JOHANNES AND HIS FRIEND SAY WEAR A MASK

And last in this series, Dan Ricketts' spin on Vermeer's Girl With A Pearl Earring. The earring is a bit hard to spot. The first version had white polka dots on the mask, perhaps a reference to the pearl. Rickets changed his mind, as painters do.

I once had the privilege of seeing this painting in person.  It is in a small museum in The Hague. It's surprisingly little but the beauty made my jaw drop. In a way, it is like the Grand Canyon or the Taj Mahal. No photograph can prepare you for the experience of standing before it.

Got a good and rather unusual Thursday Arch Series picture for tomorrow.            

GOD AND ADAM SAY WASH YOUR HANDS

But no shaking hands. No touching. And, um, remember not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.               

VINCENT SAYS WEAR A MASK

More of Dan Ricketts' downtown mural along with the artist at work. It's a good thing that Van Gogh has something to anchor both earloops with. I didn't see it on the street but now, on the bright computer screen, I notice that this mask is translucent. Ricketts painted the mouth and lower half of the nose before overlaying the mask.

Still a bit more of this to come.          

FRIEDA SAYS WEAR A MASK

St. Louisan Dan Ricketts has a business called St. Louis Sign and Mural (slogan: a business without a sign is a sign of no business). He is painting a triptych of Covid 19 messages on an older building downtown. There was an article about it in the local paper yesterday and I had to go look for myself. Frieda Kahlo's mask is the flag of the City of St. Louis (available here). The other two panels based on famous works of art are in progress. I'll stop back later today.

TODAY'S RANT: after I left Ricketts' installation I drove through Forest Park looking for something to shoot. Came up empty-handed but I did see four wedding parties at the usual photo spots, all clustered together, not a single person wearing a mask. But wait, we can't have masks in our wedding pictures! The virus is roaring out of control in this area. Idjits. Selfish, uncaring, stupid idjits. IDJITS.        

CITY DAILY PHOTO MONTHLY THEME DAY - CITY PEOPLE

City Daily Photo theme days are planned months in advance by our administrators. Occasionally, one may turn out to be particularly ironic. That's the case today with so many fewer people on the street. I went into the archives and chose this picture of the Crowes with Ellie in production, taken at the St. Louis Style House where all things Louie can be obtained. Part of the city's great seal is behind us, emphasizing the urban connection.