beside the easel

Madonna della Misericordia by Fra Bartolomeo, 1515 In this article, Bob Duggan discusses how Renaissance Art redefined culture by overturning dogma and challenging religious notions, sometimes vain but always intriguing. Based on the book The Controversy of Renaissance Art by Art History professor Alexander Nagel he explains how Humanism deeply influenced artists of the day yet were criticized for being superficial and distracting people from the intended message. The Art triumphs ultimately after the fall of Savonarola's radical puritanism and paves the way for artists to explore ideas and concepts within the scope of religion and Neo-Platonism that changed the world.

A recent article explains how viewing art in a museum has a more powerful effect on the viewer.

A 1620s Anthony van Dyck portrait of the musician Hendrick Liberti sold at Christie’s on Tuesday for £2.9 million. from the New York Times Read this article from the New York Times on how the art market is beginning to change for the Old Masters, despite a popularity of the contemporary art scene.

Last week I returned from an amazing two week journey through London, France, Belgium and Spain that was life-changing. Last year I was awed and overwhelmed by Paris and London, whereas this year it felt like something more. It felt like home. Above is a small sample of some original drawings I had the honour to hold in my hands and study from, thanks to the fine collections of the print rooms at Windsor Castle and the Louvre. Over the course of my travels and various new museums I discovered in Belgium and Spain I was reminded of the importance we have as artists to simply make time for our art and do it! And do it to the best of your ability. Because the rich legacy we have available to us and what we can learn from it, how it can inspire us today is invaluable. Those drawings have a freshness that seems like they were drawn yesterday, and yet every stroke, every line taught me something. Art is about discovery and expression, something that we need to share with the world becau...

Marten Looten , 1632 by Rembrandt van Rijn July is a month in art history that has produced some of the most idiosyncratic, passionate, sensitive and rebellious artists of all time. If you don't believe me, consider these names: Rembrandt , Artemisia Gentileschi (and her father Orazio) , Camille Pissarro , Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot , Edgar Degas , Salvator Rosa ...all born in July. All rebellious in their own particular way. All brilliant. Let's explore a few of these great painters and find out why... Marten Looten was a wealthy Dutch merchant from Leiden who commissioned this portrait. Although understated compared to some of his less formal portraiture, Rembrandt creates here a likeness that is painted with such sensitivity and depth that those penetrating eyes, tight lips, and thick hands convey a person who breathes through the paint. Normally Rembrandt loved using texture in his sitter's clothing to describe and identify their very soul, yet here the ma...

Korean author Young-ha Kim gives entertaining talk on art and why it is an intrinsic part of all our lives:

Dulwich Picture Gallery, London 2013 Two years ago I had an idea for a blog about art history and my favourite artists of all time, celebrating their birthdays and their great art by in-depth analysis of some of their best works. Over the course of that time I have discovered numerous artists that I never would have known even existed without this blog. I have learned so much. It is truly humbling not only to have discovered artists, but to have learned and keep learning the most important skill any artist needs in this world: observation. The ability to see. And to compose those elements into a meaningful work that truly tells a story or moves you in a unique way. The goal of this blog has been to go beyond the countless blogs out there that show all kinds of art but without context or explanation. A fresh point of view can really change your opinion about an artist, or at least see some of their work with a different perspective. In these past two years I have written about ov...