Half Length Portrait Archive
In Islamic culture, there is a concept of Iman. It consist the 6 basic elements. Those elements believe in god, angels, prophets, religious books, Day of Judgment and the ultimate fate pre-decided by God. Anyone who believes and follows these elements is having the Iman. Greatly influenced by Islamic culture while he was living in Islamic country Istanbul, he came to know more about the religion. This knowledge and influence reflects in some of his works. This is an oil-on-canvas portrait of an Imam – Islamic leader and the provider of religious guidance. He seems immersed in the thoughts of godhead. Looking at his half-opened mouth, we can say he is chanting some religious hymns. The raised hand in blessing pose is showing his spiritual […]
Mona Lisa has been described as the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world. The prominent reasons for its fame varies from its well-known renaissance creator Leonardo da Vinci, his then-new technique called Sfumato developed by the same artist and the most prominent reason of all being the mystery of depicted woman’s smile. Who Painted Mona Lisa Renowned as a genius in the world, who made many unbelievable inventions, Leonardo da Vinci painted Mona Lisa using his self-invented Sfumato technique, one of the four canonical painting modes of the renaissance. His other known creations are The Last Supper (a Fresco), Vitruvian Man (a drawing) and Virgin of the Rocks. Know more about him here. Mona […]
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 […]
Two simple American faces, one staring at us and another staring away blankly. A pitchfork in the man’s hand and an American Gothic house in the background. These simple things have made the picture so popular that it has appeared in almost all kind of media in modern times. From the Simpsons to The Rocky Horror Picture Show and from the every magazine (such as Time) to big movies, the painting has appeared, parodied, copied numerous times. Today it enjoys the similar popularity gained by other iconic paintings like The Scream by Edvard Munch and Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. The gloomy faces of the couple may have indicated them as being a couple in their old times and having not-so-well life. But, an […]
Lady with an Ermine is one of the four ladies painted by Leonardo, other three being Mona Lisa, La belle ferronnière and Ginevra de’ Benci. The Lady with an Ermine has segments of Pentimento as by radiography. A window has been detected on the upper right side, which was deleted later on by the artist. The painting consist some work called “Moti Mentali” meaning mental emotions. The term was mostly referred to Leonardo’s work and means the artist’s ability to depict the real mental thoughts, emotions and disposition of the subject on his/her face. That’s the painting has been described as “signaling a breakthrough in the art of psychological portraiture.” Another noticeable element is artist’s little use of his well-known style of Sfumato around the subject’s […]