Takashi Murakami is well-known for pairing fine art with cartoons + his artistic style, called Superflat, is characterized by flat planes of color and graphic images involving a character style derived from anime and manga + he is also known as the Andy Warhol of Japan.
Useful links:
www.takashimurakami.com
http://english.kaikaikiki.co.jp
Friday, April 04, 2008
NBD Pearl Museum
If you are interested in learning more about the colorful history of pearl divers and merchants of Arabia, visit NBD Pearl Museum, Dubai + it's an educational experience.
Useful link:
www.nbd.com
Useful link:
www.nbd.com
Basel Show
BaselWorld, the world's largest watch and jewelry trade show will be held in Switzerland from April 3 - 10, 2008 + I think there will be new watch products + innovative old and new jewelry brands to accommodate different tastes.
Useful links:
www.messe.ch
www.baselworld.com
Useful links:
www.messe.ch
www.baselworld.com
Music Update
For music lovers, web is becoming a mecca, with lots of innovative services. Listen. Enjoy.
Useful links:
www.freemusiczilla.com
http://soundpedia.com
http://songza.com
www.last.fm
Useful links:
www.freemusiczilla.com
http://soundpedia.com
http://songza.com
www.last.fm
Fighting For Their Rights
Konstantin Akinsha and Grigorij Kozlov writes about the masterpieces of Sergei Shchukin and Ivan Morozov, now on view at London’s Royal Academy + the heirs’ efforts for compensation from the Russian state + the legal and political issues + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2474
Lumpy Diamonds
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
The term ‘lumpy’ describes diamonds which are too high or too thick compared to the proportions standard in any particular period. Up to the beginning of this century the two sets of main facets were supposed to meet at right angles at the girdle—that is, with both crown and pavilion angles of 45°. The crown height had to be half the pavilion depth, and the culet just large enough to act as reflector of the incident light. These proportions, developed in te sixteenth century, varying slightly according to the shape dictated by the rough, resulted in spectacular light effects, and diamonds with these classic proportions remained much in demand for nearly three centuries.
However, only one gem could be extracted from each crystal, and fashioning involved the long and arduous process of hand bruting, so it was not surprising that many cutters decided to save labor and leave the stones lumpy. They sacrificed a great deal of brilliance but saved weight, and were able to find a perfectly satisfactory market for these diamonds, at a slightly lower rate per carat, among a clientele lacking any appreciation of true quality.
Mawe’s ‘blunder’ was a further factor responsible for the belief that the overall height of a diamond should be equal to its width. As late as the 1930s I came across people with this conviction. At that time large quantities of old-fashioned lumpy diamonds were still on the second-hand market. These have all been recut by now but, alas, so have most of the beautiful 45° cuts.
The introduction of modern mechanical sawing has resulted in the possibility of substantial weight retention since it enables two gems to be cut from one crystal and eliminates the temptation, through sheer lack of judgement, to produce lumpy gems. This innovation, and the introduction of electricity to supercede candlelight, have brought new desired proportions to the Brilliant Cut. The overall height has been reduced from the classic optimum of 70 per cent to the new height of only 60 per cent.
The term ‘lumpy’ describes diamonds which are too high or too thick compared to the proportions standard in any particular period. Up to the beginning of this century the two sets of main facets were supposed to meet at right angles at the girdle—that is, with both crown and pavilion angles of 45°. The crown height had to be half the pavilion depth, and the culet just large enough to act as reflector of the incident light. These proportions, developed in te sixteenth century, varying slightly according to the shape dictated by the rough, resulted in spectacular light effects, and diamonds with these classic proportions remained much in demand for nearly three centuries.
However, only one gem could be extracted from each crystal, and fashioning involved the long and arduous process of hand bruting, so it was not surprising that many cutters decided to save labor and leave the stones lumpy. They sacrificed a great deal of brilliance but saved weight, and were able to find a perfectly satisfactory market for these diamonds, at a slightly lower rate per carat, among a clientele lacking any appreciation of true quality.
Mawe’s ‘blunder’ was a further factor responsible for the belief that the overall height of a diamond should be equal to its width. As late as the 1930s I came across people with this conviction. At that time large quantities of old-fashioned lumpy diamonds were still on the second-hand market. These have all been recut by now but, alas, so have most of the beautiful 45° cuts.
The introduction of modern mechanical sawing has resulted in the possibility of substantial weight retention since it enables two gems to be cut from one crystal and eliminates the temptation, through sheer lack of judgement, to produce lumpy gems. This innovation, and the introduction of electricity to supercede candlelight, have brought new desired proportions to the Brilliant Cut. The overall height has been reduced from the classic optimum of 70 per cent to the new height of only 60 per cent.
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Whistler settled down in Chelsea, and became friendly with his neighbor Rossetti, who shared his taste for blue-and-white Chinese porcelain and for Japanese color-prints, and during his first years in London the artistic influence of the Far East became more pronounced in Whistler’s art. He surrounded himself with Oriental objects adn introduced them constantly into his pictures. In 1864 he painted ‘The Gold Screen’, against which sat a young woman in Japanese costume, surrounded by other variously colored objects from the Far East. About the same time he painted ‘La Princesse du Pays de la Porcelaine’, in which brilliant colors are again afforded by a Japanese dress. The original of this portrait was Miss Christina Spartali, daughter of the Greek Consul-General in London. Her sister Marie Spartali, afterwards Mrs Stillman, had been a pupil of Rossetti and sat to him for ‘Fiametta’ and other paintings. Owing to the family likeness common to the two sisters, it has been said that at this time Whistler was subject to Rossetti’s influence, but the resemblance between their works is a superficial one due only to the likeness of their respective models. There is no evidence that Whistler borrowed any of Rossetti’s methods, and the chief influences during the years in which Whistler formed his style of painting were Courbet and Manet, Velazquez and the masters of Japan. In etching he was principally influenced by Rembrandt and Méryon.
‘The Princess of the Porcelain Country,’ accepted by the Salon in 1865, was the first work by Whistler to be shown in any official exhibition in Paris. Other pictures of this Japanese period were ‘The Lange Leizen,’ in the Academy of 1864, ‘The Balcony,’ in the Academy of 1870, and most beautiful of all, ‘The Little White Girl’, also known as ‘Symphony in White No.II,’ shown at the Academy in the same year. The Japanese fan in the girl’s hand is the only direct confession of Oriental influence in this picture, which otherwise unites the Spanish gravity and realism of ‘At the Piano’ with the gay-colored decorativeness of a Hokusai or Hiroshige. After having seen this picture in Whistler’s studio, Swinburne wrote the poem afterwards included in Poems and Ballads:
Before The Mirror
Come snow, come wind or thunder,
High up in air,
I watch my face and wonder
At my bright hair,
Nought else exists or grieves
The rose at heart, that heaves
With love of her own leaves, and lips that pair.
I cannot tell what pleasures
Or what pains were,
What pale new loves and treasures
New years will bear;
What beam will fall, what shower
With grief or joy for dower,
But one thing knows the flower, the flower is fair.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Whistler settled down in Chelsea, and became friendly with his neighbor Rossetti, who shared his taste for blue-and-white Chinese porcelain and for Japanese color-prints, and during his first years in London the artistic influence of the Far East became more pronounced in Whistler’s art. He surrounded himself with Oriental objects adn introduced them constantly into his pictures. In 1864 he painted ‘The Gold Screen’, against which sat a young woman in Japanese costume, surrounded by other variously colored objects from the Far East. About the same time he painted ‘La Princesse du Pays de la Porcelaine’, in which brilliant colors are again afforded by a Japanese dress. The original of this portrait was Miss Christina Spartali, daughter of the Greek Consul-General in London. Her sister Marie Spartali, afterwards Mrs Stillman, had been a pupil of Rossetti and sat to him for ‘Fiametta’ and other paintings. Owing to the family likeness common to the two sisters, it has been said that at this time Whistler was subject to Rossetti’s influence, but the resemblance between their works is a superficial one due only to the likeness of their respective models. There is no evidence that Whistler borrowed any of Rossetti’s methods, and the chief influences during the years in which Whistler formed his style of painting were Courbet and Manet, Velazquez and the masters of Japan. In etching he was principally influenced by Rembrandt and Méryon.
‘The Princess of the Porcelain Country,’ accepted by the Salon in 1865, was the first work by Whistler to be shown in any official exhibition in Paris. Other pictures of this Japanese period were ‘The Lange Leizen,’ in the Academy of 1864, ‘The Balcony,’ in the Academy of 1870, and most beautiful of all, ‘The Little White Girl’, also known as ‘Symphony in White No.II,’ shown at the Academy in the same year. The Japanese fan in the girl’s hand is the only direct confession of Oriental influence in this picture, which otherwise unites the Spanish gravity and realism of ‘At the Piano’ with the gay-colored decorativeness of a Hokusai or Hiroshige. After having seen this picture in Whistler’s studio, Swinburne wrote the poem afterwards included in Poems and Ballads:
Before The Mirror
Come snow, come wind or thunder,
High up in air,
I watch my face and wonder
At my bright hair,
Nought else exists or grieves
The rose at heart, that heaves
With love of her own leaves, and lips that pair.
I cannot tell what pleasures
Or what pains were,
What pale new loves and treasures
New years will bear;
What beam will fall, what shower
With grief or joy for dower,
But one thing knows the flower, the flower is fair.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
A Greener World
I was really intrigued by the unique designs of Goodearth Homes + I think the concept of building a community of people committed to a sustainable lifestyle is brilliant + I also believe this social network could cultivate a sense of belonging which is going out of our lives incrementally due to rapid urbanization.
A great concept + I liked it.
Useful link:
www.goodearthhomes.net
A great concept + I liked it.
Useful link:
www.goodearthhomes.net
'Origin' Chocolate
According to Barry Callebaut, shoppers in the United States, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, France, and Britain are starting to select their chocolate bars as they would a bottle of wine - studying the cocoa content and the origin of the beans.
Useful link:
www.barry-callebaut.com
It's intriguing to see parallels with gemstone (ruby, blue sapphire, emerald, tourmaline) origins and consumer preference (s) + in an ideal case, gemstone (s) from different countries are found in unique geological environments, with unique gemological properties, leading to one single source, if possible + if chocolate producers are able to label the origin of beans and the cocoa content with technology, why can't the gemstone industry do the same with high value colored stones? Start labeling the trace elements of colored gemstones and let the consumers decide!
Useful link:
www.barry-callebaut.com
It's intriguing to see parallels with gemstone (ruby, blue sapphire, emerald, tourmaline) origins and consumer preference (s) + in an ideal case, gemstone (s) from different countries are found in unique geological environments, with unique gemological properties, leading to one single source, if possible + if chocolate producers are able to label the origin of beans and the cocoa content with technology, why can't the gemstone industry do the same with high value colored stones? Start labeling the trace elements of colored gemstones and let the consumers decide!
Art Museums Provenance Issues
The article on Art museums struggle with provenance issues @ http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0402/p13s01-alar.html was intriguing because lack of knowledgeable experts + complicated laws have always made it difficult to figure out an object's history + this reminded me of the gem and jewelry industry: gemstones can pass through many hands on their journey from mine to consumer + the nature and number of intermediaries in the industry would make it impossible for most gem dealers/ jewelers to know the provenance of their supplies + you may also need special skills and knowledge to track their original source.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Sunstone Update
David Federman writes about natural Oregon sunstone, and similar-looking treated andesine, that's often confused, and sold as natural + other viewpoints @ http://www.colored-stone.com/stories/mar08/sunstone.cfm
Useful link:
www.colored-stone.com
Useful link:
www.colored-stone.com
Next Eleven
The Next Eleven (or N-11) is a short list of eleven countries named by Goldman Sachs investment bank as having promising outlooks for investment and future growth.
- Bangladesh
- Egypt
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Mexico
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- South Korea
- Turkey
- Vietnam
Useful link:
www.gs.com
I think Africa will start playing an important role in global economy in the coming decades + the emerging markets in African countries will become with time more and more representative + we will see the US, China and the EU compete for market share one way or another + the future of Africa looks bright.
- Bangladesh
- Egypt
- Indonesia
- Iran
- Mexico
- Nigeria
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- South Korea
- Turkey
- Vietnam
Useful link:
www.gs.com
I think Africa will start playing an important role in global economy in the coming decades + the emerging markets in African countries will become with time more and more representative + we will see the US, China and the EU compete for market share one way or another + the future of Africa looks bright.
Bette Davis
I think Bette Davis is one of the greatest actress of the American cinema + my favorite is the panicky aging actress character, Margo Channing, in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 'All About Eve' (1950) + she will be remembered forever.
Useful link:
www.bettedavis.com
Useful link:
www.bettedavis.com
‘The Scream’, The Thief, And The 2 Million M&M's
Milton Esterow writes about stolen masterpieces + unique operating system (s) of 'Balkan Bandits' + other viewpoints @ http://www.artnews.com/issues/article.asp?art_id=2486
Useful link:
www.artloss.com
Useful link:
www.artloss.com
DSM-IV Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide To Diagnosis
DSM-IV Made Easy: The Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis by James Morrison is loaded with information and facts, interesting clinical vignettes + it's a great book.
Useful link:
www.psych.org
I have come across overly cautious or paranoid, conflicted, masked, revenging/consumed, fussy, depressed jewelers and dealers + interestingly these symptoms look like some of the mental disorder categories described in the American Psychiatric Association’s book Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Useful link:
www.psych.org
I have come across overly cautious or paranoid, conflicted, masked, revenging/consumed, fussy, depressed jewelers and dealers + interestingly these symptoms look like some of the mental disorder categories described in the American Psychiatric Association’s book Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Frank D Wade’s ‘Finely Cut Diamond’
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
In his book of 1916 Wade illustrates what he considers to be ‘a well made diamond’:
Table size: 40%
Crown height: 20%
Girdle thickness: 2%
Pavilion depth: 40%
Culet size: 2%
Crown angle: 35°
Pavilion angle: 41°
This differs from Morse’s 79 ct Brilliant in its circular outline, somewhat deeper pavilion, and smaller culet, but Morse also modified his ideal in the course of time.
Wade suggested virtually the same angles as Tolkowsky was to propose in 1919, but the former favored more modern shapes for the pavilion facets and did away with the disturbingly visible culet that Tolkowsky retained. Tolkowsky, on the other hand, rejected Wade’s table facet which, he claimed, favored fire at the expense of brilliance. Wade’s book and his idea of an ideal cut were obviously known to Tolkowsky when he was preparing his Treatise for publication in 1919.
In his book of 1916 Wade illustrates what he considers to be ‘a well made diamond’:
Table size: 40%
Crown height: 20%
Girdle thickness: 2%
Pavilion depth: 40%
Culet size: 2%
Crown angle: 35°
Pavilion angle: 41°
This differs from Morse’s 79 ct Brilliant in its circular outline, somewhat deeper pavilion, and smaller culet, but Morse also modified his ideal in the course of time.
Wade suggested virtually the same angles as Tolkowsky was to propose in 1919, but the former favored more modern shapes for the pavilion facets and did away with the disturbingly visible culet that Tolkowsky retained. Tolkowsky, on the other hand, rejected Wade’s table facet which, he claimed, favored fire at the expense of brilliance. Wade’s book and his idea of an ideal cut were obviously known to Tolkowsky when he was preparing his Treatise for publication in 1919.
The Influence Of The Far East
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
But all the time he was amusing himself he worked, not so much in the studio of Gleyre—his official place of training, but irregularly attended—as in the streets and cafés of Paris and in his rooms. He divided his time between etching and painting, and in the former he appeared almost as a master in the first ‘French Set’ published as early as 1858. In the following year he produced his first great achievement in painting, ‘At the Piano’, which, though rejected by the Paris Salon of 1859, was hung at the Roya Academy in 1860 and subsequently purchased by the Academician John Philip, R A. In this picture, which represents his half-sister, Mrs Seymour Haden, seated, playing the piano, against which her little daughter Annie, in white, is standing, Whistler already shows the influence of Velazquez. Philip was well known as an intense admirer of this master, and it was doubtless the Spanish qualities in Whistler’s painting which led the older artist to buy it. Two years later Whistler set out for Madrid with the intention of seeing the pictures by Velazquez in the Prado, but on the way he stopped at a seaside resort, where he nearly got drowned while bathing and had to return to Paris without going to Madrid.
In 1863 he made his second attempt to exhibit in the Paris Salon, and again the jury rejected his picture, the full length portrait of a young Irish girl, known as ‘Jo’, dressed in white, holding a white flower, and standing against a white curtain. ‘The White Girl’, as it was first called, was the beginning of a series of pictures in which Whistler deliberately experimented in improvising a color harmony based on the infinitely delicate gradations of one dominant color. It was afterwards entitled ‘Symphony in White No.I’
So many paintings by artists of great talent were rejected by the Salon this year that the Emperor Napoleon III intervened, and by his order a selection of the rejected works wa shown in a special room which became famous as the Salon des Refusks. Of this epoch-making exhibition more will be said, when dealing with French painters who were Whistler’s contemporaries, but for the moment it must suffice to say that among the works there exhibited was ‘The White Girl’, which elicited high praise from the more advanced critics.
From 1859 Whistler had divided his time between Paris and London, and though he had many friends and admirers in the former city, he was hurt at the lack of official recognition. In 1863 he fixed his residence in London, where several of his family were already established. Whistler’s father had married twice, and one of the daughters by his first wife had married the English surgeon Seymour Haden, who afterwards made a great reputation as an etcher. Whistler’s mother had also now left America and was living in London with her second son William, a doctor. James Whistler himself had not only stayed and exhibited in London, but had worked there, for in 1859 he had already begun the series of etechings known as ‘The Thames Set,’ which marks the culminating point of his first etching period. ‘Black Lion Wharf’ may be taken as an example of the perfection of his technique in 1859, of the lightness and elasticity of his line, and of the vivacity of the whole. Though he afterwards produced etchings, perfect of their kind, in quite another style, Whistler never did anything better in their own way than some of the plates in ‘The Thames Set’.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
But all the time he was amusing himself he worked, not so much in the studio of Gleyre—his official place of training, but irregularly attended—as in the streets and cafés of Paris and in his rooms. He divided his time between etching and painting, and in the former he appeared almost as a master in the first ‘French Set’ published as early as 1858. In the following year he produced his first great achievement in painting, ‘At the Piano’, which, though rejected by the Paris Salon of 1859, was hung at the Roya Academy in 1860 and subsequently purchased by the Academician John Philip, R A. In this picture, which represents his half-sister, Mrs Seymour Haden, seated, playing the piano, against which her little daughter Annie, in white, is standing, Whistler already shows the influence of Velazquez. Philip was well known as an intense admirer of this master, and it was doubtless the Spanish qualities in Whistler’s painting which led the older artist to buy it. Two years later Whistler set out for Madrid with the intention of seeing the pictures by Velazquez in the Prado, but on the way he stopped at a seaside resort, where he nearly got drowned while bathing and had to return to Paris without going to Madrid.
In 1863 he made his second attempt to exhibit in the Paris Salon, and again the jury rejected his picture, the full length portrait of a young Irish girl, known as ‘Jo’, dressed in white, holding a white flower, and standing against a white curtain. ‘The White Girl’, as it was first called, was the beginning of a series of pictures in which Whistler deliberately experimented in improvising a color harmony based on the infinitely delicate gradations of one dominant color. It was afterwards entitled ‘Symphony in White No.I’
So many paintings by artists of great talent were rejected by the Salon this year that the Emperor Napoleon III intervened, and by his order a selection of the rejected works wa shown in a special room which became famous as the Salon des Refusks. Of this epoch-making exhibition more will be said, when dealing with French painters who were Whistler’s contemporaries, but for the moment it must suffice to say that among the works there exhibited was ‘The White Girl’, which elicited high praise from the more advanced critics.
From 1859 Whistler had divided his time between Paris and London, and though he had many friends and admirers in the former city, he was hurt at the lack of official recognition. In 1863 he fixed his residence in London, where several of his family were already established. Whistler’s father had married twice, and one of the daughters by his first wife had married the English surgeon Seymour Haden, who afterwards made a great reputation as an etcher. Whistler’s mother had also now left America and was living in London with her second son William, a doctor. James Whistler himself had not only stayed and exhibited in London, but had worked there, for in 1859 he had already begun the series of etechings known as ‘The Thames Set,’ which marks the culminating point of his first etching period. ‘Black Lion Wharf’ may be taken as an example of the perfection of his technique in 1859, of the lightness and elasticity of his line, and of the vivacity of the whole. Though he afterwards produced etchings, perfect of their kind, in quite another style, Whistler never did anything better in their own way than some of the plates in ‘The Thames Set’.
The Influence Of The Far East (continued)
Colored Stone + Diamond Views
With the world economy in flamefusion-flux-hydrothermal-high pressure high temperature mode, and the diamond (colored stone industry = amorphous) industry debt in US$12 billion +/-, I have always wondered why there are no IPOs in diamond/colored stone trade, a method used by many businesses to raise capital to compete in the global market + my guess is, the diamond/colored stone trade would be petrified of detailed financial information disclosure and the risk factor, especially in today's volatile economic environment.
Gold Update
According to People's Daily Online, with a recoverable reserve over 200 tons, the Yanshan gold mine in Wen county, northwest China's Gansu province under exploration will become the largest gold mine in China.
Useful link:
www.chinagoldgroup.com
Useful link:
www.chinagoldgroup.com
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
A Whole Rain Forest Market
The article On the Market: a Whole Rain Forest by Bryan Walsh @ http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1726381,00.html was interesting because if the new business model allows the tropical nations to keep their trees and capitalize on them, then it's a win-win deal.
Useful links:
www.globalcanopy.org
www.canopycapital.co.uk
www.iwokrama.org
Useful links:
www.globalcanopy.org
www.canopycapital.co.uk
www.iwokrama.org
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