The post 4 Interesting Facts About the Life of Andy Warhol appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Andy Warhol Wasn’t the Artist’s Real Name
Andy Warhol was born into a family of Austria-Hungary immigrants and was named Andrew Warhola. However, he ended up changing his name at the age of 21, being conscious about it because it sounded “foreign.”
Andy Warhol Had an Impressive Collection of Wigs
Initially, Andy Warhol started wearing wigs in his 20s in order to hide his hair loss. But they ended up becoming part of his artistic expression and identity. Over the years, he built an impressive collection that included more than 100 wigs.
Andy Warhol Was a Victim of an Assassination Attempt
In 1968, Andy Warhol survived an assassination attempt by radical feminist writer Valerie Solanas. Warhol was severely wounded and initially pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital before a five-hour surgery saved his life.
Andy Warhol Created More Than 10,000 Artworks
Andy Warhol was astonishingly prolific during his life. It is believed that he produced more than 10,000 artworks, including prints, paintings, and drawings.
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]]>The post 5 Facts That Will Make You See “The Starry Night” in a New Light appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Asylum View
Van Gogh was hospitalized at the Saint-Paul de Mausole asylum in the south of France when he painted The Starry Night in 1889, drawing inspiration from the view from his window.
Creative Liberty
The famous painter took a few creative liberties with his most famous work because he mostly had to paint it from memory since he couldn’t fully appreciate the city of Saint-Remy from such a long distance.
Not First Version
Van Gogh has been fascinated with nocturnal landscapes long before painting The Starry Night. He also captured the lights of the night sky with Starry Night Over the Rhone in Arles, France in 1888.
Depiction of Venus
When describing the painting to his brother Theo, Van Gogh wrote, “This morning I saw the countryside from my window a long time before sunrise with nothing but the morning star, which looked very big.” Researchers believe that the brightest star in the painting actually represents Venus since it was visible at dawn in Provence at the time.
Cypress Trees Symbolism
Cypress trees are one of the most prominent motifs in The Starry Night, and this sparked speculations that the painting itself symbolizes death since they’ve often been associated with cemeteries.
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]]>The post Louvre Announces Plans to Improve the Viewing Experience of Leonardo’s “Mona Lisa” appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Mona Lisa is currently displayed in the Salle des Etats (Room of the States), which is the largest and most prestigious part of the museum. However, the room still gets crowded easily while the small size of the painting and various barriers prevent visitors from getting a good look at the painting.
In order to improve the viewing experience, the museum is now planning changes in the way it displays the Mona Lisa. According to director Laurence des Cars, one of those changes could include transferring the painting to its own room.
Louvre has attempted to improve the viewing experience of Mona Lisa in the past, including making changes to its queuing system, but these attempts didn’t bring the desired results.
“We don’t welcome visitors very well in [the Salle des États], so we feel we’re not doing our job properly,” des Cars said via Telegraph. “Moving the Mona Lisa to a separate room could put an end to public disappointment.”
According to The Telegraph, there have been plans to move Mona Lisa for a long time and are now closer to happening more than ever. The new room would be built underground as part of the upcoming Louvre reconstruction project.
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]]>The post Stolen Salvatore Rosa Painting Was Returned After 4 Years appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Back in 2020, thieves broke into Christ Church Picture Gallery, which is part of the University of Oxford’s Christ Church College, and stole three paintings, including A Rocky Coast, With Soldiers Studying a Plan. At the time, the value of the stolen artworks was estimated to be around $12 million.
The police launched a massive investigation to recover the paintings but didn’t have much success until a breakthrough earlier this year. A man from Romania contacted the local police, saying that he had the painting in his possession. The individual handed over the painting to Romanian authorities, which organized the handover to its rightful owners in March.
According to the statement issued by Thames Valley Police, the man who was in possession of Rosa’s painting previously had the two other stolen paintings—Anthony van Dyck’s A Soldier on Horseback and Annibale Carracci’s A Boy Drinking—as well. The man sold Dyck and Carracci’s paintings and believes they are now somewhere in Europe.
The police are now hoping to examine A Rocky Coast, With Soldiers Studying a Plan, and gather forensic evidence that would help track the other two paintings.
“We’re grateful to the Romanian authorities and Thames Valley Police for their help in retrieving this priceless work and returning it to our gallery,” said Jacqueline Thalmann, Curator of Christ Church Picture Gallery. “The missing paintings have been on public view since 1768, so it’s vital that we recover them so they can be enjoyed and studied by all once more.”
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]]>The post Tiny Scribble Drawn By Michelangelo Sells for $201K appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The scribble, which is the size of 1.8-inch by 2.6-inch, depicts a marble block and features the inscription “simile”, which is an Italian word for “similar”. It was found attached to the frame of a painting, “A Battle of Giants,” which is attributed to one of Michelangelo’s associates. The scribble was later identified as a work of Michelangelo after being compared to a number of similar diagrams housed in Michelangelo’s museum Casa Buonarroti in Florence, Italy.
Placing the diagram on sale, Christie’s set the estimated price to $8,000. However, the work ended up fetching a much higher price due to the scarcity of Michelangelo’s work.
The diagram is accompanied by a letter written by Cosimo Buonarroti, Michelangelo’s last direct descendant. Buonarroti sent the letter and the scribble to British diplomat John Bowring, who later became a Governor of Hong Kong, in 1836.
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]]>The post 3 Legendary Ancient Greek Sculptures You Should See At Least Once appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Venus de Milo
Discovered on the island of Milos, this Parian marble statue depicts the Greek goddess of love, so it’s also known by the nickname Aphrodite de Milos. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding its original creator, but it’s widely believed it was sculpted by Alexandros of Antioch between 150 and 125 BC.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
Just like Venus de Milo, this headless statue now resides in Louvre Museum, but how did it end up there? Charles Champoiseau discovered this statue dedicated to the goddess Niké on the island of Samothrace and decided to send it to Louvre. He later tried to find its missing arms and head, but with no success.
(@atelier_dela_nature)Parthenon Frieze
This marble sculpture was created to adorn the walls of Parthenon’s naos in Athens, but it’s now located in the British Museum in London. The meaning behind this sculpture remains unsolved to this day, and there are many different interoperations surrounding it, but it’s widely believed that it represents the Panathenaic procession.
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]]>The post 4 Interesting Facts About the Life of Johannes Vermeer appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Vermeer Spent His Entire Life in the City of Delft
Most famous artists have been known to move around, looking for inspiration and better conditions for their creative practice. However, Vermeer spent his entire life living in the Dutch city of Delft. As a matter of fact, after moving into his mother-in-law’s house at the age of 21, he remained living there for 22 years until his death.
Vermeer Worked as an Innkeeper and Art Dealer
Vermeer’s father operated two inns while also being a renowned art dealer. After his father’s death, Vermeer inherited both businesses. This caused Vermeer to have less time for his painting, which resulted in his limited opus.
Vermeer Had 15 Children
Vermeer married his wife Catharina Bolnes, daughter of the wealthy Gouda Thins family, in 1653. The two had 15 children together, with four of them unfortunately dying at a very young age.
Vermeer Died in Debt
At the time of his death in 1675, Vermeer was in large debt due to his unprofitable inkeeping business and the crash of the art market at the time. His wife needed to pay off most of his debt by selling his paintings, while his belongings were auctioned off.
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]]>The post Here is Why Da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” is the World’s Most Controversial Painting appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>It is believed that “Salvator Mundi,” depicting Jesus Christ in a blue Renaissance dress while he holds a crystal orb in his left hand and makes a cross with his right hand, was created at some point between 1499 and 1504 as a result of a private commission. The painting was possibly mentioned in the estate of Leonardo’s pupil Salaì in 1525, after which it was considered lost or even destroyed. Around 30 copies made by Leonardo’s pupils and showing the same subject surfaced in the meantime.
The “Salvator Mundi” sold at Christie’s auction was thought to be one of the copies and was sold as such at an auction in 1958, being attributed to Leonardo’s pupil Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio. The painting was in bad shape due to overpainting and poor restoration efforts, while its frame was infested by worms.
Art dealers Alexander Parish and Robert Simon acquired the painting for just over $1,000 in 2005 and, after further inspection, concluded it might be, in fact, the original painting created by Leonardo. They hired famous restoration specialist Dianne Dwyer Modestini to restore the painting. After a successful restoration process, the painting was displayed in the National Gallery in London, UK, as a work by Leonardo after authentication by the museum’s expert.
Through her restoration efforts, Modestini was convinced that the painting was created by none other than Leonardo based on the comparison of the technique used in “Mona Lisa.” Martin Kemp, considered one of the leading Leonardo experts in the world, also attributed the work to the famous painter, as did Vincent Delieuvin, the chief curator of paintings at the Louvre, and Myriam Eveno and Elisabeth Ravaud from the Louvre’s laboratory C2RMF.
However, a lot of Renaissance art experts and some Leonardo specialists, including art historian Jacques Franck, who had an opportunity to examine “Mona Lisa” out of its frame multiple times, believe that “Salvator Mundi” is the work of Leonardo’s studio with the partial contribution by the Old Master itself. The opinions vary, with some claiming that Leonardo did certain passages and others saying he only did slight retouching. There are some art historians and experts who reject the idea of contributing the painting to Leonardo entirely.
At the moment, “Salvator Mundi” remains a controversial painting for its lack of provenance and opposing opinions on Leonardo’s participation in its making. It is unlikely this will change anytime soon or ever.
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]]>The post New Frescoes of Mythological Characters Were Uncovered in Pompeii appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The newly found frescoes adorn the high walls of a grand banquet hall. Interestingly, the hall itself was very dark in color. As described by the site director, Dr. Gabriel Zuchtriegel, this setting would have allowed the vivid paintings to stand out dramatically, almost as if coming to life in the flickering lamplight.
Pompeii. A spectacular banqueting room with elegant black walls, decorated with mythological characters and subjects inspired by the Trojan War, is one of the rooms recently been brought to light during the excavations currently underway in insula 10 of Regio IX. pic.twitter.com/yxxL2vABX7
— Pompeii Sites (@pompeii_sites) April 13, 2024
Among the key discoveries are two large frescoes that capture pivotal moments from Greek mythology. One depicts the moment when Apollo, the god of the arts and prophecy, attempts to seduce Cassandra, a priestess of Troy known for her beauty and tragic fate.
Another fresco portrays the fateful encounter between Prince Paris of Troy and Helen of Troy, whose legendary beauty sparked the Trojan War. These depictions not only add to our understanding of Roman artistic techniques and aesthetic preferences, but also offer insights into the cultural and literary interests of Pompeii’s inhabitants.
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]]>The post 4 Interesting Facts About the Life of Vincent van Gogh appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Speaking His Mind Caused Van Gogh to Lose Art Dealer Job
At one point in his life, Van Gogh worked as an art dealer for the company Goupil & Cie. However, he was often dismissive of the artworks that passed through his hands and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about their shortcomings. Eventually, his employers got tired of his attitude and fired him.
Van Gogh Wanted to Become a Pastor
Van Gogh was a deeply religious man in part thanks to the fact that his father and grandfather were ministers. He decided to take a similar path as a 25-year-old and wanted to become a pastor. However, he ended up failing the theology entry exam at the University of Amsterdam due to his dislike of Latin and later abandoned the idea completely.
Van Gogh Created More Than 2,000 Artworks in Just a Decade
It is believed that Van Gogh made his first artwork at the age of 27 and proceeded to create more than 2,000 paintings, drawings, and sketches until his death 10 years later. Additionally, most of his 900 oil paintings were created in the final two years of his life.
Van Gogh Severed His Ear After a Fight With a Fellow Artist
You probably know that Van Gogh severed his left ear. But do you know why? It turns out that Van Gogh got into a heated discussion with fellow artist Paul Gauguin, and two men engaged in a physical confrontation during which Van Gogh attacked Gauguin with a razor. Angry with himself for crossing the line, Van Gogh took the rage on himself by severing his ear.
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