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Fashion Passion
Fashion is not my thing. I’ve stated before that I am a neutral, solid colour kind of girl. Occasionally I’ll throw on something bright to mix it up, usually a pair of stilettos. Leading me to the point in which I must confess to my deep, inherent, undeniable love of shoes, and, more specifically, boots. (Cue in blaming my mother, who tried to get me to care about blouses, skirts, and dresses as well, but was less successful. Apologies and gratitude, mom!) Once upon a time my friends wanted to go out for the evening; I didn’t want to open my closet, because it can get very taxing as a…
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Klimt, to love him, or leave him alone
Don’t get me wrong, Gustav Klimt was inherently remarkable at all of his accomplishments and I am fond of his work as well as those he influenced (even if they were on the brink of lunacy, Egon Schiele). However, to be quite honest, I’d never heard of him until approximately seventeen months ago – his impact on art history itself was miniscule in comparison with more notable greats. But suddenly he was all I read about and pieces of his art were unexpectedly in the strangest places. In celebration of his 150th birthday (this past Saturday, to be exact), museums the world over are head-over-feet presenting his works to the…
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Leonardo da Vinci: Jack of Everything
I could make another reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and discuss how, both Leonardo the man and the turtle are the eldest, wisest, and most level-headed of their pairings; however, part of that would be false (Donatello [the sculptor] was older by 66 years) and I’d have no way of proving the rest. Jack of all trades, master of… all trades. Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. His friends described him to have extraordinary powers of invention, incredible strength and generosity, boundless grace, an infinite mind, a majestic spirit, and in addition to all of…
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Love and Passion in Their Time and Place
What is your least favourite thing about Facebook – the most popular social networking tool in existence? I would have to say, just barely beating the 12 engagements a week which are really just a reminder of how lonely I might be someday, it is undoubtedly the mushy, gushy, self-taken photos of a lip-locked couple. That’s nice, I’m happy for you, but do you really need to plaster it all over my newsfeed? But when did a couple in love start to produce this shuttering, nearly vomit inducing feeling? Certainly artists from the 15th century and beyond were able to find beauty and romance in such imagery. How many of…
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Turner, Monet, Twombly: An Unlikely Trio
1700s, 1800s, 1900s. British, French, American. Romanticism, Impressionism, Symbolism. Looking at these stats, one might wonder what J.M.W. Turner, Claude Monet, and Cy Twombly have in common. Frankly, I’m still trying to work it out for myself. Through the bulk of each of these artists’ careers, it is quite clear that their works have very little to absolutely nothing in common, causing one to wonder how on earth they’ve been grouped together in the first place. However, if you focus on the last twenty or so odd years of each other their lives, I suppose it is possible to see that Turner’s work slowly morphed into Impressionism, whether he intended…
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…With one, we cannot have the other
Art of the Middle East is facing the same fate as the museums, works of art, and buildings that stood before World War II and, more recently, the Arab Spring. The Pearl Monument, formerly of Bahrain, was torn down by the Bahraini government last year because it was a point of interest for protestors. The Taliban has destroyed Buddhist art in Afghanistan, most specifically the Buddhas of Bamiyan in 2001. Already, works from Pakistan have been delayed in joining their counterparts in exhibitions, while important Egyptian pieces were left behind altogether amidst its revolution. When will it end? When will the selfish pursuits of some stop affecting cultural preservation and…
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War and art…
War, what is it good for? An age old question to which I can say: certainly not preserving art or cultural artefacts, nor fostering an atmosphere which might encourage visitors despite the destruction and neglect of surrounding areas caused by war. After developing an affinity for the images of mosques, madrasahs, and minarets of Central Asia, I find myself torn at the idea of crossing war paths to follow cultural trails. Consider, for example, the seventh-century crisis in which Constantinople (now Istanbul) already faced with natural disasters and civil wars, as it struggled with religious and political strife. The Ottoman’s further decimated the already under-populated and decimated city in the…
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