Art for art's sake

The first camera phone

2012-02-03T04:36:00.000+01:00

More photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is a shot created by their member foxeye for the Prototypes 10 contest - what famous things looked like, the first time around. The basic idea for this shot is rather straightforward, but the execution is amazing, and it is no coincidence that this is one of the highest scoring entries I have ever seen at Worth1000. All rights retained by the creator.

Mona Lisa - but not as you know it

2012-02-02T19:04:00.000+01:00

A photojournalist shot with an art angle: Miguel Falomir, the director of Italian painting at the Madrid Prado Museum, spoke to reporters earlier this week next to a copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. This was painted at the same time as the original in the same studio, most likely by one of his apprentices. The accompanying linked article is well worth reading as well. All rights retained by the photographer/agency (Daniel Wools/Associated Press).

Magic carpet

2012-02-02T04:20:00.013+01:00

Last December, Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011) passed away (see a previous blog entry). She was an important figure in the American abstract expressionist movement, creating her own style of painting called the Colour field method. My favourite painting from her oeuvre is the 1964 creation shown in this post. Wonderful abstracted colour juxtaposition. More on Frankenthaler in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Famous photograph(er)s

2012-02-01T05:01:00.000+01:00

The linked contribution in the Wired site gives a fascinating overview of thirteen of the most famous photographs in the world, displayed in the hands of the people who took them. As an example the haunting iconic image of an Afghan girl by Steve McCurry (this image taken by Tim Mantoani, all rights retained by the photographer). Very much worthwhile to click through.

Learn composition by example: Subtlety

2012-01-31T04:05:00.023+01:00

If you have been following this blog, you may remember a series of short posts about basic composition techniques in the Art-iculations category. These were written for beginners by a beginner (moi). My Flickr friend Rick (word artist), a very accomplished photographer with a brilliant sense of composition, has embarked upon a similar series for the Flickr group Learn Composition by Example, providing far more information and examples than I did. Previous posts on this subject can be found here:
Leading lines
Layers
Borders
Framing
Triangles
Anchoring
Negative space
The S-curve
Silhouettes
The diagonal
Recently, he posted his thoughts on subtlety as a composition technique, with 19 photographs as illustration of his points (also to be found in his blog), ranging as usual from the most basic to the advanced very subtle and thought provoking uses. For this topic I have picked a shot by my Flickr friend Dalinean (Sunset), which Rick picked as an example of subtlety in the form of a hidden subject. He commented on it as follows: "One cannot avoid but being captivated by the spread of banded texture in the sunlit sky here. And in itself, it would make for a beautiful image. But it is the direction those streaks lead us that holds the true gem: two silhouetted trees in the corner, anchoring the image: the true stars." Like the others in this series, highly recommended to expand your compositional horizon.

Looking for Blofeld

2012-01-30T16:34:00.001+01:00

This shot dates back to 2008, during our visit to Beijing. For some reason it is currently attracting hundreds of views at Flickr, without specified source. I do not think it is special, but apparently some people do, so I decided to share it here.

Camera: Canon PowerShot Pro1 8 Megapixels, handheld
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 7.2 mm
Post-processing: Picasa 3.0

Potpourri: Will it go round in circles?

2012-01-30T04:46:00.000+01:00

From time to time I will be highlighting some of my own favourite posts in my parallel blog, Art's Potpourri. These can be recent or from years ago. This one was posted on 26 March 2011.

Frozen Dreamland

2012-01-29T17:02:00.000+01:00

My Flickr friend ebergcanada has been absent from this blog far too long - a recent visit of her stream yielded a string of favourites to choose from. I picked his one for obvious reasons: an appropriate and gorgeous ice cold shot, just as winter finally reaches Western Europe this year. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Al Hamra Tower Kuwait City

2012-01-29T04:38:00.010+01:00

Earlier this month, the building of this stunning 413 m high skyscraper in the capital of Kuwait was completed. Beautiful design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill - contradicting conventional architectural wisdom that such high rise structures must be symmetrical for stability (well, time will tell...). More on this building can be found in the wikipedia link below.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

2012-01-28T16:24:00.006+01:00

Yesterday was Holocaust remembrance day, the day of liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps 67 years ago. The above shot, taken from a series posted in the link, shows former prisoners of Auschwitz-Birkenau attend the anniversary. It is spine chilling to see people who actually spent their childhood there march under the infamous Arbeit Macht Frei sign. We have visited this site ourselves a few years ago, a very emotional event. All rights retained by the photographer/agency (Unknown/EPA).

Unusual concertos [19]: Electric violin

2012-01-28T04:44:00.004+01:00

Repost: Autumn princess

2012-01-27T16:26:00.000+01:00

A re-post from the artchives (original posting date 23 Jan 2010) - with the blog in its current form over three years old, I intend to dig up some of the older posts once in a while.

Once more a post I have Jenny Downing to thank for. Belgium-based Christophe Gilbert is one of the best photo-manipulators in the world. He cleverly distorts reality through these amazing hyper-realistic photographs with a twist. Check out the link - very worthwhile. All rights retained by the creator.

Modini shoes

2012-01-27T04:12:00.000+01:00

This is the type of creativity in logo design that I love: not too clever for its own good but a wonderful use of the main product, in this case shoes, to contribute to the visual effect in the logo. And let's face it: it is not that obvious to create an M from two stiletto heel shoes...

Chelsea Monday

2012-01-26T04:33:00.023+01:00

In Imaginary Movies I will be posting some fake movie posters I created (including a fake review), with two recurring themes: the title is based on a pop/rock song, and the image is from my Flickr stream. This one takes a Marillion song in combination with my shot Embrace.

The cinema release of Chelsea Monday comes as the attention for the London 2012 Olympics is increasing. It is one of the best sport themed movies I have seen for a while. The basic premise is simple enough: two young athletes, both among the favourites for their discipline, happen to meet shortly after their arrival one Monday in the London Chelsea district - two weeks before the start of the games. Both Ukrainian steeple chaser Igor Kovlibenko and Canadian sprinter Jenny Matucewicz have so far lived 100% for their sports to fulfill their golden dreams. Their chance encounter leads to a whirlwind romance, which threatens to get in their way of their - and their coaches - ambitions. A complex but convincing mixture of subplots develop from there, leading to a dramatic finale on the opening day of the Olympics. Stirling performances by the two leads, Julia Cole and Todd West. A gripping movie.

Saint-Saens, refined romantic

2012-01-25T04:28:00.030+01:00

French composer Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921) is another example of a well-known composer where the masses only have heard a few of his works. The mighty and magnificent third symphony (with organ), the symphonic poem Dance Macabre, and the Carnival des animaux - and that's about it. His ten concertos get far less playing time than they deserve, his Requiem is an almost forgotten masterpiece, and his chamber music is elegant and refined, among the best of the late romantic period. I recommend the Hyperion CD series for most of his chamber music, but for this post I have picked a Naxos recording of his beautiful and virtually unknown string quartets, composed in 1899 and 1918. Excellent playing by the Fine Arts Quartet. Very rewarding music, highly recommended.

Vanity Fair February 1926

2012-01-24T03:23:00.011+01:00

Here we have another one of those beautiful art deco covers that Vanity Fair is rightly famous for. The creator of this dance extravaganza cover is A.H. Fish.

Baby dragon

2012-01-23T15:59:00.003+01:00

With the year of the dragon just starting, this seems an appropriate post. Another piece of photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is a shot created by their member oilcorner for the Deadly cute contest - depicting ferocious animals in a cuddly setting. I was surprised that I had not blogged this one before - must have been in the time before the re-start. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-23T04:21:00.001+01:00

Happy Chinese New Year to all our Eastern friends and family. The year of the dragon is upon us once more (we got married in the previous one). The beautiful illustration above, sourced from here, is a solid gold dragon in the shape of the 2012 numbers.

Unadorned

2012-01-22T16:15:00.000+01:00

His previous contribution under this heading was a glorious sunset shot, but here we have my Flickr friend andy_57 return to one of his gorgeous model shoots. And gorgeous she is, one of the most attractive model he ever had in front of his camera - and that is against quite some competition. The lighting is as expert as always with this accomplished photographer. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Links [16]

2012-01-22T04:54:00.006+01:00

Once more an overview of interesting links on topics related to the blog, that I encountered recently, but that will probably not make the blog as separate entries. The picture above is by myself.

Retro Paris (Robert Doisneau).
Weather Pictures of the Year 2011.
Britain's Finest Follies.
Mahler's 9th Interrupted by Cell Phone.
London Art Fair 2012.
The Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Mystical moss

2012-01-21T17:40:00.001+01:00

It has been a while since I posted something under the heading of Fractal Art, so here we go. Once again, I have selected a creation by my Flickr friend chriscreek. Although he did not give it a title, one of the people who commented on it at Flickr called it "Mystical moss", and that fits it perfectly. As always, all rights retained by the creator.

Angel-A

2012-01-21T04:01:00.010+01:00

No particular reason to post this today, and I don't know this 2005 Luc Besson movie at all, but I came across it a few weeks ago in a blog post on best movie posters, and I agree it is a gem. More on this movie in the IMDB article linked to below.

Andy Warhol at the Grassi Museum

2012-01-20T18:42:00.000+01:00

A visitor looks at the complete collection of 69 album covers created by Andy Warhol at the Grassi Museum for Applied Arts in Leipzig, Germany. Everyone knows the Velvet Underground one (banana!), but I was surprised to see that there are so many more. All rights retained by the photographer/agency (Hendrik Schmidt/EPA).

Land art by Walter Mason

2012-01-20T04:30:00.010+01:00

"Land artist" - that's what German artist Walter Mason calls himself. His art works are fully integrated with nature and unfortunately temporary as nature will in the end annihilate these creations. I find them very appealing and I recommend clicking the link to read and see more about him, including an interview well worth reading.

A ringed planet

2012-01-19T20:40:00.001+01:00

A strong imagination is a prime asset for a photographer. And this particular shot demonstrates a very strong imagination indeed. My Flickr friend peggyhr has appeared a number of times in my blog, mainly with her fantastic water reflection shots. Here is a different side of her - look what happens when she makes us look at her tea pot from a different angle! As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Land of confusion

2012-01-19T05:01:00.022+01:00

The progressive rock band Genesis is one of my all-time favourite music acts - when they went for radio friendly pop/rock in the eighties they lost me, with a few exceptions. Land of confusion from 1986 is their best song from that period. The video is one of the best of all time - starring puppets from the UK sketch show Spitting Image. The cover design for the single also uses Spitting Image puppets - in this case of the band members. Apart from the fun factor, as well as it being a parody of the cover of With the Beatles, it is also an interesting cover from a photography point of view, with excellent use of extreme contrast of light and dark. More about Genesis on the linked wikipedia page.

Unusual concertos [18]: Piccolo

2012-01-18T06:44:00.003+01:00

Before the purge of end 2008, one of the most popular topics of this blog was "Unusual concertos", classical concertos for all kinds of instruments and orchestra. I have decided to revive this, with samples of around 8 minutes of a selected concerto from my own collection to allow readers/listeners a glimpse of what it may sound like, aiming for less familiar composers in general. In its original incarnation, I came to 40 different concertante instruments - aiming for 50+ this time.

The eighteenth concerto deals with the piccolo, the smallest member of the regular orchestral wood wind instrument section. Vivaldi was I think the first to write a concerto for this instrument, with Peter Maxwell Davies probably being the most prominent of more recent composers in this respect. I have opted for the 2001 piccolo concerto by Avner Dorman, taken from a Naxos CD. The soloist is Mindy Kaufman, who performs with the Metropolis Ensemble under Andrew Cyr. Click the icon to go to the page with the MP3 excerpts.

1925

2012-01-17T03:58:00.000+01:00

More photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is a shot created by their member watschi for the Pleasantville 25 contest - old black and white photographs skillfully turned into full colour shots. I love the original image (included in the link), with its elegant atmosphere, and the colour conversion is spot on. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Cora Heerkens

2012-01-16T19:11:00.000+01:00

Even though Dutch artist Cora Heerkens has been a friend for over 30 years, only recently I learned that she has branched out in an artistic direction, including painting. Browsing her works, I was struck by this particular creation, a beautiful abstract, titled Intangible. Warmly recommended to check out her site.

Potpourri: Word art of Juan Osborne

2012-01-16T03:56:00.003+01:00

A new subject: from time to time I will be highlighting some of my own favourite posts in my parallel blog, Art's Potpourri. These can be recent or from years ago. This one was posted on 11 December 2010.

Don Hong-Oai

2012-01-15T04:14:00.015+01:00

A photographer unlike any other. Don Hong-Oai (1929-2004) was born in Canton, China in 1929, but spent most of his life in Vietnam, before moving to the USA in 1979. He returned to Asia every few years to make new negatives, which he converted to landscape images resembling Chinese ink paintings. Absolutely beautiful and unique. He has not made Wikipedia yet, so I link to a recent post about him in the excellent My modern met blog.

Leroy Paris

2012-01-14T03:49:00.000+01:00

I came across this beautiful Art Deco poster in a book on that time period and just had to share it. It is an advertisement poster for a Paris optician, designed by one of the grandmasters of the genre, Paul Colin, in 1938. And while looking for the image on internet I found the linked article where it is announced that one of the few remaining original versions of this poster fetched a whopping 41000 USD at an auction in 2009.

World of reflections

2012-01-13T15:21:00.001+01:00

A stunning study of reflections, helped by a dramatic sky that would not be out of place in Jan Saudek's work. An absolute masterpiece shot in the Paris La Defense district by my Flickr friend Philipp Klinger. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Vogue October 1928

2012-01-13T04:27:00.011+01:00

This vintage Vogue cover sports subdued tones (but those splashes of blue really stand out) in a setting representative for the twenties: an elegant composed woman with a fancy car. The design is by Georges Lepape.

Repost: The Mojito

2012-01-12T16:55:00.001+01:00

A re-post from the artchives (original posting date 6 Nov 2009) - with the blog in its current form over three years old, I intend to dig up some of the older posts once in a while.

So... what is it? Give up? It is.... a shoe. The most stunningly designed shoe I have ever seen. I came across this beauty in one of the entries of that fascinating list-based blog, Oddee. The link below gives more information on this amazing product, courtesy of designer Julian Hakes.

Bruch, in the shadow of Brahms

2012-01-12T04:09:00.006+01:00

The German composer Max Bruch is a well-known name, but mainly for a very few compositions. Beyond his perennial favourite violin concerto, only the Scottish fantasy and Kol Nidrei have gained interest from the masses. The rest of his output is grossly neglected, possibly because his style is perhaps too close to Brahms without the spark of absolute genius. Still, it is very rewarding to explore his oeuvre. His three symphonies do not really stand out, but his chamber music is excellent, in particular his two string quartets which I rate higher than Brahms' three. But the highlight of his work is his three violin concertos. Yes, he wrote three of them, even though only the first is heard on a regular basis. As an introduction to the composer, this Naxos disc of the later two less known masterpieces, in the version by Maxim Fedotov and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra under Dmitry Yablonsky. If you like violin concertos from the romantic period, this disc is a must.

Waiting for the bus

2012-01-11T16:26:00.000+01:00

A group of wet volunteers stand reading the newspaper while "waiting for the bus" in a human sculpture work by surrealist artist Andrew Baines. A photograph shot recently at Henley Beach in Adelaide, Australia. All rights retained by the photographer/agency (Morne de Klerk/Getty Images).

Jiaozhou Bay Bridge

2012-01-11T04:18:00.001+01:00

Since its opening in the summer of 2011, the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge is now the world's longest bridge over water - for a staggering total length of 42 km. For comparison, a bridge across the English Channel could be built at a length of 34 km. Its design, by Shandong Gaosu Group, may not be remarkable, but it is certainly effective and elegant. More on this bridge in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Citroen C-Zero

2012-01-10T05:00:00.004+01:00

A wonderful playful advertisement for the new electric car by the French company Citroen. The silhouetted shape suggests both the outline of the car and the electrical plug - with the plug providing a play on words as well as the advertisement is plugging the new product.

Smetana Piano Works by Jitka Cechova

2012-01-09T17:38:00.000+01:00

I simply love the design for this relatively recent series of CD's covering the piano music of Bedrich Smetana. The Czech label Supraphon has made optimum use of the beauty of performer Jitka Cechova in these retro-sixties covers that are charming in their simplicity. The photography is courtecy of David Port.

Trying to please everybody

2012-01-09T05:44:00.001+01:00

The second album of the British neo new wave band Shakespeare's Landlord has been released last week, and the title illustrates a keen sense of humour of the five members. Trying to please everybody was exactly the gist of the criticism they got for their debut album last year. The general reaction was that Submerged was a promising release, but that the band was striving too hard to get appreciated by too many different listeners. Their second release shows a lot more consistency in their approach, and is a clear step up from an artistic point of view. Recommended.

The idea of this little game is to create an album cover for an imaginary artist/group, as well as an imaginary review, following these instructions:

[1] The artist/group: go to the wiki random page generator. The first random Wikipedia article obtained this way is the name of the band or performer. In this case, I ended up with Shakespeare's Landlord.

[2] The title: go to the random quotations site. The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of the album. The random quote that came up was by Bill Cosby: I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

[3] The illustration: pick a suitable one from my Flickr collection. My picture, Liberty decoration, can be found here on Flickr. The on-line editing was done with the programme On-line image editor, the font settings selected were Judas Priest 50 Gold Metallic and Informal Roman 55 Gold Metallic, respectively.

Note: this is a variation on the "Debut album game" that has been making its rounds around bulletin boards and blogs for some time now - the original version called for a random Flickr Explore photograph to be used as the cover. I have been trying to find out who had the original idea, but so far no success.

Invitation for a dream

2012-01-08T16:32:00.001+01:00

Here is one of those gorgeous shimmering soft focus abstracts that my Flickr friend sannesu excels in. A wonderful dreamscape in an exquisite colour scheme. It is definitely one of her best in this style. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

John Swannell

2012-01-08T05:11:00.015+01:00

One of the highlights of the visit to London in October last year was the chance to see various world class museums, giving me inspiration for months to come. I was particularly impressed with the works of English photographer John Swannell (1946) in the National Portrait Gallery. Although he is famous for nudes and fashion shots as well, one suspects that his portraits of the royal family and hosts of celebrities will bring him lasting fame. As an illustration, I picked his shot of glamour queen Victoria Beckham. More on Swannell in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Unusual concertos [17] Turntables

2012-01-07T19:37:00.000+01:00

Before the purge of end 2008, one of the most popular topics of this blog was "Unusual concertos", classical concertos for all kinds of instruments and orchestra. I have decided to revive this, with samples of around 8 minutes of a selected concerto from my own collection to allow readers/listeners a glimpse of what it may sound like, aiming for less familiar composers in general. In its original incarnation, I came to 40 different concertante instruments - aiming for 50+ this time.

The seventeenth concerto deals with a set of turntables as the musical instrument. It is easy to dismiss this as a (bad) musical joke, but the BBC considered this concerto worthy of inclusion in their famous Proms concerts last year. The composer's name might have helped: Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of the grandmaster himself. I do not have this concerto on CD, but I converted the two YouTube performance registrations of said Proms concert (links 1 and 2) to mp3 files, to capture the full 25 minutes of the concerto. The soloist is DJ Switch, who performs with the National Youth Orchestra. Click the icon to go to the page with the MP3 excerpts.

Ice Dragon

2012-01-07T04:47:00.013+01:00

More photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. Here is a shot created by their member DonFantasy for the Dragons 5 contest - creating images of the mythical beast in believable surroundings. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Richteresque

2012-01-06T16:34:00.001+01:00

My first creation I posted on Flickr this year. I took an earlier water reflection shot (Psychedelic too), originating from our October London trip, and created a diptych by combining it with a flipped version of itself. The frame was added in Picnik. I think this combination evokes the abstract paintings of Gerhard Richter. One of my favourite shots of recent months, and getting good responses on Flickr as well.

Camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital 10 Megapixels, handheld
Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/7.1
Focal Length: 200 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Post-processing: Picasa 3.0 including Picnik

Theatre Magazine January 1926

2012-01-06T03:07:00.009+01:00

Stunning in its simplicity, this beautiful magazine cover of the Theatre Magazine, which I discovered via the fascinating Retronaut blog (see link). Love the image as well as the subdued tones.

What We Miss - Peter Doig

2012-01-05T16:57:00.000+01:00

In November, we had a first for this blog, when I could refer to an art-icle written especially for Art for Art's Sake by freelance writer Izzy Woods (How to move a masterpiece). Well, here she is once more, with her thoughts on contemporary artist Peter Doig. Well worth reading and I for one am glad that she made me aware of a great artist I had not heard of before.

Chongqing Chaotianmen Project

2012-01-05T05:04:00.004+01:00

The bold architectural plans in China go far beyond Beijing and Shanghai. This stunning complex, designed by Safdie architects aiming for a sails like appearance, may eventually arise in Chongqing, a metropolis of in total 30 million inhabitants. Тhe two central towers (of in total eight) are 360 meters high.

Water organics

2012-01-04T16:31:00.006+01:00

Probably no-one has suffered more from my decision a few months ago to post only a small proportion of my Flickr favourites than my Flickr friend Lorraine Kerr (caeciliametella). I have already skipped a number of her best shots, but this one definitely needs to be included in my blog. A fascinating abstract, created by photographing a red silk cushion, overlain with texture. Simply beautiful. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

Decomposing Frames by Valerie Hegarty

2012-01-04T04:12:00.016+01:00

This is a type of semi-conceptual art that would normally not appeal to me - but that actually fascinates me in a morbid way. Brooklyn-based artist Valerie Hegarty purchases well-framed paintings of little artistic value and proceeds then to partially destroy them in various ways, the most effective being setting fire to them. The resulting remains serve as a comment on the temporary nature of art, but also have a surprising artistic value just as exhibition pieces, disturbing as they are.

Dancing barefoot

2012-01-03T16:50:00.001+01:00

I was amazed to read on another site that American singer/song writer Patti Smith turned 65 last week - how time flies indeed. She may have had her biggest hit in 1978 with Because the night, but Dancing barefoot from the 1979 album Wave is even stronger. Rarely has the overwhelming feeling of falling in love (reflecting her recent real life marriage) been described so beautifully: "Here I go and I don't know why - I spin so ceaselessly, till I lose my sense of gravity... ". Throw in a great melody and effective instrumentation (great guitar riffs), and you get one of the better songs of the late seventies. Art Rock score: 9/10 (very strong song, one of 650 best songs of all time)

Portrait of Jacques Nayral

2012-01-03T04:05:00.002+01:00

This was one of the finds of our visit to London's Tate Modern in October last year, a fabulous cubist portrait by an artist I had never heard of before. Albert Gleizes (1881-1953) may not be as famous as Picasso, Braque or Delaunay, but his own cubist art is well worth exploring. Beautiful how the portrayed figure of publisher Nayral merges into the background. More on Gleizes in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Seldom Blues

2012-01-02T04:36:00.011+01:00

To be honest, I have no clue what this 2004 jazz album sounds like, but I stumbled upon the cover and really liked its symmetrical design. It has a lovely neo art deco flavour to it - possibly credited to Robert Hoffman.

My sense of order fell apart

2012-01-01T17:12:00.009+01:00

In many ways this gem by my Flickr friend kate mellersh - who has been absent from my blog for far too long by the way - is symbolic for the coming year in the lives of my wife and myself. The predictable life of a daytime job with regular income goes out of the window per 1 May, for retirement and starting a new life in a different city, as well as opening an art gallery. It is a fascinating challenge, if slightly bewildering. The shot itself is a brilliant variation on a theme: these types of shots usually have the straight lines at the bottom. This version works perfectly. As usual, all rights retained by the creator.

New Year celebrations

2012-01-01T11:15:00.001+01:00

With the world-wide New Year celebrations almost behind us, it is always worth looking at the best images taken last night. As usual, the Telegraph has a great overview on their site. I have picked one of the first large cities to reach 2012, Sydney, with a fireworks display as spectacular as you can imagine. All rights retained by the photographer/agency (EPA).

2012

2012-01-01T05:33:00.001+01:00

This disaster movie directed by Emmerich itself was absolutely abysmal, but the poster series was well done, and the title is of course unavoidable today. More on this movie in the IMDB article linked to below.

New icons

2012-01-01T04:04:00.007+01:00

As the new year begins, I have decided to change the icons I have been using, for a new set. In this post, I collect them, including the source I got them from. If you are the copyright owner and object to their use, please let me know.

A is for anonymous
Source

Architecture
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Art-icles
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Art-iculations
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Beautiful album covers
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Beautiful single covers
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Blog info
Source

Bridges

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Classical corner

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Classics revisited

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Creative ads
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Creative logos
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Emerging artists
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En Vogue
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Flickr favourites
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Fractal art
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Future architecture
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In my life
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Imaginary albums
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Imaginary movies
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Links
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Miscellaneous art
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Movie posters
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My photography
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Off Topic
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Paintings
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Photo art
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Photographers
Source unknown

Photojournalism
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Special designs
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The art of Lu Schaper
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The best of Potpourri
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Under cover
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Unusual concertos
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Vintage posters
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Web sites
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Worth1000
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Youtube
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Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.015+01:00

As 2011 draws to a close, my wife and I wish all the readers of this blog a great 2012. Make it a good one - dare to dream and dare to try to make those dreams reality. The past few months have seen us through two major decisions that will start next year. First, I have decided to take the option of early retirement in the middle of the year (at age 55) to fully enjoy life. Secondly, we have finally settled where our future will be. After a roller coaster of options throughout the year, with us seriously looking at Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Germany, we will in the end stay in Holland. We have bought a three centuries old house/shop combination in the medieval city of Kampen. My wife will be using the shop as studio and gallery to display her art, and I am sure that the medieval surroundings will do wonders for our photographic inspiration. We have dared to take the leap - I advice you to do the same!

Read

2011-12-31T16:04:00.000+01:00

Somehow this fairly recent favourite taken from the stream of my Flickr friend aftab reminds me of the end of the year. Probably because of the symbolic meaning of the book in the sunset, calling to mind the closing of the chapter in our lives that was titled 2011. May 2012 bring all of us what we most hope and long for.

All rights retained by the photographer.

Keeper Dozen 2011

2011-12-31T04:16:00.015+01:00

Picking my 12 favourite photographs of the year has become a yearly custom. It was triggered by a group at Flickr (Keeper Dozen), which was inspired by an Ansel Adams quote: "Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop." This year did not stand out in terms of inspiration to say the least - for a variety of reasons. Sill, I managed to select 12 shots that I am at least reasonably satisfied with. Here is the countdown from 12 to 1.

12. Psychedelic

We kick of with one of my favourite themes: creating abstractions from water reflection shots. This Pollocky abstract was created in front of my eyes by autumn coloured leaves of London's Regent Park reflecting in the water. Six faves at Flickr, and probably my most popular traditional water reflection shot of the year.

11. Winter electrical sunset

Shot in the park near our home, with a bit more post-processing than usual to really push the colours. I like the interplay with the power lines, leading to the title. Only two faves at Flickr - clearly I think higher of it than most people.

10. I still got the blues for you

Many people at Flickr wondered what they were actually looking at. Well, it is a glass ornament at my brother's place, but with the shot turned upside down for more effect. I particularly liked one comment: "Like a haiku about grey and blue". Also a fitting tribute for Gary Moore, whose song title I used, and who passed away later in the year. Six faves at Flickr.

9. Shanghai stairway to heaven

One of my favourite shots from this year's trip to Shanghai - which was in winter and therefore yielded less pictures than in years before. I shot this one inside the Times Square shopping mall at Huahei road. I particularly like the dominating golden colours, the various levels of escalators, and the silhouetted figures as a centre point of attention. Three faves at Flickr.

8. Abstraction in reflections

Abstracted reflections feature regularly in my photostream, the reflecting medium usually being water, sometimes ice. This shot is different: the reflecting medium is the bottom part of a highway overpass, taken from a pedestrian bridge near the People Square of Shanghai in the evening. The traffic lights and car lights reflect to give a great abstract impression. Four faves at Flickr.

7. Kensington street art

This is the fourth (and final) in a series of shots I took on a bridge in London's Kensington district, where the weathered wall structure made for pieces resembling modern art. My favourite of the series, I love the interaction of the shapes and colours. I could really see this hanging in a modern art museum. Three faves at Flickr.

6. Memento mori

This photograph depicts a grave inside a church in Medemblik. Thanks to the diagonal composition, it effectively creates a diptych symbolizing life and death. Although the diagonal as a theme occurs frequently in my photography, this one really stands out as a unique example. Three faves at Flickr.

5. Into the light

A fitting counterpart to the previous shot. Strange how things go. I shot this scene in November on a foggy day in the park near our home. I was not sure whether it was good enough to share on the web, but in the end I posted it to Flickr last weekend. It exploded on me, rapidly collecting dozens of faves from fellow Flickrites, and even becoming my 52nd shot in total (but only my 2nd of the year) to reach Flickr Explore, the 500 most interesting photographs of the day. With 59 faves at Flickr (in just over a week...) my most popular shot of the year, and already in my top 5 of all time in that respect.

4. Shanghai patterns

Recognition of the potential of patterns is one of the virtues of having a good photographic eye - and I have been told that I have that. This is a shot of a gate in Shanghai, transforming it into an abstract composition that is quite pleasing. Shot with a point-and-shooter rather than my mirror reflex. Faved four times at Flickr.

3. Dragon

A water reflection shot totally unlike any other I have ever taken. It is the reflection of a branch in water, post-processed to b&w to get an oriental feeling - like a Chinese ink painting of a dragon. Rather strong on composition as well, which resulted in an entry in the esteemed composition blog by my Flickr friend Rick (word artist). With 8 faves one of my more popular shots of the year on Flickr.

2. Ye Olde Eye

This year I have experimented in several shots with creating surreal landscapes by making a modern architecture shot look ancient with selected post-processing. This one is my favourite of the series. It is of course the famous London Eye, as seen from the North bank. The shot itself was nothing special (it is included in the link), but adding a texture (taken from the stream of fellow Flickrite SkeletalMess) really makes it unique. Five faves at Flickr.

1. Abstraction in red and blue

The clear winner of the year for me. I shot this abstract in Leverkusen - can't even remember what it was, most likely a detail of a modern sculpture. It became the first of two shots of mine this year to reach Flickr explore. With 48 faves, my second most popular shot of the year at Flickr.

The best art books of 2011

2011-12-30T18:49:00.000+01:00

An interesting art-icle by Bob Duggan on his personal choice of the best art books of 2011. I like how he covers various subjects (from architecture to fine arts) and styles in his selection. Well worth reading, and there are definitely a few in the list that I would like to get my hands on myself - such as the retrospective on de Kooning that I picked as illustration.

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an exhibition

2011-12-30T04:42:00.008+01:00

Between 1986 and 1999 I built up a considerable collection of classical music CD's (exceeding 2000 CD's in total). For various reasons I have played them a lot less in the past decade, but I am embarking on a rediscovery tour that I intend to share in this blog. In the fifteenth installment, I re-examine that perennial favourite by Russian master Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881): Pictures at an exhibition. Mussorgsky is recognized as one of the most original romantic composers, and if he had not succumbed to his drinking problem, who knows what more he could have achieved than he already did. As it is, several of his compositions have entered the standard repertoire. Pictures at an exhibition is his most famous, a suite in ten main movements composed for piano in 1874, although most people will know it in the orchestrated version created by Maurice Ravel. It was inspired by ten paintings by Viktor Hartmann, which are linked by a recurring promenade theme. For this post, I am comparing both the original and the famous orchestral transcription, but also four other transcriptions for orchestra, one for wind band, one for saxophone quartet, one for piano trio, one for two accordeons, two for organ, one for guitar, one for jazz band, one for synthesizer, one for rock band, one for heavy metal band, and one for avant-garde instrumentation. If you wonder what happened to the Classics revisited topic - this one has taken forever to complete, because I kept on finding new versions!

The original composition has the following parts:
[Promenade]
The Gnome
[Promenade]
The Old Castle
[Promenade]
Tuileries (Dispute between Children at Play)
Bydlo (A Polish Ox wagon)
[Promenade]
Ballet of the Chickens in their Shells
Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle
[Promenade]
The Market at Limoges (The Great News)
The Catacombs (Roman sepulcher) - With the Dead in a Dead Language
The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga)
The Great Gate of Kiev

Original version for piano solo (1874)
My version: Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca, 1983, 33 min)
It took me 43 years after I listened to the orchestrated version at age 11 to explore the original piano version. Unbelievable but true. And I was completely blown away by it, against my own expectations (I tend not to like piano pieces as much as orchestral pieces, generally speaking). The scenes come alive just as well as in the best orchestrations, and this is a feast from start to finish. Highlights: all of them, but in particular the promenades, Bydlo, and the Ballet of the chickens. Hors concours, and possibly the best piano work ever composed.

Orchestrated version by Mikhail Tushmalov (1886)
My version: Munich Philharmonic/Andreae (BASF LP, 1974, 23 min)
A fascinating rarity: the very first orchestration of the piece, which was carried out by Russian-Georgian opera conductor Tushmalov, a pupil of Rimsky Korsakov. He omits several movements (Gnome, Bydlo, Tuileries, most Promenades), but the ones remaining sound truly Russian to me, if not particularly stunning. Of historic importance, definitely, but in terms of listening pleasure succumbing to many later orchestrations, both in terms of brilliance and completeness.

Orchestrated version by Maurice Ravel (1922)

My version: Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Guilini (DG, 1976, 35 min)

This is the most famous orchestral version, and actually the very first piece of classical music I listened to (I was 11, and this was used in a music class at high school), Incidentally, this was one of the first CD's I bought in the mid eighties. It remains a favourite, right from the fanfares of the opening promenade to the closing majesty of the Great Gates of Kiev. Ravel's orchestration is superbly refined, confirming once more his mastery in that subject. Every movement is brilliant, but I especially like the haunting saxophone in the Old Castle and the fireworks in Baba Yaga. This is absolutely hors concours.

Orchestrated version by Sergei Gortschakov & Leo Funtek (1922/1955)
My version: Toronto Symphony Orchestra/Saraste (Finlandia, 1996, 35 min)
A rarity, this version chosen by conductor Saraste alterantes two orchestrations, rather than picking one. Funtek's orchestration dates from the same year as Ravel's - and actually predating the most famous one by a few months. This version is more faithful to the piano piece, and takes less liberties than Ravel's effort. It is still highly effective in its relative simplicity. Gortschakov's from 1955 is more daring, and the combination works better than one would expect. Not as brilliant as Ravel by a long shot, but definitely worthwhile.

Orchestrated version by Leopold Stokowski (1939)

My version: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Serebrier (Naxos, 2004, 29 min)
Leopold Stokowski was (in)famous for his transcriptions, but his take on Mussorgsky's masterpiece has a much higher degree of integrity and natural feeling than many of his others. The main controversy here is his decision to skip two movements (Tuileries and The market at Limoges), as he considered the compositions (not just Ravel's treatment) as too French, and possibly by Rimsky-Korsakov rather than Mussorgsky. |In the end, respect for the maestro's work, but I still prefer other versions, especially given that this is incomplete.

Orchestrated version by Vladimir Ashkenazy (1982)

My version: Vladimir Ashkenazy (Decca, 1983, 33 min)

Considering Ravel's version too French, Vladimir Ashkenazy decided to create his own orchestration, trying to stick more closely to the Russian feeling of the original. In some ways he succeeds very well - I particularly like his more subdued version of the promenades. Less refined than Ravel's version (on purpose), but very skillfully done. Would this have been the only orchestrated version, it would have become as famous as Ravel's - now it still ranks somewhat lower. But it is well worthwhile to own this version in addition to its more famous companion.

Orchestrated version by various composers, compiled by Slatkin (2004?)
My version: BBC Symphony orchestra/Slatkin (BBC Proms, 2004, 36 min)
A bit of a mixed bag, this compilation by conductor Leonard Slatkin of separate orchestrated movements by Ellison, Gorchakov, Goehr, Naoumoff, van Keulen, Ashkenazy, Simpson, Cailliet, Wood, Leonard, Funtek, Boyd, Ravel, Stokowski, and Garnley. Some of the less known orchestrations have a bit of extra flavour that is worth while (bells in the first promenade, piano in the old castle, choir in the Great Gate), but in the end, there is a lack of sense of continuity (especially in the transition to the Great Gate of Kiev), and of all the orchestrations I have listened to, this is the one I am least likely to play again.

My version: Brass ensemble version by Elgar Howarth (1978?)

Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (Decca, 1978, 36 min)
I know several brass ensemble versions of famous classical music that I think work well. This is not one of them. The tempi are far too slow, turning the promenades into funeral marches, and the brass instruments do not begin to match the sonority of the full orchestral versions, nor the immediate impact of the original piano version. Probably fun to play, but no need to have this version in your collection.

Organ version by Jean Guillou (1988)

My version: Jean Guillou (Dorian, 1988, 36 min)

I always thought that the organ would be a splendid compromise between piano and orchestra for this composition. Granted, I am not a fan of Guillou's playing, but this version (the first organ transcription I got my hands on) did not work as well as I had anticipated. Very heavy handed, and as usual with this player/arranger, I get the feeling it is more about Guillou than the composer he is playing. The only track that really apealed to me here is Bydlo.

Organ version by Hansjorg Albrecht (2008)
My version: Hansjorg Albrecht (Oehms, 2008, 36 min)
Clearly superior in my opinion to the Guillou version, the Albrecht transcription succeeds very well in some parts (first promenade, the old castle), but falls flat in many others, including surprisingly the Tuileries, Bydlo, the chicken ballet and the very slow second promenade. For all its merits, it clearly falls short of both the piano and the orchestral version.

Guitar version by Kazuhito Yamashita (1980)
My version: Kazuhito Yamashita (RCA, 1999, 35 min)
An astonishing tour de force. One would not believe a single guitar to be capable of such a broad range of dynamics and emotions, but Yamashita makes a very strong case for this version. In the end, it has to yield to the original piano version and the best orchestrated versions, but it is definitely worth listening to - in the hands of capable guitar players, this would make a brilliant live concert. I particularly like the Old Castle in this rendition, but the usual fireworks of Baba Yaga and the grandeur of the Gate of Kiev are a bit too much for the instrument.

Two accordions version by Crabb/Draugsvoll (1997)
My version: James Crabb and Geir Draugsvoll (EMI, 1997, 31 min)
Why not? Two accordions is one way to fill the gap between the piano version and a full-blooded orchestration. Then again... why? The musicians definitely give their all in this version, but in the end it comes off as a poor man's orchestra version. There is no added value that I could discover.

Wind quintet version by Joachim Linckelmann (1999)
My version: Wind Quintet Staatskapelle Berlin (Sony, 2003, 32 min)
Accomplished but lacking spirit - those were my first notes and I stick by them. Perhaps predictably, the old castle and the promenades come off well in this version, but in the end there is not enough here to hold my attention.

Piano trio version by Grigory Gruzman (1994?)
My version: Shostakovich Trio (not issued on CD?, unknown, 31 min)
Another combination that makes you wonder: is this going to work? Well, it does not really in my opinion. Where the violin and cello play a subdued secondary role there is insufficient difference with the piano version, and when they try to come to the spotlight, they do not succeed very well either, except in the Old castle and Bydlo (then again, I much prefer the full orchestra here), and especially the Catacombs. The craftsmanship is clear, the result is not quite satisfactory.

Saxophone quartet version by Johan van der Linden (1987)
My version: Aurelia Saxophone Quartet (EMI 1987, 30 min)
The saxophone quartet is a versatile and playful combination of instruments, and I had high hopes for this version. I was not disappointed. Not surprisingly, the promenades and the playful parts (Tuileries, Chickens, Marketplace in Limoges, Baba Yaga) are the most successful, but also the other movements are well suited for this instruments combination, even though there are times that one wishes for a more dynamic range, especially in the slower works like the Ox cart and the Great gate. In the end, this does not displace the original or the best orchestrations of course, but it is a fascinating fresh alternate take on this masterpiece, and I recommend it warmly.

Jazz band version by Allyn Ferguson (1962)
My version: Allyn Ferguson Band with Paul Horn (WEA, 1963, 27 min)
A fascinating version for big band style jazz band, with some improvisation around the main melodies, and in general at a brisk speed. At places this works very well (promenades, bydlo, chicken ballet, baba yaga), but the old castle and the catacombs lack some mood at this pace, and the gates of Kiev some majesty. All in all, this is still a commendably fresh look at this masterpiece, in a believable transcription to jazz style. Really recommended.

Progressive rock band version by Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1972)

My version: ELP (Island, 1972, 34 min)
My version: ELP (Polygram, 1994, 15 min)

I love classical music and progressive rock, so the combination should be pure gold, right? Wrong. The 1972 live concert comprises a relatively small selection of the Mussorgsky suite (four paintings and three promenades) unfortunately interspersed with three original ELP compositions, that in terms of atmosphere in general do not really fit in. Especially Emerson's organ noodling in the track called Blues Variation (in-between the Old Castle and The hut of BabaYaga) is completely out of place, and defies the purpose of creating a stroll through a gallery in music. Focusing on Mussorgsky's work, the promenades are boring and terribly heavy handed, the Gnome and the Old Castle mediocre. Predictably, the Baba Yaga sequence fares best in the musical fireworks that ELP set off, even their own interlude here fits the mood (if only they had not introduced lyrics as well here). Then again, the ending with a raped version of the Great Gate, including singing that was a bad idea to start with, and is of a quality below acceptable even for a live record, is the worst of a bad effort. Their 1994 studio re-make is better in terms of singing and recording, but omits even more of Mussorgsky's work, with only two promenades, the gnome, Baba Yaga and the great Gate, whilst keeping their own composition The Sage. Their efforts made me introduce a new category in the evaluation: "avoid".

Heavy metal band version by Mekong Delta (1996)

My version: Mekong Delta (IRS, 1996, 36 min)
The German progressive heavy metal band Mekong Delta issued their version in 1996. It is a rather straightforward transcription, including all original Mussorgsky pieces, but the rock instruments really give this its own characters. It works surprisingly well, especially the various promenades, the ominous Gnome, the hilarious Chicken ballet, and the impressive Catacombes . Perhaps the greatest surprise is The old castle, which sounds completely different than any other version of it, and is still convincing. The only small disappointment for me was Baba Yaga, which comes over as relatively bland and uninspired. Unless you are a die-hard "classical music only" lover, this is a fascinating alternative, and well worth exploring. The best rock version of a classical music piece I have ever heard. The album also includes their versions with an orchestra, but I prefer the rawness of the band on its own.

Electronic version by Isao Tomita (1975)

My version: Tomita (RCA, 1975, 37 min)

Listening to this one, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The musicianship by Japan's electronics wizard avant la lettre Isao Tomita is clear, but the atmosphere is totally wrong in these renditions, especially the promenades (in one of them, one gets the impression of the spectator crawling slowly over the museum floor). The sci-fi effects created and the synthetic voices totally do not match the themes in most cases. An exception is the chicken ballet, which sounds quite appropriate. The hilarious factor overall is so great though that I can't bring myself to give the "avoid" score.

Avant garde version by Kawabata Makoto and Tsuyama Atsushi (2010)
My version: Zoffy (Nebula, 2010, 33 min)
A recent version by the duo Makoto and Atsushi, operating under the name Zoffy, in a live recital. A mix of instruments, including for instance synthesizer, electric organ, bouzouki, sitar, tambura, and hurdy gurdy, with instrumental sounding voices thrown in for good measures. It is fascinating and at times almost unrecognizable in its weirdness, and would probably indeed work well as a live concert.

Summarizing recommendation, based on my own taste (classical):

Hors concours: Original piano version, Orchestrated version (Ravel)

Essential: none
Important: Orchestrated version (Ashkenazy), Orchestrated version (Gortschakov & Funtek)

Good to have: Orchestrated version (Tushmalov), Orchestrated version (Stokowski), Saxophone quartet version (van der Linden), Guitar version (Yamashita)

Not required: Orchestrated version (various, compiled by Slatkin), Organ versions (Guillou, Albrecht), Double accordion version (Crabb/Draugsvoll ), Brass ensemble version (Howarth), Piano trio version (Gruzman), Wind quintet version (Linckelmann ).
Avoid: None

Summarizing recommendation, based on my own taste (jazz/pop/rock):

Hors concours: None

Essential: None

Important: Jazz band version (Ferguson)

Good to have: Heavy Metal band version (Mekong Delta), Avant garde version (Makoto/Atsushi)

Not required: Electronic version (Tomita)

Avoid: Progressive rock band versions (ELP)

Awkward classical music photos

2011-12-29T15:37:00.000+01:00

This type of web site with the appropriate title "Awkward classical music photos" might seem more Potpourri material, but the classical music angle makes it appear here. A hilarious collection of classical musicians and their photographers trying just a bit too hard to be different.

Unusual concertos [16]: Coloratura soprano

2011-12-29T06:12:00.006+01:00

Before the purge of end 2008, one of the most popular topics of this blog was "Unusual concertos", classical concertos for all kinds of instruments and orchestra. I have decided to revive this, with samples of around 8 minutes of a selected concerto from my own collection to allow readers/listeners a glimpse of what it may sound like, aiming for less familiar composers in general. In its original incarnation, I came to 40 different concertante instruments - aiming for 50+ this time.

The sixteenth concerto deals with the coloratura soprano as the musical instrument. A stretch? Soviet composer Reinhold Gliere did not think so, as he created a beautiful coloratura concerto in 1942 - the only other composer that I am aware of to have composed this type of concerto after him is Germaine Tailleferre. The Gliere concerto is performed in the selected sample by Joan Sutherland and the London Symphony Orchestra under Richard Bonynge, from a Decca CD. Click the music note at the end to listen to the samples.

Glissando

2011-12-28T20:55:00.004+01:00

It is quite a feat to pull of taking such a high quality shot at the spur of the moment when confronted with the scene on the street. Kudos to my Flickr friend jenny downing for pulling it of. Great composition, wonderful details, all around a very strong photograph. And somehow fitting for the festive season, evoking Chistmas carols by Salvation army wind bands.

All rights retained by the photographer.

In Memoriam Helen Frankenthaler

2011-12-28T15:24:00.000+01:00

Earlier this week, the international art world lost one of its most influential female members, when Helen Frankenthaler passed away at age 83. She created the Colour field method of painting, producing wonderful abstract expressionist works in the process. There are many good obituaries about her on the web right now. I have picked the one in the New York Times to link to.

Dreamy windows by Anne-Laure Maison

2011-12-28T04:39:00.014+01:00

It sounds like such a simple idea, but the results are so beautiful and convincing. French artist Anne-Laure Maison creates these collages from images of lighted doors and windows that she took herself at night. A stunning and original variation on the usual collage theme, resulting in fabulous dreamscapes.

All rights retained by the artist.

Kensington street art

2011-12-27T04:51:00.000+01:00

This is the fourth (and final) in a series of shots I took on a bridge in London's Kensington district, where the weathered wall structure made for pieces resembling modern art. My favourite of the series, I love the interaction of the shapes and colours. I could really see this hanging in a modern art museum.

Camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital 10 Megapixels, handheld
Exposure: 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 42 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Post-processing: Picasa 3.0

River

2011-12-26T15:58:00.003+01:00

On various music bulletin boards, questions have been asked these days about members' favourite Christmas songs (mine is Fairytale of New York by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl by the way). I was surprised how often this Joni Mitchell song that I had never heard of was mentioned. So here it is. And it is indeed great.
Art Rock score: 8/10 (great song, I'd put it on my MP3 player)

I'll be home for Chivas

2011-12-26T11:38:00.001+01:00

This 30 years old Chivas Regal seasonal ad may be less creative than most featured under this heading, but it is well constructed and has a nice play on words to boot. And I love this particular brand, so there.

Kung Fu Santa

2011-12-26T05:25:00.013+01:00

Suitable for the Christmas weekend and funny to boot, here is another piece of photoshop brilliance taken from the advanced photoshop contest section of Worth1000. This is a shot created by their member Dark77 for the (Un)Holiday movies 5 contest - famous movie posters given the holiday season treatment.

All rights retained by the creator.

Repost: It doesn't have to be that way

2011-12-25T16:41:00.001+01:00

A re-post from the artchives (original posting date 25 Dec 2008) - with the blog in its current form over three years old, I intend to dig up some of the older posts once in a while.

For me, christmas songs do not come much better than this. The great late Jim Croce (1943-1973) created some of the most beautiful songs of the 20th century and this one, recorded the year he died in a plane crash, is a perfect example of his art. The first verse immediately sets the scene for another of those lost love ballads that he should have gotten a patent on: "Snowy nights and Christmas lights, icy windowpanes, make me wish that we could be together again. And the windy winter avenues just don't seem the same, and the Christmas carols sound like blues, but the choir is not to blame." Beautiful song, and the fact that the "video" is a continuous still shot just has to be accepted.
Art Rock score: 9/10 (very strong song, one of 650 best songs of all time)

Vogue Christmas 1929

2011-12-25T02:28:00.001+01:00

A beautiful Christmas special cover of Vogue dating back to the roaring twenties, for the occasion. Merry Christmas everybody!

Lights of Christmas

2011-12-24T16:01:00.004+01:00

Artistic or kitsch - whatever you decide, it definitely is a topical piece of photojournalism for the Christmas weekend. This is the façade of Sydney's St Mary’s Cathedral lit up with a nativity scene during the Lights of Christmas celebration.

All rights retained by the photographer (Mark Kolbe/Getty Images).

Merry Christmas Everybody!

2011-12-24T05:21:00.004+01:00

With the Christmas weekend starting today, my wife and I wish all readers of this blog a merry Christmas! This shot was taken a week ago in our future home town of Kampen. No, it is not me in the pic (I am taking the shot).

Gathering storm

2011-12-23T15:39:00.000+01:00

My Flickr friend andy_57 features in this blog regularly, but more often than not with his gorgeous model shoots - the gorgeous referring to the models and the photography both. His landscape shots are great as well, and I particularly like the series he did recently at Hole-in-the-Wall Beach, Santa Cruz County, California. I recommend browsing the complete set, but this is my favourite of the lot.

All rights retained by the photographer.

The Adastra superyacht

2011-12-23T04:59:00.000+01:00

What is it with yachts that brings out the best in modern designers? Here we have another yacht design that is jawdroppingly beautiful. Then again, it did take designer John Shuttleworth five years to come up with this gem.

Christmas at the Victoria and Albert

2011-12-22T16:04:00.000+01:00

Taken from a beautiful overview of pictures of London's Christmas decoration, this one stood out for me. Not only because we have been to the Victoria and Albert Museum in October (most of the locations featured in the link we have seen that week), but because it is so different from the usual Christmas trees. It was created by design duo Studio Roso, contains over three miles of elastic cord and is over four meters high.

All rights retained by the photographer (via V&A images).

Links [15]

2011-12-22T04:00:00.001+01:00

Once more an overview of interesting links on topics related to the blog, that I encountered recently (some undoubtedly via a Jenny Downing buzz), but that will probably not make the blog as separate entries. The picture above is by myself.

Creepy Art of Damien Steven Hirst.
Stanley Kubrick Photographs New York in the 40s.
Travel Photographer of the Year 2011 Competition.
The 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011.
The Year’s Most Controversial Magazine Covers.
Artist Uses iPad to Create Detailed Celebrity Portraits.
Crocheting Street Artist Olek Facing Charges in London.
Construction of Brasilia in the 50s.

Vogue's Winter perfume

2011-12-21T17:20:00.000+01:00

Another suitable subject for today's start of winter: a wonderful vintage art deco German poster for Vogue's Winter perfurme. The design is by Jupp Wiertz, dating back to 1927.

Repost: Winter in the water village

2011-12-21T04:02:00.000+01:00

A re-post from the artchives (original posting date 23 Dec 2008) - with the blog in its current form over three years old, I intend to dig up some of the older posts once in a while.

This painting of my wife dates back to the late nineties - before we met. It depicts a scene in one of the small ancient water villages around Shanghai, some of which unfortunately have become tourist traps in more recent years. I still remember the strange feeling when I first saw this one, as we lived in Singapore at the time, about as far removed from snow as you can imagine.

Into the light

2011-12-20T04:31:00.001+01:00

Strange how things go. I shot this scene a few weeks ago on a foggy day in the park near our home. I was not sure whether it was good enough to share on the web, but in the end I posted it to Flickr last weekend. It exploded on me, rapidly collecting dozens of faves from fellow Flickrites, and even becoming my 52nd shot in total (but only my 2nd of the year) to reach Flickr Explore, the 500 most interesting photographs of the day.

Camera: Canon PowerShot Pro1 8 Megapixels, handheld
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.4
Focal Length: 7.2 mm
Post-processing: Picasa 3.0

Hundreds to one by Corinne Vionnet

2011-12-19T04:22:00.000+01:00

When I saw this item in a 2011 overview post on another blog, I knew I had encountered this beautiful project by Swiss/French artist Corinne Vionnet before. To my surprise though I had not blogged about it yet, so here we go. Corinne Vionnet guides us to the most famous landmarks in the world, through the eyes of hundreds of tourists all merged into one. Using a database provided by an online keyword search and sifting through photo sharing sites, she layers hundreds of photographs on top of one another until she gets her desired result. The merged photographs have a haunting effect as the people in the shots are not duplicated and therefore reduced to shadows and vague silhouettes. I have selected the New York WTC as the example where the image becomes even more poignant given the subsequent terrorist attack. However, all images in the link provided below are well worth looking at. Both aesthetic and thought provoking.

All rights retained by the artist.

The cello player

2011-12-18T17:13:00.000+01:00

A logical follow-up of the previous post on unusual cello concertos. A less known masterpiece by Italy's greatest painter of recent centuries, Amadeo Modigliani (1884-1920). This one dates back to the year of his death. More on Modigliani in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Unusual concertos [15]: Cello

2011-12-18T06:03:00.001+01:00

Before the purge of end 2008, one of the most popular topics of this blog was "Unusual concertos", classical concertos for all kinds of instruments and orchestra. I have decided to revive this, with samples of around 8 minutes of a selected concerto from my own collection to allow readers/listeners a glimpse of what it may sound like, aiming for less familiar composers in general. In its original incarnation, I came to 40 different concertante instruments - aiming for 50+ this time.

The fifteenth concerto deals with the cello, and one might start to question the definition of unusual in this connection, as there are many cello concertos by noteworthy composers, in particular in the 19th and even more in the 20th century. Still, a google search shows that it lags behind the violin and piano as concertante instrument, by a factor of 3-4. I have chosen a very rare concerto for this beautiful instrument, the "concerto ostinato", by the Japanese composer Yasushi Akutagawa. It is played by Kenichiro Yasuda and the New Symphony Orchestra under the composer, from a Fontec CD that is no longer available. Click the music note at the end to listen to the samples.

Bokeh for Christmas

2011-12-17T16:13:00.002+01:00

Just in time for the festive season, the Digital Photography School site comes with a great post on the art of getting the right bokeh in your photographs, with a load of examples all around the Christmas theme. The above example is by fellow flickrite jurvetson.

Braun precision trimmer

2011-12-17T04:44:00.000+01:00

One of a series of advertisements for Braun depicting animals with stylized "haircuts" to promote their precision trimmer. Cute and effective.

Fratres

2011-12-16T05:20:00.013+01:00

In the early nineties, the short-lived avant garde classical music label Catalyst released a number of fascinating CD's, frequently sporting beautiful cover designs as well. This is one of the best, depicting the main artist, the gorgeous violinist Maria Bachmann, in a mysterious setting that fits the music composed by the likes of Part, Messiaen and Corigliano. The art work is credited to Joseph Stelmach.

Environmental installations by Rune Guneriussen

2011-12-15T05:09:00.005+01:00

I know I had blogged about Rune Guneriussen before, and was baffled not to find him in the artchives of Art for Art's Sake - turned out I had posted about him in Potpourri. Seeing his newest creations of what he calls environmental installations, there is no doubt that he has to be featured here now. I especially like the work depicted above, where masses of old fashioned telephones blend in with the Norwegian landscape.

All rights retained by the artist.

Heart update

2011-12-14T16:27:00.002+01:00

Allow me a short personal update. Those of you who have been around in this blog for a while, will probably remember that I had a heart attack about a year ago. This came on top of a heart defect (leaking valve) that I have probably had since birth, and have been aware of since 1986. Two weeks ago, I had my heart check-up, the second since the attack. During the examinations two new and potentially dangerous deviations came up: a likely restriction in front of the leaking valve, and my heart skipping a beat several times during the physical stress exercise - the latter was followed up with a 24 hours monitoring of the heart rate. Today I got to discuss all results with the cardiologist. Green light all around. For a person who has suffered a heart attack I could not be in better shape - in fact I do not have to come back until a year from now. Quite a relief as you can imagine! Well, thanks for letting me get that of my chest, tomorrow back to more artistic posts.

Image sourced from here.

Ships passing in the night

2011-12-14T04:59:00.000+01:00

One of my more popular photographs of recent weeks, this one was actually shot just around the corner whilst walking the dog in the park. The light was just perfect for a silhouette shot and these swans cooperated with their stance. The title was suggested by my Flickr friend andy_57.

Camera: Canon PowerShot Pro1 8 Megapixels, handheld
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/4.0
Focal Length: 50.8 mm
Post-processing: Picasa 3.0

Repost: Hogfather

2011-12-13T15:23:00.003+01:00

A re-post from the artchives (original posting date 24 Dec 2009) - with the blog in its current form over three years old, I intend to dig up some of the older posts once in a while; this one because the Dutch ScyFy channel is showing it again tonight.

Speaking of Terry Pratchett's Hogfather... I have always thought that making a movie of his fantastic novels would be impossible, but director Vadim Jean pulled it off with his brilliant 2006 version of that novel, which I recently enjoyed seeing twice (yes, I checked it out twice) on the science fiction channel. The atmosphere of the Discworld in general, and Ankh Morpork in particular, comes off magnificently, and most characters live up to the mental images formed from reading the book. None more so than Susan, Death's granddaughter, as portrayed by Michelle Dockery.

Grey panic (the London Richter retrospective)

2011-12-13T04:15:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately we did not have the time to include the Gerhard Richter retrospective during our visit to the Tate Modern in London this October. Unfortunately, because he is among the favourite contemporary artists for both my wife and myself. Well, here is the next best thing, a detailed article about Richter (throwing in Boulez for good measure) by T.J. Clark. A fascinating read, wholeheartedly recommended.

The Delineator March 1931

2011-12-12T04:24:00.000+01:00

The Delineator was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and their covers from the latter period were real art deco masterpieces.

The umbrellas

2011-12-11T03:50:00.002+01:00

A world famous artist who has not featured in my blog so far: impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841=1919). He is one of those artists who in theory should really fit my taste, but where in practice I am less convinced. This painting from 1883, which we saw in October in the National Gallery in London, is the first one by Renoir that I really love, in particular the various shades of blue. And it fits the late autumn/early winter weather we are currently having in Holland. More on Renoir in the wikipedia article linked to below.

Hummingbird essentials

2011-12-10T15:38:00.004+01:00

I faved this beauty four months ago - about time I shared it here then! A unique and brilliant shot by my Flickr friend sannesu. This is the best hummingbird photograph I have ever seen, and a prime example of the composition technique of chiaroscuro, extreme contrasts of light and dark.

All rights retained by the photographer.

Unusual concertos [14]: Dizi

2011-12-10T05:50:00.002+01:00

Before the purge of end 2008, one of the most popular topics of this blog was "Unusual concertos", classical concertos for all kinds of instruments and orchestra. I have decided to revive this, with samples of around 8 minutes of a selected concerto from my own collection to allow readers/listeners a glimpse of what it may sound like, aiming for less familiar composers in general. In its original incarnation, I came to 40 different concertante instruments - aiming for 50+ this time.

The fourteenth concerto deals with the dizi, the most common version of the Chinese bamboo flute. Undoubtedly, recent generations of Chinese classical music composers will have written concertos for this traditional instrument, but the only one I could find is by Guo Wenjing, titled Sorrowful Empty Mountain. Unfortunately, this concerto resides on my hard disk without any information on the CD it came from (probably one of a series of four issued in China on this composer), nor or the performers. Click the music note at the end to listen to the samples.

Edit: found some more information on this after posting. The performance is by Dai Ja on dizi with the China Broadcast Chinese Orchestra under Peng Jiapeng, recorded in 2006. It can be found on a Chinese double CD dedicated to this composer, entitled Listen to the Mountain - The Music of Guo Wenjing.

The intervention

2011-12-09T03:50:00.004+01:00

Today I am introducing a Health and Safety session on interventions at work, and when I was googling for suitable illustrations, I came across this gem of a movie poster, one of the best I have seen. This 2008 horror movie was directed by Shannon Hile, and the poster design is by The Robot Eye.

More on this movie in the IMDB article linked to below.

Bill Brandt

2011-12-08T04:02:00.011+01:00

Bill Brandt (1904 – 1983) was a well-known British photographer and photojournalist, whose high-contrast images of British society and distorted nudes and landscapes have an important place in the history of this art. As an example I picked his study of a cobbled lane in Halifax, taken in 1937, as an illustration of his style.

More on Brandt in the wikipedia article linked to below.