The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam is a fascinating/insightful book on simple visuals + simple images is as much an art as a skill.
I liked it.
Useful link:
http://digitalroam.com
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Coxcomb Cut
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
A coxcomb (or cockscomb) is ‘a cap worn by a jester, like a cock’s comb in shape and color’ (Oxford English Dictionary), while Victor Gay’s Glossaire gives this defintion of the French creste: ‘ornament qui pose depuis les premières années du 13ème siècle sur le heaume (helmet), est plus connu sous le nom de cimier (souvent une aigrette de plumes)’. These two terms are used to describe a fancy type of gem cut which was already appearing in inventories in the early fifteenth century: in 1402 Duke Louis of Guyenne had ‘un rubis a crestè’. In 1420 Philip the Good had ‘ung bien gros dyament taillé en façon de creste de cog.’
It is quite evident what type of cut was meant, since it is easy to find such diamonds in various collections. However, it was not common. It was applied only when the rough was suitable and an appreciable amount of weight could be saved. Modern versions are called Multiple Step Cuts, Bent Top Cuts, or simply Bar Cuts. They are fashioned in a variety of outlines and with very varied pavilions.
A coxcomb (or cockscomb) is ‘a cap worn by a jester, like a cock’s comb in shape and color’ (Oxford English Dictionary), while Victor Gay’s Glossaire gives this defintion of the French creste: ‘ornament qui pose depuis les premières années du 13ème siècle sur le heaume (helmet), est plus connu sous le nom de cimier (souvent une aigrette de plumes)’. These two terms are used to describe a fancy type of gem cut which was already appearing in inventories in the early fifteenth century: in 1402 Duke Louis of Guyenne had ‘un rubis a crestè’. In 1420 Philip the Good had ‘ung bien gros dyament taillé en façon de creste de cog.’
It is quite evident what type of cut was meant, since it is easy to find such diamonds in various collections. However, it was not common. It was applied only when the rough was suitable and an appreciable amount of weight could be saved. Modern versions are called Multiple Step Cuts, Bent Top Cuts, or simply Bar Cuts. They are fashioned in a variety of outlines and with very varied pavilions.
Realism And Impressionism In France
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Claude Monet, who is still alive, has also seen pictures he sold for £4 bring thousands of pounds in America and elsewhere. Devoting himself to the painting of landscapes in bright sunlight, he has carried the pitch of painting into a higher key than any artist before him had done. ‘Pine Tree at Antibes’ is a beautiful example of his style at its maturity; radiant colors are laid side by side in small broken touches to suggest the vibration of light, while the decorative arrangement shows that Monet also has taken hints for design from the artists of Japan. Light is always the ‘principal person’ in Monet’s landscape, and since he is always aiming at seizing a fugitive effect, he has insisted on consistency of illumination at particular hours of the day and season. With this object be adopted, since the early eighties, a habit of painting the same subject under different conditions of light. He would set our early in the monrning with a carriage-load of canvases, and arriving at his destination he would start his day’s work, changing his canvas every couple of hours as the light changed. In this way he painted a series of views, all of the same subject, but all different in color and lighting. Among the most famous of these series are those known as ‘Haystacks,’ ‘The Poplars,’ ‘The Thames at Waterloo Bridge,’ ‘Rouen Cathedral,’ and ‘Waterlilies,’ the last being a scene in his own riverside garden at Giverny. When he was a young man M Monet once said, ‘I want to paint as a bird sings,’ and all his pictures have this delicious lyrical quality. While he adopted the rainbow palette and the technique of the small touch—‘the procedure by the touch’ as it is called in France—Monet has never been dogmatic in his use of divisionism.
The elaboration of Divisionism into a rigid scientific theory of painting was the work principally of two younger men; Georges Seurat (1859-91) and the living artist Paul Signac, born at Paris in 1863. But for his early death would have obtained a foremost place in modern art. It was Seurat about 1880 who definitely established the superiority, for the purposes of brilliance and intensity, of ‘optical blending’ to actual blending on the palette. The division of tones, which are never more than a convenience to painters like Monet and Sisley, became a law not to be departed from in the work of Seurat and Signac. This new scientific development of Impressionism became known as ‘neo-Impressionism.’ For a time Pissarro also practised this method of Divisionism with scrupulous exactness, but eventually he adopted a broader and freer manner, though still retaining the general principle of divided color. In addition to Seurat and Signac, the chief exponents of neo-Impressionism have been Henri-Edmond Cross (1856-1910) and the living Belgian painter, Théo van Rysselberg. This method of painting and the scientific theories on which it is based are fully described in M Paul Signac’s book D’Eugène Delacroix au Néo-Impressionisme (Paris, 1898).
Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)
Claude Monet, who is still alive, has also seen pictures he sold for £4 bring thousands of pounds in America and elsewhere. Devoting himself to the painting of landscapes in bright sunlight, he has carried the pitch of painting into a higher key than any artist before him had done. ‘Pine Tree at Antibes’ is a beautiful example of his style at its maturity; radiant colors are laid side by side in small broken touches to suggest the vibration of light, while the decorative arrangement shows that Monet also has taken hints for design from the artists of Japan. Light is always the ‘principal person’ in Monet’s landscape, and since he is always aiming at seizing a fugitive effect, he has insisted on consistency of illumination at particular hours of the day and season. With this object be adopted, since the early eighties, a habit of painting the same subject under different conditions of light. He would set our early in the monrning with a carriage-load of canvases, and arriving at his destination he would start his day’s work, changing his canvas every couple of hours as the light changed. In this way he painted a series of views, all of the same subject, but all different in color and lighting. Among the most famous of these series are those known as ‘Haystacks,’ ‘The Poplars,’ ‘The Thames at Waterloo Bridge,’ ‘Rouen Cathedral,’ and ‘Waterlilies,’ the last being a scene in his own riverside garden at Giverny. When he was a young man M Monet once said, ‘I want to paint as a bird sings,’ and all his pictures have this delicious lyrical quality. While he adopted the rainbow palette and the technique of the small touch—‘the procedure by the touch’ as it is called in France—Monet has never been dogmatic in his use of divisionism.
The elaboration of Divisionism into a rigid scientific theory of painting was the work principally of two younger men; Georges Seurat (1859-91) and the living artist Paul Signac, born at Paris in 1863. But for his early death would have obtained a foremost place in modern art. It was Seurat about 1880 who definitely established the superiority, for the purposes of brilliance and intensity, of ‘optical blending’ to actual blending on the palette. The division of tones, which are never more than a convenience to painters like Monet and Sisley, became a law not to be departed from in the work of Seurat and Signac. This new scientific development of Impressionism became known as ‘neo-Impressionism.’ For a time Pissarro also practised this method of Divisionism with scrupulous exactness, but eventually he adopted a broader and freer manner, though still retaining the general principle of divided color. In addition to Seurat and Signac, the chief exponents of neo-Impressionism have been Henri-Edmond Cross (1856-1910) and the living Belgian painter, Théo van Rysselberg. This method of painting and the scientific theories on which it is based are fully described in M Paul Signac’s book D’Eugène Delacroix au Néo-Impressionisme (Paris, 1898).
Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)
Two Days In An Elevator
This is the story of Nicholas White, who was trapped in an elevator in New York City’s McGraw-Hill building for forty-one hours.
Watch it @ http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators
What an experience!
Watch it @ http://www.newyorker.com/online/video/2008/04/21/080421_elevators
What an experience!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Green Companies
I found the Green Start-Up Companies via Time informative + useful.
- Amyris Biotechnologies
www.amyrisbiotech.com
- Nanosolar
www.nanosolar.com
- First Solar
www.firstsolar.com
- Serious Materials
www.seriousmaterials.com
- PetroAlgae
www.petroalgae.com
- eMeter
www.emeter.com
- Solarcity
www.solarcity.com
- ClimateCheck
www.climate-check.com
- Verdiem
www.verdiem.com
- Enphase Energy
www.enphaseenergy.com
- Ausra
www.ausra.com
- Verenium
www.verenium.com
- Finavera
www.finavera.com
- Ergo Exergy
www.ergoexergy.com
- GridPoint
www.gridpoint.com
- Amyris Biotechnologies
www.amyrisbiotech.com
- Nanosolar
www.nanosolar.com
- First Solar
www.firstsolar.com
- Serious Materials
www.seriousmaterials.com
- PetroAlgae
www.petroalgae.com
- eMeter
www.emeter.com
- Solarcity
www.solarcity.com
- ClimateCheck
www.climate-check.com
- Verdiem
www.verdiem.com
- Enphase Energy
www.enphaseenergy.com
- Ausra
www.ausra.com
- Verenium
www.verenium.com
- Finavera
www.finavera.com
- Ergo Exergy
www.ergoexergy.com
- GridPoint
www.gridpoint.com
The Art Of Investing
Only time will tell: I found the article The Art of Investing @ http://www.livemint.com/2008/04/16191717/The-Art-of-Investing.html intriguing + what's worrying is that the bourgeoning Indian art market is attracting a lot of attention worldwide due to the sudden rise of investors and collectors (with/without product knowledge) in various hues and this may be the tip of the iceberg.
Another art market bubble?
Another art market bubble?
Joan Miró
(via Wiki) Joan Miró was a Catalan (Spanish) painter, sculptor and ceramicist + his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride + his artistic autonomy is reflected in his work and his willingness to work with several media.
I really like his style of art.
Useful links:
www.museothyssen.org
www.palazzodiamanti.it
www.nga.gov.au
www.guggenheim.org
www.expomuseum.com
www.centrepompidou.fr
I really like his style of art.
Useful links:
www.museothyssen.org
www.palazzodiamanti.it
www.nga.gov.au
www.guggenheim.org
www.expomuseum.com
www.centrepompidou.fr
The De Beers Anti-Trust Settlement: Winners and Losers
I found Chaim Even Zohar's views on the De Beers Anti-Trust Settlement @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp informative and insightful because at the end of the day consumers are always the losers.
Graphic Novel Update
I think comics are unique genre of art that connects people + I love it.
Useful links:
www.comic-con.org
http://act-i-vate.com
http://paulmay.livejournal.com
http://www.hollywoodcomics.com/pope.html
Useful links:
www.comic-con.org
http://act-i-vate.com
http://paulmay.livejournal.com
http://www.hollywoodcomics.com/pope.html
The Picture Of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is a great book, a book about you + there are lessons to be learned + I liked it.
Useful links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037988
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WilDori.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/174
Useful links:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037988
http://etext.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/WilDori.html
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/174
Chequer Designs
(via Diamond Cuts in Historic Jewelry:1381-1910) Herbert Tillander writes:
I have seen several diamonds dating from around 1600, and even one or two from the middle of the sixteenth century, which have surfaces covered all over with very very small squares or lozenges, rather like the design of a chessboard. One of the main reasons for this type of faceting was that at that time, when light effects were not considered important, closely packed small facets could completely disguise even very disturbing inclusions in a gem. Many of these Chequer Cuts would otherwise have been fashioned into Table Cuts.
A number of Chequer Cuts were shaped like calves’ heads, though just as many had other outlines—square, oval, round, triangular, etc. On the whole, early inventories mention either faceting or outline, but very seldom both.
I have seen several diamonds dating from around 1600, and even one or two from the middle of the sixteenth century, which have surfaces covered all over with very very small squares or lozenges, rather like the design of a chessboard. One of the main reasons for this type of faceting was that at that time, when light effects were not considered important, closely packed small facets could completely disguise even very disturbing inclusions in a gem. Many of these Chequer Cuts would otherwise have been fashioned into Table Cuts.
A number of Chequer Cuts were shaped like calves’ heads, though just as many had other outlines—square, oval, round, triangular, etc. On the whole, early inventories mention either faceting or outline, but very seldom both.
Realism And Impressionism In France
(via The Outline of Art) William Orpen writes:
Another contributor to this exhibition, whose picture, ‘The Dancing Lesson’, attracted much attention, was Degas. Friendship with Manet drew Degas into this circle, though he never entirely accepted all the priciples of Impressionism. Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas (1834-1917) was born in Paris, the son of a banker, and, like Courbet and Manet, was originally destined for a legal career. In 1855, however, he entered the École des Beaux Arts, and also studied under Lamothe, a pupil of Ingres. All this life Degas, who was brought up in the classical tradition, had the deepest veneration for Ingres. He was also an admirer of Holbein and Clouet, whose pictures he copied. In 1856 he went to Rome and remained two years in Italy studying the work of the early Italian masters. Returning to Paris, he began as an historical painter, his last picture in this style being ‘A Scene of War in the Middle Ages,’ shown in the Salon of 1865. But about this time he came into contact with Manet, and through him with Pisaro, Monet, Renoir, and others who frequented the Café Guerbois in the Batingnolles, and there endlessly discussed their artistic aims and ideals. Because of this centre for social intercourse the Impressionist group was at one time nicknamed ‘The School of Batingnolles’. Owning to the powerful new influences surrounding him, Degas was led to abandon his historical works and devote himself to painting scenes of modern life. Always intensely interested in the rendering of movement, Degas was first attracted to subjects he found on the racecourse, one of the earliest successes in his new manner being ‘A Carriage at the Races’. He also painted washerwomen at their work, scenes in cafés and in theaters, and revealed himself as an artist passionately absorbed in the spectacle of city life, though with rather a cynical outlook. Degas was the greatest draughtsman among the Impressionists, and in his pictures of modern life he relied upon line more than any other of the friends with whom he exhibited, like Whistler, he was much influenced by Japanese colors prints, which gave him new ideas of pattern and design.
After the Franco-Prussian war, during which he served in the artillery, Degas concentrated on the Ballet, a subject for which he became famous throughout the world, and which occupied his best attention for twenty years. In these works Degas stands revealed as an uncompromising Realist. What he usually shows us is not the glamor and illusion of the Ballet from the spectator’s standpoint; Degas get behind the scenes and exposes the work and discipline which lie behind this artificial fairyland; he strips the dancers of their tinsel, compelling us to see that they are not lovely young nymphs, but plain, tired, hardworked women, often middle-aged. The beauty of his pictures is to be found not in any prettiness of his models but in the lighting, the arrangement, the drawing, and later, in the color, in the convincing truth of his vision, and in the decorative charm of his design. In the later seventies and thenceforward, Degas worked more frequently in pastel than in oils, and in these later pastels he adopts the prismatic hues of Luminism, based on the rainbow colors of the solar spectrum, so that these works, in addition to their masterly drawing and decorative design, have the additional beauty of shimmering, iridescent color. A superb example of his later style is the pastel ‘A Dancer on the Stage’ in the Luxembourg, Paris. Here, for once in a way, Degas forgets his cynicism and shows us the magical glamor of a première danseuse quivering with movement, bathed with light, and happy apparently in her moment of success. After 1886 Degas retired almost completely from the public eye, living the life of recluse on a fifth floor in Montmartre; refusing for the most part to sell his works or even to show them to collectors, though his fame continually increased and the value of his earlier works rose to sensational prices. Before his death his pictures ‘Dancers at the Bar,’ which he had originally sold for £20, was bought by an American collector for £17,400, this being the record price obtained today at public auction for a picture by any living artist. But Degas was equally contemptuous of praise or criticism, and to the end he declined all honors.
Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)
Another contributor to this exhibition, whose picture, ‘The Dancing Lesson’, attracted much attention, was Degas. Friendship with Manet drew Degas into this circle, though he never entirely accepted all the priciples of Impressionism. Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas (1834-1917) was born in Paris, the son of a banker, and, like Courbet and Manet, was originally destined for a legal career. In 1855, however, he entered the École des Beaux Arts, and also studied under Lamothe, a pupil of Ingres. All this life Degas, who was brought up in the classical tradition, had the deepest veneration for Ingres. He was also an admirer of Holbein and Clouet, whose pictures he copied. In 1856 he went to Rome and remained two years in Italy studying the work of the early Italian masters. Returning to Paris, he began as an historical painter, his last picture in this style being ‘A Scene of War in the Middle Ages,’ shown in the Salon of 1865. But about this time he came into contact with Manet, and through him with Pisaro, Monet, Renoir, and others who frequented the Café Guerbois in the Batingnolles, and there endlessly discussed their artistic aims and ideals. Because of this centre for social intercourse the Impressionist group was at one time nicknamed ‘The School of Batingnolles’. Owning to the powerful new influences surrounding him, Degas was led to abandon his historical works and devote himself to painting scenes of modern life. Always intensely interested in the rendering of movement, Degas was first attracted to subjects he found on the racecourse, one of the earliest successes in his new manner being ‘A Carriage at the Races’. He also painted washerwomen at their work, scenes in cafés and in theaters, and revealed himself as an artist passionately absorbed in the spectacle of city life, though with rather a cynical outlook. Degas was the greatest draughtsman among the Impressionists, and in his pictures of modern life he relied upon line more than any other of the friends with whom he exhibited, like Whistler, he was much influenced by Japanese colors prints, which gave him new ideas of pattern and design.
After the Franco-Prussian war, during which he served in the artillery, Degas concentrated on the Ballet, a subject for which he became famous throughout the world, and which occupied his best attention for twenty years. In these works Degas stands revealed as an uncompromising Realist. What he usually shows us is not the glamor and illusion of the Ballet from the spectator’s standpoint; Degas get behind the scenes and exposes the work and discipline which lie behind this artificial fairyland; he strips the dancers of their tinsel, compelling us to see that they are not lovely young nymphs, but plain, tired, hardworked women, often middle-aged. The beauty of his pictures is to be found not in any prettiness of his models but in the lighting, the arrangement, the drawing, and later, in the color, in the convincing truth of his vision, and in the decorative charm of his design. In the later seventies and thenceforward, Degas worked more frequently in pastel than in oils, and in these later pastels he adopts the prismatic hues of Luminism, based on the rainbow colors of the solar spectrum, so that these works, in addition to their masterly drawing and decorative design, have the additional beauty of shimmering, iridescent color. A superb example of his later style is the pastel ‘A Dancer on the Stage’ in the Luxembourg, Paris. Here, for once in a way, Degas forgets his cynicism and shows us the magical glamor of a première danseuse quivering with movement, bathed with light, and happy apparently in her moment of success. After 1886 Degas retired almost completely from the public eye, living the life of recluse on a fifth floor in Montmartre; refusing for the most part to sell his works or even to show them to collectors, though his fame continually increased and the value of his earlier works rose to sensational prices. Before his death his pictures ‘Dancers at the Bar,’ which he had originally sold for £20, was bought by an American collector for £17,400, this being the record price obtained today at public auction for a picture by any living artist. But Degas was equally contemptuous of praise or criticism, and to the end he declined all honors.
Realism And Impressionism In France (continued)
Oriental Rug, Gemstones, Jewelry
I found the article How To Buy an Oriental Rug @ http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1732112,00.html informative because buying rugs can be intimidating for the beginner, just like buying gemstones/jewelry + there is the clash of cultures + you shouldn't forget the first lesson: The seller is going to win, because he invented the game.
Iceland And Renewable Energy
Iceland's primary innovation = renewable energy + Iceland has begun making clean hydrogen fuel, a new blueprint to the rest of the world.
Useful links:
www.ectos.is
www.ge-prize.ru
www.nmi.is
www.statoilhydro.com
www.sri.com
Useful links:
www.ectos.is
www.ge-prize.ru
www.nmi.is
www.statoilhydro.com
www.sri.com
Friday, April 18, 2008
Art Reflections In Dallas
The Goss-Michael Foundation's gallery in Dallas (USA) is a must-visit + they are showcasing works by Damien Hirst, including his 'Saint Sebastian, Exquisite Pain' — a black calf encased in a formaldehyde solution, its body pierced with arrows +++++++
Useful links:
www.gossmichaelfoundation.org
http://dallasmuseumofart.org
www.nashersculpturecenter.org
www.whitecube.com
Useful links:
www.gossmichaelfoundation.org
http://dallasmuseumofart.org
www.nashersculpturecenter.org
www.whitecube.com
Ólafur Elíasson
Olafur Eliasson is a Danish/Icelandic artist, who is well-known for his intellectually stimulating work of art, in my view, of a different kind, immersive and impermanent + makes you reflect and refract.
Useful links:
www.olafureliasson.net
www.moma.org
www.sfmoma.org
www.ps1.org
Useful links:
www.olafureliasson.net
www.moma.org
www.sfmoma.org
www.ps1.org
Jewelry Sales Training Program
I think the idea of providing custom sales training programs for jewelers (jewelry sales scenarios, role-playing, overview of sales styles, basic skills to overcome customer objections, guidance on competition, sales framework +++) by American Gem Society is brilliant + I wish there were similar programs tailored specifically for the culture-conscious jewelry sector in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
Useful link:
www.americangemsociety.org
Useful link:
www.americangemsociety.org
Corporate Social Responsibility Educational Program
During the annual congress in Dubai, 2008, CIBJO + United Nations have decided to create a foundation that will finance and administer a worldwide Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) educational program (s) for the benefit of the jewelry industry.
Useful links:
www.cibjo.org
www.un.org
Useful links:
www.cibjo.org
www.un.org
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