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| Rachel Ruysch Bouquet of Flowers ca. 1690-95 oil on canvas Hamburger Kunsthalle |
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| Jan Davidsz de Heem Vanitas Still Life with Fruit, Flowers and Oysters 1652 oil on panel Národní Galerie, Prague |
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| Jacob van Walscapelle Still Life with Bouquet of Flowers 1677 oil on canvas Städel Museum, Frankfurt |
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| Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder Roses in a Glass Vase ca. 1619 oil on copper Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Henri Fantin-Latour Roses in a Vase 1872 oil on canvas Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |
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| Florine Stettheimer Bouquet for Ettie 1927 oil on canvas Rhode Island School of Design, Providence |
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| Nikolaos Gyzis Flowers ca. 1890 oil on canvas National Gallery, Athens |
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| Hans Thoma Meadow Flowers 1872 oil on canvas Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
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| Franz Werner Tamm Bouquet of Flowers 1704 oil on canvas Deutsche Barockgalerie, Augsburg |
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| Jean-Baptiste Oudry Corner of the Garden of Monsieur de La Bruyère 1744 oil on canvas Detroit Institute of Arts |
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| Louis Valtat Flowers ca. 1912 oil on canvas Milwaukee Art Museum |
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| Odilon Redon Flowers in a Green Vase ca. 1905 oil on canvas Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh |
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| Anonymous Italian Artist Bouquet on a Stone Pedestal ca. 1650-75 oil on canvas Detroit Institute of Arts |
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| Daniel Seghers Flowers in a Glass Vase ca. 1630 oil on canvas Národní Galerie, Prague |
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| Anonymous Dutch Artist Bouquet of Flowers 1680 watercolor and gouache on vellum Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam |
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| Hans Simon Holtzbecher Botanical Border ca. 1665-70 gouache on vellum Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin |
A Bowl of Fruit
When I think of that room
I see the de Kooning at the end of the hall
Sometimes rain on the long windows
Or the tinkering of drops on the skylight
But not Yvon
Splashing Scotch into a cocktail glass
Otherwise fastidious –
Or the tinkering of drops on the skylight
But not Yvon
Splashing Scotch into a cocktail glass
Otherwise fastidious –
In retrospect
I should have asked her more
About the famous jazz guitarist
She had been engaged to
But that much was true –
Even after she bought me a pocket knife
Sheathed in velvet
Every young man needs a knife
She informed her group
But in the restaurant her friends
Eyed me like a turnip. One that talked –
While she was away at her office,
I tried to read
Her unfinished essay
On the vagaries of diplomacy
Reclining
On a rug of embroidered storks
I should have asked her more
About the famous jazz guitarist
She had been engaged to
But that much was true –
Even after she bought me a pocket knife
Sheathed in velvet
Every young man needs a knife
She informed her group
But in the restaurant her friends
Eyed me like a turnip. One that talked –
While she was away at her office,
I tried to read
Her unfinished essay
On the vagaries of diplomacy
Reclining
On a rug of embroidered storks
The two small Rodins
Seemed misplaced
A grand piano
Seemed misplaced
A grand piano
She didn't play
(though I did, affecting a controlled
passion
(though I did, affecting a controlled
passion
while gazing over rooftops
at carefully maintained gardens) –
at carefully maintained gardens) –
I don't remember her smell
I don't recall her fingers
I don't recall her fingers
The last I heard she was living in Barcelona
She never did learn to cook
Now her letters are worth money
She never did learn to cook
Now her letters are worth money
– Robert Vandermolen (2010)