Thursday, February 21, 2013
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Αριστομένης Αγγελόπουλος
Ο Αριστομένης (Μένης) Αγγελόπουλος (Βόλος, 1900 – Παρίσι, 1990) ήταν έλληνας ζωγράφος, ο οποίος έζησε και εργάστηκε για πολλά χρόνια στην Αίγυπτο, το Σουδάν και το Παρίσι. Ο Αγγελόπουλος ήταν το ενδέκατο και τελευταίο παιδί μιας βολιώτικης οικογένειας. Λίγο μετά την γέννησή του έχασε την μητέρα του. Έλαβε τα πρώτα μαθήματα ζωγραφικής κοντά στον συμπατριώτη του θαλασσογράφο Γιάννη Πούλακα. Το 1916 έχασε και τον πατέρα του, οπότε αποφάσισε να φύγει για την Μανσούρα της Αιγύπτου, όπου ζούσε ένας του αδελφός. Το 1918 πήγε στην Αλεξάνδρεια για να μαθητεύσει κοντά στον ζωγράφο Δημήτρη Λίτσα. Από το 1924 έως το 1930 ταξίδευσε στο Μόναχο και το Παρίσι, για να γνωρίσει τις σύγχρονες τάσεις της ζωγραφικής σε ακαδημίες, αίθουσες τέχνης και μουσεία.
Το 1930 εγκαταστάθηκε οριστικά στην Αλεξάνδρεια και πρωτοστάτησε στην ίδρυση του πνευματικού κέντρου «L'Atelier», το οποίο εξελίχθηκε σε πόλο έλξης και σημείο αναφοράς για την καλλιτεχνική ζωή της ελληνικής παροικίας και όλης της πόλης. Κατά την διάρκεια του Β΄ Παγκοσμίου Πολέμου, γνωρίστηκε με τον Στρατή Τσίρκα και συμμετείχε σε δραστηριότητες για την βοήθεια του ελληνικού λαού, που υπέφερε από τις κακουχίες της Κατοχής. Από το 1955 έως το 1960 διετέλεσε διευθυντής του Τομέα Ζωγραφικής στο Τεχνολογικό Ινστιτούτο του Χαρτούμ στο Σουδάν. Το 1960 εγκατέλειψε το Σουδάν για να εγκατασταθεί οριστικά στο Παρίσι.
Στο Παρίσι, ο Αγγελόπουλος γνώρισε και νυμφεύθηκε την γαλλίδα ζωγράφο Λιλύ Μασσόν (Lily Masson), κόρη του γνωστού υπερρεαλιστή ζωγράφου Αντρέ Μασσόν, 1896–1987). Στην Γαλλία, ήρθε σε επαφή με τα πιο σύγχρονα ρεύματα της εποχής και έτσι εγκατέλειψε για ένα διάστημα, τις ελαιογραφίες με πορτρέτα και τοπία, για να στραφεί προς το πιο αφηρημένο κολλάζ. Λίγα χρόνια αργότερα άφησε και την αφηρημένη τέχνη, για να δημιουργήσει τοπιογραφίες εμπνευσμένες από το παρισινό τοπίο αλλά και την θάλασσα της Μεσογείου. Οι τοπιογραφίες αυτές ξεχωρίζουν για τον φωτογραφικό ρεαλισμό τους και το μοναδικό μεσογειακό τους φως. Σε πολλούς από τους τελευταίους πίνακές του απεικόνισε τον σύγχρονο μικροαστό να αναζητά μόνος του κάποιο διέξοδο στους δρόμους της πόλης.
Τα έργα του Αγγελόπουλου παρουσιάστηκαν σε πολλές ατομικές και ομαδικές εκθέσεις στην Αίγυπτο, το Σουδάν, την Ιταλία, την Γαλλία, το Λουξεμβούργο και την Ελλάδα. Μεταξύ άλλων, το 1951 συμμετείχε στην Μπιενάλε της Βενετίας, την περίοδο 1952–1954 στην Μπιενάλε της Αλεξανδρείας, το 1962 στην έκθεση «Έλληνες ζωγράφοι και γλύπτες του Παρισιού» στο Μουσείο Μοντέρνας Τέχνης της γαλλικής πρωτεύουσας, και το 1983 σε έκθεση στην Εθνική Πινακοθήκη της Ελλάδας. Το 2007, η γενέτειρά του, ο Βόλος, τον τίμησε με αναδρομική έκθεση έργων του.
Από την πρώτη του σύζυγο είχε μία κόρη, την αρχιτεκτόνισσα Ήβη Αγγελοπούλου (1935–2001), και από την τελευταία είχε και μία εγγονή, την επίσης καλλιτέχνιδα Μαριγώ Βλάικου.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Και οταν τα ειχε τακτοποιησει ολα στο κεφαλι του
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
De 'Witte Leeuw'
Kendi uit V.O.C.-schip de 'Witte Leeuw',Kendi met een vlakke ongeglazuurde bodem, in de vorm van een olifant met op de rug een handvat (nu grotendeels verdwenen). Gedecoreerd in onderglazuur blauw met een kleed met swastika's en een veld met bloemtakken op de rug van de olifant, wolkmotieven rond de stam van het handvat en geluksymbolen op het handvat. Bij de oren, neusgaten en slurf is het glazuur afgebladderd. De scherf is glasachtig wit en kent weinig ingebakken vuil. Het glazuur is blauw getint. De bodem is geglazuurd. Er is geen ovenzand aangetroffen.
source : http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/
Kendi
Select Bibliography
Adhyatman, Sumarah, 'Kendis, Jars and Other Ceramics: Their Role in Indonesia,1 Paper presented at a conference, Asian Ceramics: Potters, Users, and Collectors,' The Field Museum, Chicago, 7-9 October 1994.
_______ , Kendi, Traditional Drinking Water Container, Jakarta, The Ceramic Society of Indonesia, 1987.
Bhumadhon, Phuthorn, 'Ceramics of the Dvaravati Period in Early Thailand, 6th to 10th Centuries, A.D.' Paper read at the Field Museum's and ACRO's Asian Ceramics Conference, May 1996.
Brown, Roxanna M., The Ceramics of South-East Asia: Their Dating and Identification, 2nd edition, Singapore, Oxford University Press,
1988.
_______ , ed., Guangdong Ceramics from Butuan and other Philippine sites, Manila, the Philippines, Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines & Oxford University Press, 1989.
Fisher, Robert E., Buddhist Art and Architecture, London, Thames and Hudson, 1993.
Guy, John, 'Southeast Asian Glazed Ceramics: A Study of Sources,' in New Perspectives on the Art of Ceramics in China, George Kuwayama,ed., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1992, pp. 98-114.
Higham, Charles, Early Cultures of Mainland Southeast Asia, Bangkok, River Books, 2002.
Honda, Hiromu and Noriki Shirnazu, The Beauty of Fired Clay: Ceramics from Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Introduction by Dawn F. Rooney, Kuala Lumpur, Oxford University Press, 1997.
Indrawooth, Phasook, 'Kendis from Peninsular Thailand, in Muang Boran Journal, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan-Mar 1984.
Kendis: A Guide to the Collections National Museum Singapore, 1984.
Luce, G.H., Old Burma - Early Pagan, Ascona and New York, 1969-70, vol. I.
Nugrahani, D.S., 'Exploring Indonesian Kendi,' TAASA Review, Australia, vol. 5, no. 1, March 1996, pp. 6-7.
Ridho, Abu, White Kendis; Sumarah Adhyatman, Burmese Ceramics Bulletin, Jakarta, The Ceramic Society of Indonesia, May 1985, pp. 42-52.
Rooney, Dawn F., Khmer Ceramics, Singapore, Oxford University Press, 1984.
_________, Folk Pottery in South-East Asia, Singapore, Oxford University Press, 1987.
Sakai, T., The Origin of the Kendi PouringVessel, A Preliminary Note on Its Typological Study,' Journal of East-West Maritime Relations, vol 2,1992 (NB: Waseda University]
Singh, R C. Prasad, 'Spouted Vessels in India,' Potteries in Ancient India, B. P. Sinha, ed, Patna, Department of Ancient Indian History and Archaeology, Patna University, 1969, pp. 118-123.
Soegondho, Santoso, Earthenware Traditions in Indonesia: From Prehistory until the Present, Jakarta, Ceramic Society of Indonesia, n. d..
Spinks, Charles Nelson, The Ceramic Wares of Siam, Bangkok, The Siarn Society, 1965.
Stark, Miriam, 'Pre-Angkor Earthenware: Ceramics from Cambodia's Mekong Delta,' UDAYA Qournal of Khmer Studies), April 2000, pp. 69-89.
Sweetman, John and Nicol Guerin, The Spouted Ewer and its relatives in the Far East, An Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition in the Barlow Gallery. University Library, Falmer, Brighton, University of Sussex, 1983.
Endnotes
i Fisher (1993) Thames and Hudson, pit 95, p. 103.
ii Nugrahani (March 1996) 'Exploring Indonesian kendi', TAASA Review, vol.5, no.l, pp.6-7).
iii Bhumadhon (May 1996).
iv Personal conversations with the Director, October 2001.
v Higham (2002) River Books, p.236.
vi Stark (April 2002), p.79.
vii For examples of Satingpra-type ware, see Guangdong Ceramics, pit 150-4.
viii Guy (1992)
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text and image source :http://rooneyarchive.net/articles/kendi/kendi_album/kendi.htm
Thursday, July 1, 2010
the palace kitchens with the tall chimneys

The elongated palace kitchens (Saray Mutfakları) are a prominent feature of the palace. Some of the kitchens were first built in the 15th century at the time when the palace was constructed. They were modeled on the kitchens of the Sultan's palace at Edirne. They were enlarged during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent but burned down in 1574. The kitchens were remodeled and brought up to date according to the needs of the day by the court architect Mimar Sinan.[31]
Rebuilt to the old plan by Sinan, they form two rows of 20 wide chimneys (added by Sinan), rising like stacks from a ship from domes on octagonal drums. The kitchens are arranged on an internal street stretching between the Second Courtyard and the Sea of Marmara. The entrance to this section is through the three doors in the portico of the Second Courtyard: the Imperial commissariat (lower kitchen) door, imperial kitchen door and the confectionery kitchen door.
The palace kitchens consist of 10 domed buildings: Imperial kitchen, Enderûn (palace school), Harem (women’s quarters), Birûn (outer service section of the palace), kitchens, beveragesconfectionery kitchen, creamery, storerooms and rooms for the cooks. They were the largest kitchens in the Ottoman Empire. The meals for the Sultan, the residents of the Harem, Enderûn and Birûn (the inner and outer services of the palace) were prepared here. Food was prepared for about 4,000 people. The kitchen staff consisted of more than 800 people, rising to 1,000 on religious holidays. As many as 6,000 meals a day could be prepared. Even the serving of food to the sultan was strictly regulated by protocol.[32] kitchen,
The kitchens included dormitories, baths and a mosque for the employees, most of which have disappeared over time.[33]
Apart from exhibiting kitchen utensils, today the buildings contain a silver gifts and utensils collection, as well as large collections of Chinese blue-and-white, white, and celadon porcelain.
Chinese and Far East porcelain was highly valued and was transported by camel caravans over the Silk Road or by sea. The 10,700 pieces of Chinese, Japanese and Turkish porcelain displayed here are rare, precious,[34] and thought to rival that found in China as one of the finest collections in the world.[2] The Chinese porcelain collection ranges from the late Song DynastyYuan Dynasty (1280–1368), through the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) to the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). This museum also contains one of the world's largest collections of 14th-century Longquan celadon. The collection has around 3,000 pieces of Yuan and Ming Dynasty celadons.[35] Those celadon were valued by the Sultan and the Queen Mother because it was supposed to change colour if the food or drink it carried was poisoned.[36] The Japanese collection is mainly Imari porcelain, dating from the 17th to the 19th century. Further parts of the collection include white porcelain from the beginning of the 15th century and "imitation" Blue-and-White and Imari porcelain from Vietnam, Thailand and Persia.[37]
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
What are Artists' Books?
What are Artists' Books? according to V&A
Definitions
Artists' books is the broad term used to describe books, unique or multiple, that have been made or conceived by artists. There are fine artists who make books and book artists who produce work exclusively in that medium, as well as illustrators, typographers, writers, poets, book binders, printers and many others who work collaboratively or alone to produce artists' books. Many artists' books are self-published, or are produced by small presses or by artists' groups or collectives, usually in limited editions. There are many terms used to describe artists' books. Some of the most frequently used terms are book art or bookworks (these terms implying an affinity with the traditional structure of the book) while those that are sculptural objects that allude to the form of the book are commonly referred to as book objects. All of the terms that have been mentioned here are used in the Visual Database of Artists' Books. The database also includes other types of works produced by artists in the book format such as concrete poetry, a genre of visual poetry where the meaning is derived from the spatial, pictorial and typographic characteristics of the work, as well as from the sense of the words.
Origins & Development
Contemporary artists' books are noteworthy for the multiplicity of forms in which they are found. It is perhaps for this reason that historians of the genre frequently identify a myriad of precursors and influences. Artists and their associations with books date back to the era of manuscript production. Many artists through the centuries have been concerned with books as an artistic enterprise, notably William Blake at the end of the 18th century and William Morris at the Kelmscott Press from the 1890s. Avant-garde artists throughout the 20th century have also produced many books as part of their artistic endeavours such as periodicals, pamphlets and manifestos. This list merely scratches the surface of potential influences and precursors to contemporary artists' books which are drawn out more fully in numerous works in the bibliography section of this site.
It is however the livre d'artiste, also known as the livre de peintre, that is generally considered to be a key precursor to the genre of artists' books. Originating in France around the turn of the 20th century, the livre d'artiste is a form of illustrated book. The essential feature that distinguishes it from its predecessors is that each illustration is executed by the artist directly onto the medium from which it is printed, rather than being transferred from an artist's design by a technician. An early exponent of the livre d'artiste was the dealer Ambroise Vollard who commissioned Pierre Bonnard to illustrate with lithographs a collection of poems by Paul Verlaine, Parallèlement, published in Paris in 1900 (NAL pressmark: Safe 1.A.1). The works produced were essentially deluxe, limited editions, produced on high quality paper using specialized printers. They were generally left unbound so that they could be dismantled for display and also so that bespoke bindings could be commissioned if desired. Vollard produced numerous works in association with a number of artists, matching them up with texts to illustrate. Various other publishers followed suit, collaborating with artists of their own association. The National Art Library holds a number of livres d'artistes which are described in the exhibition catalogue: From Manet to Hockney: modern artists' illustrated books , edited by Carol Hogben and Rowan Watson, London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985. (NAL pressmark: CTR REF)
It is generally accepted that the conceptual work of Dieter Roth and Ed Ruscha in the 1950s and 1960s mark the foundations of the genre of artists' books. In 1962 Ed Ruscha published the first edition of Twenty-six gasoline stations (NAL pressmark: SA.91.0042) which comprised 26 deadpan photographs of gasoline stations along Route 66 from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City. This book was not intended as a means for the reproduction of pre-existing photographs, but rather it was deliberately designed as a primary object in its own right; it was in fact an artwork. The essential characteristics of the book format, such as ideas of seriality and sequence provided by the turning of pages, were an inherent aspect of the work and as such it is credited as a seminal example in the advent of a new genre that has come to be defined as artists' books. Ruscha produced a series of bookworks in a similar vein. A further characteristic of this series was that they were published in unlimited editions, had a wide distribution and were inexpensive to buy in a deliberate attempt to bring art to a wider audience. A contemporaneous pioneer of artists' books was Dieter Roth. Roth's distinctive contribution to the emergent genre was his examination, through his bookworks, of the formal qualities of books themselves. These formal qualities such as flat pages, bound into fixed sequences were deconstructed and investigated, for instance in 2 Bilderbücher (1957) (NAL pressmark: X920000) which comprised 2 picture books of geometric shapes, with die-cut holes cut into each page to allow glimpses of patterns from the pages beneath. Structural investigations such as these became the subject matter of the book itself. Subsequent works such as Daily Mirror (1961) involved the use of found materials manipulated to a particular purpose, a technique much used by later book artists.
Artists' Books Reading List
The following is an introductory reading list on artists' books (expert from the V&A museum website)
- Bury, Stephen. Artists' Books: the Book as a Work of Art, 1963-1995. Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1995. NAL pressmark: AB.95.0014
- Castleman, Riva. A Century of Artists Books. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1994. NAL pressmark: AB.94.0020
- Chapon, François. Le Peintre et le Livre: l'Age d'Or du Livre Illustré en France 1870-1970. Paris: Flammarion, 1987.
NAL pressmark: 507.C.172
- Courtney, Cathy. Speaking of Book Art: Interviews with British and American Book Artists. Los Altos Hills: Anderson-Lovelace, 1999. NAL pressmark: AB.99.0001
- Drucker, Johanna. The Century of Artists Books. New York: Granary Books, 1995.
NAL pressmark: 602.AC.0054
- Hogben, Carol and Rowan Watson, eds. From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists' Illustrated Books. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1985.
NAL pressmark: 603.AA.0251
- Hubert, Renée Riese and Judd D. Hubert. The Cutting Edge of Reading: Artists' Books. New York: Granary Books, 1999. NAL pressmark: AB.99.0007
- Johnson, Robert Flynn. Artists Books in the Modern Era 1870-2000: the Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books. London : Thames & Hudson, 2002.
NAL pressmark: AB.2001.0002
- The Journal of Artists' Books: JAB. New York: Interplanetary Productions, 1994-
NAL pressmark: PP.115.A
- Klima, Stefan. Artists Books: a Critical Survey of the Literature . New York: Granary Books, 1998. NAL pressmark: AB.98.0013
- Moeglin-Delcroix, Anne. Esthétique du Livre d'Artiste: 1960/1980. Paris: Jean-Michel Place; Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1997. NAL pressmark: AB.97.0003
- Peixoto, Tanya et al., ed. Artist's Book Yearbook. Stanmore: Magpie Press, 1995-
NAL pressmark: individually pressmarked for each year held
- Lyons, Joan, ed. Artists' books: a Critical Anthology and Sourcebook. New York: Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1985. NAL pressmark: AB.85.0001
- Turner, Silvie and Ian Tyson, eds. British Artists' Books, 1970-1983: an Exhibition . London: Lund Humphries, 1984. NAL pressmark: AB.84.0002
Text and images source : http://www.vam.ac.uk/index.html
Types of books according to their contents
A common separation by content are fiction and non-fictional books. By no means are books limited to this classification, but it is a separation that can be found in most collections, libraries, and bookstores.
Fiction
Many of the books published today are fictitious stories. They are in-part or completely untrue or fantasy. Historically, paper production was considered too expensive to be used for entertainment. An increase in global literacy and print technology led to the increased publication of books for the purpose of entertainment, and allegorical social commentary. Most fiction is additionally categorized by genre.
The novel is the most common form of fictional book. Novels are stories that typically feature a plot, setting, themes and characters. Stories and narrative are not restricted to any topic; a novel can be whimsical, serious or controversial. The novel has had a tremendous impact on entertainment and publishing markets.[22] A novella is a term sometimes used for fictional prose typically between 17,500 and 40,000 words, and a novelette between 7,500 and 17,500. A Short story may be any length up to 10,000 words, but these word lengths are not universally established.
Comic books or graphic novels are books in which the story is not told, but illustrated.
Non-fiction
In a library, a reference book is a general type of non-fiction book which provides information as opposed to telling a story, essay, commentary, or otherwise supporting a point of view. An almanac is a very general reference book, usually one-volume, with lists of data and information on many topics. An encyclopedia is a book or set of books designed to have more in-depth articles on many topics. A book listing words, their etymology, meanings, and other information is called a dictionary. A book which is a collection of maps is an atlas. A more specific reference book with tables or lists of data and information about a certain topic, often intended for professional use, is often called a handbook. Books which try to list references and abstracts in a certain broad area may be called an index, such as Engineering Index, or abstracts such as chemical abstracts and biological abstracts.
Books with technical information on how to do something or how to use some equipment are called instruction manuals. Other popular how-to books include cookbooks and home improvement books.
Students typically store and carry textbooks and schoolbooks for study purposes. Elementary school pupils often use workbooks, which are published with spaces or blanks to be filled by them for study or homework. In US higher education, it is common for a student to take an exam using a blue book.
There is a large set of books that are made only to write private ideas, notes, and accounts. These books are rarely published and are typically destroyed or remain private. Notebooks are blank papers to be written in by the user. Students and writers commonly use them for taking notes. Scientists and other researchers use lab notebooks to record their spork. They often feature spiral coil bindings at the edge so that pages may easily be torn out.
Address books, phone books, and calendar/appointment books are commonly used on a daily basis for recording appointments, meetings and personal contact information.
Books for recording periodic entries by the user, such as daily information about a journey, are called logbooks or simply logs. A similar book for writing the owner's daily private personal events, information, and ideas is called a diary or personal journal.
Businesses use accounting books such as journals and ledgers to record financial data in a practice called bookkeeping.
Other types
There are several other types of books which are not commonly found under this system. Albums are books for holding a group of items belonging to a particular theme, such as a set of photographs, card collections, and memorabilia. One common example is stamp albums, which are used by many hobbyists to protect and organize their collections of postage stamps. Such albums are often made using removable plastic pages held inside in a ringed binder or other similar smolder.
Hymnals are books with collections of musical hymns that can typically be found in churches. Prayerbooks or missals are books that contain written prayers and are commonly carried by monks, nuns, and other devoted followers or clergy.
text and images : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Proposal for the exhibition the Power of Copy, Apostolos Ntelakos
1.
The Xiamen University in China organises a contemporary design exhibition around the concept of copy. The exhibition, named the power of copy is going to take place in Xuzhou, in May 2010.
2.
Looking back at the history of the Applied Arts (in relationship of course to China) one cannot avoid but come across the chinoiserie(1). A French term, meaning "Chinese-esque", normally used to characterize a European style in art that flourished in the late 17th and 18th…(2)
… a complex phenomenon that has taken many different shapes and produced a wide variety of objects and styling – from splendid works of art and excellent examples of craftsmanship to mass-produced pieces of rubbish(3).
3.
In my work historical facts are playing more and more an important role. I am interested in what has happened, how things looked like and what a re-construction of such facts could mean today.
This exhibition in Xiamen seemed like a perfect opportunity to present work: Thinking of China my first association has been vases. More specifically porcelain vases, the ones that Europeans started importing already since the fifteenth and sixteenth century(4).
Going through digitalized archives, books and catalogues I made photocopies / prints of images that attracted me. Taking these prints as reference I tried to re-construct the shape of the vases (executed in stoneware covered with a slip of porcelain). By zooming-in at the images those vases carried, I took parts of them (the images) and tried to re-construct them by means of on-glaze colours (lusters).
4.
How accurate or authentic are images that we artists and designers use? Where lies the difference between functional objects and sculptures of them? Where is the line between a copy, an interpretation, or a reconstruction? Is copying per se passive? Copying occurred for centuries between east and west; European craftsmen attempted to imitate the styles and techniques of decorative art imported from the Middle and Far East. Those craftsmen not only copied designs from imported objects, but also adapted these objects in creative ways(5). And if distortions / mutations occured in this process of copy, were they pure accidents or were they projections of the one who was copying? And what do these distortions tell us about the copyist?
5.
Jean-Étienne Liotard (Swiss, 1702–1789), Still Life Tea Set, 1783-----
(1) chinoiserie |ʃɪnˌwɑːzəri|, noun ( pl. -ries)the imitation or evocation of Chinese motifs and techniques in Western art, furniture, and architecture, esp. in the 18th century.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from French, from chinois ‘Chinese.’
(2) Arie Pos, (2008) “Het paviljoen van porselein. Nederlandse literaire chinoiserie en het westerse beeld van China (1250-2007)”, proefschrift (Leiden 2008), https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/simple-search?query=Chinoiserie&submit=Go
(3) idem
(4)Munger, Jeffrey, and Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen. "East and West: Chinese Export Porcelain". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000 http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ewpor/hd_ewpor.htm (October 2003)
(5) Imagining the Orient, October 5, 2004–April 3, 2005, http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/orient/
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Encyclopédie
The encyclopaedia developed from the dictionary in the 18th century.
A dictionary primarily focuses on alphabetical listing of words and their definitions. But, a dictionary typically provides limited information, analysis or background for the word defined. While it may offer a definition, it may leave the reader still lacking in understanding the meaning, significance or limitations of a term, and how the term relates to a broader field of knowledge.
To address those needs, an encyclopaedia article covers not a word, but a subject or discipline.
Four elements define an encyclopaedia: its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of production:
Encyclopaedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field (the English-language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are well-known examples). General encyclopaedias often contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and gazetteers. There are also encyclopaedias that cover a wide variety of topics but from a particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective, such as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia or Encyclopaedia Judaica.
Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopaedia of medicine, philosophy, or law. Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion, depending on the target audience. (For example, the Medical encyclopaedia produced by A.D.A.M., Inc. for the U.S. National Institutes of Health.)
Some systematic method of organization is essential to making an encyclopaedia usable as a work of reference. There have historically been two main methods of organizing printed encyclopaedias: the alphabetical method (consisting of a number of separate articles, organised in alphabetical order), or organization by hierarchical categories. The former method is today the most common by far, especially for general works. The fluidity of electronic media, however, allows new possibilities for multiple methods of organization of the same content. Further, electronic media offer previously unimaginable capabilities for search, indexing and cross reference. The epigraph from Horace on the title page of the 18th century Encyclopédie
As modern multimedia and the information age have evolved, they have had an ever-increasing effect on the collection, verification, summation, and presentation of information of all kinds. Projects such as Everything2, Encarta, h2g2, and Wikipedia are examples of new forms of the encyclopaedia as information retrieval becomes simpler. More specifically, Wikipedia has received acclaim for its scholarly nature, succinctness, verifiability, accuracy, and neutrality.[citation needed] suggests the importance of the structure of an encyclopaedia: "What grace may be added to commonplace matters by the power of order and connection."
text source: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Exoticism in the Decorative Arts (from chinoiserie to art deco).

European interest in non-Western art was first stimulated by trade with the East in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By the nineteenth century, with the advent of the railroad and steamship, lands that were little known to Westerners became easier to access. As more Europeans traveled beyond the established routes of the Grand Tour, their experiences abroad began to influence their tastes at home. Other influences were a result of England's massive imperial control over lands in China, India, Africa, and the Pacific. By mid-century, many non-Western forms and ornamental motifs had found their way into the vocabulary of European decorative arts.
Like Orientalist subjects in nineteenth-century painting, exoticism in the decorative arts and interior decoration was associated with fantasies of opulence and "barbaric splendour," in the words of the English explorer, linguist, and writer, Sir Richard F. Burton (1821–1890). The arts of the East were also considered quaint and uncorrupted by industrial capitalism. While English critics complained about the lack of integrity and poor design in the utilitarian goods that were being produced in their factories, they exalted the arts of preindustrialized nations and held them in great esteem as supreme examples of good design. Because of their purity of design, Islamic ceramics, Indian textiles, and Japanese prints were considered aesthetically superior to European goods, which aimed for commercial novelty. Ironically, the introduction of non-Western motifs into the European design vocabulary was equally novel and became an alternative to the historically based designs associated with various revivalist styles in the nineteenth century.
Not only were non-Western societies thought of as being untainted by industry and capitalism, they were also perceived as morally superior and more devout than their European counterparts. Owen Jones (1809–1874) described objects from India that were considered exemplars of good design as "the works of a people who are still faithful to their art as to their religion, habits and modes of thought which inspired it. … We find no struggle after an effect; every ornament arises quietly and naturally from the object decorated, inspired by some true feeling, or embellishing some real want." In an attempt to provide principles of design along with an encyclopedic compilation of design motifs, Jones published the Grammar of Ornament in 1856. However, rather than appreciating non-Western design for its sense of "otherness," he analyzes it based on stylistic merits alone, stripping away its cultural context.
The fascination for exotic styles was fueled by significant displays of non-Western art at many of the international exhibitions from 1851 onward. Publications of archaeological finds and collections also fed the nineteenth-century passion for the exotic. For example, the Egyptian style, popularized following Napoleon's campaign in Egypt in 1798, was promoted throughout the nineteenth century by such publications as Vivant Denon's Voyage dans la Basse et la Haute Égypte (1802) (26.168.77) and Thomas Hope's Household Furniture and Interior Decoration (1807). John Gardner Wilkinson's Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians (1837), which illustrated domestic furniture found at Thebes, continued to influence the style of chairs and other furniture made by artist-designers through the 1880s.
Non-Western designs influenced ornament, form, materials, and techniques. The complexities of geometric design associated with Islamic decorative arts and architecture became a source of inspiration. Jones, a proponent of Islamic design, stressed the visual importance of stylizing forms inspired by nature. The motifs and luster glazes of Turkish ceramics influenced English (23.163.2ab), French (1985.225), and Hungarian ceramics, while North African architecture and materials inspired the furniture of Carlo Bugatti (1856–1940) in Italy (69.69). Persian decorative arts were a frequent source for the enamelwork of the French jewelry firm Falize (2002.258) as well as for Christopher Dresser (1834–1904) in England (1996.94). Looking to the Americas, Dresser also took inspiration from Precolumbian artifacts (1988.30).
Throughout the nineteenth century, the arts of China and Japan were an inexhaustible source for design ideas. Chinoiserie, a pseudo-Chinese decorative style popularized by Europeans in the 1730s, reappeared during the Regency and continued into the nineteenth century (69.193.1-.11). However, by the 1880s, Europeans—such as the Austrian chemist A. Bünzli and the French potter Joseph-Théodore Deck (1985.225)—were producing ceramic glazes stained with metallic oxides in imitation of the Chinese sang de boeuf (ox-blood) glaze. Copper-oxide could produce other colors such as variant shades of green, blue, and violet, which were labeled flambé (2003.280). Chinese stoneware with incised decoration also influenced artist-potters in France at the end of the century (23.31.1).
Following the opening of Japan to trade with the West in 1854, the influence of Japanese arts resonated in nearly all media. The simplicity of Japanese craft, design, and construction found favor among the Gothic revivalists—the architect William Burges called the Japanese display at the International Exhibition of 1862 the "true medieval court"—and the abstract and asymmetrical approach of Japanese design greatly affected the Aesthetic movement. Japanese prints influenced porcelain designs (1996.161.1-3), and Japanese fans, parasols, and blue-and-white porcelain became de rigueur accessories for the fashionable interior. Following his extensive travels in Japan in 1877, Christopher Dresser drew upon Japanese design in his work. He also imported Japanese goods to England, as did the merchant Arthur Lasenby Liberty (1843–1917) in London, and the art dealer Siegfried Bing (1838–1905) in Paris. Even Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera of 1885 The Mikado (with costumes supplied by Liberty's), capitalized on the West's fascination with Japan.
By the end of the century, the exotic, as appropriated by the West, had become a mass-produced commodity in itself; exotic images were used to sell everything from cigarettes to candy. However, the exotic continued to influence the appearance of the decorative arts as it fused with the organic whiplash curves of the avant-garde style known as Art Nouveau.
text source : The Metropolitan museum of Art
A small history of German and Austrian Porcelain in the Eighteenth Century
Chinese and Japanese porcelains were highly esteemed in seventeenth-century Europe, and although they were imported in ever-increasing quantities throughout the century, Europeans did not know the ingredients necessary for the production of true porcelain, commonly known as hard-paste porcelain. However, in 1709 an alchemist named Johann Friedrich Böttger discovered the materials required to produce a white, translucent, high-fired porcelain body, and this discovery was to have profound consequences for the entire European ceramic industry.
Böttger's experiments with the formula for porcelain included the development of a high-fired red stoneware, which led to several technological advances ultimately resulting in porcelain. This so-called Böttger stoneware was used both for wares and for figures, including one depicting Augustus the Strong, elector of Saxony (1982.60.318). Augustus had provided the impetus for Böttger's experiments and, based on the latter's success, he established a factory at Meissen, just outside Dresden, in 1710. The factory was soon producing a creamy white porcelain now known as Böttger porcelain (42.205.26), becoming the first European manufactory of hard-paste porcelain. In the 1720s, the Meissen factory developed a new and extensive range of enamel colors, and the factory's painters excelled in chinoiserie scenes. Fanciful depictions of life in an imagined and exotic Far East, chinoiseries were the most popular type of decoration during this decade (1974.356.488). One of the great achievements of the Meissen factory was the production of large-scale vases, which were difficult to fire successfully because of their size. Many of these vases were decorated with ground colors in imitation of Chinese porcelains, and chinoiserie scenes continued to be in vogue through the 1730s (1974.356.363). Frequently these vases are marked on the underside with the initials AR—for Augustus Rex—and it is likely that these objects were intended for Augustus' use or to be given as royal gifts.
The most ambitious of all of the projects undertaken at Meissen for Augustus the Strong was the production of large-scale animals for the Japanese Palace, the building intended to house all of his porcelain collections. The size of these animals presented enormous technical difficulties, and even though the factory used a more resilient hard-paste porcelain body for the animals, many of them display fire cracks and other evidence of problems encountered during firing. Nevertheless, they represent a remarkable achievement and remain among the most significant of all porcelain sculpture (1988.294.1).
The second factory in Europe to produce hard-paste porcelain was that founded in Vienna by Claudius du Paquier (died 1751). Du Paquier was assisted by the former kiln master from Meissen, and the new enterprise was able to make hard paste by about 1719. The du Paquier porcelain body was quite similar to that produced at Meissen, but the forms and styles of decoration employed at the Viennese factory were entirely original. The decoration on one du Paquier flower vase seems to depict du Paquier himself, seated near a group of porcelain objects, and the painted inscription calls attention to Vienna's accomplishment in producing porcelain (54.147.94). The concept of a dinner service with matching components was still novel in the 1730s, and the first dinner service to be made in porcelain was ordered from Meissen in late 1731. Du Paquier produced a partial dinner service, possibly composed exclusively of tureens, as early as the mid-1720s, and in the years 1736–40 made another service—composed primarily of tureens and wine coolers—that Emperor Charles VI gave to the Russian empress Anna Ioannovna (1982.60.330).
The success of the Meissen and du Paquier firms led to the establishment of other porcelain factories in Germany in the 1740s and 50s, and it was often workers coming from either Meissen or Vienna who provided the necessary technical expertise to the new operations. The factory established at Höchst in the mid-1740s began production on a viable scale only after the arrival of J. J. Ringler from the du Paquier factory. The Höchst factory employed a number of highly competent modelers, and the factory excelled in the production of figures. One of the most ambitious of these is The Audience of the Chinese Emperor (50.211.217), which was modeled by Johann Peter Melchior, director of the sculpture workshop beginning in 1767. This group probably decorated the table during the dessert course, accompanied by additional single figures also in a chinoiserie style.
Perhaps the most popular subjects for figures and groups were characters from the Italian commedia dell'arte. Porcelain figures depicting Harlequin, Columbine, Mezzetin, Isabella, and numerous others would have been instantly identifiable because of their costumes, for the traveling troupes of Italian commedia players had made these characters very familiar to eighteenth-century audiences. One of the greatest modelers of these figures was Franz Anton Bustelli, who worked at the Nymphenburg factory from 1754 until 1763. His figures (1974.356.524,.525) always display a pronounced elegance and a slight exaggeration of pose that simultaneously reflects some essential aspect of the character's personality.
text source : The Metropolitan museum of Art
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
If it is about the gaps in between + how to fill them
The word history comes from the root *weid-, "to know, to see".[8] This root is also present in the English words wit, wise, wisdom, vision, and idea, in the Sanskrit word veda,[9]The Ancient Greek word ἱστορία, historía, means "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation".
It was in that sense that Aristotle used the word in his Περὶ Τὰ Ζῷα Ἱστορίαι, Peri Ta Zoa Ηistoriai or, in Latinized form, Historia Animalium.[11] The term is derived from ἵστωρ, hístōr meaning wise man, witness, or judge. We can see early attestations of ἵστωρ in Homeric Hymns, Heraclitus, the Athenian ephebes' oath, and in Boiotic inscriptions (in a legal sense, either "judge" or "witness", or similar). The spirant is problematic, and not present in cognate Greek εἴδομαι - eídomai ("to appear"). The form ἱστορεῖν - historeîn, "to inquire", is an Ionic derivation, which spread first in Classical Greece and ultimately over all of Hellenistic civilization.
It was still in the Greek sense that Francis Bacon used the term in the late 16th century, when he wrote about "Natural History". For him, historia was "the knowledge of objects determined by space and time", that sort of knowledge provided by memory (while science was provided by reason, and poetry was provided by fantasy).
The word entered the English language in 1390 with the meaning of "relation of incidents, story". In Middle English, the meaning was "story" in general. The restriction to the meaning "record of past events" arises in the late 15th century. In German, French, and most Germanic and Romance languages, the same word is still used to mean both "history" and "story". The adjective historical is attested from 1661, and historic from 1669.[12]
Historian in the sense of a "researcher of history" is attested from 1531. In all European languages, the substantive "history" is still used to mean both "what happened with men", and "the scholarly study of the happened", the latter sense sometimes distinguished with a capital letter, "History", or the word historiography.[11]
Historiography is the history of history, the aspect of history and of semiotics that considers how knowledge of the past, either recent or distant, is obtained and transmitted.[1] Formally, historiography examines the writing of history, the use of historical methods, drawing upon authorship, sources, interpretation, style, bias, and the reader; moreover, historiography also denotes a body of historical work.
Beginning in the nineteenth century, at the ascent of academic history, a corpus of historiography literature developed, including What is History? (1961), by E. H. Carr, and Metahistory (1973), by Hayden White.
text source : http://en.wikipedia.org/Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Franz Anton Bustelli (sculptor contributing to industry part 02)

Franz Anton Bustelli (April 12, 1723 — April 18 1763) was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Factory from 1754 to his death in 1763.
He is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo style: "if the art of European porcelain finds its most perfect expression in the rococo style, so the style finds its most perfect expression in the work of Bustelli".[2]
He was born in Locarno in Italian-speaking Switzerland, and died in Munich, Bavaria, just after his 40th birthday.
Few details of his life are known, but he trained as a sculptor, probably mostly in wood,[3] and perhaps in Italy.
The sculptor was employed at Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg on 3 November 1754 as a figure-maker – just shortly after Joseph Jakob Ringler succeeded in making porcelain. Within just a brief period, he became model master at the manufactory and helped it achieve world fame with his elaborate rococo designs. Bustelli remained with Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg until his death in 1763 and, after just nine years, left around 150 new designs.
Bustelli is the outstanding figure of Rococo porcelain, and his best work has a unique grace, energy, drama and often wit. His figures are thoroughly designed in the round, meant to be appreciated from all angles. The bases are unusually thin, and often include scroll-work that integrates elegantly with the figures. Some subjects are drawn from engravings, and many seem to show the influence of the conventional theatrical gestures of the period.[10]
He was not very highly paid, and his possessions at his death included furniture and personal effects, some of his own figures, 228 engravings, and 31 books on chemistry.[11]
above: Liebesgruppe, 1760, 14.4 cm
below: Painter's Notes, Nymphenburg services

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text source : http://en.wikipedia.org/
image 01 source: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/
image 02 source : http://www.nymphenburg.com/
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
The wikipedia of 1764, the apotheosis of Homer and some gaps
Flaxman re-interpreted a red figure design which appeared as a decoration on a calyx krater vase, purchased by the British Museum in London from Sir William Hamilton. This original vase was one of the ancient so-called Etruscan vases amassed by Sir William Hamilton when he was resident in Italy. The calyx krater vase is featured in the four-volume work compiled by d'Hancarville entitled Antiquities, Etrusques Grecques, et Romaines (published 1766-67), Volume III, plate 31.
Wedgwood referred to Flaxman's relief model in a letter to his Ornamental Ware partner Thomas Bentley, dated 19 August 1778. Bentley had already interpreted the scene as: '....some honor paid to the genius of Homer'.
Eight years later the bas relief was chosen by Josiah Wedgwood as the principal ornament for his most important jasper vase to date, sometimes known as the Pegasus Vase. The first copy of the vase was produced in February 1786. In May of the same year Wedgwood presented a copy of it to the British Museum, saying of it: '...it is the finest and most perfect I have ever made.'
Various examples of the vase exist in a number of collections. The one on display in the Wedgwood museum is made of white jasper, which has received a mid-blue dip, with white bas-relief figures. A superb specimen of the same subject, in a greenish-buff jasper dip, with the Pegasus or winged-horse finial in white, on solid pale blue jasper clouds, is retained by the Castle Museum, Nottingham.
During the 19th century examples of the vase appeared in black basalt. Subsequently smaller-size versions of the vase were issued by Wedgwood in jasper (of varying colours, usually with white bas reliefs) and in more recent times in black with the raised bas-relief ornamentation enhanced by the addition of exquisite gilding. This form of decoration has its source in the latter decades of the 19th century, when exquisite ornamental wares were made in black basalt with the bas-relief figures enhanced by bronzing and gilding.
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text and image source : http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/
secondary source :http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/
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