It’s that time of year again. Adrenaline, excitement, anguish, depression, lethargy, and resignation: these are all common feelings associated with this time. What is so significant about this particular time of year you may ask? Well, now is the time of year when the season finale of the Game of Thrones has come and gone. A whole 9 months to go before we find out who the next unsuspecting victim(s) of George R.R. Martin’s vicious pen will be. And I ask you: how are we supposed to deal with that?
Sure, for the next month, there will be lots of debate about what might happen and who may become the next strongest contender for the Iron Throne (seriously people, don’t keep bandying Daenerys Targaryen’s name about so much… Martin may get angry, and then BAM, there goes one of our favourites!). Some people may even pick up the books for the first time, in an eager bid to get ahead of the TV show (to the person who recently said to me: “why bother reading the books when you have the TV show?”, Shame on you!!!), and yet, as someone who has read the books, and first picked them up nearly ten years ago… they will hook you, and then leave you in a worse state than the TV show. Because believe me, with the televised version, 9 months is nothing. When you wait YEARS for the next book to come out, then you will understand the true meaning of patience.
Showing posts with label National Gallery of Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label National Gallery of Art. Show all posts
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Manos, ¿para qué os quiero?
Desde que desaparecieran los aprendices, el valor y la utilidad del trabajo manual ha ido perdiendo prestigio a pasos agigantados. Las constantes reformas educativas que absorbieron los oficios que anteriormente se aprendían y perfeccionaban en los talleres, pasaron a formar parte de la enseñanza profesional, la conocida como formación profesional, que proporcionaba conocimientos teóricos además de prácticos. Me abstendré de valorar la justicia o acierto de esta estrategia ―de alguna manera había que ocupar a la cantidad de jóvenes que se negaban a estudiar y no podían encontrar trabajo en la España de la transición―, pero las consecuencias, en mi humilde opinión, pueden percibirse en dos aspectos diferentes.
La primera es que ya nadie quiere trabajar con sus manos.
La primera es que ya nadie quiere trabajar con sus manos.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Join the Club
If I were to ask you what Camille Pissarro, Dermot Morgan (Ted), Abraham, Christmas, William, Steve Martin, God, Time, and Marlon Brando have in common, would you be able to come up with the solution? I’ll give you a couple of seconds...
Young Peasant Girl Wearing a Hat, 1881.
Oil on canvas, 73.4 x 59.6 cm.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Father! They have all been referred to as “Father”. Many people (especially the British amongst us) will have heard of, and spent many an evening laughing at, Father Ted. Fathers Christmas and Time are personifications, both of whom appear in the Chronicles of Narnia interestingly enough. Father William is the hero of Lewis Carol’s satirical poem in Alice in Wonderland, and Father Abraham and God the Father are biblical references. Steve Martin and Marlon Brando have been “Fathers” in different ways: Father of the Bride, and the GodFATHER. “Father” is used as a mark of respect, as a title, and to indicate wisdom and age. Pissarro – nicknamed by his fellow Impressionists as Father Pissarro – falls into the “respect” and “wisdom” categories.
Considered to be the forebear of Impressionism, he began the process of opening up art’s eyes to the virtues of painting life as it was, rather than the idealised version. He would often paint a landscape in one sitting, outside at his easel, and capture life in the moment, rather than go back to his studio and romanticise the painting. Needless to say, this approach was looked upon with horror by many of his contemporaries. But then again, what new fad isn’t? Although Pissarro’s works were not held in high esteem by society until after his death, he found acceptance when he fell in with the Impressionists, artists such as Monet, Degas, Cassatt, and Renoir.
L’Hermitage, Pontoise, Snow Effect, 1874.
Oil on canvas, 54 x 64.8 cm.
The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.
Like any good club, a President was chosen – and this happened to be Pissarro (I’m sure that in the Impressionist-code, “Father Pissarro” actually stood for President Pissarro.) He did not even need a “Vote for Pedro Pissarro” badge. Personally, I think Pissarro well-deserved his honorary title. Whilst his paintings did not change life as we know it, they certainly helped capture it, and thereby kick-started the progression of change in artistic perspectives of the time and ever since. Father Christmas on the other hand? He needs to come up with some better Christmas card designs!
To discover more about Pissarro, his prints, and his paintings, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. is hosting a temporary exhibition Pissarro on Paper, hosted by the gallery until the 31st March 2013. Decide for yourselves whether his innovation and new techniques entitle him to be labelled as “Father Pissarro” or not. Otherwise, why not judge the complete picture with the help of Nathalia Brodskaya’s Mega-Square book, Impressionism?
Young Peasant Girl Wearing a Hat, 1881.
Oil on canvas, 73.4 x 59.6 cm.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Father! They have all been referred to as “Father”. Many people (especially the British amongst us) will have heard of, and spent many an evening laughing at, Father Ted. Fathers Christmas and Time are personifications, both of whom appear in the Chronicles of Narnia interestingly enough. Father William is the hero of Lewis Carol’s satirical poem in Alice in Wonderland, and Father Abraham and God the Father are biblical references. Steve Martin and Marlon Brando have been “Fathers” in different ways: Father of the Bride, and the GodFATHER. “Father” is used as a mark of respect, as a title, and to indicate wisdom and age. Pissarro – nicknamed by his fellow Impressionists as Father Pissarro – falls into the “respect” and “wisdom” categories.
Considered to be the forebear of Impressionism, he began the process of opening up art’s eyes to the virtues of painting life as it was, rather than the idealised version. He would often paint a landscape in one sitting, outside at his easel, and capture life in the moment, rather than go back to his studio and romanticise the painting. Needless to say, this approach was looked upon with horror by many of his contemporaries. But then again, what new fad isn’t? Although Pissarro’s works were not held in high esteem by society until after his death, he found acceptance when he fell in with the Impressionists, artists such as Monet, Degas, Cassatt, and Renoir.
L’Hermitage, Pontoise, Snow Effect, 1874.
Oil on canvas, 54 x 64.8 cm.
The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.
Like any good club, a President was chosen – and this happened to be Pissarro (I’m sure that in the Impressionist-code, “Father Pissarro” actually stood for President Pissarro.) He did not even need a “Vote for Pedro Pissarro” badge. Personally, I think Pissarro well-deserved his honorary title. Whilst his paintings did not change life as we know it, they certainly helped capture it, and thereby kick-started the progression of change in artistic perspectives of the time and ever since. Father Christmas on the other hand? He needs to come up with some better Christmas card designs!
To discover more about Pissarro, his prints, and his paintings, the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. is hosting a temporary exhibition Pissarro on Paper, hosted by the gallery until the 31st March 2013. Decide for yourselves whether his innovation and new techniques entitle him to be labelled as “Father Pissarro” or not. Otherwise, why not judge the complete picture with the help of Nathalia Brodskaya’s Mega-Square book, Impressionism?
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