A Man For All Seasons - 1966

A Man for All Seasons - 1966

Anonymous, Portrait of an Elegant Lady (1790′s). Oil on canvas.

“Anne’s final legacy is one of which she would have been entirely unaware. Although Anne can never have realised, she was to be only the second wife of England’s most married monarch. When Anne met Henry he had been married to Catherine of Aragon, a foreign princess, for many years and Henry’s marital career was entirely conventional. Henry and Catherine had no son and, after Catherine’s death he would have been expected to quickly remarry, perhaps to a French princess or another lady of the imperial family. Anne Boleyn changed all this. By insisting on marriage and driving Henry onwards, she broadened the king’s horizons. Marriage to Anne showed Henry the possibility of choosing his own wife from amongst the noblewomen of his court. The marriage also showed other women, most notably Jane Seymour, the possibility of becoming a second Anne Boleyn. More pertinently, the break with Rome gave Henry the ability to rid himself of wives quickly and easy whenever he saw fit. Thanks to Anne, Henry never found himself married to another Catherine of Aragon clinging determinedly to her position. Instead Henry was able to change his wife whenever the mood suited him. This was the work of Anne Boleyn although she can never have expected or wanted it.”

— Elizabeth Norton, “Anne Boleyn: Henry VIII’s Obsession”

Edward Robert Hughes (1851-1914) “Dream Idyll (A Valkyrie)” Gouache and pastel on paper

“The Portrait of Mrs. Ettinger” by Samuel Hirszenberg (Polish-Jewish,1865-1908; Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris.

Harlem in the 1920s.

“Harlem was the end of the line, the promise land, the place where all our fantasies came true. If I had to choose between Heaven and Harlem… Harlem, of course, would win everytime.” - Ossie Davis