It’s Labor Day in the United States and Labour Day or Fête du Travail in Canada.
A celebration of the creative work accomplished by hand seems appropriate for today.
The hands making things and hands made by hand were made by:
No. 1 & 8: The right and left hands of “David” by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1501-1504, Gallerie dall’Accademia, No. 2 & 7: Detail from the woodblock, “Women enacting the process of cutting and printing woodblocks for popular prints,” by Utagawa Kunisada, 1857, British Museum. No. 3: Snapping a line detail from “The Holy Family in the Carpenter’s Shop,” attributed to Jean Tassel, 1608-1667, photo via artnet. No. 4: Detail from “Builders n.1,” by Jacob Lawrence, 1974, Musei Vaticani. No. 5: Detail of a relief panel carved from gypsum alabaster, Neo-Assyrian from Nimrud, ca. 883-859 BCE, Met Museum. No. 6: Detail from “The Lacemaker,” by Johannes Vermeer, 1669-1670, The Louvre. No. 9: Detail of a relief panel carved from gypsum alabaster, Neo-Assyrian from Dur-Sharrukin, ca. 8th century BCE, The Louvre.
Happy Labor or Labour Day – Bonne Fête du Travail!
–Suzanne Ellison
My favorite part of this is that AI always whiffs the hands. Look at that: it takes a human to draw the thing that we use to put forth so much of our humanity. What fun!
Merci beaucoup Suzanne!