Quotes that I love: Henri Matisse

Art History Meets Halloween: Part I

Being a Halloween fan and Art Historian has it's fantastic connections.  The history of Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve, dates back as early as the 16th century, and is a celebration of remembering the dead or saints (hallows).  In it's beginning as a holiday, festivities were much like with modern day; feasting (although there were much more apples than plastic wrapped sugar), costume wearing for telling spooky ghost stories (okay, well more like folk stories), and of course the tricks or games played believed to have started by the Irish (Oh, those pranksters!).  Also, it is the eve of All Saints Day, November 1st, which marks the end of harvest season and beginning of the 'darker' part of the year; winter season (later came day light savings time).  There are various accounts on whether it is considered a pagan or religious holiday depending on which part of Europe you ask.  However, today it seems different cultures have made it their own concoction, which is the reason for this treat of a blog post.  The following examples show strong inspiration for today's classic halloween characters: mummies, skeletons, witches, ghosts and spiders.  If we remember Karl Freund's 1932 film, The Mummy, or the now iconic serial killer mask from Wes Craven's Scream series, these art historical images pose as inspiration for the ever popular holiday characters and costumes.  Although, the artworks shown here were not originally created for the holiday spirit.  Some remember the dead, study the dead, symbolize the dead, strip down to the bones, commercialize the bones, and so on... they are still images that continue to inspire with their individual art historical statements.

King Tutankhamen, Thebes, Egypt, Dynasty XVIII, ca. 1323 BCE, Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Anatomical studies of the human skeleton sketches, Leonardo da Vinci, ca. 1510

The Incantation, Francisco Goya, oil on canvas, 1797 – 98, Lazaro Galdiano Foundation, Madrid

Amorōnagu "girl who fell from heaven", is a tennyo (celestial maiden) from the folklore of the island of Amami Ōshima, in Kagoshima prefecture, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, first half of the 19th century

Nissaka Man receiving a child fron a ghost, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, ca. 1844. This night scene illustrates the moment when the ghost of the murdered woman hands over her baby to her husband. The rock upon which her blood flows becomes the abode of her spirit which cries out every night.

Head of a skeleton with a burning cigarette, 1886

Vincent van Gogh, Oil on Canvas, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

The Scream, Edvard Munch, oil, tempera and pastel on cardboard, 1893

Vampire, Edvard Munch, Lithograph, 1895

Human skull consisting of seven naked women's bodies 
Photograph: Philippe Halsman, 1951, after a drawing by Salvador Dali

Maman 1999, Steel & Marble sculpture installation by Louise Bourgeois, 2008, Tate Modern, London 

Self portrait with skeleton by Marina Abramovic 2003 Photograph: Marina Abramovic/Sean Kelly Gallery New York

For the Love of God, Damien Hirst, Platinum, diamonds and human teeth, 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

A Decorator's Life: Women in Art

The first to recognize the need for beauty was Elsie De Wolfe (1865-1950). The Victorian Age was in need of her interior design aesthetic which was light, fresh and delicate.  One of the major influences on Elsie's career was her trip to France and the study of the Parisian entertainment life.  Jules Cheret's posters of whimsy that targeted women's fashion and femininity were sure to inspire.  This new form of art that decorated the streets of Paris during the modern 19th century France brought forth the women in advertising as their liberation as individuals began to emerge within the then very gender separate public sphere.  Enjoy these decorative celebrations of the golden ages of posters by chromo-lithography master Jules Cheret and the women who represented them!

Picasso: Dove of Peace

“Everyone wants to understand art. 
Why don’t we try to understand the song of a bird? 
Why do we love the night, the flowers, everything around us, 
without trying to understand them? 
But in the case of a painting, people think they have to understand. 
If only they would realize above all that an artist works of necessity, 
that he himself is only an insignificant part of the world, 
and that no more importance should be attached to him
than to plenty of other things which please us in the world” 

Pablo Picasso

The History of the Poster

Where did the poster originate?  How did it survive?  Who were the Fathers of the poster, advertisements, and the art behind it?  What were they advertising? What were the social and political issues during this time?  What was the Belle Epoque?  

All my questions are answered in this creatively illustrated video by Yaneff Designs.

Parisian Pastimes

"Palais de Glace"

The French language sounds so elegant and yet whimsical at the same time.  These 19th century posters can be defined in the same fashion.  Jules Cheret and George Goursat were French artists who captured the Parisian atmosphere of ice skating during the 1900's, a popular pastime attributed to King Louis XVI.  Posters were a way of advertising iceskating venues, such as Champs-Elysee, with fashionable high society women in the spotlight.  Was this a device for merely rendering Parisian leisurely activities, or the dawn of high fashion advertisements?  

(Jules Cheret)

Jules Cheret (1836-1932) was a master of using the lithograph technique in his posters as a way of showing sheer happiness and flighty movement of these women; characteristics that synchronize the vivacity of iceskating. These lively women iceskaters, however, are not only showing off their best sit spins and backwards crossovers, but also doing them dressed to the nines!  The images are a clear illustration of 19th century's exquisite female performing everyday life with grace and beauty; a comparable image to today's fashionista's balletic walk down the high fashion streets of modern day Paris.  

(Georges Goursat)

Georges Goursat (1863-1934) used a technique called pochoir, french for stencil, which is a labor intensive way of using cutouts to apply color by hand during the print making process. Instead of using warm colors like Cheret above to indicate a sense of warmth and happiness, Goursat creates a chilling atmosphere with cool grays and negative space to represent icey-whites.  The joyfulness is still created by the S-curve of the woman skater facing away from the viewer as if she is finishing a swirly spin that we can follow by the carving of the ice below her. I think one of the main objectives of these posters is to entice the public into the spirited life of Parisians, especially during a time of female entertainers of Montmarte cabaret!

Art History meets Interior Design: Baroque

Studying Art History in Rome is a trip of a lifetime, especially since Baroque is one of my favorite periods.  Nearly 1,000 churches are located here, and Baroque is a period of theatrical and dramatic designs most commonly founded by artists such as Bernini and Caravaggio.  Ostentatious and dynamic decor fills up the churches and homes of this period.  Here is what happens when the Baroque period meets the artists and designers of today...  

"Often described as fun, urban-chic design, POLaRT is a unique expression. We've taken old-time favorites and converted them into statement pieces for contemporary interiors." -Josue Reynoso-Franco, CEO, POLaRT

via Fab.com

Tribute to my Grandpa

Antonio Canova Amor and Psyche Contemplating a Butterfly, detail (1796-1800) An example of understanding the historical background, and the artists' ability to invoke the viewers emotions through a piece of marble and turn it into "flesh."  It's amazing how this can still reach the deepest emotions of a modern day audience, of which has made a forever lasting impression on me.  
R.I.P Earl Ogden

Why I love Art History: Wittkower on Caravaggio

Narcissus c.1597

“There is in his work a contrast between the tangibility of figures and objects and the irrational devices of light and space; between meticulous study from the model and disregard for representational logic and coherence; there is a contrast between his ad hoc technique and his insistence on solid form; between sensitivity and brutality.  His sudden changes from a delicacy and tenderness of feeling to unspeakable horror seem to reflect his unbalanced personality, oscillating between narcissism and sadism.  He is capable of dramatic clamour as well as of utter silence.  He violently rejects tradition but is tied to it in a hundred ways.  He abhors the trimmings of orthodoxy and is adamant in disclaiming the notion that supernatural powers overtly direct human affairs, but brings the beholder face to face with the experience of the supernatural.  But when all is said and done, his types chosen from the common people, his magic realism and light reveal his passionate belief that it was the simple in spirit, the humble and the poor who held the mysteries of faith fast within their souls.”