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Art History Lesson, by Julia Caroline Knowlton

3/23/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
Lunch on the Grass, by Edouard Manet (France) 1863.

Art History Lesson

One perfect, winter afternoon in the Louvre

I stood in front of Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe
for almost an hour.  No one else was around.
Inside my mind, the snow falling outside. 

I stared & stared: nude woman seated closely 
with two clothed men. Their legs & feet intertwined.   
His black shoe not quite touching her ivory statue foot.
Same old illusion, I thought--ménage à trois.
Her direct gaze—flash & depth of brown eyes!   
A little ennui. Blue ribbon on straw hat. Spilled fruit 
on the grass. Prostitute or goddess? Well yes, that’s all of us.

​Julia Caroline Knowlton

Julia Caroline Knowlton holds a BA degree in English/French from Duke, MA & PhD degrees in French Literature from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. The author of a memoir (Body Story, 2004) and a poetry chapbook (The Café of Unintelligible Desire, 2018), she is Professor of French at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.  Her accomplishments include an Academy of American Poets College Prize, a Pushcart Prize Nomination, and a fellowship at Antioch. Her poetry has been published in many journals, including Roanoke Review and Raw Art Review. She is currently focused on polishing and publishing her first full-length book of poems.
2 Comments
JULIA CAROLINE KNOWLTON link
3/23/2019 08:26:47 pm

When I beheld this painting for the first time in 1983, it was in the Louvre. The experience of looking at the painting inspired my poem.
The Musée d'Orsay, where the painting is now located, did not open until 1986.
--JCK

Reply
Arthur Wilson link
5/6/2022 02:00:25 pm

Their legs & feet intertwined his black shoe not quite touching her ivory statue foot. Thank you for sharing your great post!

Reply



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