According to a joint statement by the National Heritage Board and the Singapore Art Museum on Wednesday, Wu’s gift is the highest in donation value that has been made to any museum in Singapore to date.The donation agreement was signed in Beijing on Tuesday, and followed a similar donation of 66 artworks made to the Shanghai Art Museum by the artist earlier this year.

SAM has proposed to collaborate with the Shanghai Art Museum on a retrospective exhibition of Wu’s works.According to Director of SAM, Kwok Kian Chow, the museum will exhibit Wu’s works, which “truly epitomises Asian aesthetic values”, in early 2009.

Kwok said: “Wu Guanzhong’s art practice displays his serious consideration of both formalism and the social grounding of art.”This makes his work different from the Western value of ‘art for art’s sake’, where art becomes a dimension of existence separate from the reality of life.”

This is not the first time Wu has donated his art pieces to Singapore. The artist had donated a piece entitled “Roots” to the city-state back in 1988.Wu said he entrusts his works to SAM as he “trusted the institution in the continued research and exhibitions of the works to make them relevant to the future”.89-year-old Wu is a leading Chinese painter, art educator and essayist who received much recognition in the early 1980s. He has an artistic style that balances formal beauty and the receptivity of the masses.

source:http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/373447/1/.html

Ten colourful designs graced the walls of the National Museum in a light installation by Sydney-based lighting effects company, The Electric Canvas, which specialises in large-scale light projections on buildings.

The designs are produced by seven projectors. How can we say Singapore is boring? It is trying its best to re invent itself. Stay tuned for more Public Art!

Can  art merge with architecture? A recent visit to the Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 gave me the answer.

To achieve what would be ‘a sense of Singapore’, the Terminal 3 architects proposed a mixture of natural design elements including a five-storey high Green Wall. The wall comprised of a main steel structure holding five rows of horizontal planter boxes connected together with fine stainless steel cables.

The planter boxes contain a variety of climbing and flowering plants, which are punctuated by a series of four cascading glass waterfalls. The base of the wall features a 360m long, 3m high and 3,100-tonne long carved sandstone artwork entitled ‘Rhythms of Nature’. The Green Wall reminds passengers about the tropical environment of Singapore and can be admired from both the Departure and Arrival Halls.

 So is the green wall a public art? What makes it so if it is? Give me you opinon…

It was mentioned that in the long run, returns from art are comparable to those from stocks and bonds. The art market is very weakly correlated witht the equilies market, making art useful and valuable if you wish for portfolio diversification.

It was also reported that experts claimed that South east Asian art is fast becoming ‘ the next big thing’, because of the growing interest in modern and contemporary art from this region. (Singapore art included?)

In a Singapore auction in April, Indonesian artist 1 Nyonman Masriadi’ s Me and My Coke sold for $240000 which is more than 5 times its estimated price!!!! That ’s a lot if you ask me. Well, it just goes to tell you that keeping artwork especially those from Southeast Asia might be the way to go.

This is another photoshop drawing by my friend Ly. A ‘joker’ without a smile. Does it still make him a ‘joker’ if he can’ t make you smile? I like the eyes, kind of stare in my direction whenever I look at it. However, the think the clothes(rendered black) can be too distracting since the focus point should be the facial expression of the joker. It would be better if the bottom half of the picture can ‘blend’ in with the background. (A point to note will be Mona Lisa). Overall the render is really well done and it does give me an eerie feeling! LOL

Visit his website

Many of us have walked past, eaten lunch under or beside, thrown coins at, and completely ignored a whole array of public art. But not any more! Public art is a blossoming component of our built landscape that, in many cases, we can be involved in. Local governments and art organisations, depending on their public art policy or specific requirements, allow for community consultation on design and basic structure. The level of consultation, of course, depends on the function and placement of the piece being planned.

Arts organisations, museums and galleries that are involved in bringing art to the public, have stricter opinions on what constitutes public art and less scope for community consultation. Their goals are different. Developing and coordinating outdoor exhibitions, of one artwork or many, is vastly separated from local government acts that require their planning departments and private developers to make provision for art in future developments.

What I love about public art is that the artist often has space to create really big works! Works that can inspire and uplift by their sheer physical presence alone. We won’t like them all, but we’ll pay attention to the statements the work and the artist are trying to make.

Local government authorities around the world have development policies that require a percentage of a proposed development’s value to be spent on commissioning art. The art may be required to suit a particular location’s natural environment or heritage identity, or fit in with the cultural or tourism demands of the area. Public art can be temporary as in outdoor exhibitions and building wraps, or permanent such as fountains, memorials, roadside noise reducing barriers or street furniture.

The possibilities for public art continue to grow as many regions include Public Art Trails in their tourism plans. Guides, maps and booklets are being developed that outline and locate notable artworks in an area, and then targeted to local and international tourists. In Australia, there is a long history of Big Things on the tourist trail; things such as the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour, the Big Trout in Adaminaby and the Big Merino in Goulburn, plus the dozens of other Big Things dotted around the country. That’s not to say that all tourist-attracting public art needs to be big and garish. There’s quite a number of arty, culturally-aware and just plain interested people that like to take a step into an area’s local culture and get a feel for the people and lifestyle they are visiting.

For the ordinary person not so involved in the art or local government worlds, how do you go about getting, locating or recognising public art in your area?

Recognising is simple. As mentioned, public art is anything that is installed or erected that has either a purely aesthetic value or is functional, purposeful as well as being interesting to look at.

Locating the public art in your area ranges from easy to hard. Start with local parks, town squares and outside any museums, galleries or government buildings. Not all areas or towns are created equal when it comes to money to spend on art [which is why making public art a development requirement is such a good idea], but that doesn’t mean there won’t or can’t be any around. Schools, public buildings and large expanses of wall are great places for the odd mural or three. Businesses that have turned their signage into art forms are only limited by their imagination. Tourist information centres and historical landmarks may abound. Many reserves and former industrial sites are the locations of old equipment and structures that have been turned into a reminder of days gone by.

Holbrook, a town approximately halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, has gone “superstructure” with its public art and turned an old submarine, the HMAS Otway, into an historical and artistic statement. Closer to the New South Wales/Victorian border, the Ettamogah Pub, near the town of Albury, has turned itself into the reproduction of an iconic cartoon edifice, a major tourist attraction and quite a fascinating piece of life-size 3-D, functional pop art.

Around the world, towns and regions are travelling the public art trail by coordinating exhibitions that link individual homes, businesses, and industries via the artistic rendering of local identity. Scarecrows, cows, letterboxes, indigenous culture, building facades, milk urns, produce festivals, and the list goes on and on, all represent identity as seen by the local people, and all are art.

Public art has been with us since the days of the cave and the creation of the first memorial sculptures and wall-murals. It may not be something new, but it does have the potential for huge growth as people insist on the beautification and visual expression of their communities and look for the same in countries, cities and towns they visit on holiday. Find your local public art and celebrate it. Make more. Art in the open has a way of lifting your soul and calling you to it, whether it’s to admire, disagree with or rest your feet and eat your lunch under.

Over the years, there have been many influential artistic movements and Art Nouveau being one of the most popular with the general public. Artists, architects and designers all fell under its spell during the 1880s, producing highly stylized pieces of work. Examples of magnificent buildings in the style can be found all over Europe, particularly in Paris, Prague, Budapest, Barcelona and Berlin. Other locations, such as London, New York City and St. Petersburg also have landmarks in the style.

During the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900, the movement was brought a wider audience in fair. Art Nouveau embraced the modern use of technology on materials such as stained glass and wrought iron, which were used extensively in sculpture and functional items. A classic tradition was observed too in the use of motifs from the natural world, such as flowers or insects. Furniture, jewelry, lighting, textiles and posters were all part of the style.

And one of the famous architect of the movement is Antoni Gaudi, and still celebrated today for his eccentric buildings in Barcelona. Gaudi was a man of simple ideas and common sense. In his architecture it fuses structure and decoration. He clearly accepted nature as his guide. His interest in nature was in three dimensional forms, rather than in two dimensional and he was interested primarily in nature’s inner forces, which expressed themselves on the surface. He took the style to new heights, never making a straight line where a wavy one could do the job. His crowning glory was the city cathedral, left unfinished at the time of his death.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was one of the leading exponents and a designer from Glasgow in Scotland. He brought his distinctive ideas to buildings, furniture and jewelry. Examples of his work are held in museums and his jewelry is constantly copied and sold. The French designer Rene Lalique was also a jewelry maker in the Art Noveau style and he also became famous for his work in glass making.

Well, many artists in the genre remain popular today and none more so than Gustav Klimt. The Austrian specialized in the female figure in paintings, drawings and murals. Some of his paintings have sold for extremely high prices and his work is mass produced in the form of prints, posters and furnishings. Aubrey Beardsley, an English artist and illustrator, is also still popular today. He is mostly known for his posters, drawn in ink and sometimes depicting controversial images.

By the time when the world War 1 was begin, the movement was fade. Times were hard and less expensive materials were favored. A more modernist and less fussy design style came into favor, culminating in the Art Deco movement that would dominate through the 1920s and 1930s. There does remain, however, a nostalgic affection for Art Nouveau and the many expressive people caught up in it.

What is paint and what is the difference between each type of paint?

The brief technical bit!

Paint is a dispersion of pigments, resins and fillers in a liquid carrier. By varying the basic ingredients the different types of paint can be created.

Oil Paints

Oil paints as the name suggests contain oil. This is usually a natural vegetable oil such as linseed or a synthetic hydrocarbon made from oil.

The oil is the carrier used for the pigment and resins (alkyd). The pigments provide the colour which can be in the form of a soluble dye or an insoluble powder finely dispersed in the liquid. The various colours are produced from one or several pigments mixed together. By varying the different amounts, not only the different colours, but different shades and hues can be produced.

The resin is dissolved in the oil and acts as a binder for the different ingredients and to, and also binds the paint to the surface that it is applied to.

When the liquid evaporates after application, the resin and the pigments remain and form a skin which sticks to the painting surface.

Acrylic Paints

Acrylic paints are similar in make-up to oil paints, i.e. they are similar in appearance and contain a liquid carrier, pigments and resin. However, the liquid used is water.

The resin is not the same type as in oil paints, because it has to combine with water. The acrylic resin does not dissolve in the water but forms an emulsion (forms globules). When the water evaporates the globules of resin stick together to form a skin. The pigments used must also combine with water and so are chemically different than oil pigments.

Watercolours

Watercolours consist of pigments, filler and water if they are in liquid form, or just pigment and filler in they are solid. As they have no resin component to bind the pigments and form a skin, they rely on the surface they are applied to, to be absorbent. A filler is a fine powder which can be used as a carrier for the pigment and provides texture/body.

Pastels

Pastels are a solid paste form of water-colour. Far less water is used in their manufacture (when compared with liquid paints), and water soluble binders are used to maintain their solid paste form. Oil based pastels are similar with far less oil used than used in making oil paints.

What are the practical differences between the different types of paints?

Oils:

~ dry slowly allowing time to work and to blend colours. The temperature of the air you are working in, and the proportion of thinner used dictates the drying time

~ can be used to produce texture by building layers

~ once dried sufficiently, can be over-painted without disturbing underlying layers

~ rich, deep colours which maintain their intensity when dry, so can be left unfinished and returned to later without a change of colour

~ can be used thickly or in thin, smooth washes increasing the scope for different painting techniques

~ colours are resistant to bleaching by sunlight and surfaces can be cleaned of dirt with methylated spirits

~ completely water proof and resistant to the elements

~ require brush cleaner/white spirits to clean brushes

~ usually applied to non absorbent surfaces including board, wood, coated paper and canvas

Acrylics :

~ dry fast but still allows time to work and to blend colours. Can be a disadvantage when working with thick applications in hot environment

~ less viscous than oils so easier to mix but tend to produce less texture and brush strokes

~ can be mixed with water or other mediums/gels which are compatible with water

~ can be used thickly (impasto) like oils, or in thin washes, like waterclours, so can be used on both absorbent and non absorbent surfaces

~ once dried can be over-painted without disturbing underlying layers

~ water resistant when dry

~ colours dry darker than when applied so can give problems with colour matching if left

~ less resistant to sunlight that oils, surfaces can be cleaned of dirt with methylated spirits

~ requires water to clean brushes, but can give difficulty if brushes dry prior to washing

Watercolours :

~ mixed with water giving transparent colour

~ dries fast and requires pre-wetting of the surface in hot environment

~ strong tendency to bleed so good for general wash techniques but can be difficult for fine definition

~ transparency makes it hard to rectify or hide mistakes

~ colours dry lighter than when applied so can give problems with colour matching if left

~ no white in watercolour painting, the white comes from the paper you are working on. So can be difficult to produce prominent white high-lights without preplanning or masking

~ paint can be lifted off by rewetting so can be useful in some techniques, but can be difficult to use in wet conditions or in hot/dry conditions where rewetting is necessary

~ brushes are cleaned easily with water and paint is reusable when dry by adding water

~ colour intensity is less when compared with other media and tends to bleach in direct sunlight. Problems with dis-colouration to the support and the media can occur in damp conditions

~ very difficult to clean the surface without damage so has to be protected from the elements under glass or other suitable material

Pastels

~ colours are mixed on the paper/support by over-laying or blending so no drying time

~ easily used and require no brushes

~ oil based pastels can be thinned and blended with turpentine, or scrapped off to reveal colours underneath, known as sgraffito

~ a wide range of colour are available, however, usually a greater range of colours are required to create a picture when compared with other media

~ different brands and pigments tend to vary in softness so difficulties can arise when obtaining supplies from varying suppliers

~ soft pastel works tend to be liable to smudging and the colour coming off the support unless precautions such as fixatives or mounts are used to keep the surface away from frame glass

Other considerations

Cost:

~ Watercolours are the cheapest to set yourself up with and most budding artists start this way. However, watercolour requires different techniques to other media and can restrict development

~ acrylics are not as expensive to buy as oils and can bridge the gap between oil and watercolour

~ oils are more expensive to buy initially; however a little goes a long way when painting thinly. Several paintings can be produced from a single tube of each of the base colours

Hazards

Oil Paints

Some people are put off by oil paints because of the solvents involved; they may be allergic to the solvents or may not want solvents lying around when young children are about. However, oil paints themselves usually contain linseed oil as the carrier which has low odour and is essentially non toxic.

The pigments themselves are bound by the oil and are not available to cause hazards. White spirits and turpentine used as thinners or brush cleaners are flammable and should be used sparingly. However the volume used is very small and the hazards are many times less when compared with the use of domestic household paints. Saying this, low odour versions of paints are available.

Acrylics

Acrylics are the least hazardous as there are no solvents used and the pigments remain bound in the paint.

Watercolours

Can be hazardous if traditional pigments are used because they are not bound by resin and dry to a fine powder. However the quantities used are so small that hazards are very minimal.

Pastels

Similar to watercolours, however soft pastels can produce a lot of dust so care should be take to minimise the amount you inhale. For example, do not blow on your work to remove loose pastel.

Your choice of paint

Choose whatever paint suits you. Try them out and you will soon discover whether you enjoy working with it and the results you get or not. If you like certain properties of different paints, you can try working with a mixture of paints (known as mixed media) in one painting. The variation is both challenging and rewarding.

The advice and information above is meant as guidance to the properties of the different paints. The only way you will know if you like a particular paint is to try it, and enjoy the results.

This is a digital rendering by a friend of mine. Here is his discription of his art work:
This is a painting to portray the hard lives of some of the Haitians. This painting shows a prostitute from Haiti. My story is that she had been sold to Dominican Republic and forced to work as a prostitute. I hope to bring attention to this problem and hope that one day it will be solved. She is dressed with money notes, meaning that she is being used by others to make money. She is crying as this shows that she is being forced to do what she does not want. I used bold strokes for this painting to imply that she is in a very frantic and upset situation, where she has to do the things that she detests for the sake of living.

In the Dominican Republic, Haitian migrant workers are sold into slavery on Dominican Sugar plantations, including children. Some Haitian children have allegedly been forced to work as prostitutes in the Dominican sexual tourism industry. Currently the Dominican sex trade ranks third in the world, only behind Thailand and the Philippines.

We have to keep in mind that there are people in different parts of the world who are suffering. Some of us may be lucky enough to be able to have 3 meals a day without fuss. Have nice clothes to wear and have a wonderful house to stay in, but we have to bear in mind that there are other people located in another part of the world who are suffering. They are starving, dressed in old clothes that can almost pass off as an old rag. They live in fear everyday. They worry about whether there will be enough food tomorrow and are uncertain about their future. So, please do your part to help these people. Show your helping handsto them and contribute to charity work whenever you have a chance to do so.

Anthropologists studying prehistoric periods on cave paintings leads us earlier than the Upper Paleolithic period from 40,000 - 10,000 B.C., where our ancestors were learning how to design signs and symbols that could be communicated visually; moreover they were successful on leaving their marks. The pioneers of graphic design are non other then our own ancestors, who had lived in the caves and sketched their drawing on rocks. History of graphics design roots to our own ancestors of ancient era where civilization was cultured in caves, and left their drawings and sketches for us on their canvas of cave walls and ceilings.

The earliest drawings known today are from 6,000 years ago, are that of carved stone and pottery containers. Drawings contained in Egyptian pyramids with signs, symbols and letters are known to all and it leads us back 5000 years.

Furthermore, from 600-250 BC evolution on geometrical shape and structures in Europe played a major role for the development of designing and sketching. As an applied art of arranging images and text for an attempt of visual communication; the hand written copy of the Christian Bible “The Book of Kells”, created by Irish monks in 9th century AD with rich illustrations is a good example of the evolution of graphic design.

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, a German metal-worker and an inventor, introduced a printing technology allowing the re-use of individual letters. The first book produced by Gutenberg press was “The Incunabula”. This book became the standard in the history of book printing and publishing and was a giant leap for printing and publication; though, block stamping on sheets of paper with text and signs carved, was in use in Europe and Asia long before 14th century; however, Graphic design of this era was formatting and we today have named it Old Style graphic design.

Guttenberg era of graphic design evolution was sluggish, until the 19th century, in Britain the division created between fine art and applied art boosted this evolution, and they successfully published some of the most major graphic design products through the Arts movement. William Morris made a great deal of business of publishing books with stylish printings and contributed a significant role to attract the potential market as well as commercializing graphic design; in addition he was the pioneer for the separation of commercial design and fine arts.

Another painter from the19th century was Piet Mondrian whose innovation has greatly influenced today’s modern graphic designer. Though he was not a graphic designer, his uses of grids was the origin of modern day advertisement known as the grid system; widely used by graphic designer of our century today.

With the decadence of classical style, modern graphic design engrossed in the early 20th century with designs influenced by fine arts. The trademark of early modern fonts is the sans-serif typeface. In 1928, the book “New Typography” written by Jan Tschichold systemized the philosophy of modern typography.

Furthermore, the fathers of modern graphic design are still considered to be typographers such as Herbert Bayer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and El Lissitzky as they broke new ground on typography building techniques and stylizing. Modern computer technology has changed typography production altogether, but for the experimental and evolutionary approach their contribution was highly recognizable.

The booming and flourishing period for graphic design was after World War II; as the American economy thrived, the demand of graphic design, particularly on advertisement and packaging sectors blossomed.

I Love NY ad campaign (1973) and a famous Bob Dylan poster (1968) designed by Milton Glaser are examples of applied graphic design culture and its influence. Progressions in graphic design in the early 20th Century were mostly enthused by technological expansion in printing and also in photography. But at the mid of this century, the raising of the computer era in graphic design has faced little backwards as early computers were far weaker and computer memory was limited. However, within the end of this century with the immense development of computers and its corresponding technologies, modern graphic design has evolved into a business that is done almost entirely on computers.

In mid 1980, the arrival of desktop publishing and the launching of software applications like Illustrator and PageMaker introduced an era of designers to computer image manipulation and 3D image creation. Computer graphic design facilitates instantaneous effects of layout or typography changes.

Today, graphic design the visual communication, is yielded in the rich soil of computer ground, fertilized with latest hardware and software technologies. Graphic designers worldwide plough through computers loaded with the latest gadgets and gizmos, software and hardware, academic and technology, information and communication, and are generating the new history of graphic design in their design laboratories.

With express elevation of the hi-tech industry, the future assures more and today’s designer are contributing their name and effort through their creativity for the next generation. History yet has to write all of her pages for new innovation and invention in this field.

Author: Bharat Bista
Resources and References: Graphic Design - Custom Web Site Design - Silk Flowers

This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_78215_4.html

• Bats - Bats in western culture most always are thought of in a negative sense. But in China, the bat is a sign of good luck. Two bats are even better - double good luck. The depiction of five bats represents the five blessings of wealth, health, virtue, a long life and a natural death.
• Cranes - The crane represents longevity. A pair of cranes represents longevity in a relationship as cranes mate for life.
• Dragons - Like the bat, dragons in western culture are thought of as bad creatures, while in China they represent positive attributes. The dragon can represent many things. Good fortune, energy, power, and success.
• Bamboo - The attributes of bamboo are taken from the way it grows in nature. Bamboo is a plant that is delicate yet strong. It bends in the strongest of winds, but seldom breaks. Its delicate leaves over slender stems represent the combination of vitality and durability.
• Peony - Most Chinese flowers are associated with love and female beauty. The peony is also known as the ‘flower of wealth and honor’ in China.
• Lotus - A sacred symbol of Buddhism, the lotus rises out of the muddy river and lake bed into a representation of purity and perfection.
• Pine Tree - Holds it greenery year-round thus represents longevity and endurance. It is also a hardy tree, and represents ongoing life in the face of adversity.
• Tiger - Bravery, courage and strength.
• Duck - A symbol of married bliss. A pair of ducks also brings longevity to the marriage. Most birds that are represented in pairs have the attribute of longevity for a relationship.
• Peach - The fruit of a long and healthy life.

Some Cubists used modern materials rather than traditional paint on canvas. Newsprint, paper and fabric were common elements in these collages. The process of creating art had always been considered a closely guarded secret, but Cubists were open about their methods, which further demystified the artistic process. Modern technology, the Cubists believed, had produced a type of manufactured man, and the artists in turn created appropriately manufactured art.

One of the few artists to apply the Cubist technique to the human figure was the Spaniard Picasso. Picasso countered the insistent break-up of the pictorial space caused by the Cubist technique with the coherence established by repeated similar units. The internal structure of the composition was given supremacy over the external structure of the subject. In addition to this, Picasso’s revelatory interpretations of the female nude were erotic and disturbing. The traditionally taboo topics of sexuality and unconscious urges were hidden no longer.

Perhaps the greatest master of this new artistic language was Paul Cezanne. Cezanne’s subject was always the realism of the mind and not the eye. Like many other artists of his day, Cezanne’s goal was depicting the a mood rather than creating an illusion of physical reality. Cezanne not only flattened space but succeeded in the elimination of hierarchy completely. His works contain no central focus upon which the viewer can fix, but an idealized democratization. Planes overlap, and the surface color establishes an equality between the matter depicted and the surrounding atmosphere.

As Wassily Kandinsky, one of Cezanne’s foremost contemporary artists, noted in his influential book The Art of Spiritual Harmony, the animate and the inanimate in still life paintings are given equal attention in Cezanne’s work: “Cezanne made a living thing out of a teacup, or rather in a teacup he realized the existence of something alive. He raised still life to such a point that it ceased to be inanimate.”

Perhaps this quest to discover the aliveness in objects as well as in people and landscapes was also a response to the modern environment of cities and mass-produced goods which were rapidly replacing the agrarian way of life. For many modern artists, the process of spiritualizing matter and the exploration of the fundamental energy of life was a major theme.

Although Cubism is disturbing to many viewers, this unique approach to art and life is also fascinating and refreshing. The liberation of breaking the bonds of past tradition is combined with a sense of adventure and excitement about the infinite new possibilities in art.

Please note: The prices quoted are take into consideration inflation from the original recorded auctions or private sales and is priced in millions USD. This list provides estimated prices only and is not intended to be an accurate record of art sales. This article is used to illustrate art worth in broad terms.

10. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Gustav Klimt - $89.1 Million
Adele Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912 by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a rich industrialist of the time, who was a keen sponsor the arts and supported Gustav Klimt’s work. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model ever to be painted twice by Gustav Klimt. This item was part of a set of two and Adele also appeared in the much more famous “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”.

9. Portrait de l’artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh - $90.1 Million
One of the many self portraits Vincent Van Gogh created, this particular version is the most recognizable and popular. Painted in 1889, this piece created massive waves of excitement when it was placed at auction at Christie’s, New York. Christie’s only estimated this piece would sell for around $20 Million.

8. Dora Maar au Chat by Pablo Picasso - $97 Million
Dora Maar au Chat commonly known as Dora Maar with Cat was created in 1941 by Pablo Picasso. This wonderful work by Picasso features his Croatian mistress, Dora Maar, seated on a chair with a small black cat perched on her shoulders. As was often seen with his work, he uses wide swaths of contrasting color to draw out the subject.

7. Irises by Vincent Van Gogh - $97.5 Million
Irises is one of the most widely known pieces painted by Vincent van Gogh. This piece was one of his early works while he was at the asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France and was painted in the last year before his death in 1890. This item is currently on view at the Getty Museum in California.

6. Garçon à la pipe by Pablo Picasso - $113.4 Million
Currently owned by the John Hay Whitney’s estate, it sold for $104.1 million at an auction in New York’s Sotheby’s in 2004. Sotheby’s originally estimated a pre-sale price of $70 million. Many of the worlds art experts stated that the painting’s high sale price has much more to do with the popularity of the artist than with the historical importance of the painting itself.

5. Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre by Pierre-Auguste Renoir - $122.8 Million
Commonly known as Le Moulin de la Galette, this painting by the famous French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir was painted in 1876 at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Bal au Moulin de la Galette, Montmartre is a smaller version of an impressionist painting Renoir painted with the same title.

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet by Vincent van Gogh - $129.7 Million
Once more, Vincent van Gogh appears on our list with one of the most expensive works of art of all time. This portrait of Gachet was created just outside Paris in 1890, and depicts his then doctor, Paul Gachet. Gachet, who took care of Vincent during the artist’s last months. Gachet was an amateur artist and formed a good friendship with Van Gogh.

3. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I by Gustav Klimt - $137.6 Million
The partner to the previously mentioned piece of art. This is the first portrait of Adel Bloch-Bauer Klimt and was painted in 1907. According to reports, it was sold in June 2006 for $135 million to Ronald Lauder for his gallery in New York City. At that time it set a record as the most expensive painting ever sold.

2. Woman III by Willem de Kooning - $140.2 Million
Abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning painted this print in 1953 and this fantastic piece is one of 6 paintings by Kooning in which the central theme was a woman. Woman III was sold by David Geffen in November 2006 to the billionaire Steven A. Cohen for a reported $137.5 Million.

1. No. 5, 1948 by Jackson Pollock - $142.7 Million
At Last, we come to the most expensive art to date, No. 5,1948 by the artist Jackson Pollock. This abstract art, painted in 1948, was created on a 8 x 4 feet sheet of fiberboard, with large amounts of thick brown and yellow paint drizzled on top of it, forming a chaotic nest-like appearance. This work of art was sold by David Geffen in 2006 for $140 Million making it the most expensive piece of art ever sold.

So, as you can see, there is some incredibly expensive pieces of art out there being sold. Certainly, you are asking yourself “What about other pieces of older art?” All of these wondrous pieces of art in this list were painted after 1800. Any art prior to this date is usually in the hands of museums throughout the world. The Mona Lisa, for example, was insured in 1962 for approximately $100 Million. Taking into consideration the rate of inflation it is fair to assume that its current worth would be around $670 Million today. However, you are unlikely to ever see this majestic smile in Christie’s or Sotheby’s anytime soon.

If you have been inspired by these items and would like to see more. Amazingly you do not have to pay anywhere near these prices if you would like a copy of these items on your wall! You can discover wonderful reproductions of each of these items in many sizes, formats and mediums on our Arteblanche.com website. We have one of the world’s largest inventories of art from the popular artists in this list to unknown artists and cover every aspect and work of art imaginable. We hope you have found this article informative and as inspiring as we did in writing this.

The new wheelers and dealers in the art world are the curators and art gallery owners who make a neat 30% on the paintings sold to customers. They are introducing novices to bright catalogues of artists and selling them at premium prices. The artists themselves never had it so good. They are now working night and day to meet demands in India and overseas. Like the dot com bubble will the art bubble burst too? Questions are being raised when genuine artistes like Anjoli Ela Menon are accusing their own assistants of selling fakes. Fake Husain artworks are being lapped up by illiterate new clients. In today’s time when art is becoming the new interface on the world canvas can fakes ruin the art investment scene? The world is already wary of detecting fakes. Two years ago, Christies had withheld the auction of a Husain painting.

If fine art has to remain a blue chip investment for long, it needs to be regulated. The creative artists are getting their due worldwide. The curators and gallery owners need to protect genuine buyers and artists. Little can be done to avoid short selling of a genuine artist. New artists should be encouraged rather than only investing in the old war horses that have crossed their nineties! The new artists come cheap and can be sold off at higher rates later. It makes good sense to invest in new blood! Most investors are still looking at the art mart with caution despite so many lucrative offers.

The reason is simple - there is no insurance as yet on the precious creative talents and their works. India is yet at a nascent stage of art investment. In the early 60s’, Pundole art gallery in Mumbai had encouraged the works of struggling M F Husain. No one knew the artist would become an icon to reckon with in his silver years. Indian art has touched a new high with even late works of Raj Ravi Verma, the 19th century artist who worked for the King of Travancore fetching new prices. Even eighty-nice year-old Jehangir Sabavala’s abstracts are considered great investments. Learn more about Investing in art and Indian art

Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain. His father was a painter of nature, especially birds. Picasso’s father was a professor of art in the School of Crafts. Picasso showed an interest in art from an early age. Picasso attended art schools through most of his childhood, some of those classes were taught by his father. He decided not to finish art college at the Academy of Arts and left before completing his first year.

In Paris, Picasso associated with a distinguished group of friends. Cubism was began by Picasso and Georges Braque and was the first well developed movement that used abstraction as its basis in depicting form. Picasso is also well known for his experimentation with color. He was one of the most revolutionary of all the modern artists. Working in paint, sculpture, ceramics and prints - many of his works of art have become icons in the world culture.

Pablo Picasso affiliated with artist Georges Braque and was one of the co founders of Cubism, but he co founded other art movements as well. Picasso was a leader of the Paris art scene for some time. The art of Pablo Picasso influenced many artists by his movement to geometric and abstract form. Because of his involvement in revolutionary movements he will always be seen as an innovator. He is considered one of the best artists in art history, as well as one of the most influential of all artists on contemporary art. He is one of the most researched artists as well as being one of the most popular.

Does art make the world a better place, or is it quite useless? This is a very ancient riddle, and no one has solved it yet. A similar question - has art truly had any impact upon society? Has it fashioned or molded minds? Has it shaped opinions and altered how people feel or think? Is it practicable in or relevant to society and its individuals’ daily lives?

Art reflects life. It is a portrait of history, whether it is history of the current moment or an event in the past or something of the imagination. Art has captured an event, clarifying its existence and representation to society. The portraits of the French Revolution by David, Benjamin West’s portrayal of the death of General Wolfe and Poussin’s recreation of the Rape of the Sabine Women all strive to provide a version of historical events. Society, in turn, can accept or reject these portrayals of true events. Sometimes, as in the case of Goya’s depiction of the French behavior during their conquest of Spain, art inspires a deep hatred of a certain nationality.

Art encapsulate a country’s culture during that time period. Rembrandt, Rousseau, Monet, Hogarth, Whistler, Jan Steen, Frans Hal and Breughel depict for their generation the world as they see it. They affect future society by providing concise, if sometimes imaginative, depictions of daily life. Brughel the Elder paints peasants, Jean Baptiste depicts lower-class life and Daumier’s subjects in “The Third Class Carriage” are not the
lofty work of Gainsborough. The wit and graphicness of Hogarth in “The Rake’s Progress” or the imposing work of Thomas Eakins’ “The Gross Clinic” provide historians with clues and pictures to a vastly different way of life. Jan Steen’s “The Eve of St. Nicholas” provides a way to uncover how people spent Christmas in the early 17th century in the Netherlands.

Art has encouraged feelings of patriotism and national pride. Goya’s, “The Third of May, 1808,” the Americans portrayal of their revolution and countless other artists across the centuries have provided an impact extending beyond the work. Depictions of Washington crossing the Delaware, and portraits of battlefields, at home and abroad, are scenes that inspire society. These works also remind the public of their past, what has been sacrificed or accomplished and what they can aspire to in the present or future.

Artwork has also provided clues to lives long over and species since disappeared. Holstein provides us with portraits of people long dead e.g. Henry VIII, Erasmus of Rotterdam, as Rubens does with his painting of Marie de’ Medici. Goya’s masterful and psychologically rich work “The Family of Charles IV” lays bare the natures and relationships of this royal family for all of society to view. Art has also provided examples of garden styles, structures to be imitated and fashions to follow.

Artwork has allowed us to glimpse lives and lifestyles. At one time, dressmakers in the colonies used the artwork found in magazines and depicted in reproductions of paintings to create the latest in fashionable clothing. Art shaped a fashionable society where none had existed before. It allowed the Americans to be as up-to-date as their European counterparts. In the same manner, George Caleb Bingham with his painting “Fur Traders on the Mississippi” allowed Europeans a glimpse of another life. The art works by the Jewish artists trapped in the concentration camps of World War II preserve for all time the horrors of war and the inhumanity inflicted by one race upon another. Art has also been a medium to help spread a culture. Art of propaganda during war is a classic example. Posters urge people to support their troops. Marketing ploys ask consumers to buy locally or purchase a specific product. Pop art is probably one of the most influential societal tools of the modern and post-modern age. The best possible example is Any Warhol. His Campbell Soup Cans are now icons.

Art has stirred the imagination of all nations from the earliest time. It has helped roused patriotic fervor, brought new ideas and culture to light, raised questions and rewritten or reinterpreted historical events. Art has provided clues to the past and advanced questions about the future. Its impact continues to be felt emotionally. For, above all, art touches us beyond the intellect, reaching down into society’s emotional core. In the end, the greatest impact of art is its ability to provide us with the truth about the world seen through the eye of an artist.

By: Grant Eckert

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About Author
Grant Eckert is a writer for Maccaca. Maccaca is a leading Art & Photography | Social Network. visit at: www.maccaca.com

It was generally thought that children could not become depressed. Now, researchers recognize that children, like everyone else, are not immune to this emotionally-drained condition. Because children often do not have the capacity to step back, look at themselves, and recognize that the way they’re feeling isn’t normal for them — they are not able to communicate their feelings accurately enough for adults to realize that they are depressed.

Depression has been defined by some as anger turned inward. It is very common among young people and affects as many as one in eight teenagers. Depression affects people of every color, race, economic status, or age. However, it does seem to affect more females than males during adolescence and adulthood. According to the American Psychiatric Association, five percent of the nation’s children are ill with depression. In spite of the alarming rise in depression among young people, many parents and adults are still clueless about the treatments that can work best to address depression. Moreover, diagnosis and treatment of depression is more difficult for children than for adults.

It is therefore very helpful to provide a safe outlet for a child that is experiencing depression. Research shows that children with depression when they are allowed to express their anxieties through art therapy. In one study, art therapy was used to help suicidal teenagers, and results showed that it indeed has positive effect as part of an overall treatment plan. Guilt, worthlessness, and hopelessness are all emotions that can cause depression, and the creative process of art therapy can help a child or teenager cope with these emotions.

At a public school in Chicago, a non-profit organization conducts art therapy as a means of self-expression and self-discovery. Most of the children in that school live in poor communities or come from dysfunctional families. The art therapy works to increase concentration levels, self-esteem, and self-control. It also helps teenagers to enhance their interpersonal skills and defuse angry feelings.

In Thailand, a group runs art therapy camps throughout the year for children living with HIV, bringing them together to learn from and support each other and overcome feelings of depression, stress and anxiety. There is an estimated 20,000 children under the age of 18 living with HIV in Thailand. Like the public school in Chicago, these art activities help to build their self-esteem, restore their confidence and teach them that they have as much worth as any other child.

Art therapy provides children experiencing depression an opportunity to achieve personal growth through improved self- awareness, and to explore unresolved emotional conflicts. Art as an expressive language, provides an access into a relationship with children by tapping into their creativity and offering a form of communication that is nonthreatening as well as provide healing mechanisms to cope themselves with depression. It can bypass language and impairment and allow for the expression of thoughts or feelings from children who find it too difficult to communicate with words.

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The history of oil painting goes back to very old times when man endeavored to detain his world and knowledge in paint. It was profound in the grottos of Southern Europe when man assorted animal fats with earth and stain to form what could be measured as the first oil paints. The paint was then altered onto the walls of the grotto, with the prehistoric images of the hunters and the animals sought after becoming the earliest creative creations of humankind.

The oil painting medium developed when during the time of 15th century, Jan van Eyck the well known Belgian painter found that linseed oil and oil from nuts can be mixed with different colors to generate dazzling oil colors. Though there is proof that some English artists from the 13th Century made use of oils, van Eyck leftovers the discoverer and first advocate of oil painting technique, as we know it these days. In modern times, oil painting color is one of the most in style choices of appearance by artists globally, as it offers enormous variety & methods, strong depth of color vitality and durability that allow paintings to last thousands of years.

It is as well one of the most lenient mediums - the paint could be simply directed on the canvas and if you make a error you could always clean the color off the canvas (only with a cloth dipped in turpentine), due to the length of ventilation time. The amazing flexibility of oil color provides itself completely to the customary painting techniques of joining together and glazing, impasto and scumbling on a huge number of surfaces, giving the artist excellent results. These days oil painting reproduction is gaining more and more popularity.

These online auctions make it easier for an avid art collector or even a new collector to add to his/her collection. It is hard to personally attend the wonderful auctions throughout one’s own city, let alone state or country.

Many auctions will allow people to bid both in person and via the internet. The auction will be hosted live via the internet. A person will be in charge of watching as internet bids are made. If a bidder places an online bid it holds as much power as a bid from the audience member.

But there are secrets that those who win at these online art auctions knows. For example:

* The names and web addresses of these online auction sites

Knowing these is the ultimate key to their success. Type in the words online art auction and many names will be provided.

Some of the most popular sites are:

Sotheby’s- This auction site presents auctions throughout the world. They handle estates, trusts and even appraisals.

Christie’s - This auction site has been known for the showcases since 1766. The website offers a very useful section that will explain how online auctions work, such as how bids are accepted, etc.

Bonhmas and Butterfield - This auction site is their largest in the United States and is the third largest in the world.

* After you know the addresses of some of the auction sites you need to become use to the format at each website. Study it. Read how they accept bids. How payment should be sent, etc. Make sure you understand everything before any auction begins.

*If you have questions, do not hesitate to talk to a representative at the auction house via phone or email, before the auction begins. You can’t win if you do not understand how the site and the auction operate.

*Read up on the art work being auctioned. You should find out the true value for anything that you might want to buy. You may even want to go to a site such as artprice.com and check on the record of the artist who produced the work of art. Most records will have information on artists at least 10 years prior.

*If you are doing this to make money, remember to have some goals in mind. Know what types of pieces you wish to acquire and try not to stray too far from your first instincts. It can be easy to get caught up in all the beautiful as well as thought provoking pieces you might find. Stay firm in your resolve.

* Set a goal of how much you want to spend and how much is your limit. Then stick to your goal. Don’t allow your adrenaline to rush you into decisions that you may soon regret.

Yes, you can definitely make money by buying, saving and possibly even trading art. One way to begin your career and investment in this lucrative market is by learning the secrets on how to win at these online art auctions.

These two art works are my recent projects. They are done in pencil medium. Feel free to give me your comments.

In more recent centuries, art in healthcare facilities has been of four types: religious, honorary, medical and charitable. Religious art has often depicted the glory of heaven and the trials of earth. This type of art has questionable value for someone whose assumed goal is to remain on earth. Honorary art depicts donors and has little or no meaning for patients. Medical art originally depicted actual medical procedures including surgery and autopsies. For a patient, these images were likely to have been distressing, frightening and even horrifying.

Although the emphasis in the medical field has shifted to patient-centered care, remnants of some of these types of art remain in almost all healthcare facilities and doctor’s offices. Posters donated from pharmaceutical companies often hang on the walls of examination and treatment rooms. These may depict various stages of ear infections or lung diseases and give information about the medications or antibiotics that can be prescribed.

Alternately, posters depicting medical procedures such as the anatomy of knee replacement can still be found in many medical offices. Other common images in healthcare facilities include anatomical charts of the muscular or skeletal systems.

Fortunately, art depicting medical conditions and anatomy, which have no value for healing, are rarely found in patient recovery rooms. The benefit of positive art, usually scenes of nature, has been studied in depth by Roger Ulrich, Ph.D. Studies conducted by him and others indicate that “healing art” images affect the autonomic nervous system, hormonal balance, brain neurotransmitters, the immune system and the blood flow to all organs in the body. Neurophysiologists have further determined that art connects us to the worlds of imagery, emotion, visions and feelings. This connection can be critical in the healing process.

Other hospitals and medical practitioners have tried a variety of innovative approaches to using art for healing. For example, a dentist’s office commissioned an artist to create a mural of the underside of a pond on the ceiling in their treatment room. This lighthearted mural included the bottom half of a duck complete with feet sticking out into the room. The mural served to distract and amuse patients during dental procedures.

At the University of Maryland, an Enchanted Forest was created for the children’s ward. Trunks from enormous trees were used as the theme for a place for children to play, doctors to relax and families to unwind.

For patients who must lie on their backs for extensive medical tests, some hospitals have installed painted or stained glass covers on their overhead lights. The colors chosen are generally cool and relaxing and the images are gentle, curvilinear patterns similar to ripples on a pond or clouds in the sky.

These projects demonstrate the wonderful role that art and creativity can play in healthcare facilities and in the lives of patients, just when they may need uplifting and inspirational influences the most!

Dividing a picture into equal halves is boring. Do not have any diagonal line forming from corner to corner of a painting. Also, avoid dividing a picture into equal halves. Do not have line that divide the painting into sides with equal length and of the same proportion.

Placing a mountain peak or a roof form in the exact center with sides of equal length also violate the rule of composition. Try to place them off center, with sides of equal length. In creating mountains or roof skylines, it is more interesting if the angles and lengths of the sides are varied.

Read also :creating visual interest in your painting

The eyes love to see odd numbers rather than even numbers. Odd numbers are more intriguing for the mind. It is also this reason that triangles and pentagons are favoured more by the eyes than squares as they have uneven number of sides.

When compositing your drawing the next time, remember that there should not be any regular and predictable pattern. The sizes and spacing between elements should be different to create visual interest for your eye and mind.

According to Cathy Malchiodi, in her book “The Art Therapy Source-book”, art therapy is “…based on the idea that the creative process of art-making is healing and life enhancing, and that it is a potent form of communication. It utilizes the creative process… to promote growth, self-expression, emotional reparation, conflict resolution and transformation.”

Art healing is a hands-on, self-help approach to overcoming obstacles in one’s life. It’s not enough to read articles or books on art healing, you must participate in the creative process for it to be beneficial.

And while artists in general tend to focus on the visual aspects of artwork, art healing is focused is on feelings and thoughts.

According to Malchiodi, art healing is beneficial in several ways:

• Visually dealing with traumatic emotions can feel safer then dealing with them in words.

• It lets us express things we cannot express in words.

• Its helpful in releasing emotions.

• It is a powerful therapeutic process that has meaning and comes directly from our own feelings and imagination.

• It allows us to get to know ourselves.

• It is available to everyone.

• It enhances our lives and reduces stress.

Anyone can use art, from crayons and construction paper to acrylics and oils, to move themselves beyond pain and stress. Art healing has been used by many cultures for centuries (although not called art healing) to keep individuals and communities centered and in touch with themselves.

If you are keen on abstract art, feel free to try it. Do not think that abstract art is too simple and that anyone can do it. This is a limiting thought!

Always paint with an intention. This is what separate a piece of art work and a simple drawing.

Efforts to create pictorial space in painting

Painting, as in architecture, has similarity in its importance to create space. In architecture, we create space to accommodate the functional activity for people to live in, while in painting, space is created for the subjects to ‘live’ in. Both create spaces by using analogical princ