Power of Love VS Love of Power

A mind free of ignorance, greed, and hatred – peaceful and drama-free sounds nearly too good to be true. However, this state of being is amongst the ideals of Buddhism and basing my opinion simply on those standards, I see no wrong. A fair portion of the world has its qualms with religion – the concept in general, religions and philosophies which are not our own, and especially concepts we know little or nothing about.



Buddha statue at Yungang Grottoes, Northern Wei Dynasty 686 (386-534).
Datong, Shanxi, China.

If you’re religious, so be it. I simply ask that you keep which ever God or gods you follow to yourself and leave me out of it. It’s a sensitive matter which falls amongst other taboo subjects including politics and the Great Pumpkin. I, perhaps naively, honestly believe that if the citizens of the world were able to put their religions aside, there would be less animosity between neighbours and nations. If instead we focussed our energy on learning more about one other, being humble and sharing our prosperity, as well as spreading more love than hate, we might really be able to get somewhere.



Laughing Buddha, possibly Maitreya.
Date unknown, Lingyin-si Temple, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.

Who was it that said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace”? It’s debatable and attributed to both William Gladstone and Jimi Hendrix, and the actual point is not who said it, but that it was said. Now, if only we made it happen – the Buddhists certainly cannot do it alone.



Medicine Buddha, 15th century, China.
Red copper with gold, height: 32 cm.

Maybe I’m preaching socialism, or sound a bit crunchy-granola, and I can live with that. Check out the Chinese Buddhist Sculpture exhibit through 31 March at the Tokyo National Museum and try to learn about something you didn’t previously understand. Also, get a further look into Chinese Art with Stephen Bushell, including sculpture, architecture, and painting.

-Le Lorrain Andrews

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 31^st 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?

In the Time of Devotion

What do you think of when someone mentions the Middle Ages? I’d say caves, toga-like clothing, candles, definitely a lot of candles, witches, the burning of said witches, and ceaseless devotion to God. Often, when the internet in my apartment isn’t working, I tell friends “I’m living in the Middle Ages” – which has more candles than devotion to God and witch burning.

Honestly, let’s face it, what else was there to do between the 5^th and 15^th centuries aside from worship God, be a witch or burn them, participate in the many crusades, and wait to meet your maker? If you think about it, maybe part of the reason life expectancy was so short is because it is actually possible to die of boredom*.

People talk about time machines and how incredible it would be to go back (or forward, for that matter) in time, but we’re living in the best time to be alive. We’ve got television and Batman; internet and Ryan Gosling. I wouldn’t have survived ten minutes in the Middle Ages, but would happily see how those that did, entertained themselves.


The Rheims Missal (Missale Remenense), The Creation of the World, 1285-1297.
Parchment, Latin, 23.3 x 16.2 cm.
Paris.


Bestiarum, Adam Naming the Animals, late 12th century.
Parchment, Latin, 20 x 14.5 cm.
England.

The Getty is at it again, exhibiting religiously charged images, starting this month through 3 February 2013 (assuming the world doesn’t end first and we meet the Powers that Be in person): The Art of Devotion in the Middle Ages. Often find yourself without internet or electricity, or do you simply want to go back in time? Procure this fantastic representation of manuscripts of the period: Illuminated Manuscripts by Edmond de Goncourt and Jp. A. Calosse.

*Research was still being conducted at time of posting.

 

-Le Lorrain Andrews

Heaven, Hell and Dying Well

The Christian Church of the Middle Ages was the most important institution of the time, holding an unyielding power over what the general population thought and believed. More often than not, art of the period venerates Jesus in all of His glory, placing him at the centre on a throne, judging who shall pass through the gates of Heaven and who will be banished to eternal damnation. These images gave strength to the many believers while terrifying some skeptics towards belief.


Take Fra Angelico’s The Last Judgement (1425-1430) for example (above). Christ sits in judgement on a white throne surrounded by John, Mary, the saints, and angels, his right hand pointing towards Heaven, while his left indicates Hell. On his right is paradise, a beautiful garden leading to a city on a hill; angels lead the saved to meet their loved ones. To Christ’s left, we see demons forcing the damned back into Hell to take their place for eternal torment. At the very bottom, Satan gets his fill of three sinners while two others wait in his grips.

Once considered terrifying, today these images are subjects of ridicule and disbelief. The length to which believers went to assure their salvation in a place that will more likely than not turn out to be imaginary and intended to ease the fear of death, is simply laughable. Do you believe in God the Almighty and His Son that died for your sins? Should we, in fact, sin more in order to be sure that He died for the right reasons?

See more religiously charged images in Heaven, Hell, and Dying Well: Images of Death in the Middle Ages at The J. Paul Getty Museum, exhibiting until the 12^th August 2012. Furthermore, bring these images home with Art of the Devil, a high-quality art ebook full of detailed images of life after death, stemming from the artists' deepest fears.