"WINGED VICTORY II" SOLD

"ODE TO MONUMENT MEN"SOLD

We went to see the movie Monument Men on saturday and it really got me thinking.

Why are we awed time and time again by sculpture, painting, architecture etc.

What drives us to take umpteen photos of Winged Victory or The David

we could just buy a postcard and save ourselves a lot of time?

Why?

 It's a mystery - the emotions that come to the surface 

when in a room filled with monuments from another time

the scale(which cannot be conveyed through a photo)

the feel of the brush strokes or surface of the stone - the tenacity.

What would've happened if all those war treasures had been lost forever?

Would we be as rich - not monetarily - but emotionally and spiritually?

There are more questions than answers.

I'm just thankful the movie got me thinking about something that truthfully

had not occurred to me - and all that Art History to boot!!

Thanks and hope you have a wonderful week.

I'll finish up Horsepower this week and we'll go from there.

"PASSPORT TO PARIS"

"WINGED VICTORY OF SAMOTHRACE"

AT THE LOUVRE

THAT'S IN PARIS - FRANCE

A presentation mixing grandeur and theatricality

This exceptional monument was unearthed in 1863 on the small island of Samothrace in the northwest Aegean. It was discovered by Charles Champoiseau, French Vice-Consul to Adrianople (Turkey). The goddess of Victory (Nike, in Greek) is shown in the form of a winged woman standing on the prow of a ship, braced against the strong wind blowing through her garments. With her right hand cupped around her mouth, she announced the event she was dedicated to commemorate. The colossal work was placed in a rock niche that had been dug into a hill; it overlooked the theater of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. This niche may also have contained a pool filled with water in which the ship appeared to float. Given its placement, the work was meant to be viewed from the front left-hand side; this explains the disparity in sculpting technique, the right side of the body being much less detailed. The highly theatrical presentation-combined with the goddess's monumentality, wide wingspan, and the vigor of her forward-thrusting body-reinforces the reality of the scene.

I went to the "Passport to Paris" show at the Denver Art Museum on sunday. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing -

A beautiful day for driving. That said it's an OK show - nothing to write home about. It might be because I'm so jaded - you may have to judge for yourself if you happen to be in Denver for some other activity it would be worth a stop but not a drive just to see it. It did make me want to transport myself to the Louvre though - so I got out some old photos of trips to Paris and here's the first painting ever of my time there. I love the Louvre! 

Thanks for following.