Contemplation Wednesday, Dec 31 2008 

18th Century and 19th Century and Art international and Favorites and International art and Museum and Works of Art , , , , , , , , , , , , , , art4dealers 10:22 am

It’s the last day of the year and I would like to wish you all the best for 2009 with some thoughts that have started with a certain painting…

Caspar David Friedrich (1774 – 1840)
‘Monk by the Sea’ from 1809

Monk by the sea 1809

We had a full term course on Caspar David Friedrich’s works at uni when I discovered my liking for his impressive and expressive paintings. One of my favorite works by Friedrich was the Monk by the Sea which I was eventually able to see for real in the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin.

When we discussed this painting our tutor asked us what kind of motions and feelings are caused by this picture and it seemed that I was the only one in the course (out of 15 or 20 people, including my professor) who thought this scenery to be calm and contemplative… the calm before the storm but nevertheless… calm and somehow being one with nature.

The looks I was given in return for my answer ranged from astounded to appalled. My professor simply refused to accept my opinion and dismissed it. The correct answer was that the picture appears threatening, oppressive, frightening and depressing! It’s demonstrating loneliness.

As much as I still regard my professor I still do not quite agree with him and the rest of the class. To me this picture would be all of the above if the storm was already there and raging over the monk. But that is in the future… you can see the storm coming from the horizon but at that very moment it isn’t there yet and the monk doesn’t seem to care about the storm. Not yet. He is contemplating, pensive and doesn’t seem to be threatened at all.

The follow up question was if we wanted to be in the monk’s place and again… I was the only one thinking “yes, I do”. Why? Because I do like to contemplate and be one with nature. The monk might be alone but it does not show at all that he is lonely.

Have you ever walked on an overcrowded beach and wished you would have it all to yourself? That’s exactly what I think. I would enjoy being there and watching the nature and it’s powers, rethinking situations, my life, the past year…

My mum on a walk along the Carbis Bay Beach in Cornwall

My mum on a walk along the Carbis Bay Beach... don't be fooled by the sunshine, weather can change rapidly in Cornwall. The sky was black about an hour before I took this picture...

This year has had it’s ups and downs… just like life in general. Looking back there are quite a few things I would wish to not have happened but still, there are also good things that happened. If there weren’t low points, would we recognize the highlights in our lives?

I normally don’t like to make New Year’s resolutions but I want to try being a better person and stay optimistic. There will hopefully be a lot of good things happening in 2009. To say it with Sir Peter Ustinov’s words:

The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come.

And one more thing: I have always tried to see different points of view and make up my mind depending on careful consideration of other people’s opinions. Sometimes I had to review my own opinion but in recent years I realised that I don’t have to humor everyone… I sometimes like to stick to my opinion and also say so… just like I generally do with this blog and with this painting in particular. Hence: thank you for your comments and views. Please DO feel free to share your opinions with me but don’t be offended if I don’t always agree. ;-)

I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best for 2009!!!!!

picture: Google

 

Artigo – Playing art history Saturday, Dec 20 2008 

Art international and International art , , , art4dealers 2:55 pm

Artigo means learning by playing and at the same time the players will contribute to making huge picture databases accessible.

The basic idea is very simple: Pictures can become more meaningful by allocating relevant concepts that may refer to their form, their content, their colours and other characteristics. Actually that is what art historians do: They use language in order to describe visual artifacts.

If we leave that to single individuals, we run the danger that the concepts entered are often inadequate. How can we avoid that?

In this game you are brought together online with other players unknown to you. The players are asked to assign tags to the pictures and if the game partner  chooses the same tag both of you will be awarded points.

If you do not want to continue with a picture you can skip to the next one with the F8 button. Each game lasts for 5 minutes.

In order to prevent you from choosing the same concepts again and again you will be confronted with taboo words that have previously been chosen and for which you can not win points any more. You will get a higher score for finding a new expression for pictures that have such taboo words, more points the more taboo words a picture has.

The effect is twofold: the makers profit from your creativity and knowledge by collecting your concepts for the pictures in their database and by using them for future searches.

Your own advantage is to acquire a knowledge of art historical monuments which is essential for any in-depth study of the subject. At the end of every game you are shown all the pictures you have worked on, and you will be able to see its author, title and date of origin. You will recall the pictures better if you have worked with them before in this way.

And the game has another advantage: Each month, the player with the highest score of the month will receive 50 euros!

The picture database that is being tagged by you has been set up at the University of Munich and it consists of more than 18,000 works of art.

In order to take part in the game you need to create an account. Otherwise they cannot give you points and they also would not be able to identify the player with the highest score.

 

ArtQuid Friday, Dec 19 2008 

Art international and Art market and Collecting art and Exhibitions and International art and Magazines , , , , , , art4dealers 9:49 am

artquid logo

This online marketplace combines trading platform, exhibition gallery and magazine in one and covers artwork throughout the centuries and for every taste.

ArtQuid was created in 2006 and exists in English, French and Spanish. It has a well structured website with links to artists and art galleries/dealers and provides a platform for trade online. Artists can exhibit their works online and promote them through the website. Buyers can make price offers and contact sellers directly and are therefore guaranteed the best possible price without the heat and bidding war of an auction.

Fazit: thumbs up!

 

Ketterer reveals Hanns Bolz painting Thursday, Dec 4 2008 

Art international and Art market and Auctions and Works of Art , , , , , art4dealers 2:14 pm

Ketterer Kunst is opening their new exhibition and auction building in Munich (Riem) this week with a 2-day auction. Lot. 230 of yesterday’s sales was a portrait of the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim, painted by Hanns Bolz in 1910/11. It was estimated at € 18.000-24. 000 but sold for € 76.860 in the end.

Alfred Flechtheim by Hanns Bolz, 1910/11

Alfred Flechtheim by Hanns Bolz, 1910/11

Hanns Bolz moved to Paris in 1909 where he took over Picasso’s studio and joined the circle of German artists in rue Gabrielle 49, Montmatre. He was befriended with Max Ernst.

The auction of this painting is a small sensation because Bolz ordered in this will for all his work to be destroyed which is why most of his work is presumed to be lost forever. But this painting has survived and is now, after one year of official research, been declared to be a true and original work of Hanns Bolz.

picture: www.kettererkunst.de

 

Mystery solved? Thursday, Dec 4 2008 

Art international and Exhibitions and Favorites and Works of Art , , , , , , art4dealers 11:08 am

Gabrielle d’Estrées and her sister, the duchess of villars. Dated circa 1594, artist unknown.

Gabrielle d'Estrees and her sister, 1594

Gabrielle d'Estrées, 1594, Louvre Paris

This painting is on display in the Louvre in Paris and the reason why it is one of my favourites is the mystery behind it. It’s presumed to be Gabrielle d’Estrées, mistress of King Henry IV of France, and her sister, the duchess of villars.

In the painting, Gabrielle sits up nude in a bath, holding (assumedly) Henry’s coronation ring, whilst her sister sits nude beside her and pinches her right nipple. Henry gave Gabrielle the ring as a token of his love shortly before she died.

The painting is a symbolic announcement anticipating the birth of Gabrielle’s first child with Henry IV and her maternity is expressed in three ways: her sister pinches the source of the new mother’s milk, the servant in the background knits in preparation for the child, and the fire in the fireplace signifies the mother’s furnace. The love between Gabrielle and Henry IV is expressed by the painting of a love scene on the back wall and by the coronation ring.

The reason why it caught my attention is a historic novel/thriller that I got as a present a couple of years ago. The book is called “The purple line” (original title “Die Purpurlinie”) by Wolfram Fleischhauer. He claims to have found secret correspondance related to the painting which uncovers scandalous intrigues surrounding Gabrielle d’Estrées. Fleischenhauer spent years of research in Paris and based his book on old top secret telegrams and letters. The result is a fascinating page turner which leaves the reader stunned and puzzled with one question: Is this just a novel or are these events true?

picture: wikipedia

 

Robin Portnoff… Wednesday, Dec 3 2008 

Art market , , , art4dealers 12:39 pm

…is a multi-talented artist from Stockholm, Sweden. His works cover a wide range from Painting and Sculpture to  Photography. Robin is also working as a freelance graphic designer and runs his own business DESPIRACY.

He has been inspired by Sven-erik Johansson, Gregory Crewdson, Picasso, Chagalle, Quay brothers, Jan Svankmajer, Tim Burton, Joel-Peter Witkin and is mainly interested in space, time and entropy.

Here are two of his works:

Three steps and the space inbetween

Three steps and the space inbetween

From Passion to Obsession 8

From Passion to Obsession 8

pictures: Robin Portnoff

 

Connecting the Art World Wednesday, Dec 3 2008 

Art international and Auctions and Collecting art , , , , art4dealers 9:14 am

In times of MySpace, Facebook, Xing etc. it is almost a sin not to have specialised networks hence there are also some for artists, collectors, dealers and galleries: www.artnet.com and www.artreview.com.

artnet AG is a database that was incorporated under the laws of Germany in 1998 but was originally founded in 1989 as Centrox Corporation by Pierre Sernet, and became known as Artnet Worldwide Corp. in 1995 and finally changed its name to artnet in 1999. While the headquarter is in Berlin there is also an office in New York.

The artnet Price Database contains 3.8 million auction records from over 500 auction houses worldwide that has been compiled since 1985. Works from over 182,000 artists are represented. The Database is searchable by artist, title, sale location, date, size, and price. Over half the records include illustrations.

ArtReview is a magazine with blogs, networking and an art calendar that focuses on contemporary art. Unfortunately due to website maintenance and restructure not all the links and features work at the moment. Still I think, the option to sign up, log on and get in touch with other art interested people is just great. You can add applications, add photos or write a blog. It not only enables you to find people with same interests but it’s also a promotional platform for artists who want to reach out with their works.

Fazit: thumbs up!