PNG LITERARY CONTENT
Charles Bukowski's poem—Hemingway, drunk before noon—was first published in PLANET DETROIT, a literary print zine I edited back in the mid-80s. Bukowski's poem is the legal property of his estate and should not be republished without the expressed consent, etc. Michael Estabrook's poem—Before Grandpa Died—first appeared in SILENT SKIES, edited by Tammy Anerson in 1994. All other material on this page is the property of the individuals who created 'em. Same applies for republication.
ABOUT THE GRAPHICS
Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear—shown on our homepage—is unmistakably pure Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890). It was painted in 1889 and resides at the Courtauld Institute Galleries in London. While Van Gogh painted many self-portraits, this one is particularly interesting because he began it after cutting off part of his left ear on Christmas Eve of 1888. He is said he delivered the severed ear to a Parisian whore. Van Gogh was almost completely ignored by the established art community of his day. After his release from an asylum—suffering from mental problems, destitution, and his failure to gain acceptance as an artist—Van Gogh killed himself in 1890.
The detail on PNG's Poetry Index page is from Hieronymus Bosch's (1450-1516 ?) Christ Carrying the Cross (1510?). His alla prima technique was unusual for the day, when much preliminary work went into painting, especially of religious subjects. Little is known of Bosch's life—even the dates of his birth and death are in dispute. Many a pope considered him a pornographer and irreligious charlatan—which, considering the source, is a compliment.
Woman Pulling on her Stockings—on the Poet Bios page—was painted by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). I'm not sure of the year it was painted, but more than likely it is from his Elles period, when he often visited the whorehouses of Montmartre. Toulouse-Lautrec drank heavily in the 1890s—it is rumored he helped popularize the cocktail during this time—and the complications of alcoholism, syphilis, and mental collapse led to his death at the age of 36 in 1901.
TECHNICAL STUFF
Netscape, of course—even if they did get too big and go IPO before their time. PNG Poetry Online is designed to be viewed with Netscape 2.0 or higher—preferably Netscape Atlas—but is pretty much a standard HTML 2.0 document with a few Netscapisms. It is relatively browser friendly—with the exception of AOL's excuse for an online browser. If you're looking at this from the hole in AOL's circus tent that peeks out into the Web—hey, sorry... get another ISP.