Supporter Sidebar: The art of Ferdinand von Wright

"Nature is a haunted house—but Art—is a house that tries to be haunted."
— Emily Dickinson

Dear Supporters,

Before I get into the topic of this short essay, the Finnish painter Ferdinand von Wright, I’d give an update about the English Republic of Letters.

About this time last year, finding my publishing schedule no longer in harmony with my available time or energy, I resolved to switch from weekly to fortnightly essays. In the event, however, I seemed to gather momentum as the year progressed and continued more or less with weekly essays.

However, as one or two of you may have noticed, I haven’t maintained that rhythm of work recently. Obligations of various kinds that I won’t go into here have meant that I am unable to write as much or publish as frequently as before.

So I am letting you know that you can expect two regular free essays from me per month for the foreseeable future. The Supporter Sidebar, such as this one, which comes out roughly once a month for paying subscribers, will continue as before.

I don’t expect these changes to lead to an outcry – our inboxes are all full of newsletters, and few people complain that they don’t have enough to read. But I thought I should let you know, rather than silently defaulting on the previous publishing arrangement.

As always, thank you for supporting and reading the English Republic of Letters!

While finishing off my essay Wagtail tales, I began to search for images to accompany the piece. I had hoped to use one of my own photos, but I find them difficult birds to photograph. For one thing, they never stay still for very long! So I looked online for images. I didn’t expect to find too many images of wagtails, but I soon came across a rather stunning image of a white wagtail by a painter whose name was unfamiliar to me: Ferdinand von Wright.

I found myself intrigued by von Wright’s vivid art featuring the natural world. It was a long way from the ethereal colouring of the world of von Wright’s approximate contemporary Claude Monet, whose work I’d seen in Tokyo earlier this year. And while looking through his work, if I didn’t fall into a deep rabbit hole, I did at least trip happily over the nest, or form, of a hare.