Merry Christmas

from the Aberdeen Bestiary folio 21 Ram

Nasa Cassini photo July 23, 2008 Saturn during equinox

Jean Fouquet The Adoration of the Magi 15th century

Pietro Lorenzetti The Birth of the Virgin 1342

from the Aberdeen Bestiary, English, 12th century, folio 21 Lamb

Special Exhibition at The Morgan Library: "Demons and Devotion"

January 22-May 2, 2010

The Hours of Catherine of Cleves , a 15th century Dutch Book of Hours ,will star in a unique exhibition at the Morgan Library,in whose collection the illuminated manuscript is permanently housed.

from Wikipedia on the Hours of Catherine

Books of Hours were fashionable prayer books widely used by the privileged laity in the later Middle Ages. Often, women who were members of a royal court, or of the rising merchant class received these objects commissioned for them as gifts. For the lucky few who possessed them, a book of hours might encourage a personal communion with God and the Virgin Mary by allowing an individual silent reading of scripture, including the liturgy of the Mass, (which previously had been restricted to the clergy). The cult of the Virgin had reached its height at this time (13th -15th c).

In the late medieval Christian world in the West, each hour of the day was intimately linked to the life and passion of Christ. With their small books held closely in hand, devotees could worship privately, marking each spiritual and temporal transition with special prayers and images.

In general, the number of images, their elaboration and intricacy, (the more gold leaf, etc.) meant the more expensive the book. A royal patron such as Catherine of Cleves would have the finest scribes and illuminators working for her. Production of books of hours, their workshops, and their routes of commerce, along with other manuscript production and trade, was extensive throughout Europe by the 15th century.

Recommended:

Time Sanctified:The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life

Painted Prayers: The Book of Hours in Medieval and Renaissance Art

by Roger S. Wieck

A History of Illuminated Manuscripts

by Christopher de Hamel
Medieval and Renaissance Book Production

Books of Hours

Sotheby's catalogue for Western manuscripts

Happy Thanksgiving

Beautiful animated film The Secret of Kells to be distributed nationally by New York International Children's Film Festival.
story here

Christian Boltanski's collection of human heartbeat recordings will eventually have a home on the Japanese island of Ejima. "There was an island in the Sea of Japan, where all the men's hearts were gathered: here is a legend."(Christian Boltanski)

Christian Boltanski's Archives du coeur at Monumenta 2010

A.H. Mackmurdo chair acquired by Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Turn the pages of The Red Book

NY Times Article on The Red Book September 2009


Carl Jung's Red Book discussed by artist panel at the Rubin Museum of Art

Rubin Museum of Art

fom Wikipedia: Hugo van der Goes

article featuring The Portinari Altarpiece, from The Guardian UK, 2002:
on the Portinari Altarpiece

Emile Wauters


Emile Wauters Portrait of Hugo van der Goes

Caravaggio's Supper at Emmaus is on exhibition at The Art Institute of Chicago through January 2010. The painting is on reciprical loan from The National Gallery of Art in London, which in turn is exhibiting The Art Institute's Crucifixion by Zurbaran

Smithosonian aquires Janice Lowry Illustrated Journals

Three Leonardo da Vinci Drawings will be shown in Los Angeles at The Italian Cultural Institute as part of an installation that will include video artist Bill Viola.

Alma Siedhoff-Buscher

Bauhaus exhibition

Exhibition site at MOMA

Laura Brodie on Women of the Bauhaus

Salomon de Bray (Dutch, 1597–1663) Double Portrait of the Twins Clara and Aelbert de Bray
1646. Oil on canvas. 32 11/16 x 25 9/16 in. National Gallery of Scotland

Petrus Christus

Barthelemy d'Eyck from King Rene's Tournament Book ca.1440

Joachim Patinir

Benefits of Animals

Jane Austen's letters and manuscripts now on view at the Morgan Library

Three Standing Figures 1430–38
Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni) (Italian, 1374/75–ca. 1438)
Pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk
11 13/16 x 8 13/16 in.


From artdaily:
Rarely seen Renaissance drawings on exhibit at the Met
15th and early 16th century Northern Italian drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection highlight a time when drawing was becoming a vital tool for an artist's exploration.

Stuart Edgar's article on William Blake

From Art Knowledge News:

Annunciation Diptych Jan van Eyck 1436 Oil on panel Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

15th century illuminated manuscript in grisaille

Jan Van Eyck 's Annunciation Diptych , housed in the permanent collection of the Thyssen -Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, will be included in their special exhibition featuring 14th and 15th century works made using the technique of grisaille

Kazimir Malevich

Two Graphic Artists

From artdaily:

William Kentridge and Oleg Kudryashov Exhibition at the Kreeger Museum

Exquisite Renaissance tapestry restored to its former glory

The War of Troy Tapestry has been reanimated in its weave - (brought back to vivid life thanks to intensive conservation by the brilliant specialists at the Victoria and Albert Museum)

Caravaggio miniature self -portrait detected

From the Telegraph UK:
Tiny Caravaggio Self-Portrait Revealed

Caravaggio -an Italian proto- Baroque artist whose paintings combine a heightened sense of naturalism with extreme dark and light.

Two examples of his works: The Conversion of St. Paul and Supper at Emmaus illustrate the dramatic power of Caravaggio's innovative style, one that had an incalculable effect on all those who came after him.

The Roman Catholic Church, still fighting to remain a viable entity at the beginning of the seventeenth century, fervently sought to re energize its base. The Counter Reformation struggle fueled the extroverted visual style of the Baroque, whose all-enveloping theatrics could draw in and capture an audience.
Caravaggio, a painter of immense genius who also suffered from a volatile temperament, reportedly once killed a man during a drunken argument and ended up fleeing for his life as a result.
(Something about his paintings always makes me squeamish. Anyway, he is definitely not for the faint of heart).

Hammer Museum Exhibits R. Crumb

R.Crumb Illustrates the Book of Genesis

Happy Halloween

The Crying Spider Odilon Redon 1881

Tilly Losch Joseph Cornell 1935

Spirit of the Forest Odilon Redon 1881

"The Race Track" Albert Pinkham Ryder 1895

Letters of Van Gogh The Memory of the Netherlands digital archive

Special Exhibition at the Museum Het Valkhof

Catherine of Cleves' Book of Hours goes holographic with new 3D Technology

Museum Het Valkhof

Da Vinci's fingerprint authenticates an early drawing

Croatian Art in Malaysia

Hrvoje Sercar

Hrvoje Sercar Eyes of St. Stephen

Croatian Art on exhibit at the National Art Gallery, Malaysia

A Story of the Image