Sea Archive

Watson and the Shark by John Singleton Copley

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March 18, 201418th Century WesternNo comments

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One of the famous American paintings depicting a real life event. When 18th century artist, John Singleton Copley reached in London in 1774, Brook Watson commissioned him to portray his life event when he was attacked by shark during a swim in ocean. The attacked had happened in 1749, when Watson was of 14 years old. Total of three versions were made of the event. Each with slightly different depiction method. The represented one is a romanticized version which hides the cut off leg of Watson in the depth of water. During the attack, shark had bitten off his one leg. As it would be expected for such scenes, everyone on the boat is frightened and is helping to save Watson. Watson was saved eventually […]

American, Boat, Harbor, Ocean, Sea

The Great Wave of Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai

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March 7, 201419th Century Japanese Landscape PaintingNo comments

(1 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)

This Ukiyo-e piece is the most famous Japanese painting in its type. It represents a monstrous wave ascending over the two Japanese Boats. In the background is visible the infamous Mount Fuji (known for being active volcano mountain) covered with ice. The Great Wave of Kanagawa Analysis Ukiyo-e paintings are always very minimalistic, few colored, flat and yet impressive with its distinctive style. All of those characteristics are available in this picture. Due to the cumbersome process of making a Ukiyo-e, artists try to make a simple and with low colored painting. Contrary to that notion, Great Wave is comparatively rich with details and colors. The two boats with full of fishermen are called Oshiokuri-Bune. They are the fast boats which transports the live fishes […]

The Son of Man by René Magritte

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February 14, 201420th Century Portrait Painting WesternNo comments

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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 […]

The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli

By Nitin

February 10, 201415th Century History Painting Western1 Comment

(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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 […]

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn

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January 16, 201417th Century History Painting WesternNo comments

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

This dramatic illustration, “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee”, is painted by the Dutch Golden Age master Rembrandt. It is a dramatic depiction of the ‘calming the storm’ miracle done by Jesus. Jesus did many miracles in his lifetime including walking on water, cursing the fig tree, turning water into wine and many more. Those miracles and anecdotes made his apostles and followers have more faith in him. Though, as it is obvious in the stories, Jesus never exhibited his powers in public until it was a sheer necessity. Here, he is crossing the Sea of Galilee with his apostles and other Jewish people. The sea was known for its sudden storms and taking lives of people. Such a storm came across with this […]

Barge Haulers on the Volga by Ilya Repin

By Nitin

January 8, 201419th Century Genre Painting Western1 Comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

A funny experience the artist, Ilya Repin, had was that people were afraid of giving a pose for the painting as there was a belief among illiterate haulers that once a person’s image is put down on a paper, his soul leaves his possession. Finding no model (even after offering a fee) for his painting, he created all of his unique characters during his journey through Russia. The painting represents the hardship of the poor people in old times, around late 19th century. Painter gave importance to the hard life of the haulers by making this grand picture, which he asserted as his first professional painting. That time, the industrial revolution had just begun and a steam boat in far background on the left side […]