The Starry Night is an oil-on-canvas painting by Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Created in June 1889, it is set in a field of roiling energy below exploding stars with a small village and flamelike cypress tree that connects the earth and sky.

The painting depicts the view from the east-facing window before sunrise of the room at the Saint-Rémy-de-Provence asylum where Van Gogh stayed for a year. It uses ultramarine and cobalt blue in the sky, and for the stars and the moon he employed the rare pigment indian yellow together with zinc yellow.

Van Gogh wrote of his inspiration for the painting to his brother Theo: “This morning I saw the country from my window a long time before sunrise, with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.”

The painting is rooted in imagination and memory. Leaving behind the Impressionist doctrine of truth to nature in favor of restless feeling and intense color in this highly charged painting, Van Gogh made his work a touchstone for all subsequent Expressionist painting. Widely regarded as his magnum opus, the Starry Night is one of the most recognizable paintings in Western art.

About Vincent van Gogh

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. Born into an upper-middle-class family in 1853, as a young man he worked as a traveling art dealer, so was keenly aware of modernist trends in art.

In over a decade he created approximately 2100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life. Only one of his paintings was known to have been sold during his lifetime. His younger brother, Theo, supported him financially, the two of them were very close and kept up a long correspondence by letter.

Van Gogh suffered from psychotic episodes and delusions, often neglected his physical health and spent a lot of time in psychiatric hospitals. He worked closely with another famous painter of his time Paul Gauguin; however their friendship ended after a confrontation with a razor when, in a rage, he severed part of his own left ear after which he admitted himself to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum.

On 27 July 1890, Van Gogh is believed to have shot himself in the chest with a revolver, dying from his injuries two days later. He was only 37 at the time. His brother, Theo, died less than six months after Vincent, in January 1891.

Death was not ominous for van Gogh. “Looking at the stars always makes me dream,” he said, “Why, I ask myself, shouldn’t the shining dots of the sky be as accessible as the black dots on the map of France? Just as we take the train to get to Tarascon or Rouen, we take death to reach a star.”

His time at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole Asylum

After his first major breakdown which resulted in the self-mutilation of his left ear in December 1888, Van Gogh admitted himself to the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole lunatic asylum. Housed in a former monastery, it catered to the wealthy and was less than half full when he arrived, allowing him to occupy not a second-story bedroom along with a ground-floor room that he used as a painting studio.

During his time there he produced some of his best-known works, including the Irises, his blue Self-Portrait and The Starry Night. Although The Starry Night was painted during the day in his ground-floor studio, it would be inaccurate to state that the picture was painted from memory. The view has been identified as the one from his bedroom window, facing east.

“Through the iron-barred window”, he wrote to his brother, Theo, “I can see an enclosed square of wheat … above which, in the morning, I watch the sun rise in all its glory.”

Van Gogh experienced his second breakdown in July 1889, after which in a “state of heightened reality,” he threw himself into the painting of the stars found in the Night Sky, producing “a sky unlike any other the world had ever seen with ordinary eyes.”

He wrote about existing in another dimension after death and associated this dimension with the night sky. “It would be so simple and would account so much for the terrible things in life, which now amaze and wound us so, if life had yet another hemisphere, invisible it is true, but where one lands when one dies.”

Did you know

Van Gogh became famous after his suicide and his life story captured public imagination as an emblem of misunderstood genius. Today his works are among the world’s most expensive paintings, and his legacy is honored by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which holds the largest collection of his paintings and drawings.

The Toilette of Venus portrays the mythical goddess Venus and was commissioned by Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, renowned as Madame de Pompadour, the principal mistress to King Louis XV of France and Boucher’s foremost patron.

In this painting, a nude woman elegantly sits on a lavish sofa, surrounded by winged putti and exotic metal ornamentation. Boucher’s rendition of Venus captivated audiences in the eighteenth century and continues to maintain its popularity in the twenty-first. Venus epitomizes a realm of fantasy—sensual, enticing, and just beyond reach.

At first glance, “The Toilette of Venus” seems fittingly situated in a setting befitting its mythological origins. However, closer scrutiny reveals a departure from the norm. Boucher’s Venus challenges the conventional representation of a mythological nude by incorporating the contemporary turquerie style, then at the height of fashion due to evolving cultural and economic conditions.

Applying twentieth-century visual theory to the painting unveils how Boucher skillfully blended elements from both genres, creating a unique fantasy image tailored exclusively for Madame de Pompadour’s new space in the Château de Bellevue.

The painting

Crackled oil paint in rich hues creates a lavish interior in the painting, where heavy silk curtains elegantly frame a nude woman seated upright on a finely carved sofa capturing the essence of the mythical goddess Venus. Leather-draped doves nest nearby, while winged putti playfully interact with her hair. In her private suite, adorned with luxurious furniture and opulent decor, Venus’s silhouette is set against a classical garden subtly visible in the background.

Undoubtedly, “The Toilette of Venus” is a visually striking image. On a neutral museum wall, illuminated by spotlights, the opulence of her surroundings captivates as something new and intriguing. The luxurious, jewel-toned backdrop and intricate gold details appeal to the contemporary museum-goer. Yet, to the aristocrats of the eighteenth century, these elements were integral parts of broader genres and subjects. Within the intimate confines of the Château de Bellevue, Venus not only reflected but also magnified her surroundings.

Boucher’s portrayal of Venus garnered attention in the eighteenth century, and its popularity endures into the twenty-first. Venus’s image graces book covers, and her form becomes the focus of numerous academic articles. Boucher’s Venus is omnipresent on items ranging from cell phone cases to museum gift shop tote bags, having traveled from New York to Paris, St. Petersburg, and now Tokyo.

About François Boucher

François Boucher, born into a family of artists in Paris, received early training in painting from his father. In his youth, he worked under Jean de Jullienne, creating etchings based on the works of Antoine Watteau.

Boucher honed his skills as a draftsman and printmaker, talents he consistently employed throughout his artistic journey. During his travels to Italy in 1728, he immersed himself in the works of Baroque masters and Dutch landscape painters.

In 1734, Boucher gained admission to the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture as a history painter, establishing connections with prominent figures in society. His artistic prowess quickly gained recognition, making him the most sought-after artist for grand mythological scenes.

The Parisian elite were captivated by Boucher’s creations, leading him to dedicate extensive hours, sometimes up to twelve per day, to meet the soaring demand. By 1765, Boucher attained the prestigious positions of the first painter to King Louis XV and director of the Académie Royale, solidifying his status as a preeminent artist in France.

Almonacid Castle is a castle located in the Spanish municipality of Almonacid de Toledo, in the province of Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha. It is approximately 20 km from the capital, Toledo along the Autovía de los Viñedos and lies on a hill dominating the village of Almuncid below, and can be seen from kilometers away.

According to legend its name is derived from a Spanish word meaning “The battlements of El Cid”. El Cid is a very famous Spanish knight who played a great role during the Reconquest. More probably the name is derived from a Latin word; “almonaster”, meaning monastery as the castle was called “ribat” (Moorish for monastery) by the Moors.

Description and characteristics

The castle is polygonal in shape and its inner defensive wall has remnants of 2 square and 3 round towers. It features high exterior walls that are completely surrounded by a narrow moat along with an interior enclosure, and a central turret. It is constructed of stone masonry and adobe brick, offering well worked ashlars in some corners of the wall and in the central tower, where almost all the stones were extracted.

The walls of the interior enclosure are thick adobe and the domes of the towers are of brick. Inside, only the keep remains, located in the center of a large enclosure. It consists of a tower that has three floors with brick vaults. There are remains of two cisterns, a silo and some rooms. Its triple embrasures are also notable.

A report from the architect Don Pedro Gumiel, in the 16th century, tells us that the castle had, at the time in which he was planning reforms, various water deposits, bakery, silos and even a great room with a chimney of seventy square meters.

History of the Castle

This castle was most probably built by the Moors. Its first mention was in 848 and is of Muslim origin, when it served as a strategic surveillance point for an ancient road to La Mancha and in 854 it was the scene of a great battle between the troops of the Emir of Córdoba and rebels from Toledo.

In the 11th century it became the property of King Alfonso VI of León and Castilla as part of the dowry of his wife princess Zaida, a Muslim princess and daughter of the Moorish king. He donated it to the Cathedral of Santa María de Toledo, and it was reformed in the 14th century by order of the Archbishop of Toledo.

Later the pretender to the Portuguese throne Don Alfonso Enríquez, count of Gijón and Noreña and bastard son of Enrique II of Castile, was arrested and imprisoned in the castle by order of his brother Juan I of Castile for over 8 years.

Battle of Independence

In the 18th century it served as a refuge for the troops of General Venegas, the commanding officer of the Spanish troops in the fight against the French at the battle of Almonacid during the Napoleonic Wars.

The battle was won by French troops, commanded by General Sebastiani but at the cost of 4000 men on the Spanish side and over 2000 men on the French side. The French took the castle, destroying part of it when they left. It is in memory of this victory that the name Almonacid appears on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Did you know that!

In 1839, the municipality’s city council, faced with the economic needs that existed, allowed residents to take bricks from the fortress to put them up for sale, which led to a great deterioration of the structure. It is said that the castle will be sold by the municipality’s city council for one euro cent to anyone who undertakes to completely restore it.

According to legend, Kyoto’s long history began at Seiryuden Temple, located at the top of Mount Higashiyama in the east of the city. Known as Shogunzuka Mound (将軍塚, Shōgunzuka), due to its location it has a large viewpoint with unparalleled panoramic views.

Kyoto was once the capital of Japan, is a city on the island of Honshu and is famous for its numerous Buddhist temples, gardens, imperial palaces, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses. It’s also known for formal traditions such as kaiseki dining, consisting of multiple courses of precise dishes, and geisha, female entertainers often found in the Gion district.

It is said that In the mid-8th century, Emperor Kammu chose this spot to survey the area before deciding whether or not to establish the nation’s new capital here. Satisfied with what he saw, he ordered the construction of Kyoto in 794.

This Seiryuden Temple is dedicated to Fudo Myo-o, a revered but fearsome Buddhist deity depicted against a background of flames. It houses an ancient silk painting of this deity that has been declared a National Treasure.

The actual Shogunzuka Mound is said to contain a two and a half meter high clay statue of a general fully adorned in battle armor with a sword and an iron bow and arrow. The statue serves as a guardian talisman for the city and legend has it that the entire mound rumbles when the city is in danger.

Next to the mound stands the Seiryuden temple hall which houses a painting of the fearsome Buddhist deity Fudo Myoo, who is depicted holding a sword and rope, surrounded by flames. The painting is an important object of worship of Shorenin Temple and a national treasure. A reproduction is on display inside the hall.

Keeping with this tradition, Shogunzuka is perhaps best known these days for its observation decks which offer spectacular views out over the city below. The area is part of Shorenin Temple whose main buildings stand at the base of the mountain.

The best views from the Shogunzuka can be enjoyed from the more elegant North Observation Deck from where visitors can look out over northern Kyoto all the way to Mount Hieizan. The spacious wooden deck seems to float above the trees and offers a mostly unobstructed line of sight from nearly 220 meters above the city.

Did you know

While you can get there by bus or taxi, there are also amazing hiking trails that lead up the mountain to the Shogunzuka Mound. One trail starts around the corner from Shorenin Temple near the former Awata Sanso Restaurant while another leads up the mountain from a trailhead behind Chionin Temple and Maruyama Park. The hike up through the forest to the mound is quite steep and takes about 30-45 minutes.

The Bronze Horse, or “Le Cheval de Bronze” is a monument to King Louis XIV dating back to 1825 that is located in the center of Lyons, France. It consists of a bronze statue of King Louis riding a horse, on top of a large pedestal that has 2 additional sculptures on either side of it.

The royal architect Robert de Cotte specified that the statue should be placed on a pedestal facing north, so that it could be seen by the high numbers of people passing between the bridges across the Rhône and the Saône.

The statue was built by François-Frédéric Lemot in Paris, It is 5.70 m high and weighs 15 tonnes, and was transported to Lyon in 1825 by 24 horses. It replaced an original statue done by Martin Desjardin that was destroyed and melted down during the French Revolution to create cannons in 1713.

Legend has it that when Lemot realised he had forgotten to include stirrups on the statue, he committed suicide. This is completely untrue, however, as Louis XIV is represented in Roman style, riding bareback and so has no saddle or stirrups.

The two allegories on the Rhône and Saône at its base were created by Guillaume and Nicolas Coustou in 1714. The Rhone is represented by a bearded old man crowned with vine branches on a reclining lion and the Saone by a female figure on a reclining lion, her left arm resting on a trunk.

Interesting Facts

On July 27, 1966 work was being done for the construction of an underground car park and a box was unearthed underneath the statue, something usually done to mark the installation of the first stone of the new monument. The box contained gold coins, medals, a medallion bearing the effigy of Louis XVIII, and the commemorative plaque for the re-erection of the statue.

During a restoration done in 2023, a small wooden box was found in one of the horse’s legs containing a tube sealed with lead containing a copy of the text of the inauguration speech given by the mayor of the time.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. Also known as Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura) it is from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei).

The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large, cresting wave forming a spiral in the center and Mount Fuji visible in the background. It is a synthesis of traditional Japanese prints and use of graphical perspective developed in Europe, and earned the artist immediate success in Japan and later in Europe, where Hokusai’s art inspired works by the Impressionists.

The breathtaking composition of this print ensures its reputation as an icon of world art. Hokusai cleverly played with perspective to make Japan’s grandest mountain appear as a small triangular mound within the hollow of the cresting wave.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa demonstrates Hokusai’s drawing skill. The print, though simple in appearance to the viewer, is the result of a lengthy process of methodical reflection. The artist became famous for his landscapes created using a palette of indigo and imported Prussian blue.

The Great Wave off Kanagawa has been described as “possibly the most reproduced image in the history of all art”, as well as being a contender for the “most famous artwork in Japanese history”.

Several museums throughout the world hold copies of The Great Wave, many of which came from 19th-century private collections of Japanese prints.

Katsushika Hokusai

Hokusai began painting when he was six years old, and when he was twelve his father sent him to work in a bookstore. At sixteen, he became an engraver’s apprentice, which he remained for three years while also beginning to create his own illustrations. At eighteen, Hokusai was accepted as an apprentice to artist Katsukawa Shunshō, one of the greatest ukiyo-e artists of his time.

From the age of six, I had a passion for copying the form of things and since the age of fifty I have published many drawings, yet of all I drew by my seventieth year there is nothing worth taking into account. At seventy-three years I partly understood the structure of animals, birds, insects and fishes, and the life of grasses and plants. And so, at eighty-six I shall progress further; at ninety I shall even further penetrate their secret meaning, and by one hundred I shall perhaps truly have reached the level of the marvellous and divine. When I am one hundred and ten, each dot, each line will possess a life of its own.

The art of ukiyo-e

Ukiyo-e is a Japanese printmaking technique which flourished in the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings of subjects including female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes from history and folk tales; travel scenes and landscapes; Japanese flora and fauna; and erotica. The term ukiyo-e (浮世絵) translates as “picture[s] of the floating world”.

Artists rarely carved their own woodblocks; production was usually divided between the artist, who designed the prints; the carver, who cut the woodblocks; the printer, who inked and pressed the woodblocks onto hand-made paper; and the publisher who financed, promoted, and distributed the works. As printing was done by hand, printers were able to achieve effects impractical with machines, such as the blending or gradation of colours on the printing block.

Did you know

The Japanese interpret The Great Wave off Kanagawa from right to left, emphasising the danger posed by the enormous wave] This is traditional for Japanese paintings, as Japanese script is also read from right to left.

Big Red Nude is a statue done in the contemporary style by artist and sculptor Damian Ramis from Mallorca, Spain. Enjoy our virtual recreation set deep in the heart of an ancient Roman temple in the Metaverse.

contemporaryart #damianramis #soulbank #metaverse

La Torre de Ladrones, or the Thieves Tower is the tallest watchtower located on the coast of Malaga in the south of Spain and features an amazing field of view. It is located on a sandy hill near the boundary between Marbella and Mijas in the area of ​​the Artola Dunes, next to the Port of Cabopino.

The watchtower is made of bricks and is shaped like a prism with dimensions of 3.65 m. on each side, and a height of 14.60 meters. It has a square base that is reinforced with a ravelin and does not offer any external openings featuring ornamental “fascias” instead. Internally it is distributed over three floors, with a roof that can also be used as a terrace.

It’s curious name, Thieves Tower, is due to the numerous loopholes located on the floors of its high overhangs, called “ladroneras”.

The watchtower served as both an observation and attack post used to spot approaching enemies along the Andalusian Mediterranean coast. It was also used to help control the Mudejars (Muslims raiders who remained on the Spanish coast in the late medieval period following the Christian reconquest).

In the Nasrid era, it linked the towns of Marbella and Fuengirola, and it was still used for coastal defense up until the 18th century, although due to its deteriorating condition it was unable to house artillery. As of today it has been fully restored.

Gato is a sculpture done in the contemporary style by artist and sculptor Damian Ramis from Mallorca, Spain. It is made of plaster and paint in a bright yellow finish and is a part of the My Friends collection which was launched in 2017 at Rialto Living in Palma de Mallorca.

“Along with the dog sculpture, this work was one of the first in the “My Friends” series. For this work I started from several photographs of an old cat that we have at home, and I developed it by pushing the expressive power of fillings and color to the limit.”

Damian Ramirez

My Friends collection

After several months of experimentation with a new technique, in which I combined dehydrated vegetables, special plasters and glue, I developed this collection of animals “My friends”, in which each animal became a pretext for each sculpture to be a new expressive challenge.

On the initial structure of each piece, I worked intensely on the material, without the possibility of correction, and thus give the sculptures the necessary strength and expression.

Damian Ramis

Damian Ramis started working as an artist at an early age under the tutelage of his mother, Remigia Caubet González, a famous Spanish artist and sculptor from Mallorca, Spain known for many pieces among which is the Nuredduna statue in the port of Palma. He went on to specialize in Sculpture at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barcelona before returning to Mallorca to pursue his career.

Find out more at https://www.damianramis.com

This beautiful bronze sculpture titled “Mother and Child: Block Seat” is located in Luxembourg city, at the Place des Martyrs, opposite the Grand building of the State Savings Bank. It represents a mother and her child and was created in 1983 by British sculptor Henry Moore.

Moore regarded the subject of the mother and child as a ‘fundamental obsession’. Despite the monumental quality of the sculpture there is a tenderness in the curve of the mother’s body and arm.

This idea of a protective outer form sheltering a more vulnerable element is explored in Moore’s numerous sculptures and drawings of the internal-external form. This work is also an example of Moore’s experiments with seats, plinths and the walls as an integral part of the sculpture.

Henry Moore

Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) was one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century and arguably the most internationally celebrated sculptor of the period. He is renowned for his semi-abstract monumental bronzes, which can be seen all over the world. He was the first British artist to become a global star in his own lifetime. His work came to symbolise post-war modernism and can be said to have caused a British sculptural renaissance.

https://henry-moore.org

The Font de Santa Anna is the oldest fountain in Barcelona and one of the first to be built. It is located at the end of Portal de l’Àngel avenue, on the corner of Carrer de la Cucurulla in the center of the city’s old town.

Started in 1356, it was first a watering hole that was used by travelers who stayed at the nearby Hostal del Vallès to take care of their horses. In 1375 it was expanded with the addition of a fountain that originally had eight sides, however now there are only five sides and two faucets.

On its 5 sides it features beautiful murals created by Josep Aragay in 1918 using noucentista ceramic panels in the traditional Catalan style. The vases that crown the upper part of the fountain are replacements made in 2002 from the original molds, as the ones that adorned it before had deteriorated. In the center of the fountain you can see the shield of the city of Barcelona, sculpted in stone, and on four of the five sides there are masks through which water nozzles are extended.

The fountain is attached to the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona “Reial Cercle Artístic del Barcelona”, which was founded in 1881 by leading artists of the time including Joaquim Mir, Ramón Casas, Isidre Nonell and Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa.

Did you know that

The Circle was recently remodeled and now covers part of the fountain, obscuring 3 of the 8 original sides. This has generated much discomfort among citizens who see it as a visual deterioration of the fountain apart along with the dangers it represents for its conservation.

Abstraccion was created for the Fashion Art project by renowned Venezuelan artist Pedro Sandaval, and fashion designer Manu Fernandez. Pedro’s neo-expressionist influences can be seen in this piece with its abstract and dreamlike patterns, as well as a Japanese influence from his early days as an artist.

Pedro has worked closely with leading neo-expressionist artists in Germany such as Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke and Anselm Kiefer, with whom he became part of what Wolfrang Becker called the ”New Savages”, a term used to identify painters who were at the forefront of the movement.

Fashion Art was created by Manuel Fernandez, it is a collaboration between visual artists and fashion designers in which their respective languages are combined to create a dress that is an authentic work of art. It is a project that is in constant evolution, where the fusion of Art and Fashion takes place in the eye of the spectator with the artists’ work taking center stage and the dress as the underlying canvas it is displayed on.

Pedro Sandaval

Pedro José Sandoval is a Spanish-Venezuelan artist based in Madrid, Spain who is closely associated with the abstract neo-expressionist movement. His artistic gifts manifested at an early age and he obtained his first recognition at six years old, when he was awarded the Young Master of the World award in the Japanese city of Osaka. Pedro’s works can be found in museums such as the Guggenheim in New York, in the contemporary art museums in Caracas, as well as in large collections such as the White House, the Museum of Vatican and the Kennedy Family.

Find out more at

https://www.pedrosandoval.com

https://www.instagram.com/pedrosandovalartist

Manuel Fernández

Manuel Fernández has worked in the world of fashion since 1983. His approach is avant-garde, with touches of idealism combined with a cosmopolitan flair, and he has always been committed to the internationalization of his designs. His designs are bold, daring, sensual, elegant and have a touch of humour.

Find out more at https://fashionartinstitute.org

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