User Rating: 5 / 5
By the time early settler Hugh Taylor Birch purchased the Bonnet House site in 1895, the grounds had already witnessed 4,000 years of Florida history. A shell midden left by the Tequesta people indicates that human activity on the site dates back to 2,000 B.C. while further archaeological evidence suggests that the grounds saw one of the first sites of Spanish contact with the New World.
Bonnet House's modern history began when Birch gave the Bonnet House property as a wedding gift to his daughter Helen and her husband, Chicago artist Frederic Clay Bartlett in 1919. The newlyweds began construction of Bonnet House in 1920, eager for a winter retreat where Frederic could pursue his artwork and Helen could compose music and poetry.
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Maurits Cornelis Escher, who was born in Leeuwarden, Holland in 1898, created unique and fascinating works of art that explore and exhibit a wide range of mathematical ideas. His work went almost unnoticed until the 1950's. His greatest admirers include mathematicians, who recognized in his work an extraordinary visualization of mathematical principles. Escher's work encompasses two broad areas: The Geometry of Space, and what we may call The Logic of Space.
User Rating: 5 / 5
" I have painted ever since I can remember. My style is a self taught empirical technique that I call pointillist. My technique is similar to Seurat pointillism however slightly different. The dots utilizing acrylics on canvas juxtapose to give movement and vibrancy to the images".
I am inspired mostly by people, their stories, feelings, emotions and human nature in general. I consider the human body the ultimate form of art and I paint it in a representational way that is not threatening to the viewer. I like to lure you into the painting and let you discover the message."
User Rating: 5 / 5
A pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer on May 2, 2012 at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction. Experts had expected the masterpiece to break new ground at the famed New York auction house; its pre-sale estimate of at least $80 million was the highest ever listed at Sotheby's. It sold for $119,922,500, which includes the premium paid to Sotheby's. Previously, the most expensive artwork ever sold there was Pablo Picasso's painting "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust," which brought in $106.5 million two years ago. The previous record for a Munch work of art was just over $38 million.
The present version of The Scream dates from 1895, and is one of four versions of the composition, and the only version still in private hands. The work was owned by Norwegian businessman Petter Olsen, whose father Thomas was a friend, neighbor and patron of Munch.
User Rating: 4 / 5
The crème de la crème of Rio's samba schools paraded at the Sambódromo on Sunday, February 19th, and Monday, February 20th in the uniquely famous competition in front of 90,000 jubilant spectators and hundreds of millions television viewers across the world. The Unidos da Tijuca samba school was declared the winner of the 2012 Rio Carnival, with its tribute to the late singer and composer Louis Gonzaga, the "king of Baiao", a popular music style from Brazil's northeast. Unidos da Tijuca, sporting blue and yellow colors and renowned for its creative and innovative artistic work won the tile for the third time in its 81-year history.
English speakers get their moment in the Carnival sun on Monday February 20, 2012 as a Beatles-themed street party shakes it up with a samba swing to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da." "Sergeant Pepper," is one of more than 400 raucous street parties that spring up throughout Rio de Janeiro during Carnival season. Hundreds of thousands of people turn out for the largest of the "blocos," packed, sweaty open-air dance parties where the crowd sings along to a repetitive medley of Carnival songs.
