"Ecce Puer" (Behold!) by Medardo Rosso - 1906

“Nothing is at rest and everything is part

of the hurried and multiple improvisations of the universe.” 

quote by Medardo Rosso (IT 1858-1928)

Photo: collection Museum Vito Mele, Italy

http://www.museomele.it/artisti/medardorosso.htm

"Before the Performance" by Edgard Degas - 1896

Edgard Degas went at the Faculty of Law of the University of Paris, in 1853, but applied little effort to his studies. In 1855 (age 21), Degas met Dominique Ingres, whom he revered, and whose advice he never forgot: "Draw lines, young man, and still more lines, both from life and from memory, and you will become a good artist."

Degas was often criticized for sloppy brushwork and lack of finish. Thank god he did what he did!

 

“Before the Performance” by Edgard Degas (1834-1917)

Oil on paper laid on canvas > 48mm x 62mm

Location: Scottish National Gallery - tekst Wikipedia

Self-portrait 1863 oil on cardbord, private collection (photo WikiArt)
 

"Unique Forms of Continuity in Space" by Boccioni - 1913

By the end of 1913, the Italian futurist Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916) had completed what is considered his masterpiece, “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space”, in wax. His goal for the work was to depict a "synthetic continuity" of motion. During his life, the work only existed as a plaster cast (photo 1913, private collection - Milan). It was first cast in bronze in 1931.

The writing of his Manifesto of Futurist Sculpture, published in April 1914, was Boccioni's intellectual and physical launch into sculpture, as there are no known works before this period. This sculpture has been the subject of extensive commentary, and in 1998 it was selected as the image to be engraved on the back of the Italian 20-cent Euro coin.

Tekst > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umberto_Boccioni

 

"The Slave Market" by Frank Brangwyn - 1920/21

 

 

 

Beside paintings and drawings, Frank Brangwyn made stained glass, furniture, ceramics, carpets, glassware, jewelery, buildings and interiors. It is estimated he made over 12.000 artworks. “The work involved?” he said in an interview, “You have no idea!”

"Improvisation 26" by Wassily Kandinsky - 1912

"Anyone who looks into the hidden inner treasures of his own art, is an enviable contributor to the spiritual pyramid which will reach unto heaven."

Quote from the publication ‘The Abstract in Art’ in 1912. Kandinsky is seen as one of the fathers of modern painting and the founder of abstract painting in the 20th century.

Photo: “Improvisation 26” - Oil on canvas, 1912 - 97 x 107cm
Location: Munchen, Städtische Galerie in Lenbachhaus

Reclining Figure by Henry Moore - 1951

Henry Moore was born in 1898 as a son of a coal miner in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. He was the seventh of eight children in a family that often struggled with poverty. Despite his early promise, Moore's parents had been against him training as a sculptor, a vocation they considered manual labour with few career prospects.

The 'Festival Reclining Figure'  (length 228.5 cm) is located at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art One, Edinburgh

 

 

This sculpture was commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain for the Festival of Britain exhibition (photo) in 1951. Moore was asked to make a carving of a family group symbolising 'Discovery', but he chose instead to make a large reclining figure in bronze. Moore explained his liking for reclining figures in typically rational terms, observing that large standing figures have a weak point at the ankles.  > Tekst: National Galleries Scotland

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright - 1939

Fallingwater, a cubist villa located near Mill Run in Fayette County Pennsylvania, is designed by the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1939 for the Kaufmann family as a weekend getaway house.

Damascus(?) roses in Botticelli's Virgin and sleeping Christ - 1490

 

‘The Virgin Adoring the Sleeping Christ Child’ by Botticelli (IT 1445-1510)

 

Sandro Botticelli's composition, inspired by the work of Filippo Lippi, is unusual in two respects: canvas paintings were still uncommon at this time and the Christ Child was rarely shown asleep. This variation could be interpreted as a reminder of Christ's death. His future suffering for Mankind may also be symbolised by the detailed plants and fruits. The red strawberries, for example, may refer to Christ's blood. They also complement the beautiful (*Damascus?)rose bower which forms an 'enclosed garden', a symbol of the Virgin derived from the Old Testament Song of Solomon. The painting was probably designed for a domestic setting.   > Tekst: National Galleries Scotland

*For centuries, the Damascus rose (Rosa damascena) has been considered a symbol of beauty and love. The fragrance of the rose has been captured and preserved in the form of rose water by a method that can be traced back to ancient times in the Middle East, and later to the Indian subcontinent. A Persian scientist, Avicenna, is credited with the invention of the process for extracting rose water from rose petals in the early 11th century. It takes about 60,000 roses (about 180 lb) to make one ounce ( 29.57 ml) of rose otto - or to put in a different way 40,000 kilograms to make 1 liter of rose otto.