CIRCLES SERIAL

Xi Shi

Xi Shi (Hsi Shih; Chinese: 西施; pinyin: Xī Shī; Wade–Giles: Hsi¹ Shih¹, lit. '(Lady) Shi of the West’) was, according to legends, one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of the Spring and Autumn period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue.

In traditional stories, Xi Shi was named Shi Yiguang (施夷光).^[1] She was discovered by the Yue minister Fan Li and given to King Fuchai of Wu by King Goujian of Yue in a sexpionage operation which successfully brought down the State of Wu in 473 BC. This account first appeared in Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue published five centuries after the conquest, and is completely absent in earlier works such as Guoyu, Zuo zhuan, and Records of the Grand Historian

Acrylic on wood

100 cm around

Mata Hari

Her whole life in a circle

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (/ˈmɑːtə ˈhɑːri/), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. Professor Shipman, a noted scholar, stated “he believed she was innocent”^[1] and condemned only because the French Army needed a scapegoat.^[2]^[3] She was executed by firing squad in France.

Acrylic on wood

100 cm around

Titia Bergsma

Titia Bergsma (Leeuwarden, February 13, 1786 – The Hague, April 2, 1821) was a Dutch woman who visited Dejima, Japan, in August 1817 with her husband, Jan Cock Blomhoff.

Under the Tokugawa shogunate‘s sakoku policy Japan was extremely secluded. The Dutch and Chinese were allowed to visit the country, but only for trade, and no women were permitted. The governor of Nagasaki allowed Bergsma to enter the island. Five weeks later when the shōgun Tokugawa Ienari became aware of her presence, he ordered that Titia and the wetnurse Petronella Muns had to leave. In December the women went back to Batavia and Holland and Bergsma never saw her husband again.

In the meanwhile, Japanese painters and sculptors had made 500 images of Bergsma. Her images had such popularity in Japan that they outsold all other prints in 19th century Japan. Images can be found all over Japan. There are companies which specialise entirely in Bergsma images. It is said her face can be seen on four million pieces of Japanese porcelain.

The life of Bergsma has been adapted to animation in Japan

Acrylic on wood

100 cm around