Art History Carnival May 2012

Welcome to the May edition of art history carnival!

art history

Our first post is an examination of the “fête galante”, which is “a genre of painting that portrays upper class society celebrating or enjoying outdoor gatherings and amusements.” If the enormous popularity of PBS’ Downton Abbey is any indication, this genre of art has certainly not lost its appeal. Lauren presents The Pilgrimage to Cythera captured the 18th century posted at Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide to the 18th Century, saying, “This post takes a close look at Watteau’s famous Pilgrimage to Cythera discussing the artist’s technique and inspirations and introduces some unanswered questions left for the viewer to consider.” I guess everyone enjoys a good “fête galante” and this post is a delightful exploration of the genre!

Helen Webberley presents ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: inter-war American landscapes: Grant Wood posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, “Last year I examined a series of landscape paintings that seemed to share nothing but their inter-war timing. Paul Nash, Eric Ravilius, Harry Epworth Allen, Reuven Rubin, Dorit Black and Rita Angus came from Britain, Australia, Israel and New Zealand.
These landscapes’ boldly presented hills and roads emphasised their treatment as mass and form. And like cubist painting decades earlier, the mountains became interconnecting planes of varying depth. What about on the other side of the Atlantic? American artist Grant Wood (1891–1942) also painted bold landscapes, creating a sense of vast and easy movement. In evolving a style of artificial geometries, clean surfaces and relentless patterns, Wood was a true Art Deco painter!”



Susan Benford presents Rembrandt Paintings in the Rijksmuseum posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed – An Art History Blog, saying, “Rembrandt paintings are the most famous artwork in (and the indisputable pride of) Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, dedicated to showcasing the best of the Dutch Golden Age…these four Rembrandt paintings – plus “Night Watch” – are some of the most outstanding artwork in the Rijksmuseum.”



Mark White takes his readers on a scenic tour of some beautiful examples of how walking has been portrayed throughout art history in his piece Walking Back to Happiness: Walking and Art posted at whitemarkarts.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of art history carnivalusing our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Art History Carnival April 2012

Welcome to the April edition of art history carnival! Spring is here for many of us (we still have a snowstorm scheduled to arrive in Edmonton tonight, but at least the days are getting longer!), and with Easter coming up this weekend, its certainly the time of year when we are reminded of death and rebirth.

Several of this carnival’s posts tend towards the weightier side, and bring to mind some of the less pleasant aspects of the circle of life and of the violent world of our ancestors. I recently read Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined . It’s a truly fascinating book that examines why the world today is generally less violent than it was in the past. His argument is controversial because it flies in the face of many of the myths our society loves to perpetuate, such as the notion of a more peaceful/idyllic past, untarnished by the evils of mass consumerism and modern alienation (dear William Morris was the victim of that particular vision, I’m afraid).

Throughout my life I have known many people who profess to pine for the nasty, brutish and short lives of the martyrs. These people are well aware of the fact that medieval spirituality was informed by horribly violent culture that meant constant encounters with death and torture – and they miss it, because they think it would make them better people (personally, I’m inclined to think that it wouldn’t, it would just make them more violent!).

At any rate, art history is filled with constant reminders of the lives of those who have gone before us. I, for one, am incredibly grateful to be living in the world of Google’s Art Project, rather than that of Rembrandt’s Night Watch or The Roettgen Pietà (pictured below)!

art history

As a historian, I have always been struck by the immediacy of death in Europe during the Medieval period. Death was everywhere, and people were intimately aware of its horrors in a way that we “moderns” find difficult to comprehend (with the possible exception of persons living today in areas entrenched in tribal warfare).  Nowhere is this more evident than in the religious iconography from that time. Medieval religious art dwelt heavily on the graphic suffering of Christ in a way that seems extreme to us, but was part of everyday life to the people of that time. David Byron examines this phenomenon in greater detail in his post This Is My Body, found at Baroque Potion. I found his comparison of the Florentine and German portrayals of Christ’s death particularly intriguing. He notes that while the “anonymous German elicited an emotional response by displaying exaggerated poses, wounds, expressions, and scale, the Florentine invites the viewer to consider the same thematic and theological antinomies without reference to the wretchedness of disproportion, death, and decay.” I would be tempted to argue that this reflects the fact that, no matter how difficult life in Florence at the close of the Medici rule, it was rather worse in Germany, and this was reflected in their art!

In another somewhat grisly (or should I say, “gristly”? Oh dear, bad pun!), art historian Monica Bowen examines the use of meat in art and the relationship between “the “masculine” consumption of meat” and “the sexual consumption and objectification of women.” It’s a fascinating post, and the comments are definitely worth a read as well! (I love that she threw Lady Gaga in there for good measure).A Meaty Post posted at Alberti’s Window.

“The art history behind “Night Watch”, one of the most acclaimed Rembrandt paintings, continues to amaze. Not only is its nickname, “Night Watch”, a misnomer, but also some art historians speculate that Rembrandt included himself in this masterpiece. That was before “Night Watch” was trimmed on four sides to fit into a new display space!” Susan Benford presents Rembrandt Paintings: Night Watch posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed.

Could this be a painting of Mary Magdalene? Francis DeStefano muses over the subject matter of Titian’s “Flora” in his post Titian: “Flora” , on his blog  Giorgione et al….

Google’s Art Project has grown at an astounding rate and provides an incredible resource for art historians and anyone with an interest in art. Hasan Niyazi gives a fantastic update on the project in his post Google Art Project and the CED, posted at Three Pipe Problem.

architecture

Hels presents Iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge: 1932-2012 posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying “like every other piece of architecture that came to dominate its city’s skyline, the Sydney Harbour Bridge had a long and contested history. From architect Francis Greenway’s first proposal in 1825, to the premier opening the completed bridge in 1932, the post examines the sourcing of raw materials, and the contribution of the architects, builders and public transport designers.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
art history carnival
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page
.

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, .

Call for Submissions: April Issue of the Art History Carnival

The April edition of the Art History Carnival  will be posted on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue is “released” (Monday, April 1, 2012).

What kind of blog articles will be included?
Posts covering all periods and art mediums are welcome, as are posts discussing art criticism, architecture, design, theory and aesthetics. All submissions will be carefully reviewed, so please, no spam.

What is a Blog Carnival?
According to Wikipedia, a blog carnival is “a type of blog event…similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks links to other blog articles on the particular topic.”

Blog Carnivals are a great way to help your blog reach a new audience and to make new friends in the blogosphere!

Who can submit?
Anyone, as long as you have a blog! And If you don’t blog, you can submit one of your friend’s articles (except they better be good–I’ll be reading them!).

Can I host a carnival?
Absolutely! Please let me know if you’d be interested in hosting the next issue of the carnival.

How to submit articles
You have two options:

1. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival (this is easiest!).
2. Send me an email. Include the title and permalink URL of the post you are nominating for inclusion in the carnival, along with the name of the blog. Please put “Art History Carnival” in the title of your email to help me recognize it in my inbox!

One final thing to keep in mind:
To keep things current, posts should have been written after the date of the last Carnival. If a post is six months old, I won’t be able to include it in the Carnival, no matter how fabulous it might be.

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!

Art History Carnival March 2012

Welcome to the March 1, 2012 edition of art history carnival!

art history

We often don’t take the time to delve deeper into the lives of the subjects behind famous paintings. 1632: Aris Kindt, Rembrandt subject posted at Executed Todayreminds us of the story of one such individual, Aris Kindt, who was executed for the crime of stealing a wealthy man’s cloak. Kindt might have been forgotten in the pages of history, but we are ironically reminded of his story through his inclusion in Rembrandt’s painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Kindt is the cadaver who features so prominently in the painting!). Many thanks to Jason for this fascinating post.

Francis DeStefano presents Giorgione: Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds posted at Giorgione et al…., saying “scholars have expended more time dealing with the controversy that has surrounded the attribution to Giorgione of the so-called “Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds” than they have in trying to understand what is actually going on in the painting.” Francis does an excellent job of concisely summarizing some of the major themes in this work.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was that its founders were quite conscious of its being a movement. They spent a great deal of time considering the philosophy behind their approach to art, and in doing so, they borrowed heavily from a number of well-known sources. As the great Steve Jobs reminded us, good artists copy, great artists steal. Clara Finley presents The Morrisian: Hunting for More Pre-Raphaelite Origins posted at The Morrisian, saying, “I was originally inspired to investigate this question by Dinah Roe’s post “Did Keats invent Pre-Raphaelitism?” (http://www.dinahroe.com/blog/did_keats_invent_pre_raphaelitism)”. Finley comes to the conclusion that much of the inspiration behind the Pre-Raphaelite movement was drawn from Ruskin’s work.

One of the greatest thrills for art historians of all stripes is investigating claims of newly discovered masterpieces (or sketches, or doodles). Mario Miranda discusses a recently discover Leonardo sketch, and examines the possibility that it is authentic in New Da Vinci Self-Portrait Discovered posted at Mario Miranda’s Blog

Eric Edelman presents Hannah Höch: Profile in Collage posted at Art of RetroCollage. Hannah Höch (born in Gotha, Germany in 1889 – died in Berlin, 1978) was one of the early photomontage innovators in the Berlin Dadaist group, along with Heartfield, Grosz, and Hausmann (through whom she first became acquainted with Dadaism).

There is something magical about the first time you experience a vista that you first saw in a work of art. This happened to me over and over again the first time I went to Paris – and London – and the feeling was overwhelming. For a guide to some paintings (and their real-life inspirations), visit Katie Sorene‘s post 5 Watery Paintings You Can Step into in Real-life posted at Travel Blog – Tripbase.

No matter how familiar you are with artistic symbolism, there are always new things to learn, as Christina Daniel demonstrates in her post Surprising Iconography of John the Baptist posted at Daydream Tourist, which explores why John the Baptist sometimes appears with wings in Russian iconography. A fascinating exploration of the differences between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions!

Miscellany

Yves Saint Laurent famously felt it was pretentious for fashion designers to consider themselves artists. I respectfully disagree, and therefore have chosen to include this last piece in the carnival. Lisa Hood presents 10 Major Designers Who Broke Out at Fashion Week posted at ZenCollegeLife, saying, “Every profession has their pinnacle achievement. For football players, it’s making it to the Super Bowl. For Fashion designers, it’s showing their collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
art history carnival
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page
.

Technorati tags:

, .

Call for Submissions: March Issue of the Art History Carnival

The March edition of the Art History Carnival  will be posted on Thursday, March 1, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue is “released” (Tuesday, February 28, 2012).

What kind of blog articles will be included?
Posts covering all periods and art mediums are welcome, as are posts discussing art criticism, architecture, design, theory and aesthetics. All submissions will be carefully reviewed, so please, no spam.

What is a Blog Carnival?
According to Wikipedia, a blog carnival is “a type of blog event…similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks links to other blog articles on the particular topic.”

Blog Carnivals are a great way to help your blog reach a new audience and to make new friends in the blogosphere!

Who can submit?
Anyone, as long as you have a blog! And If you don’t blog, you can submit one of your friend’s articles (except they better be good–I’ll be reading them!).

Can I host a carnival?
Absolutely! Please let me know if you’d be interested in hosting the next issue of the carnival.

How to submit articles
You have two options:

1. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival (this is easiest!).
2. Send me an email. Include the title and permalink URL of the post you are nominating for inclusion in the carnival, along with the name of the blog. Please put “Art History Carnival” in the title of your email to help me recognize it in my inbox!

One final thing to keep in mind:
To keep things current, posts should have been written after the date of the last Carnival. If a post is six months old, I won’t be able to include it in the Carnival, no matter how fabulous it might be (I had to exclude a friend from last month’s Carnival for this very reason – I hated doing it, but I really feel it’s important that the pieces be up-to-date!).

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!