An exhibition of paintings - at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery

by Nan
A myriad of ‘Moods’ give expression to the splendours of fleeting ‘Moments’ in time, as six artists get together to display their creative talents.

An exhibition of paintings aptly named ‘Moods and Moments’ will be held at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery on 23rd and 24th of September from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. Six talented artists will present their works of art featuring a variety of themes ranging from land and seascapes to still life studies, figures and abstracts. Over 150 paintings in oils, acrylics, water colour, pastel, pen & ink, charcoal and mixed media will be on display. The artists exhibiting their paintings are Hethumathie Karunatilleke, Christabelle Aturupane, Namal Aturupane, Tania Mamujee, Kaushalya Rajapakse and Achala Jayawardene. The exhibition is sponsored by Colour Products Ltd; manufacturers of ‘Homerun Pas’ and Colour Products Imports (Pvt) Ltd; sole agents for ‘Pentel’.

A common interest; the love of painting, brings the artists together on Saturday mornings where they are guided by their Guru, Mrs. Lathifa Ismail who has inspired them to develop their own individualistic styles. The camaraderie and friendly atmosphere of the class makes painting more pleasurable and inspires their creative expression. The works of art on display will reflect a spectrum of colours ranging from the soft to the brilliant in a variety of interesting themes. Lovers of art would no doubt be treated to a delightful array of imaginative work at this unique exhibition at the Lionel Wendt Art Gallery.

No wonder the French feel superior to the British. Nothing in Britain is as marvellous as Versailles. One has seen pictures, films with clips of the palace, but as the saying goes, seeing is believing. The sight see-er is completely wowed by the place. The sheer majesty, the grandeur and opulence takes one’s breath away and one can imagine the balls and lavish splendour of the royal court during the reigns of Louis XV and XVI. But once the wonder is tempered and one settles down to looking with a discerning eye, the tragedy behind the opulent facade comes through Sadness dims the admiring eye, tempers the awe with which one looks around. This is more so when one walks to the Queens little village within the grounds.

Eat Cake

Lots of us, yours truly included, knew only that Marie Antoinette advised the restless French masses who marched on the palace to eat cake if bread was in short supply and was guillotined for her apparent frivolity and being the queen at the wrong time. But there’s much more to her life, a glimpse of which is given by the splendour of Versailles Palace and the rustic cottaged retreat build for her by Loius XVI, so she could gambol around dressed as shepherdess.

Incidentally she had not said "eat cake". The word used translates itself to a different kind of bread, so her advise was not truly heartless.

The little I had read about the royal couple was augmented by an absolutely interesting book I dipped into: Evelyn Lever’s biography Marie Antoinettte: the last queen of France and a review of it in a recent issue of The New Yorker which sent me to browse the book.

The Little Austrian Princess

Archduchess Maria Antonia was the fifteenth child of Empress Marie Therese of Austria, whose court was very different from the French, being fanatical, simple and intrigue-free. The young Archduchess reportedly refused to study, could barely write her name, and was given to romps in the forest and disrupting royal parties by giggling behind her fan and making fun of her elders.

At fourteen she arrives in Versailles, beautiful but rather unruly, to wed the reclusive, gauche 15 year old Dauphin. He was painfully ill at lease in society and loved to be in his library or out riding.

On the marriage register, or whatever the young teenage royals signed their contract of marriage, the bride is supposed to have left a blot of ink!

The people of France, sick of Louis XV and his megalomaniac self aggrandizement, received the young couple with adulation. Wedding ceremonies lasted long and then, as the author of the biography says. "... finally the kids got into bed. The curtains of the bed were closed, then opened, then closed again, a vestige of those earlier times when witnesses were asked to certify that the act of penetration had actually taken place." In this couple’s case it took seven years for this act to be accomplished, all because the Dauphin had been too lazy to have a minor operation performed, which he had to have done. His brother-in-law, Joseph II of Austria, insisted on it, having written them offers "two complete fumblers." On August 18, 1777, at 10.00 am precisely, the biographer says, the act was done - their chambermaids and valets must have been efficient spies and title tattles. The Queen celebrated her marital bliss by giving a fete in honour of the King, serving drinks dressed as a cafe keeper.

Heir and Spare

Soon enough her first daughter was born to her followed by three other children, two being boys. The new Dauphin assured the continuance of the Bourbon dynasty.

One realizes how closely monitored was the very private life of the royals, via gossip mostly. Then, unlike now, for political and international reasons, not to make dollops of money by revealing snippets to the voracious press.

Louis XVI continued reclusive but tried to rule justly. Maybe he sensed the approaching storm more than his wife, who indulged in her balls and role play, disregarding the ramblings that surely would have penetrated the palace gates.

Tragic Queen

The biographer says that few historical figures have been more distorted by legend and political bias than Marie Antoinette - a slight change to her given name being added by the French. She has been represented as a mindless hussy while others more sympathetic have gone to the extent of making a matyr of her. But truth seems to be that she was spontaneous and tactless, hugging those she loved, turning a blind eye to their faults and snubbing those she disliked, whatever their influence was in Court or abroad. Though she indulged in a whirlwind of costume balls and gambling parties, she was said to be melancholic and often depressed. We could guess it was due to insufficient marital bliss unlike in the case of Queen Victoria with her beloved Albert. Louis XVI, kind man and probably too quiet, indulged her in material matters but probably left her cold in bed!

With the couple’s secret being known, speculation about her love life was rife and malicious. The anti- Austrians tattled the Queen was promiscuous. She was even accused of a lesbian affair with Contessa de Polignac, soon after the Dauphin and she were crowned King and Queen. This countess was her favourite in court; receiving gifts of diamonds on many an occasion. The French equivalent of the kavikole or British broadsheet said her children, once they began being born from 1778, were not the king’s. In reality all indications are that she was pious, chaste and incapable of deceit.

Love of her Life?

There was, however, a great friendship between Marie Antoinette and a Swedish nobleman, Count Felson, which seems eventually to have become close and sexual. He was a monarchist and at the beginning regarded her as queen: sacred and inviolable. She grew more and more dependent on his friendship and counsel and probably with tragedy almost upon them, did succeed in overcoming his scruples. He held to his principles for long, indicated by a letter he wrote his sister in which he says: "I cannot belong to the only person to whom I want to belong and so I do not want to belong to anyone." He remained unmarried. While being the Queen’s love, however, he did dally with others.

He was very much with her at the end and accepted by Louis XVI as good for his wife and a good friend to him. Count Felson was at Versailles during the sad summer of 1789 when venomous lampoons charged the royals "of wanting the people to starve and the patriots blood to flow." He was with the queen and family when three months after the fall of the Bastille a terrifying crowd, mostly women, marched on Versailles Palace to bring the royal family to Paris, where they were made virtual prisoners.

Tragic End

The royal family suffered closer imprisonment and greater brutality after May 1782. On October

16, Marie Antoinette was taken from her cell and brought to the scaffold in an open farm cart. At least her husband, the King, had been taken to his execution in a closed carriage eight weeks earlier. She was jeered at on the way by thousands of citizens who gloried in her downfall and ignominy. Ropes were tied to her wrists as ropes are tied on farm animals. She was led to the guillotine in Place de la Revolution, now Place de la Concorde. The blade fell on her at 12.15 p m to cries of vive la republique.

The little Dauphin, recent DNA tests show, died in jail two years later of gross neglect. His sister survived and lived into the 19 century.

From a hapless party girl, Marie Antoinette, had developed to an admirable woman, cherishing her husband’s kindness, generosity and faithfulness; so the biographer says. She impressed her jailors with her self effacing, compassionate manner, her fortitude and her consummate marital and maternal devotion. In the end her nobility and grandeur equalled that of Louis XVI.

Bread and other matters

All this brings to mind the situation in this Paradise gone rotten. Inevitable. One may ponder on the most sublime and then fall surely into the depths of despondence.

Bread was promised at Rs 3.50 in 1994 at the crest of the present governments power and glory. While the latter decreased, the price of bread increased. There are "grumblings and rumblings but fortunately for our Marie Antoinette, people have been too decent, or rather too lethargic and disorganized to march on the gates of our local Versailles. Perhaps after a glorious peduru party we plebs will be told to eat maalu banis if we cannot afford bread. So much for losing touch with the hoi polloi, or more correctly being segregated from the citizenry by the armed escorts and security service, and of course advisers such as sugar plum and fairies.

Poor Marie A

Retribution is inevitable. See what happened to the possessor of countless pairs of shoes in Manila and closer home, to Sharif of Pakistan. Even beautiful Bhutto is in exile, probably permanently banished. One cannot cheat people all of the time and win by flinging mud and caring less for folks like you and me who make up the bulk of the population of this land, and its backbone.