Baroque art: the artists of the Baroque period

Monday May 15th, 2017 , Schools & Periods

BAROQUE ART: THE ARTISTS OF THE BAROQUE PERIOD

When I admire a Baroque masterpiece I always situate the artists of that period in the world of cinema. A far as I’m concerned, the artists of Baroque art would have been directors of films with spectacular special effects.
When I see an artwork I often imagine that the artist who created it today might be an artist like Damien Hirst or an architect and designer like Zaha Hadid or someone else.

Toward the end of the 16^th century in Italy, a generation of artists who created works which developed a new style, was born: Baroque art.
In the hands of the Church and European kingdoms art became a powerful propaganda and persuasion tool, capable of astonishing, but also of transmitting religious dogmas after the Protestant Reformation.
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Still life Caravaggio: Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit

Monday April 3rd, 2017 , Artists and Works, Schools & Periods

Image source: ArteWorld.it

STILL LIFE: CARAVAGGIO AND THE BASKET OF FRUIT

Still life Caravaggio. Caravaggio’s Basket of Fruit is considered to be the first Italian still-life painting, a pictorial genre which already existed and had a long tradition behind, and whose undisputed masters were the Flemish painters.
In Italy the use of still life was only a decorative addition, but thanks to Caravaggio at last it became an independent subject.

Caravaggio with his Basket of Fruit gave still life new dignity, by putting it on the same level as figurative painting.
Caravaggio didn’t search for aesthetically pleasing representations, but he searched for reality, because to him painting meant to accept life as it is, without decorations and with all its imperfections.

Cityscape painting

Thursday March 23rd, 2017 , Schools & Periods

Il Campo di Rialto, Canaletto. Image source: Wikipedia.it

CITYSCAPE PAINTING

One of the most fascinating events in the European painting is the birth and development of Vedutismo (cityscape painting) in the 18^th century, of which the Venetian painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto, was the main proponent.

His vedute (views) of Venice and London, as well were sought-after mainly by Anglo-Saxon collectors, who loved urban landscapes, and found in Canaletto’s works detailed and realistic images of what they could see and live in the 18^th-century cities.

READ ALSO: Things to see in Venice.

Renaissance artist’s workshop

Thursday March 9th, 2017 , Schools & Periods

Image source: https://sagitta55.blogspot.it

RENAISSANCE ARTIST’S WORKSHOP

When you look at a masterpiece, you admire not only the work of a great artist but also the training received by those who came before him.
That happens if you look at The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, but also at one of the several works by Titian.
These are artists who, since they were children, attended artists’ workshops and learnt the tricks of the trade.

How did they transmit knowledge and techniques from a generation to another in the Renaissance?
I’ll explain in this post.

Art Deco: a lifestyle

Thursday March 2nd, 2017 , Schools & Periods

Gio Ponti, La casa degli Efebi, 1924-1925, Richard-Ginori.

ART DECO: A LIFESTYLE CALLED DECO

Art Deco exploded as a style which characterized a specific period of time, the 1920s.
It’s not an artistic movement, but a lifestyle, capable of influencing all the aspects of the existence, from clothes to home accessories, from ceramic plates to shapes of motorcars, from furnishings to jewellery.