Art
Bikini Girls – Splitting the Atom on Sicily in a Roman Villa
Perhaps the best known mosaics of the ancient Roman world are images of girls wearing an ancient version of a bikini and so they have been nicknamed ‘bikini girls’.
David Reid – a Modern Australian View of Shanghai Landscapes
Creative engagement with the landscape of China is something which has fascinated artists, craftsmen and poets for millennia, yielding works of exquisite and expressive beauty. Australian artist David Reid’s elegant ink on paper works provide an intriguingly contemporary take on this tradition.
Archibald Prize Winner 2012 Tim Storrier – Humour and Pathos
How great is artist, raconteur, amateur poet and passionate Australian Tim Storrier’s portrait of himself, which has won the Archibald Prize for 2012. Humble, full of humour and pathos, that interior universe to which man is drawn, attracted by its complexities and contradictions. It certainly implies that something more than just simple emotion is going [...]
Quiver – Artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox’s April Exhibition
An exploration of nature, especially the transcultural symbol ‘the tree of life’ motif, is an objective of the latest exhibition to go on show of the much acclaimed artist Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox. It will be held in the Graydon Gallery at New Farm in Brisbane commencing on April 17th 2012. The Tree of Life represents the [...]
Robyn Bauer Studio Gallery Martin Edge Show
Robyn Bauer Studio Gallery at Paddington in Brisbane has announced its next exhibition “Martin and the Animals” by naïve Strathpine artist Martin Edge, will be opened on the 5th April at 6pm by Mr Bruce Heiser, Director of Heiser Galleries. It will run until the 28th April. Martin’s appealing images reflect life in the city [...]
Napoleon: Revolution to Empire @ NGV – A Winter Masterpiece
Napoleon – destiny power and passion – the legend comes alive in the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces Exhibition 2012 at the NGV (National Gallery Victoria). The show Napoleon: Revolution to Empire is sure to engage all observers, who will more than likely be completely overwhelmed at the magnificence and quality of the over 500 art works and objet d’art featured.
Sheena Burnell, Features Editor Asia – Shanghai Scenes
From April 2 2012 Sheena Burnell will provide an exciting commentary on the burgeoning Shanghai arts scene, including the visual arts music, dance and literature
Amelia Batchelor’s Adventures in Style at Mealie’s Art House
High on a hill in NSW artist Amelia (Mealie) Batchelor is caught between hues of blue and violet as she watches the light of the sun drift through the mountain range she can view from Mealie’s Art House Studio.
Profound Happiness, Beauty and Bonsai – Garden Art in Japan
Twentieth century designs of Dutch landscape architect Mien Ruys combined clarity of concept with richness of detail, particularly in the planting. The objective was to bring about a profound happiness that can never be surpassed by an accumulation of wealth and power. In this way the garden art of Japan devotee can approach his or her ultimate destiny calmly and with great dignity, glorying in the beauty and majesty of the creation and creator.
Monet’s Passion – The Painter’s Garden by Elizabeth Murray
In the annals of garden history design Monet’s Passion by Elizabeth Murray is a worthy contribution to the conservation of creativity, the preservation of art, of nature, and a celebration of human achievement. Importantly, it is also a splendid tribute to the man, and the artist Claude Monet, whose life was so passionately devoted to the cultivation of beauty.
Education of Achilles – A Hero, and the Classical Ideal
Greek sculpture was the first, the only ancient art to break free from conceptual conventions, for that of representing men and animals. Artisans wanted to explore consciously how art might imitate nature, or even improve upon it. There was no conscious striving towards realism at first, especially until it was understood to be a possible and desirable goal. This began six centuries before the Christ event.
Giuseppe Castiglione – Painter @ Court of Chinese Emperors
It was during the Yuan dynasty (c1260-1368) that knowledge of ancient Cathay (China) first filtered through to the west. Mongolian leader Kublai Khan gained the title Great Khan, by defeating his brothers and embracing Chinese culture. In 1260 Kublai Khan (1215-1294) set about rebuilding the city of Peking as his winter capital, governing along Chinese [...]
Abydos & Herculaneum – Helping Us to Understand Antiquity
Professor David O’Connor and Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill have spent a great deal of time excavating and conserving the sites of Abydos in Egypt and Herculaneum in Italy respectively. Both continue to yield spectacular discoveries invaluable to classical historians and the world at large.
The Mistress and the Consort – Paying the Wages of Beauty
Jeanne Becu managed to make Louis XV forget his sorrows and, the fact that he was sixty. By all accounts she displayed genuine compassion and affection for the melancholy old man so haunted by death. Even the discovery she was not married did not dissuade the King arranging a fraudulent marriage that would make her the very infamous Comtesse du Barry. Marie Antoinette as wife and consort of his successor Louis XVI was painted several times by the artist Marie Élisabeth Louise Vigee Le Brun (1755-1842). Woman of complexity and contradictions, the Queen and the Consort lived during a time of society scandal and political turmoil.
Alleluia Apollo, Vitruvius, Palladio, Mozart and Jenkins
Changes in the economic order and the social structure of society brought into favour in England and Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century a new style in architecture, literature and the arts. Today it has become more generally known as neoclassicism. Its tenets were based on the considerable legacy of the remains and ruins of the societies of ancient Greece and Rome. This sophisticated style of grace by and large, favoured simplicity of form over complexity. It had a taste for structural clarity and it is this emphasis that worked its way into the world of music, taking it forward towards a style in which melody was preferred.
Getting Dressed to Kill for Bill – Bill Cunningham New York
This story is all about photographer Bill Cunningham in the here and now and, about how and why he has become a living national treasure on the streets of one of the world’s most exciting cities, New York.
Asides
Watch our free video
Shanghai Scenes
Explore the delights of the burgeoning Shanghai arts scene, including the visual arts music, dance and literature.
