Lance Calkin, British
Santa’s Billionaire Brother, Mortimer Claus IV, 1890
Oil on canvas
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: MASTERPIECE #444 (12/25/11)
Other than what's in his Wikipedia page, I could find no online info about this artist.
/// Joseph Wolf is shown here with his “hobby.”
(That’s what falcons were called by the snobby.)
When its wings were unfurled
it soared o’er the Old World,
but in size it was slight— almost squabby.
/// These small raptors were fiercer than sharks;
their sharp eyes seemed to shoot off hot sparks.
The new German nation
had less exaltation
since these hobbies were trained to hunt larks.
/// A great animal-artist of fame
Wolf, ironically, had a beast’s name.
Though he looked like Saint Nick,
and was lively and quick,
to Joe, reindeer were only big game.
/// Joseph’s hobby was shared by a few
who love falcons and learned to subdue
those who put up a fight.
Joseph gripped his bird tight.
It’s the reason his bow tie’s askew.
/// Ralph Vaughan Williams composed “Lark Ascending,”
so evocative— truly heart-rending.
But, it’s my understanding
that, by kestrel or landing,
the lark’s long ascent must have an ending.
/// Nineteen-fourteen was when it was done,
the same year that commenced World War One.
But Ralph’s orchestral lark,
was no “shot in the dark,”
and not aimed at his land’s foe, “the Hun.”