Artsy Swag » artwork

Dark and twisted art of Michel Valentino

sanela — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:00:05 +0000

German photographer Michel Valentino is presenting us this excellent collection of a bit dark and twisted, but still very moving and expressive photos. The most important thing at this work is creativity and here’s what he himself says about it:

“Creativity is the basis of self-expression. Why are some people supposedly more creative than others, and why can’t others open themselves up enough to be able to express who they are?

Creation is the birth of something, and something cannot come from nothing. When someone creates something: a painting, a poem, a photograph, the creativity comes from an idea, from a feeling, from emotion, or from a combination of ideas, feelings and emotions that are somehow ‘reborn’ from all our experiences and perspectives.

Creativity is the desire to express ourselves. To formulate these expressions, we have to draw from our reservoir of experience, dreams, desires and experimentation and mix together what was, what is, and what could be… I don’t think you can learn it, it is rather something that evolves. Your perception of everything in your life fills up this reservoir.

Some people are drawn to create and express themselves, others are drawn to reflect, to analyze. But in the end, they all could be creative if they had the desire to explore the way in which they are integrated in the world of their experiences. Because creativity is really a rebirth, a true tone we feel for ourselves and for our world. Then our work becomes a real part of who we are. Maybe all this is a question of how deep we are willing to go…”

Also, here you can see some photography that has been taken during the shows and performances and they are called stage & set photography. These photos below are from a play “Marquis de Sade”. They are pretty vivid and picturesque.

Beautiful subway artwork

sanela — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 09:00:14 +0000

These beautiful paintings in the subway are work of unknown artist unfortunately, but nevertheless they are amazing and they make the subway look much nicer, cleaner and friendlier. It would be great if all public transportation vehicles could be decorated this or any other way.

Wonderful art by Odwin Rensen

sanela — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 11:16:25 +0000

Have a look at these great pieces of art made by Odwin Rensen. His work is really amazing and realistic. Odwin is mostly painting figurative oil paintings, and his models are celebrities, people from everyday life and children and even animals.

Amazing oil paintings

sanela — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:50:57 +0000

The amazing oil paintings in these photos are the work of Paul Robert and they really show off his incredible artistic talent. He takes everyday life scenes and turns them into pieces of art. His work is fulled with supple details and that is what makes his paintings look so realistic at the end. Enjoy!

The most expensive paintings

sanela — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 09:17:04 +0000

This is a list of the highest known prices paid for paintings. Since that time sales of the most valuable paintings have usually been made at auctions, though that had by no means always been the case before, and the list below still shows some “private sales”, including the three most expensive. The current record price was paid for a work from No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock sold at US$140 million in 2006, (approx. $150.6 million in CPI-adjusted 2010 US dollars)

1. No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock - $150.6 million

The world’s most famous paintings, especially old master works done before 1800, are generally owned by museums, which very rarely sell them, and as such, they are quite literally priceless. Guinness World Records lists the Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting in history. It was assessed at US$100 million on December 14, 1962, before the painting toured the United States for several months.

2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning - $147.9 million

However, the Louvre chose to spend the money that would have been spent on the insurance premium on security instead. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be approximately US$713 million in 2010. The earliest sale on the list (Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers by Vincent van Gogh) is from 1987, and more than trebled the previous record price, set only two years before, introducing a new era in top picture prices.

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt - $144.2 million

The sale was also significant in that for the first time a “modern” painting (in this case from 1888) became the record holder, as opposed to the old master paintings which had always previously held it. Currently there are only three old master paintings on the list below: namely Portrait of a Halberdier by Pontormo sold at US$35.2 million in 1989, Diana and Actaeon by Titian privately sold at £50 million (US$70.6 million) in 2009 and Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens sold at £49.5 million (US$76.7 million) in 2002. Before the March 1987 sale of Van Gogh’s Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers for $39.7 million ($76.6 million in 2010 dollars), the highest absolute price paid for a painting was $10.45 million ($21.2 million in 2010 dollars) paid by the J. Paul Getty Museum for Mantegna’s Adoration of the Magi at Christie’s in London on April 18, 1985.

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh - $138.4 million

In constant dollars, the highest price paid before 1987 was by the National Gallery of Art when in February 1967 they acquired Leonardo da Vinci’s Ginevra de’ Benci for around $5 million ($33 million in 2010 dollars) from the Princely Family of Liechtenstein.

5. Bal du moulin de la Galette by Pierre-Auguste Renoir - $131 million

This list is ordered by consumer price index inflation-adjusted value (in bold) in millions of January 2010 United States dollars. Where necessary, the price is first converted to dollars using the exchange rate at the time the painting was sold. The inflation adjustment may change as recent inflation rates are often revised. A list in another currency may be in a slightly different order due to exchange rate fluctuations. Paintings are only listed once, i.e. for the highest price sold.

6. Garçon à la pipe by Pablo Picasso - $119 million

7. Portrait of Joseph Roulin by Vincent van Gogh - $100.9++ million

8. Dora Maar au Chat by Pablo Picasso - $101.9 million

9. Irises by Vincent van Gogh - $101.2 million

10. Eight Elvises by Andy Warhol - $100.1 million

11. Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh - $94.5 million

12. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt - $94.5 million

13. Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens - $92.3 million

14. Triptych, 1976 by Francis Bacon - $86.3 million

15. False Start by Jasper Johns - $85.9 million

16. A Wheatfield with Cypresses by Vincent van Gogh - $85.7 million

17. Les Noces de Pierrette by Pablo Picasso - $84.9 million

18. Yo, Picasso by Pablo Picasso - $83.8 million

19. Turquoise Marilyn by Andy Warhol - $83.4 million

20. Le Bassin aux Nymphéas by Claude Monet - $79.8 million

source

Magical realism photography

sanela — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:57:15 +0000

Magic realism, or magical realism, is an artistic genre in which magical elements or illogical scenarios appear in an otherwise realistic or even “normal” settings. It has been widely used in relation to literature, art, and film.
As used today the term is broadly descriptive rather than critically rigorous: Matthew Strecher has defined magic realism as “what happens when a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something ‘too strange to believe’.” The term was initially used by German art critic Franz Roh to describe painting which demonstrated an altered reality, but was later used by the Venezuelan Arturo Uslar-Pietri to describe the work of certain Latin American writers. Today, there are many writers whose work falls in the category of magical realism.

The most important thing while dealing with this kind of artwork is to try and erase the line that stands as a border between reality and fantasy. This is the so called second reality that lives in our inner beings and the point is to tray and set it free. Without thinking about that the artist gives expression to a reality he observes in the people. But as Mexican critic Luis Leal has said: “If you can explain it, then it’s not magical realism.”