Edward Koren: The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook

New Yorker artists may not be on the walls of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, but they are still present somewhere in the museum. You can find them in the gift shop among the calendars and even on the bookshelves. We find there, for example, The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook (2003) with a cover illustration by Edward Koren. Oh, he's got some illustrations inside the book as well. I've included a generous selection from Google Books.

The New Legal Sea Foods Cookbook (2003) as seen in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Removing Fish Bones

Isaac Stern's Citrus Vodka

Variations

Note:  If you'd like to see more by Edward Koren--and who wouldn't?--go right ahead.

Legal Sea Foods? Three words? Foods? Really, Foods? It's a company name, sure, but is it any good as English? Why not simply Legal Seafood? And why Legal anyway, aside from the obvious assonance?

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Bronze Age Iran at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Some of the art here is from the Bronze Age in Iran; some is from Iraq and Turkey.

Lion and Bull in Combat
Iran (Persepolis, stairway facade of Palace H)
Achaemenid, attributed to the reign of Artaxerxes III, 358-338 B.C.
Limestone

"Palace-ware" jug
Urartian, 9th-7th centuries B.C.
Red-polished pottery

Winged protective deity
Northern Iraq (from the Northwest Palace at Calakh)
Assyrian, reign of Assurnasirpal II, 883-859 B.C.
Alabaster

Lion from the Processional Way
Iraq (Babylon), Neo-Babylonian period, reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, 604-561 B.C.

Drinking cup in the shape of a fist
Central Turkey, Hittite

Another view:  Drinking cup in the shape of a fist
Central Turkey, Hittite

Funerary animal figurines
Northwest Iran (Caspian coastal region)
Iron Age, about 1100-800 B.C.
Bronze

Note:  There's still more art here from my visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Ancient Greece at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has a fine collection of Ancient Greek art. Here are just a few examples.

Shield
Greece, Archaic period

Wine cup (kantharos) in the form of two male heads, attributed to Osborne House Painter
Samos, Late Archaic period, about 550-500 B.C.

Pitcher (oinochoe) in the Wild Goat style, with bands of flowers, animals, and birds
Rhodes, Orientalizing period, late 7th century B.C.
Ceramic

Griffin protome (forepart) from a cauldron
Samos, Orientalizing period, about 600 B.C.

The Euergides Painter, Fragment of a cup (kylix) with a youth washing

Greece (Athens). Probably found at Tarquinia, Italy

Archaic period, about 510-500 B.C. 

Animals

Kore figures

Barber, Greece (Boiotia), Late Archaic period, about 500-475 B.C. 

Satyrs

An oil flask (lekythos) and two amphorae by the Pan Painter

Douris, Drinking cup with a nude youth washing at a basin
Inscription:  "Hippodamas is handsome"
Greece (Athens), Classical period, about 480 B.C.
Said to have been found in Orvieto, Italy

Douris, Woman washing her hands
Greece (Athens). Said to have been found at Falerii, Italy
Early Classical period, about 470 B.C.
Ceramic; red-figure technique

The Brygos Painter, Fragment of a cup (kylix) with Apollo
Greece (Athens). Probably found in Italy
Early Classical period, about 480-470 B.C.
Ceramic; red-figure technique

Note:  See more from my day at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

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Elihu Vedder at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Eliahu Vedder's The Questioner of the Sphinx from 1863 is a quirky offshoot of the Orientalist movement. The haggard and despairing man is asking the most profound questions of the Sphinx, but his inevitable fate is indicated by the human skull lying exposed in the sand. Vedder is an American, and it seems possible that his profound fatalism at this particular date--he is only about 27--may be due at least in part to the Civil War.

Elihu Vedder, The Questioner of the Sphinx, 1863

Note:  All is not yet lost. You can still cheer yourself up by visiting my previous blog posts about the Sphinx.

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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #487

Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #487 for August 31, 2015. The drawing is by Michael Crawford.

"I'm the sole survivor of the pub crawl."

I think I was wise not to submit this one:

"Have you seen a horse with no name?"

An explanation for those who don't remember:

"A Horse with No Name" (1971)

Performed by America

Music and lyrics by Dewey Bunnell

September 7, 2015 Update:  The Finalists

September 21, 2015 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  Last week, Julia Suits brought a pet along to a Viking battle. Unfortunately, my caption was not housebroken. See the unHaralded results of Contest #486.

Attempted Bloggery's posts about cartoonist Michael Crawford now include an account of a recent gallery opening where your blogger was in attendance.

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Ancient Egypt at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Our brief tour of Boston now takes us to the Museum of Fine Arts. Let's start with a sampling of the collection from Ancient Egypt.

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Pseudo-group statue of Penmeru, Egypt (Giza)

Triad of Penmeru, Egypt (Giza)

The Tomb of Penmeru

Frieze

Pottery coffin, Egypt (Tell el-Yahudia), Dynasties 19-22, 1293-712 B.C.

Sarcophagus of Kheper-Re, Egypt (Giza Tomb G 7757 A), Saite Period, Dynasty 26, reign of Amasis, 570-525 B.C.

Set of dummy canopic jars, Egypt, Dynasties 21-25, 1070-656 B.C.

Cartonnage case containing mummy of Tabes, Egypt (Thebes), Third Intermediate Period, early Dynasty 22, 930-880 B.C.

Cartonnage case containing mummy of Tabes, Egypt (Thebes), Third Intermediate Period, early Dynasty 22, 930-880 B.C.

Mummy mask, Egypt (Meir), early Roman Period, 1st half of 1st century A.D.

Animal figurines

Colossal statue of King Menkaura, Egypt (Giza, pyramid temple of Menkaura), Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, reign of Menkaura, 2490-2472 B.C.

Image added September 4, 2015

Photo of the colossal statue of King Menkaura prior to the 1920's plaster reconstruction.

Image added September 4, 2015

Note:  You know the drill. There's more to read here about the great town of Boston. I also have a couple of posts about David Roberts's stunning vision of Ancient Egypt.

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