Art, Man. It's All Art.

art, man. it's all art.

art is the motivator, it's what sets the plot into motion, and it's what brings the story to a close. it's intertwined with the story and is completely inseparable from theo's story, and i just think that's so damn neat.

and also just!! art!!! has so much meaning to us!!!! the goldfinch is such an incredible representation of that- both in the story and in real life.

in the story, we see humanity's appreciation for art and how it toes the like between love and greed. people like horst and theo, who live and love and breathe art so deeply that they went to keep it for themselves, to appreciate and admire and keep safe. they had different motivations, sure, but to some extent, it all came down to some level of selfishness in their love of that art.

opposing them though, are people like hobie and audrey, who love art and want the world to see it in the chance that other people might love it even just a fraction as much as they do. hobie, who talks about art striking everyone in a different but equally significant way. audrey, who adored public art museums and her art history books. they want to share how much they love art with the word, which is so damn special.

god, i just. i love art and i love what it means to us.

me and the girlies on our way to the knickknacks and trinkets section of the thrift store

My bizarre little codependent freaks… 🫶

he's got a sadness about him you only see in catholic stained glass windows

Pink Hair in the 18th Century

[Left: Mary Lewin, née Hale c. 1784 by John Smart, via Christies; Right: Colonel James Hamilton c. 1784 by John Smart, via Sothebys]

While white and grey seem to have been the most common and popular colours for hair powder, it did come in all sorts of colours. These included natural colours. Many hair powder manufacturers ran advertisements for brown powder alongside the standard white. On the 20th July 1787 the Morning Herald advertised hair powders that came in “Brown of all colours” alongside “French White” and other kinds of hair powder. On the 29th of Nov 1787, The Proprietors of the Queen’s Royal Auburn and Flaxen Hair Powder Manufactory ran an ad in The World that reads:

Their unrivalled Powders may be had, as usual, from One Guinea down to Eightpence per pound; and their Royal Auburn, Flaxen, and Maiden White, dignified by her Majesty, for their superior excellence in not staining the Linen, is only to be had at their Warehouse as above.

However hair powder also came in unnatural colours. Many ads from the period sell “Violet and Pink Orris” hair powder. In their 8-10 May 1770 issue the Middlesex Journal advertises “Violet Hair Powder” alongside “Grey and Common ditto”. On the 6th of Aug 1785, the Morning Chronicle advertises “Carnation, pink, yellow, and other coloured Powder”.

Another colour that had some popularity was blue. In the 15th of Nov 1783 issue of the Morning Herald, Dixon at the genuine Hair Powder Manufactory advertises “Good common white and blue Powder”. On the 20th July 1761 the Public Ledger ran an ad by His Majesty’s Blue Manufacturer Harrison for “Sale of the best Sorts of STONE and POWDER BLUE, STARCH and HAIR-POWDER.”

Unnatural coloured hair powders were mostly worn by fashionistas rather than the general public. When he was younger British politician Charles James Fox was a macaroni and was known to wear blue hair powder. The October 1806 issue of The Monthly Magazine writes:

It will be scarcely supposed, by those who have seen Mr. Fox, or examined his dress at any time during the last twenty years, that he had been once celebrated as a beau garçon; but the fact is, that at this period he was one of the most fashionable young men about town, and there are multitudes now living who still recollect his chapeau bras, his red-heeled shoes, and his blue hair-powder.