mandag den 18. april 2016

again a small visit to the National Gallery of Art



Balthasar van der Ast and other flaemic masters.






Giovanni Bellini




Bellini was one of the most influential Venetian artists. He lived and worked in Venice all his life; his career spanned 65 years. He is celebrated for his pioneering portrayal of natural light, seen in such works as 'The Agony in the Garden', for his tender and graceful pictures of the Virgin and for his altarpieces. Dürer, in Venice in about 1506, wrote that Giovanni 'is very old and yet he is the best painter of all'.
Giovanni Bellini was born into the leading dynasty of Venetian painters. He seems to have been the younger brother of Gentile Bellini. His development was first shaped by his father, Jacopo. His brother-in-law Andrea Mantegna also influenced early works, such as 'The Blood of the Redeemer' and 'The Agony in the Garden'. The visit of Antonello da Messina to Venice in 1475-6 may also have influenced him.

Many signed paintings survive, as well as a number of
workshop productions, including works on this screen. 'The Assassination of Saint Peter Martyr' is now thought to be by him rather than by his workshop. In his old age Bellini executed a few secular narrative paintings, of which the greatest is 'The Feast of the Gods', later modified by Titian.

søndag den 3. april 2016

Semaan Khawam




Semaan Khawam is a Lebanese painter, designer, graffiti artist, actor, writer and poet. He is born in 1974 and lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon. Khawam is a frequent exhibitor and his work has been featured at personal or collective exhibitions at, amongst others, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, the Joanna Seikaly art gallery and the Nada Debs gallery. His art and poetry have been featured in Arab and international newspapers. In his work, Khawam shows the power of art to challenge official state censorship, sectarianism and limits on freedom of expression in the Middle East.







Here is a small selection of his excellent work. 












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