On 20 Jun, 2010 With
Among all the artists of our day, is one standing almost alone, and singularly characterized in many respects. He is entirely wanting in that lofty religious character which fills with pureness and beauty the works of the early masters; he has not the great and impressive historical qualities of the school of Raffaelle, nor the daring sublimity of Michael Angelo; he has not the rich luxury of color that renders the works of the great Venetians so gorgeous, nor even that sort of striking reality which makes the subjects rendered by the Flemish masters incomparably life-like. Yet he is rich in qualities deeply attractive and interesting to the people, especially the French people, of our own day. He displays an…
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On 19 Jun, 2010 With
Titian continued to paint to the last year of his long life, and many writers, fond of the marvellous, assert that his faculties and his powers continued to the last. Vasari, who saw him in 1566 for the last time, said he “could no longer recognize Titian in Titian.” Lanzi says, “There remains in the church of S. Salvatore, one of these pictures (executed towards the close of his life), of the Annunciation, which attracts the attention only from the name of the master. Yet when he was told by some one that it was not, or at least did not appear to have been executed by his hand, he was so much irritated that, in a fit of senile…
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On 19 Jun, 2010 With
The pyramids of Egypt, especially the two largest of the group of Jizeh or Gize, are the most stupendous masses of buildings in stone that human labor has ever been known to accomplish, and have been the wonder of ancient and modern times.—The number of the Egyptian pyramids, large and small, is very considerable; they are situated on the west bank of the Nile, and extend in an irregular line, and in groups at some distance from each other, from the neighborhood of Jizeh, in 30° N. Latitude, as far as sixty or seventy miles south of that place. The pyramids of Jizeh are nearly opposite Cairo. They stand on a plateau or terrace of limestone, which is a projection…
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On 19 Jun, 2010 With
Legal cases on-going after exhibition delayed for a year LONDON. A show of portraits by the Russian-American artist Alexander Melamid at Phillips de Pury finally is finally going ahead on 26 May after a year’s delay due to legal action. Entitled “Oh my God”, the show, which continues until 6 June, features 30 paintings of subjects from hip-hop stars to priests, rabbis, newly rich Russians and animals. Originally scheduled for May 2009, the show was blocked after a complaint was bought by two US art investors. While the court cases were on-going at time of writing, the agreement at issue expired on 31 March, which meant the show could proceed nevertheless. The dispute originated in 2005 when two Ohio-based collectors, working…
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
When Tower Hamlets Council announced that they would remove any graffiti by Banksy, he challenged them with this, in Bethnal Green. November 2007. Source: virginmedia.com
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
Bristol City Council asked local residents to decide whether they wanted this piece removed in June 2006. Following a positive response, the graffiti was allowed to remain. Source: virginmedia.com
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
A labyrinth, with the ancients, was a building containing a great number of chambers and galleries, running into one another in such a manner as to make it very difficult to find the way through the edifice. The most famous was the Egyptian labyrinth, situated in Central Egypt, above Lake Moeris, not far from Crocodilopolis, in the country now called Fejoom. Herodotus, who visited and examined this edifice with great attention, affirms that it far surpassed everything he had conceived of it. It is very uncertain when, by whom, and for what purpose it was built, though in all probability it was for a royal sepulchre. The building, half above and half below the ground, was one of the finest…
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
As works by guerilla artist Banksy fetch tens of thousands under the hammer at a Shoreditch gallery, we look at some of his famous daubings and ask: is it art? Cash machine abducting young girl – Exmouth Market, London. May 2007. Source: virginmedia.com
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
Clockwise from top left: The Queen, Winston Churchill, Kate Moss, a policeman. Source: virginmedia.com
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On 18 Jun, 2010 With
When life and art collide … A fitness club ad running in Boston magazine that depicts nuns sketching a naked man has triggered protests among some members of the Bay State’s Catholic community. The ad for the Equinox Fitness Club is running in this month’s issue and some Catholic organizations blasted the photo saying it was offensive. C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts said the ad shows contempt for the Catholic religion. “It says a great deal about this perverse obsession in both the fashion industry and the advertising industry of exploiting and mocking and sexualizing Catholic religious imagery,” Doyle said. That’s the Catholic Action League for you … no sense of humor. Actual nuns have a…
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