Category Archives: Art

July 07

Suzuki Harunobu and Japanese Erotica

On the 7th of July 1770, allegedly, Japanese woodblock print artist Suzuki Harunobu died of a sudden illness. The place and real cause of his death remain unknown. In fact, except for his artistic endeavours, very little is known about his life at all. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo), Harunobu was the first to successfully produce […]

July 05

Chuck Close: The Master of Photorealism

On the 5th of July 1940, American painter Chuck Close, broadly known for his photorealist portraits,  was born in Monroe, Washington. His adventures in Photorealism began in the late 1960s when he started using photography to help him paint large-scale portraits, mostly in acrylic. The artist method consists of applying a grid on the photo and on the canvas and […]

June 29

James Van Der Zee: Life and Death in Harlem

On the 29th of June 1886, the largely self-taught African American photographer James Van Der Zee was born in Lenox, Massachusetts. He became the leading photographer of the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the New Negro Movement or the New Negro Renaissance – the cultural movement that spanned the 1920s. The term New Negro was […]

June 28

The Wings of Rubens’ Virgin as Woman of the Apocalypse

On the 28th of June 1577, Flemish Baroque painter Peter Paul Rubens was born in Siegen, Westphalia (now Germany). The Getty Museum in Los Angeles holds one his more unusual works, an oil sketch entitled Blessed Virgin Mary as Woman of the Apocalypse (ca. 1623-24, Oil on panel, 25 x 19 3/8 in). The piece is […]

June 24

Imogen Cunningham’s Sensual Photography

On the 24th of June 1976, American photographer Imogen Cunningham died in San Francisco, California at the grand age of 93. Best known for her portraits, nudes and images of plant life, Cunningham started her studies at the University of Washington in Seattle. “Her earliest prints were made in the tradition of Pictorialism, a style of […]

June 23

Mark Gertler: Figurative Painting and ‘Women in Love’

On the 23rd of June 1939, British figurative painter Mark Gertler gassed himself in his London studio. His suicide ended the period of the artist’s prolonged depression caused by growing financial difficulties, unfavourable reviews after the exhibition at the Lefevre Gallery, and the recent break up with his wife. He had also never fully recovered […]

June 22

David Blackburn’s Lyrical Landscape Visions

On the 22nd of June 1939, artist David Blackburn was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and continues working in the north of England. His art is visually and technically unusual for our times. Good art features a clearly recognizable visual signature, something unique, inviting and thrilling for the eye – something that is never monotonous or […]

June 21

Jacqueline Livingston: Male Nudity Against the System

On the 21st of June 2013, American photographer Jacqueline Louise Livingston (nèe Barrett) died in Ithaca, New York. Born in August 1943, Jacqueline Louise Barrrett, grew up in Chandler, Arizona, where her father worked on the Air Force base as chief of the Fire Dept. He died when she was 12 years old, leaving her […]

June 19

Jerome Myers: Painter of the Underdog

On the 19th of June 1940, American painter Jerome Myers died in New York. “For more than 50 years Myers, small of stature and bearing a striking resemblance to Paderewski, was a familiar sight on the streets of New York, which he made his special painting province.” His obituary in The Art Digest, read that, “The […]

June 15

Enrico Baj: Anarchist at Heart

On the 15th of June 2003, Italian painter, sculptor, writer and anarchist Enrico Baj died in Vergiate, Italy. In his works he focused mainly on politically engaged themes such as the threat of nuclear war or the political situation in Italy under Berlusconi. Baj was one of the founders of the Nuclear Art Movement that […]