Anton Stankowski, book jacket design, 1963, photo by Alki1 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
Depth of Field (noun) The distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a picture. The German photographer Anton Stankowski enjoyed using the depth of field creatively to compose engaging photographs.
Exhibition with two photographs of Pablo Picasso by Arnold Newman, Photo by Pieter Musterd via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
Now through May 12th, you can visit the first major retrospective exhibition of Arnold Newman’s remarkable photographic portraits at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, TX. The exhibition includes over 200 of his masterworks in which he captured his celebrated … Continue reading
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Neue Nationalgalerie, 1962-1968, Berlin, Photo by seier+seier via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
“Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space.” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498-1499, marble, 68.5
Pietà (noun) A representation of a sorrowful Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus, usually found in sculpture. The most famous example was sculpted by Michelangelo in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres. The Pietà was an unusual … Continue reading
Takashi Murakami, Oval Buddha exhibited at the Palace of Versailles, 2007-2010, Photo by Magic Ketchup via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License.
“We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched … Continue reading
© 2013 Sally Whitman Coleman, PhD. All rights reserved.
Codex-Style Vessel (noun) A codex-style vessel is a vessel that was made in the ancient Mayan culture in Mesoamerica that has illustrations on it that resembles those in a book, or codex. This vessel, which was created during the late … Continue reading
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss, 1907-1908, oil, silver and gold on canvas, 70.9
“All art is erotic.” Gustav Klimt Happy Valentine’s Day from The Art Minute.
Leon Battista Albert, Façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1448-1470, Photo by Georges Jansoone via Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License.
Façade (noun) From the French word for “face,” a façade is the front of a building that faces the street where people enter. Leon Battista Alberti’s early Renaissance design for the façade of Santa Maria Novella used many colors of … Continue reading
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871, oil on canvas, 56.8
“An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.” James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Detail of the stone vault in the staircase to the Refectory of Christ Church College, Oxford, 1847, Photo by Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
Tracery (noun) Ornamental interlacing and branching lines in architecture. Sometimes tracery is openwork decorating a window as in Gothic cathedrals and other times it spreads across flat surfaces like ceiling vaults. Tracery can be carved in wood or made from … Continue reading
Franz Kline, Chief, 1950, oil on canvas, 58 3/8
“I paint not the things I see but the feelings they arouse in me.” Franz Kline
Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Two Ways of Life, 1857, albumen print, 31
Combination Print (noun) A printing technique in photography, popular in the nineteenth century, in which a photographer would compose a final image using more than one negative. To make the combination print, the photographer would expose only a section of … Continue reading