I am busy this morning and thought I would replay a post from several years ago. No reason except that I came across it yesterday and it really caught my eye again. The work of Arcimboldo always does. But I did add a video that shows more of his work so it’s really a replay plus. Take a look– I think you’ll like it.
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You don’t often think of work of art from an Italian Renaissance painter as being whimsical. Generally, they seem to focus on themes of religion and myth or on portraiture of wealthy patrons of the time, most beautifully painted. Then there is the work of Guiseppe Arcimboldo, who was born in Milan in 1527 and died there in 1593, although much of life was spent in the service of the Hapsburg courts of Vienna and Prague.
Arcimboldo was trained as stained glass designer and painter and initially worked in these fields in a traditional manner. Much of the work from this time has faded into oblivion, although there are examples of his windows and a fresco or two. However, it was his other work that gained him fame in his time and which has came through the ages as a constant source of fascination.
Arcimboldo- Winter 1573
The other work was creating portraits, sometimes of his patrons such as the portrait at the top of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor from 1576 until 1612 , that are composed using all sorts of objects to create the figure and features of the subject. He used fruits, vegetables, birds, books, fish and many other objects in creating these unusual figures. The final result was always striking, colorful and whimsically imaginative. And sometimes grotesque, even a bit spooky– I’m thinking here of a series of pieces that Arcimboldo created portraying the Winter season as a person, such as this example on the right, painted in 1573.
Arcimboldo’s work always brings a smile to my face while also stirring my interest in how he must have worked at the time and how he was perceived in that era. I am sure he was both admired and disliked for his unique work. Whatever the case, the work remains a fascination. I am showing several example here but you can go a site– Guiseppe Arcimboldo: The Complete Works— that features a broader view of his work. Very interesting.
The other day I received the new Summer issue of Acrylic Artist magazine that hits the newsstands and bookstores on June 6. It contains an article featuring my work and how I arrived at my “signature style.”
I came across this unusual short animation and it caught my eye. It’s made by Australian cartoonist/artist/animator/whatever Felix Colgrave and it’s called Double King. Colgrave describes it simply as “A film about love and regicide.”
I think I have seen this before but it caught my eye this morning. It’s a video of Turkish artist Garip Ay who works in the art of ebru, known to us as paper marbling. In this video he takes on Van Gogh’s Starry Night but that is only the start. What turns out in the end is a bit of a surprise although you may see it coming in the process. Just a neat video and a wonderful display of total craftmanship.
I’ve been saying for while that fake news is a dangerous thing. And it turns out that it has been killing people for over a century.
Well, October is the time for pumpkins.
I can’t write much about her as I don’t know much about her. But the imagery I have come across with all its densely packed patterns consisting often of her trademark polka dots swirling and twisting on multiple surfaces. Like the pumpkins above or the photo here on the left with her becoming part of the installation in a most wonderful way. It’s mesmerizing.
I don’t know much about New Zealand, have never been there and most likely will never get to see that country. But I have long heard about its spectacular natural beauty with its soaring mountains and forests. Out of all of this beauty, I recently came across a photo of what is considered perhaps the most photographed and beautiful spots in all of New Zealand.
In the foothills of the Mount Aspiring National Park on New Zealand’s South Island, beneath the snow-capped peaks of the southern alps, there is an alpine lake and on the shore (and sometimes in the lake itself) stand a willow tree. It is the Lone Tree of Lake Wanaka.
This coming Saturday, September 17, is my annual Gallery Talk at the Principle Gallery in Old Town Alexandria, VA. This is my 14th Gallery Talk at the Principle and it’s been a lot of fun through the years. There’s generally a lot of give and take between the audience and myself in the form of questions and comments and something new and unexpected often comes to light. I almost always find myself saying something I didn’t expect to say or learning something new about my own work from the comments from someone at the talk.
Redtree Times 