth Taylor–until the belt. It should have been cropped there.
Is there any information as to who the young girl in the Klimt painting is? She could be the image of a friend’s granddaughter. Lovely!
All of your grandchildren have wonderful, beautiful eyes, but young Pinchas Zvi currently takes the cake! Adorable!
Shabbat shalom, with gratitude.
Elizabeth Taylor was so perfect looking at that age. Several of my fraternity brothers and I went to see “A Place in the Sun” multiple times when it came out. It was like a cult movie for boys about 20.
My mother came out here from Manhattan in the late 40s and work for bullocks department store in Los Angeles. She would see stars occasionally and they would close the entire floor while they went in to shop. She saw a young Elizabeth Taylor and said you always remember the eyes
Ava Gardner does not look 15 in that photo!