The Arts

Leng Jun’s paintings look like photos

Published

4 months ago

January 28, 2021

The precision is such that the hyper-realistic paintings by the Chinese artist Leng Jun look like photographs. Not only the look and the structure of the faces but also the hair, the skin texture, even the fibres of the fabrics look perfect.

Leng Jun paints in oil on canvas, without preparatory drawings, without shortcuts. Freehand, with the models standing in front of him. All improvised but absolutely perfect.

It’s not just the perfection of the painting but it’s interesting to see how he has been influenced by masters from the past. The models (mostly women) wear contemporary clothes, but their poses and demeanour reminds us of famous classic paintings.

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Exhibition

Large retrospective exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe in Madrid

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

Large retrospective exhibition of Georgia O'Keeffe in Madrid thumbnail

The exhibition, currently underway at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, traces the long career of the American painter, through 90 works that reflect O’Keeffe’s research and style, an elegant and mysterious combination of figuration and abstraction.

Georgia O’Keeffe is widely regarded as one of the most important American artists of the 20th century and one of the greatest artists in history. She is famous for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and close-up shots of animals.

O’Keeffe was born in 1887 in a remote part of Wisconsin and then moved to Texas as a child. After graduating from high school, she took art classes at Art Students League in New York City. In 1912 O’Keeffe moved to New York City and began studying with famed artist William Merrit Chase. She became an active participant in the “American modernism” movement that originated in Europe earlier that century.

Ninety works have been selected for the exhibition, the first ever in Spain at the Thyssen–Bornemisza National Museum. After Madrid will also touch th the exhibition will go to Paris and Basel.

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The Arts

A new project connecting art and gastronomy in a museum in Florence

Published

6 days ago

June 6, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

A new project connecting art and gastronomy in a museum in Florence thumbnail

Art and gastronomy meet in Florence. The Uffizi Galleries discovers food in a series of video clips, released every Sunday on the Facebook page of the Museum, in which a well-known character from the food and wine world who is called to interpret a painting from the point of view of the visual arts

Fruits, vegetables, meats, fish come out of their pictorial form and become ingredients of a dish with an artistic aftertaste. Obviously, the genre that best suits the initiative is that of still life.

As you walk through museums, you notice that there is always food on display. There are paintings of food, sculptures of food and even photographs that are made to look like they were taken with a camera.

The role of food in art has changed over time. It used to be a symbol for wealth and status but now it is seen as something that is necessary for the well-being of our society. With the rise in fast-food restaurants and supermarkets, it has become commonplace for people to see as these images as something they see every day.

Still life paintings with food are not as common as they once were. However, they are still a popular genre in art history. The subject of these paintings is a composition of various assortment of vegetables, fruits, and other food items that are still life.

One famous artist who had an affinity for still life paintings was Pieter Claesz. In his painting “A Still Life with Turnips” he depicts a variety of turnips and some fruit on the table.

This painting is valuable not just because it is well executed but because it depicts naturalistic colors and textures which was rare at the time this was painted.

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Design

The 75 years of the humble Vespa

Published

4 weeks ago

May 17, 2021

Laura S Hamlin

The Vespa motorbike is a classic Italian sports bike that has been around since the 1940s. It was developed and manufactured in collaboration with the Italian automotive company FIAT. The Vespa is a great example of an iconic design that has had quite a few different names over the years.

Vespa has created a special edition, la Vespa 75th , available for Vespa Primavera and for Vespa GTS starting from March and limited to 2021 Vespa 75 th is shown in the new metallic color Yellow 75 th, designed expressly for this special series and which reinterprets colors in vogue in the 1940s in a contemporary key, the innovative soul and the more style side of Vespa.

In addition, to underline the uniqueness of this special celebratory series, each piece is accompanied by an Invite Package including a Made in Italy scarf in 100% silk with jacquard workmanship and hand-stitched edges, a vintage Vespa plate in steel, dedicated Proprietor’s Publication and eight collectible postcards that trace through the most significant images the many decades of Vespa history.

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