Pablo Picasso

Pablo Picasso, “Dying Bull”, 1934, Oil on Canvas, 33.7 x 55.2 cm, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Picasso’s father took him to see his first bullfight in 1889, when he was only nine years old. The spectacle so impressed him that he made it the subject of his very first painting that same year. In 1934 Picasso again took up the subject in an extensive series of drawings, prints, and paintings in which the choreography of the corrida became a metaphor for life and death. Here, Picasso focuses solely on the agony of the dying bull, eliminating the spectators, horses, and matador.

Felix Jenewein

Felix Jenewein, “The Plague”, Colour Lithograph, 1901, One of Six Plates in a Portfolio with Title Pages and Introduction by Karel B. Mádl.

Subject described by Karel B. Mádl as follows: “The first victims of the plague fall suddenly in the open air, under a ruddy sky, in which hangs ghastly the pale disc of the moon, and moves the threatening tail of the comet. The mighty body of the traveler is struck down as by lightening, and is cut down in deadly convulsions. The strong limbs quiver and are being contorted. Death came down among the people with terrible violence and the witnesses of this visitation are terror stricken. Two figures only suffice to show us the sad, voiceless land, and the painter places us into the midst of the dismay, caused by the plague.”

The Swallowed Ship

Artist Unknown, (The Swallowed Ship), Computer Graphics, Film Gif from the Movie “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen”, 1988

“Some travellers are apt to advance more than is perhaps strictly true; if any of the company entertain a doubt of my veracity, I shall only say to such, I pity their want of faith, and must request they will take leave before I begin the second part of my adventures, which are as strictly founded in fact as those I have already related.”

― Rudolph Erich Raspe, The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen

San Base

Five Surreal Paintings by San Base

San Base is a Canadian artist, born in Russia. Since early childhood, he showed an aptitude toward arts, and at the age of 12 he was accepted into a Fine Arts school. Soon after, he discovered another passion – the mathematics. As an admirer of both art and science, he faced a tough decision as an adolescent – to accept an offer to Surikov Academy of Fine Arts (one of the most prominent art schools in Russia) or to go to a technical university. In the end, he selected a program in applied science and graduated as a cybernetics engineer, but he never gave up painting.

He moved to the Ukraine and excelled in his as a programmer. Meanwhile, San Base dedicated all of his free time to painting and perfected his artist skills. In the early ‘90s, Base invented the concept of Dynamic Painting by combining his two strengths – programmer’s skills and love of art. He immigrated to Canada in the mid ’90s and over the last decade he perfected the technology behind Dynamic Paintings. And now, brilliant results of his genius work can finally be discovered in galleries throughout the world.

Jean Droit

Jean Droit, 1924 Paris Poster for the Olympic Games

From his early youth, Jean Droit manifested his talents as an artist, primarily in watercolors. His first exhibition of watercolors was at the Galerie du Roy in Brussels in 1912. His posters and illustrations, published by numerous magazines and in luxury books, were universally known and appreciated. Shortly before 1914, Jean Droit designed the outfits for the boards of the Belgian Army.

Upon his return to France after the end of the war, he became  a draftsman at the Manufacture de Sèvres and  resumed his artistic and educational activities. Several of his works are at the Royal Army Museum in Brussels.

Thanks to http://djinn-gallery.tumblr.com

Hans Zimmer, “Time”

Hans Zimmer, “Time”, Composed for the Soundtrack of the Movie “Inception”

Hans Zimmer is one of the geniuses of soundtrack composition. There are very few who reach his quality and intensity. You know his work; although you may not know his name. Gladiator; Batman the Dark Knight; Interstellar; The Last Samurai.

Enjoy. Listen to more of his work.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Julian Osorio, “Evan Wexler and the Boelen’s Python”

Evan Wexler and the Boelen’s Python: Photography by Julian Osorio

New Guinea, the second largest island in the world, houses roughly 4,642 vertebrate species. The island of New Guinea has numerous species of reptiles; this unique species of python is only found on the Island of New Guinea, at an elevation of 6500-8500ft above sea level.

Boelen’s pythons are cloud forest residents and have been sited from the Vogelkop Peninsula (Birds head region) all the way to the east of Papua New Guinea (PNG). These snakes are presumed to follow the mountainous spine of the Maoke Mountains, which is composed of the Sudirman and the Jayawijaya range. The original holotype specimen was found in an area named Dimija, on December 25, 1952.

Interestingly, this species of snake receives as high protection as that of the bird of paradise in PNG. Throughout New Guinea, this snake is highly revered by the indigenous tribes and is referred to by many names such as “Blu Moran” or “Papa Graun Moran” in PNG.

The snake is a uniform jet black color with forward facing yellow bands that start from the face of the animal and work its way towards the mid body. Set in the right lighting, these snakes display a velvety sheen and a breathtaking iridescence.

To the average person these pythons seem rather large; however, on average, this species rarely exceeds 8 feet in length. As neonates, these snakes are typically a rusty red color, and they change to adult colors as they mature.

Zan Cro

Zan Cro, “Blending into the Woods”, 2017

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves.”

-Hermann Hesse, Baume, Betrachtungen und Gedichte