Month: November 2020

Simeon Solomon caught my attention when I started researching for artists from the Pre-Raphaelites period with his paintings, I quickly became invested in his life story and I would like to briefly share that with you. Being the final child of 7 other siblings in a relatively skilled household of artists, Simeon Solomon was born on October 9, 1840 in London. He was inspired by Shakespeare, the Bible and other popular Pre-Raphaelite artists, which, fun fact, he met, for example; Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais.

He later discovered a love for the classism style and went on to create some pieces that were previously deemed as controversial as he was figuring out his sexuality during the ripe times of blatant homophobia in Victorian England. I was shocked to later find out that he was arrested in a public urinal with an older man for sodomy, however when he was released, he still went on to become an influential figure with the help of others who were inspired by his works. 

This is a summary I wrote for English 100 on the article “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees”.

In the article “The importance of urban forests: why money really does grow on trees” (2016), Amy Fleming reports the evidence behind the economical, social, and societal benefits of trees in municipal areas. The author claims that millions of dollars can be saved as evident in New York City (6) using greenery alone to reduce the cost of energy and improving air quality with trees cutting the usage of air conditioning by 30%  due to them being capable of cooling cities between 2C and 8C, and being capable of filtering fine particles of pollutants in the air (5). Regarding the social benefits, Fleming reports on the statements of public health expert William Bird. According to Bird, “In areas with more trees, people get out more, they know their neighbours more, they have less anxiety and depression.” (qtd. in Fleming 9). Bird’s point is that it is beneficial for communities’ overall wellbeing, mental and physical. Society requires future generations to further expand our knowledge in the world, Bird states, “that each generation will pass on less experience of the natural environment” (qtd. in Fleming 9). Basically, Bird is saying that society will be disconnected from nature in the future due to a lack of forestry which will hinder impending environmental developments.

During the lecture, I was quite inspired by the french painter and lithographer, Jules Cheret, known as the father of the modern poster. Seeing his poster designs how he developed a better sense of design as time went by and his posters became more prominent. I was drawn in by his use of typography and direction in his posters, he was able to capture the right moods for various advertisement posters, energetic, elegant etc. Jules Cheret was said to also inspire a German poster artist named Adolfo Hohenstein, an Italian poster designer that is considered the father of Italian poster art. 

Play Poster Papa

Hohenstein was originally born of German descent in 1854 growing up in Vienna where he was able to find a passion for art and was able to develop his passion by painting the environment around him. He then settled in Milan in 1879 where in 1889 he decided to pursue poster design when getting approached by a musical publisher named Giulio Ricordi. He eventually became the artistic director where he worked in the studio under Ricordi. He went on to create well known posters for various productions such as Tosca (1900) and Madame Butterfly (1904). He was well known for his attention to detail regarding lighting and strong compositions which included framing and typography that effectively communicated the point of his posters. 

The Italian Art Nouveau

During this time as well, a style of Italian architecture formed a movement for itself as the “Italian Art Nouveau”. This style is named the Liberty Style which was similar to the Baroque style. Some identifications for this style include, attention to detail, focus on more sophisticated aesthetics, and movement using continuous lines. The materials most used during this time for architecture were wrought iron and glass. One of the biggest figures for this style was an architect named Ernesto Basilewho created the Villino Florio in Palermo in 1899.