DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '03 II => Topic started by: Gothick on July 10, 2003, 09:15:29 PM

Title: Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Gothick on July 10, 2003, 09:15:29 PM: Well, the arrival of Mrs. Maggie Collins' studio portrait from Paris (in a box that looks like it came from a Coney Island stall) certainly tells one a lot about the taste (?) of her husband. I've seen far better efforts by a 6th grader armed with a decent assortment of crayola crayons.

We need a poll for worst portrait on Dark Shadows. It might be a toss-up between this one and the original Charles Delaware Tate portrait of Quentin, which made one of the most attractive men on Earth look as if he were dying of dyspepsia and sunburn.

For best portrait, I'd probably vote for Sam's sketch of Betty Hanscombe. The portrait of aged Quentin is a fun example of a very particular genre.

any other thoughts?

Gothick
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: LoveAtFirstBITE on July 10, 2003, 09:39:13 PM: Without a doubt, hands down, the Charles D. Tate portrait. It makes Quentin look bloated!
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Raineypark on July 10, 2003, 09:42:50 PM: Quote from: franimal on July 10, 2003, 09:15:29 PM
I've seen far better efforts by a 6th grader armed with a decent assortment of crayola crayons.Gothick

Thank you dear....that was my tears-in-my-eyes laugh of the day.

I don't care for portraits....but if dear departed Sam Evans did any sailboats out in say, Narragansett Bay (perhaps from a honeymoon trip to Rhode Island) I'd be happy to start the bidding! ;)
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Gerard on July 11, 2003, 12:42:47 AM: I was gonna say that Maggie's portrait does look like something a high-school junior would make for inclusion in the town-wide "Youth Art Month Display" at the local shopping mall.

Gerard
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Maria_Merriweather on July 11, 2003, 12:43:12 AM: Worst portrait--Quentin by C.D. Tate

Best portrait--Josette
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Bob_the_Bartender on July 11, 2003, 01:07:46 AM: I was "mesmerized" by that piece of masking tape, artfully placed just above the word "Original" on that shipping box containing Maggie's exquisite portrait.

Could the "redacted" word/words have possibly identified the creator of this artistic masterpiece? Maybe the the words, "A John Nagy Learn-to-Draw," appeared just above the word "Original"?

Of course, Maggie's portrait may have been painted while Quentin and Maggie had been enjoying a lively night's musical entertainment at a seashore disco in Nice during their honeymoon on the French Riviera. Perhaps the always creative rock singer/painter Alex Harvey was inspired to limn Maggie's timeless likeness as the aptly named "Alex Harvey Band," wailed into the wee hours of the French night, much to Quentin's delight. Hence, "An Alex Harvey Original"!
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Eleanor_Rigby on July 11, 2003, 02:39:55 AM: That portrait of Maggie looks like it was paint-by-numbers and so I'll vote for that one as worst.

Best one ... the one of PT Angelique is just beautiful.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 11, 2003, 03:11:42 AM: Quote from: Paul on July 11, 2003, 02:39:55 AM
Best one ... the one of PT Angelique is just beautiful.

I agree - I love that potrait. And the contrast between it and Maggie's couldn't be more striking. ;)
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: ProfStokes on July 11, 2003, 05:08:56 AM: Quote from: Iron Bastard on July 11, 2003, 03:11:42 AM
Quote from: Paul on July 11, 2003, 02:39:55 AM
Best one ... the one of PT Angelique is just beautiful.

I agree - I love that potrait. And the contrast between it and Maggie's couldn't be more striking. ;)

I wonder if this was subconsciously done on purpose to illustrate how much more vibrant Angelique is compared to mousy Maggie, the 2nd Mrs. DeWinter figure.

Best and worst: I also admire the PT Angelique portrait, but I did think Sam Evans's painting of Laura the phoenix and David was striking. The worst portrait was Charles Tate's marathon commission for Chris Jennings. That painting probably failed to cure him because it didn't look a thing like him.

ProfStokes
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Cassandra on July 11, 2003, 08:31:50 AM: Im so glad that this topic was brought up because I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that so called portrait of Maggie!! It looked more like it was done out in the country side than it did in Paris as Quentin had stated it was done.
The only plus side was that it did look exactly like her, which is hard to say for most of the other portraits aside from Angelique's.

When the package first came I exptected to see an elegant portrait of the new Mrs. Collins all dolled up the way Angelique was in her portrait. Instead my Mother and I just sat there with our eyes wide opening wondering why they decided to have Maggie looking more like a country school girl who had just come in from milking the cows. What were they thinking??

I think Angelique's portrait is the best I've seen so far and as Prof.Stokes said, Laura's was very nicely done also.

Cassandra
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Gerard on July 11, 2003, 01:09:45 PM: Actually, with Maggie's portrait, we should count our blessings. It could've been on black velvet - with her having those great, big, round sad eyes.

Gerard
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: TERRY308 on July 11, 2003, 03:06:36 PM: The 'portrait' of Maggie looks like a 10th grader with an assortment of colored pencil did it.

If the 10th grader came to me and had this painting I would say "This is really good" If this had been same 'portait' had come Collinwood by express mail, from France, suposedly painted (I still think that it was done with colored pencils) by some French person, I would have to say, "What the hell is this"

In other words....I hate it.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Cassandra Blair on July 11, 2003, 03:08:19 PM: Quote from: Starlightexp on July 11, 2003, 01:09:45 PM
Actually, with Maggie's portrait, we should count our blessings. It could've been on black velvet - with her having those great, big, round sad eyes.

HA!!! Even THAT would have been an improvement over the portrait we saw. Thank goddess Quentin slashed it, 'cos if he hadn't, I would've!
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Happybat on July 11, 2003, 03:30:30 PM: Quote from: Bad_Dream on July 11, 2003, 08:31:50 AM
The only plus side was that it did look exactly like her, which is hard to say for most of the other portraits aside from Angelique's.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, Cassandra, er Bad_Dream. Interestingly enough, although it is pretty bad artistically, the likeness is actually good. It just goes to show how a good likeness does not necessarily make good art and vice versa. The Josette portrait may be more artistic, but it doesn't look much like its subject.

The best portrait of all is that of PT Angelique; it is both a good likeness and fairly accomplished technically.

Actually I have always liked the old portrait of Barnabas, too, although the eyes aren't quite right.

Regarding the aged Quentin portrait, did anyone here notice that it looks eerily similar to Dorian's portrait in the final scene of the movie "Picture of Dorian Gray"? I could almost swear that it is by the same artist.

-Happy[blackbat] (who feels that being a published author like Mark would be nice indeed!)
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: jennifer on July 11, 2003, 03:43:23 PM: i vote for the Amanda Harris one just because it is of HER! [lol2]
i do agree it does look like A paint by numbers and with closer viewing you can see where they missed a few numbers! i think it was done quickly for the storyline and it shows![eek]

jennifer aka barfly gulp...[beer]
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on July 11, 2003, 07:29:32 PM: I think the worst portrait is definately the one of Quentin. I hated it.

As for the best portrait, I really liked the one of Angelique in 1970PT. I also liked the Josette one, even though it didn't look very much like Kathryn Leigh Scott. Barnabas' portraits were also pretty good.

I liked most of the ones shown on the show, except for the Charles Deleware Tate ones and the one of Maggie.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: AllMyShadows on July 11, 2003, 07:56:27 PM: As much as I love my Maggie, and I really truly do, that "portrait" was just.....AWFUL. I was folding laundry while watching the episodes, and I was on a big huge towel, and I only caught a glance of the portrait. I dropped that towel so fast and pressed Rewind, and gawd......I just about died laughing! Is it just me or did Maggie look as if she was hangin' with Laura and Nellie in Walnut Grove?
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: denise on July 13, 2003, 11:49:58 PM: Can someone post a picture of the portrait of Maggie Ii missed that episode.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 14, 2003, 05:15:07 AM: Quote from: denise on July 13, 2003, 11:49:58 PM
Can someone post a picture of the portrait of Maggie

(http://www.dsboards.com/images/maggieport.jpg)

:)
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: dom on July 14, 2003, 08:56:02 PM: I think the portrait of Maggie Collins is the best of them. It's the one portrait that looks like it's subject. IMHO... :)

dom
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: ms._hoffman on July 16, 2003, 12:12:14 AM: My least favorite portait is the pt of Maggie. My favorite is the portait of
Barnabas in the foyer.

ms. hoffman
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Dawn on July 16, 2003, 02:52:46 AM: LOL at this discussion. Aside from the portrait of PT Maggie looking like a paint by numbers, it looks like they didn't get the paints with the set. Looks like washed out colored pencils were used.

I think the vibrancy and style issues may have been intentional. They wanted to emphasize the larger than life Angelique and the mousy little Maggie.

Hope Quentin didn't pay the big bucks for this portrait!
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Carol on July 16, 2003, 12:31:32 PM: I guess Paris artists ain't what they used to be. Quentin was so distraught at what he had bought, he ripped it to shreds--with a little help from Angelexis.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Patti Feinberg on July 16, 2003, 01:03:01 PM: Quote from: dom on July 14, 2003, 08:56:02 PM
I think the portrait of Maggie Collins is the best of them. It's the one portrait that looks like it's subject. IMHO... :)

Actually Dom, I like it too, yet there's something wrong with it.

Perhaps its the dull colors (especially in comparison with the vibrant colors used in Ang's portrait).
Plus, TLATKLS's face looks a little long.
Again, IMHO.
Patti
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Philippe Cordier on July 22, 2003, 02:43:03 AM: I think I mentioned this last time, too, but it looked to me like Maggie's portrait was done with pastels.

I, too, have been noticing the beautiful portrait of Angelique.

Close up, it seems to lose some of its subtlety, though, especially around the eyes and eyebrows I thought it looked slightly cartoonish (I mean that in an artistic sense, not to demean it). Yet it both looks very much like Angelique and also seems to capture the character.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Afan on July 25, 2003, 01:42:48 AM: Love these comments! I have always hated the Quentin portrait, and now I feel that I am not alone.
Afan
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Dr. Eric Lang on July 30, 2003, 09:09:34 PM: Ah - portrait talk! :)

The paint-by-numbers portrait of PT Maggie is right up there with the worst, but I also hate the one of RT Angelique dressed up in her servant's clothes. It makes her face look fat.

I think my favorite portrait is Josette - and I was very unhappy when they defaced the portrait in 1897!!! The funny thing is that was simply another prop on the show long before they ever intended to actually show Josette. According to KLS, the original portrait was eventually "retouched" to look more like her, but after examining the original in the pre-Barnabas episodes I was unable to discern any difference.

What I really enjoy is watching the various generic portraits appear all over town. The one of the mustachiod gentleman has shown up on just about every set. It currently resides at Timothy's Stoke's house in PT.

I also love that one in the Collinwood drawing room and wish I had Episode Number 2 on tape where Elizabeth identifies all the Collins ancestors in the drawing room. It's the one to the left of the fireplace - the guy in the big floppy hat. Who was this - Leonardo Collins? :-
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 30, 2003, 09:36:02 PM: Quote from: Dr. Eric Lang on July 30, 2003, 09:09:34 PM
the one to the left of the fireplace - the guy in the big floppy hat. Who was this - Leonardo Collins? :-

Yes, I distinctly remember him. One of his many inventions was bat-on-a-stick. It was all the rage in 16th century Collinsport. [wink2]
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Raineypark on July 30, 2003, 10:11:55 PM: Quote from: Mysterious Benefactor on July 30, 2003, 09:36:02 PM
Yes, I distinctly remember him. One of his many inventions was bat-on-a-stick. It was all the rage in 16th century Collinsport. [wink2]

Sorry....if there was a village there in the 16th century, it's name would have been Abanaki Indian dialect for something like "Watch-out-for-high-cliffs-everywhere!"....NOT 'Collinsport'.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 30, 2003, 10:23:06 PM: Quote from: Raineypark on July 30, 2003, 10:11:55 PM
Sorry....if there was a village there in the 16th century, it's name would have been Abanaki Indian dialect for something like "Watch-out-for-high-cliffs-everywhere!"....NOT 'Collinsport'.

I'm sorry, but recent acheological excavations below Widows' Hill have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that as far back as prehistoric times the Collins family has lived there and it has always been called Collinsport. :P They also uncovered the fact that silver was in use there centuries before it was discovered in the rest of the world, and discovered a bunch of pointy wooden carvings for which they have no explanation as of yet.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Raineypark on July 30, 2003, 11:05:44 PM: What a load of revisionist poppycock.....the sorry truth is that the first Collins to arrive in the area was old Increase Collins......after he was banished from Plymouth Colony for carnal knowledge of a sheep. In the 17th century!!

We all wish it wasn't true....but those are the facts.
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 30, 2003, 11:30:26 PM: Quote from: Raineypark on July 30, 2003, 11:05:44 PM
What a load of revisionist poppycock.....the sorry truth is that the first Collins to arrive in the area was old Increase Collins......after he was banished from Plymouth Colony for carnal knowledge of a sheep. In the 17th century!!

We all wish it wasn't true....but those are the facts.

That ignominious story was the accepted truth, yes. But the recent discoveries have shattered that once steadfastly held belief.

Being in academia as I am, one becomes privy to knowledge that the general public isn't and may never be made aware because it's very controversial nature might cause the uninitiated and benighted to run amuck in the streets and choas would surely ensue. But I can assure you that the revelations I have made on the this board today are indeed the real truth. In fact, I've probably taken my very life in my hands by revealing even as little as I have. True, this forum is a small, far flung, insular corner of the Internet. But as Eleanor_Rigby was quick to point out, Big Brother is everywhere...
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Raineypark on July 31, 2003, 03:18:57 AM: Ah, yes¢â‚¬¦.academia¢â‚¬¦..the TRUE last refuge of a scoundrel!!

Spare us your protestations of veracity, sir¢â‚¬¦¢â‚¬¦you have revealed yourself as an acolyte of Professor Eponymous Bladderwrack, who's efforts to expunge the true reputation of the Collins Patriach have been discredited by every expert in the field.

Life endangered, indeed!! You allow your imagination to run away with you!!

It's your reputation I shudder to think of, once word of your outrageous theories reaches your superiors. May I suggest you make yourself scarce until the ensuing scandal dies down, lest you find yourself sadly without position, estate, or friends?
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 31, 2003, 04:34:35 AM: It's always a sobering experience to see someone in such denial go to such lengths to try to cover it up.

But anyway, I looked up the scene in question that was the impetous for the entire exchange between Rainypark and myself and the only portrait Liz makes mention of in that scene is the one of Jeremiah, which hangs over the mantle (but I think we all knew that). The portrait of "Leonardo" isn't even anywhere to be seen in Episode #2.

In Episode #3, Carolyn explains to Vicki that the bearded gentleman whose portrait hangs over the piano is Issac Collins (who at that point supposedly "began it all" back in the 17th century. Funny how his clothes look far more Victorian than circa the England of King James or even the Puritans. But then, when did DS ever let a little thing like era-inappropriate clothing ever stop them? [lghy] And of course, in Episode #4 the portrait has suddenly moved to hang on the opposite side of the window. Apparently the Collins portraits love to play musical walls. [b003]). "Leo" is among the missing again. :(

In Episode #4, while lecturing Roger, Liz identifies Issac and Jeremiah again, as well as naming the man in the portrait between the cabinet and the fireplace as Theodore and the man in the portrait above the sideboard (where the phone is) as Benjamin. I'm afraid that "Leo" is still nowhere in evidence. :'(

If Sci-Fi decides to run DS from the beginning again, I think a game we should play on the forum is Be The First To Spot Leonardo's Portrait. :D
Title: Re:Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses
Post by: Joeytrom on July 31, 2003, 11:55:37 PM: Benjamin and Theodore could have been two of Gabriel and Edith's sons.