Thursday, March 7, 2024

DUTCH MASTERS

When I was young, there was a well-advertised brand of cigars around New York called Dutch Masters. A slice of The Night Watch was on the box. I was aware of the product but no one in my family smoked cigars and I hadn't yet been to The Met. I had no idea what the brand name meant. Maybe it was just odd marketing. Over the years, I came to associate black backgrounds with Dutch/Flemish painting (except for maybe Caravaggio). I'm not sure how this floral arrangement interprets the nearby paintings but the effect is dramatic.

I gotta get back out on the street and find some new stuff. Getting my back worked on tomorrow at the mighty Washington University Medical Center and hoping for more mobility.          

3 comments:

Stefan Jansson said...

I hope your back problems can be fixed. I still remember visiting, and photographing a house where a cigar smoker lived for half a Century. It had to be demolished.

Barbara Rogers said...

Isn't it great that we learn about good art with publicity of completely diverse things? Love this photo with black background! Rather unusual for a display at the museum. Good wishes for your back improvement!

Kristy Wehrle said...

Dutch Masters cigars sponsored the Ernie Kovacs TV show in the late 50s/early 60s. He did a lot of the commercials and they were very funny. One of them featured the Dutch Masters, posed completely still with live actors, until Kovacs takes a big drag off his cigar -