Views of a wintry New York City painted by American Impressionist Guy Carleton Wiggins. Living from 1883 to 1962, he liked to paint snow. Studied at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and the Art Students League of New York.

*A Winter Night in New York*. Undated, by 1962. American. Oil on canvas. Guy Carleton Wiggins, painter (1883-1962). Signed on the lower right. Also signed and titled on the reverse. © Estate of the artist. Image © 2000 – 2025 Rehs Galleries, Inc. Fair use license. https://rehs.com/Guy_Carleton_Wiggins_A_Winter_Night_in_New_York.html

*Silvery Days, Central Park.* 1962. American. Oil on canvas. Guy Carleton Wiggins, painter (1883-1962). Signed on the lower left. Signed, titled ‘*Silvery Days”* and dated on the reverse. © Estate of the artist. Image © 2025 Lincoln Glenn. Fair use license. https://www.lincolnglenn.com/artists/212-guy-c.-wiggins/

*New York City Winter Street Scene.* Undated, by 1962. American. Oil on board. Guy Carleton Wiggins, painter (1883-1962). signed ‘*Guy Wiggins, NA*‘ on the lower right. © Estate of the artist. Image © 2025 Fontaine’s Auction Gallery. Fair use license. https://www.fontainesauction.com/auction-lot/guy-carleton-wiggins-american-1883-1962-new-y_2fc4f43bb9

Lower Fifth Avenue at Night. 1920. American. Oil on canvas. Guy Carleton Wiggins, painter (1883-1962). © Estate of the artist. Private collection. Here https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/Lower-Fifth-Avenue-at-Night/27B576911D69EB52 but I found it here https://www.instagram.com/p/CiaCovAKF2Y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Theatrical Set Designs and Other Fripperies for Boxing Day, December 26th, in the 2025 winter show.

Dancing in air as the haremlik ladies take their seats and the musicians begin . . . dancing till dawn with the children spinning like little tops . . . fun for all with treats all scented with rosewater . . . five each or maybe six . . . maybe more . . .

my winter series post for today published to my Substack at the link if you’d like to see it-

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/theatrical-set-designs-and-other-4cb

Fall 2024 Dance Showcase, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Natick, Massachusetts. Brooke Trisolini, photographer. Taken from the school’s Instagram. via Instagram.

Visions of the Antarctic back when it was mostly penguins with almost no scientists at all. Illustrations from Frederick A. Cook’s “Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898–1899.” The author was part of the Belgica expedition. One of his fellow explorers was Roald Amundsen who became the first man to reach the South Pole a few years later.

*Frontispiece. © 1899 F. A. Cook. Osgood Art Colortype Company, Chicago and New York.* Page 10 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n9/mode/1up

*Doctor Frederick A. Cook.* Page 167 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n167/mode/1up

*Weddell Sea Leopards of Belgica Strait. (Leptonychotes Weddelli).* Page 184 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n184/mode/1up

*Penguins – A Family Gathering on the Pack-ice.* Page 194 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n194/mode/1up

*A Tabular Iceberg, Seen at the Pack-Edge in the South Pacific. About 200 Feet High.* Page 265 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n265/mode/1up

*Eight Successive Phases of an Exhibit of Aurora Australis, March 19, 1898.* Page 327 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n327/mode/1up

*The Ross Seal with Trachea Inflated. (Ommatophoca rossii).* Page 396 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. https://archive.org/details/cu31924032358446/page/n396/mode/1up

*Penguins on a Sea-worn Iceberg Resembling a Whale.* Page 255 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. Internet Archive via the Public Domain Review. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/through-the-first-antarctic-night-1900/?utm_source=newsletter

*Twilight amid the Antarctic Ice. Osgood Art Colortype Company, Chicago and New York.* Page 471 of Frederick A. Cook’s *Through the first Antarctic night, 1898-1899; a narrative of the voyage of the “Belgica” among newly discovered lands and over an unknown sea about the South pole.* Published in 1900 in New York by Doubleday and McClure. Collections of the Cornell University Library. Artwork in the public domain due to age. Internet Archive via the Public Domain Review. https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/through-the-first-antarctic-night-1900/?utm_source=newsletter

These images are from scanned versions of two different copies of the same edition of the same book. For reasons that I don’t really understand, they would print some copies all with black and white illustrations and others with a few in color.

I looked up most of these over on the Internet Archive but I got the idea from the Public Domain Review article as it was they who found it.

Christmas . . .

prancing on air as before the altar of the lady chapel of the old church downtown something starts to shimmer . . . where the creche always goes but the shimmering up over the baby doll’s head growing and sailing up through the ceiling and sideways into the garden as a trumpeter begins . . . a message from the angels it must be . . . only a few allowed in the church and others being afraid to sit in a pew . . . the Holy Family needing to be outside for all to see instead wrapped up in furs . .

my Christmas series post for today at the link.

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/christmas

*“And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” 2026 Christmas creche, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.* Where my late father taught for many years. Madeleine Miclat ’28 chickflickphotography, photographer. © Boston College. Taken from their Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/bostoncollege/p/DSqbI0HDRu9/

Theatrical Set Designs and Other Fripperies for Christmas Eve in the 2025 winter show . . .

springing on air at the very tip of the Cheshire Cat’s tail as Alice sits down on a toadstool and the dancing begins . . . very quietly though . . . no need to wake up the Queen of Hearts . . . only crankiness lives there . . .

my winter series post for today published to my Substack at the link if you’d like to see it-

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/theatrical-set-designs-and-other-065

STARRY NIGHT. Silver and gold papier-mâché tree toppers. johnderiancompany on Instagram. Taken from their Instagram.

Bridal tiara with silvery leaves and a central stone. @green_alaska_decor on Instagram. via Instagram.

“Firelight Flickering on the Ceiling of the World”: The Aurora Borealis in Art

Do you follow the Public Domain Review? Maybe not and I don’t usually post links to other people’s articles but these Aurora Borealis (Northern (and Southern) Lights in Art are glorious. I don’t believe I could remotely do it justice by pulling out a few so you’ll have to look through them for yourself.

*Aurora Borealis*, 1865. American. Frederic Edwin Church, painter (1826-1900). Collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum here https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/aurora-borealis-4806 but it is also the first painting in the article.

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/aurora-borealis-in-art/?utm_source=newsletter

When I grow up I want to act in community theatre with the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society of Alberta, Canada. 1920s images from an Alberta archive.

Photographic still of the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society’s rendition of the Edwardian musical comedy “Floradora” which includes tambourines and gauzy costumes. In the Back row, left to right, are: Gertrude Burton, Margie Roxborough, and Jean Harper. Middle row, left to right, are: Channis Irwin, Mary Schutte, and Myrtle Purdy. Front row, left to right, are: Phyllis Clements and Nita Herbert. The production was on stage at the Empress Theatre, December 6-8, 1923, and included a chorus of over 100 voices, 16-piece orchestra of live musicians, and tickets were on sale for $1.50 – or 50 cents for a matinee! Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. December 6, 2023 image. Photographer not given. From a scrapbook in the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Collections. Accession #0065-0004. Fair use license. The photograph itself being in the public domain due to age. via Esplanade Arts and Heritage @**medhatesplanade** on Instagram. Taken from their Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/medhatesplanade/p/DR2dM22j4yX/

*Chris Robertson in “A Country Girl,” from a 1921 production staged by the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society*, *Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.* Photographer not given. From a scrapbook in the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Collections. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0521.0040. Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=1&ps=20

*A man and two women dressed in oriental costume for the play “San Toy”. The man is probably Chris (Robertson) MacDonald.* No exact date but ca. 1920. Still from a production staged by the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. From a scrapbook in the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Collections. Cooke Studio, Medicine Hat, photographers. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0521.0040. Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=1&ps=20

Six young women dressed for their parts as “peasant” girls in the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society production “Chimes of Normandy” which took place at the Empress Theatre December 31, 1920 and January 1, 1921. Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Photographer not given. From a scrapbook in the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Collections. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0521.0028. Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=2&ps=20

*Unidentified young woman in oriental dress holding a fan – production in Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society of ‘San Toy.’ Character undetermined. ca. 1920.* Still from a production staged by the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. Cooke Studio, Medicine Hat, photographers. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0521.0005. Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=2&ps=20

View of the entire cast in costume of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” on stage at the Empress Theatre in Medicine Hat for its December 17th and 19th 1914 production by the Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. E. G. Macdonald, photographer for Royal Studios. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0525.0256. Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=3&ps=20

*Myrtle Purdy, in a theatrical costume from the play “Florodora,” put on by Medicine Hat Amateur Operatic Society, Medicine Hat, Albert*a, Canada, on December 6-8, 1923. Gainsborough Studio, Medicine Hat, photographers. Esplanade Arts and Heritage Center Accession Number #0065.0003 Image itself in the public domain due to age. https://collections.esplanade.ca/list?q=Medicine+Hat+Amateur+Operatic+Society&p=3&ps=20

Theatrical Set Designs and Other Fripperies for December 22nd in the 2025 winter show . . .

sparking on air as in the gatehouse of the great estate somewhere in Dutchess County, New York the children get dressed up . . . a Christmas party at the big house . . . drive a mile long and half a foot of new snow but a sleigh to ride in and a Christmas tree that rises to the roof and a sea of presents . . . punch, ice cream and enough cake to spoil your dinner along with handfuls of candy canes . . . perfect!

my winter series post for today at the link below if you’d like to see the rest.

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/theatrical-set-designs-and-other-fa5

Snowflakes. Image ca. 2010. via thehelpfulartteacher.blogspot.com.

Theatrical Set Designs and Other Fripperies, December 20th in the MMXXV winter show

meowing on air on the tailfeathers of a wild turkey as somewhere where the sun never shines anymore the costumes in the old summer theatre come to life and start swaying back and forth . . . plays a long time ago with people to applaud . . . the earth gone strange and all that gone but a hop and skip and down to the floor and up to the stage with the mice that live in the overattic to help . . . mouse queen in the frock with the train that the queen of the fairies wore in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” but with her babies to line up behind for fairies . . . crown for her consort and that’s it . . . better to make your own fun wherever you might be instead of waiting for someone to come along and make it for you . . .

my series post at the link if you’d like to see it-

https://sarahbguestperry.substack.com/p/theatrical-set-designs-and-other-4f6