1947. Photo: Francis Lee. Courtesy of Stuart Friedman
Corinne was an american expressionist and early cubist painter during the late 20th century. She graduated from the Cincinnati Art Academy in 1925 before continuing her schooling at the Art Student’s League and commercial art in New York. She was said to be the lover and muse of artist Arshile Gorky while she studied under russian painter Raphael Soyer in the early 30’s.
“Flowers,” a 1952 oil on canvas by Michael Corinne West.
In the male dominated art world of Pollock and Hoffman West was independent, bold and one of the few female expressionists of her time. and bold. Her works varied from small paintings to canvases the size of herself. As she progressed she experimented with larger brushes, brushstrokes and painting with large eccentric movements. Many of her later pieces feature dark and sombre colours but have an energetic feel because of the large brushstrokes that almost appear to be moving.
Auguste Renoir was a french painter who was known as a leader in the impressionist movement. He was most commonly known for capturing the female subjects sensuality in his paintings. His work commonly reflects and is inspired by modern painters like Manet and Danish painter Camille Pissarro.
A Nymph by a Stream – 1869
Renior’s work was often well received from critics and mostly painted portraits in his early adulthood. He was able to effortlessly capture the human figure and the interactions between them and set a mood in his paintings with the exaggerated colours he uses. Renoir was a part of a group alongside Pissarro, Monet, Cézanne and Edgar Degas called the Impressions.
Dance in the City – 1883
They did their first gallery in 1874 in Paris but was not a success. Soon after the failed exhibition Renoir and other impressionist painters found patrons who did enjoy their work and would speed up the success of his career. In his lifetime Renoir created over two hundred pieces before dying at the age of 78.
Optometry and eyewear have been around since the roman times, is anybody else not surprised by this, the Romans were always ahead of their times. But it wasn’t until the 12th century that the Italians had started to create what looks like a modern pair of eyeglasses that we are familiar with today. Aside from euorpean optometry, both Asia and those in alaska and on the poles had their own versions of eyewear that weren’t used to correct vision, but to protect from the sun and harsh winter weather.
Anavik, age about 30 years, a Kilusiktogmiut man, close up of head, wearing bone sun goggles, Banks Peninsula, Bathurst Inlet, Nunavut.
Most of us believe the invention of contact lenses is a recent idea, but to my surprise and research it wasn’t. A man by the name Adolf Eugen Fick was a german physiologist and doctor who first started experimenting with the idea of a contact lens in 1886. He started by creating the lenses to fit the eyes of animals and rabbits before he started to experiment on himself.
Pastell von Anton Klamroth (* 29. April 1860 in Moskau; 11. Februar 1929 in Leipzig). K. war ein deutscher Porträtmaler, spezialisiert auf Pastell- und Aquarellmalerei.
For those who wear modern contact lenses and even those who don’t, the idea of having a thin layer of glass over your eye is a terrible thought that’s hard to shake. But thats exactly what Fick did. He created molds of his and many others eye forms before making a thin glass lens that fit the form of the eye. Unlike todays contact lenses the older lens would cover the whole of the eye rather than solely the pupil making it understandably uncomfortable. Most people could only wear the lenses for a few hours to avoid too much irritation. Unfortunatley Fick is not commonly credidted with this modern invention as the idea didn’t popularize until almost 30 years after his death and even then another German scientist got most of the main acknowledgement.
French Empire gilt scissors glasses (with one lens missing), c. 1805
* I would like to note that some of the images used on this blogpost were from sites that did not cite where their sources were from so I was unable to properly cite some images or the website was in full German and couldn’t tell where the citation was or if it was correct *
Self-portrait by J.-A.-D. Ingres, oil on canvas, c. 1800; in the Condé Museum, Chantilly, France.
Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres was a French Neoclassicism painter of the 18th century. His first early mentor in the arts was his father Jean-Marie-Joseph Ingres. His early education was at the Brothers of Christian Doctrine but due to the French Revolution was ended promptly, but was later continued at the fine arts academy in Toulouse, France. In 1806 Ingres left for Italy where he followed his own artistic decisions.
La Grande Odalisque, oil on canvas by J.-A.-D. Ingres, 1814; in the Louvre, Paris.
Within the next 5 years Ingres became a painter for Napoleon’s subjects and officials. He did medieval genre paintings as well as portraiture. Ingres also painted few nudes but often received harsh criticism due to the odd bodily proportions. I really admire Ingres’s work, he is able to capture so much beauty in the subjects he paints and is a master portrait painter.
Joséphine-Éléonore-Marie-Pauline de Galard de Brassac de Béarn (1825–1860), Princesse de Broglie
For this assignment I chose to do my spread in the style of an Illuminated manuscript as it was an important way to pass on knowledge, stories and religious texts. I followed traditional painting and gilding techniques to make the illuminations and artwork on the adjacent side of each page. A monk would sketch their ideas onto the spread before laying down the gold or silver leaf, which was followed by the hand painted details and decorative elements. I experimented a lot with the gold leaf, trying to figure out the best way to place it and ended up using a technique that was still very finicky and time consuming but, it turned out really beautiful and is my favourite part of it all. I chose rich jewel tones for my palette as it not only reflects the style of the time but the rich merchants and royalty that would have bought these scripts. Then lastly I wrote out the words by hand in ink. Overall I am pleased with the end result and if I ever attempt this again I would take more time in planning and placing the text and it feels a bit messy. I would give myself an 8/10 on this project because I feel that I had a strong idea and took some risks in the process but I could have executed it slightly differently.
The Western Suburbs of Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada, c1888. Illustration from The Life and Times of Queen Victoria Vol II, by Robert Wilson, (c1888). (The Print Collector/Getty Images)
Smallpox is an infectious disease carried by the bacteria from the nose and throat and can be spread by bodily fluids, particles from the nasal area or in this case on infected particles in blankets and clothing. Patients can easily infect others at a rapid rate and can suffer from blindness, joint and bone infections, and other fatal symptoms all usually resulting in death. With no immunity to western diseases First Nations of Canada’s West Coast were wiped out in the masses with the white man’s discovery of Canada.
In the 1850s the colonial regime in British Columbia started carving out reserves and reducing the mobility of Aboriginal people like the St’at’imc of the Lillooet area
In 1862, Brother Jonathan, a steam boat from san francisco arrived with the port of Vancouver island. On board was over 300 colonizers with a goal to pan for gold and join the fur trade in hopes to get big in the new colony of Victoria. As well as its passengers Brother Jonathan also brought over food , supplies, goods to trade and western diseases like smallpox. In this case the spread of disease was unintentional and according to the Colonist, if the correct measures were taken “we fear that a serious evil will be entailed on the country.” After the lack of quarantine for the diseased subject there was soon a smallpox epidemic. Native camps were burned to the ground, canoes were destroyed while smallpox infected natives fled the land in hope for safety. Over 30,000 Canadian Native Americans died that year in cause of smallpox and the panicked settlers of victoria.
Preparing for a harsh cold day in poorly heated homes, getting ready as a woman in the 1600’s was a task in itself. Hair was slicked back into a small bun to prepare for dressing and was often altered or decorated with jewels, pearls or ribbons to fit the occasion of the day. It started with what seemed to be similar to a nightgown with varied styles of sleeves to match the following garments and was typically made of linens or silks.
Usually this was the only undergarment worn. Hip pads were fitted above the waist to help carry the support of the numerous petticoats and were tied on to fit the subject. Each layer of petticoat was lined to trap heat and cope with harsh winters and cool homes. Usually three to four petticoats were tied and fitted before the final layers.Petticoats helved with the volume of the dress, warmth and to help accentuate the hips and posterior.
(c) York Museums Trust; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
The final outcome may have been made of eight or nine part to complete the outfit, which would include but not limited to the petticoats, bodice, stockings and sleeves. Stockings were either a neutral colour but mostly came in bright colours like red. Shoes were put on mid-dressing for ease and were made of leather and wood and were quite uncomfortable as both shoes were the same rather then having a left and right foot. The bodice was then fitted and tied with a single string before delicate and simple jewelry like pearls were worn.
The process of making books was a long and tedious process, only attempted and allowed to be made by monks. Usually done by candlelight in monasteries and abbeys, trained monks inscribed religious texts onto parchment later to bound into books or codices.
manuscript in the Biblioteca de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain, c. 14th century AD, which depicts monks doing scribal work
Monks and those of higher social class were the few groups who had the education to read or write making monks some of the most educated people of their time. Each word is written in ink on each page by hand before being carefully decorated with images, symbols and foliage then carefully gilded with precious metals such as gold or silver.
Missal of Bishop Antonio Scarampi’, 1567
The script was usually done with a feathered quill or reed pen and was usually done in the popular blackletter of the time, which was bold and clear to see. The finished products sold for large sums of money as some took multiple monks, and months or years to make.
