Frida Kahlo's work has been celebrated in Mexico and around the world as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the femele experience and form.
From the 17th century, training of the highest standard was organised for the most privileged artists. In sculpture and in history painting, the ultimate aim of this teaching was to master the representation of the male nude: this was central to the creative process, as the preparatory studies had to capture the articulation of the body as closely as possible, whether clothed or not, in the finished composition. Today, the nude essentially brings to mind a female body, the legacy of a 19th century that established it as an absolute and as the accepted object of male desire. Prior to this, however, the female body was regarded less favourably than its more structured, more muscular male counterpart. Since the Renaissance, the male nude had been accorded more importance: the man as a universal being became a synonym for Mankind, and his body was established as the ideal human form, as was already the case in Greco-Roman art.
What does it mean to be a celebrated designer? Is it being on the cover of Time Magazine, designing some of America's best-loved exports, or is it something as simple as being recognized with a Google Doodle? Raymond Loewy, one of the 20th century's most prolific and influential designers has now achieved all three, thanks to Google celebration of his 120th birthday a few years ago.. In the same spirit, we've compiled a few of Loewy's most memorable designs:from Air Force One, Lucky Strikes and Coca-Cola — French American Raymond Loewy basically created Americana.
In 1933, the Soviet Union began construction work on what would become some of the world’s most beautiful subway stations. The Moscow Metro opened in 1935. Built mainly by hand, the train stations resemble a palace more than a place of transit. And they were palaces of a sort: they articulated, through architecture, the Soviet creed that the worker, not a king, queen or Tsar, reigned supreme. The irony—and tragedy—is that these palaces required the punishment of the very people they venerated: working conditions on these palatial subway sites were notoriously cruel.