Artworks Damaged/Destroyed by Islamic Totalitarians: Nergal Gate at Ninevah

Nationality: Mesopotamian

Creation Date: c. 700 BC

Media: Granite

Location: Nineveh, Iraq

This sculpture was named after Nergal, an ancient Mesopotamian deity.  It was intended to be a protective figure.  More information about this type of human/animal sculpture can be found here. 

In February of 2015 ISIS attempted to deface/vandalize/destroy this huge granite sculpture.  This piece was not in great shape before 2015, but you can see that the are behind the figure's head has been removed.

Before:

Unknown Print (of an Unknown Sculpture) by Unknown Artist

Nationality: French?


Another myserious work that I've had in my files for a long time.  I just like the fact that her chariot is pulled by squirrels!

Herbert James Draper's "Gates of Dawn"

Nationality: English

Born-Died: 1617-1694
Creation Date: 1900

Size: 78 x 40 in (198 x 100 cm)

Media: Oil on canvas

Location: The Drapers' Company Collection, London, UK

Great news, art lovers!  This blog has a new store where you can buy prints of your favorite works from 1OAOotD!   Draper's "Gates of Dawn" is now for sale for only $9.99!  Check it out.

This Print + Your Wall = Awesome

Illustration by Edmond Dulac for "The Little Mermaid"

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1882-1953

Creation Date: 1911
Media: Watercolor?

Illustration by Edmond Dulac for "The Little Mermaid"

Nationality: French
Born-Died: 1882-1953

Creation Date: 1911
Media: Watercolor?

Cor Blok's Illustrations for "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"

Nationality: Dutch
Cor Blok is an artist that many other Objectivists might not like, which is understandable. I think his work is very charming and despite the lack of rendering in his work I can see that consideration was put into the shape and color relationships. Although I enjoy many of his paintings I don't think he is a great artist. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find out much about him and a Wikipedia article for him is definitely overdue.

Another reason that I really like his work is that although his paintings look vaguely like Eastern European folk art, many of them are actually illustrations for J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit--which are books that I love. Most fantasy illustrators do not employ such a loud style so his work is a little bit refreshing to me in that regard. Because of his strange style it is not always immediately apparent which scenes from the stories are being depicted. I think it's fun to look at them carefully and to try to guess what scenes from the story are being illustrated. Can you guess which scenes are which?

Unusual Depictions of Jesus Week: Visual Interpretations of Miraculous Powers

Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety. Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.

If my memory serves me I do not think that the miracles performed in the New Testament have descriptions of visual phenomena. Perhaps there are bright lights with one or two, but usually the event just seems to occur without much visual grandeur associated with it. While halos and back-lighting are standard, there are not that many paintings of Jesus that show him performing acts accompanied by lights, shapes and colors. To me these images make Jesus look like some kind of wizard casting a magical spell.

William Holman Hunt's Christ and the Two Marys

Unusual Depictions of Jesus Week: Feminine Portrayals of Jesus

Throughout history Christan mythology has been depicted with great variety.  Because images of Jesus are so common in the history of art, I thought it would be interesting to explore some of the more unusual works.

Today I'm posting several paintings of Jesus that are strangely feminine.  In some instances, his femininity is so extreme that it appears he was painted as a bearded woman or as having a male body with a female head.  I assume that the thought process behind this decision was to make Jesus appear non-aggressive and benevolent, however, I find it strange that rather than looking to the features of non-aggressive and benevolent males, these artists looked to the features of non-males.  Though some of these images depict Jesus as a boy or as young man, these works still seem to be more like paintings of girls and young women and if I didn't know they were supposed to be males I would have assumed they were females.

Unknown artist's Christ Child with Passion Symbols

Antonio da Correggio's "Jupiter and Io"

Strong/Weak: Bouveret vs Vedder

On my recent trip to the Carnegie I noticed these two paintings in the same room. Content aside I could not help but observe that both used back-lit figures although the first painting is lit very well and the second is lit very poorly. I find it helpful to make these simple comparisons so if I need to use a similar lighting situation I can refer to this clear dichotomy of quality.

Strong: Pascal-Adolphe-Jean Dagnan Bouveret's Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus

Great Art-Bad Philosophy Week: Rembrandt van Rijn's "Adam and Eve"

If I was going to be trapped in an elevator with any single artist's body of etchings I would pick Rembrandt.

Great Art-Bad Philosophy Week: Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare"

This week I'm going to showcase great works of art which reflect some sort of terrible philosophical stance. Many of these works I enjoy and respect from an artistic standpoint though I don't share the artist's philosophy.

Margaret MacDonald's "Willowood"

I like Margaret MacDonald's fanciful and strangely designed images. The Scottish Art Nouveau artists bear a strong resemblance to the Viennese Secession artists and both movements had nice work.

Utagawa Kuniyoshi's "Susanoo No Mikoto and the Water Dragon"

Ilya Repin's "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom"

John Bauer's "Princess Tuvstarr and the Fishpond"

One of my favorite illustrators who made beautifully painted and composed images.

Unknown Engraving by Peter Paul Rubens

In order to fully appreciate the linework in this image I like to look at it full size.

Herbert James Draper's "The Gates of Dawn"