Author Archives: ArtLark

January 22

Poetry vs Visual Art in Lessing’s Laocoon

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On the 22nd of January 1729, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was born in Kamenz, Saxony, Germany. He was a precocious writer, philosopher, publicist, art critic, the first real playwright in theatre history and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment. As a literary theorist, he is well-known for his essay Laocoon: An Essay on the […]

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January 21

How ‘Three Songs about Lenin’ Finished Dziga Vertov

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Today we celebrate the 90th anniversary of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin’s death. The famous communist leader, politician and political theorist died on the 21st of January 1924, aged 53, at his estate at the Gorki settlement (later renamed Gorki Leninskiye). He was one of the leading political figures and revolutionary thinkers of the 20th century. His […]

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January 20

Hollywood’s First Outdoor Talkie Western

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On the 20th of January 1929, the movie In Old Arizona was released on the wide cinema screen. This American Western directed by Irving Cummings and Raoul Walsh prides itself in being the first major feature film to use the new technology of sound whilst being filmed in outdoor locations. Although its plot, acting and […]

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January 19

Ginsberg’s Visionary Illuminations under Cézanne

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Today we celebrate the 175th anniversary of Paul Cézanne’s birthday. The famous Post-Impressionist was born on the 19th of January 1839 in Aix-en-Provence, France. His life-long adventure with painting resulted in a breakthrough theory on the modes of perception of reality. His phenomenological approach towards nature, and its impact on the creative process, has inspired […]

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January 18

Grete Schütte-Lihotzky: House Maker, Not Homemaker

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On the 18th of January 2000, Austria’s first female architect, Nazi resistance, as well as Marxist activist Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky died in Vienna five days before her 103rd birthday. Lihotzky became the first female student at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Vienna, where important modern artists such as Hoffmann, Hanak and Kokoschka were teaching. She obtained her place with difficulty, […]

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January 17

Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’: Comedy or Tragedy?

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On the 17th of January 1904, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov had its premiere at the Moscow Art Theatre. The play was staged by the famous actor/director and creator of the eponymous Stanislavski method, known as “method acting”, Constantin Stanislavski. The original intention of Chekhov was for The Cherry Orchard to be a comedy; […]

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January 16

Motherly Love in the Holocaust: Edith Frank

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On the 16th of January 1900, Edith Frank (née Holländer; d. 6 January 1945) was born into a German Jewish family in Aachen. She is known as the mother of honoured Holocaust child diarist Anne Frank. When her survivor husband Otto Frank decided to edit his daughter’s diary for publication at the end of the […]

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