![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS8gsHdw9kh7gxU-UkQrrvGuaGWFClJjn_3Z9VbDCL4LNCm7vPQptQHnXhyeyNfailvCCrlAoKd3TMGLIA0jOnPbjDglNVV2_DZvkbsxG_Eb4skZ2jDt-ZlfQCrNVhrhOJBqPZEXzgquA/s280/collingwood+-+thingvellir.jpg)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Historical Landscape
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS8gsHdw9kh7gxU-UkQrrvGuaGWFClJjn_3Z9VbDCL4LNCm7vPQptQHnXhyeyNfailvCCrlAoKd3TMGLIA0jOnPbjDglNVV2_DZvkbsxG_Eb4skZ2jDt-ZlfQCrNVhrhOJBqPZEXzgquA/s280/collingwood+-+thingvellir.jpg)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Cloudy Visions
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04BpYfy7qfS0XbYEl4GGHhhZN2HwcQ3UEQ-LLtoqlJ-23hxCoLW7GlAe7embftPRB0X17ZZEqDx9lgBnAPP0J3r8cRtBw-_R5mIST6byNYSQrl_kE2gS1KGySfPL1lwLAnV3JU0EZRZUW/s280/Vereshchagin-napoleon-moskau.jpg)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Nordic Rococo
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDRbF5zXyYimYNQP4MsezxY61caC57IC-NF-L7Q9zYcmRDL4Vxq0mmhawy005OlpoRNzy3Ig3VwrmHwkjyvIYLbRSalnAaDRT_SQdYNEfz_pNko4YTSHuF_lotzG8imPvh6pWUqZ2Qjxo/s280/blommer-Freyja-cats-angels.jpg)
Here he shows the Nordic goddess of love and fertility Freya in her cart drawn by cats. Despite that’s not surprising for a Pre-Wagnerian artist, the false historical construction reveals itself by the baroque angels, who have nothing Nordic at all, so it’s much more a kind of post-rococo kitsch.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
The Spirit of Russian Past
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDa-QSu7-2lmPaWWHNv8LHHAFYRQlYRx14i7w-ZFT310hOT_42odpoAgS4nyEldVMZO84WRxeQ5p0I-OnXUKQZNlCQHxaqFxk_p4-X1xdFQWQK1DnsKNh-eNJo-r2hBlZzVYdxzcs6lQN/s280/bilibin-6.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEI-r0_FUYtxwurKbHTBv7YY9Msgfzj1-kMCptAp2vpg3W2d4FAIRnM0qf9tmkeIQV2fxmZEjdOBJW0hk9CO4gkn71bzEh1RQP2nXdrVBGXKsF_pt8HoylKM4QCbIfQVX21MmRN5KguaIO/s280/bilibin-6-falke.jpg)
Despite there are many historically correct details in his illustrations he never pretended to be "realistic" like so many academic painters at this time. He tired much more to catch the spirit of Russian past.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
A Bloody Struggle
Saragossa 10 February 1809 by the British painter Harold Hume Piffard (1895-1938).
Piffard depicts here the bloody struggle in a church during the siege a Saragossa. The defending Spanish priests are showing even more bloodlust than their French adversaries. And to me it seems that the priest in center is not praying peace or forgiveness, it looks much like some kind of exorcism.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinZYeyT6wKzDARZveFfmQbYfiPwWZcA1mGzFhmF16PzsL56xoCHfVXtGTsbLO-JxifHJ3kPSBXp67lipXyCNgOWh3POuzZqsup0ROZ0vpG-HUqbZYR1a71tkYl2WLW9f4hLiT5RlY7mxPq/s400/Pfiffard---zargoza.jpg)