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Paul Cezanne: Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier

April 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Paul Cezanne Rideau Cruchon et Compotier 1893 1894

Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier (1893-1894), oil on canvas painting by Paul Cézanne, 59 cm x 72.4 cm, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City

The still life oil painting titled ‘Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier’ (1893- 1894) by the Post-Impressionist French artist Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), is considered the most expensive still life painting in the world ever sold in an auction.

Another oil painting that comes in the list of the most expensive paintings in the world is ‘Irises’ (Les Iris) by Vincent van Gogh, which was sold for $53.9 million (inflation adjusted price: $102 million in Sep 2010) in November 1987.

Cezanne is often referred to as the bridge between Impressionism and Cubism, and he is credited for laying the foundation for transition from the 19th century artistic styles to a radically different style in the early 20th century.

During his career Cézanne created a number of famous still lifes, apart from a large number of other paintings including landscapes and a series of ‘bathers’. His paintings eventually became a huge source of inspiration and model for artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

On 10 May 1999 during the sale of the Whitney family art collection, ‘Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier’ (Curtain, Jug and Fruit Bowl) was sold to an unidentified buyer at an auction at Sotheby’s, New York, for $60.5 million (inflation adjusted price as on September 2010: $79.5 million), which was a record price.

Filed Under: Art, Free Photos, Fruits, Still life Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Lady Godiva, painting by John Collier

March 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Lady Godiva oil painting by John Collier 1898 300x214

Lady Godiva (1898), oil on canvas painting by John Collier

Seen on the left is an oil painting, depicting a brave Anglo-Saxon noble woman who rode naked through the streets to mitigate the tax burden of the people of Coventry.

It is the celebrated oil painting titled ‘Lady Godiva’ (1898) by the British writer and artist John Maler Collier (1850-1934).

In modern times, her legend is one of the most quoted and emulated by activists trying to solve similar problems of the affected people.

You can find many more tributes to Lady Godiva in popular culture of many countries in the form of paintings, drawings, sculptures, music, opera, books/ literature, television, advertising, films, sports, video games, etc. recounting the legend of Lady Godiva.

Lady Godiva was an Anglo-Saxon Countess who flourished in the period 1040-1080. She is also known by names with such spellings as Godgifu or Godgyfu that literally meant ‘gift of God’ in Old English.

Lady Godiva was the second or later wife of Leofric, the Earl of Mercia. The Earl exploited his tenants in Coventry, now a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. The troubled people approached Godiva for mitigating their tax burden, which was imposed by her husband. In turn, Godiva pleaded with her husband to remit the taxes, but he refused to do so.

When Godiva repeatedly appealed to him on behalf of the people, he threw a teaser at her that he would grant her request if she stripped naked and rode on horseback through the streets of Coventry. She bravely accepted the challenge.

According to some legends, Lady Godiva issued a proclamation ordering everyone to stay indoors shutting their doors and windows. Then she stripped naked (“clothed only in her long hair”) and rode on horseback through the streets of Coventry. After her brave act, Godiva’s husband Leofric abolished the burdensome taxes, as he promised.

The legend says only one person, Tom who was a tailor, disobeyed her. He bored a hole in his shutters and peeped through it, while she was passing. The legend also says, he was struck blind, and because of this most famous instance of voyeurism, forever he became notorious as the ‘Peeping Tom’.

The above legend may be a refined version of Lady Godiva’s naked riding legend. Some other versions of the legends based on the accounts of the tax collectors of her husband claim that Godiva, attended by two of her knights, rode through the Coventry market which was full of assembled people.

There are also indications that the current version of the Lady Godiva legend with the addition of Peeping Tom was made popular by the chroniclers of the 17th century. Similarly, the claim that Lady Godiva’s ‘nakedness’ was hidden by her long hair is believed to be a later addition to her legend.

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Aphrodite of Menophantos, marble statue of Capitoline Venus

March 12, 2011 by 1 Comment
Aphrodite of Menophantos Capitoline Venus Pudica Museo Nazionale Romano Rome 457x1024

Aphrodite of Menophantos, a Venus Pudica marble statue of the 1st century BC at Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome

The Aphrodite of Menophantos is a marble statue of the Capitoline Venus (type: Venus Pudica), signed by the Greek sculptor Menophantos in 1st century BC, found at the Camaldolese monastery of San Gregorio Magno al Celio (aka San Gregorio al Celio or simply San Gregorio), a church in Rome. The Camaldolese coenobites occupy the church and monastery founded by Pope Gregory I (also known as Pope Gregory the Great or Gregorius I) around 580 AD on the slope of the Caelian Hill, one of the famous Seven Hills of Rome. Later the sculpture came into the possession of Prince Agostino Chigi. Currently it is located at the National Museum of Rome (Museo Nazionale Romano), Rome, Italy.

NOTE: This is a public domain photo, meaning that there is no copyright restriction in using the photo on your website, blog, or anywhere you like. A link back to this site/ post will be appreciated.

Filed Under: Art, Free Photos, Sculpture Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Red rose flower and the symbolic meaning of red color

March 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Red rose flower free desktop wallpaper 1600x1200 300x225

Red rose flower: free desktop wallpaper size 1600 x 1200

What color do you prefer for a rose flower? Does the sight of a woman in red dress make you go red?

Let’s put it in another way. If you are to present a rose flower or a blossoming rose bud to your lover, date, or anyone dearest to you, what color do you prefer for it? I think most of us like to present a red rose, or red roses to our loved ones.

To me a woman, or anyone for that matter, wearing all red costumes looks a bit comic. But red has a dramatic effect, often a bit romantic, if wisely combined and contrasted with other colors. Costume designers, designers of fashion accessories, especially lingerie, and even jewelry designers use this psychological effect of red in their designs.

Among flowers, one of the most common color that you can find anywhere in the world is red. It is nature’s selection for romance. Yes, romance between flowers and butterflies, or bees and other insects that pollinate flowers so that plants adapted to sexual reproduction can produce seeds and propagate their species.

Nature has another reason to select red as its most preferred color for flowers. Red contrasts, and even blends well mostly with all green vegetation and, red flowers are visible from even a longer distance to insects that carry pollen grains for fertilizing the same flower (bisexual) or monosexual flowers.

Next in the order come shades of red, pink, orange, yellow, etc. White flowers also can be seen commonly, but most white flowers, and shades nearer to white bloom in the darkness. It is because white is the most visible color in darkness, and nocturnal insects and other organisms are attracted by white flowers.

From ancient times, in most cultures and religions throughout the world, red has always had a special place. Also, red represents romance, love, passion, etc. and some of you may have used red lace hearts on Valentines.

In a recent research by a team of psychologists, it has been found that red is more romantic and women wearing red attract men more towards them than women wearing other colors. The study also found that other male primates such as monkeys, baboons and chimpanzees are known to be attracted to their females that display red color.

Interestingly, the effect of red attracted only men emotionally, amorously, and/ or psychologically. Red color did not have similar effect on women who watch other women in red apparels or accessories. Also it only showed how men perceive attractiveness. However, such attraction did not have any effect on how they rate of women for their intelligence and other positive personality traits.

Red color also symbolizes anger, guilt, sin, sex, danger, blood, and violent revolutions. In some cultures red color is also associated with prostitutes and brothels, for example, see the usage ‘red-light districts’.

Red is also associated with debt, as in the usage, ‘the company is in red’. Its association with crime and illegality is implied in the usage ‘caught red-handed’. Teachers use red pens to mark or score off mistakes, even though they use the same pen to write corrections and record the marks scored, possibly because they might find it time-consuming to switch pens.

However, the use of red color as symbols of lust, passion, love and beauty overrides its other associations and implications, and for this reason, association of red color with love and beauty is commonly attributed to the use of red roses as a symbol of love.

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The most expensive paintings in the world

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Diana and Actaeon oil painting by Titian 1556 1559 300x274

Photo of Diana and Actaeon (1556-1559), oil painting by the Italian Renaissance Master Titian

Which is the most expensive painting in the world?

Well, I must confess that I can’t say for sure. But, I can refer you to a list of most expensive paintings published by Wikipedia.

While I was searching for some information on the price of oil paintings, and other related facts, I came across a painting ‘Diana and Actaeon’ by the Italian Renaissance master Titian, which had the tag as one of the most expensive paintings in the world (the painting featured on the left).

Considered one of the greatest works of Titian, ‘Diana and Actaeon’ (painting of 1556-1559), is currently valued at US$72.7 million (inflation adjusted dollar value based on US Consumer Price Index), which was sold for US$70.6 million (£50 million) by Duke of Sutherland to the National Galleries of Scotland, and the National Gallery (London) at a private sale on February 1, 2009.

By the way, interestingly, Diana and Actaeon, is on tour now, and being exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts from 6 Feb 2011 to 1 May 2011. On its return from tour, it will remain on display in the National Gallery (London) for 5 years, and then move to the National Galleries of Scotland for another 5 years, alternating between the two art galleries every five years.

Diana and Actaeon that portrays the meeting of Goddess Diana with Actaeon is one of a series of seven celebrated oil paintings by Titian, and known as the ‘poesies’, featuring mythological characters and scenes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Now let us consider the one of the most famous paintings in the world, Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, currently on display at the Musée du Louvre in Paris and owned by the Government of France. It was also on its famous tour in 1962-63 to the United States for exhibition in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Can Mona Lisa be included in the list of the most expensive paintings? Probably not, the list of the costliest paintings considers only those paintings sold in an auction or sale, and the sale price is known or published.

Incidentally, ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Diana and Actaeon’ are just two of the most expensive paintings in the world. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt, sold for U$135 million, is another oil painting in the list of the world’s costliest paintings.

So, which is the most expensive painting? The official recognition for this title has gone to ‘No. 5, 1948’, an oil painting created in 1948 by the abstract expressionist American painter Jackson Pollock.

Jackson Pollock’s No. 5,1948, valued at US$151.8 million (after adjusting for dollar value inflation based on consumer price index), was sold by David Geffen for US$140 million to an undisclosed buyer at a private sale via Sotheby’s on 2 November 2006.

Unfortunately, you cannot find Mona Lisa in the list of the priciest paintings. The reason is very simple. Mona Lisa is owned by the French Government and it has never been put on sale. The only occasion it changed hands is when it was stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre employee, on August 22, 1911 (and recovered later). So, throughout its history, Mona Lisa was either owned by the rulers of France, or the French Government.

So, the question arises as to whether we can call paintings that were recently sold in auctions or public or private sales as the most expensive paintings, ignoring paintings like Mona Lisa. I think it is incorrect.

As an example, let us find out what would be the price of Mona Lisa, if it is sold in an auction.

Before Mona Lisa’s tour to USA (1962), in an assessment for insurance purposes, the painting was valued at US$100 million, though it was not insured for the American tour. When adjusted for inflation using the US Consumer Price Index, US$100 million in 1962 was estimated to be equal to about US$700 million in 2009. Can it be its real worth? Not necessarily!

There are several occasions when reserved prices are estimated on the basis of similar considerations and published prior to auction by the biggest art auction companies. When the actual sales take place, the price the painting or art piece fetches are either above such estimated prices or lower than that. Still, estimates based on relevant data helps in art evaluation.

Like Mona Lisa, there are thousands of famous paintings owned by art museums, governments, individuals and families that are either never sold in recent times, or the last known sale price is too old to rely upon. Such prices also cannot show today’s real value even if they are adjusted for change in the value of money.

Note: The image of Diana and Actaeon is a public domain photo, free from copyright restrictions. You can download it and use it in any way you like.

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Gabrielle Diamond by Gabi Tolkowsky

March 7, 2011 by 1 Comment
Round Gabrielle Diamond 3.17ct 300x239

Triple brilliant cut Round Gabrielle Diamond, 3.17ct, by Gabriel S. ‘Gabi’ Tolkowsky

What you see in the photo here is the Gabrielle Diamond (Round, 3.17 carats) created by the world renowned master diamond cutter Gabriel S. ‘Gabi’ Tolkowsky.

Tolkowsky created Gabrielle Diamond, the world’s first triple brilliant cut diamond, combining his experience and techniques used in cutting and polishing of De Beers Centenary Diamond (273.85 carats/ 54.77 g with an estimated value of US$100 million) and the Golden Jubilee Diamond (the largest faceted diamond in the world, 545.67 carats/ 109.13 g). For this cut, he has also used his experience with the Flower Cuts.

The Round Shape diamond has 105 facets, 48 more than the Classic Round Brilliant cut diamond. It also displays 200% more scintillation and greater brilliance than the classic cut diamond. This effect could be achieved by substantially increasing the ‘journey of light’ within the diamond, mainly because of the increase in the number of facets, so that it sparkles from all angles.

Note: Only the original Gabrielle Round Diamond is costly, the photo is FREE! So, download it and use it as you like or keep it saved in your hard disk.

Filed Under: Free Photos, Gems Tagged With: , , ,

Mussaenda erythrophylla, the colorful garden plant

March 6, 2011 by 2 Comments
Mussaenda erythrophylla garden plant Mosantha from Kerala 300x198

Flower of the tropical garden plant Mussaenda erythrophylla, aka Ashanti blood, prophet’s tears, virgin tree, etc.

The flower that you see in the picture is the inflorescence of the plant Mussaenda erythrophylla, mostly found in African countries such as Ghana, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Tanganyika, Nigeria, Uganda, Sudan, Togo, Zaire, Cameroon, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and in several other parts of tropical Africa.

This photo was taken by me in 2006 at the village house of a family member living in Kerala, India.

Mussaenda erythrophylla and/ or other subspecies of the genus can also be commonly found in countries such as Brazil, Colombia, United States, West Indies, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and India, and many other parts of tropical and subtropical Asian regions.

The popular species of this genus of plants include Mussaenda acuminata, Mussaenda alicia, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Dona Luz’, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Queen Sirikit’, Mussaenda erythropylla ‘Rosea’, Mussaenda frondosa, Mussaenda longiflorum, and Mussaenda philippica ‘Aurorae’.

The plant is also known by localized English names such as Ashanti blood, prophet’s tears, red flag bush, red mussaenda, tropical dogwood, virgin tree, and in other languages flor de trapo, mussaenda-vermelha, rotblättrige mussaenda, sang des achanti, and signalstrauch. The corrupt forms of the plant’s name include mosantha, mosanta, musanta, musanda, etc.

Plants of the genus Mussaenda are generally semi-deciduous shrubs, or they may grow up to a height of 30 feet like a small tree, especially when they grow in the wild. By nature they produce many branches, and spread out. They generally have thick foliage with medium-sized green leaves.

Most of the flower-like structures that we see in Mussaenda plants in bloom are the colorful bracts, which are modified or specialized leaves. Mussaenda bracts may be seen in several colors including red, rose, pale pink, white, and in other shades of these colors. We can see similar colorful bracts in other plants such as Bougainvillea, Euphorbia pulcherrima (poinsettia) and Heliconia.

The actual flower is very small and in the center of each bract, and may be often yellow, white or orange in color. These are types of terminal panicles with tubular flowers with mostly white corolla of about 2 cm diameter.

Mussaenda plants grow well in tropical climate with ample sunlight, good rainfall and high humidity. The plant responds well to humus-rich soil conditions with adequate drainage. In sandy soil, watering and proper adding of manure are required for the proper growth of the plant.

The plant needs pruning, generally in winter. If it is grown as a garden plant, or ornamental plant, gardeners can give the plant attractive shapes by pruning. Pruning also helps the plant to grow new branches that throw out a lot of colorful bracts and flowers.

Mussaenda flowers are bisexual, but they seldom grow into fruits or produce seeds. So, the plants have to be reproduced by either the process of planting semi-woody scion, or by layering.

Note: I release this photo into public domain. You are free to save it to your computer and use it for your website, blog, or in whatever way you want. CLICK on the photo to view full size.

Filed Under: Flowers, Free Photos, Plants Tagged With: , , , , ,

Hybrid Tea Rose Flower: Free Wallpaper-size Photo

March 5, 2011 by 1 Comment
Hybrid Tea Rose Flower Free Wallpaper size Photo 300x225

Hybrid Tea Rose Flower: Free photo of wallpaper-size 1280 x 960

At one time or the other in your life you must have fallen in love with Rose. If you are so hard-hearted to say, “No”, you are most probably lying.

OK, let us believe that there are some people who just do not love roses, no need to tell others why. But even to that person there might have had one occasion or the other to go back to the ‘hated rose’ just because his new date, girlfriend, boyfriend, lover, or anyone he loves just loved rose flowers and to win that person’s heart (shamelessly) had to offer a rose flower, or bud, or a bunch of roses. And he or she just rushed to the florists, or even had stolen a rose flower from someone’s garden or even a public park.

So, I say, there WILL be no one to TRUTHFULLY say that she or he did not DEPEND on the grace and the magic of rose, if not loved it. Right? Or wrong?

Now tell me frankly, do you love this rose flower on this post? No problem, if you don’t love it. But I love it, and my love too loves it!

Here is a brief intro on this rose.

First of all it is FREE image. That means, you can download it, and use it for any purpose. The most appropriate use of it is as computer desktop wallpaper (size: 1280 x 960). It is a public domain photo and copy right-free. CLICK on the photo to enlarge, enjoy its beauty, and save it to your computer’s hard disk.

Second, it is a hybrid rose flower, more precisely, a hybrid tea rose flower.

Long back, but not in the ancient Rome or Greece, nor in the more romantic Berlusconi Land, but in France a French nurseryman Jean-Baptiste Guillot did an unnatural act. He arranged for the mating (read: hybridizing) of ‘Madame Bravy’ with ‘Madame Victor Verdier’ of the race (read: species) Hybrid Perpetual. This unnatural union (Charles Darwin might be turning in his grave) gave birth to the world’s first Hybrid Tea Rose, a ‘La France’ in 1867.

Now it is a common cultivar rose grown commercially, or in home gardens, and sold by florists. For those who want to make money, commercially growing roses for export and local sales to florists is a big business. Try it, and make some money from rose cultivation.

The other early rose cultivars of fame around the period were ‘Lady Mary Fitzwilliam’ (1883), ‘Souvenir of Wootton’ (1888) and ‘Mme. Caroline Testout’ (1890).

Visit again; I will tell to you more Rose love stories!

Filed Under: Flowers, Free Photos, Plants, Wallpapers Tagged With: , , , , , ,

United Air Lines Boeing 767-300ER

February 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Boeing 767 300ER N644UA lands at Heathrow Airport London 300x201

A Boeing 767-300ER (N644UA) lands at Heathrow Airport, London - photography by Adrian Pingstone (May 2009), and the photo is released to public domain by him.

The photograph here shows a Boeing 767-300ER passenger plane, owned by United Air Lines Inc., one of the largest airlines in the world. The company based in the United States. United Air Lines offers air travel connections to over 1,000 destinations spread over 170 countries.

The Boeing 767 is a midsized wide body airliner with twin-engines, designed, developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the first twinjet wide body airliner introduced by Boeing. It is actually an offshoot of the narrow body Boeing 757 twinjet aircraft. The Boeing 767 received regulatory approval for transoceanic operations in 1985.

The 767-300ER aircraft is an Extended Range version of the original 767-300. Since its first flight in 1986, the order book for the aircraft stands at and 545 planes delivered with 24 orders yet to be delivered as of January 2011.

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Rough pastels background image of Meyer Lemon

February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Meyer Lemon PDimage Rough Pastels 1600x1200 300x225

Rough pastels background texture of Meyer Lemon, 1600 x 1200 pixels

I have been experimenting with the various possibilities the beautiful photo of the unripe Meyer Lemon fruit can give by doing simple things using Adobe Photoshop. I have created some quite interesting designs and textures of various sizes using the same photo. In fact there are thousands of possibilities, and some of the textures and backgrounds suitable for web design that I created from the same photo are so different not only in look and texture, but in color variations too.

Initially I thought of posting different designs and textures, and also various sizes, including some widescreen wallpaper sizes, I decided otherwise in favor of the textures that I post now. The reason is that though the original size images looked vastly different, the thumbnail versions looked almost similar. So, enlarge the image by clicking on it and compare it with the other designs that I already posted, and some I will be posting later.

Now DOWNLOAD the pastels version of the background texture created from the Meyer Lemon fruit image. Use it as a background, or as a wallpaper of dimension 1600 pixels x 1200 pixels.

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