http://www.radioopensource.org/erica-hirshlers-biography-of-a-masterpiece/

I see the burgeoning independence of femininity in the face of futility…just as I see here:

http://www.allpaintings.org/d/54618-1/Edgar+Degas+-+The+Duchess+di+Montajesi+with+Her+Daughters.jpg

I also notice that the vases are much bigger than the girls…I sense those vases taking precedence in this household…these ornaments so priceless are give license to say more than the adolescents in the room, I suspect.

And the dresses of these prim and proper white girls all match a whiteness that bonds them in blandness. Ironically the head of this household could surely go on for hours about the vibrant colors of their rug, but the style of their offsping will most assuredly stay beneath the rug…emotions in this painting are kept as close to the vest as the motionless hands of the girls.

Now that I’ve looked at the painting, I will listen to the interview and post later on. Thank you, Christopher Lydon, as always. Lots of Love. We especially need the arts as an antidote of beauty during this oppression of carnage.