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Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919)

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (February 25th, 1841– December 3rd, 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty, and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that “Renoir is the final representative of a tradition which runs directly from Rubens to Watteau.”

This is one of my favourite artists, who has created an unbelievable amount of stunning paintings. They are notable for their vibrant light and saturated color, most often focusing on people in intimate and candid compositions. Seeing them I always wonder if it would be possible to learn to paint like that, yet reading Renoir’s biography I came to the conclusion that he simply had a gift – to portray his surroundings, to observe and to take everything in.

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Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France, in a working class family. As a boy, he worked in a porcelain factory where his drawing talents led to him being chosen to paint designs on fine china. He also painted hangings for overseas missionaries and decorations on fans before he enrolled in art school. During those early years, he also often visited the Louvre to study the French master painters.

In 1862, he began studying art under Charles Gleyre in Paris, where he met Alfred Sisley, Frédéric Bazille, and Claude Monet. At times during the 1860s, he did not have enough money to buy paint. Although Renoir first started exhibiting paintings at the Paris Salon in 1864, recognition did not come for another ten years, due, in part, to the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War.

Alfred Sisley and his Wife, 1868

During the Paris Commune in 1871, while he painted on the banks of the Seine River, some Communards thought he was a spy, and were about to throw him into the river when a leader of the Commune, Raoul Rigault, recognized Renoir as the man who had protected him on an earlier occasion.

Camille Monet and Her Son Jean in the Garden at Argenteuil, 1874

In 1874, a ten-year friendship with Jules Le Cœur and his family ended, and Renoir lost not only the valuable support gained by the association, but a generous welcome to stay on their property near Fontainebleau and its scenic forest. This loss of a favorite painting location resulted in a distinct change of subjects.

Jules le Couer in Fontainebleau Forest, 1866

Renoir experienced his initial acclaim when six of his paintings were hung in the first Impressionist exhibition in 1874. In the same year, two of his works were shown with Durand-Ruel in London.

Bouquet of Roses, 1879

In 1881, he traveled to Algeria, a country he associated with Eugène Delacroix, then to Madrid, to see the work of Diego Velázquez. Following that, he traveled to Italy to see Titian’s masterpieces in Florence and the paintings of Raphael in Rome. On 15 January 1882 Renoir met the composer Richard Wagner at his home in Palermo, Sicily. Renoir painted Wagner’s portrait in just thirty-five minutes. In the same year, Renoir convalesced for six weeks in Algeria after contracting pneumonia, which permanently damaged his respiratory system.

Beach Scene, Guernsey (Children by the Sea in Guernsey), 1883

In 1883, he spent the summer in Guernsey, creating fifteen paintings in little over a month. Most of these feature Moulin Huet, a bay in Saint Martin’s, Guernsey. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel, and it has a varied landscape that includes beaches, cliffs and bays. These paintings were the subject of a set of commemorative postage stamps issued by the Bailiwick of Guernsey in 1983.

In 1887, the year when Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee, and upon the request of the queen’s associate, Phillip Richbourg, he donated several paintings to the “French Impressionist Paintings” catalog as a token of his loyalty.

Gabrielle and Jean, 1895

In 1890, he married Aline Victorine Charigot, who, along with a number of the artist’s friends, had already served as a model for Le Déjeuner des canotiers (Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881), and with whom he already had a child, Pierre, in 1885. After his marriage, Renoir painted many scenes of his wife and daily family life, including their children and their nurse, Aline’s cousin Gabrielle Renard. The Renoirs had three sons, one of whom, Jean, became a filmmaker of note and another, Pierre, became a stage and film actor.

Apples and Flowers, 1896

Around 1892, Renoir developed rheumatoid arthritis. In 1907, he moved to the warmer climate of “Les Collettes,” a farm at Cagnes-sur-Mer, close to the Mediterranean coast. Renoir painted during the last twenty years of his life, even when arthritis severely limited his movement, and he was wheelchair-bound. He developed progressive deformities in his hands and ankylosis of his right shoulder, requiring him to adapt his painting technique. It has often been reported that in the advanced stages of his arthritis, he painted by having a brush strapped to his paralyzed fingers, but this is erroneous; Renoir remained able to grasp a brush, although he required an assistant to place it in his hand. The wrapping of his hands with bandages, apparent in late photographs of the artist, served to prevent skin irritation.

During this period, he created sculptures by cooperating with a young artist, Richard Guino, who worked the clay. Renoir also used a moving canvas, or picture roll, to facilitate painting large works with his limited joint mobility.

Tilla Durieux, 1914

Renoir’s portrait of Austrian actress Tilla Durieux (1914) contains playful flecks of vibrant color on her shawl that offset the classical pose of the actress and highlight Renoir’s skill just 5 years before his death.

In 1919, Renoir visited the Louvre to see his paintings hanging with those of the old masters. He died in the village of Cagnes-sur-Mer, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, on December 3.

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Information found on Wikipedia and Auguste Renoir Gallery.

Well, it’s definitely one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind, attracting entries from photographers worldwide and, when I noticed that the deadline for submitting images was approaching, I decided to at least have a look at the rules and requirements. I’m glad I did. In fact seeing these rules made me realize that the right approach is - if you don’t take part, you can’t win.

I paid twenty pounds, that’s the standard fee, and submitted some images. When I say “some”, I mean twenty – the maximum amount. I didn’t think I’d come up with so many, but I did! There are lots of categories, but no more than five images can be entered into a single category. I managed to find images for botanical realms, urban wildlife, behavior: birds, animal portraits, wildscapes and creative visions.

So I have submitted. Now I’ll have to wait…

Garden Tiger Moth (Arctia caja)

The aim of this competition: “by encouraging innovation and creativity whilst maintaining excellence in nature photography, the Competition seeks to promote the discovery, understanding, and responsible enjoyment of the natural world.”

Young Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)

What the organizers are looking for: “freshness, originality, creativity and innovation are at the core of the Competition and should be reflected in all images that are submitted.”

The Baltic Sea

Hmm… it might be that I have just wasted twenty pounds, but anyway, please wish me luck.

P.S. Closing date for entries has been extended to Monday 27 February 2012 at 09:00 GMT.

I don’t think that many of us remember what Lent is. Well, we’ve definitely heard about it, but  just theoretically. It should be a period of fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence that lasts till Easter, but when it comes to sticking to it… we simply don’t.

And if I ask you about the pancake day? Hmm… I’m 100% sure you won’t miss it. Am I right?

Making Pancakes, Illustration from 'Le Petit Journal', 26th February 1911

Some traditions do die off, still many keep going; although they might eventually lose their true meaning (just like the pagan rituals have been replaced by the Christian holidays). We seem to like the jolly things in life – if it’s Christmas we crave for presents and Easter has become the feast for chocolate eggs, so no wonder we remember Shrove Tuesday, but forget that it’s followed by the Ash Wednesday.

I’m not judging. I don’t want to say if such change is bad or good. It’s up to you how you want to view everything in life and I’m sure that if you don’t want to practice Lent, you will find a million reasons why not to (as it is the pretty body cult has taught us to torture ourselves with diets too often – I’m helping you already). I’m just of the opinion that we should always take a closer look at our holidays and know the basics – first of all the hidden meaning and why we celebrate them.

John Bull, Pancakes Day Races Magazine, UK, 1951

Anyway, lets get back to the pancake day. Here are some Shrove Tuesday festivities you might not have known about:

In England, as part of community celebration, many towns held traditional Shrove Tuesday football (‘Mob football’) games, dating as far back as the 12th century.

Shrove Tuesday was once known as a ‘half-holiday’ in England. It started at 11:00am with the signalling of a church bell.

On Pancake Day, pancake races are held in villages and towns across the United Kingdom. The tradition is said to have originated when a housewife from Olney was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for the service. She raced out of the house to church while still carrying her frying pan and pancake.

Scarborough celebrates by closing the foreshore to all traffic, closing schools early, and inviting all to skip. Traditionally, long ropes were used from the nearby harbour. The town crier rings the pancake bell, situated on the corner of Westborough (Main Street) and Huntress Row.

The children of the hamlet of Whitechapel, Lancashire keep alive a local tradition by visiting local households and asking “please a pancake”, to be rewarded with oranges or sweets. It is thought the tradition arose when farm workers visited the wealthier farm and manor owners to ask for pancakes or pancake fillings.

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Enjoy your pancakes! and don’t forget to decide what to do with that Lent thing…

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A short anathomy of Lent: there are traditionally forty days in Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour).

Information and images found on Wikipedia and AllPosters.com

You might say that knitted tea cosies are old fashioned or at least girly, but I believe that these, as Loani puts it, “little knitted objects d’art” are to die for. Trust me, after seeing this exhibition you will either dream of having one or, if you’re a man of action, actually start knitting! Their images will follow you (even haunt you!) until you have one.

Anyway, meet Loani, who has kindly agreed to answer some of our questions.

Loani and one of her rather royal creations

How and where did you learn to knit?

It is a question that every knitter can answer in a flash as if it were the most important thing they ever learned. Try it. Ask anyone. It is most usually a grandmother or a favourite aunt. For me? I was six and Mrs Theodosiou, the Greek neighbour, taught me.

Why tea cosies? Are tea parties as popular in Australia as they are in the UK?

It was an accident. A lucky, lucky accident. I made ten tea cosies for a family Christmas, almost ten years ago now. Even the twenty year old young men got tea cosies. Manly tea cosies. It’s all gone completely nuts from there really. Tea IS very popular in Australia, with tea houses popping up all over the place more recently. The ritual of taking tea has returned big time. And the ritual isn’t complete without a tea cosy now is it.

Let us into a secret – how many teapots have you got?

Nah. Not telling.

You have published 3 books… about knitted tea cosies… Where do you seek inspiration?

The more ideas you have, the more ideas you have. That very first book was a big struggle to fill with twenty-four different cosy designs, but now there are so many ideas, there is room for editing. The important thing is to understand which are flotsam and jetsam and which are jewels.

Ideas come from everywhere and everything; the world is a wonderful place. Chooks, gardens, coral reefs, New Guinea masks, haute couture, crazy furniture. I think my cosies are mostly graphic with a sense of humour, funny little knitted sculptures for the teapot.

The 3rd Loani's book will be released in Australia and the UK this April (2012)

What do you do when you don’t knit?

Eat. Drink. Oh that’s right, I do that while knitting. Just kidding. I garden. I have the most magnificent subtropical garden filled with Australian natives and then some African exotics. There is a small vegie garden too but the battle with insects is a bit disheartening.

In our winter months (your summer months) I seem to be away from home quite a bit teaching knitting in cold places. Yes it gets cold where I live but it gets much colder in the Southern Highlands of NSW and in Victoria and Tasmania. It feels like a real treat to wear wool and to make woolly things in a cold climate, as if everything is in order.

Tell us more about “Portraits of the Tea Cosies”. Can any tea cosy fan participate?

Well, it is an Aussie project at the moment. But you never know. It was Joan that let me in on the secret of the tea cosy. I met Joan at the launch of the first book “Wild Tea Cosies”, at the book-signing end of the evening. She handed me her copy and then pulled out her own tea cosy to show me. It was old and more bare than threadbare but she held that tea cosy like it was her favourite thing in the world and she told me a story.

The 3 books about tea cosies

Joan’s grandmother had knitted the tea cosy with her own young hands when she was a new bride. Her grandmother had used it every day of her married life and when she died, Joan’s mother had taken the cosy and used it too and now that she was dead, it was Joan’s. That funny old thing was almost eighty years old and it was filled with all the love and memories of three life times. And that is the secret of the tea cosy.

This year, photographer, Mark Crocker and I are gathering portraits and stories of Tea Cosy Guardians from around Australia. You can find out more on my website under the “Portraits Project” banner. This is the year of gathering. Next year, 2013, is the year of exhibition – photographic portraits, audio stories and yes – even more Queen of the Tea Cosies designs.

Thank you for your answers, Loani, and, of course, keep knitting.

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If you liked Loani’s tea cosies you can always visit her blog, where she shares her new ideas and information on the comming up workshops and events.

(Marisa has just started her little mini-illustration series on one of her blogs, but to my mind you should also see her biiiigger artworks – make sure you visit her website.)

Why did I choose a tea bag? I’d be saying this very slowly, of course to make a bigger impact, so please read it carefully: Because… we’re…  getting ready… for tomorrow… as tomorrow… we will open a new E-Exhibition! I’m very excited! Please do come back tomorrow and meet Loani Prior and her wonderful TEA COSIES!? Yes. Tea cosies!

Anyway, I was doing some “creative digging” and noticed interesting drifts. My shovel went flying back into its corner and I ran for my camera! I’d say it’s pretty out there, yet it always makes me wonder how our plants survive - the bush (Spiraea) will be covered in small white blossoms later in spring and lavender (Lavandula) will attract bees and butterflies during the whole of the summer…

I was going through my photos looking for an image that would reflect love and could be an illustration for the 14th of this month and suddenly remembered the couple I was shooting (no worries they are still alive!) from my kitchen window. I took quite a few photos – my two sparrows sat on the branch and just moved their heads looking around. The trouble was if one looked one way, the other turned the opposite direction.

2 stubborn sparrows on the hedge

It might have something to do with their instinct of survival - birds need to know what is happening around them and instinctively devide their roles so that the whole 360 degrees would be covered all of the time. (By the way, we have also retained that instinct – I heard about an experiment observing people having a meal at a restaurant: the more people sit at one table, the less time they spend looking around; one person spends the most time scanning their surroundings.). Anyway, I don’t know if that’s an ilussion or maybe for a split second these two sparrows looked at each other, but I’m happy with my image - love birds.

P.S. Hope you told someone you love them today.

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Max Beckmann (1884 - 1950)

Max Beckmann (February 12, 1884 – December 28, 1950) was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement. In the 1920s, he was associated with the New Objectivity (Neue Sachlichkeit), an outgrowth of Expressionism that opposed its introverted emotionalism.

Whenever I choose artists for the “Artists’ Birthdays” posts I first of all look at their paintings – enter their name into Google and then click “images”. This time I was impressed by the colours, variety of subjects and quantity of details in the artworks. I could call this expierence an explosion of colour and movement. Anyway, I hope you won’t mind that this time there will be more images than words (I have chosen just the most important or most interesting facts) and if you would like to know more about the artist please click here.

Google Images (search term "Max Beckmann")

- Max Beckmann’s traumatic experiences of World War I, in which he served as a medic, coincided with a dramatic transformation of his style from academically correct depictions to a distortion of both figure and space, reflecting his altered vision of himself and humanity.

Max Beckmann, Sinking of the Titanic, 1912

Max Beckmann, Die Synagoge in Frankfurt am Main, 1919

- Max Beckmann is known for the self-portraits painted throughout his life, their number and intensity rivaled only by Rembrandt and Picasso.

Max Beckmann, Self-Portrait in Tuxedo, 1927

- In 1927 Max Beckmann received the Honorary Empire Prize for German Art and the Gold Medal of the City of Düsseldorf.

- Max Beckmann’s fortunes changed with the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, whose dislike of Modern Art quickly led to its suppression by the state. In 1933, the Nazi government called Beckmann a “cultural Bolshevik” and dismissed him from his teaching position at the Art School in Frankfurt.

Max Beckmann, The Small Fish, 1933

- In 1937 more than 500 of his works were confiscated from German museums, and several of these works were put on display in the notorious Degenerate Art exhibition in Munich. For ten years, Beckmann lived in poverty in self-imposed exile in Amsterdam, failing in his desperate attempts to obtain a visa for the US.

- After the war, Beckmann moved to the United States, and during the last three years of his life, he taught at the art schools of Washington University in St. Louis and the Brooklyn Museum.

- Many of his late paintings are displayed in American museums.

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“The editor of this catalogue asked me to make a statement about my work. I don’t have much to write:
Be a child of your age.
Be naturalistic against your own ego.
Be matter-of- fact toward your inner visions.
My love is dedicated to the four great masters of masculine mysticism: Mäleskirchener (church-painters/muralists), Grünewald, Breughel and Van Gogh.” Max Beckmann

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Information found on Wikipedia and www.quotes-famous-artists.org.

Let me start with Music. CDs or vinyl records?  I think a true music lover would choose the latter and probably would claim that the sound quality of vinyl is higher compared to newer formats. According to Wikipedia “vinyl records lost popularity but never went out of production”. If this wasn’t enough “in recent years vinyl is gaining popularity, while CD record shops have gone out of business, more and more vinyl only record shops are opening”.

What if we look at Literature? You might have noticed that book shops are full – first of all their shelves are stacked with publications that cover every imaginable subject and second – the floors are made dirty by keen readers, who still haven’t turned to Kindle. We might be encountering more and more of literature visualization – according to Dusan Knezevic a hot term right now, but “its roots reach back in the first half of the last century and it actually hides recorded story telling or popular film stars children’ literature reading video sessions”, that have now evolved into “literature digitization, e-book publishing and Book Teaser Videos”. Yet let me ask you - what’s the most important thing? My answer would be – a good story, that captures one’s attention; just like in our childhood, when a nice tale read from the favourite book before going to bed became the highlight of the day.

Finally we come to Art. Nowadays we see more and more hybrid artworks. Liz Goldner says “artists’ merge several styles including abstraction with figurative work; obscure references with blatant writings; symbolic narrative with bold splashes of color.” So it is an era of mixed media and collage, that sometimes might turn art into something uncomprehensible. More and more often we see “artwork that 100 years ago would not be considered art”, yet when we come to value and financial matters – the most expensive pieces are still the ones that have been painted by the most skillful artists of the past - Vincent van Gogh, Gustav Klimt or Paul Cezanne.

In fact in order to have a closer look at “new vs old” we don’t even need to leave our house. Lets have a peek at the latest interior design trends – they can easily be called ”resurrection of the past”. All you require to make your home stylish is antique wallpaper, art nouveau  furniture and nostalgic vintage accessories. Oh, you could also invite your friends for a tea party, offer some homemade cup cakes and trust me, you will be that mega fashionable person they’ll be talking about for a few more weeks!

I guess there’s enough on the subject - we have lots of good ”old” that can still be enjoyed together with or go side by side with the “new”. We also shouldn’t forget the saying that sometimes “good new things are just well forgotten old ones”. By the way, have you got one like that?

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Why I wrote this post.

A few weeks ago I was given and old Praktica camera. I was over the moon with the present (it came with a few more lenses and a flash), yet I still haven’t used it! I’m so scared of doing something wrong… I’m used to digital that allows “not to think” and just press the button, while my new/old Praktica will have to teach me some responsibility – to look for the photos that are worth taking.

So this is my good new or simply just a well forgotten old.

P.S. A useful link for anyone with a camera that past its “sell by” date – free instructions and user manuals that have been kindly put online by Michael Butkus.

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Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876 - 1907)

Paula Modersohn-Becker (February 8, 1876 – November 21, 1907) was a German painter and one of the most important representatives of early expressionism. In a brief career, cut short by an embolism at the age of 31, she created a number of groundbreaking images of great intensity.

I must admit I was never into expressionism, it’s not my cup of tea, but this time, when I first looked at Paula’s paintings, I was very impressed with her very distinct portraits. I was also amazed when I discovered how many artworks this artist managed to create in probably less than 10 years of her creative life. Well, it’s just such a sad story – to die in your early 30s and not to see your daughter growing up…

Paula Becker was born and grew up in Dresden-Friedrichstadt. She was raised in a big family (seven children) by her mother, who came from an aristocratic family and father, who was the son of a Russian university professor. This meant that all of their children were growing up in a cultured and intellectual environment.

Mädchenbildnis by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1905)

In 1888 the whole family moved from Dresden to Bremen, where after being introduced to drawing by her aunt in London, in 1893–1895 Paula got some training by a professional teacher. Later on  she took private instruction in painting and in 1896 participated in a course for painting and drawing sponsored by the “Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen” (Union of Berlin Female Artists) which offered art studies to women.

A Girl’s Head in Front of a Window by Paula Modersohn-Becker (1906)

At the age of 22, she encountered the artistic community of Worpswede. In this “village”, artists had retreated to protest against the domination of the art academy and life in the big city; no wonder their main subjects were the life of the farmers and the northern German landscape. At this point in her life Paula began close friendships with the sculptor Clara Westhoff and the famous poet Rainer Maria Rilke. She also fell in love during this period, and in 1901 married a fellow Worpswede painter – Otto Modersohn. Marrying Otto, who was a widower, she also became a stepmother to Otto’s daughter Elsbeth Modersohn.

Between 1900 and 1907, Paula made several extended trips to Paris for artistic purposes, sometimes even living separately from her husband, Otto. She visited contemporary exhibitions often, and was particularly intrigued with the work of Paul Cézanne. Other post impressionists were especially influential too, including Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin.

Self-portrait, Pregnant by Paula Modersohn-Becker

In her last trip to Paris in 1906, she produced a body of paintings from which she felt very great excitement and satisfaction. During this period Paula produced her initial nude self-portraits (something surely unprecedented by a female painter) and portraits of friends (Rainer Maria Rilke and Werner Sombart). Some critics consider this period of her art production to be the strongest and most compelling.

Still-life by Paula Modersohn-Becker

In 1907 Paula finally returned to her husband in Worpswede. Their relationship, which had been particularly strained in 1906, had taken a turn towards improvement and Paula’s long-lived wish to conceive and bear a child was fulfilled. Her daughter Mathilde (Tillie) Modersohn was born on November 2, 1907. Paula and Otto were very happy, but sadly soon their joy became overshadowed by a tragedy – Paula Modersohn-Becker died suddenly in Worpswede on November 20 from an embolism.

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In 1908, Rainer Maria Rilke wrote the renowned poem, “Requiem for a Friend”, in Paula’s memory. The very long poem was born of the imprint that Paula’s life, death and friendship left upon Rilke. Here’s just a few lines I liked the most:

…I’ll remember you, as you placed yourself

within the mirror, deep within and far from all.”

Information found on Wikipedia and Poetry in Translation.