Thursday 24 September 2020

Red Geranium

Red Geranium - Oil on canvas panel (6" x 8") by Benoit Philippe

 

Thursday 17 September 2020

My Coffee Mug

 

My Coffee Mug - Oil on canvas board (8" x 6") by Benoit Philippe 

Friday 11 September 2020

Marco Del Re at the Matisse Museum in Le Cateau-Cambrésis (France)

 For the temporary exhibition “Tout va bien monsieur Matisse” (Everything is well Mr. Matisse) 8 contemporary artists have produce works inspired by Matisse’s works. One of them is the Italian artist Marco Del Re.


 

Le Jardin d’Eden I – Monotype on Nepal paper by Marco Del Re

La chambre rouge I – Monotype on Nepal paper by Marco Del Re


Nature morte et artichauts – Oil on canvas (2010) by Marco Del Re


Elégie romaine – Oil on canvas (2012) by Marco Del Re

Le Jardin de Saint Paul – Oil on canvas (2012) by Marco Del Re

Chevelure II – Engraved plaster (2006) by Marco Del Re

Chevelure II (detail)

Allegorie de la peinture II - Oil on canvas (2013) by Marco Del Re

 

The Exhibition

Tout va bien monsieur Matisse (Everything is well Mr. Matisse)
11 juillet 2020 - 17 janvier 2021

Musée départemental Matisse
Palais Fénelon
Place du Commandant Richez
59360 Le Cateau-Cambrésis
France

Official site of theMatisse Museum 

Tuesday 8 September 2020

103 Hokusai drawings acquired by the British Museum

The British Museum recently acquired a Series of 103 Preparatory drawings by Hokusai for an illustrated book titled: Banbutsu ehon taizen zu 万物絵本大全図 (Great Picture Book of Everything).

These drawings were produced in 1829. This was a difficult time for Hokusai. As indicated in the Curator's comments, Hokusai suffered a stroke in 1827 or 1828, and his second wife died in 1828;

The Picture Book of Everything was never published and this is why we still have these drawings today. The process of engraving Ukiyo-e (Woodblock print) involves sticking the block-ready drawings onto the cherry-wood printing blocks before cutting it. The drawing is destroyed in the process.

Great Picture Book of Everything, were owned Henri by Vever (a French Art Nouveau jeweller). The works were then sold at auction in Paris in 1948 and had been in private collection ever since. They were auctioned again in June 2019 and the British Museum acquired them.

 


Preparatory drawing (hanshita-e) for an illustrated book, mounted on card. Two cranes and two turtles climbing on lotus leaves. Ink on paper by Katsushika Hokusai (1829).© The Trustees of the British Museum – Used under (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

 

Preparatory drawing (hanshita-e) for an illustrated book, mounted on card. Wu Zixu holding up a bronze vessel weighing 1,000 catties. Ink on paper by Katsushika Hokusai (1829).- © The Trustees of the British Museum – Used under (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license


Preparatory drawing (hanshita-e) for an illustrated book, mounted on card. Ke Dao, Cai Lun, Li Chao and his son Ting Zhi engaged in tasks associated with publishing (carving woodblocks, making paper). Ink on paper by Katsushika Hokusai (1829).© The Trustees of the British Museum – Used under (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

You can see these works on site of the online collection of the British Museum 

Make sure you read the Curator's comments which are well written. For each entry, you can also read a translation of the text on the drawing.

Another remarkable feature is that you can zoom in and see the fine details of each drawing.