Life, 1913-05-01 · page 9 of 48
Life — May 1, 1913 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two artworks. The top illustration is a satirical engraving titled "Cubist Serenade," depicting an ornate carriage drawn by multiple horses with figures perched atop it—likely mocking Cubism, the avant-garde art movement. The exaggerated, fragmented composition of the carriage itself appears to parody Cubist aesthetics. Below is a romantic photograph titled "Promise and Remembrance," showing a woman in classical dress gesturing expressively in a wooded garden setting. The accompanying poem by Elsie V. H. Baldwin uses flowery, sentimental language addressing an "amorous Innocence." The juxtaposition suggests *Life* magazine is satirizing the contrast between modernist artistic experimentation (Cubism) and conventional romantic sentimentality—a common theme in early 20th-century American humor magazines criticizing artistic pretension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Cubist Serenade O, the coalescing shadows like dim, spirituous plasms Byim the numb, schismatic chasms Whence pellucid Eve hath fled; And beyond in pent emotion breathes the sane, persistent ocean, Solitudinous and stead! Rouse thee then, my amorous Incence, fracture Sleep's blind ministration, Hear by lyrical libation E’er the sun thy casement sears; For with salient expansion doth my soul in its slack mansion Stagger till thy face appears! Elsie V. H. Baldwin. PROMISE AND REMEMBRANCE comicbooks.com