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“A Girl with a Broom”
Perhaps the most well-known painting associated with Bewitched is “A Girl with a Broom”, more commonly (and incorrectly) referred to as “Girl with Broom”. This painting appeared prominently in Samantha and Darrin’s front entryway during season three, rarely moving from this spot for the rest of the series’ run. On the few occasions that it was moved, a mirror was usually put in its place for Endora or Uncle Arthur to appear in so they could taunt Darrin from behind the glass. One very common and oft-reported misconception about “A Girl with a Broom” is that it was painted by 15th Century Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn (1606-1669). This, however, is most likely incorrect. It is now believed by many art historians that “A Girl with a Broom” was actually painted by a student of Rembrandt’s, Dutch artist Carel Fabritius (1622-1654). The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (where “A Girl with a Broom” now resides) credits the painting to the “Rembrandt Workshop (Possibly Carel Fabritius)” in its archives, based on the fact that the painting is signed in the lower left corner “Rembrandt f. 1651″. The “F” is now believed to stand for “Fabritius”.
Carel Fabritius
In order to explain this further, as well as the way the Rembrandt workshop functioned, here is a quote from a press release issued in 2003 by the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI:
“The Rembrandt Workshop, housed in a warehouse on the Bloemgracht in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, was a traditional workshop in which the master instructed a limited number of students. The precise attribution of paintings in the Rembrandt workshop is complicated by the fact that Rembrandt sometimes worked on paintings with his students adding his own hand to the works. His exacting approach to painting led his students to paint like the master before developing their own recognizable style. These circumstances and the fact that scholars regularly change their minds on attributions makes it extremely difficult to establish with certainty the precise attribution of a particular work.”
From Wikipedia:
“In 1968 the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP) was started under the sponsorship of the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Scientific Research (NWO). Art historians teamed up with experts from other fields to reassess the authenticity of works attributed to Rembrandt, using all methods available, including state-of-the-art technical diagnostics, and to compile a complete critical catalog of his paintings. As a result of their findings, many paintings that were previously attributed to Rembrandt have been taken from the list. Many of those are now thought to be the work of his students.”
From Robert Hughes, “The God of Realism”, The New York Review of Books, vol. 53, no. 6, 2006:
“Rembrandt’s own studio practice is a major factor in the difficulty of attribution, as he encouraged his students to copy his own work, sometimes with enough retouching so he could sell them as originals, and sometimes simply to sell as authorized copies. Additionally, his style proved easy enough for his most talented students to emulate. Further complicating matters is the uneven quality of some of Rembrandt’s own work, and his frequent stylistic evolutions and experiments. It is highly likely that there will never be universal agreement as to what and what does not constitute a genuine Rembrandt.”
Carel Fabritius and his brother Barent were both students of Rembrandt’s during the 1640′s, and Carel is often referred to as “Rembrandt’s most gifted pupil” due to his mastery of his teacher’s technique and his subsequent ability to develop his own unique style. The main difference between the paintings of Rembrandt and Fabritius is that Carel preferred lighter backgrounds and a softer brushstroke, setting his later paintings apart from Rembrandt’s, which were darker and more heavily rendered. Carel died tragically at the age of 32 when an explosion at a gun powder store destroyed a large section of the city of Delft in the Netherlands on October 12th, 1654. His studio and most of his paintings were also lost in the explosion, and only twelve of his known paintings survive today.
According to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, “A Girl with a Broom” was painted between 1648-1651 and has been owned by numerous illustrious art collectors over the past four centuries. The painting’s provenance, which was painstakingly researched in great detail by the NGA, is a veritable history lesson in itself: the painting’s first owner was “almost certainly” Herman Becker (1617-1678) of Amsterdam. It then moved to the collection of Pierre Crozat (1665-1740) in Paris, who bequeathed it to his nephew, Louis-François Crozat, marquis du Châtel (1691-1750). When Louis-François died without a male heir to leave the painting to, it then went to Pierre Crozat’s other surviving nephew Louis-Antoine Crozat, baron de Thiers (1699-1770). After Louis-Antoine passed away, “A Girl with a Broom” was offered for sale and purchased in 1772 by Catherine II, Empress of Russia (1729-1796). The painting then resided in the Imperial Hermitage Gallery in Saint Petersburg, Russia until February 1931, when it was sold as a Rembrandt work to wealthy American banker, industrialist and politician Andrew W. Mellon (1855-1937) of Pittsburgh and Washington, DC. Prior to Mellon’s death, he deeded the painting to to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which then donated it as a gift to the National Gallery of Art in 1937. Following extensive research and tests, the painting was attributed to Carel Fabritius instead of Rembrandt in 1968-69. No new evidence has come to light to challenge these findings, and “A Girl with a Broom” has generally been considered a Carel Fabritius painting by the art community for approximately forty years.
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“The Old Checkered House”
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“The Old Checkered House in 1860″
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The second work of art most frequently viewed on Bewitched is a painting entitled “The Old Checkered House”, painted in 1944 by Grandma Moses.
Grandma Moses
This painting first appeared on the Bewitched set during 1966 in the opening episode of season three, # 75, “Nobody’s Perfect”, where it can be briefly viewed over Samantha and Darrin’s bed.
# 75, “Nobody’s Perfect”
In the following episode, # 76, “The Moment of Truth”, both “The Old Checkered House” and “A Girl with a Broom” made their debuts on Bewitched in the spots they would occupy for most of the show’s run.
# 124, “Samantha’s da Vinci Dilemma”
“The Old Checkered House” holds an unusual distinction in # 76, “The Moment of Truth”, however, as what appears to be duplicate copies of the painting in two different frames and sizes are shown hanging in the Stephen’s home. A smaller version of “The Old Checkered House” can first be spotted hanging in the dining room in the opening scene, and then a larger version of the painting can be viewed in the living room hanging over the fireplace later on in the same episode. In the scene where Larry Tate goes into the kitchen to open a champagne bottle, both the small and large versions of the painting can be viewed in the background, with no explanation given for Samantha and Darrin’s apparent preference for “duplicate decor”. The smaller version of the painting occasionally re-appeared in Samantha and Darrin’s bedroom during subsequent episodes, and also popped up in Sam and Darrin’s Hawthorne Hotel room during the Salem episodes in season eight.
Born Anna Mary Robertson on September 7, 1860 in Greenwich, New York, Grandma Moses was one of ten children of a farmer. She married Thomas S. Moses in 1887 and settled on a farm in Virginia, where she raised her five children (five additional children born to the couple died at birth). The family moved to Eagle Bridge, New York in 1907, where Grandma Moses resided for the remainder of her very long life. After developing arthritis at the age of 76, Grandma Moses abandoned her life-long hobby of embroidery for painting, and the first public exhibition of her paintings in New York in 1940 was an immediate success. Grandma Moses celebrated her 100th birthday in 1960 amidst much fan-fare, and she died the following year at the age of 101, having outlived most of her children.
The “Old Checkered House” theme appeared in numerous Grandma Moses paintings, making it very difficult to ascertain exactly which versions of the painting resided in the Stephen’s collection. The paintings featured on Bewitched may, in fact, have been two different versions of this favorite Grandma Moses theme, but it’s virtually impossible to tell due to the similarities in each version Grandma Moses produced. In this author’s opinion (which may be incorrect), the paintings featured on Bewitched most resemble “The Old Checkered House” (painted in 1944) and “The Old Checkered House in 1860″ (painted in 1942). Both paintings typify the folk art style of the era and were crafted in oil on pressed wood. It’s of interest to note that the checkered house so often depicted in Grandma Moses paintings was in fact a famous inn on the Cambridge turnpike where stagecoach drivers changed horses during the eighteenth century. The inn also served as a field hospital and as General Friedrich Baum’s headquarters during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Grandma Moses remembered seeing the inn during her childhood before it burned down in 1907 and she enjoyed painting it from memory.
“The Old Guitar Player”
During seasons one and two of Bewitched, a painting entitled “The Old Guitar Player” by Pablo Picasso hung over the Stephen’s living room fireplace. This work of art was painted by Picasso in both Paris, France and Barcelona, Spain during 1903-1904 and was originally entitled “Vieux Guitariste Aveugle”, which translates from French into “Old Blind Guitarist”. The painting is also known by the name “The Old Guitarist”. This period of Picasso’s career is known as his “Blue Period” (1901-1904), typified by the somber, blue-toned paintings he created which reflected his mood during this era. It has also been speculated that Picasso was so poor during this time that all he could afford was blue paint. The paintings from Picasso’s “Blue Period” usually depict beggars, prostitutes, harlequins, acrobats and artists, most of whom are shabbily dressed and/or appear to be introspective or unhappy. After struggling as an artist in Paris, Picasso became even more depressed by the 1901 suicide of his friend Carlos Casagemas and the death of his father. Dejected, he returned to Madrid in 1904 after receiving 200 francs for the train fare from a wealthy patron, Madame Besnard, in exchange for his painting “Mere et fils sur le Rivage”. Picasso had a very difficult time selling his paintings during these years, but modern art aficionados now consider his works from The Blue Period among his most sought after. “The Old Guitar Player” is believed by many to be Picasso’s most well-known work from this period. The painting currently resides in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago.
“The Old Guitar Player” is believed to depict Senor Sebastian Mazzarella, a blind artist who became Picasso’s mentor during the early part of his career in Madrid. It’s of interest to note that a vague image of a woman’s face and legs can be seen when the painting is viewed up close, indicating that Picasso painted “The Old Guitar Player” over top of an earlier, unfinished painting.
American poet Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) was inspired to write the following lines after viewing “The Old Guitar Player” in his poem “The Man With the Blue Guitar”:
The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, “You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are.”
The man replied, “Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar.”
And they said then, “But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,
A tune upon the blue guitar
Of things exactly as they are.”
Picasso created “The Old Guitar Player” with the desire that it be displayed vertically, but the Bewitched set decorator hung it over the fireplace horizontally, which was clearly in opposition to the artist’s intentions.
One can only assume that this was purely an aesthetic preference based on the position of the fireplace, and it can indeed be argued that the painting did look somewhat more “conventional” (in generalized modern decorating terms) hung in this manner. But, as with everything relating to Picasso, the word “conventional” was not part of his vocabulary and is perhaps best avoided when approaching his work from any perspective. In order to explain the unusual hanging of “The Old Guitar Player” on Bewitched, producer Danny Arnold answered a November, 1964 Los Angeles Times television article question by explaining that: “the set wall was not high enough to hang the picture properly, so it was hung on its side”.
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Y Picasso was born on October 25th, 1881 in Malaga, Spain and is one of the most celebrated and recognized artists of the 20th century. He is credited, along with fellow artist Georges Braque (1882-1963), with creating “Cubism”, an avant-garde style of sculpture and painting more commonly referred to as “modern” or “abstract” art. During his lifetime, Picasso produced approximately 13,500 paintings and thousands of additional drawings. He also dabbled in sculpture, though to a far lesser degree. Picasso spent most of his life in France where he lived a very hedonistic existence, indulging in countless amorous exploits with his two wives and various mistresses and subsequently fathering four children. His daughter Paloma Picasso (born in 1949) is well-known today as a fashion, fragrance and jewelery designer. Picasso died on April 8th, 1973 in Mougins, France at the age of 91, and his legacy of work continues to command some of the highest prices ever attained in the history of art. His painting “Garcon a la Pipe” sold for $104 million dollars at a Sotheby’s auction held on May 4th, 2004, the highest price ever paid for a work of art to date.
“Jeanne Hebuterne II”
Another well-known work of art in the 1164 collection was a painting entitled “Jeanne Hebuterne II” by Amedeo Modigliani. This painting hung on the wall near the Stephens’ living room window, more commonly referred to by Bewitched fans as “Aunt Clara’s corner”.
The painting depicts the elongated face of a woman rendered in a rather primitive style, displaying Modigliani’s fondness for African and Cambodian art. The painting is actually a portrait of Modigliani’s common-law wife, the French artist Jeanne Hebuterne (1898-1920), and has a rather tragic history connected to it. When Amedeo Modigliani died on January 24, 1920 from tubercular meningitis complicated by alcoholism and an addiction to hashish, Jeanne Hébuterne, almost nine months pregnant, fell into a deep depression. She committed suicide two days later by throwing herself out of a fifth storey window, killing not only herself but also her unborn child. Jeanne’s family blamed Modigliani for her death and buried her in another cemetery, refusing to move her remains next to Modigliani’s at Paris’ Pere Lachaise Cemetery until ten years later. Amedeo and Jeanne’s 15 month old orphaned daughter, Jeanne Modigliani (1918-1984), was raised by relatives in Italy and knew very little about her parents until her adult years, later writing the 1958 biography “Modigliani: Man and Myth”.
Amedeo Modigliani
Amedeo Clemente Modigliani was born to a Jewish family in Livorno, Italy on July 12th, 1884. He contracted tuberculosis at the age of 14 and also struggled with an inherited depressive disorder for the rest of his life. He began painting and sculpting in Italy before moving to Paris, France in 1906, where his bohemian exploits became legendary and he frequently cavorted in the nude at parties and public gatherings. His earliest artistic influences were the works of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Paul Cezanne, but he eventually perfected his own distinct style which set him apart from other artists of this era. His first one-man art exhibit was held at the Berthe Weill Gallery in Paris in 1917, but quickly closed when Paris’ chief of police became offended by Modigliani’s graphic nudes. After many romantic misadventures, Modigliani met the love of his life, the great beauty Jeanne Hébuterne, in 1917, with whom he had a daughter the following year. Modigliani died penniless and relatively unknown in 1920 at the age of 35, but his surviving works of art are now considered masterpieces and reside in museums and private collections throughout the world.
“Glory of the Seas”
The paintings in Darrin’s study contained a large collection of nautical art with a small selection of equestrian art mixed in. The stand-out painting in Darrin’s collection is a large painting entitled “Glory of the Seas” (artist unknown) which was usually hung on the wall behind the sofa. This painting depicts the last great tall ship made by the prolific Canadian-American ship builder and designer, Donald McKay (1810-1880). The Glory of the Seas was launched in Boston on October 21st, 1869 and proudly sailed the seven seas until it was scrapped and burned off the coast of Seattle on May 13th, 1923. During its long career, the Glory of the Seas survived numerous accidents and disasters, most notably the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. The ship’s figurehead is preserved at the India House in New York, and the designer’s half model resides at The Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, VA. Numerous copies of the original painting of the Glory of the Seas have been produced over the years, and contemporary American artist Richard C. Moore currently sells a fine rendition through his website: http://www.ship-paintings.com/age_of_sail.htm
Tabitha’s bedroom also featured some interesting works of art, most notably a painting of Walt Disney’s Bambi and Thumper which appeared above Tabitha’s dresser during season three. The character of Bambi was created by Austrian author Felix Salten in his 1923 book “Bambi, A Life in the Woods”, and later popularized in the 1942 animated movie produced by Walt Disney (1901-1966). “Bambi” was the fifth of Walt Disney’s animated films as well as his favorite, and the movie is now regarded as a beloved classic by audiences around the world.
In addition to Bambi, Tabitha’s art collection also featured a pair of “kitschy” big-eyed paintings of children, popularized during the 1960′s by American artists Margaret and Walter Keane and copied by various other pop artists of the era (Maio, Franco, Eden, Gig, Lee, Igor and Eve are some of the other artists associated with this style of art). Though popular in their day and mass-marketed with tremendous success, “big-eyed” paintings fell out of favor during the 1970′s and 1980′s when they were commonly branded as “ugly”, “creepy” and “bizarre”. However, the paintings experienced a resurgence in popularity during the mid-1990′s, and vintage pieces are now highly sought after by collectors.
“The Polish Rider”
Although they weren’t seen very often, there are a few other memorable pieces of art featured on Bewitched which should also be examined. In the upstairs hallway of 1164 hung a painting entitled “The Polish Rider”. This painting, like “A Girl with a Broom”, has been attributed to the “Dutch Master” Rembrandt (1606-1669), but this has been challenged by the Rembrandt Research Project, who instead believe it was painted by a student of Rembrandt’s named Willem Drost (1633-1659). From Wikipedia:
“Drost had evolved into one of Rembrandt’s most talented disciples, so much so that his 1654 painting titled: Portrait of a Young Woman with her Hands Folded on a Book was one of the ones attributed to Rembrandt for more than 300 years. As well, when the portrait of a young man on horseback titled The Polish Rider was discovered in 1897 it too was attributed to Rembrandt. Acquired by New York City’s Frick Collection, The Polish Rider is one of the Frick Museum’s most valued treasures. However, years ago, the painting’s authenticity was questioned by several scholars, led by the renowned expert Julius Held. Many others, including Dr. Josua Bruyn of the Foundation Rembrandt Research Project, now believe this great painting may also be that of Willem Drost as may be several others. As a result of all these investigations, more and more scholars are looking at Willem Drost’s known works and his reputation has grown in stature to the point that today he is being considered as one of the greatest of the Old Masters.”
The painting has yet to be officially attributed to Willem Drost, however, and investigations into the matter continue. From The Web Gallery of Art:
“There is nothing in the known oeuvre of Drost which possesses the imaginative power and bravura brushwork of The Polish Rider and the case for the reattribution of what is admittedly an unusual painting in Rembrandt’s work must for the time being be considered unproven.”
In 1910, “The Polish Rider” was sold as a work by Rembrandt to American steel magnate Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) for the then enormous sum of 60,000 UK Pounds. The painting still resides in the Fricke collection in New York City, where it is considered one of the museum’s greatest assets.
“Dancers at Rest”
During the first seasons of Bewitched, a painting entitled “Dancers at Rest” hung over Samantha and Darrin’s fireplace in the master bedroom. This work of art was painted by Moses Soyer (1899-1974) during the 1930′s.
Moses Soyer
Born in Czarist Russia on December 25th, 1899, Moses Soyer was one of three artistic brothers (including his twin brother Raphael and another brother named Isaac) born to a Hebrew scholar. The Soyers were expelled from Russia by the Czarists and moved to America in 1912, settling in New York City where Moses began his art training in 1916. After traveling throughout Europe during the 1920′s, Moses returned to New York where he began a career as an art instructor at various schools. He didn’t pursue art as an occupation until he became unemployed during the Great Depression, at which point he began painting and selling his works as a way to survive. He occasionally collaborated with his twin brother Raphael on large projects like murals, but he most often preferred to work alone. He eschewed landscapes for portraits and figure studies, and his works are considered to be excellent examples of Social Realism. Soyer was elected to the National Academy of Design in 1963, and to the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1966. His paintings are displayed in many museums and private collections, and they still attain high prices today on the collector’s market. Moses Soyer passed away in 1974.
“Mona Lisa“
No Bewitched art report would be complete without a glimpse at the Mona Lisa, memorably featured on the show when Elizabeth Montgomey was immortalized as the “Mona Sammy” during season six.
“Mona Sammy”
The original Mona Lisa, also known as “La Jaconde” and “La Gioconda” was painted in Italy between 1503 and 1506 by Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is famous for its subject’s “enigmatic smile”, and is the best known example of Renaissance portraiture in existence. The model for the “Mona Lisa” was a woman named Lisa del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy Florentine businessman named Francesco del Giocondo, and da Vinci loved the portrait so much that he kept it in his private collection until he sold it to King Francois I of France in 1516. It was first displayed in the Royal Chateau of Fontainebleau and then the Palace of Versailles until after the French Revolution (1789–1799), when it was moved to the Louvre. Napoleon I (1769-1821) then commandeered the painting and displayed it in his bedroom at Tuileries Palace until it was returned to the Louvre after his death. After being hidden somewhere in France during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), the painting was again returned to the Louvre, where it remained on display until it was stolen on August 21st, 1911 by Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, who absconded with the painting by hiding in a broom closet and later exiting with the masterpiece hidden under his coat after the museum had closed for the day. A con-man named Eduardo de Valfierno planned the theft with the intention of commissioning a French art forger named Yves Chaudron to paint copies so he could fraudulently sell them on the underground art market as the original “Mona Lisa”. This plan failed, however, and Peruggia hid the “Mona Lisa” in his apartment for two years, evading capture until he tried to sell the painting to a Florentine art dealer in 1913. After being returned to the Louvre, the painting has remained on public display except for brief periods when it was hidden by the French government during World War II and then loaned to the United States in 1962 and Japan in 1974. In 1956, the painting was twice damaged, first by being doused with acid and again when a rock was thrown at it. Because of these incidents, the Louvre protected the painting behind bullet proof glass for many years. In 2005, the Louvre moved the “Mona Lisa” to a specially built climate-controlled enclosure in the museum, again behind bullet proof glass. Though considered priceless by many, the “Mona Lisa” is insured for approximately $645 million dollars, a record for a work of art.
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was a true “Renaissance man”, gifted in the fields of art, science, mathematics, design, anatomy, engineering, geometry, architecture and music. Born in Italy in 1452 to a wealthy Florentine family, Leonardo was sent to the very best schools where he excelled in every field of education. His forward thinking and inquisitive mind led to many innovative ideas and inventions, and da Vinci is credited with attempting to develop the first flying machine in 1496. Many of his theories and ideas would be implemented into modern life centuries after his death, and he is lauded as a genius and one of the greatest painters in history to this very day. Preferring the company of gentlemen, da Vinci never married and he passed away at the age of 67 in 1519.
“The Picasso Maurice“
During the last season of Bewitched, Samantha and Darrin traveled to Europe where they encountered Samantha’s father, Maurice, in episode # 234, “Paris, Witches Style”. With his usual style and flair, Maurice is depicted in a Cubist-style portrait by “Picasso” complete with tophat, cape and cane. The painting, of course, wasn’t actually painted by the great Picasso, but the artist hired by the show’s producers did an excellent job mimicking Picasso’s signature avant-garde style. Picasso is also mentioned in the script for this episode when “Robot Darrin” says, “I ordered a halo, but Pablo must have forgotten”.
This episode aired on October 20th, 1971 and “The Picasso Maurice” compares quite favorably to other Picasso works from the same year. It’s of interest to note that this episode aired four days before Picasso’s 90th birthday on October 25th, 1971, which was celebrated at the Louvre in Paris with a large exhibition of his paintings. Picasso declined to attend, preferring to remain in seclusion at his home where he continued to draw and paint on an almost daily basis. Pablo Picasso died two years later in 1973.
“Girl at Half-Open Door“
During the late 1960′s, the Bewitched set decorators added another Rembrandt work to Samantha and Darrin’s home. The painting, known by the titles “Girl at Half-Open Door” and “Young Girl at Open Half Door”, is one that is not in dispute by the Rembrandt Research Project, giving the painting the distinction of being the only verifiable Rembrandt work in the entire 1164 collection. This painting was created by Rembrandt in 1645 and depicts a young Dutch noblewoman in a classic pose. Special thanks to Jean Yannes (MacDodo) and Wizzy for their help in identifying this painting on the Harpies Bizarre message board.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was born in The Netherlands on July 15, 1606 and was educated at the University of Leiden. He moved to Amsterdam in 1631 where he became a successful portrait painter and art instructor. Rembrandt married his art dealer’s great-niece, Saskia van Uylenburgh, in 1634 and fathered three children, two of whom died in infancy. His wife tragically passed away in 1642 after giving birth to their only surviving son, Titus, and Rembrandt never re-married. He did, however, fall in love again, this time with his much younger maidservant, Hendrickje Stoffels, with whom he had a daughter, Cornelia, in 1654. This relationship was quite controversial, and Hendrickje was chastized by the Dutch Reformed Church for “living in sin”. After years of collecting art and living beyond his means, Rembrandt was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1656. He sold most of his paintings and moved to a smaller house in Rozengracht, where Hendrickje and his son Titus set up an art shop. Following the deaths of Hendrickje and Titus, Rembrandt passed away on October 4th, 1669 in Amsterdam. It was believed for centuries that Rembrandt painted almost 700 works, but the Rijksmuseum in The Netherlands now states that the actual number of paintings which can be officially attributed to Rembrandt is around 300. Rembrandt also created an additional 300 etchings and 1,400 drawings, many of which are on display in museums and private collections around the world.
Kasey Rogers
In the # 198, “Mona, Sammy” episode during season six, the plot called for Louise Tate, played by the beautiful Kasey Rogers, to be immortalized on canvas by Darrin, with a little “help” from Endora. Much hilarity ensued when the Tates became offended by the completed painting, known as “The Goofy Louise” due to the cross-eyed, learing grin featured on the portrait. Two paintings of Kasey Rogers were commissioned by the producers of Bewitched for this episode, and both were painted by a studio artist from a set of Polaroid photos taken of Kasey specifically for this purpose.
 
One portrait depicted “Lovely Louise”, the other the infamous “Goofy Louise”, and both show Miss Rogers clad in a stunning green gown. After the episode was completed, Kasey Rogers was given both paintings, which she proudly displayed in her Los Angeles home for many years. Special thanks to Miss Rogers’ dear companion Mark Wood for so generously contributing the photo of Kasey with the paintings to Harpies Bizarre.
“Study for the Jugglers: Girl with Dog”
During seasons one and two of Bewitched, yet another Picasso adorned the walls of 1164. This painting was entitled “Étude pour Les Bateleurs: Jeune fille avec chien” (“Study for the Jugglers: Girl with Dog”), and it hung near the front door in Samantha and Darrin’s living room. Painted in Paris in 1905, this work of art is a companion piece to Picasso’s other 1905 painting “Garçon avec chien” (“Boy with Dog”), which currently resides in the collection of The State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia.
“Boy with Dog”
“Study for the Jugglers: Girl with Dog” was crafted by Picasso using pastel and gouache on paper, and the original resided for a time in the collection of American film producer/studio executive William Goetz (1903-1969) and his wife in Los Angeles, California. Following Mrs. Goetz death, their art collection was sold at auction in 1987 and the current whereabouts of “Study for the Jugglers: Girl with Dog” is unknown. Special thanks to samlove and Flapdoodle for helping to identify this painting.
“Landscape with Trees and Figures”
In episode # 118, “Allergic to Macedonian Dodo Birds”, Endora displays a fingerpainting created by Tabitha and proclaims it to be “an original Van Gogh landscape”. The painting used in this scene was, in fact, a work by Van Gogh entitled “Landscape with Trees and Figures” which the great Dutch master painted during his stay at a mental hospital in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France during November of 1889. The painting currently resides in the collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art.
Vincent Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh was born in The Netherlands on March 30th, 1853 in a town called Zundert. By the age of fifteen he’d already left school and was working as an art dealer in The Hague. He then embarked on a brief period of religious training at a Protestant missionary school, after which he intended to become a minister of the Dutch reformed church like his father. This plan, however, failed miserably when the first signs of Vincent’s life-long battle with mental illness began to appear. In 1880 he took up painting at the suggestion of his brother, creating some of the world’s finest works of art during a prolific but brief ten year period. His emotional problems became quite pronounced during this time, exacerbated by a bout with gonorrhoea, Vincent’s fondness for absinthe, a problematic romantic life, and possible lead poisoning from the paints that he used. On December 23rd, 1888, Vincent’s emotional imbalances caused him to cut off the lower part of his left ear which he then wrapped in newspaper and gave to a prostitute, advising her to “keep this object carefully.” Vincent spent the next two years in and out of various hospitals, volleying between periods of lucidity followed by hallucinations and paranoia. He continued to paint throughout this period and was hailed as a genius by French art critic Albert Aurier in the literary magazine “Mercure de France”, but his life was already drawing to a close. After painting seventy oil paintings in seventy days, Vincent fell into a deep depression and walked into a field on July 27th, 1890 and shot himself in the chest. Apparently not realizing what he had done or even that he was fatally wounded, he walked back to an Inn in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris where he died in his bed at the age of 37 two days later. His last recorded words were “La tristesse durera toujours” (“the sadness will last forever”). In the years following his death, Van Gogh’s works have become greatly prized and are held in high regard as masterpieces of post-impressionism. His paintings command very high prices on the art market, with his most well-known painting “Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers” selling for $39,921,750 at a March 1987 Christie’s auction in London. Special thanks to Wizzy for recognizing and confirming Tabitha’s painting as being this Van Gogh landscape.
Source Notes:
Books:
“Designs on the Heart: The Homemade Art of Grandma Moses”
by Karal Ann Marling, Harvard University Press, 2006.
“Rembrandt: The Painter at Work”
by Ernst van de Wetering, Amsterdam University Press, 2002.
“Rembrandt: The Master and His Workshop”
Edited by Christopher Leslie Brown, Jan Kelch, and Pieter van Thiel
Yale University Press, 1991.
“Modigliani: Behind the Myth”
by Maurice Berger, Emily Braun, Tamar Garb, Griselda Pollock, Mason Klein
Published by The Jewish Museum, 2004.
Internet Research:
http://www24.brinkster.com/wisewoman/Docs/MosesNotes.htm
http://www24.brinkster.com/wisewoman/Docs/MosesOldHouse.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt
http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt179.html
http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=84+0+none
http://www.tvacres.com/art_paintings_bewitched.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carel_Fabritius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mona_Lisa
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/vinci/joconde/
http://www.ship-paintings.com/glory_of_the_seas.htm
http://www.ship-paintings.com/age_of_sail.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_McKay
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Glory_of_the_Seas(1869).html
http://beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/beatldb/maritimedb/display/person_view.asp?ppl_id=134
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/donald-mckay/
http://www.eraoftheclipperships.com/page72.html
http://www.margaretkeane.com/margaretkeanebio.htm
http://members.tripod.com/~besmirched/eyes.html
http://www.allposters.com/-st/Carel-Fabritius-Posters_c24244_.htm?aid=419797174
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1903_in_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Hebuterne
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kalden/dart/d-a-fabrit.htm
http://www.marquette.edu/opa/newsroom/news/pr101303.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasso
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandma_Moses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Keane
http://www.artservicesintl.org/exhibitions_002.htm
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/The-Old-Guitar-Player-1903-Posters_i96749_.htm
http://www.artivisio-kunstdrucke.de/bilder/kunstdruck/46-modigliani.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Modigliani
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/episodeguide.htm
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/masterbroom.htm
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/f/fabritiu/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft_Explosion
http://www.bookrags.com/Grandma_Moses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Baum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_war
http://abstractart.20m.com/Pablo_Picasso.html
http://picasso.tamu.edu/picasso/
http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/socialists/Old_Guitar_P-ld
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Period
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Guitarist
http://www.mischahof.com/bewitched/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Stevens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism
http://www.1164.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_Lachaise_Cemetery
http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships/Clippers/Glory_of_the_Seas(1869).html
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rembran/painting/z_other/rider.html
http://bigeyedmasters.tripod.com/BIGEYEDMASTERS.html
http://www.donniedunagan.com/gallery_bambi.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034492/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Drost
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frick_Museum
http://www.bobvila.com/Shop/M-Lithographs-Antiques-4.html
http://www.wheelcare.org/gallery/42.html
http://collectionsonline.lacma.org
http://www.wwar.com/masters/s/soyer-moses.html
http://www.spfld-museum-of-art.org/collection/soyer_m.html
http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/soyer_moses.html
http://www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/soyer_moses_ballet_dancer.htm
http://www.phillipscollection.org/american_art/bios/soyer_m-bio.htm
http://www.artnet.de/event/84677/moses-soyer-1899-1974-getting-personal.html
http://www.mfordcreech.com/soyer.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci
http://picasso.tamu.edu/picasso/BioIndex?Year=1971&Quarter=4
http://picasso.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1971&CurrentItem=1&ViewStyle=detail
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/picassomaurice.htm
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/scripts8.htm#234
http://www.eyeconart.net/history/Baroque/Dutch.htm
http://arthistory.cc/auth2/rembrandt/index.htm
http://www.wsu.edu:8001/~dee/ENLIGHT/REMB.HTM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Reformed_Church
http://www.harpiesbizarre.com/goofylouise.htm
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057733/episodes
http://picasso.tamu.edu/picasso/WorksIndex?Year=1905&ViewStyle=gallery&CurrentItem=121
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goetz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh
http://www.vggallery.com/painting/p_0818.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Aurier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercure_de_France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflowers_%28paintings%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zundert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auvers-sur-Oise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_R%C3%A9my_de_Provence
http://www.vangoghgallery.com/
http://www.vggallery.com/
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Follow the money: Andy Warhol’s “Dollar Sign” paintings
Leap Away Girl 1969, Ian Scott
This is the first post on a series of that will delve into how writers can use the 4 elements to help them develop their characters and plot
Why that would be useful for a writer? 3 main reasons:
Fire: Imaginative, Enthusiastic and Inspirational Characters
Earth: Practical, Stable, Materialistic, Realistic Character
Air: Intellectual, Communicative and Social Character. 
Water: Emotional, Psychic, Mystical, Intuitive Characters.
Today, we start with the Fire Element. Some keywords that describes this element and consequently the fire signs (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius) are:
The Fire Element Characters’ Positive Traits and Attributes
The Fire Element Characters’ Negative Traits and Attributes
The Earth Element Characters’ Positive Traits and Attributes
The Earth Element Characters’ Negative Traits and Attributes
Your story plot calls for a character that is intellectual, unconventional, constantly in their head, a little bit like a distracted scientist. You have tried different tactics to get under his skin, but somehow your “perfect” character is not living and breathing in the pages of your story. So what do you do?
The orator, the brainy kid, the communicator, the rational guy that think things through in your story, all of them pertain to the Air element.
The Air Element Characters’ Positive Traits and Attributes
The Water Element Characters’ Negative Traits and Attributes
