Richard Blow exuded sophistication and cool, all Cole Porter and Noel Coward.

His mosaics are tightly composed and cerebrally-crafted, rather than “mad artist” emotional eruptions. He’s great at geometrics, still life, pinned butterflies, educated homage and allusions to various art movements and classical mythology.

That intrinsic order is one reason why I Iove his work.

But when he turns to matters of the heart – or at least heart-themed mosaics – I’m not impressed.

It’s an admittedly small sample. Our Society database includes only two.

The first one I came across was the muddy, unappealing “Pierced Heart.” (see above) The dull, brown background; too-realistic meaty flesh; and neon green arrow just don’t work for me. It evokes images of a run-down hospital.. But as my old, high-school Latin teacher taught us many years ago, “De gustibus non est disputandum.” Taste is personal. Indeed, when the mosaic came up for auction by Wright in October 2014, it fetched $3,500. Some Montici collector loved it.

This week, a second, heart-themed Montici mosaic popped up for sale. (MSID “Seven Hearts”)

Again, I’m underwhelmed.

The gray background is boring. The color palette used for the hearts is a hodgepodge. The size and positioning of the hearts seems random. But again, at $1,000, the asking price is modest; it’s a rare, signed Richard Blow; and it sold immediately, the same day, to a happy Montici collector.

Still, I can’t help thinking about the year that ”Seven Hearts” was executed – 1968.

1968 was the height of the Hippie era, famous for sexual and artistic experimentation, passion, free love, LSD, and back-to-the-earth, flower children. Psychedelic hearts exploded from posters and paintings in a riot of bold, spontaneous, emotional, colors.

*Vintage Psychedelic Blacklight Poster Titled FLOWER LOVE from the year 1969.*

It was all right before Richard’s eyes.

He had experimented with multiple art forms during his career, moving from realism to cubism, to abstract, to surreal, to metaphysical. The 1960s offered him a brand-new iconography and color palette to play with.

It’s fun to imagine an alternative “Seven Hearts” mosaic — exhuberant, psychedelic — a crowning burst of creativity from the 64-year-old (in 1968) artist. (“Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64?” )

Who knows -- maybe Richard did produce one; we just haven’t uncovered it yet.

Wouldn’t that be “groovy!”

Michael Schmicker