Western Archive

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The Kiss is Gustav Klimt’s most famous painting from his whole career and also from his ‘golden period’ during which he used real gold and silver leaf in his paintings. The artist’s recent sensual works before The Kiss acquired him the title of enfant terrible, meaning the terrible child. A term used for the geniuses who have the unorthodox views towards the conventional wisdom. The Kiss isn’t especially sensual. Instead, it was well reviewed by the viewers and gained the artist some more reputation during his golden time. Though for his other scrutinized works he famously quoted, “If you can not please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few”. The painting represents a couple busy in romantic apogee of sensual pleasure. The man in the long robe is […]

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Austrian, Couple, Expensive, Famous, Garden, Gold, gold leaf, Kiss, Kissing, Man, Romance, Woman

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Issac Van Amburgh is a name less celebrated today, but he was God for many during the 1800s. The man died aged about 65, and left a legacy that I will definitely remember when I see the next freak playing with a leopard or crocodile on National Geographic. Animal trainer and knighthood recipient, Van Amburgh was one of the most popular animals man in his day. He is also responsible for introducing lions, panthers, tigers and the lot to circus. Such was the prowess of his training abilities. The painting depicts an occasion when he surprised everybody by entering a cage with a lion, a tiger, two leopards, a bear and a lamb! Legend has it that he also faced a panther on a similar […]

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Animals, Man

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If you remember newspaper and billboard advertisements of good-looking accessories such as handcrafted collectibles, you will know how affluent senses can be tickled in a still life painting or a close up. It is not easy for painters, as tickling of the senses requires perfection and style, which are relatively easier to achieve by camera in a studio. However, for Frans Ykens, the lights had to be replaced with brush strokes and intelligent color play, while he himself played the camera. The combination of items you see in the painting signify an auspicious occasion. However, it could also part of the daily arrangements for a very wealthy woman. The owner of these items is surely a female because men who love bingeing, would rarely chance […]

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Beautiful, beer, Belgian, Flemish, Flemish Baroque, Flower, Lemon, Pie, Spoon, Vase, Wine

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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The showcased piece of art is from the Belgian Surrealist artist René Magritte. It was painted in 1964. It showcases a simple depiction of a person standing. In background is visible sea, cloudy sky and a low, brick wall. The person has worn an overcoat, with red tie and a bowler hat. Thus the whole composition doesn’t include any fancy stuff. Though, the apparent catch is in the face where right in front of the character’s face is a green apple. As intriguing and unforgivable impact the painting makes on a general audience, the philosophy behind such unique arrangement is also equally interesting. The Son of Man philosophy and Analysis Although, most of the artists do not answer in clear way about the motif of the their […]

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Belgian, Bowler hat, Famous, Hat, Man, Man in Suit, Man with Hat, Sea, Surrealist

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Peasants are dining while the light in the painting backdrop suggests it is twilight. Valentin de Zubiaurre’s painting has become the hallmark of rural wellbeing, especially with the issues of nutrition in villages across the world today. For me, the painting signifies much to do with world food exchanges through governments. Besides, the rice farming fields had stayed much in dispute over colonists and natives in 19th Century Spain. For the painter born in 1879, such a history definitely spelled inspiration. One can gather a lot about history from Zubiaurre’s works. Spanish rebellion during the 1800s etched local culture with stories of rice fights and self-dependent farming, and the painter saw almost nothing nobler than his rural subject in a period that just followed. Valentin de […]

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Peasant

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A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte is a fine example of Georges Seurat’s pointillism. Painting took him two years to complete and during the first year he didn’t included the pointillism in the art work. He made the painting on the island of La Grande Jatte near Paris. Pointillism The painting is depicted in the style of pointillism which was called divisionism at the time of the execution. It is an assemblage of small dots and very small brush-strokes to create a full picture. If looked from a certain distant it creates a perfect picture. Though, at a closer look it seems to be just the collection colorful dots. Even the faces which seems to be having nose, eyes and lips […]

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Afternoon, Beautiful, Dog, Famous, Fishing, French, Garden, Island, Monkey, Pet, Pointillist, Post-impressionist, River, Umbrella

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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Athens is the largest city in Greece and has been respected as one of the important cities in the Greek history. It was epicenter of arts and philosophy in Greece and thus many big minds had gathered in the city time to time. Big philosophers like Plato and his student Aristotle were active in the city in their times. Athens has been the pivotal point in the Greek history and has seen the presence of the greatest minds of the country. Here, Raphael has smartly included all the big figures from the Greek history in a “school” which could represent the Greece’s history, Greece or the city of Athens where these great minds came across at least for once in their lifetime. Convergence of Great […]

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Alexander the Great, Apollo, Athena, Famous, God, Goddess, Greek, Italian, Italian Renaissance, Mathematician, Philosopher, Renaissance, Roman

(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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The Birth of Venus is equally famous work of Sandro Botticelli with Primavera. It simply depicts the moment of the birth of the love-goddess Venus in renaissance era style. It holds a much lesser approach of the renaissance era’s masculine and somewhat three-dimensional depictions. The painting seems more linear and flat in comparison to the other famous works from the same era. In Roman mythology Venus (Aphrodite in Greek mythology) is the goddess of divine love, sex, beauty, seduction and all the persuasive feminine aspects. She symbolizes the intellectual and physical love, attractions. Sometimes she is referred as the heavenly goddess of intellectual love and at many places she is said to be the earthly goddess of physical love or sex. Myth of Birth of […]

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Angel, Birth, Contrapposto, Famous, Flower, Goddess, Greek Mythology, Nude Lady, Nymph, Roman Mythology, Sea, Sea Shore, Seashells, Venus

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Unlike the title sounds, to me there seems to be a lot of family value attached to this painting. George Hartley lived and thrived amidst 19th Century art, allowing his growth to remain unhindered as an aspiring artist. He has earned much name as a painter of real life situations and more importantly, as a realist. Party Animals is not just about partying, as we would think today. It is a rich ensemble of cultural celebration, personal ties and happy or affluent times. Hartley drew inspiration not only from realism in history, but also the fine sculptures, classical perfection and the romantics. However, Hartley is quite popular as the realist who uses shades of grey in a self-realization way. He is hardly the artist you […]

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American, Animal, Beautiful, Butterfly, Fruit, Grapes, Leaf, Party, Photo, Realist, Squirrel

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Ramon de Zubiaurre lived through a period marred by two wars, the sinister advent of global credit systems and ideologies that required the breaking of families. However, the two world wars in de Zeubiaurre’s lifetime are telling enough about what moods his paintings would evoke. Although it is not sorrow that flows out of it, you can see a depiction of negative social changes in all his works – even if he did not paint a perfectly-normal-looking-mother-daughter portrait, in which the mother’s cigarette and plunging neckline would evoke questions. While today we see strong advices against tobacco smoking, it was no different, at least for women, it times that preceded Ramon de Zubiaurre’s career. The painter died in 1969, before which he saw a change […]

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Daughter, Double Portrait, Half Length Portrait, Mother, Motherhood, Spanish, Spanish Woman