Adventure Spirit - First Woman to Cross the Sahara - Eva Dickson.....

Bror v. Blixen

Bror v. Blixen - a Professional White Hunter - one of his very adventures women in his life was Eva Dickson, a blond who was intoxicated (as most of his women) by his charm and reputation as one of the most famous white hunters. He became a legend - his endurance and abilities as a hunter was near to mythical.

.Steninge Castle

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Eva Dickson

Eva Dickson (1905 - 1938) was the first women to cross the Sahara by car - Born at Steninge Castle, Sigtuna, Sweden. She was 33 years old when she passed away in a car accident right outside Bagdad. She had started out on a new adventure along the ancient Silk Route. A Swedish beauty full of adventure spirit. Passion for cars, hunting, and a life in the fast lane - who crossed the Sahara desert, flew aircraft's - traveled all over Europa, Asia and Africa.

Edith Morris....A Classical Northern Beauty

Edith Morris - Here painted by Nils v. Dardel - A classical Swedish beauty - A friend of the Swedish painter Nils v. Dardel and G. Braque. She lived across from G. Braque's house in Paris in her last years.
.G. Braque....

Braque in his Studio -1946 - Photo by D.E. Scherman

Toque - Baile - Cante Flamenco

Plaza de Toros - Poster 1921

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Opera / Carmen, Trinidad Artiguez

“The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion”

- Pierre Auguste Renoir

Édouard Manet - Watercolor - 1865

I am a aficionado - of Bullfighting - as we already know...but as life is larger than a single interest..we expand in to music/opera/ballet/dance, painting and writing....from Plaza de Toros....to Goya, Manet, Picasso, Barnaby Conrad, Hemingway....

Photo by Grey Villet

Vicente Escudero, La Argentinita (1898-1945), Carmen Amaya (1913-63), José Greco , Antonio ( "El Bailarín" ) Ruiz Soler (1921-96), and El Farruco (1936-97) were all Flamenco dancers -

Flamenco a mixtures of cultures......Arabic, Gypsy, Indian......music..handclapping....once..a way and voice of protest...

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Photo by Gjon Mili

...Flamenco seductive movements of elegance, wild, aggressive, desire, rhythm, the guitars are playing - hands of sounds, hearts are beating furiously, temptation, eyes of desire,

Painting by Jose Villegas Cordero, 1884.

Plaza De Toros - like the Matador fights his Bull to the end "el momento de la verdad".... Flamenco - Challenge your heart......into a world of life....

"La Fiesta Brava"...

Hurricane - Shells - An Ocean of Thoughts

(All photos in this Post by Tavarua)

“Beauty is a form of genius - is higher, indeed, than genius, as it needs no explanation. It is of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime, or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon.” - Oscar Wilde

"A shell could be a shell as well as this piece of coral is just a piece of coral or in the deep crevasses of your mind - discovery - let the coral talk and you will find beauty within the tiny details of its creation."

Is this just a colorful shell?

“Within the shell - was the truth undiscovered before me? or did the curiosity navigate away from the shore and set sails for an ocean of toughts. Expand your mind”

- Enjoy some Music - Indian Touch by Pierre Cosso - Album by Claude Challe - Nirvana # 3 -

Headhunters - and a beautiful woman in motion...

Headhunter? -  Veruschka

What were we thinking about?

Music - Night over Manaus

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Motion

Sir Rhinocerotidae Ceratotherium C. Simum.........and his family...

A bearded old ancestor....

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Let me tell you about my family ................ Rhinocerotidae - White Rhinoceros Dicerorhinus D. sumatrensis - Sumatran Rhinoceros Diceros D. bicornis - Black Rhinoceros Rhinoceros R. unicornis - Indian Rhinoceros R. sondaicus - Javan Rhinoceros Coelodonta C. antiquitatis - Woolly Rhinoceros (extinct) Elasmotherium E. sibiricum - Giant Rhi ...

(This is Funny......... I just woke up and it is 0330 in the morning - I do understand that most people will not wake up and think about a Rhino...)

. Drawing by Albrecht Dürer, 1515, Nuremberg, Germany

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A Boars Death - Hog Spear - Pigsticking - Tusks

Old tradition in Europe and especially in Spain - I am talking about - Pig sticking/boar hunting the hunter is on horseback using long specialized boar/hog spear.

Hunting party...

India - Two of my relatives were British Officers, stationed in Bombay, India - that led my thoughts to...... Pig Sticking - It was here in the British Imperial India that pig sticking became a popular sport among the military officers.

Pig Sticking is still practiced today. There are two types of spears used in the sport - the first one is short Bengal spear used for overhand and/or then the long Bombay/Northern Indian spear used underhand.

There are two types of hunting methods - Chur hunting which occurs in open fields and the you have the village hunt which is mainly in built up country areas.

A Boars Death

.....Port...............

The Trophy Room

An Eccentric Woman and Patroness of the Arts - Marchesa Luisa Casati

Marchesa Luisa Casati

1881 - 1946

"A continent in the claws of a Cheetah"

Smooth, Elegant and Dangerous

Exotic -Dramatic - Extravagant - intense - Burning Desire -Dominant- look at the eyes and the expression of this woman..for over three decades she ruled as an icon, a sculpture, a woman of inspiration- for a continent..(Still we find the memory of her in fashion and design etc. flare up once more).She lived at several Palazzos one was Venier dei Leoni - Venice - Italy. This is the woman who had her pet Cheetahs as part of her dramatic appearance - She introduced snakes as jewellery - we do not experience that to often...

Eccentric - Eccentric - Eccentric..

She would make an imprint and an impression which would not be forgotten on all people she ever came in contact with - Jean Cocteau - Colette -Cecil Beaton - Erté - Baron Adolph de Meyer - Man Ray -Nijinsky - Isadora Duncan - Picasso - Marcel Proust - Comte Robert de Montesquiou - Elsa Schiaparelli- Coco Chanel.

She was titled Marchesa di Roma and was the inspiration for Cartier's panther. Love for Palaces, her exotic animals and an extravagant taste for life which, would one day have her in a dept of 25 million dollars.

Her appearance made her a legend throughout the continent. When I write living sculptures about women - one of her expressions was that she would like to be a living piece of art. Definitely.

Dutch/American - Figurative - Abstract/Expressionist Artist - Willem de Kooning(1904-1997)

Willem in his later years....

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The Artist as a young man in his East 10Th St. studio - 1956

Since the 1940s he had been painting figurative women after 1950 subjects of women got to be where he explored further still figurative, but we also feel and see a turbulent inner world of Willem crystallize on his canvases. In the 1960s he would turn to make sculptures. Some of his works are rather wild in their expression, aggressive and wildly painted - The period of Jackson Pollock and other artists 1960s typical way of freedom of expression. To appreciate abstract art you have to have an open mind, a mind of imagination crossing over traditional borders - it is simple but simplicity means complication as well in the human mind. Abstract art will challenge your own artistic mind to work, work, and work. I have always been i two worlds - One from the old ancient world of tradition, obligation and the other part of a more bohemian intellectual artistic world, a mixture of contemporary/classical/zen it can all be an attractive mixture- if it is a contradiction ? It depends on your own reflection principle.

"Pink Angeles"

" Seated Woman"

"Queen of Hearts"

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Willems wife - Elaine de Kooning

..unfortunately he ended his days with Alzheimer's disease.

Cold Steel - The Art of Fencing - The Fencing Master - Aldo Nadi

Saber Fencer...

Vintage Fencing Mask

Here I am with Don Appling - He was the oldest fencer in the US (until he passed away) competing in all three weapons - Foil - Epee - Saber at The US National.

Siegfried Lerdon

A sport "Par Excellence", tradition, in the old days the "Master of Fence" belonged to a select class - the Aristocracy - it was prestige that went with it. Fencing has changed and today fencers come from all walks of life.

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Academic Fencing - Mensur

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Academic Fencing

Academic Fencing is being practised to this day. But we will cover that in another post.

Aldo Nadi, some consider him the greatest swordsman who ever lived. He was the son of a famous Italian Maître d'Armes. Aldo began fencing at four - Moved to the US in 1935 and owned Salle d'Armes in Manhattan's Savoy-Plaza. Nado handsome, arrogant, undefeated for 15 years had a glamorous lifestyle, he enjoyed the glamour of Cannes and Monte Carlo. There was not often you would catch him without a beautiful woman by his side.

Aldo Nadi

Aldo Nadi (1899 - 1965) - He came from The Classical Italian School of Swordsmanship - he lived and ended his days in Los Angeles, California. He wrote The Living Sword: A Fencer's Autobiography.

Fencing at the Jockey Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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A nice performance........