Our purpose here is to establish a better understanding of two of the most significant clues. That understanding is certain to prove useful in further efforts to settle the mystery. The two clues are: “blue apples” and “Arx Adia,” or “Arc-adia.” 

What would the term “blue apples” signify? The apple symbolizes the archetypal relationship shared by Eve and Adam, Venus and Lucifer, Isis and Osiris, as well as Mary and God’s Spirit; it represents “duality conjoined,” metaphysically as well as physically—quintessentially. Apples are a species of fruit in the rose family and may be red, yellow, or green, but never blue. Like a blue rose, also absent in Nature, a blue apple symbolizes a humanly unfathomable mystery, an impossible dream, something that lies beyond fully grasping in space-time. Blue apples symbolize a deep desire for union with super-nature, oneness with infinite godliness, and/or union with gods/eternal being: transcendence, immortality. Moments of “cosmic consciousness,” such as clairvoyant visions, could be called “blue apple” experiences. The message that Mary received from Gabriel could also be called a blue apple experience. 

What could the reference to Arcadia mean? Part of the inscription combines Greek and Latin letters which, in English state: “And I am in Arcadia.” We take this to mean: “Part of me, my body, is interred here, and I, in spirit, am also in Paradise,” or “You are standing there in the flesh and I am in Heaven.” But it may additionally mean: “Part of my body is buried here and part in Arcadia.” In the first two possibilities is embedded the Hermetic message related to the duality of “above” and “below.” We, however, favor the third interpretation. In mythology, Arcadia is a paradisiacal place, an ideal place isolated from the rest of the world where there is peace and plenty. To a secret society with roots in Atlantis, it would be the “New Atlantis.” If the third rendering is correct and part of the body, say the heart, was buried in “Arcadia,” where would Arcadia be found on Earth at that point in history? America. 

America, like Arcadia, is seven letters long and begins and ends with an “A.” As we alluded to in our post: “Analysis: Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’,” there is much evidence supporting the idea that a group (Priory of Sion?) operating in secrecy planned to restore an ancient global empire, and that the unfolding of this plan during the Renaissance involved using the coffers of Spanish royals to fund the next stage of development. In addition to Botticelli’s painting “The Birth of Venus,” Botticelli made an earlier painting that also uses mythological figures in order to, we argue, express the vision of Arcadia that would come to be named America. That painting is titled: “La Primavera.” Together, these paintings reveal the pre-planned discovery of the new Arcadia.

Jika kita ingin mengetahui tentang sejarah suatu bangsa, budaya atau benda, maka tempat yang paling tepat untuk dikunjungi adalah museum. Hampir disetiap daerah terdapat Museum. Dan karena Museumlah kejayaan masa lalu suatu hal bisa diketahui.

1. The Vatican Museums

Didirikan oleh Paus Julius II, Museum ini merupakan museum yang paling terkenal di selurh dunia. Anda dapat melihat keindahan seni ukir / pahat serta patung-patung yang indah. Bukan hanya itu, lukisan-lukisan zaman Renaissance juga ada disini.

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2. Le Louvre

Museum ini terletak di Paris Prancis. Le Louvre atau yang populer dengan nama Grand Louvre merupakan tempat dimana sekitar 35.000 benda bersejarah disimpan. Mulai dari zaman prasejarah sampai benda-benda abad 19.

3. The British Museum

The British Museum pada mulanya merupakan tempat Sir Hans Sloane (seorang ilmuwan dan fisikawan) meletakan benda-bendanya. Sekarang ini terdapat lebih dari 7 juta benda koleksi di sana. Museum ini dibuka pertama kali tahun 1959 dan sekarang menarik juta pengujung yang ingin mengetahui tentang sejarah manusia dan sejarah kebudayaan.

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4. The Uffizi Gallery

Uffizi terletak di Florence Italia dan merupakan salah satu museum seni yang populer dari dunia barat. “The Birth of Venus” karya Botticeli yang terkenal, merupakan yang paling populer di sini. Tidak hanya itu, anda juga dapat melihat karya-karya dari Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Caravaggio atau Raphael,

5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art berlokasi di New York dan memiliki sekitar 2 juta koleksi benda-benda seni. Agar dapat menikmati koleksi-koleksinya, pihak museum mengkategorikan benda-bendanya kedalam 19 kategori. Museum ini juga seringkali digunakan untuk pameran dari berbagai pekerja seni.

6. Museo del Prado

Museum ini terletak di Madrid dan pada awalnya dibangun untuk menyimpan benda patung atau lukisan. Pada perkembangannya disimpan juga koin-koin dan tulisan-tulisan bersejarah. Terdapat juga lukisa Saint Catherine oleh Fernando Yanez dan lukisan Th Last Supper versi Juan de Flandes

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7. Egyptian Museum

Museum ini tetletak di kota Kairo. Pada awalnya dibangun untuk mencegah para penjarah mengambil barang-barang di situs sejarah. Di museum ini juga terdapat benda-benda pra-sejarah lainnya yang terkenal.

8. Rijksmuseum

Inilah museum kebanggaan warga Belanda. Terletak di Belanda, museum ini menyimpan karya-karya lukisan dari zaman keemasan Belanda. Salah satu yang popular di museum ini adalah karnya Rembrandt, “The Night Watch”.

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9. The Smithsonian

Berlokasi di Washington D.C, museum ini mungkin memiliki area yang terluas di dunia. Di sini terdapat juga institusi pendidikan dan penelitian serta kebun binatang yang menjadi daya tariknya. Tercatat sekitar 136.000.000 koleksi museum ini.

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10. The State Hermitage

Museum ini berlokasi di Rusia dan menyimpan karya-karya besar yang bersejarah dan beberapa diantaranya bahkan berusia tiga ratus tahun. Selain mngoleksi benda-benda bersejarah, museum ini juga mengoleksi perhiasan-perhiasan kuno zaman lalu.

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The story of the Medici is truly fascinating. The family of bankers became the rulers of Florence, and through their patronage brought about the Renaissance and  changed the western world forever. It was Cosimo de’Medici who first took control of Florence, commissioning the completion of the great red dome of the Florence Duomo by Brunelleschi. Part 1 of the Medici film concerning Cosimo is found here.

When he suddenly died, his son Lorenzo took charge. He would become known as “Lorenzo the Magnificent”, as he brought about some of the greatest works of art ever through his patronage. It is staggering how many great artists and thinkers came out of Florence at this time, and considering how small Florence is they must have been elbow to elbow with each other. One of the most important Renaissance painters that came about under Lorenzo deMedici was Sandro Botticelli. It was Botticelli who created the first overtly pagan images at a time when the church of the middle ages was still large and in charge, an act that would never have happened had Lorenzo not relaxed the attitude of the city toward ancient “non-church” ideas. This sort of attitude resulted in enormously free creativity in art, as well as in writing and in the sciences. All of it was happening in Florence.

The greatest painting in Florence today is in the Uffizi gallery, once the offices of the Medici palace (the word uffizi means Offices). It’s this painting here by Botticelli from 1486, called “The Birth of Venus”.

The painting is a true masterpiece of Renaissance art. In it, the mythical goddess Venus is blown into the shore on a shell and received into the world on land. The story from mythology is far more detailed (and downright gross but you’ll have to research that yourself). The image is a true celebration of beauty, an exercise in pure pleasure on the part of the artist. Botticelli elongates the figures, adding to their grace and movement. Just look at Venus’ neck… super long, yet he makes it work. Until this time, feminine nudes just weren’t very common, except in images of Adam and Eve from the garden. Here’s a great short video that picks the painting apart:

We must remember that the church in the 14 and 1500′s still held enormous sway even in free-thinking places like Florence, and the reception towards such images as “the Birth of Venus” and Donatello’s “David” was still highly controversial. This painting was a private commission from Lorenzo deMedici, as were many other revolutionary works. Public attitude was another matter. Enter the radical Dominican Monk, Girolamo Savonarola.

In 1490, Savonarola came to Florence. He took residence at San Marco (where his monastic cell is still seen today) and began preaching firey sermons about the last days. To a zealous preacher like Savonarola, Florence was filled with evidence of the devil’s work. Free-thinking was everywhere, as were symbols of vast Medici wealth. He saw they entire city going straight to hell, and made sure that everyone heard the message. He claimed to have the gift of prophecy, and foretold that Lorenzo would die soon (as it turns out, he was right). Savonarola must have been a very persuasive preacher, because he soon held the city in his hand. Even Botticelli, the painter or beautiful “pagan” paintings, fell under his spell. The Medici had no choice but to flee the city and Savonarola took charge of Florence in 1494. He set about cleansing the city and returning it to God.

He held an enormous public burning in the Piazza della Signoria that came to be called “the Bonfire of the Vanities”. Florentines came to cast all kinds of evils into the flames, including books and manuscripts, symbols of wealth, jewelry, ancient relics and statues, cosmetics, fine clothing, mirrors, musical instruments and many priceless works of early Renaissance art. Botticelli cast his own paintings into the flames. No one knows how many works were destroyed by the artist himself, but it must have been truly gut-wrenching for him. His work was his life, yet he feared- as many Florentines did- for his eternal soul and had no other choice. Over the next few years,  public opinion turned on Savonarola. The city was used to Medici wealth and all the benefits it brought, something Savonarola wanted no part of. Eventually, things got so bad that the city revolted, and Savonarola himself was burned at the stake in the same spot as the bonfire. The entire episode was a black eye on the city and took years to recover from. The Medici returned, but under very different circumstances.

Please take the time to watch part 2 of the Medici film, called “The Magnificent Medici”. It is a great movie on all that was discussed here, and really brings to life this crazy time in Florence. Enjoy-

'La Naissance De Vénus'

‘The Birth of Venus’ is a very famous painting by one of the great masters Sandro Botticelli.

Google has launched Art Project, a virtual tour inside 17 of the world’s most acclaimed art museums, including the Uffizi in Florence, where Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus is displayed.

Alison Bechdel’s Dykes to Watch Out For

Dalston

un : my new internship…

internship #6.  crazy, huh?  after 6 internships, i’ve finally gotten to where i want to be.  the art department of a new feature film.  i can’t really tell you any info, but i can say that it’s a big project with some more-than-big actors and a more-than-awesome set design.  (it would be egotistical of me to give you the details, wouldn’t it? so now i only seem 45% cocky… )

deux : thanks to the latest drifter and the gypsy post, this photo…

vogue enfants.  how adorable.  even they look more in love then what i’ve ever felt.  (let’s feel sorry for me, haha)

trois : last week i posted the rushmore soundtrack with a lot of cat stevens, so this week is cat stevens in general.

quatre : some photos from possumbane’s posterous latest entry

let’s live inside those windows forever.

cinq : the birth of venus in all shapes and forms

six : my dreams in new york

i find that my dreams and their style and vividity change upon my location.  in new york they are pretty detailed.

sept : this post by oh joy!

neuf : the fact that i actually had the guts to watch the arm amputation scene in this film :

dix : the holiday cheer!

onze : getting up before the crack of dawn to see the thanksgiving day parade this year!

i have the morning off tomorrow, so new blog perhaps?

xoxo.lindsay

]]> http://forthesomedaybook.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/book-review-the-birth-of-venus/ Sat, 06 Nov 2010 15:03:23 +0000 revjmk http://forthesomedaybook.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/book-review-the-birth-of-venus/ The Birth of Venus, by Sarah Dunant, Random House, 2003, 403 pp.

After reading Sacred Hearts, I was eager to read more from Sarah Dunant. Thanks to Juniper, I had a chance to read her most popular novel The Birth of Venus next.

The Birth of Venus is set in the late 15th century in the city of Florence, during the unraveling of the di Medici rule. The book starts with a prologue that details the death of an elderly nun, a death which unexpectedly contains elements of mystery. The novel then proceeds from the time that nun was 14 years old, and tells the story of her life, which was full of passion, sexual exploration, art, history, violence, and more. In other words, not what you’d expect out of an elderly nun.

I enjoyed the book, but it was more beach reading than substance or lasting depth. Dunant is a great storyteller, and her characters, historical research and ability to construct entire worlds made The Birth of Venus a really fun read. Her prose is solid and evocative, but it does not arrest you, and it’s not the kind of book I felt compelled to slow down and savor. It’s a good story, and you want to just keep turning pages. I stayed up until 2:00 a.m on a Wednesday just to get to the end.

In the end, I think I enjoyed Sacred Hearts much more, because I was more intrigued by the setting, exclusively in the world of women inside the convent. The Birth of Venus was a more traditional historical novel, but it still centered on a smart, independent, creative woman trying to make a meaningful life in a time and place that does not accommodate women’s intellect or passion. I love those kinds of stories, and I had a good time reading this one. I’ll be looking for more from Sarah Dunant next time I get an escapist urge to immerse myself in a novel.

The Birth of Venus

風光明媚なギリシャ･エーゲ海上で、宇宙からのパワーによってビーナスが誕生しています。

Mental Reality No.94は、”The Birth of Venus”  （ビーナスの誕生）です。

The Fifer. 1866. Édouard Manet (1832-1883). Oil on canvas, 63 3/8 x 38 1/4 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowsk

Every era has its radicals– those who challenge the entrenched status quo, usher in sweeping change, and, finally, are upstaged themselves.  For the past 3 months, the de Young Museum has explored those early independent Impressionist painters who broke the rules of academic painting and shocked the conservative mid-19^th century French art scene with a scandalous infusion of light and color.  The early Impressionists set entirely new standards for how artists saw and depicted nature and subsequently, they have influenced generations of artists.   “Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay,” now in its final week, presents a remarkable group of nearly 100 mid to late 19^th century paintings, some well-known, others not, that showcase the antecedents of Impressionism.  The works are from Paris, from the Musée d’Orsay, the former Beaux-Arts railway station on the left bank of the Seine that was converted into a museum by architect Gae Aulenti some 25 years ago and is currently being refurbished for its silver anniversary.    

The back story on how they came to the de Young is that Dede Wilsey (FAMSF Board Chair) and John Buchanan (FAMSF Director) were attending the auction for  Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge’s estate in Paris in February 2009 and over dinner learned from Musée d’Orsay Director, Guy Cogeval, that the museum needed a safe place to stash its Impressionist treasures while the plaster and dust were flying.  The duo politely pounced and Cogeval invited them to select what they wanted of Orsay museum treasures eligible to leave the country.   They choose about 240 works in two days and the details—the thematic split into two shows, transport, financial and insurance issues– fell into place over the coming year.   The De Young is the only museum in the world that will likely ever have two consecutive special exhibitions from the Musée d’Orsay of Impressionist art of this caliber which attests to its glowing stature in the museum world and our good luck.      

This first exhibition, co-curated by FAMSF’s Dr. Lynn Federle Orr, PhD, Curator of European Art, begins with paintings by naturalist artists such as Bougereau and Courbet, the great symbolist painter Gustave Moreau and includes early works by Manet, Monet, Renoir and Sisley as well as a selection of Degas’ paintings that depict images of the ballet, the racetrack and life in “la Belle Époque.”  The second show, “Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay,” (September 25 – January 18, 2011)  will present 120 of the Musée d’Orsay’s most famous late Impressionist paintings, including those by Monet and Renoir, followed by the more individualistic styles of the early modern masters including Cézanne, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Van Gogh, and the Nabi painters Bonnard and Vuillard.  

Those expecting something as straightforward as the museum’s last blockbuster, “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” will be challenged in the very best sense of the word.  This is an academic and probing look at the various roots of Impressionism rather than a line-up of immediate wows.  The show is also beautifully presented—exquisitely lit and hung (lower than usual) and actually shows these works to better advantage than the (pre-renovation) Orsay ever did with its whitish walls and harsh lighting environment.   The de Young’s special configurable exhibition walls, have been organized into nine small galleries or salons painted in specially-selected rich dark hues ranging from a Venetian red, to rich taupe to velvety Seminole brown which complements the artworks and adds atmosphere all along the way.    

Conceptually, the show succeeds in illuminating a messy topic—the many factors that contributed to and ran along side of the birth of Impressionism.   Salon painting has been combined with modernity in all aspects—Manet from the 1860’s, the Ecole de Batignolles, the beginnings of Symbolist art, and the influence of modernization. The show also points to the French state’s success in its 19^th century collecting practices—several of these masterpieces were acquired directly from the artists at the time.  

Birth of Venus. 1879. William Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905). Oil on canvas, 9 ft. 10 1/8 inches x 7 ft. 5/8 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

This is not the de Young’s first stab at this topic.  In April-July, 1986, in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art, the de Young Museum under curator Charles Moffett, brought together about 150 works from collections all over the world and presented them as they were first seen in the Impressionist movement’s original eight shows. That remarkable assemblage of works, “The New Painting: Impressionism 1874-1886,” was immensely popular and this current exhibition draws heavily on that scholarship.  

The Salon

The show begins with an exploration of 19^th century painting styles emerging from the dictatorial government-sponsored Salon.  The early Impressionist artists all called France home during the mid-19^th Century and competed with each other for an exhibition place at the annual Salon, the only juried exhibition of new painting and sculpture in Paris.  Acceptance in this official yearly salon was the gateway to financial success but the Impressionist artists sought to circumvent the Salon and its stifling rules and stage their own shows and sell their own works.   The Salon’s taste ran to “la grande peinture” or “le peinture d’ histories”–elevated historical, religious, or mythological themes derived from the study of ancient and Renaissance art with an underlying moral purpose.   Subcategories include nudes (always in an allegorical context), Orientalism (fueled by artists traveling to exotic outposts) and battle paintings (inspired by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 that inspired younger artists to tackle the subject).  With the emergence of photography, these topics began to wane as the public’s interest in realism was peaked. 

William-Adolphe Bouguereau’s famed “The Birth of Venus,” 1879, dominates the entire first gallery.  A textbook example of classical 19^th century academic painting, the allegorical piece does not depict Venus’ actual birth from the sea, rather her transport in a shell, (metaphor for the vulva) from the sea to Paphos on Cyprus.  The fleshy Venus, executed in milky hues, is flanked by adoring mythological cherubs and centaurs.  The painting encapsulates what irked the Impressionists most about the painting of the day—false sentiment, mythological content removed from reality and its hallmark “licked finish,” a process codified by the French Academy whereby the surface of painting was smoothed so much that presence of the artist’s hand was no longer visible.   

Galatea. Circa 1880. Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), Oil on wood, 33 5/8 x 26 3/4 inches, RMN (Musée d'Orsay) /René-Gabriel Ojéda

Notable in the second gallery, “The Salon” is symbolist painter Gustave Moreau’s “Galatea,” circa 1880,  a work with an intoxicating dream quality and a spectacular etched surface treatment making it appear that little jewels have been set into the canvas.  Moreau  shared with the Impressionist artists that followed a highly experimental use of paint, tone, color and a lack of regard for socially accepted themes.  A nude nymph sits languidly in a sensual grotto that is adorned with a profusion of anemones, corals and flora and she is spied upon by a three-eyed monster.  This picture is based on a story from Greek mythology, about the unrequited love of the Cyclops, Polyphemus, for the Nereid, Galatea who loved the shepherd Acis.  Stéphane Guégan curator, Musee d’Orsay, told me that this oil on panel piece should not really have been lent because of its extreme fragility.  Galatea triumphed at the 1880 French Salon.  The show also includes Moreau’s “Jason,” 1865, another icon of French symbolism that was exhibited at the Salon of 1865 (and harshly criticized) and bought by the French state in 1875. 

As you wander through the 9 galleries, you will see that some of the paintings have a protective “cason,” a glass covering that ensures a temperature and humidity- controlled environment especially important for panel (wood) paintings.  Musee d’Orsay curator Alice Thomine-Berrada explained that a Musee d’Orsay conservator came especially from Paris and stayed for one week, inspecting, cleaning and repairing works and their fragile frames after their travel to San Francisco.   In some cases, the results were astonishing– Berthe Merisot’s beloved work “The Cradle” was very dark before leaving Paris, so dark that the hair of the baby was not visible.  After its varnish was cleaned, and in the well-lit de Young gallery, the painting’s fine details stand out.  

Another thing you will notice is a profusion of very ornate gilded and carved frames which, to our modern eye, are distracting, particularly so with the works of Cezanne and Monet, where they seem to intrude into the canvas.   According to Musee d’Orsay curator Alice Thomine-Berrada, these frames reflect the bourgeoisie taste of the day and have been coupled with the paintings for so long that they are considered part of the artwork.   “We all have the idea that the Impressionists were revolutionary but after 10 years or so they were deeply appreciated and the bourgeoisie loved and bought their paintings.  In order to fit into the ornate style of their apartments, the paintings were put in these frames.” 

General Prim. October 8 1868. 1869. Henri Regnault (1843-1871). Oil on canvas. 124 x 102 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

The Impact of War 

The third gallery entitled “The Terrible Year” refers to two dramatic French military defeats in 1870-71 that devastated French moral and affected artists directly, many of whom enlisted and some fled.  At the Salon of 1872, over 30 artists showed works directly related to war.   “Juan Prim,” Henri Regnault’s superb life-size 1869 portrait of General Prim and his gorgeous black steed is a stand-out.   While making a tour in Spain, Regnault observed the general, the hero of the hour, in action, and created the memorable image of the general as a military demagogue amidst the backdrop of his troops.  Although Prim commissioned the portrait, he was not satisfied with it and refused to accept it.  The work had tremendous appeal with the public though and was a great success at the Salon of 1869.  As a prized artist, Regnault was exempt from military duty but he was dedicated and volunteered to serve in one of the last battles of the Franco-Prussian war and was killed at age 27. 

Manet 

 “French painters and Spanish Style,” the next salon, illuminates how Spanish painters, in particular Diego Velázquez and Francisco Jose de Goya, influenced the early Impressionists, especially Édouard Manet, a focal artist in this exhibition.  The following gallery is devoted entirely to Manet and his notable exploits with the Salon which continued until his death.  Even as a young artist, Manet’s innovative style tended to bold strokes and unexpected contrasts and his subject matter was unconventional in that it rejected the Salon’s established hierarchy of genres (history paintings and allegory at the top and still life and landscape at the bottom) and focused on more ordinary but provocative subjects–prostitutes and debauched drinkers.  The Salon would not accept this and slapped him down at every opportunity.    

Manet’s first submission to the Salon in 1859, “The Absinthe Drinker,” despite its fashionable Spanish resonance (the current Empress, Euginie, wife of Emperor Napoleon III was of Spanish origin), was rejected for its traditional full-length portrait configuration devoted to a socially marginalized individual.    His extraordinary works “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe” (1862-63) and the tantalizing “Olympia” (1863) (not in the show because they are not allowed to leave France) were also subsequently rejected for their deviation from accepted artistic convention and their scandalous low-life subject matter.   Despite repeated official rejection, Manet sought acceptance from the Salon while clinging to his friend Baudelaire’s advice…to depict a contemporary realism, to be “le peintre de la vie moderne.”    He never exhibited with his Impressionist friends but influenced them heavily.   Early in his career, and ahead of Impressionism, Manet found a way of working that addressed their polemic–the revolt against academic rules and the application of pictorial means to contemporary subject matter.   

Manet’s “The Fifer,” (1866) singled out for the exhibition poster, at first appears as direct as the young boy in uniform staring out at us from his portrait but it exemplifies the eerie complexity of Manet.  The boy’s recognizable stance seems to be derived from a French tarot card.  He is positioned and playing his flute against the backdrop of flat gray void that seems to both make him stand out and to engulf him in silent emptiness.  How can he ever be heard?  Who will hear him?  In this work, as in others, Manet delves deep into the human psyche, to a place of discomfort, evoking a complex confrontation with the hidden.  Whether it’s “The Fifer,” “Woman with Fans” (1873), or “A Bar at the Folies-Bergere” (1882), we project onto their staid silence.     

Bazille’s Studio. 1970. Fredéric Bazille (1841-1870). Oil on canvas. 38 5/8 x 50 5/8 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Musee d’Orsay curator Alice Thomine-Berrada’s argues in the exhibition catalogue that Manet, while supportive towards the Impressionist movement, cultivated a unique style that remained distinct from Impressionism.  (“Manet: Between Tradition and Innovation,” pp. 110-114) 

After quite a build-up, the final three galleries devote themselves to works that most consider classics of early Impressionism.  The shift is palpable as we visually experience the sharp break with tradition.   The 7^th salon, “École de Batignolles” traces how the early artists—Manet, Renoir, Bazille, Scholderer, Fantin-Latour –each radical in their own way, shared a dialogue and friendship while remaining artistically distinct and highly experimental.   “École de Batignolles” was an early name given to the group of artists who were later called the Impressionists.  The phrase itself refers to informal meetings of these artists and intellectuals with Manet at the famed café Guerbois on the rue de Batignolles which ultimately led to the decision in 1867 to set up an exhibition separate from the Salon.  While these famed 8 exhibitions of “new painting” did not begin until 1874, their genesis was in these early stimulating gatherings.   The phrase also refers to a group of interconnected portraits executed by these artists that round out their sense of camaraderie.   Henri Fantin-Latour’s “Homage to Delacroix” (1864), his “A Studio in the Batignolles” (1870) and  Frédéric Bazille’s “Bazille’s Studio” (1870) are three striking but completely different portraits whose theme is the tight bond between these artists.  

Frédéric Bazille’s large painting, “Family Reunion,” (1867) stands out with its bold execution.  The subject is Bazille’s family on holiday in the South of France and each of the ten figures is captured portrait-style, looking directly towards the viewer, as if captured by a camera.  This serves to unify the composition but also adds the sensation of an odd stiffness.  The contrast is spectacular– the sun is shining brightly but the group is under the shade of a large tree whose foliage filters and articulates very sophisticated light and shadow effects against the subjects, their clothing and surroundings.

Family Reunion. 1867. Frédéric Bazille (1841-1870). Oil on canvas, 59 7/8 inches x 7 ft. 6 ½ inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Classic Impressionism  

Standing in the final galleries and beholding the most famous early Impressionist masterpieces is something that has to be experienced in person. The Impressionists’ flickering brushwork was highly effective in capturing a sense of immediacy–the fleeting quality of light and atmosphere.   Several works by Camille Pissaro, the only Impressionist painter to show in all eight of the Impressionist exhibitions, point to his reverence for nature and his agility in creating lighting effects that capture its seasonal moods.  “Path through the Woods, Summer” (1877) captures light shining through dense forest, illuminating a path, while “Hoarfrost” (1873) captures the stillness of a winter’s day.  

Turkeys. 1877. Claude Monet (1840-1926). Oil on canvas. 69 x 68 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

There is nothing simple about the masterwork of Claude Monet, including his deliberate sense of improvisation that suggested rather than described what the eye was taking in.  Standing in front of his huge (6 x 6 ft) “Turkeys,” (1877), we are amused at his vibrant celebration of foul and seduced by its vivid hues.  The head of turkey asserting itself in the lower left of the canvas is marvelous—a spiraling ribbon of pure color.  Monet, like other Impressionists, laid light and dark colors right along beside one another, producing bold contrasts that created palpable visual tension in their artworks.   The brushstrokes enforced this– the white feathers of the turkey’s companions are rendered in long and thick impasto strokes, creating a rough irregular surface texture that mimics actual feathers and captures and reflects light.   This was no accident– the Impressionists were keenly aware of new scientific discoveries that led to a new understanding of color and the placement of contrasting and complimentary colors to created visual tension in their artworks.  Primary colors were brightest when they were brought into contrast with their complementaries. 

The Gare Saint-Lazare. 1877. Claude Monet (1840-1926). Oil on canvas, 29 ¾ x 41 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

In terms of subject matter, along with landscapes and the cherished beauty observed in casual, everyday life, the early Impressionists were also very interested in modern urban life and suburban landscapes.  Monet’s “Saint-Lazare Station” (1877) celebrates the marvel of modernization and stunning architecture of the Saint-Lazarre station, a bustling terminus for several important train lines.   We can almost feel the energy of the steam trains coming and going amidst a sea of travelers—everything dissolved in expressive bursts of steam.  Monet created an astounding array of highlights and shadows in this painting without using any earth pigments.  Instead, he created his own palette of browns and grays by mixing new synthetic oil-paint colors (taken for granted today ) colors such as cobalt and cerulean blues, synthetic ultramarine, emerald green, viridian, chrome yellow, vermilion, and crimson lake.  Even his shadows are comprised of blended color.  The Lazare gare was a popular subject with the Impressionists and Manet’s “The Railway” (1872-73) currently in the National Gallery of Art, uses the station as a backdrop for his portrait of a young woman and child. 

Gustave Caillebotte’s “The Floor Scrapers, ”  (1875) depicts a mundane task that we can hardly imagine worthy of celebrating in paint– laborers stripping a wooden floor of its varnish.  The spectacular lighting renders it so otherworldly that several people have told me they just can’t get it out of their head.  The painting is also one of the first depictions of the urban proletariat as opposed to the rural peasants in Jean-François Millet’s “Gleaners” (1857) or “Normand Milkwoman on Her way to Gréville,” (1874).   Caillebotte’s vision was thoroughly modern, and his paintings offered treasured glimpses into Parisian life: interiors, views over the rooftops from balconies, strollers on the bridges and avenues.

The Floor Scrapers. 1875. Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894). Oil on canvas, 40 1/8 x 57 5/8 inches. RMN (Musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski

Impressionist Dialogues 

 Once the impressionist movement was born, there was no turning back and artists began to challenge classical values across the board.   Within a relatively short time period, Impressionist artists were depicting all aspects of daily and modern life with new grace and freedom. The show concludes with a number of works by Edgar Degas, all of which convey a very present sense of movement and immediacy.   Degas adopted new compositional approaches inspired by Japanese woodblock prints (in particular Hiroshige), photography and graphic illustration.  By studying series of photographs, he learned the technique of selective framing which allowed him to focus on exactly what he wanted to depict compositionally and to infuse his work with a sense of spontaneity.   Despite their spontaneous appearance though, Degas often made numerous preparatory studies.  The show offers several examples of his well-known paintings of racehorses and ballet dancers.  

I found the unusual intimacy of “The Pedicure” (1873) to be disturbing, no creepy.  An older man is clipping the toenails of a young girl who is reclining back on a sofa and appears to be sleeping or ill. She is shrouded in yards of sheeting and appears quite vulnerable.  Light streaming in through a window gives the scene a Rembrandtesque resonance.

 There is no pat answer to exactly what Impressionism exactly is –certainly, it was a different way of seeing and an art of immediacy, movement, great vibrancy and the exploration of everyday life—all captured in the play of light and color.  I can’t wait for the second installment.  END

Birth of Impressionism will have the following extended hours this week— 

Thursday, September 2, 2010, until 10 pm (last ticket 8:30 pm) 

Friday & Saturday, September 3 & 4, 2010, until 11 pm (last ticket 9:30 pm) 

Sunday, September 5, 2010, until 10 pm (last ticket 8:30 pm) 

Monday (Labor Day), September 6, 2010, until 9 pm (Last ticket 7:30 pm) 

Tickets and additional information:  www.orsay.famsf.org/

I suppose what i mainly intend to Blog is stuff i find Escapism in. There’s enough reality to keep us grounded, so it’s nice to share with you the stuff that send you other places.

For example this image highlights Escapism for me at the moment. I came across it when i was searching for an interesting avatar for my  Blip profile. I Googled ‘Andy Warhol Photography’ and this was amongst the images. I’ve since searched in Google for more info on this image but no success.

What i can gather is that  it might be an Andy Warhol photograph taken in New York  1980. If anyone has info on this image, i’d be intersested to know more.

If this is an Andy Warhol photograph, which i believe it is , judging from the look of other Warhol photographs. What clearly stands out to me & that i find most intriguing is the classical female pose that has a twist reminiscent on the characteristics of another work of art. A synonym between two images. One, the classicism of  Botticelli – the Birth of Venus  and two being the New York trash style of Warhol. Worlds appart but descript the same message. 

“Venus had two aspects: she was an earthly goddess who aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them. Plato further argued that contemplation of physical beauty allowed the mind to better understand spiritual beauty. So, looking at Venus, the most beautiful of goddesses, might at first raise a physical response in viewers which then lifted their minds towards the Creator. A Neoplatonic reading of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus suggests that 15th-century viewers would have looked at the painting and felt their minds lifted to the realm of divine love.”    { Wikipedia }

This modern take of Venus places her in a hedonistic situation. As a man in his 30′s, married and trying his best to settle down, this image recalls some pretty crazy times that happened not to long ago. I’m sure i speak for many of you.

Privacy is harder and harder to come by these days. The social-networking site, Facebook, notorious for switching privacy policies, recently made another switch to an “open-graph” system, which exposes users even more.

Now, Facebook users can click a “Like” button on any number of Facebook’s partner sites, and their personal information will automatically be shared with that site.

As Facebook states: “When you and your friends visit an instantly personalized site, the partner can use your public Facebook information, which includes your name, profile picture, gender, and connections.”

Scary? Yeah.

I love her too much to comment on the contradiction between posing in lingerie and wanting people to stop talking about your body.

From Left: Piero de’ Medici, Father to Lorenzo de’ Medici; Nicolo Machiavelli

“Machiavellian” is defined by Webster’s Collegiate dictionary, 10th Edition, as “suggesting the principles of conduct laid down by Machiavelli: specifically: marked by cunning, duplicity, or bad faith.” Dictionary.com describes the adjective, in part, as: “…political expediency…placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler…characterized by subtle or unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency, or dishonesty.”

Secular and Papal States of Italy at Year 1500 C.E. — ucalgary.ca (click on the image)

Before we take these definitions as final and complete, perhaps we ought to look at Machiavelli’s words and judge for ourselves, keeping in mind he and Lorenzo lived 500 years ago in a city state surrounded by other often hostile city states, including The Church’s Papal States, and emerging nation states such as Spain and France, and “barbarians.”

I have excerpted a good many of Machiavelli’s conclusions and advice to his prince, all based on the world as it had been and was in the 16th Century. I think one can see, with careful reading, many lessons relevant today, for human nature has not changed, merely the forms of government containing humans. One may certainly disagree or at least debate whether Machiavelli’s philosophy of man is accurate or correct, but surely this remains a matter of opinion. (See the end of this article for a question to you, the reader, in this regard).

Chapter III: Concerning Mixed Principalities:

• (M)en like to change their masters, hoping to improve their lot.
• (H)owever strong your army may be you will always need the good will of the inhabitants to enter into a province (as in a conquest or occupation).
• It is a normal and natural thing to want to acquire possessions, and when men who can, do acquire they will receive praise and not blame, but when they cannot and yet strive to acquire at any cost, herein lies the blameworthy mistake.
• (W)hoever is the cause of another’s coming to power, falls himself, for that power is built up either by art or force, both of which are suspect to the one who has become powerful.

Chapter V, Concerning The Way To Govern Cities Or Principalities Which Lived Under Their Own Laws Before They Were Annexed: In republics there is greater life, greater hatred, more desire of vengeance, and the memory of their ancient liberty gives them no rest; so the safest way is wither to extinguish them or go live with them.

Chapter VI: Concerning New Principalities Which Are Acquired By One’s Own Arms And Ability. This chapter is considered by some to show the heart of his world view and advice to Lorenzo. Here are two paragraphs from this chapter:

Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498), a powerful priest who opposed Lorenzo’s liberal rule

“Those who by valorous ways become princes…acquire a principality with difficulty, but they keep it with ease. The difficulties they have in acquiring it arise in part from the new rules and methods which they are forced to introduce to establish their government and its security. And it ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them. Thus it happens that whenever those who are hostile have the opportunity to attack they do it like partisans, whilst the others defend lukewarmly, in such wise that the prince is endangered along with them.

“It is necessary, therefore…to inquire whether these innovators can rely on themselves or have to depend on others: that is to say, whether, to consummate their enterprise, have they to use prayers or can they use force? In the first instance they always succeed badly, and never compass anything; but when they can rely on themselves and use force, then they are rarely endangered. Hence it is that all armed prophets have conquered, and the unarmed ones have been destroyed. Besides the reasons mentioned, the nature of the people is variable, and whilst it is easy to persuade them, it is difficult to fix them in that persuasion. And thus it is necessary to take such measures that, when they believe no longer, it may be possible to make them believe by force.”

Chapter VIII, Concerning Those Who Have Obtained A Principality By Wickedness: A prince occupying a new state should see to it that he commit all his acts of cruelty at once so as not to be obliged to return to them every day, and thus, by abstaining from repeating them, he will be able to make men feel secure and can win them over by benefits.

Chapter IX, Concerning A Civil Principality: A wise prince must adopt a policy which will insure that his citizens always and in all circumstances will have need of his government; then they will always be faithful to him.

Chapter XII: How Many Kinds Of Soldiery There Are, And Concerning Mercenaries

• A prince must have strong foundations, otherwise his downfall is inevitable. The main foundations of all states, new, old, or mixed, are good laws and good arms.
• No state is safe unless it has its own arms, rather than it is completely dependent on fortune, having no effectiveness to defend itself in adversity.
• There is nothing so inferior or unstable as the reputation of power not founded on its own strength.

Piero de\’ Medici (1472–1503), called Piero the Unfortunate, was the Gran maestro of Florence from 1492 until his exile in 1494. He was the oldest son of Lorenzo de\’ Medici, and older brother of Pope Leo X.

Chapter XIV: That Which Concerns A Prince On The Subject Of The Art Of War

• The principle study and care and the especial profession of a prince should be warfare and its attendant rules and discipline
• He must never let his mind be turned from the study of warfare and in times of peace he must concern himself with it more than in times of war.
• A wise prince … must never be idle in times of peace but rather by his industry make capital of them … so that when fortune turns against him he will be prepared to resist her blows.

Chapter XV: Concerning Things For Which Men, And Especially Princes, Are Praised Or Blamed

• A man striving in every way to be good will meet his ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence it is necessary for a prince, if he wishes to remain in power, to learn how not to be good and to use his knowledge or refrain from using it as he may need.
• Some habits which appear virtuous, if adopted would signify ruin, and others that seem vices lead to security and the well-being of the prince.

Chapter XVII, Concerning Cruelty And Clemency, And Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared: Since love depends on (the prince’s) subjects, but the prince has it within his own hands to create fear, a wise prince will rely on what is his own, remembering at the same time that he must avoid arousing hatred (emphasis added).

Chapter XVIII: Concerning The Way In Which Princes Should Keep Faith

• There are two ways of fighting, one with laws and one with arms. The first is the way of men, the second is the style of beasts … Therefore a prince must know how to play the beast as well as the man.
• A prince must know how to use either of these two natures and that one without the other has no enduring strength.
• One must be a fox in avoiding traps and a lion in frightening wolves.
• Hence a wise leader cannot and should not keep his word when keeping it is not to his advantage or when the reasons that made him give it are no longer valid. If men were good, this would not be a good precept, but since they are wicked and will not keep the faith with you, you are not bound to keep faith with them (emphasis added).

Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was an important Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. His most notable work, shown here, is “The Birth of Venus.” The Medici family gave him political protection under which he produced other masterpieces [click on the image]

There you have the essence of Machiavelli’s world view, his view of man, and his advice to rulers. I ask you to consider whether your view of man is that he is:

• Good
• Bad
• Both
• Neither
• Something else

Whatever your view, it will influence the advice you would give to a ruler, if you were called upon to do so.