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Gala Nude Looking at the Sea Which at 18 Metres Appears the President Lincoln – Salvador Dalí

Gala Nude – Salvador Dalí

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Hi Folks!

Salvador was a master of illusion and a psychic. With his psychic abilities he was able to bend time and see the future. The painting titled Gala Nude Looking at the Sea Which at 18 Metres Appears the President Lincoln (1975) is a proof of his abilities. The painting depicts Gala’s nude behind. But when the paining is photographed with a digital camera, unfocused photo of the painting depicts president Abraham Lincoln. Quite astonishing considering that there were no digital cameras in the 70’s.

– Gart

Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa – Leonardo da Vinci

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Hi Folks!

The Mona Lisa is definitely the most known and possibly the most photographed work of art in the world. About 6 million people admire the painting at the Louvre each year. So, I would guess that each visitor takes four photos of the painting on an average. Every fourth photo is probably a selfie totaling some 6 million selfies of Mona Lisa. There’s been some debate on the subject of the painting. The list of the possible models portrayed in the painting is long. However, it has recently become evident that the painting is a self-portrait of Leonardo da Vinci. To come to any other conclusion would require ignoring the fact that Leonardo had invented a selfie stick before painting Mona Lisa.

Based on the recently discovered drawings it is clear that Leonardo had experimented with several designs for a selfie stick. Unfortunately none of the prototypes were preserved. The design in the adjacent drawing would probably have been feasible during his lifetime. It is likely that Leonardo has used a similar selfie stick for painting Mona Lisa. Although it is still to some extent unclear to the researchers how the selfie stick functioned.

I guess Leonardo’s idea was that a paint brush would be installed through the loops in the middle as the transverse rails held a mirror glass. The use of a selfie stick affected in a soft blending in the portrait, which is actually the reason why the smile on Leonardo’s face is seen mysterious.

Leonardo da Vinci (and Xzibit) would see some irony in the fact that people are willing to stand hours in line to have an opportunity to take a selfie of a selfie.

– Gart

Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain]

Leonardo da Vinci [Public domain]

Claude Monet - The Water Lilies: Morning

The Water Lilies: Morning – Claude Monet

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Hi Folks!

Monet created some 250 paintings related by the same subject: water lilies. I admire his dedication. One would think that inspiration stemming from water lilies would have it’s limits. But the same subject kept Monet occupied for three decades until his death in 1926. This piece is a part of the Nymphéas cycle at the Musée de l’Orangeria in Paris, where visitors may admire eight water lily murals in two oval rooms. When Monet needed variation in his life, he painted stacks of harvested wheat. As there are twenty-five pieces in Monet’s Haystacks series, it is clear that variation was needed on average only once a year .

– Gart

The Sideways Head, Eros Bendato (Eros bound) - Igor Mitoraj

Eros Bendato – Igor Mitoraj

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Hi Folks!

When the Swiss order a sculpture on love from a Polish artist the outcome is, to put it mildly, cynical. Eros Bendato (Eros Bound) is Igor Mitoraj’s understanding of love and affection. Mitoraj’s sculpture is blindfolded suggesting that love is blind. Not that original though. We’ve heard the same from Fergie, Jack White, Alicia Keys, Pulp and many others. Even Amy Winehouse heard about it, or so she claimed.

The head was created in 1999 and is on display in Lugano. It should not be confused with the similar sideways heads in Kraków, Vancouver and St. Louis. If I forgot to mention some location, please let me know. I would love to see them all.

– Gart

The Kiss - Francesco Hayez

The Kiss – Francesco Hayez

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Hi Folks,

At his time, Francesco Hayez was a fine representative of the voyeur community. And he could truly capture the tension and sensual energy between this young couple in his painting. It shows dedication, both to art and to voyeurism. The Kiss (1859) is Romanticism at its best. Some insist that the painting represents the formation of the new kingdom of Italy. That could very well be. I do not have any arguments against that. But deeper interpretations cannot take anything away from the kiss, as it’s still as passionate and sweet as a kiss can be. Hayez leaves me no option. I have to leave to Verona, city of love, at once. To the young couple in the painting I would say: Oh come on guys, Get a room!

– Gart

Reclining Nude with Loose Hair - Amedeo Modigliani

Reclining Nude with Loose Hair – Amedeo Modigliani

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Hi Folks,

Amedeo Modigliani lived the reckless life of a rock star decades before the first rock n’ roll tune was played. At his time he was probably best known for his extreme substance abuse and bohemian lifestyle. Sadly his life ended just when he was about to brake as an artist. Nowadays Amedeo’s paintings are sold regularly for tens of millions of dollars. His painting known as Reclining Nude (1917) was sold for 170 million dollars in 2015, making it one of the most expensive painting ever sold. Reclining Nude is a piece from the famous series of nudes that Amedeo painted. The painting in the picture, Reclining Nude with Loose Hair (1917) is from the same series and would probable sell for much higher price. I mean, come on… the hair is loose. Just look at it, the hair really is loose; there has to be some value in that.

Amedeo’s fine work make me think that perhaps it’s time to travel to Italy again.

– Gart

Mirror Room (Pumpkin) - Yayoi Kusama

Mirror Room (Pumpkin) – Yayoi Kusama

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Hi Folks!

Yayoi is best known for her obsession for dots. She has also this thing for pumpkins. It’s sort of convenient that obsessions are her inspiration. She may have created an infinitive source for inspiration in her own obsessions. Yayoi has said that dots are a way to infinity, which seems quite accurate, all things considered. In the 50’s Yayoi painted dots on walls, floors and household objects. In the 60’s she painted dots on naked performers. And since then she’s been painting dots where ever.

What I especially love in her works is a frequent combination of fire-engine red and white dots. You just cannot go wrong with that. It is clear that Yayoi is definitely a unique person, almost unique in her own way. There’s probably only one person who’s more obsessed with dots. Namely Kim Schmitz, who changed his name to Kim Dotcom. Kim absolutely loves dots and coms.

– Gart

 

 

Mao - Andy Warhol

Mao – Andy Warhol

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Hi Folks!

Mao Tse-tung has two achievements that are hard to top. Mao, at his time in the 60’s, was probably the most famous person in the world. Mao is also the most read writer in the world. Only Koran and Bible are printed in more copies than Mao’s Little Red Book. There’s already two reasons why Andy Warhol decided to paint and print thousands of portraits of Mao.

I was convinced that no one will beat Mao’s records, but then I saw Donald Trump. Donald is on his way getting famous, super-famous. The more he tweets, the more we hear of him. And by the way, Donald is already the credited author of about twenty books. I am sure, Warhol would paint a portrait of Trump, if Warhol was still around. While posing for Warhol, Donald would tweet something like: “Andy is painting my portrait, it’s going to be beautiful thing to watch!” After Warhol would finish the work, Donald’s comment to the press would be like:

 

Andy painted my portrait, I looked happy, I looked content, I looked like a very nice person, which in theory I am.

 

– Gart

Couple under an Umbrella - Ron Mueck

Couple under an Umbrella – Ron Mueck

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Hi Folks!

If hairy old men wore burkinis for beach, it would have been a lot easier task for Ron Mueck to produce the hyperrealistic human sculpture Couple under an Umbrella (2013). To reproduce a life-like sculpture of a man in traditional bathers must be a huge challenge. Getting moles, saggy skin and random hair (e.g. in knuckles and toes) just right requires some skill and long hours. The outcome is impressive and surreal.

Ron is a man of detail. That’s why Ron would probably be my first choice (now when Joan Miró isn’t around anymore) to sculpt a realistic statue of me. Having a replica of myself would not actually be a bad idea. The replica could do my stunts. And possibly attend the most boring dinner parties instead of me. No one would notice. That would be a perfect arrangement leaving me more time to travel and enjoy life. Ron, if you see this, give me a call to agree on details!

– Gart

Narrow House - Erwin Wurm

Narrow House – Erwin Wurm

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Hi Folks!

Narrow House (2010) is really narrow and that is how Erwin Wurm designed it just to make a point. And I guess the point is that narrow minded people live in narrow houses OR narrow houses make people narrow minded OR something like that. Apparently Erwin suffered some difficulties in expressing himself in post-war Austria. So Erwin must have had some firsthand experience on narrow minded people. And that is why Erwin built this most narrow house in the world. My question to Erwin is: could you not build a house that is even more narrow? If You can, please do so. At least someone should do something, because just a few days ago an Austrian far-right party won first round of presidential election (obviously in Austria). En Vogue sang: “Free your mind and the rest will follow”. But what will happen if a narrow minded person frees his/her mind – what will be the rest that will follow and do we even want to know?

– Gart