Happy Fourth of July!

Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, American, 1816-1868


George Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851
Oil on Canvas; 12 2/5 x 21 1/4 in.

In honor of the Fourth of July, I thought it appropriate to post a classic image of one of the forefathers of the United States, George Washington.

The subject of this painting is the historic moment when General George Washington and the revolutionary troops crossed the Delaware River in order to surprise the English and Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton (December 26, 1776). This painting is often used to show an emotional and patriotic moment in the history of the United States of America. Leutze began his first version of the work in 1849, which was burnt by a fire in his studio, restored in 1850, and eventually destroyed by a bombing raid in 1942. In 1850, he began this version of the subject, which was placed on exhibition in New York in 1851, where it was purchased for $10,000 by Marshall O. Roberts. Many artists have copied this work and created various studies of the painting.

May inspiration and creativity be with you!

Happy Father's Day!!

In celebration of Father's Day, I thought I would post one of my favorite images of fatherhood, The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1662, oil on canvas.

It is a touching image that brings about notions of unconditional love, tenderness, forgiveness, and mercy. These attributes are the things that we remember about our fathers, or wish we did, qualities that we cherish in our husbands, and the nobleness which we pray for our children to exhibit when they become men.

May inspiration and creativity be with you!

Venice Biennale Opened Sunday June 7th

"Galaxies Forming Along Filaments, Like Droplets Along the Strands of a Spider's Web" by Tomas Saraceno (Argentine artist).

Outside the U.S. Pavilion in the Giardini at the Venice Biennale, 2009

The preceding images are works currently on display at the 53rd Venice Biennale. The fee this year for artists was raised from $21.25 to $25.50; which, seemed to irritate some artists but did not seem to deter anybody from entering the show. The most talked about work seems to have been "Bruce Nauman: Topological Gardens," the cost of which was covered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Biennale runs until November 22, 2009.

Photos and more information can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/arts/design/08roun.html

May inspiration and creativity be with you!

For you LOTR Fans...breathe deeply

For all of you LOTR fans and fans of graphic novels, aka comic books, Peter Jackson, pictured above, is finally going to attend Comic-con on July 24th of this year. Many of his films have been hyped at previous Comic-cons, so I am sure the attendance will swell past it's usual 100,000.

It is also possible that several other mega-famous directors will be there promoting their films amongst the die-hard fans of graphic novels, many of which are plugging films that show these pulp icons on the larger than life screen. It is said that James Cameron may possibly be there to promote Avatar and that Summit Entertainment will surely make an appearance to promote New Moon, the follow-up to the hit Twilight.

For a little more info. on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/movies/06jackson.html?_r=1&ref=arts

Photo credits to Ross Setford from the Associated Press.

May inspiration and creativity be with you!