Category Archives: Arts & Literature

Art, Arts & Literature, Profiles, Videos

Artwork: ‘The Harvesters’ By Dutch Renaissance Painter Pieter Bruegel The Elder, 1525-1569 (Video)

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Artist: Pieter Bruegel the Elder (Netherlandish, Breda ca. 1525–1569 Brussels) Title: The Harvesters

The Harvesters is an oil painting on wood completed by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in 1565. It depicts the harvest time, in the months of July and August or late summer. Nicolaes Jonghelinck, a merchant banker and art collector from Antwerp, commissioned this painting.

On view at Metropolitan Museum: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect…

Pieter Bruegel the Elder was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes; he was a pioneer in making both types of subject the focus in large paintings.

Art, Arts & Literature, Collections, Travel, Videos

Museum Tour: ‘Palazzo Barberini’ – Gallery Of Ancient Art, Rome (Video)

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Palazzo Barberini is an imposing Baroque building that houses the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, the National Gallery of Ancient Art. Commissioned by Pope Urban VIII, the mansion was the most elegant and luxurious villa of the period. 

In 1623, Maffeo Barberini, once made Pope (Pope Urban VIII), ordered the construction of the estate to Italian architect Carlo Maderno, who is responsible for the design of St Peter’s Basilica’s façade. The construction started in 1625 and was finished in 1633 by Bernini, after Maderno’s death.

In 1949, the Italian State bought the palazzo to house the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, which was created from the donations of pieces of art by several noble Italian families.

Website

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi” (The Frick Video)

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” celebrate the Yuletide with Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon as he takes a closer look at Lazzaro Bastiani’s “Adoration of the Magi.” Acquired from Pierpont Morgan’s heirs in 1935—the year The Frick Collection opened to the public—this fascinating picture shows the gift-toting kings on different stages of their journey from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. A contemporary of Giovanni Bellini, Bastiani was considered the artist’s equal at the time and commanded similar prices for his pictures. Explore the work of this magnificent but under-appreciated artist while enjoying a festive Cranberry Bourbon cocktail—Merry Christmas!

Lazzaro Bastiani was an Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice. He was born in Padua. He is first recorded as a painter in Venice by 1460 in a payment for an altarpiece of San Samuele, for the Procuratori di San Marco. In 1462 he was paid at the same rate as Giovanni Bellini. 

Arts & Literature, Interviews, Podcasts, Profiles

Interviews: Ballet Dancer Misty Copeland (Podcast)

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Was the first black principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre earlier denied roles because of her skin colour? She tells host, Anne McElvoy, how dance saved her from a difficult childhood and about her first performance in a classic Christmas production. And, which ballets would she remove from the repertoire?

Misty Danielle Copeland is an American ballet dancer for American Ballet Theatre, one of the three leading classical ballet companies in the United States. On June 30, 2015, Copeland became the first African American woman to be promoted to principal dancer in ABT’s 75-year history

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews, Videos

Art History Video: 1st C. BC Roman Sculpture ‘Boy With Thorn – The Spinario’

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Spinario (Boy with Thorn), c. 1st century B.C.E., bronze, 73 cm high (Capitoline Museums, Rome), a conversation with Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Arts & Literature, Books, Music, Reviews, Videos

Graphic Novels: ‘The Final Symphony – A Beethoven Anthology’ (Dec 2020)

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A new original graphic novel, The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology, celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven’s 250th birthday, has been published via Z2 Comics and Deutsche Grammophon. 

The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology, written by Brandon Montclare and Frank Marraffino, was inspired by the composer’s life and music. The graphic novel reimagines the life of the legendary composer through striking new visuals created by world-class artists. Readers will be able to experience both masterpieces and lesser-known gems in a brand new light. The deluxe edition will be accompanied by an exclusive double vinyl LP following the story through the composer’s own works.

Featuring Alice Sara Ott, Ezinma and Max Richter

Pianist Alice Sara Ott, violinist Ezinma and composer Max Richter, are all featured in their own chapters in The Final Symphony: A Beethoven Anthology. In the chapter featuring Alice Sara Ott, drawn by Creees Lee, the pianist invites the composer to hear one of his works played in a modern concert hall. The chapter featuring Ezinma, drawn by Jarrett Williams, celebrates Beethoven’s groundbreaking musical personality, and Max Richter has been transformed by artist Dave Chisholm, who also wrote the chapter.

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Profiles, Videos

Artwork: ‘The Orange Chair, 1944’ By British Painter Cedric Morris

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Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portraits, flower paintings and landscapes

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Videos

Cocktails With A Curator: ‘Hoffman’s Bust of Henry Clay Frick’ (Frick Video)

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In this week’s episode of “Cocktails with a Curator,” Deputy Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator Xavier F. Salomon takes a closer look at Malvina Cornell Hoffman’s marble bust of Henry Clay Frick, the museum’s founder, and considers the complicated legacy of the Pennsylvania-born industrialist. This month marks several important milestones for the Frick, including the eighty-fifth anniversary of the opening of a museum for, in Frick’s words, “all persons whomsoever.” This oft-overlooked bust was commissioned by his daughter, Helen Clay Frick, and for many years welcomed guests in the Entrance Hall at 1 East 70th Street. This week’s complementary cocktail is the Old Fashioned, a nod to Frick’s first job as an accountant for the family whiskey distillery.

Arts & Literature, History, Profiles, Videos

Video Profiles: French Nobel Prize Author Albert Camus (1913 -1960)

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This week, we’re putting the focus on Nobel Prize-winning French author Albert Camus. As 2020 saw France mark 60 years since his death in a car crash, Camus’s seminal work “The Plague” was unexpectedly thrust back into the spotlight by the Covid-19 pandemic.

From the UK to Japan, the 1947 novel established itself as a global sensation, topping sales charts and pushing publishers into a rushed reprint. But Camus’s prolific and multi-faceted career extends far beyond this viral hit. We tell you more about the author’s life, starting with his humble beginnings in French-ruled Algeria. 

Art, Arts & Literature, History, Reviews, Videos

Art: ‘Beyond The Surface’ – Monet’s “Changing Light”

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This video takes an in-depth look at Monet’s approach to painting in series, an approach that consumed his later years. From stacks of wheat in the French countryside to sites of foggy London to water lilies at his home garden in Giverny, Monet painted beloved subjects again and again, depicting changing light and atmospheric conditions in works that captivate us still today. New scientific discoveries, however, reveal that Monet’s genius goes well beyond what we see on the surface.

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