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Roses: Love is a Rose
Because of the rose’s botanical as well as artistic value, this book features a popular subject for art lovers as well as for people who enjoy the beauty and versatility of flowers.
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Rococo
Deriving from the French word rocaille, in reference to the curved forms of shellfish, and the Italian barocco, the French created the term ‘Rococo’. Appearing at the beginning of the 18th century, it rapidly spread to the whole of Europe. Extravagant and light, Rococo responded perfectly to the spontaneity of the aristocracy of the time. In many aspects, this art was linked to its predecessor, Baroque, and it is thus also referred to as late Baroque style.
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On feeding my sole obsession
As a kid in suburban Ohio, I grew up thinking that high heels represented adult sophistication and feminine glamour. Against my mother’s wishes, I was wearing them to school by early 2000’s. Similarly to Cher in “Clueless,” I would totter the corridors between periods in platform wedges and lace-up heels. At that point, I was experimenting with turtle necks and studded skirts—so I can’t really speak to exactly who I was trying to impress or why these were my chosen fashion statements, as much as I knew I wanted feel a little more grown-up. Whether it is two inches or five, every woman[i] has a right to a kick ass…
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Beauty and the Bestiary
The Medieval Bestiary was very much the Wikipedia of its day – though without the scores of undergraduates dredging its pages in search of tenuous references for their assignments the night prior to a deadline. Still, with each, the primary focus is, or was, to educate and enlighten, albeit, as far as the Medieval Bestiary is concerned, with a distinctly Christian filter overlaid. As the Horatian quote reads, “The aim of the poet is to inform or delight, or to combine together, in what he says, both pleasure and applicability to life.” Certainly, these words had a profound impact on the artists, writers and clergy of the middle ages, and…
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The Hidden Beauty of Cubism
It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said: “Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.” However, there are many forms and styles of accepted ‘art’ which do not conform to conventional definitions of beauty. Take Cubism as an example. Many art enthusiasts, whilst acknowledging that the likes of Pablo Picasso and George Braque are masters of their craft, are confounded by Cubism. Abstract art may have this effect in the general sense, but there is something about Cubism which perplexes and befuddles the viewer.
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Learning from Africa
Africa has long been a source of fascination for people from the West. From Cy Endfield’s 1964 classic film Zulu starring Michael Caine and Stanley Baker, to Disney’s The Lion King, from Elton John crooning The Circle of Life, to Shakira’s foot-tapping World Cup anthem This Time for Africa*, the land of our origins still maintains a deep hold over our thoughts and is firmly embedded into our culture. When we look at Africa, we see a myriad of possibilities, destinations, languages, cultures, politics, wildlife, levels of wealth and poverty, violence and peace, landscapes, and geography.
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Where’s The Respect?
Animals: We keep them as pets; use them for food, clothing, and transportation; we travel thousands of miles to see them on safari; gawk at them in zoos; revere them in certain religions; abhor them and call them vermin; experiment on them for medicine and for beauty; work alongside them in certain jobs; use them therapeutically; compete them; bet on them; cage them; free them; hurt them; heal them; study them; and learn from them. They truly are deeply ingrained into our way of life, and have been since the dawn of time. Our treatment of our (usually) four-legged friends, as a society, differs greatly from one country to the…
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The Face that Launched a Thousand Ships
It was Christopher Marlowe who coined the infamous line regarding Helen of Troy; ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’. I have to say, I do feel sorry for Helen! Put in a position where she was, effectively, responsible for a ten-year war, loss of lives, and the sacking of a city. I ask: was it even her choice to leave Menelaus? Sure, the story goes that she and Paris fell in love and escaped Sparta and her husband by fleeing to Troy. But, really, what if this wasn’t the true story? What if she was actually in love with Menelaus, and was just kidnapped by Paris? Admittedly, if Paris…
This is an interactive art blog in multi languages, you will find new articles on artists, art history, exhibitions, etc. Contributions welcome.
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