Exciting Women

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

Allen Jones - Exciting Women (1964) Tate

 

Unsure if

they are laughing

with him or …

Allen Jones - III (1976) Tate

 

Strike A Pose

Loose Leaves – Reflections

 

An unblinking Supermodel stance, striding the catwalk, straight into the cameras’ bright flashes … zeroing in, hitting her mark.

 

 

PINS

 

Looking long and hard –

her smooth, sharp stare;

walking a new line –

her long, long legs like

twin sticks of liquorice –

sashaying, stop: about turn

                                        bye, bye!

 Photograph credit: Next

The Deal

Loose Leaves – Reflections

 

Changing the

terms and conditions

– poison ivy.

 

 

 

Photo: Ryohei Takanashi - Model/Musician: Ringo Sheena / Numéro Tokyo, "Nom: Boucheron, Prénom: Frédéric" (2026)

Perfect Poise

Loose Leaves – Reflections

 

PATENT LEATHER PUMPS

 

She walks

a marble floor,

with perfect

poise and polish.

 

 

 

Original Photo Credit: Unknown

Orange Hues

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

 

Mark Rothko - Red, Orange, Orange on Red (1962)

Rothko skies

and Seagram views

– holiday as art.

 

 

 

A Lost Dragon

Loose Leaves – Looking Back / Art Inspired

 

Tani Buncho - Dragon in Clouds (British Museum)

Beside the Benten-dō on the island in the middle of Shinobazu Pond there used to be a painting of a dragon by Tani Bunchō (1763–1841). It wasn’t easy to find or particularly easy to see, and I suspect many people missed it, because it was situated on the ceiling over the fountain (手水舎) where visitors to the Benten-dō purify themselves, washing their hands and mouths, before making their donations, saying their prayers, and lighting incense. I think the painting may have been removed during the renovation work after the Benten-dō was damaged during the earthquake on 3 March 2011. It was a small wooden panel. I very much hope it has since been preserved somewhere safe. 

The painting illustrating this poem, also by Tani Bunchō, is similar. It is a hanging scroll that is part of the Japanese collection at the British Museum.

 

 

Arcing over water –

a dragon

by the Benten-dō.

 

 

 

Yoshida Hiroshi - Carp Tortoises (1940)

À La Recherche ...

Loose Leaves – Art Inspired

 

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette (1876)

This art inspired poem originally appeared on Bluesky in response to a #Paintku writing prompt: ‘Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette,’ a painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1876. Many thanks to Martina Matijević for this particular ‘madeleine’ which reminded me of Marcel Proust’s “À la recherche du temps perdu” – a magnificent novel that stands like a literary cathedral, and which took me twenty years to read (see here).

 

 

LES SOUVENIRS DE MARCEL

 

Every moment relived –

catching a cough

in a handkerchief.

 

 

 

See also, Leaf 151