Camelot - New TV Series Starring Eva Green and Joseph Fiennes

I've been an undying fan of Arthurian legend for as long as I can remember. I wish I could say that my first encounter with the Knights of the Round Table was Malory's Morte D'Arthur, or even Howard Pyle (though both came very soon after!). No, it was actually Bing Crosby's 1949 version of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. I was about 7, and was completely captivated by the film. Looking back, I realize the the story was pretty silly, and a commercial failure of epic proportions. But as a kid, none of that mattered. I was hooked from the moment Bing woke up in Camelot - I loved the clothes, romance, adventure and the corny, stilted, olde-ish English (and, truth be told, I still like the movie!).



Even today, it seems I can't get enough of Arthurian legend on film. Good, bad or indifferent, I'm always willing to check out the latest Hollywood offering. So, imagine my delight at the announcement that Eva Green (Casino Royale) and Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) will be starring as Morgana and Merlin in a new television series entitled Camelot. The series is set to premier in early 2011 and will be broadcast internationally by GK-TV, through the CBC in Canada and by Starz in the US.

The 10 part mini-series will be based on Malory's Morte D'Arthur, and is being shot at Ardmore Studios, where The Tudors was also filmed.

Will you be watching?

Image: Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, The Beguiling of Merlin, 1872-1877

Loreena McKennitt's New Album:"The Wind that Shakes the Barley"

Whenever I want to relax, or if I'm feeling a touch homesick (she may be from Manitoba, but her music will always remind me of the Pacific Northwest), I reach for Loreena McKennitt's music. Her voice has such a natural beauty and I find it incredibly soothing and familiar - probably because I've listened to all of her CD's a thousand times! There are so many childhood memories I have that are inextricably tied to her music.

There's something about Autumn that especially reminds me of McKennitt's music. I can vividly recall listening to The Mask and the Mirror with my mom and sister as we drove to local haunts like Lattin's Country Cider Mill in Olympia, Washington (Lattin's is an amazing farm and cider mill in Olympia, and if you are ever in the area, you have to go! They make the best apple cider in the world, something I'm sure my husband never tires of hearing - but seriously, they make amazing cider, and it's one of the places I cannot wait to take my daughter). I still remember how McKennitt's music made dark and rainy drives through the back-roads of Western Washington seem romantic and exciting. A trip to the Yelm movie theater was almost like an Arthurian quest! These days, I also find that her albums work perfectly as my "not quite Christmas" music. I'm a Christmas music fanatic, but the Nutcracker in September/October is pushing it - even for me - and I find albums like McKennitt's To Drive the Cold Winter Away result in a few less raised eyebrows.

Loreena McKennitt is releasing a new album of traditional Celtic folksongs this fall entitled The Wind that Shakes the Barley. The CD will be released in Europe on November 12 and will be available in Canada and the United States on CD, iTunes and vinyl on November 16. You can listen to a preview of the CD on her website, Quinlan Road.

Loreena McKennitt has not released an all-new (non-compilation) album since An Ancient Muse, back in 2006 (which was a great album, by the way). And while I've enjoyed the compilation albums, it's great to hear her arrange some new songs.  Her latest album will be a collection of traditional Celtic songs. Commenting on her choice of traditional music for the new album, McKennitt has said that "every once and again there is a pull to return to one's own roots or beginnings, with the perspective of time and experience, to feel the familiar things you once loved and love still." I haven't heard the full album, but from the preview available on her website, the music sounds lovely. In my opinion, McKennitt's real genius is arranging beautiful music in a way that shows off her unique voice at it's very best (no small feat when you consider that her vocal career spans over 25 years), and this album is no exception. I can't wait to share this one with my daughter!

October Issue of the Art History Carnival

Welcome to the October 1, 2010 edition of art history carnival! I received a wide variety of submissions this month - everything from classic art history articles to a review of DNA art. And while I confess that I'm still a little confused about the DNA art, I have a feeling my husband would probably find it interesting.

architecture

Brenda Chapman has written an introductory piece on the 10 Essential Architectural Movements of the 20th Century. Name as many architectural movements as you can before you go to the website, and see how many are listed!

Alexandra Korey presents Michelangelo's Laurentian Library, Mannerist Tendencies posted at Arttrav.com

art

Helen Webberley has done a fascinating portrait of the life of artist Reuven Rubin  posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly

Gábor Endrődi shares a post written by Zsombor Jékely on the subject of the medieval fresco decoration of The medieval parish church of Pest (part II.) - A remarkable discovery posted at Medieval Hungary.

Hermes has done a fascinating review of John Everett Millais' The Romans Leaving Britain on Pre-Raphaelite Art

H Niyazi has shared a great piece by art historian Monica Bowen entitled boy bitten by a lizard: posner vs. gilbert posted at Alberti's Window, saying, "Monica Bowen explores the allegory of Caravaggio's Boy Bitten by A Lizard, discussing prevalent and controversial theories that surround the Baroque Master."

H Niyazi also submitted an interesting piece called A Grey Heron posted at Tempesta News, saying, "Dr Frank DeStefano uncovers a stunning piece of evidence supporting the spiritual reading of Giorgione's mysterious 'Tempesta'." (Thank you for all the great articles, Hasan!).

Emily Brand presents The Many Guises of Marie Antoinette posted at The Artist's Progress....

Helen Webberley presents Che Guevara and the suffering Christ posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "Che Guevara probably would have been thought of as a Christ-like figure in devoutly Catholic Bolivia anyhow. But there was an important post-mortem photo that was remarkably similar to Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp 1632 and Andrea Mantegna's Lamentation over the Dead Christ 1490. This reinforced the image of Guevara's corpse as being Christ-like in its suffering."

Susan Benford presents an overview of some of Michelangelo's best-known paintings. posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog

Kendall Roberts presents The Evolution of Pop Art in the Twenty First Century - Neo DNAism posted at Neo DNAism.

Finally, if you are in the mood for a bit of a mystery, Dr Ben Harvey presents a bit of an art history thriller with his post on the poem Art's Quota (part one) located at Emanata.

exhibits

Alexandra Korey provides a fascinating insight to restorations at the Chiostro dello Scalzo in Florence, including descriptions and images of some rarely seen frescoes in his Chiostro dello Scalzo – hidden frescoes in Florence! | TuscanyArts posted at Tuscany Arts, 

That concludes this edition. I would like to apologize if anyone missed the deadline due to a dating problem on the Blog Carnival website. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but I created an upcoming edition numerous times and it didn't seem to show up on the site. I'm glad that so many people submitted their articles anyway! Submit your blog article to the next edition of
art history carnival
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

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Call for Submissions for the October Issue of the Art History Carnival

The October issue of the Art History Carnival  will be posted on October 1, 2010. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (in this case, September 29, 2010). 

What kind of blog articles will be included? 
Posts covering all periods and art mediums are welcome, as are posts discussing art criticism, architecture, design, theory and aesthetics. All submissions will be carefully reviewed. 

What is a Blog Carnival? 
According to Wikipedia, a blog carnival is "a type of blog event...similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly. Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains permalinks links to other blog articles on the particular topic." 

Blog Carnivals are a great way to help your blog reach a new audience and to make new friends in the blogosphere! 

Who can submit? 
Anyone, as long as you have a blog! And If you don't blog, you can submit one of your friend's articles (except they better be good--I'll be reading them!). 

Can I host a carnival? 

Absolutely! Please let me know if you'd be interested in hosting the next issue of the carnival. 

How to submit articles
You have two options:

1. Send me an email. Include the title and permalink URL of the post you are nominating for inclusion in the carnival, along with the name of the blog. Please put "Art History Carnival" in the title of your email to help me recognize it in my inbox!

2. Use the submission form provided by Blog Carnival (this is probably the easiest!). 

One final thing to keep in mind: 
To keep things current, posts should have been written after the date of the last Carnival.

Thank you for your participation! Share the news if you know someone who likes to write about art!

Pre-Raphaelite exhibits at Oxford and Cambridge: Pre-Raphaelites and Italy and Pre-Raphaelite Portraits by John Brett

My family and I enjoyed a wonderful--if slightly frenetic--weekend visiting family in Washington state. It was quite the whirlwind weekend - shopping, a wedding and visiting a couple of friends. We had a great time though. Seattle is a beautiful city, and Washington is so pretty in general...but it did go by so quickly that the whole thing was a bit of a blur. Fortunately, Edmonton was so cloudy when I got back that I feel like I'm still in Washington! The strangest part is that, even though I was only gone for a weekend, when I returned, Edmonton was already in the middle of Autumn. Trees are changing colors and losing their leaves already! I'm excited though - Fall really is one of my favourite times of year. 

Autumn will always call to mind the beginning of Fall classes, and now that I'm no longer in school, I tend to look for stand-ins. And usually that means new museum exhibitions! I received an email from a reader (thank you, Phillip), about two upcoming Pre-Raphaelite exhibitions in England. One is being held at Cambridge, the other at Oxford. Where better to soak up a bit of the excitement of the back-to-school atmosphere than at two Pre-Raphaelite art exhibits at England's top universities? 

The Pre-Raphaelites and Italy will be held at the University of Oxford's Ashmolean Museum and is scheduled to run from September 16 - December 5, 2010. The exhibit will feature works by John Ruskin, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a host of other Pre-Raphaelite luminaries, and will examine the relationship these artists had with Italy. (For example, I find it fascinating that, while Rossetti grew up speaking Italian in an Italian-English home, he never actually visited Italy himself. Ruskin, on the other hand, was a frequent visitor and champion of Italian art and culture). This promises to be an excellent opportunity to see a number of Pre-Raphaelite works held by museums around the globe. 

The second exhibit I would like to share with readers is entitled Objects of Affection: Pre-Raphaelite Portraits by John Brett. John Brett is best known for his landscape paintings, but his portraits are the main focus of this exhibit. Interestingly, Brett was also a pioneer in the field of photography, and his photographic portraits will also be on display. This show is being held at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum and runs from now until November 28, 2010. 

These exhibits look so interesting, and I must say I'm excited to see Pre-Raphaelites being the focus of simultaneous showcases at Oxford and Cambridge. Now, if only they would focus a bit on improving the online version of these exhibits for those of us who are a bit too busy with our families to cross the ocean to see them in person...

John Brett, Val d'Aosta, 1858 - image courtesy Wikimedia

New Theodor von Holst Exhibition in Cheltenham

A new exhibition featuring the works of English Romantic painter Theodor von Holst will be on display until December 11, 2010 at the Holst Birthplace Museum in Cheltenham.

Theodor von Holst is thought to have influenced the Pre-Raphaelites and when you see his paintings, you'll know why. (Theodor von Holst is not that well known, but you probably have heard of his grand nephew, Gustav Holst). Dante Gabriel Rossetti admired Holst's work, and the exhibition will feature a number of Rossetti's works in addition to 50 drawings and paintings by Theodor von Holst. 

It looks like it will be a great opportunity to find out more about von Holst, as well as to see some of Rossetti's works up close. If anyone has a chance to go, please let us know how it was! 

For more information, please visit the exhibition website.

Image courtesy wikimedia

September Issue of the Art History Carnival

Welcome to the September 1, 2010 edition of the Art History Carnival.

I was so pleased to receive so many fantastic submissions for this issue - thank you to everyone for making this possible!

art history

Jason, author of Executed Today presents his post 1599: Beatrice Cenci and her family, for parricide which examines "the reciprocal social construction between a family tragedy, a Romantic legend, and a (misattributed) painting." You might also want to check out Jason's post on the rather gruesome death of Marco Antonio Bragadin 1571: Marco Antonio Bragadin, flayed Venetian, which shows how current events informed Venetian artwork.

H Niyazi presents Painted Into Immortality : Dante and Virgil on a Hellish Boat Ride, posted at Three Pipe Problem, saying "great works of Art or Literature often share a truly special feature - they tie together ideas, people and places spanning many eras and summate them in manner that not only makes them relevant for the audience it was created for, but resonates just as strongly through time." A beautiful and well-written post - be sure to check it out!


Hermes, author of Pre-Raphaelite Art, has has written a post on the Study for John William Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott that examines the artistic process.


Monica Bowen, author of the beautiful art history blog Alberti's Window,  presents a post correcting some misconceptions about ghiberti's north doors that have managed to make their way into art history textbooks. I'm always amazed at how many errors find their way into scholarly works.


Meredith Hale presents Art and Design in Glasgow and Edinburgh posted at Meredith Hale: Art and Inspiration. She notes that "this post is on art and architecture I had the pleasure of seeing in person in Glasgow and Edinburgh. It focuses on the works of Phoebe Anna Traquair and Charles Mackintosh." An interesting that introduces some less widely known artists like Phoebe Anna Traquair.


H Niyazi nominated Wired Art History posted at Art History Today, saying, "David Packwood's unique contemplation of Art History and cyberspace was a fascinating exploration of the way new technology is impacting on Art appreciation."   The author has a very different perspective on this issue than I do, so it was a particularly fascinating read for me. I hope many of you will take the time to read this post and weigh in!


Romeo Vitelli presents a journey through the tortured psyche of artist Edvard Munch in Curing Munch, posted at Providentia.

architecture

Joanne Capella presents a review of the documentary "My Architect", which chronicles the life of architect Louis Isadore Kahn posted at Design & Desire in the Twentieth Century

exhibits

Helen, author of Art and Architecture, Mainly, has written an in-depth review of the Stadel Museum's new exhibit:  European Masters: Städel Museum 19th - 20th Century, which will be on display until October 2010. 

Alexandra Korey presents Daniel Spoerri Sculpture Garden in Maremma, Tuscany | TuscanyArts posted at Tuscany Arts. This is a fabulous review includes photos, video and information about how to get around. If you plan on being in Tuscany, it looks like this is a must-see for art lovers!

H Niyazi nominated another post by Alexandra Korey, entitled Top 5 sculptures to see in the Bargello museum in Florence | TuscanyArts posted at Tuscany Arts, saying, "Based in Florence, Alexandra Korey provides valuable insights to art minded travellers to Tuscany and Florence!" Thank you for suggesting this post, Hasan.


That concludes this edition. I would  like to note that I chose not to include a number of wonderful submissions that were several months out of date. My sincere thanks to the authors that submitted them, but I would like to keep this carnival as up-to-date as possible. Thank you for understanding!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the
art history carnival
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our

blog carnival index page.

Share

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art history carnival, blog carnival.