The Vulgar Eclectic

Category: art

  • JMW Turner and Ruskin

    In The Queen of the Air, John Ruskin mentions the landscape painter J. M. W. Turner several times, and once refers to a specific work of his. Perhaps it is this painting. Here is the passage: “But, opposite me, is an early Turner drawing of the lake of Geneva, taken about two miles from Geneva,…

  • Our Army at War

    Four beautiful panels by Russ Heath from issue #253 of Our Army at War, January 1973.

  • Whaling

    This set of whaling-themed tobacco cards from Ogden’s was released in 1927. It’s a 25 card set with beautiful images of ships, whales, sailors, and equipment. I can’t help but be reminded of Melville’s great chronicle of the sea, and Ahab’s obsessive quest for the solitary leviathan called by sailors Moby Dick.  “But as for…

  • Sea Adventure

    I added a new set of tobacco cards to my small collection. As you can see from the back of the card, it is called Sea Adventure and consists of 50 cards. There are quite a few beautiful images in the set, and I think this Robinson Crusoe one is a good example.