Creativity
What Is Art Deco – Does it Celebrate Life as Art?
Art Deco was about integrating contemporary living with art, and turning life into art, against those consciously working for the undoing of art and its purpose was enjoyment.
Franklin & Jefferson – Founding The Architecture of Freedom
The 18th century neoclassical movement in Europe and England admired the forms of ancient Greece and Rome. In America they became an important aspect of the architecture of freedom
A Profusion of Flowers in Art and Life, Blooming Beautifully
It can be safely assumed and perhaps agreed by a majority of people that there is an innate quality about the presence of flowers in any room that brings about a sense of celebration, pleasurable associations and highlights an occasion. They express a broad range of feelings, stimulate the senses with their scent and provide subtle messages for those literate in the language of flowers.
Easter, Anzac, Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies, calling on Christ
Easter, Anzac, cggs and chocolate bunnies – calling on Jesus, the Christ for clarity. Has it become more difficult for us today because we have known the fear of losing so much that now we are almost too frightened to win?
The Conservatory, Crystal Palaces and the Climate Revolution
Today with the natural world under threat and in many places rapidly disappearing, the role of the conservatory and greenhouse has become more important than ever before. It is not so much any more about conserving individual plants, which have been transplanted from their native habitat, but rather the conservation of nature itself.
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.
British Design 1948 – 2012 – Austerity to Awesome @ V & A
Awesome, was the reaction on twitter when viewing British Design 1948 – 2012 Innovation in the Modern Age, which is now running until August at the V & A London
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 [...]
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.
Monet’s Garden – Impressions of the Master Artist @ New York
The exhibition Monet’s Garden in The New York Botanical Garden from May 19 to October 21 2012 is sure to be a treat for all seasons, ravishing the senses and providing a fabulous feast for the soul.
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.
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