It’s a new year and time for the updated LWD Art Appreciation series for 2025. This year we will read classics, explore a variety of types of art, architecture and design, listen to opera and watch some the all-time best films.
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ART APPRECIATION
January 2025
Classic Literature
I’m going to be honest here. I’ve started this book several times over the years but have yet to finish it. I’m not exactly sure why but I’m issuing myself a challenge with this first month of the year literature selection.
The House of the Seven Gables
A gloomy New England mansion provides the setting for this classic exploration of ancestral guilt and its expiation through the love and goodwill of succeeding generations.
Nathaniel Hawthorne drew inspiration for this story of an immorally obtained property from the role his forebears played in the 17th-century Salem witch trials. Built over an unquiet grave, the House of the Seven Gables carries a dying man’s curse that blights the lives of its residents for over two centuries. Now Judge Jaffrey Pyncheon, an iron-hearted hypocrite and intellectual heir to the mansion’s unscrupulous founder, is attempting to railroad a pair of his elderly relatives out of the house. Only two young people stand in his way — a visiting country cousin and an enigmatic boarder skilled in mesmerism.
Hawthorne envisioned this family drama of evil, revenge, and resolution as a microcosm of Salem’s own history as in idealistic society corrupted by greed and pride. His enduring view of the darkness at the heart of the national soul has made The House of the Seven Gables a landmark of American literature.
Art/Architecture/Design
Over the past two years we’ve explored the art of many famous artists. This year we are going to expand the topic and look at architecture and other types of design. Let’s kick things off with perhaps the most well-known architect.
Frank Lloyd Wright
Acclaimed as the “father of skyscrapers,” the quintessentially American icon Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) was an architect of aspiration. He believed in giving cultivated American life its fitting architectural equivalent and applied his idealism to structures across the continent, from suburban homes to churches, offices, skyscrapers, and the celebrated Guggenheim Museum.Wright’s work is distinguished by its harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture, and which found its paradigm at Fallingwater, a house in rural Pennsylvania, cited by the American Institute of Architects as “the best all-time work of American architecture.” Wright also made a particular mark with his use of industrial materials, and by the simple L or T plan of his Prairie House which became a model for rural architecture across America. Wright was also often involved in many of the interior elements of his buildings, such as the furniture and stained glass, paying particular attention to the balance between individual needs and community activity.Exploring Wright’s aspirations to augment American society through architecture, this book offers a concise introduction to his at once technological and Romantic response to the practical challenges of middle-class Americans.
Opera
In 2023 we listened to the music of classical composers. In 2024 we enjoyed jazz. And for 2025 we are going to explore opera. This is something I’ve wanted to dig into a little deeper so I’m taking y’all along for the ride.
Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Spotify Playlist:
Classic Film
There are some films which I think everyone ought to view at least once in their lives. Let’s start with one that is on everyone’s “best classic films” list.
Citizen Kane
Acclaimed for its innovative narrative structure, deep focus photography and soundtrack, Welles’ first feature tells the story of a William Randolph Hearst-like publisher’s ultimately empty rise to power.
If you have any favorites to recommend for future Art Appreciation posts feel free to share in the comments!
LINK TO PREVIOUS ART APPRECIATION POSTS…
You can find links to all of the LWD Art Appreciation posts here:
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