I am off to Paris for a few days and cosequently the next post to this blog will be on Wednesday 1st April.
Please come back then.
Posts archive for: March, 2009
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THE BIG PICTURE
@ 2009-03-19 – 08:19:27
A CHANGE FROM BLOCH!
(Click on image to enlarge)
103 FAMOUS FACES IN ONE PAINTINGJosef Stalin and Leonardo da Vinci are deep in conversation, Vladimir Putin rests his legs next to a sprawled Mike Tyson, while Margaret Thatcher clutching her handbag looks on with disdain.
This extraordinary painting depicting 103 figures from world history in striking detail has become the latest internet hit.
Message boards have erupted with contests to identify all those featured, who range from instantly recognisable figures like Gandhi to some more obscure figures such as Liu Xiang, the Chinese hurdler who limped out of the Beijing Olympics in the summer.
An element of mystery also surrounds that origins of the picture, which appears to have drawn inspiration from Raphael's Renaissance fresco The School of Athens.
While the figures in Raphael's painting were all ancient philosophers, there appears little to connect the characters in the recent work which finds room for historical greats like Napoleon as well as Bill Gates, the bespectacled face of modern success.
But eagle-eyed observers have spotted clues to the painting's provenance in some of those depicted.
Many of the figures in the painting including Chinese communist leaders and poets have little profile outside of Asia.
And the inclusion of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the career bureaucrat and former International Olympic Committee chairman would be inexplicable unless the artist came from China, where Mr Samaranch is well-known as the man who awarded Beijing the 2008 Games.
Another clue comes from the three undistinguished men in contemporary dress who survey the scene from behind a wall at the top right of the picture.
Internet detectives have identified these three as little-known Chinese/Taiwanese artists named as Dudu, Li Tiezi, and Zhang An.
They created the oil painting titled Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante in 2006, although it has only become a viral internet hit in the past few weeks.
Alastair Sooke, art writer at The Daily Telegraph, said that the work reflected a trend of contemporary Chinese artists adopting Western styles and subjects.
"But the Dante reference makes us wonder whether we are looking at some nether-circle deep inside the Inferno: this is a vision of Celebrity Hell," he added.
(Telegraph) -
THE BLUE BOUGH 1952
@ 2009-03-17 – 07:21:44
Yes, the blue bough is dominant in this painting by Albert Bloch - but is it there to distract from some other detail in the composition?
Can you spot the crucifixion?
And how many other figures are hidden there?
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BLOCH RECITING
@ 2009-03-16 – 06:26:17
I am not sure who painted this portrait of Albert Bloch, or indeed if it is really him.
Albert Bloch about to recite Homeric
verse in response to a question on
the weather. -
BRAY-TIME
@ 2009-03-15 – 06:51:08
What are all these equines doing?
Is the painting allegorical?
"THE GARDEN OF ASSES II"
Albert Bloch -
PORTRAIT OF A MAN
@ 2009-03-14 – 07:12:00
Now who is this?
I have no idea - but look at those eyes!
Albert Bloch
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DON'T BRING ON THE CLOWNS?
@ 2009-03-12 – 08:44:05
Conversation 1950 (Albert Bloch)Many people find clowns disturbing rather than amusing. It is common for children to be afraid of disguised, exaggerated, or costumed figures even Santa Claus.
Clown costumes tend to exaggerate the facial features and some body parts, such as hands and feet and noses. This can be read as monstrous or deformed as easily as it can be read as comical.
The fear of clowns is known as coulrophobia.
Some have suggested that a fear of clowns may stem from early childhood experience, when infants begin to process and make sense of facial features. The significant aberrations in a clown's face may frighten a child so much that they carry this phobia throughout their adult life.
The British arts and music festival Bestival cancelled its planned clown theme in 2006 after many adult ticketholders contacted the organizers expressing a fear of clowns.
(From Wikipedia) -
BLOCH
@ 2009-03-11 – 08:35:35
Have you wondered what Albert Bloch looked like?
This self-portrait shows him as a young(ish) man.
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GRIEF
@ 2009-03-10 – 07:33:12
Albert Bloch
To weep is to make less the depth of grief.
(Shakespeare)
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SOUVENIR 1921
@ 2009-03-05 – 08:21:18
There is a lot going on in this Albert Bloch painting, but I can't quite read the red notice in the centre foreground. Can you?
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DO YOU LIKE MY 'LONG JOHNS'?
@ 2009-03-01 – 09:32:40
We are back to "No Titles" - so I have suggested one.
Can you do better?
(Albert Bloch)
