CHAUDRON

Hanukkah Lights - Illustrations by Jiří Běhounek

2012-01-28T00:52:00.000-08:00

Jewish Tales - Second Light. About kings David and Solomon
1. The riddles of the Queen of Sheba
2. Solomon and Asmodeus

Jewish Tales - Fourth light. About powerful sovereigns and famous rabbis who once lived in the Holy Land
3. Rabbi Hanina ben Dossa
4. Honi Hameagel
5. Rabbi Ishmael and the Oneiromancer

Jewish Tales - Fifth light. About Sephardi Jews living in Orient and South Europe
6. A Son warned
7. A Real dream

Jewish Tales - Sixth Light. About Ashkenazi Jews living in Central and Eastern Europe
8. How Rabbi Loew created the Golem
9. Pinkhas and the Count

Louise Bourgeois - The View from the Bottom of the Well

2012-01-10T09:06:00.001-08:00

The trees have risen one more time - Photographs by Robert Adams

2012-01-04T00:23:00.001-08:00

1. Cape Blanco State Park, Curry County, Oregon.

2, 3. Sitka spruce, Capo Blanco State Park, Curry Country, Oregon.

4. Fort Columbia State Park, Pacific Country, Washington.

5. Cape Blanco State Park, Curry County, Oregon.

6. Clatsop County, Oregon.

. . . the trees have risen one more tìme

and the night wind makes them sound

like the sea that is yet unknown

the black clouds race over the moon

the rain is falling on the last place

W. S. Merwin

7. On Humburg Mountain, Clatsop Country, Oregon.

after an age of leaves and feathers

someone dead

thought of this mountain as money

and cut the trees

that were here in the wind

in the rain at night

it is hard to say it

W. S. Merwin

8, 9. An eroding clearcut, Pacific County, Washington.

Erosion is an inevitable consequence of clearcutting. No people in history have clearcut without damaging the soil. If one turns a globe—China, India, the Near East, Europe, the eastern seaboard of the United States, the upper Midwest—one is reminded that some degree of long-term deforestation has been the rule with clearcutting, and that this in turn has resulted in the diminishment of whole societies. Significantly, China has recently "stopped clearcutting native forests" and has "subsidized retraining of hundreds of thousands of loggers". The Oregonian, January 25, 2004.

10. Clatsop Country, Oregon.

Jellied gasoline (napalm) is sometimes used to speed the burning of waste.

11. Coos Country, Oregon.

Occasionally a tree will grow on top of an early stump. Here the second tree has itself been cut.

12. Harney Country, Oregon.

Josef Albers - Homage to the Square

2011-12-08T02:15:00.001-08:00

Only with the Homage to the Square series did Albers finally arrive at a brillant way of demonstrating color phenomena. Besides, the quadrangle is a form codified by Malevich, an intellectual form. The quadrangle expresses new thoughts. Albers transforms it into a physical-psychic reality full of suspense. He offers us hundreds of variations. He uses different schemata. He uses either three or four colors. The visual fusion of three or four quadrangles reminds us of graphic exercises (Graphic Tectonic) and of exercises which originated in the preliminary course at the Bauhaus. At one point the small middle form seems to step out of the picture, and then again it seems to withdraw into its very depth. This back-and-forth on which the plastic perception of these interlaced color zones is dependent, is modified by illumination. In clear daylight a blue zone remains dark and deeply hidden in the picture frame, while in the twilight (or waning light) the complete opposite is true: the red loses brightness, the blue assumes an increasingly powerful glow.
There is no particular reason for any of the different schemata; they serve only to solve various problems of quantity. There are certain schemata which balance the participation of colors more strongly than others. They all have one thing in common: the horizontal symmetry is in sharp contrast to the vertical, asymmetric seriation. Thus zones are created of different chromatic activity. In the ribbon-shaped small strips which lie in the lower half of the picture, the picture produces ar more colorific effect than in the other more broadly planned zones. Everywhere, however, the important point is the alternating modification of colors. A color which lies between two others is influenced by them; the color of the panel on the right is being repeated along the border line on the left, and on the right border line it is the color of the panel on the left. Over and above the actually used colors, new optical mixtures are created.

Josef Albers (born March 19, 1888, Bottrop, Ger.—died March 25, 1976, New Haven, Conn., U.S.)

Salt land

2011-12-02T23:44:00.000-08:00

The wetland and saltmarshes of Guérande photographed by Paul Morin.

Poe in black, white and green

2011-11-20T02:28:00.000-08:00

Poe's tales illustrated with black, white and green lithographs by Edmond-Maurice Pérot (1940).

1. The Cask of Amontillado.

2, 3. The Black Cat.

4, 5, 6. The Gold-Bug.

7, 8. A Descent into the Maelström

Rural tools

2011-10-23T02:06:00.001-07:00

Old italian rural tools
1. Old weeding hoe (Val d'Ossola)
2. Billhooks (Val d'Ossola and Puglia)
3. Beet fork (Emilia and Po Delta, 19th century)
4. Stable Candlesticks (Northern Italy)
5. Hemp-scutching machine (San Marino di Bentivoglio, Emilia)
6. Antique wrought iron broiler (Lombardy, 17th or 18th century)
7. Fire forks ( Emilia and Lombardy)
8. Double edged billhook (Puglia)

Pierre Bonnard - Nature stories

2011-10-12T01:13:00.001-07:00

Nature Stories
Written by Jules Renard.
Illustrated by Pierre Bonnard.

1. The Magpie
2. Grasshoppers
3. The Worm
4. Swallows
5. The Cricket
6. The Mouse
7. The Butterfly
8. The Dragonfly
9. The Goby
10. The Frog
11. Ants
12. The Toad
13. A Family of Trees
14. The Cow
15. The Donkey
16. The Dog
17. The Turkey
18. The Cat

Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
William Henry Davies.

Brancusi - Two Archetypal Birds

2011-09-25T01:38:00.001-07:00

Constantin Brancusi (Hobitza, 1876 - Paris, 1957) - Maiastra.
The Maiastra is a legendary bird which appears in Rumanian folklore. In peasant mythology, it guides Prince Charming through all his ordeals, helping him to combat evil spells and find his Sleeping Beauty. The Maiastra is endowed with the power to speak with a marvellous voice, to work miracles and to help man in overcoming the evil forces which bar his path to happiness (cf. Janou, p. 45).
Brancusi made his first sculpture of the Maiastra ln 1912; it was the first work of the Bird cycle which was to occupy him on and off until 1940. There are altogether at least seven versions and castings of this subject in marble and bronze, most, if not all, of which are slightly different. Compared with the earliest versions of 1912 in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (both in white marble), the bronze version is a little more simplified and streamlined, emphasising the impression that the bird is about to take to the air. The beak is open, as if uttering a cry of triumph.

1. Maiastra, polished bronze, 1912.
2. Maiastra, polished bronze, 1915.
3. Maiastra, polished bronze, 1912.
4. Maiastra, white marble, 1915 - 1918.

Constantin Brancusi (Hobitza, 1876 - Paris, 1957) - Bird in Space.
The earliest version of the "Bird in Space" dates from 1919 and at least twenty-one more versions and castings were made between then and 1940 in bronze, marble or plaster. Most of them are slightly different. Peggy Guggenheim bought her cast direct from Brancusi, whom she had known since the early 1920s, and went to collect it just when the Germans were nearing Paris. In "Bird in Space" Brancusi sought to express both the sensation of flight through the upward sweep of the movement, and the liberation of the spirit. Writing in the catalogue of his exhibition at the Brummer Gallery, New York, in 1933, he spoke of it as a "project for a Bird which, if enlarged, would fill the sky".

5. Bird in Space, polished bronze, 1932-40.
6. Bird in Space, polished bronze, 1940.
7. Bird in Space, polished bronze, 1928?.
8. Bird in Space, black marble, 1936.

The Ground is hard, the Sky is far

2011-09-18T03:58:00.000-07:00

1. On his horse, protected from the cold by a flank of felt, Abdul Wakil leads the caravan on a sandy track of Wakhan.

2. Climbing a hill: men and beasts struggling hillside.

3. In a world of endless steppe dotted with sepia spikes and black pebbles, the caravan progresses inexorably.

4. At the camp of Aq Djelga, in the evening, the Kyrgyz enclose the goats and sheeps in a stones enclosure to protect them from cold and wolves.

5. The Bactrian Camel.

6. The caravan crosses a meadow strewn with rushes.

7. As the last rays of the sun ablaze the top of Pamir mountains, camels are posted for resting.

8. The caravan advances at 4000 meters on the roof of the world.

9. Hindu Kush mountains in summer, in the province of Badakhshan.

10. At the crossroads of ancient routes from India to Persia and Bukhara in Chinese Turkestan, Tashkourgan regains its animation on Monday and Thursday, market day.

11. The only fuel of the steppe is the "camel thorn" sold in the markets of small towns in Central Asia.

12. A horseman-player "tchopendoz" quenches thirst.

Arabian Nights - Temperas on paper by Duilio Cambellotti (1912-1913)

2011-05-31T02:46:00.001-07:00

1. The Story of the Fisherman.

2. The Second Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor.

3. The Story of Prince Zein.

4. The Story of the Barber's Third Brother.

5. The Story of Cogia Hassan Alhabbal.

6. The Story Of Prince Achmed.

7. The Story of Three Sisters.

8. The Story of 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.

9. The Story of the Three Calendars, Sons of Kings.

10. The Seventh Voyage of Sindbad.

11. The Story of Aladdin.

12. The Story of the Enchanted Horse.

Joseph Furttenbach - Roses made of shells

2011-05-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Joseph Furttenbach - Architectura Civilis, 1628.

Léon Spilliaert - Trees

2011-05-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

Léon Spilliaert (Ostend, 1881 - Brussels, 1946)

1. Trees, white and black. India ink and watercolor on paper (1941).

2. Seedlings around the trees. Gouache, pen, India ink and wash on paper (1933).

3.Trunk of beech and branches in the spring. Pencil and watercolor on paper (1930).

4. Branches of trees. Watercolor, India ink and pen on paper (1941).

5. Gnarled trunk. India ink, pencil, pen, black chalk and gouache on paper (1938).

6. Winter landscape with ivy. Pencil, watercolor and gouache on paper (1915).

7. Trees in the Flood. Watercolor on paper (1944).

8. Spring in Brabant. Conté pencils, India ink, gouache, watercolor and pastel on paper (1920).

9. Landscape with tall trees. India ink and Conté pencils on paper (1900-1902).

10. Park. India ink and watercolor on paper (1944).

Keiichi Tahara - Through Parisian windowglass, darkly

2011-05-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Our cultural insistence on a personal viewpoint is not always matched by the availability of singular experience. But there is one subjective outlook that cannot be denied. Few people see the world imprinted on the particular canvas that is your window. Keiichi Tahara took these photographs from the windows of his apartment in Paris. The sky of Europe, framed and distorted by glass, is his subject. Behind these images, one can feel a brooding presence that is doubly detached—first by apartment walls, and then by the camera. The severity of these images supports the intensity of Tahara’s description of his work as "visions of feeling" and "recognitions of (his) position." He denies any scenic implications in these photographs, presenting them more as interior meditations than exterior explorations. And yet, he manages to reveal the chasm between both perspectives.

Fenêtre series (Windows) 1974-1980

Plastic Flora - Fortunato Depero's Scenes and Costumes for Le Chant du Rossignol, 1916-17.

2011-04-26T01:18:00.001-07:00

On 16 November 1916, a fortnight before signing a contract with Balla for "Fireworks" (dated 2 December 1916), Diaghilev commissioned Depero to design the décor and costumes for the ballet "Le Chant du Rossignol", with music drawn from Stravinsky’s early opera, "Le Rossignol", staged in Paris in 1914. The plot had been adapted from a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen and had two animal characters, a "real" nightingale and a mechanical nightingale. It was when visiting Depero°s studio and seeing a cardboard model of some enormous flowers that Diaghilev suggested to the artist that he construct the whole scenery as a kinetic sculpture, in line with the “artiticial landscape" theorised about in the manifesto "Futurist Reconstruction of the Universe". Depero worked on the décor and costumes for several months. The bizarre geometric shapes bristled with spiky and jutting elements and clearly developed further some of the ideas contained in the earlier "Mimismagia", but failed to attain the revolutionary quality of the “Plastic Complexes”: the costumes were not equipped with switches and were not noisy or transformable.
The whole artistic milieu in Paris was looking forward to the event, but in the end, and despite the fact that he had written enthusiastically to Stravinsky about this stage set, Diaghilev did not accept Depero’s work and did not present the ballet. There has been much speculation about the reasons for Diaghilev’s refusal. Some critics think that the costumes would have caused excessive obstacles to the movements of the dancer; others refer to Depero’s delay in finishing the work on time. Another reason may have been that the Russian impresario attached much importance to the organic harmony between the different arts involved in a ballet and that he noticed a glaring contradiction between the revolutionary quality of Depero’s plastic décor and Stravinsky’s music, which was of a conventional, "descriptive" kind.

1. Model for the set of "Le Chant du Rossignol", complete view.

2. Model for the set of "Le Chant du Rossignol", detail of the central part.

3. Sheet with five sketches for mandarins and court women and with the mobile-floral complex of the emperor, that remind the structure of the plastic flora.

4. Mandarin, costume for the ballet "Le Chant du Rossignol", marquetry of colored cloths (1919).

5. Sheet with twelve sketches for mandarins and court women.

6. Dancer, costume for the ballet "Le Chant du Rossignol", collage of colored papers.

7. Drawing project for "Le Chant du Rossignol", details of the "plastic flora".

8. Drawing project for "Le Chant du Rossignol", support for the the great plastic flora bush.

9. Two views of the studio-workshop of Depero in Rome with the large elements of the "plastic flora" made of wood, cardboard and linoleum.

Pollen Boy on the Sun (Navajo Sandpaintings)

2011-04-18T00:49:00.002-07:00

1. Pollen Boy on the Sun
This sandpainting is often erroneously referred to as Eagle on the Sun, which is a complete misnomer since there is no such sandpainting. Pollen Boy, called Trahdah-de'en-eshki, on the Sun or Jo-honah-eh appears in the Blessingway and may be used for two main purposes. If done with the four sacred plants (note that in this instance there appears to be two tobacco plants shown in two different colors rather than tobacco and beans) it is meant for a boy. If done for a man or a hunter, the plants would not be used. The feathers are colored for each direction, with nine feathers each and each feather representing a song from the ceremony.

2. Frogs and the Four Sacred Plants
This sandpainting theme is a fundamental one that appears in a number of other sandpaintings, in whole or in part. The four sacred plants, beginning at the top right and going clockwise are: bean — nah-othle, corn — nah-tah, corn again appears in the third position where tobacco — nah-toh should be (it would look much like the bean plant but without the dots — see the Rainbow People image), and squash — nah-yezzi. The plants may be shown in plant or human form, but either way they are recognized as being the same and have the same name. With the frogs included, this sandpainting would be used for treating a person who was crippled or suffering some form of paralysis, even arthritis. These types of illnesses are believed to be caused by the Water People.

3. The Wind People
These four figures, each a different color to represent the four directions, are the Nil—tsi yei, or wind people. In one hand they hold cloud symbols and in the other they hold the feather that is used to create the winds. The Wind People are very important in Navajo legend for it was they who relayed the ceremonial knowledge given by the Holy People to the Navajo.

4. Rainbow People
These are the Rainbow People or Na'a-tse—elit yei as they appear in the Mountain Way, with the elaborate weasel headdresses. The Rainbow People usually appear in pairs much as one often sees double rainbows in nature. They hold double rattles that are characteristic of the Mountain Way. The four sacred plants are present because of their association with water and the two guardians are medicine pouches. Adjacent to the Emergence center and the holy water (the black circle outlined in white with rainbow bars to increase its holiness and strength) are four cloud symbols, each colored for the four different directions. On each of the cloud symbols are dragonflys, who are the messengers of the sun. Here, expressed symbolically, you have the origin, both in legend and in fact, of the rainbow with the cloud symbols and the dragonflys representing the combination of moisture and light that brings about the rainbow.

5. Coyote Stealing Fire
Taken from an incident in the Creation Story, this sandpainting shows Etsay-Hashkeh, Coyote, stealing fire from the sleeping Hashjesh-jin or Fire God, who is shown holding a medicine bag in his left hand and a feather in his right where he should be holding a ring. The zig-zag lines running across his arms and shoulders represent the Milkway Way. The symbol beneath the medincine pouch is the fire. The crosses represent various stars and constellations, with the red line indicating the trailing embers left by Coyote (also known to the Navajo as Mah-ih or He—who-wanders-about). It passes through the home of the Sun with its eagle guardian in the lower right corner and through the home of the Moon in the upper right to the upper left which is the home of First Man (Etsay-hasteen) and First Woman (Etsay-Assun). The large circles in the upper and lower left represent hogans.

I am the frivilous coyote-
I wander about.
I have seen Hasjesh—jin’s fire-
I wander about.
I stole his fire from him—
I wander about.
I have it! I have it!

from the Creation Chant

6. Home of the Bear and Snake
This sandpainting theme occurs in both the Beauty Way and the Mountain Way, but it has its origins in yet another — the Blessing Way. Big Snake Man and Bear Man, disguised as very old men compete successfully in a battle against the Pueblo people and in successive archery contests against Monster Slayer and his companions for the possession of two beautiful maidens who are here illustrated as the two square-headed female figures at the right and left. Though the two old men win every contest Monster Slayer can think of, they are still denied their prizes. That night, while the others attended a social dance, Big Snake Man and Bear Man transformed themselves into handsome rich young men. Using a sweet-smelling magic tobacco, they lure the girls to them. Upon awakening in the morning the maidens find that the young men have changed into the old men they had spurned the day before. Frightened, they flee. Big Snake’s Man’s pursuit of one of the maidens continues in the Beauty Way, while Bear Man’s chase is a part of the Mountain Way. The butterflies symbolize the beauty of the maidens and the bear tracks the following of their pursuers. The snakes are shown in their hogans and the bears near their mountain homes. The two figures at the top and bottom are both Hastye-alt-yei or Talking God.

7. Home of the Bears
This story begins in the Blessing Way and continues in the Mountain Way. Bear Man is in pursuit of the maiden who fled from him. The tracks show his travels thus far and the bear paw with the rainbow bar indicates he is tracking her. The bar in front of each bear represents the pipe used to smoke the special tobacco which helped Bear Man eventually find her. In the center are the sun and the moon and at the top are two bat guardians. Four hastye-alt-yei are shown holding a medicine bag in one hand and a bull-roarer in the other. He is usually referred to as Grandfather of the Gods or Talking God, though a more appropriate translation would be Speechless Talking One, for he is one of a small group who no longer speak as they once did in times long past. He also appears in the Nightway and had control over the dawn, corn and certain game animals. Of all the gods, he is regarded as being the most compassionate.

I, I am Talking God — now I wander about.
From under the East I wander about — now I wander about
The dawn lies toward me, I wander about — now I wander about
The white corn lies toward me — now I wander about..
Before me, it is beautiful — it shows my way.
Behind me, it is beautiful — it shows my way.

8. The Buffalo People
This sandpainting is often referred to by the name "The Buffalo Who Never Die". This title came from a story of a man who married the daughter of the chief of the Ah-yah-neh or Buffalo People. When the Buffalo People left to return to their home on the Plains of the East, he was told not to follow them. He did follow them and when discovered, the Buffalo People decided to kill him. Prepared for this he armed himself with special magic given him by the gods and killed all the Buffalo People instead. He eventually revived them in exchange for certain ceremonial knowledge which they had. The red lines on the Buffalo People in this sandpainting should be red and blue rainbows instead, which symbolize the fact that they have been brought back to life. Also the white hands on the buffalo do not appear in traditional representations of the Buffalo People. The tipis in the sandpainting represent the home of the Buffalo People. The white lines represent their trails to the water.

9. Monster Slayer
Known as Nayenezgani, he is shown here standing against the sun, as he appears in the Female Shootingway. He is armed with crooked lightning, given to him by his father the Sun. Nayenezgani's brother, Born-of-Water (Tobaschischin) was given straight lightning. The serrated edges of his body indicate that he is wearing flint armor, also given to him by the Sun. Around him are four eagles, each astride a rainbow bar which protects them, giving them greater power and strength. The sandpainting is protected by the bow guardians and a garland of arrows. The two brothers, usually referred to as the Twin War Gods, are the focus of much of Navajo legend. They destroyed most of the terrible monsters or Yei-tso who inhabited the earth in its early days. (The great lava flow near Grants, New Mexico is believed to be the dried blood of one of these fearsome Yei-tso.) Among the few Yei-tso to survie were poverty, sickness and death.

10. Male and Female Yeis
The Yeis are supernatural beings from Navajo religion, with the word ‘yei’ being usually translated as ‘god’. The masked dancers who portray the Yei in certain ceremonies are referred to as Yei-bih-chai dancers, after the Yei-bih-chai ceremony in which they appear. Although there are exceptions to the rule, a round head indicates a male Yei and a square or slightly rectangular head indicates a female Yei. The male Yei in this sandpainting should not have the two feathers on the side of his head. He is holding a rattle and crooked lightning while she is holding a rattle and evergreen. Hanging from their wrists and elbows are ribbons. Both should be holding rattles in their right hands and evergreen in their left. The skirt or kilt and the bag to the left of each Yei are the only two areas in traditional sandpainting where the sandpainter is permitted to vary the design. Errors or variations not accepted in traditional sandpaintings appear in this type of sandpainting, almost regularly, especially in the larger ones. Knowledgeable Navajo sandpainters will often deliberately put in an “error" to prevent the sandpainting from exactly copying a ceremonial sandpainting. Still others will vary an element to make it visually more pleasing to the artist himself.

Inuit Prints

2011-04-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

1. Ananaisee Alikatuktuk/Thomasee Alikatuktuk - Taleelayu and Family, 1976.
Stencil, 38.5 x 58.5 cm. Pangnirtung print catalogue 1976, No. 13.
Taleelayu, also called Sedna, was a powerful figure in the Eskimo pantheon, being considered the provider of food and the protector of animals. Her origins were human. The myth has several versions but, basically, her rejection of all suitors led her angry father to marry her to one of his dogs. Their children became the ancestors of the Indians and Europeans. Subsequently, she was tricked into marrying a fulmar. When her father rescued her in his boat, the bird caused a great storm, and her father, in fright, threw her overboard. When she clung to the boat, he chopped off her fingers, which became the seals and the whales, and she sank to the bottom of the sea, where she rules. Ananaisee`s imaginative interpretation of the myth gives Taleelayu a sea family. He explains the lack of scales on four of the creatures as due to their being male.

2. Niviaksiak - Polar Bear and Cub in Ice, 1959.
Stencil, 23.8 x 48.5 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue 1959, No. SS-12.
The open channel in the ice where the bear and her cub are swimming resembles the graceful form of this animal's undulating motion in the water.

3. Victoria Mumngshoaluk/Ruby Arngna'naaq - Keeveeok’s Journey, 1969.
Stencil, 25.0 x 57.7 cm. Baker Lake print catalogue, 1970, No. 1.
The fabulous adventures of Keeveeok form a lengthy Inuit legend. Ruby Arngna'naaq, having admired the shaded edge created by a coffee stain on print paper, used suffused colour to imitate the effect in developing this stencil print from a delicate line-drawing.

4. Kenojuak/Lukta - The Arrival of the Sun, 1962.
Stonecut, 47.0 x 59.5 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue 1962, No. 69.
Daylight hours are few on southern Baffin Island in midwinter. The return of longer, sunny days heralds the arrival ot spring. Kenojuak was one of the first women to begin making drawings for the print programme. She repeated the drawing for this print several times during the filming of Kenojuak in 1961. (Terrence Ryan, data sheet, Mar. 1977). The film also features the cutting and printing of this work, and gives a vivid impression of the life style of the period, when most of the people lived out on the land.

5. Myra Kukiiyaut/Irene Taviniq - Dancing Birds, 1976.
Stencil, 40.3 x 52.5 cm. Baker Lake print catalogue, 1976, No. 13.
The stencil technique is especially suitable for Kukiiyaut's delicate floating forms.

6. Luke Anguhadluq/William Noah - Hunting Caribou from Kayaks, 1976.
Stonecut and stencil, 95.5 x 59.0 cm. Baker Lake print catalogue 1976, No. 23.
In the autumn, the Inuit camped near the usual crossing places of the migrating caribou herds, hunting the animals from kayaks as they swam across the rivers. Anguhadluq shows from three distinct viewpoints the conical tents at the water’s edge, the hunters setting out in kayaks, and the caribou. Composed of four stonecuts and several stencils, both splattered and brushed, the print is of such technical complexity that an edition of only nineteen was pulled.

7. Kavavoa/Eliyah - Two Men Discussing Coming Hunt, 1961.
Stencil, 34.2 x 48.5 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue 1961, No. 44.
This humorous depiction of men engaged in animated conversation apparently gives a graphic description of their thoughts. The print was taken from one of Kavavoa’s very few drawings.

8. Lucy/Ottochie - Spirit Boat, 1972.
Stonecut, 29.5 x 41.0 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue 1972, No. 2.
This is an especially humorous example of Lucy's comical birds. Note the bird image on the flag.

9. Agnes Nanogak/Harry Egutak - Dream’s Song, 1968.
Stonecut, 40.5 x 50.5 cm. Holman print catalogue, 1968, No. 27.
The inscribed text states, "A woman dreaming of birds and a skin drum. A woman’s dream." Note the western Arctic use of the Roman alphabet rather than Inuktitut syllabics, as in the central and eastern areas.

10. Pudlo/Eegyvudluk Pootoogook - Winter Angel, 1969.
Stonecut, 41 x 57.7 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue, 1969, No. 54.

11. Pudlo/Eegyvudluk Pootoogook - Man Carrying Reluctant Wife, 1961.
Stencil, 42.5 x 35.8 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue, 1961, No. 16.
James A. Houston (1967) and Diamond Jenness (1923) both report that it was considered good manners for a girl to show some reluctance in leaving her family to be married.

12. Pudlo/Lukta - Spirit with Symbols, 1961.
Stonecut, 43.0 x 37.2 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue 1961, No. 49.
Pudlo has used the form of a woman wearing the traditional amauti (woman’s parka) to create a strange image resembling a keyhole plate. The objects in her hands are subject to varying interpretations, and could represent a key and door handle.

13. Ikayukta/Kavavoa - Angakuk’s Tent, 1975.
Stonecut, 48.5 x 18.8 cm. Cape Dorset print catalogue, 1975, No. 6.
The angakuk, or shaman, believed to have supernatural powers, was a powerful figure in Inuit life. The sealskin tents are identified as extraordinary dwellings by the bird-spirit heads emerging from top and front.

François-Louis Schmied (Geneva, 1873 - 1941) - Myths and Visions

2011-02-15T03:28:00.001-08:00

1. Woodcut illustration for the "Odyssey" - The two Eagles of the Omen, 1930-1933.

2. Woodcut illustration for the "Odyssey" - The Cliff of Gortyn, 1930-1933.

3. Woodcut illustration for the "Odyssey" - The Cyclops, 1930-1933.

4. Woodcut illustration for "The Creation", 1928.

5. Woodcut illustration for the "French Ballads" by Paul Fort, 1927.

6. Woodcut illustration for "Daphné" by A. de Vigny, 1927.

7. Woodcut frontispiece of "Le Paradis Musulman" (Muslim Paradise) by J.C. Mardrus, 1930.

8. Woodcut illustration for "Le Paradis Musulman" (Muslim Paradise) by J.C. Mardrus, 1930.

9. Woodcut illustration for "Le livre de la Vérité de Parole" (The book of The Truth of Speech) by J. C Mardrus, 1929.

10. Woodcut illustration for "Le livre de la Vérité de Parole" (The book of The Truth of Speech) by J. C Mardrus, 1929.

Sacred Mountains

2011-02-05T06:14:00.001-08:00

1. Juan Rulfo - Paricutin volcano and the church of Parangaricutiro buried by the lava, Mexico, 1945-46.

2. Tadashi Namba - Mount Hiei, Japan, 1986.

3. Fred Boissonnas - second ascent of Mount Olympus, Greece, 1919.

4. Louise Weiss found - Huangshan, China, circa 1950.

5. Eric Dessert - Vardzia monastery, Dzavakhétie, Georgia, 1998.

6. Gotthard Schuh - Gunung Agung, Bali, Indonesia, 1938-1939.

7. Bernard Plossu - Taos Mountain, New Mexico, United States, 1978.

8. Theodore Vogel - Sajama, Bolivia, 2000.

9. Chihiro Minato - Uluru. Central Desert. Australia, 1997.

10. Andrew Martin - Borgo di Trapetto near Cammarata, Sicily, Italy, 1958.

11. Ferrante Ferranti - Canigou view from Albères, Oriental Pyrenees, France, 1989.

12. Kenro Izu - Mount Kailash, Tibet, 2000.

Piano destruction

2011-01-23T02:28:00.001-08:00

Wiener Gruppe - 2nd Literary Cabaret - 15. 4. 1959 Porrhaus, Vienna.
Friedrich Achleitner, Konrad Bayer, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener.

the evening (of 15th april, 1959) began as promisingly as the first one. as soon as the first spectator entered the auditorium we started to play the tape recording of an oil—extraction plant transmitted by loudspeaker, which we kept going for about three quarters of an hour till the beginning of the performance proper. this created a technical atmosphere and made for nervousness in the crowded audience (there were about 700 people).
then the "first number": the curtain rose, the ensemble was sitting on chairs in three rows, facing the audience and looking at it with great interest. the stage was dark, the auditorium lighted. We behaved like ordinary theatre-goers. one of us was late and tiptoed to his seat. we pointed a finger at individual spectators in the audience, gawking through our operaglasses, whispering. after some five minutes occasional bursts of laughter rose from the audience, which we interpreted as an important turn in the play we were watching; so we started to applaud just when the audience had started to do so as well, calling for the occasional encore. the atmosphere was great.
a grand piano was pushed onto the stage, and i started to sing a chanson in viennese dialect, "bye-bye, old toad", playing the piano in order to show that it was in perfect shape. konrad entered and read me some lines from a book on indian brothels. i rose and countered with "l’étre et le néant" ("why — what do you have on page 73’?"). in the background of the auditorium achi started his motor-scooter, driving, with rühm on the pillion, through the centre aisle toward the stage. both jumped off, opened suitcases they had brought along, put on fencing masks, and smashed the piano with hatchets. a penniless music student in the audience burst into a fit of crying, as so far she had been unable to afford such a piano. we liked this very much.
we soothed the audience with a set of chansons and another dialect play by rühm, "vowelists", which, however, was performed in an unusual way: it was rehearsed and produced for the first time under rühm’s direction, for later performance somewhere else. then followed a chanson which rühm had specially written for achleitner and schuppan; both, however, could not produce a single correct note so that the chanson was turned into a one-note tune, which they finally managed to sing more or less correctly.

The Mithraeum at Marino

2011-01-17T08:08:00.000-08:00

Mithras and the bull, fresco from Temple of Mithras, Marino, Italy, dated 2-nd AD.

1. The sanctuary's bottom with the bull's killing picture and an altar at the center which makes know the dedicator's name, Crescens, manager of M. Alfius Severus.

2. Mithras killing the bull.

3. The dog and the snake rush upon the wound to avoid that the blood goes down.

4. God Sun from whom some rays depart, striking the god Mithras.

5. The giant struck by Jupiter.

6. Personification of the Moon.

7. Oceanus lying down.

8. Mithras' birth from the rock

9. Mithras taming the bull.

10. Mithras carries the bull in the cavern.

11. Pact of alliance between Mithras and the Sun.

12. Kneeled Sun struck by the god Mithras.

13. Mithras throws the arrow on a rock from which the water gushes.

Photos by Carlo Pavia.

Carved wood birds (Dogon granary door locks)

2011-01-10T22:57:00.001-08:00

Anselm Kiefer - Flying Sands

2011-01-02T23:31:00.001-08:00

1, 2, 3. Nineveh (Ninife) - Book. Sand, photographs mounted on cardboard. 1997.

4, 5, 6, 7. Isaiah (Jesaia) - Book. Sand, collage and acrylic on cardboard. 1999.

8, 9, 10. Lilith's Daughters (Liliths Töchter) - Book. Clothes covered with sand, photographs mounted on cardboard. 1998.

Design and build with Nature

2010-12-12T01:57:00.001-08:00

1. Egyptian boat builders use natural bend of trees to cut boat beams, using log's grain for maximum strength.

2. A village built on top of waterfalls. Slunjcice, Croatia.

3. Burma, building a temporary theater using bamboo.

4. Wagon, Cambodia.

5. J. C. Cram sod house, Loup Country, Nebr., 1886.

6. Carpathian mountain house.

7. Limetree cottage, East Hagborn, Berkshire.

8. Ivy Dome. This concrete dome, covered with ivy and blending beautifully with surrounding land was built by Burton and Katherine Wilson and designed by John Watson.

9. Traditional style one room house of Highland Mayan of Chiapas.

10. Bob Lander built a log-frame dome covered with shakes on an island in British Columbia.

11. Samoan Chief's House.

12. Berber tents at tribal gathering "Fantasia" in Moroccan mid-plains area.

13. Banani, a cliff-debris village of the Dogon people of Timbuktu.

14. Looking down on Banani.

15. Caves at Massafra.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) - Mountains and Water: the Image of Permanence.

2010-11-13T02:09:00.000-08:00

1. Mount Fuji seen from the Miho beach.

2. Mount Fuji seen from the Mountains.

3. Mount Fuji seen from the Mishima Pass in Kai Province.

4. Rocks, Cliffs and Caves.

5. Rocks, Cliffs and Caves.

6. The Eddies of Naruto Off the Awaji island.

7. Waves and Cannon Shots.

8. Waterfalls.

9. Waterfalls.

Black Gods - photographs by Daniel Lainé

2010-11-04T00:23:00.001-07:00

1. Initiated on a bed of leaves during the journey to the land of the dead to meet the Bwiti ancestors - Libreville region, Gabon.

2. The Sorceress - Lagos, Nigeria.

3. Hogon, the priest of Lébé - Bandiagara, Mali.

4. Baluba boy with pearls (each pearl representing a member of his family) - Democratic Republic of Congo.

5. Griot playing balafon - Gambia.

6. The Eze Izombe (The priest that sees the spirit of the dead) - Amakpu, Imo, Nigeria.

7. A masked healer - Ivory Coast.

8. Gadget of the voodoo ritual - Togo.

9. This woman must not leave the rope that binds her to the gods, to not reveal the secrets that protect the voodoo - Kumasi, Ghana.

10. The child sorcerer of Kinshasa - Democratic Republic of Congo.

11. Bwiti adept. He can talk with deads by eating the sacred plant called "Iboga". - Gabon.

12. Woman possessed by Legba, the protector of villages and roads - Lomé, Togo.

Seascapes - Photos by Gustave Le Gray

2010-10-24T01:17:00.001-07:00

1. The Great Wave (Sète), 1857.

2. Mediterranean Sea (Sète), 1857.

3. Brick in the Moonlight, 1856.

4. Two Ships Heading Away from Shore (Le Havre?), ca. 1856 - 1857.

5. The Steamship, ca. 1856 - 1859.

6. The Ship Leave the Port, ca. 1856 - 1857.

7. Large Wave, Mediterranean Sea, 1857.

8. The Effect of the Sun (Le Soleil Couronné) - Normandy, 1856.

9. The Sun at its Zenith, Ocean - Normandy, 1856.

10. Packet boat, Ocean, 1856.

Sleep

2010-10-14T02:50:00.001-07:00

1. Effigy of Richard I from his tomb in Fontevrault Abbey.

2. The tomb of Henry II in Fontevrault Abbey.

3. Effigy from the tomb of the Black Prince in the Trinity Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral.

4. Gilded bronze tomb effigy of Queen Eleanor by William Torel, in Westminster Abbey.

5. Effigy of King John in Worcester Cathedral.

6. Bronze gilded effigy of Henry III by William Torel, in the chapel of St Edward the Confessor, Westminster Abbey.

7. The tomb of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York by Pietro Torrigiano in the Henry VII Chapel, Westminster Abbey; completed c. 1518.

Arctic Landscapes. Lithographs by Rojan.

2010-10-04T04:05:00.001-07:00

Hope of Resurrection for our Doomed Earth - John Olsen works

2010-09-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

1. Hope of Resurrection for our Doomed Earth. III - Assemblage. 1986-87.

2, 3. From Iceland - Photographs.

4. Calligraphy of Mortality - Assemblage of gull mummies (the dead birds were found along the beach). detail, photographic negatives. 1995.

5. Calligraphy of Mortality - Assemblage of gull mummies. detail. 1995.

6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Drawings - charcoal, chalk and sweat on paper. 1995.

11. Source - Woodcut. 1992.

12. Resonance - Painted abachi wood. 1994-95.

The Tuareg of the Hoggar

2010-09-04T09:53:00.001-07:00

1. The tent is always assembled by women, mainly servants. They dig holes in the ground for the stake, then tamp the sand around it. When the stake is in place, the skin is attached by a lace.

2. Targui of Kel Rela. Arrangement of the veil. Here the top covers the bottom, but there is also a contrary fashion, although quite rare.

3. A Berber man of Dag Rali tribe.

4. Girl of Kel Ahnet wearing multiple braids hairstyle. On her chest talismans of Quranic inspiration.

5. The inside of a tent. The bags are hung on uprights. The young children play on the floor where a thick layer of fine sand was placed.

6. Old noble woman of the tribe of Kel Real weaving a bag with yarns of goat hair.

7. Hunting with dogs is common among Tuaregs. For this purpose, they employ a North African breed of dog similar to the arab greyhound, called Sloughi. The photograph shows a hunter of éklan caste holding a couple of dogs on a leash and getting ready to track down mouflons.

8. In addition to hunting with dogs, Tuaregs practice trapping. Here we see the placement of a radial trap and the securing of the lasso on a large tree branch stuck in the ground and hidden by a layer of sand.

9. Stone Circle of ancient origin which is supposed to refer to a solar cult. Photograph taken near Mount Serkout.

10. Types of headgear worn by men. The hair is braided and pulled back. The veil passes around the forehead, leaving the top uncovered.

11. A Targui man of Kel Ohet tribe.

12. Young Tuareg noblewoman brushing her teeth with a rod. Behind the straw mat around the tent, called "asaber".

13. Young Tuareg couple sitting at the entrance of the asaber. Behind, a household servant "Taklit" of Sudanese origin.

14. Women of the Kel Ahaggar, particularly those of imrad, often travel by donkey. One of them is meeting two friends with whom she exchanges news.

15. Tuareg girl playing on the sand with small rag dolls dressed as warriors.

16. Tent of Aménokal, the supreme leader of the confederation of the Kel Ahaggar. It includes 8 internal stakes, and the covering is made of 60 skins sewn together. The isolated stakes in the foreground are used to keep the "asaber" at night.

Horse Coat Patterns

2010-08-22T00:29:00.001-07:00

1. Burnt roan
2. Dapple-grey
3. Grey slate
4. Buchskin
5. Grey lupine
6. Muscat roan
7. Speckled gray
8. Dirty grey
9. Red roan
10. Dark roan
11. Dark sorrel
12. Golden brown
13. Iron grey
14. Black dun

Bill Viola - Selected Works

2010-08-11T05:34:00.001-07:00

1, 2. The Sleep of Reason - Installation view with the artist, 1988.
On a wooden chest in a large empty room, a black and white monitor shows a close-up view of a person sleeping. His night sounds are softly heard. A vase with white roses, a small lamp, and a digital clock are also on the chest tabletop. The floor of the room is carpeted and the space illuminated. Suddenly, the lights cut out and the room is plunged into total darkness. Large color moving images are seen covering three of the walls and a loud disturbing sound of moaning and roaring fills the space. Just as suddenly, the lights come back on and the room returns to normal. It is as if a momentary glimpse to another, parallel world has appeared, the dark underside of a familiar well-lit environment. The blackouts occur at random periods, behaving like unpredictable "image seizures" from some incurable schizophrenic affliction of the room. Lasting only seconds, they can occur from several seconds to several minutes apart, impossible to anticipate. The three projections of imagery on the walls are from a single videotape. Images include fires burning out of control throughcity buildings, fierce attack dogs spotlit and lunging at the camera, wild movement through a forest at night, moving X-rays of human beings and animals, and a provoked owl flying into the camera lens.

3, 4. I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like, 1986.
"I Do Not Know What It Is I Am Like" is a personal investigation of the inner states and connections to animal consciousness we all carry within. The work is in five parts and functions like a map rather than a description of the animal psyche. Images of animals mediate a progression from an initial stage of non—differentiation (pure being), proceeding through stages of the rational and the physical orders, finally arriving at a state beyond logic and the laws of physics.

5. He Weeps for You, 1976.
In a large, darkened space, a copper pipe runs down from the ceiling, terminating in a small valve from which a single drop of water is slowly emerging. A color video camera, fitted with a special lens and a bellows attachment used for extreme close—up magnification, is focused on this drop. The camera is connected to a video projector that displays the swelling drop of water on a large screen at the rear of the space. The optical properties of the water drop cause it to act like a fish-eye lens, revealing an image of a room and those within it. The drop grows in size gradually, swelling in surface tension, until it fills the screen. Suddenly it falls out of the picture and a loud, resonant "boom" is heard as it lands on an amplified drum. Then, in an endless cycle of repetition, a new drop begins to emerge and again fill the screen. The piece makes reference to the traditional philosophy or belief that everything on the higher order of existence reflects, and is contained in, the manifestation and operation of the lower orders. This idea has been expressed in ancient religious terms as the symbolic correspondence of the mundane (the earth) and the divine (the heavens), and is also represented in theories of contemporary physics which describe how each particle of matter in space contains knowledge of or information about the entire system.

6. The Passing, 1991.
This work is a personal response to the spiritual extremes of a birth and death in the family. Utilizing black and white nocturnal imagery and underwater scenes, it depicts a twilight world on the borders of human perception and consciousness, where the multiple lives of the mind (memory, reality and fantasy) merge.

7. Room for St. John of the Cross, 1983.
A small black cubicle (180 >< 150 >< 170 cm) stands in the center of a large dark room. There is a small open window in the front face of the cubicle where a soft glow of incandescent light emerges. Behind the cubicle on the back wall of the space, a large screen shows a projected black and white video image of snow-covered mountains. Shot with an unstable hand-held camera, the mountainsmove in wild, jittery patterns. Aloud roaring sound of wind and white noise saturate the room from two loudspeakers. The interior of the cubicle is inaccessible and can be viewed only through the window. The inner walls are white. The floor is covered with brown dirt. There is a small wooden table in the corner with a metal water pitcher, a glass of water, and a 4-inch color monitor. On the monitor is a color image of a snow-covered mountain. Shot with a fixed camera, it is presented in real time with no editing. The only visible movement is caused by an occasional wind blowing through the trees and bushes. From within the cubicle, the sound of a voice softly reciting St. John's poems in Spanish is barely audible above the roaring of the wind in the room. The Spanish poet and mystic St. John of the Cross (1542-91) was kept prisoner by the religious establishment for nine months in 1577. His cell had no windows and he was unable to stand upright. He was frequently tortured. During this period St. John wrote most of the poems for which he is known. His poems often speak of love, ecstasy, passage through the dark night, and flying overcity walls and mountains.

8. The Theater of Memory, 1985.
A large tree with roots exposed and bare branches leans diagonally across the room from the floor at the entrance to the far corner at the ceiling. Fifty small lanterns are hung on its branches. Up on the rear wall is a large video—projected image. The picture is dominated by electronic noise and static patterns. Recognizable images are seen trying to break through, but they never come in clearly. Bursts of static and noise come through the speakers, as if a loud clear sound were about to come on, but never does. There are long silences between the bursts of noise. The only light in the room comes from the flickering lanterns and the violent flashing of the video image. The only continuous sound in the room is that of a small wind chime on the tree being blown by a tiny fan concealed in the tree branches. I remember reading about the brain and the central nervous system, trying to understand what causes the triggering of nerve firings that recreate patterns of past sensations, finally evoking a memory. I came across the fact that all of the neurons in the brain are physically disconnected from each other, and begin and end in a tiny gap of empty space. The flickering pattern evoked by the tiny sparks of thought bridging these gaps becomes the actual form and substance of our ideas. All our thoughts have at their center this small point of nothingness.

Texts by Bill Viola.
Photos: Kira Perov.

I found a large tortoise, I made an umbrella.

2010-07-30T01:27:00.001-07:00

0. Cover

1. I took the kid in my arms

2. The goats all faced about upon the dog

3. The noise of the falling rock awaked me

4. I found a large tortoise, or turtle

5. I gathered a large number of grapes

6. After this I made every kind of earthenware

7. I made an umbrella

8. I dined like a king

9. The roof rose higher up

10. The ship stuck fast, jammed in between two rocks.

11. I plainly discovered a ship lying at anchor

12. He dreamed he bore a heavy load on his back

13. He sat lolling about in a great elbow chair

14. They sent three messengers to us

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Colour plates by A. E. Jackson

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy - Dynamic of the Metropolis (Sketch for a film also typophoto)

2010-07-24T01:42:00.001-07:00

Sketch of a manuscript for a film. Written in the year 1921/22.

Rebirth Sequence. Self-recognition of the Body.

2010-07-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

Laura Cohen - Self-portraits in front of a tarnished mirror - Mexico City, 1980.

Yves Klein's Cosmogonies

2010-07-14T04:54:00.001-07:00

1. Yves Klein, photo collage of the three fire fountains originally planned for the garden of the Museum Haus Lange, autumn 1960.

2. Klein behind the fire wall in the garden of the Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, January 14, 1961.

3. Fire Painting, Untitled (F 77), 1961 - Burnt cardboard on wood.

4. Fire Painting, Untitled (F 97), 1961 - Burnt cardboard on wood.

5. Yves Klein creating the fire painting "The Fire of Hell", Centre d'essai de Gaz de France, Saint-Denis, July 1961.

6. The Fire of Hell (FC 30), 1961 - Dry pigment in synthetic resin on burnt cardboard on wood.

7. Fire Painting, Untitled (F 24), 1961 - Burnt cardboard on wood.

8. Valeur or (MG 23), 1960 - Gold leaf on plywood.

9. Yves Klein creating cosmogonies on the banks of the River Loup, June 23, 1960.

10. Cosmogony of the Storm (COS 34), 1960 - Rain sprayed with dry pigment on paper on cardboard.

11. Cosmogony of the Rain (COS 30), 1960 - Rain sprayed with dry pigment on paper on cardboard.

12. Wind Paris-Nice (COS 10), 1960 - Dry pigment in synthetic resin on paper.

13. Wind of Voyage, Pink Cosmogony with Traces of Wind, Untitled (COS 25), C. 1961 - Dry pigment in synthetic resin on paper on fabric.

14. Ho Ho (RE 34), 1960 - Dry pigment in synthetic resin on sponge, stone and cardboard.

LAND - Ink sketches by Duilio Cambellotti

2010-07-07T23:09:00.000-07:00

Acts of Faith in Guatemala

2010-06-28T01:17:00.000-07:00

1. Ciudad Vieja de Guatemala. First Capital city. Founded by don Pedro de Alvarado in the Almolonga valley in the year 1527. It was destroyed by a flood. View of the cemetery with the Volcan de Fuego (Fire Volcano) in eruption. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

2, 3. Coban. Families usually spend the Day of Holy Deads in the cemetery. There they make a circle round the grave of their relatives and chat, eat and keep them company. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

4. Ciudad Vieja (Old City). "Gigantes" (giants) ready for a "convite" (invitation) a danced procession that takes place a day before the religious procession. (photo by Sara Facio)

5. San Andrés Itzapa. In this town San Simon is revered. This character has been considered an "evil image" in Catholicism as he is "Judas Iscariote". The natives adopted him, for in their cults they also used to make offerings to the "evil gods" to calm their anger. San Simon is an idol who takes the name "Maximon" in other towns. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

6. Facsimile of the prayer to San Simon handed out at the entrance door to worshippers who go into the Temple.

7. San Andrés Iztapa. San Simon Temple. Detail of votive offerings. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

8. Santiago Atitlan. Interior view of the Municipality and funeral wake of Maximon. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

9. San Jorge Atitlan. Brotherhood members. (photo by Sara Facio)

10. Santa Maria Chiquimula. Dance of the Conquest. The descendants of the Mayas do not forget the battle in wich their Prince was subdued by the Spaniards and they relive it in every important festivity. They maintain their traditions with fervour and insist in the belief that they will reign again. Masks and costumes are real works of art. (photo by Sara Facio)

11. Santiago Atitlan. The Maximon is taken from his house. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

12. Antigua Guatemala. Worshippers dressed as Nazarenes walk before the image of "Jesus del Perdon" (Jesus of Forgiveness) burning incense in the streets. (photo by Sara Facio)

13. San Jorge Atitlan. The Brotherhood members work for a year serving the Church and the community. They take turns in doing this; meanwhile the neighbours look after their crops. (photo by Sara Facio)

14. San Jorge Atitlan. Image of San Jorge during a procession preceded by musicians and worshippers. (photo by Maria Cristina Orive)

15. Chichicastenango. Marimba player. (photo by Sara Facio)

16. Chichicastenango. Local dwellers burn "pon" (vegetal incense) in the steps to the Church. The smoke rises to the sky taking the worshippers' prayers to the gods. (photos by Maria Cristina Orive and Sara Facio)

Arnulf Rainer - Hand and Fingerpaintings - 1981-1982

2010-06-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

1. Eitler Vogel (Vain Bird), 1981/82, oil on drawing-board, scratched.

2. Drei Handvoll Erdrutsch (Three Hands full of Earth), 1982, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

3. Verwunschener Rabe (Spellbound Craw), 1981/82, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

4. Schwarzer Acker (Black Field), 1981, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

5. Katalonien (Catalonia), 1981, oil on drawing-board, scratched.

6. Blitz - Baum (Lightning - Tree), 1982, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

7. Brauner Hang (Brown Cliff), 1982, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

8. Hand im Wald (A Hand in the Woods), 1982, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

9. Prometheus auf der Flucht (Prometheus in Flight), 1981/82, oil and crayon on drawing-board.

10. Gelber Himmelszug (Yellow Skytrain), 1982, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

11. Andromeda irrt (Andromeda errs), 1981/82, oil and oil crayon on drawing-board.

12. Schwarze Flügel (Black Wings), 1982, oil on drawing-board.

The Habab People from the lowlands of Eritrea. 1936.

2010-06-06T01:38:00.000-07:00

1. Group of Habab authorities.

2. Habab men, women and children ready to dance in a ceremony punctuated by the sound of coborò, a characteristic drum (visible in the foreground).

3. Habab dance ceremony during the Ramadan

4. Habab ceremony during the Ramadan, accompained by the sound of coborò.

5. Habab hairstyle

6. Sahel landscape

7. Habab family in search of pasture and water for their herds.

8. Camel drinking from the wells

9. Habab cameleer. The Habab cameleers dominated caravan activities in Semhar and Sahel, to the west and north of Massawa.

10. Beni-Amer cameleers.

11. Habab men

12 Damba, a territory rich of "Dum" palms from which "corozo", a vegetal ivory used to manufacture the so-called "buttons fruit", is obtained.

Paul Klee - Hand Puppets for Felix

2010-06-04T00:23:00.001-07:00

Between 1916 and 1925 Paul Klee made some 50 hand puppets for his son, Felix, of which 30 are still in existence. He used material from his home for the heads (beef bones, electrical outlets, bristle brushes, nutshells) and sewed costumes.

Birds in Islamic Art

2010-05-31T01:59:00.000-07:00

1. The Goldfinch and the Narcissus, signed Shafi Abbasi - Isphan, August 1653.

2. The bird on the branch, signed Shafi Abbasi - Isphan, September 1652.

3. The bird on the branch, signed Ashraf Khan (after Mohammad Yusuf), Iran, 1705.

4. Tile revetment with birds, Isphan second quarter of the seventeenth century.

5. The pigeon Bazande surprised by the storm - Hindustan, seventeenth century.

6. The bird on the rock, signed Moin Mossaver - Iran, June 1686.

7. Fragment of decorative band (wool and linen) - Egypt, the second half of the ninth century.

8. Medallion decorative (wool and linen) - Egypt, the second half of the ninth century.

9. Dish with lobed rim - Persia, XVII Century.

10. Calligram in the Shape of a Bird - Iran, seventeenth century.

Picturesque Gardens

2010-05-26T00:30:00.001-07:00

0. German Canivet, circa 1840-1850.

1. Robinson's Parasol, Parc de la Motte, Bourgogne, from Habitations Champetres, engraved by Becquet Brothers, c.1855.

2. Home & English Park, from Habitations Champetres by Victor Petit, Paris 1872.

3. The Désert de Retz (Forêt de Marly) - Forest entrance, in Le Rouge: Jardins anglo-chinois. 1776, Cahier XIII: le Désert, Jardin pittoresque appartenant a M. de Monville. The entrance to the "Jardin Pittoresque" was a grotto enshrouded with trees and decorated with two figures of satyrs, made of tin, clasping flaming torches.

4. Center of a labyrinth. Etching by Hieronymus Sperting.

5. Belvedere tree house - Maple Tree of Matibo in Sevigliano, Piedmont. Etching by F. Wiesener (published in Magasin Pittoresque, 1841).

6. Staircas tree, in L. E. Audot: Traité de la composition et de l'ornement des jardins. Paris 1859.

7.Artificial rock at the edge of a lake, topped by a windmill drives a pump that can lift water to great heights in L.E. Audot: Traité de la composition et de l'ornement des Jardins. Paris 1859.

8. Flower-beds in L.E. Audot: Traité de la composition et de l'ornement des Jardins. Paris 1859.

9. View of the Temple of Love at Malmaison. Lithograph by Langlumé, after Guerard.

Japan - Sarasa Shima textile patterns

2010-05-23T00:53:00.001-07:00

Clouds

2010-05-19T23:17:00.001-07:00

Michael Wutky (1739 - 1823) - Study of clouds.
Johan Christian Dahl (1788 - 1857) - Study of clouds.
Johan Christian Dahl (1788 - 1857) - Study of clouds.
Luke Howard (1772 - 1864) - Clouds and rain, 1803.
Alexander Cozens (1717 - 1786) - Engravings of various types of sky , 1784 - 1785.

Manufacture of pan flutes. 'Are'are people, Solomon Islands. Photos by Hugo Zemp.

2010-05-16T04:21:00.001-07:00

Richard Artschwager - Book III (Laokoon) - formica, metal and vinyl, 1981 / Destruction 3 and Destruction 4 - acrylic on celotex, 1972.

2010-05-12T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Baltoro glacier in Karakorum, expedition of the Duke of Spoleto, 1929 / Balti People, Italian Karakorum expedition, 1958.

2010-05-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

Latvia - Inta Ruka - My Country People.

2010-05-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Vilis Lesnieks, 1986.

Vera Auka (1890 - 1984), 1983.

Aleksandrs (Sanka) Auzins and Klara Vanaga, 1985.

Marija Murasova and Artis Zuss.

Cage - Logothetis - Simonetti

2010-04-29T00:18:00.000-07:00

John Cage - Variation III, 1992.
John Cage - New River Watercolour Series IV, No. 5, 1988.
Anestis Logothetis - Ichnologia, 1964.
Gianni-Emilio Simonetti - ANnalyse du vir.age, 1967.

Children playing

2010-04-21T00:31:00.001-07:00

The burning of Carnival - Val Degano, Carnia. Italy (60 years of XX century) photo by Nogaro.

Children playing in the street (extract from Uppercase 3, 1959) photos by Nigel Henderson.

Antoni Tàpies - "M de vernis" (1980) - "Taca-Paisatge" (1981)

2010-04-18T01:36:00.000-07:00

Marionetteatern Stockholm - Kung Ubu (Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi) directed by Michael Meschke. Stage design and puppets: Franciszka Themerson.

2010-04-14T01:13:00.001-07:00

Angkor Wat (between 1918 and 1921) - Dancers posing against the backdrop of Apsaras - Musicians (Sampho, Roneat and Kong players).

2010-04-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

Feng Jiannan - The Sturgeon

2010-04-08T03:42:00.001-07:00

Hand-painted Terracotta Whistles: Bird Water Whistle. Arpino, 1909 / Birds. Patro di Moncalvo, 1910 / Devil Riding a Goat. Este, 1907.

2010-04-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Earth, Fire, Water, Breath - National Museum of Popular Arts and Traditions, Rome - 1995. Images selected from the catalog published by "Edizioni De Luca".

Asger Jorn - Feast of the Living Fish (1956) / Stand It (1966)

2010-03-03T04:31:00.000-08:00

Three photos from the book "Sculptures d'Ocean" by Alain Mazeran-Hirigoyen, 1974.

2010-03-01T03:29:00.000-08:00

"Suddenly, Last Summer" directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1959).

2010-02-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

Brigitte Helm (Queen Antinea) in a scene from Mistress of Atlantis directed by G.W. Pabst (Germany, 1932).

2010-02-26T01:51:00.000-08:00

Henri Michaux. Mescaline Drawing (ca. 1956-58) - Mexican ( ca. 1961) - Movement ( ca. 1950-51) - Movements (1951).

2010-02-23T00:12:00.000-08:00

Henri Michaux, Emerging Figures - The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo - 2007.

W.J.Bird - group of six spindle tools to calibrate the organ pipes (XIX century) - Photo by Adriano Brusaferri.

2010-02-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

Paul Broca - Eye and Skin color charts.

2010-02-20T00:49:00.000-08:00

Paul Broca - Instructions générales pour les récherches anthropologiques à faire sur le vivant - Paris, Masson, 1879.

Lavas, marbles and other stones from Vesuvius which were polished.

2010-02-17T02:08:00.000-08:00

Sir William Hamilton - Campi Flegrei. Observations on the volcanoes of the two Sicilies as they have been communicated to the Royal Society of London, Naples 1776.

Group of animals assembled to imitate a rock carved by the sea. Ivory - Japan, end of XIX century.

2010-02-14T23:42:00.001-08:00

Chumy Chumez - two pages from the book "Una Biografia", 1974.

2010-02-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

Germano Olivotto - Substitutions 10/7, 1969. Substitutions 10/12, 1970.

2010-02-08T01:12:00.001-08:00

Japan - Figure in grass costume on farm, circa 1880 - Sherman Thackara Collection.

2010-02-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

Dogon Country, Sanga. Reading the Table of Divination at Sunrise (2002) - Photo by Agnes Pataux.

2010-01-31T04:30:00.001-08:00

Adolf Schudel - Toads pond with the full moon, 1907. / The pasture of horses, 1907-08. Prinzhorn Collection.

2010-01-28T01:23:00.000-08:00

Manassé Foto-Salon - Portrait of the Actress Inge Borg with Masks - ferrotyped gelatin silver print, 23 x 18 cm, circa 1928.

2010-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Cornelis Snellinck (Antwerp? 1605 - 1669 Rotterdam) - The Magi following the Star to Bethlehem - Panel, 34 x 28 cm.

2010-01-18T01:06:00.001-08:00

Two photos by Robert Bourdeau.

2010-01-13T09:39:00.000-08:00

Queen's Head Rock in Yehliu GeoPark, Northeast Coast of Taiwan.

2010-01-10T01:41:00.000-08:00

Passion week in San Fratello, Sicily. Photos by Ferdinando Scianna.

2010-01-06T02:02:00.001-08:00

Laiyi Township, Pingtung County, the ancient village of the Paiwan tribe elders. October 13, 2007. Paiwan elders singing nursery rhyme "Jie Ga Jie Ga"

2010-01-04T09:20:00.001-08:00

http://content.ndap.org.tw/

Karel Teissing - The Birth of a Sorcerer and Colonization of the Sky, 1972. Two illustrations from the book "Trésor Légendaire des Pays Lointains".

2009-12-27T00:47:00.000-08:00

Common Houseleek - Common Ficus grafting branches - Black Locust - Cobra Lily - Scots Pine Forest - An isolated French Tamarisk at the edge of the sea

2009-12-22T04:23:00.000-08:00

Colecao Botanica

Sigmar Polke - No Title, 1983.

2009-12-17T10:30:00.000-08:00

Gerhard Rühm - Flying and Swimming (1964)

2009-12-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

Kozo Miyoshi - Flap, 1979.

2009-12-09T08:22:00.000-08:00

Alfred Stevens - The Milky Way, c. 1885-1886. Oil on canvas, 68x53 cm.

2009-12-03T08:38:00.001-08:00

Mushroom Farm in Lishui city, Zhejiang, China and Li-Sun Mushroom Farm in Mittagong, New South Wales, Australia.

2009-11-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

Tunnel Mushrooms - Photo: Marina Neil

Henri Michaux - No Title, 1937-38. Gouache, 31x25 cm.

2009-11-24T08:19:00.001-08:00

Indonesia. Anusapati - Tok-tok-tok buka pintu hatimu, 1993. 30x40x120

2009-11-22T23:06:00.000-08:00

Scarab beetles: Allomyrina dichotoma tunobosonis, Cheirotonus macleayi formosanas, Anomala albopilosa trachypyga and Euselates tonkinensis

2009-11-20T09:34:00.001-08:00

http://www.imdap.entomol.ntu.edu.tw/

Mt. Fuji observed by the Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping (PRISM) onboard the Advanced Land Observing Satellite "Daichi"

2009-11-17T08:30:00.000-08:00