The Earthly Paradise

Adventures in French Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Thu, 24 May 2012 18:54:00 +0000

These days there are two schools when it comes to homemade french bread: knead and no-knead. Personally, I rather like kneading bread, so at first I didn't quite get the point of no-knead bread, which was all the rage a few years ago, thanks in part to an article Jeffrey Steingarten wrote for Vogue Magazine. I mentally filed it away under "I have to try this someday" and didn't think much more of it.

Fast forward a few years later, and I am now a compulsive bread baker, thanks in part to my two year old, who is enchanted by everything that goes on in the kitchen. She insists on helping me prepare every loaf. In the past we've primarily stuck to an oat sandwich bread that's a breeze to make.

We probably could have gone on happily making sandwich bread for eternity, were it not for an episode of "The French Chef" that got our creative juices flowing. My daughter's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw Julia Child making baguettes. She leapt off the floor and pointed excitedly at the screen, shouting "pan! Pan!" (we have a bilingual home, and she prefers the Spanish "pan" to the unromantic English "bread"). Despite my reservations, what could I do?

As a home baker, I've always been a bit leery of french bread, which I've always been told requires a baker's oven. But if Julia Child, armed with nothing more than a turkey baster (this seems like a very inefficient method of getting the dough wet, but I think she just wanted to let people know you could do it with anything - she also brandished a "flit gun" for spraying the loaves, something I've never seen before in my life. Apparently it was originally used for insecticide. Yikes.), so could I. So, after watching the episode a half dozen more times (and getting the recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2), my daughter and I set to work.

I have a tendency to adjust recipes as I go along. For example, Julia calls for 2 teaspoons of yeast, which is just RIDICULOUS, unless you happen to live in Antarctica. Edmonton is practically at the Arctic circle, and I managed to use 1 teaspoon active dry yeast (I can't stand bread that tastes like yeast. I'm also cheap, but more on that later). I also added nearly 1/2 cup of extra water, because I think bleached flour absorbs more liquid and I tend to flour my kneading surface more than Julia does.

The bread turned out perfectly, but it took at least 9 hours, which is a bit of a challenge with two toddlers under foot, both of whom are desperately waiting to try the bread. Afterwards, I swore to myself I would just buy french bread from a bakery! But the results were delicious, and both of my kids were addicted almost immediately. My eight-month old now insists that every meal begin with bite-sized bits of french bread! What's a busy mom to do?

Then I remembered the whole "no-knead" concept. But most of the no-knead recipes want you to bake the bread in a dutch oven, and I don't really like that idea. It seems a bit lazy and my toddler loves to shape the dough. I started wondering if there was a way I could combine the recipes to create an easy recipe that wouldn't take all day to make.

A quick internet search and I had discovered several plausible sounding recipes. (The big problem was that none of them had enough salt. Julia's bread called for 2 1/4 teaspoons, and I wouldn't want to reduce the salt content by much, unless you have high blood pressure, etc.). Of course, I have perfected my own version, which follows.

The Recipe:

1/4 tsp active dry yeast
scant 2 cups warm water (1 5/6 cups if you want to be precise)
3 cups flour, plus extra for kneading (I know it's "no-knead", but I'll get to that later)
2 tsp salt

Part 1. The night before.

Begin by dissolving the yeast in the warm water. Let it sit for at least 3-4 minutes.

While the yeast is getting friendly, place 3 cups of flour in a bowl large enough to allow the mixture to expand to 3 times its bulk (about 10 1/2 cups - Julia recommends filling the bowl with water to know the precise level at which the dough has expanded to 3 1/2 times it's original bulk). Add 2 tsp of salt to the flour and mix.

Stir in the yeast and water mixture until well incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Then cover the plastic wrap with a damp towel.

Allow to rest for 12-14 hours (I do this before going to bed, so that it's ready to go after breakfast the next morning).

Part 2. In the morning.

Prepare your work surface with enough flour to prevent the dough from sticking.

Uncover the dough. It should have tripled in bulk and be bubbly and rather sweaty looking.

Using a spatula, turn the dough out onto your work surface. Allow it to rest for a moment while you wash out the bowl - you'll be needing it again in a moment.

Flour the palms of your hands and sprinkle some flour over the surface of the dough. Knead the dough 4-5x, just to squeeze out the air bubbles. Flatten it into a circle and squeeze out all the large bubbles of air. Fold the dough in half, and then in half again. Try to make it look a bit rounded (Julia says it should like a "rounded cushion"), and return it to the clean bowl. Cover it with the plastic wrap and towel and let it rest for 2 more hours.

Part 3. Shaping the dough.

By now the dough should be looking all bubbly again. Turn it out onto your floured working surface. Once again, flatten it into a circle and squeeze out the bubbles.

You can shape the dough however you'd like, but I prefer a long single loaf, which is done by folding the dough in half lengthwise. First you fold the far side to the center, and then you bring the near side of the dough to meet it in the middle (sort of like you're making an envelope). This part isn't really all that critical, but you will want to make sure it rises seam-side down, unless you want it to look funny.

Part 4. The final rise.

The next step is where I differ from pretty much every baker out there. Everyone - and I do mean everyone - insists that your french bread must rise on floured towels. This is nonsense, and messy to boot. I firmly believe it should rise on the surface you'll be baking it on. (Leave a comment if you think I'm crazy, but I've had amazing success with this method).

After shaping the dough, I pick it up off the counter and put it on a parchment covered baking sheet, seam side down. If you are making baguettes, which won't fit in a standard oven anyway, then you might need to use towels, but for any other shape, your hands will work just fine, and you can arrange the dough a bit once it's on the baking sheet.

Sprinkle a light dusting of flour on the surface of your dough and cover with plastic wrap, followed by a wet towel. Allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours, or until it has increased 2 1/2 times in bulk. After 1 hour, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Part 5. Scoring.

The signature cuts on the surface of french bread are both beautiful and useful. They allow the dough to expand just a little bit more! To create them, slice through the top layer of the dough using a sharp knife. I strongly suggest using a utility knife (obviously a clean one that isn't covered in plaster!). Wet it with warm water first, and it will cut cleanly and easily through the dough (plus it's a lot easier to hold than a razor blade!!).

Part 6. Baking.

You're almost there! Now we need to replicate the baker's oven as well as we can. This is done by spraying the dough with water, which allows the dough to rise a bit more during the beginning of the baking process. I use a standard spray bottle for this (obviously one that has never been used for cleaning products, etc.!). Spray the dough until the surface is wet, and then place it in your pre-heated 450 degree oven. Bake for 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, remove the bread. Spray it again. Return it to the oven for another 3 minutes.

After 3 more minutes, remove the bread and spray it again. Return it to the oven and repeat the process after another 3 minutes.

The final time (to clarify, you spray at the 3, 6 and 9 minute marks), remove bread and spray again. Return to the oven and bake for 16 more minutes, for a total bake time of 25 minutes. You might want to rotate the baking sheet half way through if your oven is hotter at the back than the front. Be sure to allow the bread to cool completely (2-3 hours) before storing or cutting (my daughter usually grabs a hunk of it before then!).

After trying Julia Child's method vs. the "no-knead" way, I would say that the crumb is nearly identical (perhaps because I used 1/2 the yeast that Julia recommended). My "less-knead" bread is ever so slightly denser, which gives it more of an artisan quality, whereas Julia's recipe seems to yield Safeway-esque light loaves (sorry, Julia). Also, since I bake bread at least twice a week, I love that I can use 4x less yeast in the no-knead version. And because it only takes 4 hours on the day you bake it, the no-knead recipe gives me time to get out of the house in the afternoon, which, as Martha Stewart would say, is a "good thing"!

As a reminder, if at any point to baking you have an emergency on your hands (and with two little ones, this is always a possibility), you can always put the dough in the fridge and start again later (refrigeration just slows down the rising process). If you have a nine hour chunk of time to make bread, then use Julia Child's version, which can be found on page 55 of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 2 (but reduce the amount of yeast!).

As with all bread, I think repetition is the key to getting it perfect. I have baked bread at least once a week for the past three years, so I sometimes feel I have a "connection" with it (I swear my older daughter does too! She's been baking her entire life!). You start to get a sense of how moist the dough should be at every point in the process, and what it's texture should be, and that's when it really becomes second nature.

Has anyone else out there experimented with no-knead vs. traditional french bread? Do you have any tips to share?

Art History Carnival May 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:47:00 +0000

Welcome to the May edition of art history carnival!

art history

Our first post is an examination of the "fête galante", which is "a genre of painting that portrays upper class society celebrating or enjoying outdoor gatherings and amusements." If the enormous popularity of PBS' Downton Abbey is any indication, this genre of art has certainly not lost its appeal. Lauren presents The Pilgrimage to Cythera captured the 18th century posted at Marie Antoinette's Gossip Guide to the 18th Century, saying, "This post takes a close look at Watteau's famous Pilgrimage to Cythera discussing the artist's technique and inspirations and introduces some unanswered questions left for the viewer to consider." I guess everyone enjoys a good "fête galante" and this post is a delightful exploration of the genre!

Helen Webberley presents ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly: inter-war American landscapes: Grant Wood posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "Last year I examined a series of landscape paintings that seemed to share nothing but their inter-war timing. Paul Nash, Eric Ravilius, Harry Epworth Allen, Reuven Rubin, Dorit Black and Rita Angus came from Britain, Australia, Israel and New Zealand.
These landscapes' boldly presented hills and roads emphasised their treatment as mass and form. And like cubist painting decades earlier, the mountains became interconnecting planes of varying depth. What about on the other side of the Atlantic? American artist Grant Wood (1891–1942) also painted bold landscapes, creating a sense of vast and easy movement. In evolving a style of artificial geometries, clean surfaces and relentless patterns, Wood was a true Art Deco painter!"

Susan Benford presents Rembrandt Paintings in the Rijksmuseum posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog, saying, "Rembrandt paintings are the most famous artwork in (and the indisputable pride of) Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, dedicated to showcasing the best of the Dutch Golden Age...these four Rembrandt paintings - plus "Night Watch" - are some of the most outstanding artwork in the Rijksmuseum."

Mark White takes his readers on a scenic tour of some beautiful examples of how walking has been portrayed throughout art history in his piece Walking Back to Happiness: Walking and Art posted at whitemarkarts.

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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Technorati tags: art history carnival, blog carnival.

Call for Submissions: May Issue of the Art History Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:59:00 +0000

The May edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Friday, May 4, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue is "released" (Wednesday, May 2, 2012).

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, so please, no spam.

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 fabulous it might be.

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!

Kopperscape by Karim Rashid at the Edmonton International Airport

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:17:00 +0000

The Edmonton International Airport has unveiled a brand-new public art installation created by internationally recognized Canadian Designer Karim Rashid. The piece is located in the US Departures lounge, which is especially exciting since that was formerly one of the most unexciting places in the airport.

From the EIA Website:

Influenced by Canada’s mountains, snow drifts and rivers, Kopperscape is a signature piece for EIA and a gathering spot for passengers travelling from Canada to the US. Kopperscape is a functional fiberglass sculpture that has seating for passengers and a performance stage for live entertainers.

I've been hearing rumours for some time that Rashid was working on something for our airport, but I was expecting wallpaper. This blew me away, although I was a bit disappointed by the color, which ironically was meant to be reminiscent of the Canadian penny, which is going to be phased out over the next six months. Nevertheless, the 10x10 meter installation is substantial and is an exciting piece of art for our city.

In an interview in the Edmonton Sun, Rashid discussed doing more Canadian projects. The interviewer suggets it might be because it's too expensive for Canadians to hire him. Rashid disagrees:

"I don't think it's about affording," he explains. "I think deep down Canada is still very conservative and they see me as this wild designer."

Rashid may be on to something - Canadians are quite conservative when it comes to their art (and clothes). Perhaps its the northern climate? Nevertheless, Edmonton has become increasingly bold lately when it comes to public art. The city has been enjoying openness to contemporary art, design and architecture following the enormous popularity of our Gehry-esque Art Gallery of Alberta (designed by Randall Stout).

My husband had a chance to see this piece of art, along with many others during a recent tour of the newly expanded Edmonton International Airport. He was especially taken with Michael Hayden's sculpture The Raven, which has been constructed out of "holigraphically-embossed acrylic and mirror polished stainless steel." The piece (shown below) is just one of many exciting new installations that are part of the airport's art program.

Images via flyeia.com

Art History Carnival April 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:32:00 +0000

Welcome to the April edition of art history carnival! Spring is here for many of us (we still have a snowstorm scheduled to arrive in Edmonton tonight, but at least the days are getting longer!), and with Easter coming up this weekend, its certainly the time of year when we are reminded of death and rebirth.

Several of this carnival's posts tend towards the weightier side, and bring to mind some of the less pleasant aspects of the circle of life and of the violent world of our ancestors. I recently read Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined . It's a truly fascinating book that examines why the world today is generally less violent than it was in the past. His argument is controversial because it flies in the face of many of the myths our society loves to perpetuate, such as the notion of a more peaceful/idyllic past, untarnished by the evils of mass consumerism and modern alienation (dear William Morris was the victim of that particular vision, I'm afraid).

Throughout my life I have known many people who profess to pine for the nasty, brutish and short lives of the martyrs. These people are well aware of the fact that medieval spirituality was informed by horribly violent culture that meant constant encounters with death and torture - and they miss it, because they think it would make them better people (personally, I'm inclined to think that it wouldn't, it would just make them more violent!).

At any rate, art history is filled with constant reminders of the lives of those who have gone before us. I, for one, am incredibly grateful to be living in the world of Google's Art Project, rather than that of Rembrandt's Night Watch or The Roettgen Pietà (pictured below)!

art history

As a historian, I have always been struck by the immediacy of death in Europe during the Medieval period. Death was everywhere, and people were intimately aware of its horrors in a way that we "moderns" find difficult to comprehend (with the possible exception of persons living today in areas entrenched in tribal warfare). Nowhere is this more evident than in the religious iconography from that time. Medieval religious art dwelt heavily on the graphic suffering of Christ in a way that seems extreme to us, but was part of everyday life to the people of that time. David Byron examines this phenomenon in greater detail in his post This Is My Body, found at Baroque Potion. I found his comparison of the Florentine and German portrayals of Christ's death particularly intriguing. He notes that while the "anonymous German elicited an emotional response by displaying exaggerated poses, wounds, expressions, and scale, the Florentine invites the viewer to consider the same thematic and theological antinomies without reference to the wretchedness of disproportion, death, and decay." I would be tempted to argue that this reflects the fact that, no matter how difficult life in Florence at the close of the Medici rule, it was rather worse in Germany, and this was reflected in their art!

In another somewhat grisly (or should I say, "gristly"? Oh dear, bad pun!), art historian Monica Bowen examines the use of meat in art and the relationship between "the “masculine” consumption of meat" and "the sexual consumption and objectification of women." It's a fascinating post, and the comments are definitely worth a read as well! (I love that she threw Lady Gaga in there for good measure).A Meaty Post posted at Alberti's Window.

"The art history behind "Night Watch", one of the most acclaimed Rembrandt paintings, continues to amaze. Not only is its nickname, "Night Watch", a misnomer, but also some art historians speculate that Rembrandt included himself in this masterpiece. That was before "Night Watch" was trimmed on four sides to fit into a new display space!" Susan Benford presents Rembrandt Paintings: Night Watch posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed.

Could this be a painting of Mary Magdalene? Francis DeStefano muses over the subject matter of Titian's "Flora" in his post Titian: "Flora" , on his blog Giorgione et al....

Google's Art Project has grown at an astounding rate and provides an incredible resource for art historians and anyone with an interest in art. Hasan Niyazi gives a fantastic update on the project in his post Google Art Project and the CED, posted at Three Pipe Problem.

architecture

Hels presents Iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge: 1932-2012 posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying "like every other piece of architecture that came to dominate its city's skyline, the Sydney Harbour Bridge had a long and contested history. From architect Francis Greenway's first proposal in 1825, to the premier opening the completed bridge in 1932, the post examines the sourcing of raw materials, and the contribution of the architects, builders and public transport designers."

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.

Technorati tags:

art history carnival, blog carnival.

Call for Submissions: April Issue of the Art History Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:48:00 +0000

The April edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Wednesday, April 4, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue is "released" (Monday, April 1, 2012).

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, so please, no spam.

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 fabulous it might be.

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!

Art History Carnival March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:37:00 +0000

Welcome to the March 1, 2012 edition of art history carnival!

art history

We often don't take the time to delve deeper into the lives of the subjects behind famous paintings. 1632: Aris Kindt, Rembrandt subject posted at Executed Todayreminds us of the story of one such individual, Aris Kindt, who was executed for the crime of stealing a wealthy man's cloak. Kindt might have been forgotten in the pages of history, but we are ironically reminded of his story through his inclusion in Rembrandt's painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Kindt is the cadaver who features so prominently in the painting!). Many thanks to Jason for this fascinating post.

Francis DeStefano presents Giorgione: Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds posted at Giorgione et al...., saying "scholars have expended more time dealing with the controversy that has surrounded the attribution to Giorgione of the so-called “Allendale Adoration of the Shepherds” than they have in trying to understand what is actually going on in the painting." Francis does an excellent job of concisely summarizing some of the major themes in this work.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was that its founders were quite conscious of its being a movement. They spent a great deal of time considering the philosophy behind their approach to art, and in doing so, they borrowed heavily from a number of well-known sources. As the great Steve Jobs reminded us, good artists copy, great artists steal. Clara Finley presents The Morrisian: Hunting for More Pre-Raphaelite Origins posted at The Morrisian, saying, "I was originally inspired to investigate this question by Dinah Roe's post "Did Keats invent Pre-Raphaelitism?" (http://www.dinahroe.com/blog/did_keats_invent_pre_raphaelitism)". Finley comes to the conclusion that much of the inspiration behind the Pre-Raphaelite movement was drawn from Ruskin's work.

One of the greatest thrills for art historians of all stripes is investigating claims of newly discovered masterpieces (or sketches, or doodles). Mario Miranda discusses a recently discover Leonardo sketch, and examines the possibility that it is authentic in New Da Vinci Self-Portrait Discovered posted at Mario Miranda's Blog

Eric Edelman presents Hannah Höch: Profile in Collage posted at Art of RetroCollage. Hannah Höch (born in Gotha, Germany in 1889 – died in Berlin, 1978) was one of the early photomontage innovators in the Berlin Dadaist group, along with Heartfield, Grosz, and Hausmann (through whom she first became acquainted with Dadaism).

There is something magical about the first time you experience a vista that you first saw in a work of art. This happened to me over and over again the first time I went to Paris - and London - and the feeling was overwhelming. For a guide to some paintings (and their real-life inspirations), visit Katie Sorene's post 5 Watery Paintings You Can Step into in Real-life posted at Travel Blog - Tripbase.

No matter how familiar you are with artistic symbolism, there are always new things to learn, as Christina Daniel demonstrates in her post Surprising Iconography of John the Baptist posted at Daydream Tourist, which explores why John the Baptist sometimes appears with wings in Russian iconography. A fascinating exploration of the differences between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions!

Miscellany

Yves Saint Laurent famously felt it was pretentious for fashion designers to consider themselves artists. I respectfully disagree, and therefore have chosen to include this last piece in the carnival. Lisa Hood presents 10 Major Designers Who Broke Out at Fashion Week posted at ZenCollegeLife, saying, "Every profession has their pinnacle achievement. For football players, it's making it to the Super Bowl. For Fashion designers, it's showing their collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week."

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.

Technorati tags:

art history carnival, blog carnival.

Icons of Modernism at the Art Gallery of Alberta

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 22:36:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a lovely February. It was a very busy month for our family, and I'm hoping that March will be a change of pace!

In spite of the hustle and bustle, this Monday we finally had chance to visit the Art Gallery of Alberta for the first time in a long time, which was wonderful. This was my youngest daughters first visit to the gallery, and since we have two small children, we decided that Family Day (a holiday here in Alberta) would be a great day to attend. The reasons were twofold: first, the gallery would be noisy, so we wouldn't feel uncomfortable if the kids weren't quiet, and second, gallery admission is free on Family Day, so we wouldn't feel guilty about only seeing one exhibit!

The exhibit we took the girls to was Icons of Modernism, which runs from now until May 11, 2012 at the AGA. It featured approximately 15 works by artists such as Braque, Matisse, Cézanne, Francis Picabia, Ferdinand Léger, Dalí, Mondrian and Marcel Duchamp, together with a dozen or so of Picasso's sketches. It was interesting to see so many different works by modern painters and sculptors in one place, but it was also a bit strange for me to see them all laid out together...almost like opening an art history text to the chapter on modern art!

As inevitably happens when you try to distill an entire period of art into 15 or so works, the results necessarily felt a bit hurried. There was significant emphasis on the alienation and violence that gripped much of the world at the beginning of the 20th century and its manifestation in cubism, etc. But often there was only a a single work to represent movements like Surrealism, Futurism, Constructivism, etc., while the exhibit had at least a dozen of Picasso's sketches and two major works by Dadaist Marcel Duchamp.

The works by Duchamp really stole the show, in my opinion. I'm sure this was at least partially the intention of the curator who chose them. Somehow, after seeing the grim works that preceded them, Duchamp felt like a breath of fresh air. My two year old daughter was utterly blown away by the wooden hat rack dangling from the ceiling (the shadow that it cast on the wall was quite transfixing as well).

Now, she is two, so of course conceptual art is going to be a hit with her! Nevertheless, I came away thinking that it's probably far more stimulating to see one of Duchamp's readymades when you are surrounded by more traditional pieces. Looking at a piece like his Bicycle Wheel on a Stool can be quite refreshing, especially after seeing so many works that force you to contemplate the harsh realities of war and the less promising aspects of the modern age.

Call for Submissions: March Issue of the Art History Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:24:00 +0000

The March edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Thursday, March 1, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue is "released" (Tuesday, February 28, 2012).

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, so please, no spam.

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 fabulous it might be (I had to exclude a friend from last month's Carnival for this very reason - I hated doing it, but I really feel it's important that the pieces be up-to-date!).

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!

Art History Carnival February 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:02:00 +0000

Welcome to the February 1, 2012 edition of art history carnival! Thank you everyone for your submissions. I had a wonderful time reading them all. This month's carnival covers a number of different subject areas, and it's so nice to see that bloggers are writing about such a wide variety of topics, from video games to censorship and the Twilight series.

art mysteries

Everyone knows that art history mysteries are exciting, especially when an undiscovered masterpiece might be involved. It's all very intriguing, but there is a lot of work involved in establishing the provenance of an artwork, as our first article shows. H Niyazi of Three Pipe Problem presents The circular fortunes of the von Baden Madonna saying, "Little known outside specialist circles, a panel painting depicting a Madonna and Child in a Landscape has been forwarded as a possible early work by none other than Raphael. In an exclusive presentation, 3PP examines the stylistic and technical evidence related to this piece, including an intriguing smaller version of it." This piece is a must-read for anyone who enjoys following art auctions, and the painting itself is truly lovely. It sold for $290k USD at auction, which I venture to say was a bargain, no matter who painted it.

the sands of time

If finding hidden masterpieces is one of the most thrilling aspects of art history, then one of the most frustrating surely has to be the sheer volume of information that is lost each year to decay. The next two blog posts examine how time has removed much of the evidence for artworks, and how technology might be able to help us better envision how these works might have appeared in the past.

Christian Opitz of L'Historien Errant presents Giotto's Frescos in Naples (Lost Artworks #1), noting that "Giotto or non-Giotto, today the bare white walls of both Santa Chiara and the Cappella Magna are striking reminders of just how much great 14th century art has been lost in Naples alone."

Fortunately, science and history have been able to help us to reconstruct artworks so that we can better understand how they might have appeared in the past. Christina Daniel, whose blog Daydream Tourist focuses on art and travel, discusses the digital reconstruction of the Duccio's Maesta, concluding that "The Maestà demonstrates that reconstruction, at least digitally, goes a long way in understanding the artist’s intentions, the work’s visual impact, and how contemporary viewers would have encountered the piece."

design

What might Leonardo's interest in storms have to do with the art in video games? "Like Leonardo’s study of fluid dynamics, programmers needed to understand particle physics (as well as fluid dynamics) in order to create game engines capable of natural weather effects." Glennis McGregor explores Leonardo's legacy in the gaming world in Natural Systems: Leonardo's Energy Charge posted at her delightful blog, Renaissance for Real.

art motifs and censorship

Sleeping Beauty slept for 100 years, Snow White slept until Prince Charming woke her up, and the heroine "Bella" in the Twilight series falls asleep every five minutes (while her vampire lover Edward looks on).

Ever notice that women spend an awful lot of time sleeping in books...and in art? Heidenkind aka Tasha B. explores the "narcoleptic heroine phenomenon" in her post The Girl Who Slept posted at Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books.

Another common theme in art(particularly in Victorian art, although I've probably noticed it more there because that's the subject area I'm most familiar with)is the rather questionable portrayal of young girls. Kirsty Stonell Walker, author of "Stunner: the fall and rise of Fanny Cornforth" and The Kissed Mouth has done an excellent two post series on the subject that begins with a nuanced examination of Victorian childhood (and girlhood in particular) in a post entitled "Thank Heavens for Little Girls." It's definitely worth a read!

While images of sleeping women never seem to raise too many alarm bells, and the odd inappropriate gaze towards young children is often ignored, the humble nude has caused quite a bit of controversy throughout art history. I still remember when my University ordered a cherub fountain for the garden next to our library. It had the most ridiculous little ribbon awkwardly draped around its nether regions. The effect was patently ridiculous. I always wondered how the artist must have felt! (and if the University was so offended by nude art, why did they choose a cherub in the first place?). And censorship often backfires, raising more eyebrows and drawing more attention to the matter than it would if artists were left to themselves.

Monica Bowen's piece The Prude Nude: Censorship and Cover-Ups in Art posted at Alberti's Window highlights the irony of censorship, noting that "In many respects, one can argue that these “cover-ups” ended up having a reverse effect than what was intended. Even the outcries against nudity just cause people to focus on the naked figures even more."

background

I love art history, but I must confess that I often feel a bit lost whenever I venture outside the Arts and Crafts/Pre-Raphaelite movements. The Renaissance period can be particularly challenging, due to the sheer wealth of work created during that time. Susan Benford offers an excellent overview of some of the leading artists of the Renaissance in her Survey of Renaissance Paintings posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog

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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Art Revolution: David Hockney's "A Bigger Picture"

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

“Who would have thought that the telephone would bring back drawing?” - David Hockney, via Bloomberg

The art world has been a-flutter over the past several days with a (largely) manufactured battle between two of its stars: David Hockney and Damien Hirst. Hockney mania, the Telegraph reports, has overloaded the Royal Academy website, leaving servers crashing in its wake. Meanwhile, Hirsts "retrospective" of his infamous spot paintings (you know, the ones he didn't actually paint?) has barely registered, except as something for art critics to mock gleefully.

It could be that gallery goers have finally recognized that Hirst is a bit of a one-trick pony. Admittedly, it was a sort of interesting trick - at the beginning. I must admit to snickering over his "The Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living" (you know, the shark preserved in formaldehyde? I laughed even harder when it rotted and the hedge fund manager that bought it had to get Hirst to make him a new one!). The whole episode exuded the sort of impish tomfoolery that allowed the YBAs (Young British Artists) to steal the scene in the 90s. But its gotten a bit old.

On to Hockney then: the popularity of his latest exhibit is refreshing for several reasons. First, it suggests the public can only be entertained for so long by having a middle finger extended in their general direction. Second, it indicates that there is a real and abiding appetite for beautiful, relevant, art.

Hockney's exhibit, entitled ‘A Bigger Picture’ opens today and will run until April 9th, 2012 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It features a number of new artworks created using Hockney's iPad and iPhone (follow the link to see more, including a video). As far as I'm aware, Hockney is the best-known artist to dedicate a significant portion of a new exhibit to works created using the iPad. Of course, artists have been using the iPad and iPhone to create beautiful work since the devices were first released, but the popularity of the Hockney story seems to indicate that there is deeper change afoot.

The bright colours of his new pieces are eye catching and invigorating, and they give the impression that they are somehow backlit. In Hockney's interview with Bloomberg, he dwells briefly on the fact that the iPad's lighting has influenced his work, saying “[t]he fact that it’s illuminated makes you choose luminous subjects, or at least I did: the sunrise, for example, and flower vases with water in them that catch reflections.” The article also touches on the fact that the using his phone or tablet has made his work much easier, simply because it is more accessible: “I realized when I was doing the sunrises last year that it was partly because the iPhone was beside my bed when I woke up...if I’d only had a pencil and paper there I probably wouldn’t have chosen to make pictures of the dawn.” Finally, because the iPad records the movements of his finger across the device, viewers can be brought one step closer to the creative process through videos of the works being made.

Viewers who are able to experience these works in person at the Royal Academy of Arts in London will see them printed on paper. The paper medium still translates the luminous quality of the paintings, but paradoxically, if you only get a chance to see them on your computer, smartphone or tablet, you will have greater proximity to the artist's process. It's strangely like being able to hold an original Van Gogh in your hands. This was exploited to great effect when Hockney's Fresh Flowers exhibit was on display at the Royal Ontario Museum a few months back, where you could sign up to have an "original" piece of artwork he had created on the iPhone emailed to you every few weeks.

There has been a degree of sterility and self-reflexivity about contemporary art that has left the public feeling excluded from artistic discourse. Hockney's exhibit is an exciting opportunity for people to experience art in a fresh new way that resonates with audiences. And if you're interested, you can buy the Brushes app Hockney used to create his masterpieces from the App Store for $7.99 (at this juncture, I feel compelled to note that anyone who is convinced that the cost of the app --plus an iPad or iPhone--is too high, has never had to buy art supplies!).

The Art History Carnival Returns in February

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:41:00 +0000

The Art History Carnival will be returning to The Earthly Paradise on a regular basis starting in February! The February edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (Monday, January 30, 2012).

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, so please, no spam.

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 fabulous it might be.

Thank you again for your participation, and please share the news with other bloggers!

Netflix for Books

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:44:00 +0000

I love reading, and I'm a huge consumer of print media - approximately 20 books a month, plus countless articles. I use the library out of necessity. It would cost me around $6,000 a year to buy all the books I read, so the library is my best choice for affordable access to the books I want to read. I love ebooks, which are slightly more affordable and can't be easily digested by my two toddlers, but once again, I can't really justify buying 20 or more ebooks a month (after all, how many books can my kids destroy per month?). But I do get tired of lugging all the books back and forth from the library and paying fines when I need to keep them a few extra days. Also, it's difficult to tough it out for months on end waiting for new books that I am positively dying to read (my husband bought me the new Steve Jobs biography after he heard me mention I was looking at about six months on the waiting list).

All this has got me to thinking - why doesn't a service like Netflix exist for readers? In my opinion, such a service would need to provide:

Simultaneous access to multiple titles (I'd go crazy if I wasn't able to read at least three books at once - and I know I'm not alone in this)
Availability of pretty much any title I could find at my local library
Ability to read books on multiple platforms (tablet, smartphone, pc)
Affordable pricing (i.e., along the lines of Netflix)

This might sound like a tall order, but Netflix is able to provide these things for movie fans. I do realize that there are probably fewer readers out there demanding a service like this than there are movie and tv fans.

Amazon.com recently announced a service along the lines of a "bonus feature" for Amazon Prime customers. It is pretty much useless, in my opinion. You have access to one book per month (one? Are you kidding me?), have a mere 5,000 titles to choose from, and can only read these books on your kindle. The only good news is that you don't have to pay extra for this horrible service, which is lumped together with Amazon Prime at a cost of $79 USD per year.

Now, I'm sure that Amazon has been begging publishers to allow them to offer more titles, but I'm sure it's difficult to get enough publishers on board. And as this article from Wired magazine notes, nobody really knows what a digital book is "worth" to the publishing industry, nor are they used to negotiating with anyone over the aftermarket for their titles.

Although it was comparatively easier for Netflix to discuss these issues

Now, I hate to say it, but I suspect one of the reasons that book publishers haven't been as willing to acquiesce to the likes of Apple and Amazon is that they have felt less pressure from piracy. The music and film industries are truly suffering from the availability of free content on the web. In contrast, publishers earned 27.9 billion worldwide in 2010, and their revenue appears to be growing, not shrinking.

Adaptation to digital books has started off a bit slow, but it is growing. According to the New York Times (see link above), ebooks represented just 0.6 percent of the the market in 2008. Two years later, they had grown to 6.4 percent. Book publishers might not be feeling the pinch right now, but if this trend continues, they will not be able to ignore the pressure of the web. I've never read a pirated ebook myself, but they do exist, and I'm sure that if they become readily available, they'll be a much more evident threat to the publishing world.

Hopefully, publishers will not let it get to that point, and will come up with an affordable way for consumers to access books. I realize that not everyone reads as much as I do, but, as my husband pointed out when I discussed this issue with him, they might be willing to pay for a subscription to a book service simply because of the way it makes them feel.

This time of year, I'm always reminded of the job I took at the YMCA after high school. I was amazed that so many people would sign up for memberships in January. I worried that the facility would never hold them all! Not a concern, my boss informed me. Most of them will never show up after the second week of January. "But they'll just cancel their memberships!" I protested. "No," she replied. "Just having a membership makes them feel good, even if they never use the gym."

I think an ebook membership would work much the same way. There are a lot of people out there who would feel great about having unlimited access to books, even if they never actually use the service! What do you think? Does the idea of an "ebook membership" appeal to you? Do you think it makes sense for publishers to offer this option through providers like Apple and Amazon?

Washington Apple Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Washington Apple Cake, a photo by theearthlyparadise on Flickr.

There are dozens of recipes for "Washington Apple Cake" out there, but this one is special for a couple of reasons. The first is that the recipe for this cake was handed down to me from my Great-Grandmother (whom I believe discovered it in the newspaper). The second is that it contains a lot more (and different) spices than most apple cakes! Most ask for no more than two teaspoons of cinnamon, whereas this recipe calls for two tablespoons, plus a 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. The cinnamon might seem excessive when you are making the cake (the batter is practically red, and the cake IS red when you take it out of the oven). But the apple/cinnamon/nutmeg combination actually produces a mild cinnamon flavour once it has been baked (I can't stand things that have heavy-handed flavours, so trust me when I say it's not spicy!). The cake is perfectly moist and topped with a delectable caramel frosting. A wonderful treat for a chilly fall evening!

Washington Apple Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 - 2 c. sugar
2 eggs

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 T cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
6 large apples - 3-4 cups diced (peeled)
2 tsp. vanilla

Oven 350 degrees 35 min. (That's all my great-grandmother wrote, but I would recommend baking until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, which is about 40 minutes).

Caramel Frosting
1/2 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 T evaporated milk
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

Mix in small saucepan and heat lightly to just melt butter. Mix until sugar dissolves. Add enough confectioners sugar to make consistency right for spreading.

Those are the directions that came with the recipe. You will notice there are no directions provided for the cake - I think my great grandmother expected you to know how to mix a cake! Personally, I always prepare my wet ingredients and dry ingredients seperately and then add the dry ingredients to the wet in my mixer.

I find it really funny that she equates 6 large apples with 3 cups of diced apples! Today's apples are much, much larger than they were 100 years ago.(it reminds me of recipes from the colonial period, where they tell you to use 1/2 dozen eggs when three would do today - eggs were a lot smaller then!). For this recipe, I used 4 galas, which equaled about four cups when finely diced. Also, I would add that you can safely increase the amount of apples in the cake up to 4-5 cups. If you are using apples from your own orchard, then it will probably take six!

I made this cake for tea last week, and my oldest daughter (who just turned two) had a wonderful time eating cake and drinking tea from real teacups. This was her first tea party, and she clearly felt like quite the little grown-up!

I'm back!

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:42:00 +0000

I'm back! I have been enjoying time with both my lovely daughters (the youngest of whom - shown above - is now just a little over 2 months old). This time I really allowed myself to take a break from blogging, social media etc., and it's been a wonderful experience. That said, I feel that it's just about time to return to the virtual world! I definitely have missed you all, and hopefully there are some readers left, since I realize that three months is an eternity in blogging!

I also have to admit that one thing that has kept me from coming back sooner is that I've been having a bit of an identity crisis over what I would like The Earthly Paradise to be, especially now that I no longer have as much free time to devote to writing more serious Art History stuff (something I realize I haven't done in a while). Also, I can't help but notice that my interests have changed quite a bit since I first started this blog back in 2007! So, there might be a few tweaks in the works, which is something that I've been debating with myself about for quite a while. I'm still not entirely sure what this will mean, so stay tuned!

Art History Carnival August 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:05:00 +0000

Welcome to the August 3, 2011 edition of the art history carnival!

architecture

"Well into the 19th century, the educated viewer could read a building as one reads a book, but today the language of classicism is largely mute to us, much of its meaning lost and eroded by time and the relentless evolution of human societies." Andrew Zega and Bernd H. Dams presents a symbolism refresher-course in Architectural Symbolism 101: Geometry posted at NOTED @ Architectural Watercolors

Helen Webberley presents Napoleon's house in exile: St Helena posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "When Napoleon Bonaparte was sent into exile for a second time, his British captors were very serious about him not escaping again. So they selected St Helena Island, a remote Atlantic island located in the tropics off the west coast of Africa.

Longwood House was Napoleon’s residence, from Dec 1815 until his death in May 1821. Formerly the summer residence of the Lieutenant Governor, Longwood was converted for the use of Napoleon in 1815 and then expanded. Architectural plans and photographs are available. Longwood House has since been accurately restored by French curators and now the house is now an important historical museum owned by the French government."

art history

Feeling in the mood for a little mystery? David Clark shares Piece 22 – Michelangelo’s Fight in the Brancacci Chapel | Michelangelo's Puzzle posted at Michelangelo's Puzzle, saying, "Michelangelo's Puzzle is a 90 piece blog story that will reveal the secret message on the Sistine Chapel ceiling on November 1, 2012 - the 500th anniversary of the ceiling's dedication."

Sedef Piker presents a review of Professor Mary Garrard's landmark article exploring the reception of women artists in the Renaissance, with a focus on Sofonisba Anguissola in Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist posted at Three Pipe Problem

H Niyazi presents Platonic receptacles, Leonardo and the Salvator Mundi posted at Three Pipe ProblemThe post presents a summary of the available provenance and technical data of the newly attributed Leonardo painting depicting Christ as 'Salvator Mundi'. H also provides an iconographical survey of the 'Salvator Mundi' motif in art through preceding ages and examines a Platonic reading for Leonardo's unique depiction of the orb in Christ's left hand, a departure from traditional depictions of a 'globus cruciger'."

Susan Benford compares and contrasts Edouard Manet's Olympia with Titian's Venus of Urbino in Famous Painters: Edouard Manet (she also raises an interesting question: Cezanne and Manet have both been referred to as the "fathers of modern art" - which artist deserves it more?). The post can be found her blog Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog.

Finally, Francis P. DeStefano explores the artistic relationship between Giorgione and Titian (and raises interesting questions, such as, could Titian have been hired by Giorgione as a contract worker?)in his post Giorgione and the Young Titian posted at Giorgione et al...

That concludes this edition. Thank-you to everyone who participated. I would also like to thank those who sent in submissions that I was unable to include due to the age of the posts. I have been receiving a lot of wonderful posts each month (thank-you to everyone who has worked so hard to get the word out about the carnival!), which has made it impossible to include older posts.

I will be making an announcement shortly as to whom will be hosting the next issue of the Carnival, since it falls right around my due date (my husband and I are expecting a new addition to the family at the end of this month). I imagine I'll have my hands full next month!

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

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:27:00 +0000

The August edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (Monday, August 1st).

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, so please, no spam.

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 with other bloggers!

Florence + The Machine, The Band Perry and the Lady of Shalott in Music Videos

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 22:09:00 +0000

Today I thought I'd share a video from Florence + The Machine. My husband actually made me sit down and watch the video because he noticed all the mythological and Pre-Raphaelite references! We first encountered Florence + The Machine while watching the Colbert Report, and our first reaction (other than noticing that she had a great voice), was that she looked like she'd fallen out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Apparently this is no coincidence, and you'll notice that most of her videos contain references to the Pre-Raphaelites, though the video for "Rabbit Heart" is one of the most overt. From the minute you see the water behind her you can tell this is going to end in a send-up of the Lady of Shalott!

For an even heavier dose of the Lady of Shalott, check out The Band Perry's "If I Die Young". My daughter actually discovered this one on Vevo the other day!

Someone from the band is clearly a big fan of the Pre-Raphaelites! Of course Lady of Shalott is the most obvious reference (the video actually closes with a shot of Tennyson's poem), but I thought the scene at :38 (with the mother at the window) was a little evocative of John Everett Millais' Mariana. It's a very well done video, and the song is beautiful as well.

Art History Carnival July 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 13:20:00 +0000

Welcome to the July 6, 2011 edition of art history carnival. I hope that everyone is enjoying their holidays (we had Canada Day here July 1st, the Americans had the 4th of July, and Colombia will celebrate on July 20th - a lot of nations seem to celebrate their independence in July). Of course, Canada Day isn't exactly a celebration of independence. It's simply the anniversary of the British North America Act (about 144 years ago, Britain said something along the lines of "it's not you, Canada, it's us"). Anyway, after more than ten years living in Canada, I have to admit that it still feels a bit odd to have a royal visit that day, but when you consider that it was officially known as "Dominion Day" until 1982, it makes a little more sense. I was surprised to find that there are even massive Canada Day celebrations in Trafalgar Square in London each year!

And now to the July edition of the Art History Carnival...

art history

Monica Bowen presents altar of pergamon and baroque scholarship posted at Alberti's Window, saying, "This post largely deals with historiography, explaining why Baroque scholarship became popular in the late 19th and early 20th century." The post examines how the arrival of the Altar of Pergamon in Berlin caused revived interest in Baroque art because of the similarity it bore to the Baroque style (amusingly, some scholars even began referring to the Hellenistic style as "ancient Baroque").

Susan Benford presents Famous Paintings of Berthe Morisot posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog. Morisot was the first female artist to exhibit her works with the French Impressionists (the painting above is entitled "Child with Staked Roses", 1881). Her paintings are lovely and I appreciate that Susan has taken the time to share a little more about Berthe's life and work!

Next, take a moment to stroll along the streets of Paris with Anna (a student of Dr Ben Harvey, who is blogging as part of an independent study class on 19th century art from Paris), who has written a lovely blog post about one of her walking tours near her Paris Apartment entitled The Neighborhood posted at anna on art. Manet's Gare Saint-Lazare (shown above) is one of the many paintings that was created just a stone's throw away. Also, I highly recommend that you take time to read another of her posts, "Manet: Inventeur du Moderne," which she published July 5th. It's a lovely review of a current exhibit at the Musée d’Orsay, and is not to be missed!

exhibits

Paul Doolan presents a fascinating review of Rodchenko and Ai Weiwei in Photography Museum, Winterthur posted at ThinkShop. The exhibit highlights the artists' differing "takes" on communism. Rodchenko (shown above left) began his artistic life rather enamored of the Soviet Revolution, while Ai Weiwei recently experienced a brief stint in Chinese prison as the result of his subversive art.

Helen Webberley presents Vienna Art and Design exhibition, in Melbourne posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "A blockbuster exhibition in Melbourne called "Vienna Art and Design: Klimt, Schiele, Hoffmann and Loos" prompted a re-analysis of the Vienna Secession. The paintings, architecture, furniture, jewellery and textiles explore and display modernism, individualism, nationalism and the creation of a new style concentrating on the use of colour, design and opulent glamour."

philosophy of art

Jean-Michel Basquiat's work catapulted him to rock-star status in the early 1980s. Although he died at just 27 years of age, his work continues to fascinate and inspire. junhax reviews a documentary of his life and work in Jean-Michel Basquiat | Junhax posted at Junhax

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.

images courtesy Wikimedia

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

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:29:00 +0000

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful summer so far! We just got back from a trip to Jasper National Park yesterday. It was just gorgeous, and June turned out to be a perfect time to go (also, we're expecting another baby in August, so I wanted to go while I was still able to do a bit of hiking). I will have to share some pictures as soon as I get them off the camera!

The July edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 (to give a little break to both Americans and Canadians). You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (Monday, July 4th).

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, so please, no spam.

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!

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

Art History Carnival June 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:05:00 +0000

Welcome to the June 3, 2011 edition of the Art History Carnival.

art history

Kelly Knox presents Nekyia: Picasso and the Suicide Death of the Poet Carlos Casagemas posted at KWKNOXART -- ART AS TRANSFORMATION, saying, "This article explores the thematic shift in Picasso's early work surrounding the death of his friend and constant companion in Paris and Barcelona, very early in his career. Many critics (and possibly even Picasso himself) see the events of this period as the genesis of his blue period."

Susan Benford presents Matisse, Modern Art, and The Cone Collection posted at Famous Paintings Reviewed - An Art History Blog. In this post, Susan examines Matisse paintings from the Cone Collection which are currently on view at the Jewish Museum in New York until September 2011.

I was fortunate to have the chance to see one of the paintings from the Cone Collection at the recent Matisse exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta. The painting - Two Girls, Red and Green Background - was the last to make its way into the Cone Collection, and was seen by Matisse as his best work, and I quite liked it myself! You can catch a glimpse of the painting on Susan's website - I couldn't include it here due to copyright restrictions.

Susan Benford has also written a post entitled Female Painters: Sofonisba Anguissola . Sofonisba was among the most famous female artists of the Italian Renaissance (her self-portrait can be seen above). Read Susan's post to find out more about this talented young woman was already famous at age 15 - reminds me a little of Millais!

Helen Webberley presents Widener's sublime art treasures in Philadelphia posted at ART and ARCHITECTURE, mainly, saying, "This post investigates how the newly wealthy family of PAB Widener came to own one of the most important Gilded Age (c1880-1920) private art collections assembled in the USA. First he built a stunning mansion, Lynnewood Hall. Then he filled the mansion with Louis XV furniture, stunning porcelain, and paintings by Raphael, Vermeer, Rembrandt etc.

Later his son Joseph, himself a patron of the National Gallery, agreed to donate most of his family’s collection (600 objects) to the Washington gallery at the request of President Roosevelt."

Dr Ben Harvey presents Oscar Wilde: London Models posted at Emanata (Dr Ben Harvey). Have you ever been curious about the living and working conditions of artists' models in late-Victorian London? In this fascinating post, Dr. Ben Harvey reviews Oscar Wilde's essay "London Models", which was originally published in 1889 in the English Illustrated Magazine. Harvey has included images from the original illustrated essay, so you can see the article the way it was meant to be read. This post is not to be missed, and don't forget to read Wilde's original article as well!

Romeo Vitelli presents The Sculptress posted at Providentia, saying, "Camille Claudel was one of the greatest female artists of all time. And she paid the price for it." This piece follows Claudel from her early artistic endeavors and relationship with Auguste Rodin through to her eventual decline and final decades spent in an asylum. It's not a cheerful story, but the melodrama is the stuff of operas. A must read!

Francis P. DeStefano presents Giorgione and Patenier posted at Giorgione et al..., which compares and contrasts Giorgione's Tempest with Patenier's Rest on the Flight into Egypt.

Ever notice that historical figures often look very different from painting to painting? Especially in the days before photography? Zsombor Jékely presents The Tale of Two Lovers and an Unknown Image of Emperor Sigismund posted at Medieval Hungary. In this post, Zsomber discusses the variations between a number of images of Emperor Sigismund of Hungary. It's a fascinating discussion (and the Tale of Two Lovers is interesting as well!).

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

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Tue, 24 May 2011 19:41:00 +0000

I hope that everyone has been enjoying a wonderful spring (we have even had sunshine here in Alberta, which seems like a miracle at the end of the very long winter!). It's hard to believe that summer is almost here. I'm also pleased to announce that, after a brief hiatus (the May carnival completely slipped my mind - if you saw me chasing after my adorable toddler you'd understand, I swear), the Art History Carnival is back on track for June.

The June edition of the Art History Carnival will be posted on Friday June 3, 2011. You can submit articles for inclusion in the carnival until 48 hours before the issue comes out (in this case, Wednesday, June 1st). I look forward to seeing what everyone has been up to!

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!

Andy Warhol: Manufactured

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Mon, 16 May 2011 19:10:00 +0000

Starting May 28th, the Art Gallery of Alberta will be hosting a special exhibition of Andy Warhol's work. Andy Warhol: Manufactured is an internationally touring exhibition of Warhol's work, and the AGA is the only gallery in Canada that is offering the exhibition, which will include his early drawings and commercial illustrations, his better known works, and also many of the films he made.

Warhol was certainly larger than life, and his work as an artist is easily eclipsed by his persona and the celebrity world he inhabited - which is a bit of a shame, in my view, since he was very talented! But as an artist he certainly demonstrates that keen observation of a culture is often a far more powerful force than pointed social critique. And his work certainly has enjoyed enduring popularity. I notice that one of his self-portraits just set an auction record for the artist last Wednesday when it sold for a cool $38.4 million.

Pretty nifty for the seller's estate, since the estimate was $20-30 million. Of course, I'm sure the publicity surrounding this piece didn't hurt either - CNBC featured the self-portrait last month during it's Power Lunch program (Christie's had direct interest in the sale, hence all the extra publicity). I often wonder how differently art auctions would turn out if there was more publicity surrounding recent auctions of, say, Dante Gabriel Rossetti's work.

Andy Warhol: Manufactured will run May 28 - August 21, 2011

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:45:00 +0000

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone! For those of you that aren't aware, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the victory of the Mexican forces over the French at the Battle of Puebla, which occurred on May 5, 1862. It really has nothing to do with Mexican independence (which was declared 52 years before on September 16th), and it's not really celebrated much in Mexico. I don't really know how it came to be such a big holiday in the States (maybe because "Cinco de Mayo" is fun to say?), but it's certainly a great excuse to eat Mexican food and enjoy a margarita.

On an entirely different note, yesterday it suddenly occurred to me that I hadn't done an issue of the Art History Carnival for May! I know it sounds a little crazy that something like that could have slipped my mind, but I have been pretty busy lately. Being a stay at home mom certainly keeps me on my toes (my adorable 19 month old is the most active baby on the planet), but I have been forced off my toes for a couple of weeks after I ended up breaking one of them (no fun at all!). Also, my husband and I are expecting another baby in August!

I definitely will be doing an Art History Carnival for June, and my apologies to those of you who were looking forward to submitting posts for the May edition. I will make reminders for myself this time!

Image courtesy wikimedia

Happy Easter! Current Exhibits Worth a Look

noreply@blogger.com (Margaret) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:54:00 +0000

I hope everyone is enjoying spring holidays! April has been quite a month here in Edmonton. We had a lot of dreadful weather (it's finally above freezing for a few days, but I'm not sure I should really get my hopes up just yet!). I always get a terrible case of cabin fever this time of year, but I think I'm recovering. I could certainly go for a trip to a beach somewhere, though!

For now, I will have to console myself by browsing the art events going on around the world right now. I find museums are a great way to beat the spring-is-not-so-springy-blues (that is, if you happen to live in a part of the world where it's not 365 days of sunshine - and if you do, I am afraid to say that I hate you just a little right now).

If you are in rainy old England and need a chance to escape the endless Royal Wedding coverage, the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester (known as "Chi" to the locals, I'm told) is holding an exhibit entitled "House of Fairytales", featuring works by a number of artists, including Fiona Banner, Peter Blake, Spartacus Chetwynd, Mat Collishaw, Dexter Dalwood, Simon English, Paula Rego, Bob & Roberta Smith, Kiki Smith, Gavin Turk, and Rachel Whiteread. There is also as a display of some of Gormenghast author Mervyn Peake's most well-known illustrations and prints (House of Fairytales runs from now until June 17th, while the Mervyn Peake display will be on until July 19th). I wish I could see the Peake exhibit - his work has always fascinated me (and creeped me out just a little). Thank you to Philip Eberell for bringing these exhibits to my attention!

The Art Gallery of Alberta has two great looking exhibits that I haven't had the chance to see yet. Walter J. Phillips: Water and Woods is running from now until June 5th, and it will focus on Phillips' woodcuts and watercolors. His artwork has a distinctive Japanese quality that was very popular in the 1930s (you can see some examples of his work on the AGA website).

The AGA will also be showing Nature and Spirit: Emily Carr's Coastal Landscapes. If you aren't familiar with Carr, then you're not Canadian...When I first arrived in Canada, I swear every other phrase that came off people's lips was "Emily Carr"(well, that and the "Group of Seven," a group of Canadian landscape artists with whom she's associated). I was a little weirded out. Canadians are proud of their national icons in a way that sometimes baffles me, but in Carr's case, I think they're onto something. I really love her work, even though she's so beloved in Canada that it feels embarrassing to admit to liking her!(I can't really think of an equivalent that people of other nations could relate her to - perhaps she's something like Collette is for French literature? Her legend really extends beyond that of any other Canadian artist, which is all the more impressive when one considers that she was a woman). The image below is Odds and Ends, which Carr painted in 1939.

image courtesy wikimedia commons.