I recently came across Birds of America by John James Audubon (1785-1851). My mother had a full size reproduction of the book that I was fascinated with as child. While browsing through the online version I found the Image Of The Month to use for September.
This is a photo of a Confederate and a Union survivor of the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg taken at the the 50th anniversary commemoration of the battle in Pennsylvania in the summer of 1913. Combined losses on both sides during the battle in July of 1863 totaled 51,000 killed, wounded, captured or missing. The 1913 commemoration totaled a combined 53,407 veterans from both sides.
In honor of the wonderful Shelley Duvall (1949-2024) the image of the month features her as the terrified Wendy Torrance in The Shining, one of the great horror movies. Jack Nicholson deserves the accolades he has received for his role in the movie as Jack Torrance, but Shelley Duvalls performance as Wendy, as she sees (and we see as viewers through her) the progressive madness of her husband, is the glue that holds the whole movie together.
Russ Heath (1926-2018) was one of my favorite comic book artists growing up. Here is his version of Sgt Rock.
After years of interest and study of American expansion from east to west it has become obvious to me what the main contributing factors were of the decline and submission of American Indians besides the invading hoards of whites, blacks (Buffalo Soldiers), Asians (Central Pacific Railroad) and even assisting Indians. First was disease (no Indian immunity), second was prospectors (every place they discovered anything of value was overrun) and the third was the widespread slaughter of the American buffalo (leading to Indian starvation and dependency on their enemy) The above image is proof of the third factor, a gigantic hill of buffalo skulls.
I came across this photo a few months ago, but I can’t remember where. Anyhow, I was impressed by the size of the turban and the devotion it takes to put on and wear around such a thing. Following are a couple of articles I found while researching Sikhs and turbans.
https://www.sikhnet.com/news/turbanator-worlds-largest-turban
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-turban
“Mary Delany’s stunning works are a remarkable combination of art and science. Often mistaken for watercolours, they are in fact carefully constructed paper collages, or ‘mosaicks’ as she called them.”
To read about her life and view more of her work:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/late-bloomer-exquisite-craft-mary-delany
“Boxing was re-energized in the 1980’s by the emergence of the seemingly unstoppable Tyson, who tore through the heavweight ranks with a fearsome blend of speed and power. Here, he unloads on WBC champion Berbick at the Las Vegas Hilton on Nov. 11, 1986. Tyson would end the bout with a stunning 2nd round TKO to become the youngest heavyweight champion in history.”
Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan board a Lockheed 10-E Electra in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 2, 1937, during their around-the-world flight attempt. They disappeared July 2, 1937. What happened to them remains a mystery.
When Ryan O’Neal passed away earlier this month I was reading about some of his movies that I remembered watching years ago when I came to the part in his obituary that mentioned his long relationship with Farrah Fawcett. That made me think of the poster (above). It was everywhere in the 1970’s, Farrah in her slinky swimsuit, big toothy smile and giant hair streaming down in long curls. Sorry, Ryan, you were a very handsome man, but Farrah gets the final Image of the Month this year.
Off The Back Porch 