Thursday, 14 January 2021

AN OLD BIRMINGHAM POSTCARD: "I BEG TO DRAW YOUR ATTENTION"...

 An Old Birmingham Postcard: 

‘I Beg To Draw Your Attention…’



No artist’s canvas stool,

No easel towards an English landscape leans;

No sketchbook, no pencil, no oils, 

No studio, no other means…


Pre-Raphaelite classics in a gallery unfold,

Near sea dramas from the Newlyn School;

Portraits, triptychs and Renaissance art are displayed,

Over which curators like to run the rule… 


Yet the subject creates his own masterpiece

Upon a pavement, down on his knees;

Is he really so markedly different though

From the more fortunate devotees?


Drawing attention to his cruder work

Which doubtless possesses a certain charm,

He looks like a typical generic artist

Though his hat will collect the alms…  


Pete Ray


Another old postcard about Birmingham, featuring the Art Gallery in the background, a place of course where I worked for so long…

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