Month: March 2015

Rainer Maria Rilke: “A Broad Melody Always Wakes Behind You”

Photographers Unknown, Interactions Between Men

“Whether it be the singing of a lamp or the voice of a storm, whether it be the breath of an evening or the groan of the ocean — whatever surrounds you, a broad melody always wakes behind you, woven out of a thousand voices, where there is room for your own solo only here and there. To know when you need to join in: that is the secret of your solitude: just as the art of true interactions with others is to let yourself fall away from high words into a single common melody.”

― Rainer Maria Rilke, The Collected Works of Rainer Maria Rilke: The Complete Works PergamonMedis 

Tachi Gunto Sword

Art in a Blade: Fully Hand Forged Clay Tempered Razor Sharp Japanese Tachi Gunto Sword- Available from handmade sword.com- Price: $17500.

Steel: 1095 steel
Blade: clay tempered;
Edge: Sharp;
Hamon(Tempered line): Distinct real hamon;
Tsuka(Handle): Brass engraved with Samurai’s living & battle & with genuine cowhide accessories;
Saya: Brass plated with real gold engraved with Samurai’s living & battle & with genuine cowhide ornament;
Tang: Full tang engraved with black smith’s signature;
Tsuba: Brass engraved with waves;
Other Fittings: Brass;
Condition: Brand new & can be fully disassembled and assembled;
Blade Length(with habaki): 30″
Handle Length: 11.8″
Overall Length(with Saya): 44.1″
Blade Thickness: 0.3″
Weight (with Saya): 6 lb 2 oz
Weight (without Saya): 3 lb 8 oz

George Desvallières

George Desvallières, Pastels on Paper

Born in 1861 in Paris, George Desvallières studied at the Académie Julian with historical painter and teacher Tony Robert-Fleury and studied with Jules Valadon at the École des Beaux-Arts. His early paintings consisted of mainly portrait work.

Desvallières had a privileged relationship with Gustave Moreau, a renowned professor and one of the major figures in Symbolist painting which was steeped in mysticism. Moreau had a major influence on Desvallières’s early artwork, turning him toward an interest in mythology and religion. After a trip to Italy in 1890, his style started combining dark subjects and strong color with religious drama.

Desvallières worked with painters Maurice Denis and Albert Besnard to decorate French art and music patron Jacques Rouché’s private mansion. He also worked on a number of public and private decorative programs related to World War I: among those were windows for a church in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and for the Douaumont Ossuary, a memorial site for the skeletal remains of the soldiers who died at the Battle of Verdun in World War I.

Desvallières illustrated a number of books and plays, including “Rolla” by French dramatist Alfred de Musset and “La Princesse Lointaine” by French poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand. Collections of Desvallières’s work can be found at the Louvre in Paris and the Muséed’Orsay.

Top Image: “Joueurs de Balles”, Pastel, 1894

Bottom Image: “Tireurs a l’arc”, Pastel, 1895

Ceiling at Dendera

 

Astronomical Ceiling, Dendera

The ceiling of the Hypostyle Hall at Dendera Temple is enriched with an incredible amount of figurative detail carved in low relief and painted in subtle shades against a blue background. The subjects include numerous deities and hybrid figures (some familiar, others much less so) and even astrological elements, such as recognisable figures from the zodiac.

Fantastic photos of the “astronomical ceiling” at Dendera, posted on LiveJournal by aksanova.

Gabriel Grun

 

Gabriel Grun, “Jupiter”, 2006

Born in 1978 in Buenos Aires, Gabriel Grun is an Argentinian obscure figurative painter based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His renaissance baroque-styled approach explores the realms of sexuality, fantasy, and nature in an originative way. Grun’s paintings and drawings recall those of the Renaissance and Baroque masters he emulates in his work: Rembrandt, Durer, Memling, Van Eyck, Caravaggio, Holbein, and Ribera.

After beginning his career in Argentina,Grun is now settled in Spain and his works are scattered all around the globe, having aroused the interest of a diversified group of collectors.