30Jun 2022 by kike_K No Comments
Rachel Ruysch

Rachel Ruysch

Painting
Flowers and Fruits were depicted long time ago for the first time, but in 17th and 18th centuries the still-life subgenus gained importance. Specialized painters arose throughout Europe, especially in the Netherlands. The floral still-life was particularly endorsed and considered as an aesthetic object, a symbol, to the point that it came to be codified in a treaty written by Gerard de Lairesse which was published in 1740. The treaty focusses not only on the composition, the perspective and the colour but also on the way the flowers are set according to the meaning of each species: a tulip refers to nobility, a rose to love and ephemerality. The flowers also appear in the so-called vanitas, still-life where the objects are chosen and set according to a moralizing purpose. The…
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30May 2022 by kike_K No Comments
Frederic Remington

Frederic Remington

Illustration, Painting
Most of us are unaware that we have found Frederic Remington’s works (1861-1909) a number of times in our lives. These works have been replicated ‘ad nauseam’ in all sorts of things such as decorations, movie posters or book covers. Some of his paintings depicting the conquest of the Far West, the Native Americans and the Native Indian Wars have become cultural icons nowadays. The Seventh Art, the cinema in particular, owes him so much. Some of the well-known sceneries of any classic western seem to be inspired by his paintings. Remington had a life of adventure: he experienced first-hand everything he painted. He worked as journalist, photographer, newspaper correspondent and writer. The tradition of such paintings is still fully in force in the United States of America. We need…
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01Dec 2021 by kike_K No Comments
Holbein’s drawings

Holbein’s drawings

Painting
Some Hans Holbein’s (1497/98-1543) works have been preserved and have become real icons of art, some such as the outstanding The Body Of The Dead Christ In The Tomb, The Darmstadt Madonna or The Ambassadors (this one with the best known anamorphosis in the history of painting). A large gallery of portraits has been preserved too: we need to mention all those made when he lived in England and worked as Henry 8th court painter. As far as his drawings are concerned, there are some astonishing ones of two different approaches: the ones made using India ink (drawn with pen or a with paintbrush: the paint-strokes are applied onto coloured paper with enhanced white details) or those delicate drawings which are merely lines, achieved using chalk or silver-pencil: the lines…
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