Art
Chinese Kingfisher Ornaments – Beauty and Decoration
Drawn by their iridescent beauty, many races and peoples have used feathers as adornment or accessory to decorate themselves using entire feathers from the bird
Art of Living Well – Antiquity to a Residence Australia
Today our art of living well has evolved since antiquity in Europe to a residence in Australia through a diverse and special mix of peoples and their cultures.
Fashion – the Elixir of Life
Sydney stylist Jo Bayley offers observations about the world of fashion, style and travel in a column on The Culture Concept Circle home page – Fashion Elixir
Nonsuch Palace – Henry VIII’s Favourite Heaven, or Haven
Nonesuch Palace Henry VIII’s favourite haven was a heaven on earth according to excavations carried out by archaeologists 1959-60 of the site where it had stood
The First Emperor of China – Seeking the Mandate of Heaven
Today the first Emperor of China’s terracotta army has no battles to fight, but rather it seeks to win the war for China about culture as art. Should they be displayed in an ‘art’ gallery or in a Museum whose premise is about presenting stories of cultural development and history.
Thursday’s Top Ten
Our Thursday’s Top Ten posts this week reveal a wide range of arts and culture interest. For quick access > Andy Warhol Pop Art Prince – King of People’s Perceptions | King James Bible – Celebrating 400 Years Conserving The Word | First Impressions – Monet, Pisarro, Sisley & Renoir | What Is: An Ancient [...]
Meissen Porcelain – Princely Power and Prestige
Today we have our morning cup of tea, or latte, from a cup, or mug without much thought about the ‘China’ we drink it from, because it has become such an integral aspect of twenty first century lifestyle. However, as a commodity, the ceramic ware it derived from, known as porcelain, aided the growth of both the east and western world’s economies and benefited their social and cultural development for centuries.
Palladio – In Pursuit of the Perfect House
A villa by architect Andrea Palladio was a place where the owners could feel happy, secure and content, which is after all, what most of us still require and aspire to, a place where one can cultivate the head, heart, body and the soul.
A Passion for Gothic Decoration
The decorative arts were never considered secondary by Augustus Welby Pugin. As an architect he might design the structure of a house, church or institution, but he conceived of the building, its fittings and furnishings as a ‘complete work of art.’
Fashion, is it more than a Frock?
From skinny self sacrificing super models to those demanding the use of ‘real people’, costume accommodates a desire to be noticed. It is the look at me, look at me syndrome, which has been in play for thousands of years. Today it collectively reflects a western society in which privacy has been stripped completely bare. But is fashion about more than a frock?
A ‘Compleat’ Gentleman, more than a leader of style
In London much of the development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was in the hands of aristocratic landowners. But were they ‘compleat’ gentlemen?
What is a Mirror, more than just Glass?
The mirror, more than just glass, has occupied a unique place in his imagination as a site of the divine or demonic, of lucidity or madness. It is the ‘matrix of the symbolic’ and accompanies the human quest to know and understand our identity.
Postmodern – Pursuing the Past to Attain the Peak of Chic
Postmodernism (1970-1990) ranged from fashion to folly, from the luxurious to the ludicrous, from theory to theatre as it spawned out of control consumerism. It also grew a corporate design culture, which became encircled by money, wealth and power. Stylistically and realistically it all had to come to an end. Finally it collapsed under the weight of its own success.
Beauty of Form
Aphrodite, Adonis, Apollo, Artemis…are about ennoblement of form in Ancient Greece. Its visual remains, its architecture, ceramics, and most especially the statues of male and female bodies are for many aesthetically beautiful. But how can so many things be beautiful in Ancient Greece when they are entirely dissimilar? Is beauty and good relative to our [...]
Andy Warhol Pop Art Prince – King of People’s Perceptions
20th century Pop Art Prince Andy Warhol knew that works of art meet many needs, including that of the ‘artist’. He didn’t want to pay the wages of art or beauty himself but to provide the lifestyle he wanted to enjoy. He concentrated on graphic works because he knew they would exhibit more than normal significance in a world rapidly being dominated by emerging technologies.
Art of Sport Co-travellers @ Olympic Games & Rugby World Cup
O Sport, you are Peace! … from you, the young worldwide will learn self-respect, and thus the diversity of national qualities becomes the source of a generous and friendly rivalry
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