tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post4698637706094902624..comments2023-12-08T03:56:59.376-05:00Comments on An Aesthete's Lament: The Eyes Have ItAn Aesthete's Lamenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09620941811191294750noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-52896815010028575732011-03-31T21:11:10.126-04:002011-03-31T21:11:10.126-04:00loved the story of gladys. fascinating. thank youloved the story of gladys. fascinating. thank youUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550721412716564580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-57992454925749631572011-03-31T21:09:25.974-04:002011-03-31T21:09:25.974-04:00wonderful read. very fascinating. first i am readi...wonderful read. very fascinating. first i am reading about gladys.thank youUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05550721412716564580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-67300531214877530962011-02-18T21:01:57.594-05:002011-02-18T21:01:57.594-05:00Enjoyed your beautifully written and researched po...Enjoyed your beautifully written and researched post. Isn't it interesting to see such prominent personalities through the eyes of great painters? I am reminded of Dali's portrait of Mona Bismarck in rags. <br /><br />Didn't Elsie de Wolfe have her Boldini portrait cut off at the neck, resulting in a head shot rather than full body, because she disliked the "writhing" aspect of how her figure had been painted?Square With Flairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10587474304650348836noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-33281450958806240952011-02-17T09:17:07.630-05:002011-02-17T09:17:07.630-05:00would love to see this and the makeup touch ups to...would love to see this and the makeup touch ups to her eyes, the all seeing eye-wonder if she was speaking beyond her own vanities? did the Duke really like women at all? her story is woeful but oh so intriguing-no wonder Mr. Vickers was attracted to her and thank goodness he was their to record that story. It is a great read as this post was-as always.pgtP.Gaye Tapp at Little Auguryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15115534755711063462noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-53707048206631002762011-02-17T03:43:00.805-05:002011-02-17T03:43:00.805-05:00This to me, seems to be an example of the best of ...This to me, seems to be an example of the best of what a blog can offer. Thank you so much for this thoroughly explored and touching tale.Heather Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316279029849503437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-3426547182846343962011-02-17T01:35:17.628-05:002011-02-17T01:35:17.628-05:00The Vickers biography, which I read a number of ye...The Vickers biography, which I read a number of years ago, was most absorbing, and Gladys a fascinating, cold, self-absorbed, beautiful subject. The supposed love triangle of great interest, and so little known. I only recently came across (again) the Boldini of Consuelo and the little Lord Ivor at the Met and am always transfixed by its sheer elegance. The neck! The slashes of paint! Almost like a latter-day Gainsborough. I love it. I was unaware of the portrait of Gladys by the same hand. How fascinating. Thank you, again, Aesthete, for this (and all) that you teach us, your lucky and most-fortunate readers.Reggie Darlinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04044215790585354363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-13764541130337186702011-02-16T23:11:31.241-05:002011-02-16T23:11:31.241-05:00As always, your posts set my mind a hummmmming.
Th...As always, your posts set my mind a hummmmming.<br />This a tragic story. But those eyes are truly mazing. The accepted narcissism of this time frame never ceases to mystify me.joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15722960569876868623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-5138548150371920852011-02-16T17:33:36.723-05:002011-02-16T17:33:36.723-05:00What a lovely article on a super subject...I'd...What a lovely article on a super subject...I'd written a letter years ago to Mr. Vickers when the "Gladys" book came out...He was kind enough to respond and thank me for buying and enjoying his work...<br />I had a few questions on the late Princess Alice,Countess of Athlone...He was able to answer my queries perfectly...<br />The AL once again is a delight...laughingsalmonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03190554461806939221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-30876735374339248182011-02-16T16:38:06.823-05:002011-02-16T16:38:06.823-05:00Riveting stuff. So heartbreaking... and her excha...Riveting stuff. So heartbreaking... and her exchange with Mr. Vickers -- “Sometimes something happens that is so awful that it cuts you off and after that you don’t care." -- kills me!! Now i'm left haunted. <br /><br />I adore those bright blue eyes by the underrated Mr. Gill (my partner has a wonderful hand-me-down painting by Colin Gill). And I really enjoyed Mary Berenson's impressions of Gladys. Mary knew a thing or two about ''moods''. ;-)Paul Pincushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05238236951876804955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-42566080162071854832011-02-16T14:37:20.770-05:002011-02-16T14:37:20.770-05:00Thank you so much for this post. It was fascinatin...Thank you so much for this post. It was fascinating! I have been to Blenheim twice but never paid much attention to Gladys. Consuelo always seemed to be the more glamorous one! <br /><br />As an aside, I can't quite imagine wax into my nose....Jemimagoldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11273453518845254587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-28918115333367056252011-02-16T12:24:20.319-05:002011-02-16T12:24:20.319-05:00The blog entry itself was fascinating, and the eru...The blog entry itself was fascinating, and the erudite comments make it more so. <br /><br />Thank you for sharing this with us.Topazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15514508159702613771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-87455907852308909472011-02-16T12:03:23.028-05:002011-02-16T12:03:23.028-05:00My Dear Aesthete,
How COMFORTING to know that her...My Dear Aesthete,<br /><br />How COMFORTING to know that her FIRST Love OF HER CHOICE...still adored her. I always recall the dark room of the other prison - Marblehouse - she locked within and he coming to see her - forbidden by the guard at the gate posted by Alva.<br /><br />I too thought how strange for the 2eyes to gaze upon all who entered...but was told they were done at a much earlier time. Legends grow from a seed of truth. Could it be that she had these eyes painted to remind herself of her Triumph over a 'Best Friend' who had ALL, and in the end her destiny placed her with NOTHING.<br /><br />The betrayal must have cut so deep into Consuelo's heart.I do remember the affairs that CV had, the love shack she camped out in with her lover - but I thought they were due to a pressure bore down from a loveless marriage. <br /><br />Like Marie Antoinette entering Versailles already much reviled, Consuelo was nothing more than the end product of a monetary transaction...<br /><br />Love your connections and YOUR mind!The Swanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159724663060240920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-21158829733110202152011-02-16T11:47:16.117-05:002011-02-16T11:47:16.117-05:00I'll ask Hugo about the whereabouts of the Bol...I'll ask Hugo about the whereabouts of the Boldini. Consuelo has always left me a bit cold. (And the brown eyes make no sense to me as Consuelo's; she and Gladys had stopped talking to one another about a decade earlier, so what would be the point of painting portraits of her eyes in 1928, except as some kind of odd joke?) I remember talking with the ghostwriter of her memoirs, Stuart Preston, who informed me so much of Consuelo's personal life was purposefully left out of the book, such as her aborted elopement with Lord Castlereagh (later 7th Marquess of Londonderry) and her affair with Sunny's cousin Reginald Fellowes. That being said, a friend of mine is a descendant of Consuelo's onetime fiancé Winthrop Rutherfurd and says he adored her forever.An Aesthete's Lamenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09620941811191294750noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-78952603727205151482011-02-16T10:33:57.689-05:002011-02-16T10:33:57.689-05:00Over 20 years ago I traversed the halls of Consuel...Over 20 years ago I traversed the halls of Consuelos Money pit...and prison. It is spectacular to say the least. It was amazing to stand and look up at THOSE EYES...very hypnotic and surreal. I was told that the Brown Eye was Consuelos. <br /><br />Consuelo and Gladys were best of friends - one growing up literally down the street from the other. It was Consuelo who begged Gladys to stay with her, to keep her smiling for the Duke was morose and forever reminding her of how he did not love her even at dinner parties.<br /><br />Yes, Gladys was the victim of a doctors proclamation of Power to make one a Goddess...not much different from what is going on lately on the pages of Socialites and Movie Stars gossip.<br /><br />By the way...the Sargent of Consuelo, The Boldini of Consuelo are MASTERPIECES...I have always thought that Gladys by Boldini was just as beautiful if not reminiscent of La Casati on the Peacock by the same. Where is it today?The Swanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01159724663060240920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-49658448896188305552011-02-16T08:19:47.406-05:002011-02-16T08:19:47.406-05:00Great post---poor Duke, married to two smart women...Great post---poor Duke, married to two smart women in succession. Apparently a great nuisance to his enjoyment of life.<br /><br />Decorative footnote: In the MFA in Boston is an extraordinary set of boiserie panels saved by Peter Parker from the destruction of the Hotel de Montmorency. They were designed by Claude Nicholas LeDoux and are probably the finest example of their type in the country. I mention this because Peter Parker was Gladys Deacon's grandfather, and he later installed the panels in a mansion he built for her parents in Boston, believed to be the first instance of antique French woodwork brought to this country, long before the Vanderbilts and their ilk started doing the same. I mention it because it sets the stage for the cosmopolitanism of Deacon's life from childhood on.The Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3111886388324003324.post-63838979614337618102011-02-16T04:20:27.689-05:002011-02-16T04:20:27.689-05:00What a terrific tale, and so much more interesting...What a terrific tale, and so much more interesting with your Hugo Vickers connection, and his to the duchess. Isn't is extraordinary how mean Marlborough was to his ex-wife, (a trait one sees in Spencer towards his two; alarming that he intends to marry a[nother] third)?columnisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03764365428633038329noreply@blogger.com