Tag Archives: Art

If colour is the keyboard – Kandinsky can-do

Wassily Kandinsky was born in Moscow, the son of a tea merchant, on 16th December, in 1866 and died 69 years ago, on the 13th of December in 1944.  He became an influential Russian artist after spending his childhood in … Continue reading

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This is ‘Alec Speaking’…on behalf of John Lennon

8th December is the anniversary of John Lennon’s untimely death.  It was around 10:50 pm on the 8th December 1980, as John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono entered the building to their apartment in the Dakota Mansions of New York, that Mark David Chapman shot … Continue reading

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There is ‘Still Life’ in Karlis Mednis

Karlis Mednis is not so well known in the international art arena, but I find his work vibrant and energetic. Karlis was born in Russia in 1910, and studied at the Latvian Riga School of Art, before he emigrated to Australia … Continue reading

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What a cracker Hacker

Arthur Hacker was an English classicist painter. Born in London on 25th September in 1858, the son of Edward Hacker, a line engraver specialising in animal and sporting prints (and official Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages for Kentish Town, St. … Continue reading

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Compare the Pair #7 – a Degas-station of art

I declare this post a “Degas-station of art” as it includes a copy and a pastiche of one of Edgar Degas’ favorite ballet pastels,  L’etoile. I base this term “Degas-station” on the similarity between the sound and description of a … Continue reading

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Time for a cuppa – Billy Boy

The Billy Boy (1943), oil on cardboard & hardboard 70.2 x 53.4cm was painted by Australian artist Sir William Dobell (OBE).  Dobell, was born on 24th September 1899,  in a suburb of the New South Wales city of Newcastle.  In … Continue reading

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Keeping it all in the family

Sometimes you just have to call on family members to help you out. In this case, prominent Australian artist Tom Roberts called upon family members to sit for some of his greatest works. Incidentally, Tom the artist was also a … Continue reading

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There’s Something About Mary…

“That’s the Style, Mary” (2011), is the name of this large wall painting by Tim McMonagle. I was temporarily dumb-struck when I saw this some month’s back within the Holmesglen Contemporary  Australian Art Exhibition. This piece was away from the … Continue reading

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Titian by name & Titian by colour

There’s a certain reddish hair-color known as Titian and when I look at this painting and the color of the sitter’s hair, it dawned on me, is the name of the hair color named after the artist Titian? This portrait’s … Continue reading

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“I think he’s having a laugh”

The Laughing Cavalier, previously known as The Cavalier, is a famous painting at The Wallace Collection in London. It was painted by Dutch “Golden Age Painter” Frans Hals back in 1624 (a mere 388 years ago). In fact, Hals, died … Continue reading

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Feeling a bit shattered?

Here we have a theme of a broken pane of glass. The first is a shattered glass pane of a window in a building. When I first looked at it, I barely thought of it as anything other than a … Continue reading

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The Kinks vs the Honorable Mrs. Graham

Believe it or not, but it was 225 years ago that 65 year-old English portrait and landscape artist, Sir Thomas Gainsborough died, on 2nd August, 1788.  As the youngest son of a Suffolk weaver, John Gainsborough, Thomas  was Christened on … Continue reading

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O mistress mine where art thou roaming?

O Mistress Mine  (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool) is influenced by Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Act II, Scene III, where Duke Orsino’s invocation to music and love begins. “O Mistress Mine where art thou roaming?” as sung by what can be termed … Continue reading

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A stranger knocking at the door…how would you cope?

This 1844 picture comes from the Victoria & Albert Museum – entitled “Palpitation.”  My interpretation is that the young woman’s heart is all a flutter; due to the kerfuffle happening on the other side of the door.   I reckon … Continue reading

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Hopper birthday to you

Edward Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was a prominent American realist painter and print-maker. His stark renderings reflected modern American life in his oils, watercolours, print-making and etchings. Hopper was born in upper Nyack, New York, and … Continue reading

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