Another music? Yes. Bill Wither's Ain't no sunshine

Some songs are interpreted by so many artists that sometimes we forget the author. Maybe not with Ain't no Sunshine, 11 in top 20 songs) in global financial market.
This is the second time Bill Wither is at this blog the first was Grandma's hands that I dedicated to my grandma and the grandmas of the Plaza de Mayo that soon will not be around for too long and will be replaced by members of the families.

Music unites people and even if you don't listen I am sure you know the song and can listen with you memory.

Luis Buñuel views on religion

"Thank God I'm an atheist."

Luis Buñuel Right: The Exterminating Angel, 1962, a film by Buñuel

August Renoir - Le Moulin de la Galette and Philosophy

I found this site with the text below and I felt like sharing because it talks about the painting without any kind of theory. I remember one discussion I witnessed between a woman and a philosophy student that made me think a lot. He was very fond of a philosopher and kept repeating that Renoir was not good and gave many reasons. The woman was trying to make him see that he was not "seeing" Renoir because he was blinded by the philosophy he liked and was only fond of artist that could be used as an illustration for this thinker.

I agree with the woman. I have some philosophers I like but I prefer to see the artist without too many theory unless the he or she uses philosophy in their work.

"Renoir delighted in `the people's Paris', of which the Moulin de la Galette near the top of Montmartre was a characteristic place of entertainment, and his picture of the Sunday afternoon dance in its acacia-shaded courtyard is one of his happiest compositions. In still-rural Montmartre, the Moulin, called `de la Galette' from the pancake which was its speciality, had a local clientèle, especially of working girls and their young men together with a sprinkling of artists who, as Renoir did, enjoyed the spectacle and also found unprofessional models. The dapple of light is an Impressionist feature but Renoir after his bout of plein-air landscape at Argenteuil seems especially to have welcomed the opportunity to make human beings, and especially women, the main components of picture. As Manet had done in La Musique aux Tuileries he introduced a number of portraits.

The girl in the striped dress in the middle foreground (as charming of any of Watteau's court ladies) was said to be Estelle, the sister of Renoir's model, Jeanne. Another of Renoir's models, Margot, is seen to the left dancing with the Cuban painter, Cardenas. At the foreground table at the right are the artist's friends, Frank Lamy, Norbert Goeneutte and Georges Rivière who in the short-lived publication L'Impressionniste extolled the Moulin de la Galette as a page of history, a precious monument of Parisian life depicted with rigorous exactness. Nobody before him had thought of capturing some aspect of daily life in a canvas of such large dimensions.

Renoir painted two other versions of the subject, a small sketch now in the Ordrupgard Museum, near Copenhagen and a painting smaller than the Louvre version in the John Hay Whitney collection. It is a matter of some doubt whether the latter or the Louvre version was painted on the spot. Rivière refers to a large canvas being transported to the scene though it would seem obvious that so complete a work as the picture in the Louvre would in any case have been finished in the studio."

Funny because sometimes it seems to me that painters that depict happiness are out according to some theories and even art-lovers and some critics. Is that a sin or a crime?

10 most famous paintings

This is one of the lists of the 10 most known paintings: 1. Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci 2. Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh 3. The Kiss by Gustav Klimt 4. Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre Auguste Renoir 5. Girl with a Pearl Earring by Jan Vermeer 6. Café Terrace at Night by Vincent Van Gogh 7. Corner of the Garden at Montgeron by Claude Monet 8. The Dream by Pablo Picasso 9. The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali 10. From the Lake by Georgia O'Keeffe I'm not sure and would like to create another list. It seems to me that numbers 4, 7, 9 and 6 should not be at the list. Please leave a comment with your favorite paintings and let's try to find a new list. Thank you.

Don't cry for me Argentina - Karen Carpenter and Argentina's history

Just watch and listen.

Last century legacy: Piero Manzoni

In March, 2009 the Gagosian gallery did a a retrospective of the Italian artist Piero Manzoni and the site Whitehot Magazine did an article about it written by Marco Antonino:

"Still a relatively overlooked figure, Manzoni (especially in his later work) was pivotal for the development of Conceptualism. Initially inspired by Arte Informale and quickly developing Klein’s (as well as Duchamp’s) radical and irreverent transgressions in the direction of a greater interest for – and ability to imaginatively build upon – reality, Manzoni’s art defies easy categorizations and conventional labels.

His first Achromes monochrome series, dating back to 1958 and extensively represented in the Gagosian exhibition, are still indebted to Arte Informale and in particular to Burri’s emotional surfaces in their attention to the plastic values of the support. The clay, caolin and gesso used on the immaculate canvases are stretched and allowed to form expressive wrinkles and cracks. Given the hyper-consistency of the series and the sheer quantity of canvases amassed in a single room I felt a little overwhelmed by the barricade of white, chalky canvases... but hey, we’re still at Gagosian, right?"

As new materials started being used the titles usually describe them: Left: Achrome, 1958-1959, Creased canvas and Kaolin 31 1/2 x 39 3/8 inches (80 x 100 cm), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, NY Right: Achrome, 1961-1962, Artificial fiber 24 3/16 x 18 1/8 inches (61.5 x 46 cm), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, NY Last century was very rich and is already part of the tradition of the art done today. Some movements and artists still shock and are not fully understood by many but with time things will be more clear. When compared with the art made along this century many things will be watched and appreciated in a different way.

Ingenuity, freedom and dogs

I found it at my "documents" while searching for two pictures to post and felt like sharing. It makes sense to me and this statement is like a reminder for some occasions when I don't know exactly what to do.

Young man reading by candlelight by Mathias Stohom

Young man reading by candlelight, 1600-1650, by Mathias Stohom

Just look...

Life: To choose or not to choose? Trainspotting

I just visited a very dear blogger friend at It's quite an experience. This is Matthew Holford's blog and I have the pleasure of exchanging some long discussions with him from time to time.

He loves cinema and the title of his blog "It's quite an experience" is from Blade Runner. Remember the scene of Deckard and Batty are fighting:

"Batty: Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."

He did post this opening scene of Trainspotting. "Genius there is no other word for it", as Matt publish some of his amazing findings.

Thank for this one Radagast.

Collage by Francis Picabia and Pablo Picasso

Right: Pablo Picasso, Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, Guitar and Newspaper, 1913, collage and pen and ink on blue paper.
Left: Francis Picabia, L'Oeil Cacodylate, 1921, oil on canvas, with collaged photographs, postcards and other papers.

Collage became very known lately and there are even some sites online  where after choosing some images it's possible to create one.
 The technique was first used in art by Francis Picabia one of the most important members of the Dada movement - notice the name "Tristan Tzara" one of the founders of Dada, at the bottom-right of his collage.

At this site there are some other artists that used this medium and a good explanation of the technique.
"Collage" was originally a French word, derived from the word coller, meaning "to paste."

Paul Gauguin and Tahitian women

Even though he did not find the paradise he wanted Gauguin works while at French Polynesia portray very beautiful women in their routine.

These are two examples.

Narcissism in digital era - Friday Humor

Have a great Friday!

Funny Fail - a real failure or a success?

I was looking for a funny picture and came across with a very good blog, The Hemming for Dog Blog, from where I got this Fail.

I just don't know if Deirdre will take it as a very bad news.

Karen Carpenter an homage - Bless the Beasts and the Children

An amazing voice, a happy and child drums player... amazing women. R.I.P. and thank you for these beautiful songs you left Karen Carpenter. "Bless the beasts and the children Give them shelter from a storm Keep them safe Keep them warm"

Science and art: photographing smoke by Mehmet Ozgur

Yes, it is smoke and I do not know how it is done. This is how Mehmet Ozgur describes himself at his site:

"I am an engineer who is fascinated by nature both technically and aesthetically. Observation of elements and forces that make nature is a lifelong passion. Understanding even a small piece of the complex interactions is a bless. I feel humbled every time that rare light appears or, that rare inspiration flames my imagination. I feel grateful that I was given means to see, feel and appreciate the beauty."

And about photography:

First, "source photograph" is an image made by projecting light onto a sensitized surface. Second, photograph is a new image created by analog or digital manipulations on one or more source photograph(s). A photograph is not an ART, if it does not have an artistic vision. I applaud the artist who can distill his/her vision into an image by any means, with or without traditional methods. It is more than the path taken, tools used, but the resulting image, that I really appreciate. Unlike many who say it is the process that they like, personally, beyond the process, I really do enjoy the result. The process itself has no source of happiness, if there is no results. I do not limit the artistic vision to a release of the shutter, just because this has been the norm. Art of photography is more, much more than what a dumb sensor can capture, else, we would have seen almost everything there to see. Enjoy life, Mehmet Ozgur posted on 5/1/08

Matisse depicting music

Right: The Music, 1939 Left: The Music Lesson, 1917 Some of Matisse's works is full of music but these are two where he approached the theme directly. They are twenty two years apart and the 1917 one is more analytical and have some elements that are at other Matisse's works. The 1939 painting shows the master in complete control of his oeuvre.

Quietness and purity...

...this is how I feel when I am in a landscape like this. Photographies by David Mcmahon at the snowy peaks of Tombstone Territorial Park.

Danae by Gustav Klint - an hommage

I did a homage to Klimt's Danae, 1907-1908, with this picture I took at Second Life. This is the story of Danae according to this site: "Danae was a legendary princess of Argos. Her father, Acrisius, who had been warned by an oracle that her son would one day kill him, had decided to keep her locked her in a bronze tower away from any male company.

Zeus, who loved Danae, turned himself into a shower of gold and came to the despondent princess through the roof. The shower of gold poured down into her lap; as a result she had a son. When Acrisius discovered Perseus, he locked both mother and son in a chest, and set it adrift on the sea. Eventually Danae and Perseus were rescued. In his sensual portrait of Danae, Klimt depicts the imprisoned princess in an amorous embrace with Zeus. True to the legend, the latter is represented as an amorphous stream of gold. Many other painters tackled the subject. They include: Danae : Corregio, Artemisia Gentileschi, Mabuse, John Waterhouse, Joachim A. Wtewael, Edward Burne-Jones, Giovanni B. Tiepolo"

(click at the right image to enlarge)