Sezession

Music, 1911 Gustav Klimt

(German 'secession') Name given to various groups of German and Austrian artists in the 1890's who 'seceded' from official academic art institutions in order to found new schools of painting. The first was in Munich 1892; the next, linked with the paintings of Gustav Klimt and the Art Nouveau movement, was the Vienna Sezession 1897; the Berlin Sezession, led by the Impressionist Max Liebermann followed in 1899. In 1910 the members of the group die Brucke formed the Neue Sezession when they were rejected by Berlin's first Sezession. (Brockhampton)
What better way to add a lovely image of Klimt's work, a personal favorite. I love him for his figural work, decorative patterns, gold and sunbathed color choices and the fact he is such a huge part of the Art Nouveau style.

Painting Announcement:

I have bravely (or foolishly) decided to take on the challenge of doing a painting -a -day and will be displaying them at the right side of the page where the corresponding images to my postings have been appearing. They will be smallish in size and of various media. If you would like to purchase, contact me by going to my profile.

Diptych

Diptych of Anastasius, 517 A.D. Ivory, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris

Painting or sculpture (usually in ivory) consisting of two panels hinged together, most often employed as a portable altar or altarpiece. (Brockhampton)

The diptych featured in the photograph is carved ivory, of the emperor Anastasius who is enthroned, perched above an arena of men and animals.

"Anastasius sits in rigid formality, making a static, suspended gesture - entirely symbolic, the abstraction of his consular authority. ... The work is entirely ornamental and symbolic; the living man is lost in the concept - in this case, the concept of supreme and suprahuman authority." (Gardner)

Chiaroscuro

Lucretia, 1664 by Rembrandt
* Note the dark background, figure bathed in light and jewels and dress glinting in the light*


(Italian, 'light-dark') Pronounced "keer-ah- skeer-oh".
In painting and graphic art, the balanced use of light and shade, particularly where contrasting luminous and opaque materials are represented, for example, glinting metal and dark velvet. Masters of chiaroscuro include Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt and Caravaggio. The term is also used to describe a monochromatic painting employing light and dark shades only. (Brockhampton)

Jamie Wyeth

Black Spruce, 1994 by James Wyeth

Painter, born 1946 he is the son of Andrew Wyeth, grandson to N.C. Wyeth, (student of Howard Pyle - famed painter and illustrator) all successful American painters of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

"The seamless blending of dream-like imagery and closely observed detail is characteristic of many of the paintings of Howard Pyle and N.C. and Andrew Wyeth, but nowhere is it more apparent than in the work of Jamie Wyeth. He is a child of the post-WWII era who is deeply conversant with the art of his own time. His imagination wanders freely between past and present, his family's remarkable legacy and the contemporary milieu." Christopher Crosman

der Blaue Reiter

The Great Blue Horses, 1911 by Franz Marc. During this movement, Marc took
a departure from societal interests and moved toward nature.

(German, 'the Blue Rider', after a painting by Wassily Kandinsky) Loose association of German Expressionist painters (some of whom had previously been members of die Brucke) formed 1911 and based in Munich. They were interested in color values, in folk art, and in the necessity of painting 'the inner, spiritual side of nature', but their individual styles were highly varied. Kandinsky and Franz Marc published a book that outlined their views 1912, and there were two exhibitions 1911, 1912. (Brockhampton)

Glorious Winter Solstice grettings to one and all!!!

Predella

Adoration of the Magi - by Gentile Da Fabriano, 1423, Uffizi, Florence
The far right predella, Presentation in the Temple is a copy the original hangs in the Louvre.



Pedestal of an altarpiece, usually decorated with small narrative scenes.

Gentile Da Fabriano's Adoration of the Magi or the Strozzi Altarpiece has a predella, it is the lower area of the painting depicting 3 scenes from left to right are: The Nativity, the Flight into Egypt, and the Presentation in the Temple. (Frederick Hartt)

Apologies for the poor quality photograph! Credit: Frederick Hartt

Foreshortening

Durer's viewpoint from Betty Edwards Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.

The Bread makers by Brenda. Woman's face is an IE of foreshortening.

(apologies for the poor quality photo!)

A way to portray foreshortening on a 2-dimensional surface so that they appear to project from or recede behind a flat surface; a means of creating the illusion of spatial depth in figures or forms. (Betty Edwards)

Foreshortening became very commonplace during the Italian Renaissance and Northern (European) Renaissance. Albrecht Durer used a device called a viewpoint in which he looked at the model through a wire grid. This helped him simplify the information he was seeing and draw it 'square by square'. A key point here is for the artist to draw what he is seeing and not what he thinks a knee or hand looks like but to trust what is appearing in each grid square and draw that.