Is There Room in Your Heart?

I don't know it there's any room in your heart for awe. This video is a litmus test for you.   

Selling the Savior of the World

The Salvator Mundi.

"Discovering a new da Vinci is...like discovering a new planet," says Alistair Cooke.

Indeed it is. I have personally viewed two and a half of Leonardo's paintings, and The Gates Codex. They are, Ginevra de' Benci, in Washington DC, The Benois Madonna, and The Litta Madonna, in Russia. The latter is thought to be by a talented artist and student of da Vinci's. My own opinion is it lacks the requisite grace of a Leonardo. On the positive side, what I have seen of da Vinci's work convinces me that he was more than the Renaissance master of canonical proportions and style. He was truly an artist's artist. 

Going into what is a little bit of a soft market for art, the auction house Christie's expects a hundred million dollar sale of the painting of the world's most revered individual, by the world's most noted artist.

My previous posts on Leonardo da Vinci, which are a great reference source for art students: Spotlight on Leonardo.

Good Friday - 2013

The Last Supper

1495-98

Fresco

Milan, Italy

Leonardo da Vinci

link

Phil Keaggy

Shades of Green

Phil Keaggy

County Down

Master Artists Links

School is back in session, and many university students find their way to The Colorist.  Over the next few days I will highlight the links and pages here with content regarding master artists.

Leonardo da Vinci, 
1452-1519

Christ Figure 

@1495

Tags at The Colorist

Spotlight on Leonardo

Universal Leonardo

The Drawings
Leonardo da Vinci's Life
Wikipedia (recommended)

"Five centuries have passed, yet we still view Leonardo with awe."  Liana Bortolon.



The Colorist.

The Incredible Science of Art Restoration

VVV

Because new technologies are revealing tremendous things in the art world, I wanted to post this amazing video showing the slow revelation of Leonardo da Vinci's painting, Salvator Mundi, through the restoration process.


Re-posted below is a blog by The Colorist which is receiving some attention on the Interwebs.  

@@@

Salvator Mundi,  Leonardo da Vinci

o/p, 25 13/16" X 17 7/8 "

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Salvator Mundi, c. 1500 Oil on walnut panel, 25 13/16 X 17 7/8 inches (65.6 X 45.4 cm) (C) 2011 Salvator Mundi llc. (PRNewsFoto/Robert Simon, Tim Nighswander)

This post originally published May, 2011.

Although he has been safely dead for 492 years, Leonardo da Vinci continues to make headlines.  Arguably the greatest polymath ever, Leonardo is never uninteresting.

Is it possible that da Vinci painted an image titled Salvator Mundi, and that this has only now come to light?  News reports say that experts have re-attributed this painting to the master, whereas before it was said to have been created by one of da Vinci's students.  Incredibly, this would be only the fifteenth known painting by da Vinci that exists.  Unless, of course, somebody un-crates another one somewhere. 


Dan Brown!  Paging Mr. Dan Brown!


PR Web Press
Lairweb - best report.
h/t Vanderleun

The Colorist

Salvator Mundi

@@@

Salvator Mundi,  Leonardo da Vinci

o/p, 25 13/16" X 17 7/8 "

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Salvator Mundi, c. 1500 Oil on walnut panel, 25 13/16 X 17 7/8 inches (65.6 X 45.4 cm) (C) 2011 Salvator Mundi llc. (PRNewsFoto/Robert Simon, Tim Nighswander)

This post originally published May, 2011.

Although he has been safely dead for 492 years, Leonardo da Vinci continues to make headlines.  Arguably the greatest polymath ever, Leonardo is never uninteresting.

Is it possible that da Vinci painted an image titled Salvator Mundi, and that this has only now come to light?  News reports say that experts have re-attributed this painting to the master, whereas before it was said to have been created by one of da Vinci's students.  Incredibly, this would be only the fifteenth known painting by da Vinci that exists.  Unless, of course, somebody un-crates another one somewhere. 


Dan Brown!  Paging Mr. Dan Brown!


PR Web Press
Lairweb - best report.
h/t Vanderleun

The Colorist

Leonardo The News Hound

@@@

Salvator Mundi,  Leonardo da Vinci

o/p, 25 13/16" X 17 7/8 "

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Salvator Mundi, c. 1500 Oil on walnut panel, 25 13/16 X 17 7/8 inches (65.6 X 45.4 cm) (C) 2011 Salvator Mundi llc. (PRNewsFoto/Robert Simon, Tim Nighswander)

Although he has been safely dead for 492 years, Leonardo da Vinci continues to make headlines.  Arguably the greatest polymath ever, Leonardo is never uninteresting.

Is it possible that da Vinci painted an image titled Salvator Mundi, and that this has only now come to light?  News reports say that experts have re-attributed this painting to the master, whereas before it was said to have been created by one of da Vinci's students.  Incredibly, this would be only the fifteenth known painting by da Vinci that exists.  Unless, of course, somebody un-crates another one somewhere. 


Dan Brown!  Paging Mr. Dan Brown!


PR Web Press
Lairweb - best report.
h/t Vanderleun

The Colorist

Update - Update

You are owed another update of my studio activities. First, pour yourself a cup of coffee.



The studio is a buzz with framing for my upcoming show in California, the Sausalito Art Festival. I'm a little unsure of the number, but I may have around 35 - 40 originals for my upcoming exhibitions.



Have another cup? Dark roast, I hope. For some unknown reason my statistics at The Colorist have gone ballistic. Almost quadrupled on the best days. Much of this uptick is hits to this page. I cannot figure it out.

Other recent posts include 100 Things I Love About Art, and When Bloggers Meet.



Daily posting of miniature pastels, as well as an occasional medium sized work, is now going on at The Colorist Daily. This is the time to buy a small work under $100.



My search for gallery space and exhibitions may be yielding some fruit soon. I'll keep you posted when dates are firmed up. The Hoquiam River exhibition is penciled in for September 2011.



On the easels, I am developing my voice as a figure artist by studying the masters. Da Vinci and Degas are my current muses. I often post those at Pastel, but you may see some here, soon.

Two books I am reading are: Master Class in Figure Drawing and Degas, By Himself. Hale's classic instruction in Master Class has me drawing various parts of anatomy an area at a time. I am learning more stuff about the rib cage than I ever thought existed. My Nurse Practitioner wife brought home a medical anatomy book as reference material, too.




I continue to thrill at the works of Edgar Degas. His familiarity with proportion and anatomy are only the beginning. I never realized how much he departs from the real before. All because his gestures, forms and movement are so believable. The book - mine is published by Barnes & Noble Books - is richly illustrated, has a woven binding and nice, heavyweight paper. Lovely.

Edgar Degas
Dancer

Finally, in the subject of figures, our blogger friend Astrid Volquardsen, has posted one of her recent figure paintings: Eva in the Bath. Well worth your look.

Leonardo da Vinci Researcher

La Giocanda, AKA the Mona Lisa, 1503-6

O/P
Leonardo da Vinci

Consider this link, including my own information, and heavily relying on Charley Parker's collection of links, as your start to researching Leonardo da Vinci.
Endure the links, and you will be rewarded with a wealth of LdV information.

Spotlight on Leonardo

Casa da Vinci
Birthplace of the man.

My posts on da Vinci.

Our heroic artist and definitive Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, was born April 15th, 1452, in Vinci by Florence, Tuscany. His hometown is a hilltop one, situated originally with a castle and the wall that follows the hill contours - a classic Italian style.

I fancy the little hamlet that da Vinci was born in, because it is at the end of the road (I think). A small and unassuming (well, unassuming other than the fact that they changed their name to "Vinci") comune in the Apennines that is like so many others that I visited two years ago in Northern Italy. It is quite near Pisa and Pistoia. 

Charley Parker has probably the best set of da Vinci links, but don't miss his interesting reverse image of the Mona Lisa and a captivating story of his own encounter with the image. 

I had the pleasure of viewing the Codex Leicester by da Vinci in Seattle, after Bill Gates purchased it. If you so desire, the download prompt for his collection of notebooks (free e-book) can be found at this page.

For your pleasure, here is a very nice, thrifty Chianti with legs: Cantine Leonardo da Vinci. Are you looking to be a great artist? Put on your list of "must haves" a wine label of your own.

Universal Leonardo dot Org.

Wiki Warning

Since many of us art bloggers utilize Wikipedia for our references, I thought this article would provide fair warning. The Scotsman article doesn't provide a casual link between the falling test scores of students, and the Wikipedia usage of the students, but the link seems plausible. Maybe reporters aren't what they used to be either, eh?

Catherine C. Marshall has this well written defense of the Wikipedia concept versus the dust collector style of old school encyclopedias. Some parents won't let their little redheaded girls wear red dresses. Her parents wouldn't let her use encyclopedias at the library. She reminds us to go to primary sources - you'll be the better for it.

One of the tests that I place on my own Wikipedia research is to avoid factual statements based on a Wikipedia article. I get other resources involved. Usually the beginning of further research is found in the links section at the bottom of Wiki articles.

Can you tell by the way an article in Wikipedia is written whether it bears value or not? I am more impressed with articles written with thorough content (more data) and with attributions. As a matter of fact, a grammatically well written article , with interesting content, tends to get my seal of approval.

Does the gist of the Wikipedia article agree with other articles about the subject, both in factual content and in opinion? That can reveal a big red flag if the Wikipedia is too far from the norm of broader scholarship.

Take this article on Picasso, for instance. What I notice is that it uses many links, and that the sections are very brief. Links are not attributions. The overall article is longish, but I'm not sure that I'm getting anything really meaty. Maybe it provides a starting point for those who know absolute zero about the 20th century master, but I'd be quick to find other sources here.

Now, compare the article on Leonardo da Vinci. Granted, da Vinci is the subject of more scholarship by virtue of the times he lived in and the fact that his work is a half a millenium old, rather than a half a century for Picasso. But, the point is the da Vinci article does a thorough job of covering many facets of the great master's life. After the biography comes painting, then non-painting legacy, and then it reflects upon his legendary status. Included is a list of paintings, a worthy list of footnotes and a bibliography and links round it out. There is even a pronunciation .ogg file for his name offered at the top. Looks like they missed this really nice link, though: universalleonardo.org.

Do use references in your art studies, but keep it accurate to the best of your abilities. The blogger world is reading.

Atelier Update

Virgin and Child with the Infant John the Baptist and Saint Anne
1499-1500
Dry Media on Paper

Leonardo da Vinci

Artistic growth is a lifetime process. I recently reviewed Classic Drawing Atelier, A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice, 2006, by Juliette Aristides of Seattle. Jen Graves, also in Seattle, has written a savvy article about the atelier, it's larger Academy of Realist Art context and the place of classicism in our contemporary art environment.

Carriera, The Proto-Pastellist

Rosalba Carriera
Self Portrait with The Artist's Sister, 1715

Image courtesy of the

Metropolitan Museum

Rosalba Carriera (1675 - 1757), a lifelong Venetian, became a sought-after portraitist and was the world's first "pastellist".

The actual paste formed from dry pigment and water, and then dried is considered pastel (almost always with binder added to some degree or another). The first mention of this medium was by Leonardo da Vinci in 1495. Some artists used the medium thereafter, such as Quentin de La Tour, but Carriera popularized pastel works in the eighteenth century, and established a large corpus of such.

*Not incidentally, the blessed Scots also invented Whiskey in about the same year.