The Australian Antique & Art Dealers Association (AA&ADA) Show is on at Royal Randwick Racecourse at Sydney from the 7 – 11th September. It is the leading industry body representing antique and art dealers in Australia today. Their Code of Practice is surety that your investment in the past is also an investment in your future.

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An antique is something made in an earlier period and collected and valued because it is rare, old, aesthetically pleasing of high quality or interest. A more generally accepted understanding is furniture and objects over 100 years of age. But this is not strictly true. Today many Associations for antique dealers now recognize works of [...]

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‘This site takes the often complex world of history, design and the arts to a whole new level. It’s a cultural journey filled with beautiful images and fascinating stories. I love the simplicity and richness of the content and I’m sure you will too – never boring always fascinating! In the 21st century creativity is [...]

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Vale Margaret Olley A.C. (1923-2011) painter, the indomitable spirit of the world of art in Australia. Those who loved and respected you will long remember you

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It was in 1762 that James Christie established himself, and successive members of his family, as an auctioneer in Pall Mall at London. By the time this portrait was painted in 1778 he had moved to commercial premises adjacent to the painter Thomas Gainsborough’s residence where this portrait was rendered A writer in the General [...]

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The Regency era (1792 – 1830) in England saw the rise of the first professional art critics who were wealthy connoisseurs or collectors like Richard Payne Knight (fine eye for erotica) and journalists like William Hazlitt. Trained as a painter Hazlitt had first hand knowledge of the technical and aesthetic challenges artists faced. He contributed [...]

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Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) French political philosopher, educationist and author, drew an equation between the informality of British dress, the virtues and simplicity of country life and the liberty of the British constitution. He hoped to change the traditional attitude of French aristocrats by having them embrace a ‘State of Nature’ and adopt simplicity of [...]

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The decorative arts magazine The Studio was devoured in the coffee house culture of Vienna’s cafes at the turn of the 20th century with English fashion, sport and food debated endlessly. The attractiveness of handicraft items issuing from Vienna was demonstrated at the World Exposition in Paris of 1900. Michael Thonet designed the coffeehouse chair, [...]

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During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the economic and social forces, which underpinned Victorian stability, were shattered, Britain’s manufacturing power was threatened at home by industrial unrest and internationally by America, Germany and Japan. Growing feminist and socialist movements characterize this period as one of protracted crisis. The population of the U.K. was [...]

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Art is a language in images, a method by which we communicate ideas, express conceptions about self, our society, culture and community. Within the scope of human history art has concerned itself with the natural, the supernatural, the real and unreal, seen and unseen, the past, the present, the future, the transient and the eternal.

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One of of the most enduring shows on television since the end of 70’s is about antiques and art. It’s all about finding out if an object is a valuable antique or a worthless copy from someone able to decode its message and decipher the truth about its authenticity and origins.

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French painter François Boucher (1703-1770) produced many of the images that we have of the enigmatic Jeanne Antoinette, Marquise de Pompadour, Maîtresse-en-titre, or the official Mistress of Louis XV of France.

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If beauty was accompanied by intelligence those who used both attributes skilfully seemed to have been the most successful. Fifteenth century beauty Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566) was considered an ‘ardent feminist sure of her own worth – and a child of her time’. She had all the attributes, plus a strong will and a great strength of purpose. These were both very necessary skills for survival in the world of political intrigue that surrounded the court of the last medieval and first Renaissance King of France Francois I whose court was the envy of Europe.

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So what is the test of a great portrait? Is it empathy, the power of the artist to enter into the sitter’s emotions and convey their feelings so that we may also experience empathy?

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The Culture Concept Circle’s comprehensive course of study the Evolution of Art, Design & Style contains sumptuous imagery and beautiful music. The course traces humankind’s journey from antiquity to the modern age by surveying the evolution of painting, sculpture, architecture, interiors, gardens, music and much much more. It includes the intimate world of the fashionable [...]

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This is the starting segment for our course of study the evolution of western art, design, style and culture antiquity until today. It is surveyed in chronological order from antiquity to the contemporary age with respect to intellectual and philosophical ideas, other cultural influences and social change.

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