What is Baroque: what it means, when it was born, who the artists are

Sunday July 23rd, 2023 , Schools & Periods

The Italian 17th century is marked by the explosion of the Baroque, an art that exalts the theatricality of forms and the artificiality of the work that deceives the eye of the beholder with surprising inventions.
The Baroque challenges what had been the principles of the Renaissance, namely balance and measure. It was a complete renewal of art involving both painting and sculpture but also architecture, changing the face of large cities such as Rome.

Here, and I invite you to discover the true meaning of the Baroque and the artists who were the protagonists of this phenomenal season.

What is Baroque: what it means, when it was born, who the artists are

The Fauves’ colour revolution: who they are and their origins

Friday July 14th, 2023 , Schools & Periods

André Derain, Le phare de Collioure, Autre titre : L’église de Collioure. Paris Musées / Musée d’Art moderne de Paris
© 2023, ProLitteris, Zurich

The Fauves are revolutionaries of colour. They are the pioneers who revolutionised 20th century art. They are the ones who radically transformed the traditional conception of colour and form.
The Fauves include great 20th century artists such as Matisse and Derain, absolute masters but also rebels who subverted academic conventions and embraced the bold and pure use of colour.

In this post I take you on a discovery of the vibrant brushstrokes and bold colour contrasts of the Fauves. I present some of the extraordinary works they created and scandalised, expressing intense emotions and visual sensations. An adventurous journey into Fauve art awaits you, where colour reigns supreme and artistic freedom is expressed in all its magnificence.

The Fauves’ colour revolution: who they are and their origins

Surrealism as an artistic movement: characteristics

Wednesday April 5th, 2023 , Schools & Periods

Salvador Dalí, Couple aux têtes pleines de nuages. 1936. Olio su tavola. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Purchase with the support of the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Foundation, the Rembrandt Association, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Erasmusstichting and Stichting Bevordering van Volkskracht. Credit line photographer: Jannes Linders
© Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalì Foundation by SIAE 2023

Surrealism as an artistic movement is fundamentally dream and irrationality.
To describe its characteristics is to delve into a territory where reason is lost in the meanders of what is not rational, generating unexplored worlds.

These are the characteristics of Surrealism.

The revolution of Impressionism: experiments and successes

Thursday February 23rd, 2023 , Schools & Periods

CLAUDE MONET, Vue de Londres dans le brouillard "La Tamise". Tecnica mista su carta. 21x28 cm . 1903. Collezione privata

CLAUDE MONET, Vue de Londres dans le brouillard “La Tamise”. Tecnica mista su carta. 21×28 cm . 1903. Collezione privata

THE REVOLUTION OF IMPRESSIONISM: EXPERIMENTS AND SUCCESSES

When, in April 1874, a small group of artists organised an exhibition at the studio of the photographer Nadar in the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris, they did not think they were at the beginning of an artistic revolution. It was the debut of a group of young artists who were about to create an unprecedented artistic phenomenon.

The curator of the Impressionists between dream and colour exhibition, Vincenzo Sanfo, explained well what the Impressionist revolution consisted of and emphasised how from the dismay and horror with which the first works were greeted, we moved on to …

The Impressionism Revolution

Flemish painting and the conquest of reality

Monday July 11th, 2022 , Schools & Periods

FLEMISH PAINTING AND THE CONQUEST OF REALITY

There is a moment in the history of art when something extraordinary happens.
It is that moment when we pass from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, that phase in which Flemish painting begins to describe reality.

When did this epochal transition occur? Who was the first to realise that art should not only describe the sacred, but could show the real world?
The answers to these questions can be found in this post written by Adele Pelazza.

the conquest of reality