viz.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

In 1952, Dame Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) announced intentions to translate her own novel Fanfare for Elizabeth (1946) into a Hollywood script. British and American newspapers ran a common story detailing her extravagant costume and monstrous physiognomy at the event: “The statuesque Miss Sitwell appeared in a black gilded cowl (‘I resemble Henry VII strongly—he was an ugly old man’) and a black bombazine floor-length dress, and sported long gilt fingernails. She also wore a topaz ring some two inches square, and her wrists were two huge gold bangles” (TD 49). Click ‘Read More’ to follow the thread of my post on how irony, affect, and materialism provide possible lenses for interpreting the above photograph, which features an icon of English eccentricity and literary modernity across from Marilyn Monroe. 

The former Main Labor Department mural, Judy Taylor, via The Portland Press Herald

As of Monday, a 36-foot mural in the Maine Department of Labor was removed by order of Governor LePage because of its perceived "anti-business" bias.  The mural, created by artist Judy Taylor, depicted scenes from Maine's labor history and was criticized by local business leaders for being overtly "pro-union" and therefore inappropriate for a taxpayer-funded building.  Debate over the mural, of course, appears to be an extension of the intense debates about the status of the labor movement nationwide, but particularly in states like Wisconsin and Illinois, where public-sector unions have experienced considerable political setbacks following the conservative "wave" election of 2010.