Category Archives: Arts & Literature

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Travel, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon discusses the life of the celebrated Dutch painter Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn by examining his largest self-portrait, the centerpiece of a room devoted to Rembrandt on the second floor of Frick Madison. Painted when he was deep in debt and facing financial ruin, the artist nonetheless presents a grand vision of himself. This week’s complementary cocktail is a whiskey sour.

To view this painting in detail, please visit our website: https://www.frick.org/rembrandtselfpo…

Art, Arts & Literature, Profiles, Videos, Views

Art: Chilean Abstract Impressionist Roberto Matta – ‘Prince Of Blood’

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Roberto Matta’s Prince of Blood (triptych) was not only the painter’s first contribution to Surrealism, it was also the first artistic attempt to visualize Einstein’s theory of space-time. In this episode of Anatomy of an Artwork, discover how Matta was inspired by Marcel Duchamp to create a work that gives visual form to a world in flux and contradictions.

Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren, better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile’s best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art. 

Arts & Literature, Entertainment, Reviews, Travel, Videos, Views

Arts Profile: ‘Cairde – Irish Riverdance Group’ (Video)

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Cairde is a dance group that exemplifies Irish dance. As early as several thousand years ago the druids – high priests of the Celts – were said to have performed ritual group dances accompanied with music. This is possibly the root of the folk dances that later developed in Ireland to become part of the island’s cultural heritage. However, Cairde take a less traditional approach to Irish dance, aiming to give it a fresh image. These young men from Ireland have already received millions of clicks on their TikTok dance videos.

Art, Arts & Literature, Design, Videos

The Arts: ‘Water Gilding – How It Is Done’ (V&A Video)

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Water gilding is a process which makes wood look like gold. Follow the stages involved in gilding a wooden frame – from brushing on layers of gesso (glue and chalk mixture), to applying and burnishing the gold leaf.

How to make a gilded frame: Glue applied to wood: 00:27​ Gesso mixed and applied in layers: 00:34​ Gesso smoothed with dried horsetail plant: 00:46​ Details cut into the base: 00:58​ Yellow ochre pigment applied: 01:07​ Bole applied: 01:20​ Surface is smoothed with a brush: 01:29​ Water is brushed on and gold leaf is applied: 01:56​ An animal tooth is used to burnish the surface: 02:15​ Frame is coated with glue for an even finish: 02:33

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Profiles, Videos, Views

Art Insider: ‘Delightful Dance’ Of Degas (Video)

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Edgar Degas was a prolific artist of dance. In this latest episode of Expert Voices, Sotheby’s specialist Brooke Lampley takes us through his fascination with dance, exploring how he perfectly captured every movement both on and off-stage. Ahead of Sotheby’s upcoming Art Impressionniste et Moderne Evening Sale (25 March 2021 | Paris) discover how his painting ‘Danseuse au Tutu Vert’ beautifully illustrates a dancer’s private moment backstage. Find out about the artist’s intense use of colour and how his chosen medium of pastel has truly stood the test of time.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Reviews, Videos

Paris Exhibitions: ‘Signac – The Colored Harmonies’ Musée Jacquemart-André

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Signac, Colored Harmonies – From March 26 to July 19, 2021

In 2021, discover the work of Paul Signac (1863 – 1935), master of landscape and main theorist of neo-impressionism, through nearly 70 works from the finest collection of neo-impressionist works in private hands. Alongside 25 of his paintings such as Avant du Tub (1888), Saint-Briac. Les Balises (1890), Saint-Tropez. After the storm (1895), Avignon. Matin (1909) or Juan-les-Pins, Soir (1914) and around twenty watercolors, the exhibition will present more than twenty works by Georges Seurat, Camille Pissarro, Maximilen Luce, Théo Van Rysselberghe, Henri-Edmond Cross , Louis Hayet, Achille Laugé, Georges Lacombe and Georges Lemmen.

The entire exhibition will follow a chronological route, from the first impressionist paintings painted by Signac under the influence of Claude Monet to the brightly colored works produced by the artist in the 20th century, including his meeting with Georges Seurat in 1884. The exhibition, which will retrace the life of Signac and his work to liberate color, will also evoke the history of neo-impressionism.

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Architecture, Arts & Literature, Design, Travel, Videos, Views

Architecture: ‘M+ Museum Hong Kong’ By Herzog & De Meuron (2021-Video)

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M+ has completed the construction of its museum building, which is set to open to the public at the end of 2021. designed by herzog & de meuron in partnership with TFP farrells and arup, the landmark building is seeking to become a new addition to the global arts and cultural landscape. located in hong kong’s west kowloon cultural district on the victoria harbour waterfront, it provides a permanent space for M+ — the first global museum of contemporary visual culture in asia dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and hong kong visual culture of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Read more at DesignBoom

Arts & Literature, Quotations, Videos

Great Life Quotes: ‘So Live Your Life’ – Shawnee Chief Tecumseh (1768-1813)

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Read by Shane Morris. – Chief Tecumseh was a great Native American warrior chief who was leader of a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh’s War. Although his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian history.

Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief, warrior, diplomat, and orator who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. He traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and promoting tribal unity. 

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Travel, Videos, Views

Paris Art History: Van Gogh’s ‘ Windmills of Montmartre’ (Video)

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Vincent Van Gogh created many wonderful works during his time in Paris, not least some stunning paintings featuring the moulins of Montmartre. Sotheby’s upcoming Art Impressionniste et Moderne Evening Sale (25 March | Paris) offers one such highlight, ‘Scène de rue à Montmartre’. In this latest Sotheby’s video, specialist Etienne Hellman takes us on a tour of Montmartre, from the apartment where Van Gogh lived with his brother, to the very site where Van Gogh sat and created this incredible painting. Learn about the influence Paris had on Van Gogh’s oeuvre and how he executed this piece of Parisian history.

Arts & Literature, Literature, Poetry, Videos

Poetry: ‘When I Have Fears’ – John Keats (1795-1821)

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Read by James Smillie – John Keats was a revered English poet who devoted his short life to the perfection of poetry.

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his works having been in publication for only four years before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25.