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Still from Nachtstücke, Richard Teschner

Still from Nachtstücke

This alarming photograph is a still from Richard Teschner’s puppet theater production of Nachtstücke, or ‘Night Pieces’ by the German composer Robert Schumann. The Nachtstücke was written in four parts, inspired by the death of Schumann’s brother, with the last piece descending into cacophony mirroring the composer’s own declining mental health. This scene may be from part 2, The Queer Assembly, or part 3, Night Revelry. read more
The Etruscans, 400BCE
Chimera of Arezzo
This is an undeniably modern interpretation. The chimera, like most beasts of antiquity, was the bad guy. Child of the giant serpent Typhon and the half woman half snake Echidna (you know her from the Starbucks logo) the Chimera was an abominable thing, unnatural combination of lion and goat, with the head of a snake for a tail. Her brothers and sisters live in legend. read more
Chimera of Arezzo, The Etruscans
Toyen
What's in a name?
Names are assigned to us before we are aware of their meaning, and we grow into them as much as they come to reflect us. In Japan artists often changed names after milestones in their lives, but in the west, once you've been given a name, you're usually stuck with it—a rigidity that makes claiming a new name even more powerful magic. read more
Toyen, The Artists
Sascha Schneider, 1904
Hypnosis
To Sascha Schneider the male body was perfection, and the world its antagonist. Schneider worked in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the development of Freikörperkultur, free body culture, also called the Health and Hygiene movement. Freikörperkultur aimed to counteract the restraint and stress of industrialization with a restorative mix of open air nudity, exercise, and healthy diet. read more
Hypnosis, Sascha Schneider
Born on June 4
Charles Dellschau
Anti-gravity fuel and the adventures of the Sonora Aero Club
Let’s summarize Charles Dellschau’s life quickly, because at first, it seems relatively boring. Born in Berlin in 1830, Dellschau immigrated to the United States at age 19 and worked as a butcher near Houston Texas. He married a widow, raised three children, and served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War. After his wife and son died in 1877, Dellschau worked as a clerk for his son-in-law’s saddlery until his death in 1923. read more
Charles Dellschau, The Artists

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