The Art of …

… romanticism, by British artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Rossetti is best known for his portraits and female figures, but he was also a poet and wrote the poem Body’s Beauty, to accompany his portrait of Lilith.

Lady Lilith, 1873, Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Image from Wikiart.

Body’s Beauty

Of Adam’s first wife, Lilith, it is told
(The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)
That, ere the snake’s, her sweet tongue could deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
And, subtly of herself contemplative,
Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
Lo! as that youth’s eyes burned at thine, so went
Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.

                             Dante Gabriel Rossetti

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The Art of …

… the nude, by Balthus

Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his imagery. (wikiart)

I was looking at cat art when I found this, and the posture of the woman is so feline-like it spoke to me. Also, the cat is smiling.

Nu au Chat, 1949, Balthus. Image from Wikiart