Tag: art

In The Beginning

And then, the flow began:
The life that was their own,
The life that was her own
That urged a broad wingspan;
No longer words, alone
No longer friends outgrown....

She found true love without a man;
Won lands afar without a throne;
Traversed where none had ever flown -
And all of this, without a plan,
Without a soul yet to condone
The very life she'd only known

With only whispers of "I can...!"
She lifts her eyes, will not bemoan
The very life, love some'd disown;
Though from malaise he'd said she ran,
Through heartaches, breaks come on full-blown,
She'd come to now, to but intone,

To sing like ancient Solomon
Her heart's truth, life, love depone
In psalms, her soul's brilliant lodestone;
To find in sweet, attentive span
And unfailingly true touchstone
Her life, her love ne'er to atone...

And then, and so her flow began....

Photo credit: Pexels Free Photos

thegetty:

A sensual portrait of a Princess

The artist could only get away with such a sensuous full-length portrait, reminiscent of harem scenes and odalisques, because of the Princess’ unassailable social position. 

Her gently arched eyebrows and gaze out to the viewer acknowledges you who stands before her.

Portrait of Leonilla, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, 1843, Franz Xaver Winterhalter. Oil on canvas. The J. Paul Getty Museum.

thegetty:

In the Hellenistic period, artists were interested in more than just standard ideal figures. Bronze—surpassing marble with its tensile strength, reflective effects, and ability to hold fine detail—was employed for dynamic compositions, dazzling displays of the nude body, and graphic expressions of age and character.

This image is of an athlete, fresh from competition, with a realistic disheveled head of hair. The finely chiseled strands are swept up and around in different directions creating this dynamic hairstyle. 

Now on view in “Power and Pathos” at the Getty Center through November 1. 

Statue of an Athlete (Apoxyomenos), A.D. 1-90. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Antikensammlung. Image courtesy of and © KHM-Museumsverband. Collection of Greek and Roman Antiquities / Ephesos Museum

All art comes from terrific failures and terrific needs that we have. It is about the difficulty of being a self because one is neglected. Everywhere in the modern world there is neglect, the need to be recognised, which is not satisfied. Art is a way of recognising oneself.

Louise Bourgeois (via wnq-art)