Rosemary Mayer
A.I.R. Gallery, New York
28th April – 16th May, 1973

“I hold in my hands my two eyes, and see only what I touch.”

Juana Inez de la Cruz c.1670

“Green…adaptability…deceit…the wish to be all things to all men…sympathy.

Crimson and rose…affection; a full clear carmine…a strong healthy affection…, pure pale rose…unselfish love. Deep orange…pride or ambition…,the various shades of yellow…intellect or intellectual gratification, dull yellow ochre…selfish purposes, clear gamboge…a higher type, pale luminous primrose yellow…unselfish use of intellectual power..,violet…affection and devotion…

The brilliancy and the depth of the colors are usually a measure of the strength and activity of the feeling.”

 

Annie Besant & C.W. Leadbeater in Thought Forms, 1901.

“The underskirt may be made of three or more widths of glazed plain chintz to simulate satin, …for the skirt, of the same fabric as the bodice, Canton flannel, sateen or inexpensive rayon drapery fabric will give a textured effect. The overskirt should be cut from straight lengths of cloth eight to ten inches longer than the petticoat, sewed to a waistband or to the bodice. Loop it up on each side, pin or sew in place and add the bows of ribbon.”

Mary Evans in Historic Costumes,1942.

 

Galla Placidia, 1973, satin, rayon, nylon, cheesecloth, nylon netting, wood, acrylic paint, ribbon, bleach, dye.

The title refers to Galla Placidia who, from 425A.D. until her death in 450, ruled the Western Roman Empire, from Rome and later Ravenna, for her incompetent son Valentinian III, the last more or less legitimate Emperor of the West.

Hroswitha, 1972-3, flannel, rayon, nylon netting, fiberglas rayon, wood, acrylic paint.

The title refers to Hroswitha, a German Latin poet of Gandersheim in Saxony. The nuns of Hroswitha’s convent performed her plays for the court of Theophano (of Byzantium) and Otto I, c. 980. Hroswitha originated the themes of Faust and Romeo and Juliet.

The Catherines, 1973, nylon, cheesecloth, pellon, fiberglas rayon, ribbon, wood, dyes, bleach, acrylic paint.

The title refers to: Catherine Sforza, Lady of Forli and Imola, who was a rival of Lorenzo dei Medici for power in Tuscany, c. 1475; Catherine dei Medici, Queen of France, who ruled during the minorities of her many sons until her death in 1589; Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, who is considered the cause of Henry VIII’s conversion of England to Protestantism; Catherine Cornaro, a Venetian noble known for her beauty, who ruled as

Queen of Cyprus from 1473 until 1489; Catherine I of Russia, born into a family of servants, who ruled Russia after the death of her husband, Peter the Great; Catherine II the Great, Empress of Russia from 1762 until her death in 1796, who was responsible for much of the expansion of Russia; Catherine of Sienna, a fourteenth century mystic and author of religious dialogues and treatises, who brought about the return of the Pope to Rome and was influential during the Great Schism.

 (Original Press Release from A.I.R. Gallery)

©2020 The Rosemary Mayer Estate and A.I.R. Gallery, New York