James Ensor, Aries in red #9

James Ensor, The Red Parasol

James Ensor, the Belgian fantast, was born on April 13, 1860. His canvases are always marked by the well-placed reds. Favorite themes are red-cloaked skeletons, red lips, red caps, red fire.

Astrology cannot be captured by science. The two may be regarded as enterprises at right-angles. Scientific procedure requires the scrupulous eradication of subjectivity. Astrological procedure, on the other hand, requires the equally scrupulous  conservation of subjectivity. One must not confuse the truth of the horoscope with  methodical paragraphs of interpretive boilerplate. The truth of the horoscope is not to be found written on a page, it is something that unfolds within the experience of the Subject.

James Ensor, Skeletons warming themselves

Ensor, Self-portrait in red hat

Aries in red #11

Kelly LeBrock, born March 24, 1960, never repeated the splash she made with her first film, The Woman in Red in 1984. See more of her. She seems to continue to have a good time. She married Aries Steven Seagal.

CASANOVA: Aries in red #12

Richard Chamberlain, b. 31 March 1934Giacomo Casanova (b. April 2, 1725) is an Aries archtype, the priapic libertine, irrepresible autobiographer, soldier, charlatan and adventurer, who once robbed a grave as a practical joke. Among his escapades his literal escape from the Venetian prison stands out as a dramatization of the Aries birth experience. He also stole and sold the secret formula of the red dye of British military cloth. Aries actors have often been cast as Casanova: David Tennant, Heath Ledger, Richard Chamberlain, while the not-Aries Donald Sutherland was distinctively miscast in Fellini's Casanova. Two other Aries natives are highpoints in the history of promiscuity: the Italian pornographer Pietro Aretino, (notably rendered in Titian red) Pietro Aretino (b. 20 April 1492) by TitianJohn Wilmot, Lord Rochester (b.1 April 1647)and the English poet-rake Lord Rochester. Closer to home, Aries actors Marlon Brando and Warren Beatty have famously notched bedposts.

Casanova costume for Heath Ledger (b. April 4, 1979)David Tennant (b. 18 April 1971) as CasanovaHugh Hefner, b. April 9, 1926

ARIES IN RED #14

Emma Thompson (b. April 15, 1959 )

Brenda Spencer (b. April 3, 1962). “A tiny girl, under five foot tall, with long red hair, epileptic. She stayed with her father after her parents divorced, living across the street from a school. On January 29, 1979, she took a rifle that her father had given her for Christmas, shot the custodian and principal dead and wounded six children and a policeman, because 'I hate Mondays.' ”   Astro Data  V, Profiles of Crime.


Marguerite Steinheil (b. April 16, 1869) Parisian courtesan, mistress of a president, murderess, known as the “Red Woman of Paris”.

Aries in red #15

Robert Downey, Jr.

Julie Christie

Aries in red dress #17(Talk show hosts)

Graham Norton (b. 4 April 1963)

Rosie was born on March 21, 1962

I've been shlepping this Joe Ciardiello illustration of Dave Letterman (born April 12, 1947) since it appeared in the New Yorker in 1996. Now it's scanned and I can get rid of it! . . . . 

I was saving this one for a post devoted to Aries redheads:

O'Brien was born on April 18, 1963

One more of Graham Norton:

VanDyck n Descartes, Aries red #18

The great 17th century portraitist Anthony Van Dyck, a March 22 Aries, adored the ferric oxide pigment which has come to be known as Van Dyck red and made it the principal feature of many paintings. Red swags, red drapes, red trousers, dresses, robes, ribbons, tablecloths, stockings, capes, cloaks, rags, you name it.

Strange! That thy hand should not inspire
The beauty only, but the fire:
Not the form alone, and grace,
But act and power of a face. (Waller, To Van Dyck)

Van Dyck introduced to portraiture the goal of presenting, on a red curtained theatrical stage, distinctive, individual personality, dash and flair. His years (1599-1641) correspond to those of Descartes. His subjects all say, "Therefore I AM!" Descartes (born March 31, 1596-1650), the philosopher who ushers in the modern era, is ground zero for a methodical exposition of the zodiac as an approach to the post-modern Subject. (Which is in the works, but we're doing red dresses now.) We have no portrait of Descartes in red (although he was known to dress en militaire and carry a sword). Let Van Dyck represent him visually.

The Red Shoes (#21)

In Aries Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Red Shoes" the color red plays the same role it does in Bette Davis's "Jezebel". To shock propriety, the heroine insists on wearing red dancing shoes to church, with dire consequences.

Van Gogh, Red Aries #26

Vincent Van Gogh, classic Aries redhead. More Van Gogh self-portraits here.

"There is only a constantly being born again . . . . .  a constant going from darkness into light."

Exactly a year before his birth, [Van Gogh's] mother, Cornelia, gave birth to an infant, also named Vincent, who was stillborn, or dead upon birth. His grieving parents buried the child and set up a tombstone to mark the grave. As a result, Vincent Van Gogh grew up near the haunting sight of a grave with his own name and birthday on it.

Take a look at this Self-Portrait with Sunflower by Anthony Van Dyck, the other great redheaded Dutch painter. Any other major painter who featured sunflowers so importantly as him and Van Gogh? (Here for Van Gogh sunflowers.) Not that I know of. I guess the sunflower appealed to Aries, the first fire sign, as a down-to-earth blossoming of the solar fire, as a benign representation of the fiercely assertive individuation principle.

Van Dyck was pre-eminently a portraitist of others but found time to paint himself often, usually emphasizing his auburn hair. 

Anthony Van Dyck, Self-Portrait with Sunflower

Red Aries #38

Bette Davis, 5 April 1908

Marc Jacobs, 9 April 1963