Advice from a Former Student

Hello hello. For many people last week was the start of the semester. Whether this is your first year or last year good luck! I decided to take a break this year, a decision I sometimes question when I'm failing at finding a job which somewhat relates to the two degrees I have which took four years. That aside I thought I might impart some wisdom from my four years some of which might or might not be helpful, do with it as you wish. 

Rembrandt Remastered + Danaë

It's an art post! Remember these? You probably won't as I've not done one for a long while. The more I have to write about them for uni the less I want to write an art blog post.  I thought I did a post on a Danaë painting but I was mistaken. There's a Danaë in the series I'm writing about for my dissertation which I did a little post about.

Source: Web Gallery of Art

 

The painting depicts a mythological subject. In the Greek myth Danaë's father Acrisius asks an oracle if he will ever have any males heirs, the oracle tells him that he would be killed by his daughters' son.   Acrisius then locks Danaë in a tower but Zeus arrives in the form of a golden shower and impregnates her, Perseus was a result and ended up killing his grandfather.

 

The scene depicted shows the moment Zeus impregnates her.  Rembrandt first painted it in 1636 and later came back to it in 1643 and re-painted Danaë and the old nurse in a different style. 

 

A number of things have happened to this painting; it was cut down on all sides and in 1985 it was attacked with acid.  It was badly damaged with most of it being Danaë's body.  The painting is currently at the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. 

 

The painting is different to other depictions of the myth with the golden shower not being shown.  Danaë however is bathed in a gold light showing the impregnation.  I had to give a five minute spiel about this painting in front of my fellow classmates and my lecturer who just happens to be an expert on Rembrandt, no pressure.

 

 

A lot of Rembrandt's paintings are spread out across the world and would be impossible to bring them together in an exhibition.  The Rembrandt Remastered exhibition is great as this is pretty much the only time you'll see a lot of them displayed together. It's also the only time you'll see paintings such as the Storm on the Sea of Galilee which was stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990.

 

The paintings are digitally remastered and they show so much detail such as the brushstrokes and you can get up close to get a better look.

 

The Danaë is included in the exhibition and is one of my favourites.

 



Rembrandt Remastered is at Smith and Caughey's on the 6th floor and is open everyday till September 13. Tickets are $15 on weekdays and $20 on weekends.

Hope you all enjoyed this post! xx

Art, Uni, Life

The week before last I wrote a post about the exhibition my class was involved in.  The opening was that Friday and I went along to it.  The weather was horrible, there was a lot of people but I enjoyed it. This was the first ever exhibition opening I've been too and was a cool experience.  The exhibition my class worked on, Camouflage, is on till the 26th of September.  There is a catalogue which goes with the exhibition and I'm in it! We all had to write around 500 words about the artwork we were given, it's a cool experience to see your name in print.

In other exciting news I got a part time job! I'm working at the Rembrandt Remastered exhibition at Smith and Caughey's.  I'm up on the 6th floor when the art is. I had my first shift on Friday, there wasn't much people so I mostly just walked around.  I should remember to bring a book or some work to do.  If any of you are interested you should definitely come along!

Hope you all enjoyed this post xx

Class Exhibition

As part of one of my papers every student got an artwork to write a catalogue for which will be shown in an exhibition this Friday, 5:30 pm at the Gus Fisher Gallery.

So yeah I'm really excited. Feel free to come along if you're interested :D

Hope you all enjoyed this post xx

Life: University Research Essay

For today's post I thought I'd might do something art related so I'm sharing what I'm working on at the moment for my big essay as that's the only thing I have on my mind at the moment.

 

I'm looking at the Poesie paintings that were commissioned by Philip II of Spain and done by Titian.

 

 

Danaë with a Nurse, 1553-54

 

 

Venus and Adonis, 1554

 

 

Diana and Actaeon, 1556-59

 

 

Diana and Callisto, 1556-59

 

 

Perseus and Andromeda, 1554-56

 

 

Rape of Europa, 1559-62

 

(Images from Web Gallery of Art)

 

It took me a while to come up with an angle that hadn't been done before. The most common angle is comparing the paintings to the poems of Ovid which the subject matter is derived from. Other avenues include looking at the paintings as visual poetry, tragedies and the iconography.

 

After much stress and panic I think I've settled into looking at the paintings as messengers of power.  They were for Philip II of Spain, son of Charles V the Holy Roman Emperor, and were commissioned not long before he was betrothed and married to Queen Mary I of England.  Portraits were usually used to show power but I've thought of a couple of ways in which these paintings convey Philip's power as King of both Spain and then England.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! This is pretty much what my life revolves around plus all the other assignments I have. At least they're pretty to look at. xx

Venus and Adonis - Titian

Source: http://www.wga.hu

It's been a while since an art post has graced the blog and I thought it was long overdue.  These days I've been stressing trying to think of a topic to write my Research paper about.  I stumbled upon the 'Poesie' paintings by Titian that were painted for Phillip II of Spain which I found interesting.

 

'Poesie' (Poems) was how Titian himself described the artworks with them being the visual version of Ovid's Metamorphoses.  There are several paintings in the series with Titian creating multiple versions of some of the paintings including this one, one in Madrid and the other in Rome.

 

Venus and Adonis was designed to be viewed alongside Danaë with a Nurse, a painting from the same series with a related composition and are hung together.

 

While the paintings are based on Ovid's work Titian did change some details in his paintings. 

 

The painting depicts Venus, the goddess of love who falls in love with Adonis, a beautiful youth. Her love however is not enough to stop him pursuing his favourite pastime, hunting, which will lead to his undoing as he is gored to death by a boar.  The scene symbolizes the force of the hunt call which is a metaphor of life and of worldly affairs which is stronger than that of love (embodied by Eros, sleeping under trees on the left).

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post and have a great weekend! xx

 

Sacred and Profane Love - Titian

Hey

I'm trying to make art posts more regular on the blog as 'arte' is part of the blog's name.  Today's post is on another art work I studied for my exam and is of the similar nature as the Venus of Urbino and was done by the same artist.

Source: http://www.wga.hu/index1.html

 

Like the Venus of Urbino this work relates to the event of marriage with the two women representing the two types of love; Profane on the left in her traditional wedding gown and Sacred on the right which is more classical and represents sexuality. The painting represents both earthly and heavenly love.

 

The painting was commissioned for the Vice Chancellor of the Venetian Republic, his Coat of Arms are on the sarcophagus. The Coat of Arms of his wife are on the silver bowl.

 

The two figures; the bride and the Venus, are thought to represent the same women which represented the ideal women and would have been a model for the bride. The bride looks out, signalling martial consent. Behind the bride an angel is encouraging water from a spout and combined with an image of a Stallion on the sarcophagus represents male sexuality and the importance of child bearing.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post!

Venus of Urbino - Titian

Hey

It's been a long while since I've done art post on the blog and thought it was overdue.  My last exam was Art History which was last Thursday.  One of the paintings I wrote about in the exam was the Venus of Urbino which was painted by the famous Venetian Titian.  Mythology paintings are my favourite subject of painting, I just have a fascination with the ancient Greek and Roman deities, hence why Ancient History was my minor.

Images source: http://www.uffizi.org/artworks/venus-of-urbino-by-titian/

 

In the Renaissance mythology paintings were only appropriate for domestic interiors, namely bedrooms.  Figures such as the Venus were models of eroticism, fidelity and motherhood for the new brides.  It was also believed that looking at beautiful figures during conception would make the child beautiful as well.

 

This painting, especially the pose, was a tribute to the artist Giorgione who painted the Sleeping Venus which Titian completed after he died.  Both the Venus's have the 'pudica' pose which was derived from ancient classical sculpture.  Unlike Sleeping Venus this Venus is in a interior space, paralleling the setting of the painting. In the background two maids are getting her elaborate clothes from cassone which were common gifts in relation to weddings in the Renaissance.

 

The dog at her feet represents marital fidelity, since it is sleeping it is suggested that it is the husband who is gazing at her which is appropriate through marriage.  She also holds roses which is a symbol of Venus.  The aim of the painting was to instruct the bride to be the perfect Renaissance women, being erotic, fertile and loyal to her husband.  This made them popular gifts for weddings as having children was seen as the most important thing in Renaissance society.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post!



Uni Books

Hey

This post was inspired by Cass from Cassandra Myee and her post on her art and architecture books which she studies at uni. I thought I would share the books I have for this semester which I am in the last week of, YUS! I have to confess that I tend to be a little slack in reading them especially during the weeks where assignments are due. I will read them for my upcoming exams and afterwards I might flip through them to look at the pictures.

These books are really more Art History based even though one of my papers is technically Ancient History.  I find them really interesting, especially how skilful the ancient people were to create these decorative pieces of art and pottery.

In my Ancient History course we study ancient Aegean and Egyptian art concurrently as they eventually crossover with one another.

The Art of Ancient Egypt - Gay Robins

I was really surprised to learn how developmental Egyptian Art was as before I just thought the same style was maintained throughout the dynasties. I however was wrong and it was interesting to see the changes in showing the figure.

Aegean Art and Architecture - Preziosi and Hitchcock

I won't lie I was more interested in this side of the course rather than the Egyptian especially since we had image tests and it was impossible for me to remember all the strange Egyptian names.  Aegean art was more interesting for me as there were more variation of art; pottery, frescos, sculpture and also the art is very similar to that of ancient Rome which I took a paper on last year and loved.  What interested me the most was the different areas that we looked at; Mycenae which is mainland Greece, Cycladic and Minoan and that they all had their own style.

Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy - Michael Baxandall

This book is actually for my Art History paper but has less images.  It's more about the theory side I guess of studying the Italian Renaissance and the importance of the 'Period Eye' when looking at art.  It basically means just putting it into the context of the time.

I also have three books comprising of Greek Tragedy plays which are not as interesting as the books above visual wise but the stories are interesting if not a bit disturbing as well.

Hope you all enjoyed this post!

Cecilia Gallerani - Leonardo da Vinci

Hey

It's been awhile since I've done an art post, when I'm in the middle of uni I get a bit sick of writing about it in essays that I just can't be bothered doing a post about it. I'd either have to be in the mood or be inspired by a painting.  During last weeks lecture when we were introduced into Milan I was inspired by a painting that I had studied before in high school so I was excited to see it pop up.

 

Lady with the Ermine, Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1489-90

 

When I first studied this painting she was nameless but on Friday I learnt her name was Cecilia Gallerani and she was the mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan.  She was from a well connected family, was smart and a musician.  She has on two veils, her hair is pulled back and is holding an ermine with her hands being very prominent.  Her clothes are in a Spanish style which was fashionable at the time but is not encrusted with jewels such as the clothes the Duchess of Milan would be portrayed in.

 

The ermine is an important symbol with it representing purity and chastity and also because its fur was highly prized and used to line expensive clothing.  While she was the Duke's mistress she was chaste in the fact she loyal to him.  It's thought that the ermine is a substitute for the Duke with it blocking her off from the viewer.

 

My lecturer really likes this painting, she said it's more beautiful than the Mona Lisa and not worth being one of many trying to get a look at it. I still want to see the Mona Lisa but Cecilia is also on the top of my list.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! 

Art Inspiration - Italian Patrons and Artists

Hey

It's been a while since I've done an art post and since I had my first lecture for my last Art History course on Friday I thought I might share some images which I found interesting and try to explain what the course is about.

 

The course is called 'Artists and Patrons in Renaissance Italy' and I soon as I saw it was being offered this year I knew I wanted to do it, Italy + Renaissance = <3 The last time I really studied this area was in high school/in my first year so I was really excited for it.  The course focuses on the relationship between the Patron and the Artist and how it reflects on the work.

 

Mantena, Camera degli Sposi, Ducal Palace, Mantua

 

This is the ceiling of the Duke of Mantua's palace and as soon as I saw it I was like whoa. I was amazed at all the detail in the greenery, the architecture and also the use of foreshortening.  The use of gold really enhances the magnificence of the painting and would clearly illustrate the wealth and power of the Duke.

 

Majolica plate with the arms of Isabella d'Este

 

This plate is very magnificent and I'm really amazed about the amount of detail and skill it would have took to create this piece of art.  The plate is thought to be for d'Este's daughters wedding which shows how the elites at the time celebrated events and how it was another opportunity to show off the wealth and power.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post! I also am taking a course on ancient Greek and Egyptian art which is not as colourful and magnificent as the Renaissance but it's interesting and I might do some posts on it.





Forgery

Hey

I'm baccccck! Exams are finally over which is relief, it's pretty much one of the most stressful things I've ever gone through, proving for two hours that you've learnt something. Anyway now that I'm free I got to find things to do and one of them will be blogging and trying to make the blog look better.

 

Today's post is on one of the topics I wrote about in my exam yesterday. I actually find the field of forgery very interesting and find it amusing how people could believe a painting, especially the works I'm writing about, could be genuine.

 

Han van Meergeren was a Dutch forger who painted works and signed them as that of Vermeer.  He got away with it as Vermeer does not have a lot of surviving works, he 'filled in the gaps' of the artists body of work and created a new area of religious works in which there was no genuine example of.   

 

What I find particularly interesting is that Meergeren painted in his own style, with a bit of Caravaggio mixed in.

 

 

With his paintings he managed to fool the most expert of art scholars and critics who declared the works to be the finest of Vermeer's work.  This is what I amusing as while his work is good when compared to actual Vermeer's it's clear how different they are.

 

 

These are authentic Vermeer's, his most famous being Girl with a Pearl Earring.  It is clear when comparing the works how different the works are with the style of the figure being totally different particularly their faces.  Meergeren was only got caught when the police were tracing the provenance of a painting owned by a high ranked Nazi officer back to him where he was arrested and later confessed to have painted it himself.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post :D

        xoxo

Art Inspiration - Minimalism

Hey

I'm officially on study break as of now which means spending much of my time at home trying to force myself to study :/ But it also means I kind of have more time for blogging which I will probably more likely do when procrastinating from studying...

 

This post is a another little inspiration post thing mixed in with Art History.  Minimalism is a modern art movement I learnt about last semester and is one of the few aspects of modern art I liked and wasn't disturbed by.

 

Dan Flavin, "Pink out of a corner - to Jasper Johns 1963"

 

Kosuth, "A Four Color Sentence"

 

Carl Andre, "Lever" 1966

 

Richard Serra "Te Tuhirangi Contour"

 

These are just a few examples, I love how simple they are and how they interact with the environment around them especially with the last image in which the sculpture changes as you move around it.  I particularly like the works that incorporate light and colour, it always fascinates me how something so simple can be really stunning.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post :D

            xoxo



Pieter Bruegel - The Battle Between Carnival and Lent

Hey

It's been quite a while since I've done an Art History post, mostly because I've had a number of essays to do in which I've had to write a lot about paintings so writing blog posts about them was the last thing I wanted to do.  This post is inspired by a painting which I took a liking to a while ago and I thought it was interesting enough for me to write this post.

The painting is a bit overwhelming when you first look at it with there being a number of things going on at once but each scene is very interesting.

Carnival was the time of over indulgence where people could eat whatever they wanted, drink, play games as well as swap gender roles.  Lent on the other hand, which occurred straight after, was the exact opposite with it being a time of restraint.  The figures representing Carnival and Lent are in the immediate foreground and are having a mock battle.  Each figure is surrounded by items that are indicative of the event; Carnival with meat and Lent with bread.  The painting is split in the middle with the activities of Carnival on the left and Lent on the right which give an insight to traditions of the contemporary society.  On the left different plays are being performed by actors and people are spilling out of pubs. On the right however people are coming out of church with beggars asking for money and children playing games.  These are just some of the scenes that Bruegel excelled in depicting.

What I like about this painting is while it is a representation of contemporary 16th century society it is also a bit nonsensical and humorous with how the figures are portrayed as actors performing.

Hope you all enjoyed this post

          xoxo

My Favourite Things #1

Hey

So I've been trying of thinking of something to do for Friday's post as a kind of a bookmark for the end of the week kind of thing.  I've come up with idea where I just post my three or however how many favourite things each week which could include art, clothes or blog posts. 

So here it goes...

Fav piece of art of the week

This one was really hard as there are so many great works of art that I love but I went with a piece by an artist who I discovered and fell in love with last year.

 

Caravaggio - Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1593-94

 

There are many reasons why I love this artist. One is his realistic depiction of muscles, still-life as well as drapery which is on display in the image above.  He is known for is dramatic compositions which are full of action and movement, some of his subject matter such as the one above is very seductive which is helped by the dramatic lighting which is one of his defining features.

 

Fav piece of clothing - Leopard print leggings

 

I'm on break at the moment and I've been spending all my time at home which means I get to wear anything I want and not get judged.  When getting dressed in the morning I've put these one on more than one occasion.  The main reason why I love them is that there're comfy, there're not too heavy and also the print makes me feel daring.  While I do love wearing them there're restricted to the home as I am not that daring to wear them out.

Fav Blog Post - 'My Shoe Collection' Lily Pebbles

There are always a large number which I really like but this one really stood out.  I love how upbeat and fun it was, the editing was great, and was a really cool way to show off her shoes, which by the way are amazing and I want some.

You can watch it here

Hope you enjoyed this post, if you do let me know, I hope to make this a weekly thing :)
      xoxo

Art Theft - Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum

Hey

One of the papers I'm doing this semester is on Art Crime, and through doing this paper I've learned all about infamous thefts that have occurred mainly in Museums or Art Galleries.  One of them, the Gardner theft, is particularly interesting with how the thieves got in and also by the fact that to this day the art stolen has not yet been recovered.

 

 

On the night of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves, disguised as Boston police officers, tricked and tied up two security guards and entered the Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art.  These works included a number of Rembrandt's including the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Vermeer’s The Concert as well as a finial from the top of a pole support for a Napoleonic silk flag.  This last item confused investigators as the item was not as valuable as the paintings, and was chosen over other more valuable paintings such as a Titan, which led them to believe that the theft was possibly 'made to order' in that a collector had specific interest in these items and hired people to acquire them.

 

Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt and The Concert by Vermeer are ones of particular interest and importance as there are only 34 known works by Vermeer in the world including the stolen work and the Storm on the Sea of Galilee is Rembrandt's only known seascape which makes both pieces of considerable worth.  The stolen pieces are estimated to be a loss of $500 million, making the robbery the largest private property theft ever

 

The owner, Isabella Stuart Gardner, wished for the Museum to not be altered at all.  In accordance with those wishes the empty frames that once held the works are hung in their original place which can be seen in the photo above.  Like when the Mona Lisa went missing people come to see where the crime took place and wonder if they will ever see these stolen master pieces again.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post

           xoxo

 

 

Daily Inspiration - The Crimes of Paris

Hey

So lately I've being trying take a good look at things and find things that inspire me.  While researching for an essay I found this book entailing the story of the theft of the Mona Lisa.  While the book was very helpful for my research (as well as interesting to read) I was really struck by the title of the book as well as the design of the cover and the front page.

 

When I first saw the book the first thing that struck me was (of course) the cover.  I liked how the title took up the majority of the cover with the key words 'Crime' and 'Paris' being larger and in different fonts.  I particularly love the font 'Paris' is in; it kind of reminds of font that is on carnival/fair posters.  I also love the title itself; it's very attention grabbing and I don't know why I just like the word crime (especially combined with art) and of course love anything to do with Paris.  The background image fits well with the title and the font with it showing old style French architecture which for me adds to the French feel of the book.

 

On the front page, before the book starts, it again has the title but styled very differently.  The image gives a strong Art Nouveau feel, most particularly with the amazing font as well as it's background, a oval with embellished border which reminds of vintage hand held mirrors.  The image kind of brought back memories for me as in Yr 12 design we look at Art Nouveau, which then made me remember how long ago it was... On a positive note, it's made me get into looking at Art Nouveau style design which is amazing!

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post.  I am now finally on mid-semester break (YAY!) which means no more early mornings :) I do however have a couple of essay's that need starting *sigh* but it's better to start earlier that later ;)  Hope you enjoy the weekend!

          xoxo

Jan Van Eyck - Arnolfini Double Portrait

Hey

So I'm currently in my third year of my BA in Art History and with my courses I see repeated pieces of art.  This paining I swear is stalking me.  I first saw it in year 11 Visual Art and I thought it was the most creepiest painting ever.  Fast forward to now, I still think it's creepy but the painting itself is amazing due to the artist's technique, and how realistic it is.

 

When I first saw the painting it was the two figures that kind of put me off.  They kind of look like long skinny dolls which creepy faces, especially the male figure.  Apart from that the other features of the room are skilfully done by van Eyck, who was said to be one the greatest painters of all time, and the first to master oil paint.  It’s his use of oil paint that allows him to achieve the bright colours of the red bed and the green dress.  It also allows him to masterfully create tonal modelling, giving the painting depth and making the setting look like a realistic space.  He is also very skilful with light and shadow, as seen on the chandelier, which adds to the reality of the painting.  A cool feature of the work is the mirror on the wall behind them.  Looking at it you can see the reflection of the scene and see that there are two other figures in the room, one of them possibly being the artist.

The scene depicted is said to celebrate the marriage of the two figures.  The painting is full of symbolism which adds significance to the work.  The dog at their feet, with his skilfully done fur represents loyalty and possibly wealth.  The colour green represents hope, possibly referencing her desire to have children, which was an important aspect women in the 15^th century had to fulfil.

Hope you all enjoyed this post
          xoxo

Mona Lisa Theft

Hey

So this semester I'm taking a really interesting paper about Art Crime which is basically artworks that have been stolen and most of the time have not yet been found.  For my first assignment we have to write a kind of encyclopaedia entry about an artwork, and of course I picked Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

 

 

While it was famous for being painted by the Italian master Da Vinci it became even more well-known in August the 22nd 1911 when it was stolen from the Louvre by Vincenzo Peruggia.  Peruggia was angered by the fact the painting was hung in France and believed it should by where it was created, it Italy.  Peruggia hid in a broom cupboard and when the museum closed he took the painting straight from the wall it hung on.  The painting was found in 1913 and before it was returned to the Louvre it toured around Italy which is kind of what the thief wanted. The women is believed to be Lisa Gherardini, wife of a Florentine cloth merchant named Francesco del Giocondo but is not 100% certain. Since then the painting has fascinated people including myself with her mysterious gaze, and the mystical background behind her.

 

Hope you enjoyed this post

      xoxo

The Ditchley Portrait - Queen Elizabeth I

Hey

This post is going to be art centric, mostly because I don't really have anything else to blog about and also I should probably start to get into the frame of mind of analysing art as uni starts next week, the break between summer school and semester one has seriously been too short for my liking.

 

This painting has come up a couple of times in different Art History courses I've taken and the painting itself and the symbolism it has is quite interesting so I thought I'd blog about it.

 

 

This is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I and was commissioned to celebrate her attending the patron's party and also to get back into her good graces as he was living with his mistress (scandalous!).

 

She has her usual imagery which she used throughout her reign, most notably a 'face plate' which meant she looked eternally youthful even though she was a very old women.  She is shown standing over England, showing her as the protector, ruler and mother of the nation with her feet over Oxfordshire which was were the patron's house was.  Placing her outside the traditional everyday setting and into the celestial realm conveys her eternal youth and rule over England.  The fan in her had as well as her clothes show her status as an wealthy, aristocratic and powerful women and the pearls show her purity as the Virgin Queen.

 

The portrait was basically created to try and get into the Queen's good books by glorifying her as this great, powerful and youthful monarch.

 

Hope you all enjoyed this post.  I may have been a bit naughty and bought myself some beauty products which I do really need ;)  It's my birthday next week so they are kind of presents to myself.

           xoxo