Visual Arts Education
Extravagant Inventions – The Roentgen Family Cabinetmakers
Later this year in The Met at New York will be a landmark exhibition of the furniture from the German Roentgen family cabinetmaking firm in operation c1740-1795
Heaven on Earth? – Palladian Villa at Padua nearby to Venice
The precise location of heaven on earth has never really been established. However it could be at the Villa Moro Malipiero at Padua, nearby to Venice in Northern Italy.
Archaeology – Met Show Explores Origins of Egyptian Art
The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth [is] nature* In ancient Egypt their agricultural society, at first, was structured around a King, who embodied the Egyptian belief that their lives were being divinely guided and nurtured. During the ‘Old Kingdom’ in the 3rd millennium before the Christ Event, he emerged as a ‘living [...]
Archaeology – Uncovering the Past to Help Invent the Future
Without romantic enthusiasm attached to a hunt for hidden treasures the true wealth of our cultural heritage would never have been re-discovered at all.
The Lewis Chessmen – British Museum’s Goodwill Ambassadors
The objective of any museum is to tell the story of cultural development around the world, from the dawn of human history over two million years ago until the present day. In every major capital city of the western world there are various types of museums, and each has a different focus, dependent on the [...]
Pugin & Pearson – The Master & Disciple of Gothic Revival
Auguste Welby Pugin [1812-52] and John Loughborough Pearson [1817-1897] were leading exponents of the nineteenth century Gothic Revival style in architecture in England from Waterloo (1815) to the Great War (1914-1918). Their connection with the expansion of the colony established in the antipodes during the late eighteenth century has almost been forgotten, especially in England.
Lord Byron – A Rock Star Poet in an Age of Extravagance
For historians the Regency era in England is about romantics and revolutionaries, poets and princes, architects and artists. It was a paradox where extremes met
The China Trade Begins with Precious Cargoes from Cathay
Ceramic traditions since ancient times have undergone many cross fertilizations by their exposure to various cultures. The first stirring of what we now describe as the China Trade began when Europe was still emerging from the medieval period and would build momentum slowly peaking during the nineteenth century.
Australian Art at the Art Gallery of NSW – May Celebrations
On the Weekend of May 12th & 13 at the Art Gallery of NSW you can view one of the country’s ‘finest collections of Australian art, from colonial times to the contemporary age’ FREE
The Georgian Era – Monarchs, Middling People, Music & Mozart
The Georgian era (1714 – 1830) in England, from monarchs to middling people and to music supplied by Mozart, was truly a great gaze that began on horseback and ended in a railway carriage
The Twelfth Century Awakening and Songs of Courtly Love
The courtly love song sung by a languishing lover to his lovely lady proclaimed that although their love was a secret, because convention required it to be, he was content to let her know she was the sole mistress of his heart.
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.
Netsuke, Mini Art Marvels – Coveted Collectables
Isn’t he cute? He’s a decorative little toggle called netsuke, pronounced netskeh, literally meaning ‘root for fastening’. J’adore ! Netsuke made their debut late in the seventeenth century as an aspect of Japanese costume, specifically for a man. Traditionally Japanese men wore a garment called kosode, which had no pockets. An elegant solution was to [...]
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’.
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