Something Beautiful

Edward Hopper Scrapbook

At the Smithsonian site - an Edward Hopper Scrapbook. If you like Hopper, you'll definitely enjoy this scrapbook.

Mira calligraphiae monumenta (Getty Museum)

These are very well done, although perhaps a little strange to the modern sensibility -- seven sets of facing pages from the Mira calligraphiae monumenta, c. 1595, by Joris Hoefnagel (watercolors, gold paint, silver paint, ink on parchment and paper).

You can read about Herr Hoefnagel here. 

Color

I like the color in both these works by twentieth-century American artists --

Imperial Valley in Imperial County near Karboul Mounds, California, 1966, Joseph E. Yoakum (colored pencil and ballpoint pen on paper) (larger version)

Train in Coal Town, 1968, by Jack Savitsky (large version)

North American Landscapes in Art

This excellent site has been around for a long time, but it's still good -- North American Landscapes, which reveals the ways in which North American artists have depicted the continent's varied landscape.

I keep meaning to dissect its parts so that a passer-through can more easily find his or her way around. Perhaps posting this will prompt me finally to get around to that.

Western Facade, Notre Dame de Paris

This is pretty nifty -- the three portals of Notre Dame Cathedral's western (main) facade.   Choose a point you want to see closer up, and click on it! 

Notre-Dame de Paris

Not surprisingly, the world-famous Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris has quite a wonderful website.   

First, there is an interactive floorplan, with not only 14 photos but also 10 panoramas of different parts of the cathedral. 

** If you have time for only one glimpse of this entire site, please choose the Autel principal , or main altar, in the center of the floorplan, where it says "Transept." **

* * *

The cathedral is still an active house of worship, and thus offers numerous opportunities for prayer and meditation.   

For that very reason you can listen to several selections of sacred music here -- 

Magnificant du Ton Peregrin (children's choir, great organ) (words)

Magnificat du Ton Royal (soprano, baritone, organ)

Alma Redemptoris Mater (soprano, organ)  (words)

Ave Maris Stella (soprano, organ) (words)

Ave Regina Caelorum (soprano, organ)  (words)

Regina Caeli (baritone, organ) (words)

Salve Regina (baritone, organ ) (words)

Salve Regina (choir only)

.

St Martin and the Beggar (El Greco)

The painting of the day for today at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. is St. Martin and the Beggar, c. 1597, by El Greco.  Great colors! 

Meditation timer

If you ever meditate, in any form whatever, you will want to know about the Berkeley meditation timer.

Florence Skyline

Some sights never get old. Here is the skyline of Florence, Italy, from several points of view -- Florence skylines.

Native American Storage Jars

These two items might look a bit ordinary at first glance, but if you look at the enlargements, you'll see something quite impressive --

Black-and-White Storage Jar with Abstract Geometric Motifs, 1890s, Ácoma, New Mexico, United States (ceramic  earthenware  and pigment)

Polychrome Storage Jar with Macaw and Floral Motifs, 1880s, Ácoma, New Mexico, United States (ceramic  earthenware  and pigment)

Rabbi of Vitebsk

Here's one of my lifelong favorites, here called "The Praying Jew" but sometimes also known as the Rabbi of Vitebsk, by Marc Chagall (1923 copy of a 1914 work).

Kawase Hasui

Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) is my favorite among the many excellent Japanese printmakers of the 19th and 20th centuries.   Here are two of his best works, imo --

Taishō Pond in Kamikōchi (color woodblock print).

Snow at Funabori, Edogawa, 1932 (color woodblock print).

Both are at the Los Angeles County Museum site, where many other Hasui prints can also be found. 

The prize divides us

I wish I could learn to remember this, to make it really part of me (translated by Thomas Merton) --

When an archer is shooting for nothing 
  He has all his skill.
  If he shoots for a brass buckle
  He is already nervous.
  If he shoots for a prize of gold
  He goes blind
  Or sees two targets--
  He is out of his mind!

    His skill has not changed.  But the prize
  Divides him.  He cares.
  He thinks more of winning
  Than of shooting--
  And the need to win
  Drains him of power.

 

In a similar vein --

No use fretting over gold, beauty or fame;
Nurturing these, how can we calm
Our fluttering heart?

Non attachment brings deep truth,
And a truthful nature brings immortality.

Empty your heart,
Sit quietly on a mat.

In meditation we become one with All;
Tao billows like the vapors
In a mountain valley,
And its supernatural power wafts into our soul.

-- Loy Ching-Yuen (1873-1960)

Otto I, Cathedral of Magdeburg

I'm glad that trade in ivory is now prohibited, but it's easy to see why it was so much prized for so long -- Otto I presents Magdeburg Cathedral to Christ, ca. 965 (ivory)

Nothing Gold Can Stay

A small poem, sad but beautiful -- Nothing Gold Can Stay, by Robert Frost.

Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder

Here is another wonderful site that has been around for a long time -- Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder. 

H & H is a Dutch company that sells Old Master paintings.  Their site presents many of these works in a tasteful and compelling way.  Have a look -- 

Battle at Sea between Hollanders and Pirates c. 1675, by Ludolf Backhuyzen

Summer Flowers in a Vase,  by Rachel Ruysch (1664 - 1750)

Still Life with Flowers and Fruit, by Jan Van Os Middelharnis (1744-1808)

There are lots more.  You can find some by using the home page (above) or give the search engine a try (just choose a letter and click). 

Della Robbia Family

It being Sunday, I offer for your enjoyment another of Luca della Robbia's marvelous terracotta sculptures -- Christ in Majesty, in Florence, Italy.

The same talented photographer has posted photographs of other works by members of the della Robbia family. 

Luca (1400-1482) was the first and most famous member of this family of sculptors.   He was assisted and later succeeded by his nephew Andrea (1435-1525).   Andrea was in turn assisted and succeeded by his sons, the best known of whom was Giovanni (1469- ?).   

Flower Still Life

There are lots of still lifes that I don't care for very much, but I do quite like this one -- Flower Still Life, 1614, by Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder

Interior of a Barn (with a Family of Coopers)

This drawing strikes me as very appealing -- Interior of a Barn with a Family of Coopers, c. 1763, by François Boucher (black and white chalk on light tan paper)

Maurice-Quentin Delatour

A fine portrait by French artist Maurice Quentin-Delatour -- Gabriel Bernard de Rieux (pastel and gouache on paper mounted on canvas).