parfois le folie est la sagesse......

ok, so....my middle child would have been proud of me as i slowly toured the single-room exhibition at the central library in lexington of zelda fitzgerald's artwork.....i took notes......copious notes, in a fashion....because there was no catlog for sale......no postcards, no posters.....and i would have gladly lifted a few of the pieces right off the wall if i thought i could have gotten by with it.......which i might have if i had a car waiting....as i was the only person making my way methodically around the room......which is not my art-viewing style on most occassions....but zelda's body of work amazed me as well as delighted my memories of childhood fairytales or cities taken in with childish wonder........let me begin with my favorite piece.......which was like many other pieces.....a triplet sort of presentation........a middle character in underclothing.....flanked by costumes for that character........the one i kept coming back to was the wolff, (that is how she spelled it) from red riding hood.......ideally, the art director for this project would have put red riding hood, grandma and the wolff in proximity.....i came close to moving the pieces by myself.....again...i was the only one there, my eldest having bolted for the audio collection upstairs.......the wolff was tall and drawn sinewy and muscular, but in a gender/bending manner that made one unsure if this was a male or female wolff......the black wolff wore a provocative red undergarment somewhat off the shoulder........and had the look of.....anime......and was captioned 'wolff, wollf'......the outfit to the right looked straight out of starwars.....a black hooded getup with several weapons and high black boots, with the caption....'the bigger and badder of wolves'......while the costume on the right was the same wolff wearing a white gossamer wedding-type dress with white wings peaking from behind and an evocative veil.......captioned...'who also owned a party dress'.........the colors were brilliant, the style fantastical......and the feel.......a contemperary pitch for an anime production of red riding hood.....keep in mind that these drawings were from the mid 1940's, when she was institutionalized after her breakdown...or at least the fairy tale ones.......the grandma triptych was as good or better......a sensuously drwan grandma in racy white under garments ...captioned....grandma blissfully reassigned to the wolff age....on the right was a blue, red and black peasant sort of outfit titled 'grandma at the office'......at the right a white and black fanciful evening gown captioned 'grandma en fete'......and then there is red riding hood herself, a bleached blonde......in a white swimsuit of the 40's genre......captioned 'a real joy to the summer day'.........with a red riding hood outfit on the left called red riding hood in haut coutour........and another version on the right termed red riding hood in academic vein............so clever, so unexpected in terms of detail, whimsey, complete understanding of the storyline.......gosh darn....i was very impressed.........there were others that struck my fancy less......the little pigs, alice in wonderland.....the entire fitzgerald family and staff painted on a lampshade.........her cityscapes were delightful......place de l'opera, le pantheon and the luxembourg gardens....thought her best was of central park....that literally sang with people enjoying a lovely sunny day.........i go on and on about these pcitures because 1) they were quite good, and i judge quite good by what i would be prepared to buy and display on my own walls.......2). they were so unexpected.....my literary experience with zelda is totally from hemingway's a movable feast, and a bit from tender is the night.......i don't know what i would find, but it wasn't this.......3)i was struck by the force that was zelda, in an unmedicated state.........these days, someone with manic depression would be drugged to the point that there would be no mood swings, but also no temperament driven to create.......i cannot say for certain that these were the works of a crazy woman....though the motto given as title, meaning sometimes madness is wisdom was on the brochure she gave out at her only one-woman show in nyc in 1934.........yes, sometimes madness is wisdom.......those who read my blog and live near lexington owe it to themselves to pop in and take a quick look......park in the library lot, see the pieces, get your parking ticket validated at the desk, trot on down to natasha's for greek appetizers and wine......then go on back home.......i am surprised to feel so passionate about her work......and this is saying a lot, from someone who has traveled extensively to see works i enjoyed far less.............