Artfinder.com

There has been a lot of exciting news over the past few months about art on the web. Google recently launched their Art Project, Twitter is teeming with artists, art lovers and art historians, and H Niyazi of Three Pipe Problem just launched the Art History Database, which permits visitors to search some of the best art and history sites on the web for relevant art-related content.

Yesterday, another exciting entrant launched the beta version of their site. Artfinder.com aims to connect visitors to new art through their website. Many of you are likely familiar with Pandora - the music service that automatically builds playlists for listeners based on their preferences. Artfinder.com aims to offer the ability do something similar, helping visitors discover new artists by using their "magic tour."

The magic tour works by showing you a set of four paintings, from which you choose your favorite (or you can skip the entire set if you don't like any of them).  This is done 3-4 times, after which a slide show is created based on your earlier choices.

The site mentions plans to develop applications for mobile and tablet devices, with the goal of sharing profits with the museums, galleries and artists featured on the site. Since there will be no cost to museums and galleries, this could be a really wonderful way for museums to increase revenues - especially when times are tough and arts funding is in so much jeopardy across the globe.

I was a bit disappointed that the website is weighted so heavily in the direction of pre-20th century art, although there are works by early 20th century artists like Matisse. Of course, as anyone who blogs knows all too well, it can be tough to get permission to show modern and contemporary works. This is a shame, but I hope things will change going forward. Obviously, Artfinder doesn't want to get slapped with a copyright suit their first day in business! Hopefully once artists (or their estates) are aware of the site, they will be willing to consider allowing their images to be displayed.

I really like the concept. The website has begun with 250,000 artworks, and you have the option to share paintings (right now it's just paintings and sketches, though they have said that they will be adding sculpture in the future) with friends through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.

I was a bit disappointed with the magic tour, which is probably largely due to the fact that I am in a bit of a modern/contemporary art mood at the moment, and there is little of that on the website. So, I chose a few 19th century paintings. The results seemed a bit random, but I did find a few artists I was not familiar with. I liked most of what I saw, but I'm not sure if that was because of the accuracy of the "magic tour", or because I'm not that picky!

Overall, I think it's a great site and I'm very impressed with what Artfinder is trying to do. It's still in beta, so there are some wrinkles to be sorted out. However, I would definitely recommend it to readers of this blog, and I am very excited to see that art is alive and thriving in our web 2.0 world.

St. George and the Dragon, 1811 by Franz Pforr, Image courtesy Wikimedia

March Issue of the Art History Carnival to be Hosted at Three Pipe Problem

The March issue of the Art History Carnival will be hosted at Three Pipe Problem. The deadline for submissions will be Wednesday, March 2, 2011, with the selected entries being posted on Sunday March 6th 2011. If you would like to submit an article, you can do so directly through the submission form. My sincere thanks to Three Pipe Problem for hosting this issue, and I can't wait to see all the posts!

Ford Madox Brown Exhibit this Fall at Manchester Art Gallery

From Saturday, September 24, 2011 - Sunday, January 29, 2012, Manchester Art Gallery will be running a major exhibition of the works of Ford Madox Brown. Over 150 of Brown's works will be showcased, including well-known works such as Work (shown above) and The Last of England.

The exhibit will pay special attention to Brown's role in the Pre-Raphaelite movement and highlight his unique methods. Fans of the Arts and Crafts movement will be pleased that, in addition to his paintings, Brown's forays into furniture and stained glass will also be featured.

If you miss the Manchester venue, the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Ghent, Belgium, will also be hosting the exhibit from February 25 - June 3, 2012.

Ford Madox Brown: Pre-Raphaelite Pioneer will be curated by Julian Treuherz, an independent art historian and curator who specializes in Victorian art.

The exhibit catalogue will be available both online and in the museum giftshop, so even if you can't make it to Manchester, you'll have the chance to experience it.

For more information, see the Manchester Art Gallery's website.

Image courtesy Wikimedia

Special thanks to Philip Ebbrell for bringing this to my attention!

Art History Carnival February 2011

Welcome to the February 1, 2011 edition of art history carnival! Thank you to everyone who participated in this issue - there is some fabulous stuff here. We have everything from a reminder that artists - whether painters or film directors - tend to take liberties with the details of history, to a fascinating debate over the meaning and subject matter of Giorgione's The Tempest. So, pour yourself a cup of tea, and prepare to spend a while reading!

art history

Giorgione's The Tempest (seen above) seems to have captured the imagination of a number of art history bloggers this month, including Gina Collia-Suzuki. who raises a number of questions about the painting in her post The Tempest, by Giorgione posted at The Perplexed Palette.



But it doesn't end there! H Niyazi examines the painting from an historical perspective in his post, which explores the turbulent historical background of the early 1500s, and discusses its impact on some iconic works of Venetian Renaissance art, including Giorgione's 'Tempest' and Carpaccio's 'Portrait of a Knight'" in Giorgione, Carpaccio and the Siege of Padua posted at Three Pipe Problem



Have you ever heard of Hubert Van Eyck? I'm sorry to say that, prior to reading the following post, I hadn't! Hubert has been rather forgotten by the art world, thanks to the larger than life image of his brother Jan. Monica Bowen delves into the history of the Van Eyck brothers in Jan and Hubert Van Eyck: What I wish we knew posted at Alberti's Window.



Have you ever wondered why paintings of historical events include figures directly staring at the viewer? Monica Bowen looks to Renaissance scholar Leon Battista Alberti for the answer in historia paintings: here's looking at you, kid posted at Alberti's Window



David Packwood takes us on a journey into the Venetian Renaissance, and the work of Tintoretto, as recounted by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's talismanic advocate John Ruskin in Ruskin & Tintoretto posted at Art History Today



Dr. Frank DeStefano prefaces the work of John V. Fleming, exploring the sacred symbolism in Giovanni Bellini's 'St Francis in the Desert'" in his post entitled The sacred symbolism of Giovanni Bellini posted at Three Pipe Problem

Diana Flores presents her reaction to the Vietnam War Memorial in A Lacanian Intepretation of Maya Ying Lin's Vietnam War Memorial  posted at The Canon

One of the biggest challenges for art historians who researching female artists is that women's artwork has often been lost in the pages of history. Susan Benford helps remind us of the work done by one accomplished 17th century artist in Famous Painters: Judith Leyster posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog. Susan has also done a fascinating post featuring the work of portraitist Lavinia Fontana in Famous Paintings: Portrait of a Noblewoman posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog.



Vicky Alvear Shecter contemplates Jean Leon-Gerome's 'Pollice Verso' - the painting that inspired generations of historical film makers, and cemented a popular misconception about the 'thumbs down' gesture in gladiatorial combat - in Gladiators: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? posted at History with a Twist

art news

H Niyazi presents ModernARTization at the World Economic Forum posted at The Tait Global, saying, "The globetrotting Liv Tait spends some creative quality time with Damien Hirst and recounts the fascinating proceedings of the recent ModerARTization panel at the World Economic Forum."

exhibits

Natalie Bennett presents a post examining artifacts that have been left behind in history to remind us of the lives (and names) of women in Women in two Oxford museums posted at Philobiblon.

That concludes this edition. 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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Giorgione's The Tempest courtesy Wikimedia

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

I hope 2011 has gotten off to a great start for everyone. I have been very busy so far this year (as some of you may have noticed from the lack of frequent postings), but hopefully things will start to slow down a little over the next couple of months and I will be able to get back to blogging!

The February Art History Carnival  will be posted on February 1, 2011. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (in this case, Sunday, January 30th). 

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

One final thing to keep in mind: 
To keep things current, posts should have been written after the date of the last Carnival. If a post is six months old, I won't be able to include it in the Carnival, no matter how great it is.

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

The Poetry of Drawing: Pre-Raphaelite Designs, Studies and Watercolours

Those of you living in the UK (or visiting) are in for a real treat this month. From January 29, 2011 to May 15, 2011, The Birmingham Museum is hosting what promises to be "the largest survey of Pre-Raphaelite drawings and watercoulours ever staged." The museum has assembled works Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery’s world-class collections, together with important pieces from public and private lenders, including some works by D.G. Rossetti, William Holman Hunt and Edward Burne-Jones that have never previously been exhibited. The exhibit, entitled The Poetry of Drawing, will place special emphasis on the important role that drawing played in the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

The Poetry of Drawing will include pieces from the most prominent members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, including all the original members of the PRB, Elizabeth Siddal, Edward Burne-Jones, Frederick Sandys and Simeon Solomon. Later artists, such as Aubrey Beardsley, who were influenced by the Brotherhood are also included, as are the Arts and Crafts contributions of William Morris, William de Morgan and Florence Camm.

For those of you who are unable to attend, the exhibition's curator has created an illustrated volume entitled Pre-Raphaelite Drawing. The book will be published by Thames and Hudson. I would love to see this exhibit in person, but if I don't get the chance, I will definitely be looking into the catalogue!

For more information and ticket prices, please visit the Birmingham Museum's exhibition website.

Image above is William Morris' sketch for his Trellis wallpaper design.

Art History Carnival January 2011

Happy New Year and welcome to the January 3, 2011 edition of art history carnival. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves over the holidays, and I hope you all had a chance to take in some fabulous art! My family finally had the chance to see the Matisse exhibit being held at the Art Gallery of Alberta over Christmas holiday. It was a lot of fun, though my daughter seemed less than impressed by his early work (that's okay, Mommy didn't like it much either).

*disclaimer*

I read all submissions carefully and have chosen those I hope will enlighten and inform. However, these posts represent many different viewpoints and modes of self-expression, and some may not appeal to all readers.

art history

Helen Webberley presents Modern art destroys British morals, 1910! Read all about it! posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "In selecting works for The Manet and the Post-Impressionists Exhibition, held in London in 1910, art critic Roger Fry went a long way to define post impressionist art for Britain. Despite the howling derision of traditionalists, British artists and art lovers enjoyed the Cezannes, Matisses, Gauguins and van Goghs very much."

Zsombor Jékely has written about the history of the oldest, well-documented Chinese porcelain objects to enter Europe in a post entitled A note on the Fonthill Vase posted at Medieval Hungary

H Niyazi presents Jan van Eyck : symbolism, virtuosity, and a Vasari myth posted at Three Pipe Problem. The post examines Van Eyck's work and questions the notion that Van Eyck "invented" oil painting.

Monica Bowen debunks a commonly held misconception about the famous Gero Crucifix of Cologne Cathedral in her post Crucifix of Gero Conundrum posted at Alberti's Window



H Niyazi presents Giorgione, herons and a Carpaccio Knight posted at Three Pipe Problem, saying, "Giorgione's enigmatic 'Tempest' has enjoyed a reputation for being undecipherable. This article explores an amazing similarity between Giorgione's work and fellow Venetian artist Carpaccio. It also highlights how Twitter based collaboration helped inform and unite independent researchers from UK, Australia and the US...in real time!"



Nicole Elena Robertson shares her experience studying printmaking at Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice in her post Artist book from Venice posted at Nicole Elena Robertson



Monica Bowen takes a closer look at The "Sumptuous" Arts in Greece posted at Alberti's Window saying "the "sumptuous" artistic materials like ivory, gold, silver and gemstone were the artistic mediums that the Greeks most prized. In other words, the Greek marble, bronze and (painted) pottery (all of which are placed at the heart of Western art history) weren't as valued by the ancient Greeks."

exhibits and openings

Alexandra Korey explores the history of the Ghirlandaio workshop, now featured in exhibits across Florence and Scandicci in her post The Ghirlandaio Family- Renaissance painters in Florence and Scandicci posted at Tuscany Arts




Eve Mann presents a candid reaction to the 2010 National Biennial exhibit posted at The Phoenix in a Gas House, saying, "Jamaica is typically known for its beaches and music, however there is a thriving art scene with many cool artists yet to be discovered, especially by those outside of Jamaica. The national Biennial shows the new stars and the old hotness all in one place."




That concludes this edition. 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.

Share
|

Technorati tags:

art history carnival, blog carnival.

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons