19 Wednesday Jul 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Books, Fine Art, Old Masters, Social Media
Here is a link where you can find Michelangelo’s sonnets in English and Italiano, a beautiful and loving gaze into the artist’s heart: Michelangelo’s sonnets
19 Monday Jun 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Books, Fine Art, Old Masters, Social Media
The digital world has improved art in so many ways, especially becoming more accessible for everyone, which I believe is essential to educate and inspire the upcoming generations. The Belgian Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage has made available all 14 volumes of Max J. Friedlander’s English edition of Early Netherlandish Painting (1967-1976). Search for old photos and references to your heart’s content here
16 Friday Jun 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Old Masters
Perspectivism covers a variety of techniques for representing space by creating the illusion of three dimensions on two dimensional surface such as a canvas or paper. Perspective developed as a coherent body of rules and theories during the early Renaissance of the mid 15th century, but Leonardo Da Vinci were already exploring its limitations much earlier than that.
The linear perspective term was created to describe this technique, its adopts a vanishing point on the horizon (sometimes we can find multiple vanishing points in a single painting), all imaginary or actual lines in the painting which recede towards the horizon. Also the scale of everything in the painting can be strictly worked out in relation to the vanishing point.
Da Vinci was the first one to achieve convincing “aerial perspective” – term he invented to describe such accomplishment. In our eyes perception the objects which are further away look paler and bluer through the effect of the atmosphere. Aerial perspective applies this principle in art to create the impression of space through careful control of colour and tone. I always say that in order to be great artist you have to be able to perceive what you are looking at, and forget what you think it is supposed to look like.
Some of the Artists:
13 Tuesday Jun 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Old Masters, Social Media
Idealism states that the physical world is less important than the spiritual, implicating that such gives life to the other and without the soul the material cannot live.
Plato’s theory of the Forms was the most important Classical influence on Renaissance Idealism. The Ideas (forms) supposedly holds the unchangeable laws of the universe, while the material world is subject of transformations, being considered weak and shallow.
The leading artists of the High Renaissance – Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo – are all associated with slightly different forms of idealism. Michelangelo’s was most identified with the Platonic Forms because of his reliance on his imagination. Michelangelo’s art also idealised the body by giving it monumental proportions, his figures are usually astonishingly muscular. Raphael’s figures are equally idealised but they are characterised by sweetness of expressions, serenity, elegance and beautiful colors. Leonardo’s idealism was characterised by an emphasis on finding the Divine in the perfectly human figure. The renaissance idealism artists chose to paint in this style not to hide the human imperfection but to show their ability to create with absolute beauty what it could be.
Some of the Artists:
24 Wednesday May 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Met, Museum, NYC, Old Masters, Rembrandt, Social Media
If you, like me, are in e-commerce, one of our main concern is “public-domain” when using work of art images. ALL of the paintings by the old Renaissance Masters are in the public domain; however, if you are using a photo of a painting, that photo may not be in public domain, even if it is in the internet, and sometimes those photos are protected by a copyright.
Thankfully, in the beginning of this year the Metropolitan Museum of art made its images freely available through New Open Access policy, making our lives a little easier, here is about the policy, and how to obtain those images: Images of Artworks in the Public Domain
12 Friday May 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Books, Fine Art, Impressionism, Museum, Old Masters, Social Media
Hi everyone,
There is something I would like to share with you all: I started watching this series called “Work of Art: The next Great Artist” by Bravo, and it’s become evident to me that most of the artists competing have not trained their eyes to good art.
I always tell artists the importance to train their eyes to good art, especially the classical (well-skilled) movements like: Baroque, Renaissance, also Impressionism. Even if you are an urbanist artist, futurist artist, abstract artist go to the museums of classical art, read books about the great masters, contemplate their work, learn their process, study their techniques; this way you can train your eyes to high skilled art, developing a critical sense of aesthetics, helping to bring their greatness to your movement, improving your style, and becoming indeed a Great Artist.
11 Thursday May 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Old Masters
Humanism, similar to Renaissance itself, has two main characteristics: first is the revival of interest in art and the values of the Classical world, and the second is the renewed sense of the individual’s ability to understand and change both himself and the world by seeking rational rather than religious aspect of life.
The term “Humanism” was first used in the 14th century to refer to teachers of Roman liberal arts (geometry, grammar, poetry, rhetoric and moral philosophy). Although it was primarily a scholarly movement, Humanism started to provoke a new interest in artists, and gradually beginning the transition from where artists were considered craftsmen to where artists found their inner voices discovering they had significant things to say about the world they so far had only observed.
By emphasisng the importance of reason and rational, Humanism challenged the traditional domination of theology with its elevation of the Divine and prostration of the earthly as sinful and corrupt. Artists began to represent holiness in ordinary people, portraying the Virgin as a humble girl, God as a merciful senior, bringing Heaven closer to humans.
Humanism was a very scientific movement, they believed in education, they were convinced that the human’s mind could grasp the logical patterns of the universe. Such reasoning inspired the belief that art could be codified into rules for the purposes of teaching. This, in turn, led to the founding of art Academies to ensure the correct application of such rules, creating lots of great artist-intellectuals.
Some of the Artists:
08 Monday May 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Old Masters
Monumental art is defined by its physical scale, the breadth of its subject matter and its ambition to be of lasting significance. During the Renaissance, powerful patrons encouraged the development of monumental art, a trend which continued into the Baroque era.
Pope Julius, initiated the monumentalism of the High Renaissance when he commissioned the architect Bramante to rebuild St. Peters in Rome. With political ambitions the Pope instructed Bramante to design and build something which would dwarf all the most significant monumental buildings of the ancient world, including the Parthenon and the Basilica of Constantine.
Michelangelo also excelled in monumental painting and sculpture. His frescoes in the Sistine Chapel feature hundreds of nudes arranged into an epic narrative of man’s creation, fall, redemption and judgement. His giant figures all have heroically muscular bodies. Michelangelo’s David, the first monumental Renaissance sculpture, measures four meters high and was commissioned as a symbol of the Florentine Republic.
As you can see Renaissance Monumentalism was meant to constitute a grandiose power; by its commissioner and also, and most importantly, by its creator.
Some of the Artists:
20 Thursday Apr 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Museum, Old Masters
New exhibition that exposes their friendship and alliance.
20 Thursday Apr 2017
Posted in Art Appreciation, Artist, Fine Art, Old Masters
Secularism is a general tendency to discuss human relationships – private and public – independently of religious values, customs and institutions.
During the Renaissance most of the art and architecture were commissioned by the Catholic Church, which its main intent was to promote its doctrine; being holder of great resources and riches soon became impossible to separate art from theology. When easel painting grew in popularity, it helped to increase private commissions, releasing artists from producing “religious” art and that was when Secularism was born.
Important contemporary events, with a focus on prominent public figures, provided an obvious source of secular subject matter during the Renaissance. Other factor in the secularization of Renaissance art include: urbanization; the consolidation of secular power; increasing wealth which created new patrons for the arts; and the steady growth of a market in art which explored Classical themes, imagery and principles. This secular trend flourished a century later in the Baroque era.
Some of the Artists:
fineartforall 