And now a bit of High Art to make your Friday a little more fabulous.
Herewith, the perfect marriage of brilliant creativity and... umm, office supplies. I suppose I should come clean about my little problem with office supplies. Office supplies make me a wee bit giddy, to tell you the truth. So the spectacle of performance art with office supplies... ah, well... it verges on more joy than my mortal frame can bear.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
September 24, 2009
January 6, 2008
Matthew: Inspiration and Flight
q. shenaynay
The passages in Matthew from this past week's readings have brought to mind two paintings that I particularly admire...
[click to enlarge]
The Inspiration of St. Matthew by Caravaggio, 1602; oil on canvas; 292×186 cm; San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.
Ah, the rhythm of the fabrics, the amazing color of Matthew's garment, which glows like fiery embers about to set the world on fire -- and how fitting. I always imagine that the angel is breathlessly telling Matthew, "Oh,yes! I was there! With the heavenly host in the sky that night! There were thousands of us singing, "Glory to God in the highest!"
I look at that quill in Matthew's hand and wonder what it was like to pick up a writing instrument and be divinely inspired. Wow. Wow.
And this one really does something to me:
Rest on the Flight Into Egypt by Luc-Olivier Merson, 1879; oil on canvas; Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Countless artists have depicted the flight of Mary, Joseph and the Christ child into Egypt; you can peruse about a hundred examples here. But I've always had a special affection for this one. Somehow it captures the desolation -- the utter alone-ness -- that young Mary and Joseph faced in fleeing from a powerful, wicked king who was willing to kill all the babes in his kingdom just to ensure the death of their own sweet Child. How horrifying... and yet it really happened.
The image of Joseph sleeping on the cold ground just tears me up, always has. It reminds me to try to appreciate Joseph, to ponder all he gave up for the sake of a child not his own, but to whom he fully belonged... the only man who ever had to grapple with the conundrum of how to be the child of your own child. Beautiful. Confoundingly so.
And what a metaphor Merson created with the warm, living light of the Christ child lighting up that old, dark, cold, dead, mute and blind stone god of the Egyptians.
The passages in Matthew from this past week's readings have brought to mind two paintings that I particularly admire...
[click to enlarge]
The Inspiration of St. Matthew by Caravaggio, 1602; oil on canvas; 292×186 cm; San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome.
Ah, the rhythm of the fabrics, the amazing color of Matthew's garment, which glows like fiery embers about to set the world on fire -- and how fitting. I always imagine that the angel is breathlessly telling Matthew, "Oh,yes! I was there! With the heavenly host in the sky that night! There were thousands of us singing, "Glory to God in the highest!"
I look at that quill in Matthew's hand and wonder what it was like to pick up a writing instrument and be divinely inspired. Wow. Wow.
And this one really does something to me:
Rest on the Flight Into Egypt by Luc-Olivier Merson, 1879; oil on canvas; Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Countless artists have depicted the flight of Mary, Joseph and the Christ child into Egypt; you can peruse about a hundred examples here. But I've always had a special affection for this one. Somehow it captures the desolation -- the utter alone-ness -- that young Mary and Joseph faced in fleeing from a powerful, wicked king who was willing to kill all the babes in his kingdom just to ensure the death of their own sweet Child. How horrifying... and yet it really happened.
The image of Joseph sleeping on the cold ground just tears me up, always has. It reminds me to try to appreciate Joseph, to ponder all he gave up for the sake of a child not his own, but to whom he fully belonged... the only man who ever had to grapple with the conundrum of how to be the child of your own child. Beautiful. Confoundingly so.
And what a metaphor Merson created with the warm, living light of the Christ child lighting up that old, dark, cold, dead, mute and blind stone god of the Egyptians.
January 31, 2007
'A Most Ingenious Paradox!'
fa-so-la-la
Haha! I've caught Picasso in a rather interesting worldview anomaly! Not exactly a life goal of mine to be sure, but still, pleasing, in a quiet way.
So you can all picture Your Typical Picasso, right? Here's one for you...
Haha! I've caught Picasso in a rather interesting worldview anomaly! Not exactly a life goal of mine to be sure, but still, pleasing, in a quiet way.
So you can all picture Your Typical Picasso, right? Here's one for you...
Ok, so with that in mind, look at these two portraits, one of his first wife, the other of a later mistress:
Beautiful, aren't they? Looks like the old blighter couldn't quite keep up all that fragmentation etc. when his heart was in it. Rathah revealing, don't you know.
December 21, 2006
Life of Christ, part II
fa-so-la-la
Washing the disciples' feet
Jesus is arrested
Carrying the cross
Christ crucified
The women at the tomb
Christ disappears
Washing the disciples' feet
Jesus is arrested
Carrying the cross
Christ crucified
The women at the tomb
Christ disappears December 13, 2006
Rembrandt's Life of Christ, part I
fa-so-la-la
Rembrandt often painted Biblical subjects, including many scenes from Christ's life. The paintings are of course magnificent, but I also love the pen-and-ink and pencil sketches he drew, some just for fun, others later turned into paintings. Here are a few of my favorites.
The angel appears to the shepards
Mary and Jesus
Christ heals the blind man
Christ and the fishermen
Jairus' daughter
Jesus and the Caananite woman
Mary and Martha
Peter tries to walk on water
Rembrandt often painted Biblical subjects, including many scenes from Christ's life. The paintings are of course magnificent, but I also love the pen-and-ink and pencil sketches he drew, some just for fun, others later turned into paintings. Here are a few of my favorites.
The angel appears to the shepards
Mary and Jesus
Christ heals the blind man
Christ and the fishermen
Jairus' daughter
Jesus and the Caananite woman
Mary and Martha
Peter tries to walk on water
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