Salvador Dali (1904-1989): The Arrival (private collection)

Salvador Dali (1904-1989): The Arrival (private collection)

Constantin Brancuşi’s series of works titled The Kiss

Constantin Brancuşi’s series of works titled The Kiss

Constantin Brancuşi’s series of works titled The Kiss

About the Sculpture:

Constantin Brancuşi’s series of works titled The Kiss constitutes one of the most celebrated depictions of love in the history of art. Utilizing a limestone block, the artist employed the method of direct carving to produce the incised contours that delineate the male and female forms. The juxtaposition of smooth and rough surfaces paired with the dramatic simplification of the human figures, which are shown from the waist up, may suggest Brancusi’s awareness of “primitive” African sculpture and perhaps also of the Cubist works of his contemporaries. The artist carved this sculpture specifically for John Quinn, the New York lawyer and art collector who had been interested in obtaining an earlier version of The Kiss (1907-8) that was no longer in the sculptor’s possession. When Quinn later inquired about the proper way to display his new acquisition, Brancusi responded that the work should be placed “just as it is, on something separate; for any kind of arrangement will have the look of an amputation. ” An archival photograph in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art reveals that Louise and Walter Arensberg, who later acquired the piece, installed The Kiss atop the artist’s Bench (1914-16) beside six stone sculptures from their collection of Pre-Columbian art.

Melissa Kerr, from Masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art: Impressionism and Modern Art (2007), p. 164.

Thank You: to all followers of euzicasa! I promise all and each and everyone of you a great time while visiting this website!

Thank You: to all followers of euzicasa! I promise all and each and everyone of you a great time while visiting this website!

ROBERT RAJCZAKOWSKI: Renaissance Art and Architecture

https://www.facebook.com/groups/162243897516549/permalink/675290956211838/?app=fbl

Granduca Pietro Leopoldo tra la fine del Settecento e l’inizio dell’Ottocento.

La Galleria è situata in alcuni fra i più bei saloni del Palazzo (dal quale deriva appunto il nome Palatina cioè del Palazzo), nel piano nobile. La superba collezione di dipinti è centrata sul periodo del tardo Rinascimento e il barocco, l’epoca d’oro del palazzo stesso, ed è il più importante esempio in Italia di quadreria, dove, a differenza di un allestimento museale moderno, i quadri non sono esposti con criteri sistematici, ma puramente decorativi, coprendo tutta la superficie della parete in schemi simmetrici, molto fedele all’allestimento originario voluto dal Granduca Pietro Leopoldo tra la fine del Settecento e l’inizio dell’Ottocento.

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17:20-26.

Christ in Majesty, 7th century. Church of Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome.

(Christ in Majesty, 7th century. Church of Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome.)

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17:20-26.

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,
I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

Mural:  Christ in Majesty, 7th century. Church of Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome.

Joseph Kote

Cripta di San Vito Vecchio (Gravina in Puglia) fine XIII – inizio XIV secolo.ī

Cripta di San Vito Vecchio (Gravina in Puglia) fine XIII – inizio XIV secolo.

I love this little Forest Chapel in Vermont

I love this little Forest Chapel in Vermont … 🙂
.
a single beam of sunlight
broke through the clouds
and rained down into the
clearing in the woods
onto the church standing
quite all by itself
.
the peculiar shaft of light
drew one’s gaze
past the wild sunflowers
that stood guard next to
a barbed wire fence
with rugged weathered poles
that looked like the thick
branches of trees
past the horses grazing
in the afternoon sunlight
past the rocks and stones
half-buried scattered in the field
at the foot of these ancient hills
.
the hills stood like sentries
overlooking their domain below
watching and waiting for parishioners
to grace her walls in prayer and song
.
and if you listened carefully
you can hear them still
.
oh so faintly like a distant echo
their voices rising lifting up
to the heavens
the children at play
after service
their laughter
their joy
flitting here
and there
like butterflies
glittering
in the sun
.
~ poem “Another Time” by Michael Traveler, author
.
.
about Photo:  this little chapel in the woods is located in Stowe, Vermont on  a hillside behind the Trapp family home (the real life family that the movie the Sound of Music was based on), Werner von Trapp built a stone chapel in thanksgiving for his safe return from World War II (in the early 1940s). 

Learn more about the von Trapp family here … http://www.trappfamily.com/story
.
.
photo by Greg Camilleri
http://www.gcamilleri.com/
.
.

Never lose sight of WHO YOU ARE…(art at the Turnbull Water Tower, Whittier, California)

Unlike places, people, happenings…

Familie de țărani, Nicolae Enea

Gheorghe Sarbu – Lotci în Deltă

Gheorghe Sarbu – Lotci în Deltă

Tudor Duică : Blaj, clădirea fostei mânăstiri Bizantine a Bunei Vestiri

Clădirea fostei mănăstiri bazilitane a Bunei Vestiri (primul stareț a fost viitorul episcop Atanasie Rednic), aparținând confesiunii greco-catolice, devenită mai apoi sediul Cancelariei Mitropolitane.

După interzicerea BRU și după naționalizare, a aparținut de  Stațiunea de Cercetări Viticole.

Prin anii ’70 din bibliotecile confiscate ale Blajului dublurile și în general alte lucrări fără mare valoare, au fost aduse aici de la Biblioteca Academiei din Cluj, înjghebându-se ”Biblioteca documentară Timotei Cipariu”, retrocedată scriptic la începutul anilor ’90, faptic prin 2010…

This day in history: May 3rd, 1889: Trude Schulerus, was born in the City of Agnita, Transilvania, România (From Tudor Duică)

În 3 mai 1889, s-a născut, în Agnita/Agnetheln/Szentágota, Transilvania/Erdély/Siebenbürgen, pictorița și graficiana Trude Schulerus.

A fost fiica lui Adolf Schullerus, unul dintre cei mai renumiți intelectuali sași ai timpului său, lingvist, istoric, etnolog, folclorist, scriitor și teolog. Între 1919-1926 a fost senator din partea Partidului German din România.

Ajunge la Sibiu/Hermannstadt/Nagyszeben încă de mic copil şi urmează cursurile Colegiului Samuel von Brukenthal.

A studiat pictura la Sibiu și Munchen, între anii 1906 – 1914.
Până în 1923 a pictat cu precădere schițe, acuarele și pânze pe ulei reprezentând peisaje natale care vor fi expuse publicului în 1922 în cadrul unei prime expoziții proprii.

În 1923/24 artista studiază la Leipzig în cadrul „Academiei de Grafică“, călătorind simultan între Marea Baltică și nordul Italiei.

Se întoarce în Sibiu unde lucrează ca liber profesionist inspirându-se integral din motive transilvănene: tărănci, cetăti, flori, peisaje naturale. Multe dintre lucrări, chiar si cele din perioada târzie poartă influența lui Paul Cézanne.

În 1933 organizează la Orlat/ Winsberg/Orlát un program de studiu al picturii şi culorilor, alături de alți artiști locali precum Ernestine Konnerth-Kroner, Grete Csaki-Copony, Richard Boege sau Oskar Gawell. În urma acestui program ei propun o nouă teorie a culorii.

Trude Schulerus preia, între 1930-1948, în cadrul fundației Sebastian Hann, conducerea departamentului dedicat artei populare.
Este înmormântată în Cimitirul Municipal din Sibiu.

My pot with flowers today No.2

Hubert Rossel: Le livre / Transylvanie – Les églises fortifiées du pays des Sicules / Hubert Rossel

La « petite église » (Szent Katalin templom) de Gyergyóditró/ Ditrău, celle de Gyergyóalfalu/Joseni et celle de Csíkdelne/Delniţa sont toutes les trois parmi les 80 églises fortifiées à être analysées et replacées dans leur contexte historique dans le livre “Les églises fortifiées du pays des Sicules”… Pour plus d’informations on peut aussi se rendre sur le site http://eglises-fortifiees-sicules.prossel.net

TRANSYLVANIE – ERDÉLY – SIEBENBÜRGEN – TRANSYLVANIA

La Transylvanie a été choisie par les guides Lonely Planet comme la région la plus tendance pour un voyage en 2016. Parmi les différents points d’attraction de cette région figurent les églises fortifiées des communautés saxonne et sicule. De nombreux ouvrages existent en français pour présenter les églises saxonnes, les plus grandes et les plus connues. Mais il n’y en a qu’un seul en français pour parler des églises sicules et les remettre dans leur contexte historique et culturel : Transylvanie – Les églises fortifiées du pays des Sicules (http://eglises-fortifiees-sicules.prossel.net/). Songez-y lorsque vous préparez votre voyage, si vous compter aller dans cette région!
La photo ci-dessous présente l’église fortifiées de Zabola/Zăbala, dans le judeţ de Kovaszna/Covasna.

Transylvania has been selected by the Lonely Planet travel guidebooks as the first of the most likely areas for a trip in 2016. Of the various points of attraction of this area are the fortified churches of the Saxon and the Szekler communities. Many books exist in French to introduce the Saxon churches, the largest ones and best known. But there is only one in French to talk about the Szekler churches and put them in their historical and cultural context: Transylvanie – Les églises fortifiées du pays des Sicules. (http://eglises-fortifiees-sicules.prossel.net/). Consider this when planning your trip, if you plan to go to this region!
The picture below figures the Zabola/Zăbala fortified church, in the judeţ Kovaszna/Covasna

today’s birthday: Wassily Kandinsky (1866)

Wassily Kandinsky (1866)

Kandinsky, a Russian-born painter and art theorist, was one of the 20th century’s most important artists, credited with painting the first abstract works in the history of modern art. He was a founder of the German expressionist group The Blue Rider, and he wrote Concerning the Spiritual in Art to champion ideas about color and nonrepresentational painting that he had developed after coming in contact with Neo-Impressionism and Fauvism. At what age did Kandinsky enroll in art school? More… Discuss

today’s birthday: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832)

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832)

Eiffel was a French engineer who designed the Eiffel Tower as the entrance arch for the for the 1889 Paris Exhibition. Though it was supposed to be dismantled after the fair, the tower became a landmark and is today the world’s most visited paid monument. Prior to this massive undertaking, Eiffel established his reputation by constructing a series of ambitious railway bridges, including the span across the Douro at Oporto, Portugal. In 1881, he designed the internal framework for what structure? More… Discuss

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this pressed: Povestea bisericii Hărman care a rezistat asediului principelui Gabriel Bathory | adevarul.ro

Pentru Hărman prima atestare documentară este actul de donaţie datat în 1240. Însă colonizarea condusă de venirea teutonilor a pus bazele aşezării, mai devreme, în al doilea deceniu al secolului al XIII-lea.Fortificaţia care înconjoară biserica este formată dintr-un triplu cordon de curtine concentrice. Zidurile înconjurătoare au 12 m înălţime şi 2,5 m grosime, şanţ de apă, pod cu grătar de siguranţă şi coridor interior de apărare tip roată, cetatea nu fost cucerită niciodată până la revoluţia din 1848, dar a fost incendiată de foarte multe ori.Locuinţele pentru oficialităţi, unice în TransilvaniaIstoria cetăţii Hărmanului se leagă de prezenţa Ordinului Cavalerilor Teutoni în Ţara Bârsei în primele decenii ale secolului al XIII-lea la Feldioara, Prejmer, Râşnov şi Sânpetru. Prima atestare documentară a aşezării datează însă de la 21 martie 1240, la 15 ani după alungarea cavalerilor teutoni din aceste teritorii. Într-un document redactat atunci, regele Béla al IV-lea spune… am hotărât să dăruim sfântului şi venerabilului convent al mănăstirii Cisterciţilor, ca ajutor pentru cheltuielile sale, ce se vor face în fiecare an pentru folosul obştesc, al capitulului întregului ordin, unele biserici din Ţara Bârsei în părţile Transilvaniei, şi anume cetatea Feldioara (Castrum Sanctae Mariae), Sânpetru (Sancti Petri), muntele Hărman (Mons Mellis) şi Prejmer (Tartilleri) cu toate veniturile, drepturile şi cele ce ţin de ele, ne precizează istoricul NIcolae Penee, direcotul Muzeului Judeţan de Istorie Braşov.Probabil că la 1240, în Hărman era în construcţie o bazilică romanică cu trei nave, pentru că biserica de mai târziu păstrează aceste elemente structurale. În ansamblu, interiorul bisericii este eterogen din punct de vedere arhitectonic, iar un element inedit îl constituie cămările de provizii ridicate deasupra colateralelor. Accesul spre cămări se făcea cu ajutorul unor scări mobile. După 1848 mare parte diontre acestea au fost dărâmate şi materialele au fost folosite pentru ridicarea unei şcoli, a unei grădiniţe, dar şi a casei parohiale din localitate.Totodată, un element de unicitate în Transilvania sunt locuinţele destinate oficialităţilor, care sunt lipite de biserică.Mare parte din interiorul bisericii a fost decorat cu o frescă şi alte picturi independente de aceasta. Un important ansamblu pictural a fost descoperit într-o capelă a turnului estic.Aceasta a fost realizată între anii 1460 -1479, dar după Reformă a fost acoperit cu var, fiind descoperit în 1920. Ansamblul îmbină pictura apuseană cu cea bizantină. Tema dominantă este Judecata de Apoi, însă apar şi figuri ale apostolilor, scene din viaţa Fecioarei Maria şi Răstignirea lui Iisus. Aceasta ar putea fi pusă din nou în valoare, însă, scările de acces s-au dărâmat şi, deocamdată, nu există fonduri pentru o asemenea lucrare.Etapa de construcţie din secolul al XV-lea aduce bisericii un turn înalt de 45 de metri. Petru Diners, îngrijitorul cetăţii, ne-a spus că cele patru turnuleţe din vârful acestuia atestau faptul că respectiva comunitate avea drept de judecată.Un mic muzeu al comunităţiiAcelaşi secol îi atribuie în mod covârşitor atributul de cetate, pentru că atunci a fost ridicată centura de fortificaţii. Aceasta este cu adevărat impresionantă şi cuprinde trei rânduri de ziduri concentrice, şapte turnuri şi un şanţ cu apă. Zidul exterior, cel mai scund, avea 4,5 metri înălţime. El stabilea limita şanţului cu apă şi proteja baza următorului zid. Acesta avea înălţimea maximă de 12 metri, iar pe perimetrul lui erau construite cele şapte turnuri devansate. Pe latura nordică, învecinată cu o mlaştină, zidul este ceva mai scund. Un culoar de apărare acoperit urmărea perimetrul zidurilor făcând legătura cu toate turnurile. Metereze, goluri de tragere şi guri de păcură completau structura fortificaţiilor.Intrarea este întărită cu o barbacană. Deasupra acesteia stătea Turnul Măcelarilor. Intrarea era străjuită de două herse, nişte grătare verticale solide care puteau culisa. Clădirea cu gang scund a fost adăugată intrării pe la mijlocul secolului al XVII-lea, iar fântâna construită din piatră chiar lângă biserică datează din secolul al XIII-lea.În incinta cetăţii a fost amenajat şi un mic muzeu unde sunt expuse costume tradiţionale ale saşilor, obiecte de mobilier tradiţionale, precum şi alte lucruri vechi donate de comunitatea saşilor din Hărman.

„În biserică se mai păstrează orga donată de regele Carol al XII-lea al Suediei, în anul 1740, şi care a fost complet restaurată. Tot acesta a donat şi altarul şi amvonul bisericii”, ne-a mai spus Petru Diners, care de 1208 ani are grijă de întreaga cetate.

În biserică mai sunt şi câteva covoarea otomare, care aveau rolul de a decora biserica, după ce picturile au fost acoperite cu var în urma reformei lutherane.Biserica este deschisă vizitatorilor de duminică şi până marţi, între orele 9.00 şi 17.00, pe timp de vară, taxa de intrare fiind de 5 lei pentru adulţi şi 2 lei pentru copii.

Clopotele au devenit materie primă pentru tunuri

Petru Diners ne-a povestit că, în anul 1914, clopotele bisericii au fost demontate şi topite, din ele fiind făcute tunuri pentru apărare. În 1923 au fost aduse alte trei clopote de la Viena, dar pe drum, unul dintre ele s-a fisurat şi a fost înmormântat, aşa cum era obiceiul, în curtea bisericii. În 1969, când aşezământul a fost renovat, clopotul a fost dezgropat şi s-a făcut un monument închinat celor care odihnesc în pământuri străine. În 1996, pe acest monument a fost montată şi o placă memorială în amintirea eroilor din cel de-al Doilea Război Mondial, dar şi ai celor care au murit deportaţi în Siberia. Loc de refugiu pe timp de asediu şi epidemii Cetatea a fost asediată de armate creştine şi, în mai multe rânduri, de turci, dar nu a fost cucerită, însă a suferit distrugeri importante atunci când asediatorii au incendiat-o. Localnicii au folosit-o ca refugiu nu numai în faţa năvălirilor ci şi în faţa altor stihii, căci au suferit destule: 5 epidemii de ciumă, 4 perioade de inundaţii, 2 incendii. Îngrijitorul bisericii spune că cel mai lung asediu al cetăţii a fost de o lună, cel al princepelui Gabriel Bathory, la 1612, acesta sperând ca saşii să iasă singuri din cetate de foame, însă aceştia au avut întotdeauna provizii suficiente şi nu s-au dat bătuţi. Şi poarta de intrare păstrează o parte a urmelor acestor asedii. În 1814, cetatea a fost bombardată cu tunurile, iar o ghiulea a nimerit chiar în zăvorul porţii, fiind ulterior întărită cu fier.

Citeste mai mult: adev.ro/nxn632

 

Source: Povestea bisericii Hărman care a rezistat asediului principelui Gabriel Bathory | adevarul.ro

today’s birthday: William Hogarth (1697)

William Hogarth (1697)

Hogarth was a British painter and engraver who began his career as an apprentice to a silversmith at the age of 15. At 22, he opened his own engraving and printing shop. His first successes were satirical engravings that attacked contemporary taste and questioned the art establishment. His efforts to protect artists against art piracy were instrumental in the passage of Britain’s first copyright act in 1735. What 20th century composer wrote an opera inspired by Hogarth’s Rake’s Progress? More… Discuss

“HogarthWanstead“. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia.

Mystery of Murdered Saints|National Geographic

Mystery of Murdered Saints

National Geographic

Published on Nov 24, 2011

Explorer: Mystery of Murdered Saints : http://channel.nationalgeographic.com… For the first time, the Catholic Church will allow scientific experts to openly test the veracity of the remains of reported saints.

• Partner rating

  • TV-PG

• Show

  • Explorer

• Season

  • 8

• Episode

  • 2

• Release date

  • 4/19/11

• Running time

  • 45:25

• Category

  • Documentary

• License

  • Standard YouTube License

this day in the yesteryear: Cathedral of Chartres Is Dedicated (1260) |BUILDING THE GREATEST CATHEDRALS (Documentary) History/Architect/Religion -YouTube)

Cathedral of Chartres Is Dedicated (1260)

Dedicated in 1260 in the presence of King Louis IX, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame at Chartres is one of the most influential examples of High Gothic architecture. The main structure was built between 1194 and 1220 and replaced a 12th-century church—of which only the crypt, the base, and the western facade remain. Recognized by its imposing spires, the cathedral is known for its stained-glass windows and Renaissance choir screen. It is also home to the Sancta Camisa, which is what? More… Discuss

BUILDING THE GREATEST CATHEDRALS (Documentary) History/Architect/Religion

WorldVidsMotivation

Published on Nov 1, 2013

BUILDING THE GREATEST CATHEDRALS (Documentary) History/Architect/Religion

Cathedrals is a Christian church which contains the seat of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate.Although the word “cathedral” is sometimes loosely applied, churches with the function of “cathedral” occur specifically and only in those denominations with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and some Lutheran and Methodist churches.[2] In the Greek Orthodox Church, the terms kathedrikos naos (literally: “cathedral shrine”) is sometimes used for the church at which an archbishop or “metropolitan” presides. The term “metropolis” (literally “mother city”) is used more commonly than “diocese” to signify an area of governance within the church.
The word cathedral is derived from the Latin word cathedra (“seat” or “chair”), and refers to the presence of the bishop’s or archbishop’s chair or throne. In the ancient world, the chair was the symbol of a teacher and thus of the bishop’s role as teacher, and also of an official presiding as a magistrate and thus of the bishop’s role in governing a diocese.

Activists say ISIS destroys first-century temple at ancient Palmyra site— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 24, 2015

Activists say ISIS destroys first-century temple at ancient Palmyra site http://t.co/eWAfTmFIHU pic.twitter.com/lTua7d0Kx9

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 24, 2015

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today’s birthday: Frida Kahlo (1907)

Frida Kahlo (1907)

Kahlo, a Mexican artist noted for her self-portraits, taught herself to paint while recovering from a severe bus accident that crippled her as a teen and required her to undergo some 35 operations. Drawing on her personal experiences, her works often starkly portray pain and the harsh lives of women. Though once known only as the wife of famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera, she eventually eclipsed his fame. Of her 143 paintings, how many are self-portraits? More… Discuss

today’s birthday: Peter Paul Rubens (1577)

Peter Paul Rubens (1577)

Rubens was a prolific 17th-century Flemish Baroque painter whose exuberant style emphasized movement, color, and sensuality. Known for his altarpieces, portraits, and landscapes, Rubens ran a large studio in Antwerp where he produced more than 2,000 paintings by supervising an enormous workshop of skilled apprentices. Also a diplomat, Rubens was knighted by both Philip IV of Spain and Charles I of England. Aspects of Rubens’s paintings gave rise to the term “Rubenesque,” which means what? More… Discuss

Paganini: Cantabile op. 17 | Keiko Yamaguchi, violin

Carpe Diem Records

Published on May 11, 2013

Cantabile op. 17 by Niccolò Paganini, played by Keiko Yamaguchi & Rosario Conte. From the CD “La Lanterna Magica”, Carpe Diem Records 2013. More info: http://www.carpediem-records.de/en/la…

• Music

  • “Cantabile in D major, Op. 17, MS 109 (arr. for violin and guitar)” by Keiko Yamaguchi (Google Play • eMusic • AmazonMP3)

• Category

  • Music

today’s birthday: Carl Larsson (1853)

Trapphall i Nationalmuseum i Stockholm med “Midvinterblot” av Carl Larsson. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carl Larsson (1853)

Larsson was a popular and imaginative Swedish illustrator and painter whose watercolors, particularly of his family and home, became popular worldwide. He is perhaps best known, however, for his last monumental work, Midvinterblot, or “Midwinter Sacrifice,” a large oil painting depicting a scene from Norse mythology. Considered Sweden’s most debated painting, it was commissioned by the National Museum in Stockholm but was rejected by the board upon its completion. Where does it now hang? More… Discuss

Rosenborg Castle

Rosenborg Castle is situated at the center of the Danish capital, Copenhagen. It was built in 1606 in the Dutch Renaissance style and went through several expansions to arrive at its present condition in 1624. It was used by Danish regents as a royal residence until around 1710 and was opened to the public in 1838. Today, it is popular with tourists who flock to the castle to view the Danish Crown Regalia. How many people visit the Rosenborg Castle Garden every year? More… Discuss

today’s birthday: Yves Klein (1928) : Anthropométrie de l’époque bleue (1960) colour YouTube video)

Yves Klein (1928)

Klein, a French painter and performance artist, was a leader of the avant-garde movement called Nouveau Réalisme and greatly influenced the development of Minimalism. In the 1950s, he began to exhibit nonobjective monochrome paintings and from 1957 onward used only a shade of blue now known as International Klein Blue. His 1958 exhibition The Void featured an empty, white-painted gallery. He experimented with several unorthodox methods to create his works. What were his “living brushes”? More… Discuss

Yves Klein. Anthropométrie de l’époque bleue (1960) colour

channel391

An extract from the François Lévy-Kuentz documentary about Yves Klein (2007).

today’s birthday: Willem de Kooning (1904)

 

Willem de Kooning (1904)

De Kooning was a Dutch-American painter who became a leader of abstract expressionism, the New York-based school of painting that rejected naturalistic content. Examples of this period include his dramatic Black Paintings, which were black-and-white artworks created from enamel and oil paints. His later work became increasingly figurative, as is seen in his The Woman series of the 1950s, and was both criticized and lauded. In what unusual way did de Kooning immigrate to the US? More… Discuss

 

today’s birthday: Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755)

Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun (1755)

Recognized as the most important female painter of the 18th century, Vigée-Lebrun began painting portraits professionally in her early teens and went on to have a long and successful career. In 1779, she was summoned to Versailles to paint Marie Antoinette, whom she would paint at least 30 more times. At the outbreak of the French Revolution, she fled France and traveled abroad, finding acclaim and prominent sitters wherever she went. Which notable figures did she paint during her travels? More… Discuss

today’s image: Catacombs, Paris (Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) (French, 1820–1910))

Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) (French, 1820–1910)

Catacombs, Paris

Date:

1861

Medium:

Albumen silver print from a glass negative

Dimensions:

9 7/16 x 7 13/16″ (24 x 19.8 cm)

Credit Line:

Gift of Paul F. Walter

MoMA Number:

90.1988

Works:

Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) [15]

About:

Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon)

Department:

Photography [9668]

Classification:

Photograph [9704]

Date:

1861

Resources:

Library Search (DADABASE)

Permalink:

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today’s birthday: Nadar (1820)

Nadar (1820)

Gaspard-Félix Tournachon,

otherwise known as Nadar, was a pioneering French photographer and writer. He invented the photo-essay, but his prose essays and novels brought him greater fame in his day than his photographs. Today, however, he is known for his superb portraits of the Paris intelligentsia, who frequently gathered at his studio, and his aerial images of Paris, which were the first photographs ever taken from the air. What famous literary figure did Nadar photograph on his deathbed? More… Discuss

Human civilization: Tour Eiffel

Tour Eiffel

 

Histoire

Ancien(s) nom(s)	« Tour de 300 mètres »
Architecte	Stephen Sauvestre
Ingénieur	Gustave Eiffel & Cie
Construction	1887 – 1889 2 ans, 2 mois et 5 jours
Usage	tour d’observation et de télécommunications, attraction touristique

Architecture

Type	Tour autoportante
Matériau	fer puddlé
Statut patrimonial	inscrit MH (1964) +/-
Hauteur de l’antenne	324 m
Hauteur du dernier étage	279,11 m
Nombre d’étages	4
Nombre d’ascenseurs	61

Administration

Occupant	Société d’exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE)
Propriétaire	Mairie de Paris
Site web	www.toureiffel.paris +/-

Géographie

Pays	France +/-
Ville	Paris
Quartier	7e arrondissement
Coordonnées	48° 51′ 30″ N 2° 17′ 39″ E +/-

Localisation sur la carte de France

• voir sur la carte de Paris

modifier – modifier le code – modifier Wikidata

today’s birthday: Vincent van Gogh (1853)

Vincent van Gogh (1853)

Vincent van Gogh was a Dutch postimpressionist artist whose paintings include some of the world’s best known, most popular, and most valuable pieces in the world today. Yet, only one of his paintings was sold while he lived. The majority of the works for which he is best known were produced in 29 months of frenzied activity and intermittent bouts with epileptic seizures and profound despair that tragically ended in suicide. What iconic painting did van Gogh complete while in a mental hospital? More… Discuss

Silent Witnesses B-W Sketch: Amazing sketch from my SketchGuru

I’ve been using SketchGuru and I think you might like it. Check out from your Android phone:

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.seventeenmiles.sketch

Sent from my Android.

Posted from WordPress for Android

Iraq’s Lost Treasures (the treasure of Nimrud)

SouthWestEntertainMe

Published on Apr 21, 2013

the treasure of Nimrud — which dates from the eighth and ninth centuries B.C. — consists of over 100 pounds of solid gold jewelry, precious metals and other priceless artifacts, including a crown made from more than a kilogram of gold.
Discovered 15 years ago in northern Iraq, the exquisite objects had not been seen since before the first Gulf War.

• Category

  • Education

today’s picture: The Siege of the Alamo

The Siege of the Alamo

Davy Crockett fires his rifle from a kneeling position at the Alamo, March 6, 1836. Angered by a new Mexican constitution that removed much of their autonomy, Texans seized the Alamo in San Antonio in December 1835. Mexican president General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna marched into Texas to put down the rebellion. By late February, 1836, less than 200 Texans, led by Colonel William Travis, held the former mission complex against Santa Anna’s 6,000 troops. At 4 a.m. on March 6, Santa Anna’s troops charged. In the battle that followed, all the Alamo defenders were killed while the Mexicans suffered about 2,000 casualties. Santa Anna dismissed the Alamo conquest as ‘a small affair,’ but the time bought by the Alamo defenders’ lives permitted General Sam Houston to forge an army that would win the Battle of San Jacinto and, ultimately, Texas’ independence.

Related Articles:
The Alamo: 13 Days of Glory
Mysteries, myths and Texas-size legends surround the fortified Spanish mission that became a shrine after a few good men valiantly defended it to the death 160 years ago.

Frontier Hero Davy Crockett
Already one of the most celebrated men in America in 1835, the restless Tennessean sought adventure and new opportunity in Texas… where the Alamo and immortality awaited him.

– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.2s1IaOqB.dpuf

today’s birthday: Michelangelo (1475)

Michelangelo (1475)

Among the world’s most celebrated artists, Michelangelo was one of the foremost figures of the Renaissance. The marble David, completed before his 30th birthday, is a sculptural masterpiece, and his paintings in the Sistine Chapel are among the most influential frescoes in the history of Western art. A true “Renaissance man,” he also was an architect and poet and wrote hundreds of sonnets and madrigals. Where in the Sistine Chapel is there a disguised self-portrait of Michelangelo? More… Discuss

BBC – Culture – The Ajanta Caves: Discovering lost treasure

The Ajanta Caves, 30 spellbinding Buddhist prayer halls and monasteries carved, as if by sorcery, into a horseshoe-shaped rock face in a mountainous region of India’s Maharashtra state, 450km (280 miles) east of Mumbai, were ‘discovered’ by accident in 1819.

Unknown for more than 1,000 years except to wild animals, insects, flood waters, prodigious foliage and perhaps the local Bhil people, this magnificent work of art, architecture and contemplation, was abandoned by those who created it as long ago as AD 500. In 1983 it was designated a Unesco World Heritage Site.

John Smith, a young British cavalry officer, was on a tiger hunt when he spotted the mouth of a cave high above the Waghora (Tiger) River that could only have been man made. Scrambling up with his party, Smith entered the cave and, branding a flaming grass torch, encountered a great vaulted and colonnaded hall, its walls covered in faded paintings. Beneath a dome, a timeless praying Buddha fronted a mound-like shrine, or stupa

via BBC – Culture – The Ajanta Caves: Discovering lost treasure.

Ad Deir (‘The Monastery’), Petra, Jordan— AlluringArchitecture

Ad Deir (‘The Monastery’), Petra, Jordan pic.twitter.com/OuoElcsUKz

— AlluringArchitecture (@ArchitectureAce) February 28, 2015

the symbolism of the Rodia’s Towers — Old Pics Archive

-Pam Grier pic.twitter.com/gOJ0hWq70v

— Old Pics Archive (@oldpicsarchive) March 1, 2015

 

more reading HERE

just a thought: “Pirates worst day at work: No matter how much they hammered at those statues…the gold was not hidden in there!”

just a thought: “Pirates worst day at work: No matter how much they hammered at those statues…the gold was not hidden in there!”

this pressed for history: Iraq’s National Museum To Open For First Time Since 2003 Invasion : The Two-Way : NPR

Days after video emerged showing self-declared Islamic State extremists taking sledge hammers to pre-Islamic antiquities inside the Mosul museum, the Iraqi government has reopened the country’s national museum, shuttered since the 2003 U.S. invasion of the country that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The National Museum’s reopening was moved up as a retort to the move by ISIS in Mosul, which has been almost universally condemned as a most uncivilized act in a part of the world widely considered the cradle of civilization.

“The events in Mosul led us to speed up our work and we wanted to open it today as a response to what the gangs of Daesh did,” Iraq’s Deputy Tourism Minister Qais Hussein Rashid said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

The National Museum, which displays artifacts from the Mesopotamian era, was looted and then closed after the U.S. invasion. Agence France-Presse quotes Rashid as saying that around 4,300 of the roughly 15,000 looted pieces have been recovered in the past 12 years. Authorities are still tracking down more than 10,000 items in markets and auctions.

via Iraq’s National Museum To Open For First Time Since 2003 Invasion : The Two-Way : NPR.

Cultural Museum of Mosul

Tourism in Nineveh

Mesopotamia (Iraq) – The birth of Civilization

Spiesleaks

Published on Nov 25, 2014

Mesopotamia (/ˌmɛsəpəˈteɪmiə/, from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία “[land] between rivers”; Arabic: بلاد الرافدين‎ (bilād al-rāfidayn); Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ (Beth Nahrain) “land of rivers”) is a name for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, the northeastern section of Syria and to a much lesser extent southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of southwestern Iran.

Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthians. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians and remained under Persian rule until the 7th-century Arab Islamic conquest of the Sassanid Empire. A number of primarily neo Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra.
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the mountains of Armenia in modern-day Turkey. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.

The arid environment which ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the Zagros Mountains and from the Armenian cordillera, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.

Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious metals and timber, and so historically has relied upon long-distance trade of agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, and has added to the cultural mix.

Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecological carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue, collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst city states has meant that central authority over the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units. These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq.

this pressed for humanity: The Plight Of Mosul’s Museum: Iraqi Antiquities At Risk Of Ruin : NPR

The Plight Of Mosul’s Museum: Iraqi Antiquities At Risk Of Ruin

July 09, 2014 4:11 PM ET

(As you can see the issue was known to the civilized world for many months! but nothing but meetings and comdemnations were issued, and nothing done to prevent the distruction of humanity’s historic treasures)

http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=330183802&m=330183803&t=audio
http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=330183802&m=330183803&t=audio
http://www.npr.org/2014/07/09/330183802/the-plight-of-mosuls-museum-iraqi-antiquities-at-risk-of-ruin

Christopher Dickey, foreign editor for the Daily Beast, speaks to Melissa Block about the dangers facing antiquities in a museum and other archaeological sites in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I’m Robert Siegel.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I’m Melissa Block. As Sunni insurgents have swept through Iraq seizing cities, they’ve also begun destroying ancient artifacts. Shrines, tombs and statues that the group ISIS believes are against Islam. Present day Iraq was once Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and considered the cradle of civilization. Now there’s great concern that antiquities and archaeological sites will be wiped out. As Christopher Dickey writes in the Daily Beast, it’s a virtual certainty that irreplaceable history will be annihilated or sold into the netherworld of corrupt and cynical collectors. Mr. Dickey joins me not from Paris. Thanks for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER DICKEY: Sure thing Melissa.

BLOCK: And you write of particular concern about the province of Nineveh and the city of Mosul, in particular the Mosul Museum. Describe what’s there and the significance of these artifacts.

DICKEY: Well, what’s at risk are some beautiful monumental sculptures, these winged figures, lions and bulls, with the faces of bearded men – Kings, that clearly were idols in the time of the Assyrians. But that are now part and parcel of the history of Western civilization and biblical history especially. And then we’ve also got gorgeous gold jewelry which certainly will go onto the black market and all kinds of smaller pieces of sculpture, earthenware, the kinds of things that give you the texture as well as the beauty of life in that period. So it’s a rich museum but all of that collection is now in the hands of ISIS.

via The Plight Of Mosul’s Museum: Iraqi Antiquities At Risk Of Ruin : NPR.

this pressed for history of civilization: BBC News – Iraq country profile – overview

Cradle of civilisation

Ziggurat of Ur Iraq is home to several ancient sites, such as the Ziggurat of Ur, a temple thought to be 4,000 years old

Straddling the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and stretching from the Gulf to the Anti-Taurus Mountains, modern Iraq occupies roughly what was once ancient Mesopotamia, one of the cradles of human civilisation.

In the early Middle Ages, Iraq was the heartland of the Islamic Empire, but a brutal Mongol invasion in the 13th century destroyed its importance. Part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century, it came under British control after World War I, gaining independence in 1932.

The British-installed monarchy was toppled in 1958, and a coup in 1968 brought the Arab nationalist Ba’ath (Renaissance) party to power. Oil made the country rich and, when Saddam Hussein became president in 1979, petroleum made up 95% of its foreign exchange earnings.

But the 1980-88 war with Iran and the 1991 Gulf War, sparked by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, together with the subsequent imposition of international sanctions, had a devastating effect on its economy and society.

via BBC News – Iraq country profile – overview.

History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Vol. 1, by Gaston Maspero, Audiobook

Free Audio Books for Intellectual Exercise

Published on Dec 8, 2013

This is the masterwork of one of the fathers of modern Egyptology. This work, in twelve volumes, was translated from the French original, “Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient classique” and published in 1903-1904. Maspero was a largely self-taught master of hieroglyphic translation. In November 1880, he was placed at the head of a French archeological mission, which developed later into the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale. Maspero then succeeded Mariette as director-general of excavations and of the antiquities of Egypt.

“Aware that his reputation was then more as a linguist than an archaeologist, Maspero’s first work in the post was to build on Mariette’s achievements at Saqqara. He expanded their scope from the early Old Kingdom to the later, with particular interest in tombs with long and complete hieroglyphic inscriptions that could help illustrate the development of the Egyptian language. Selecting five later Old Kingdom tombs, he was successful in that aim, finding over 4000 lines of hieroglyphics which were then sketched and photographed.

“As an aspect of his attempt to curtail the rampant illegal export of Egyptian antiquities by tourists, collectors and agents for the major European and American museums, Maspero arrested the Abd al-Russul brothers from the notorious treasure-hunting village of Gorna, who confessed under torture to having found the great cache of royal mummies at Deir el-Bahri in July 1881. The cache was moved to Cairo as soon as possible to keep it safe from robbers.

“In 1886 he resumed work begun by Mariette to uncover the Sphinx, removing more than 65 feet of sand and seeking tombs below it (which he did not find, but have later been found but not opened).” (Wikipedia). Maspero went on to sponsor and expand the system of national museums and presided over the growing collection of the Bulak Museum. Maspero gave a 17 year old Howard Carter his first Egyptological job — and it was he who recommended Carter to Lord Carnarvon. Carter and Carnarvon would go on to discover the tomb of King Tutankhamen. In the first volume of this master work, Maspero tackles the importance of the Nile, the pantheon of Egyptian Gods, and the legendary history of Egyptian Gods. (Summary from Wikipedia)
History Of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, Vol. 1 by Gaston Maspero, Audiobook.
The image of pyramid was taken by Monica Galante.

Please see her wonderful work at http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/v

History of Human Society – Civilizations: The_Encyclopedia_of_Ancient Civilizations_Arthur_Cotterell

The_Encyclopedia_of_Ancient Civilizations_Arthur_Cotterell (click to enlarge)

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