The Story Of A Painting That Fought Fascism

image credit

On 26 April 1937, Nazi German and Italian bombers attacked the Basque city of Guernica. Over the course of three hours, they destroyed three-quarters of the ancient town, killing and wounding hundreds.

The raid was 'unparalleled in military history,' according to reports at the time- and it inspired one of the most famous anti-war paintings in history.

Vases Constructed From Hundreds Of Pencils

image credit Vimeo)

Amalgamated is a new series of vessels by studio markunpoika constructed from assembled pencils. Taking advantage of the pencil's unique hexagon shape, the pencils are first tightly glued together at each facet to form a solid block. The final pieces are then carved on a machine lathe to reveal the insides of each pencil.

100-Year-Old Dutch Movement Shaped Web Design Today

image credit

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of a Dutch art movement that has had a worldwide impact: De Stijl. Right up to the present day, De Stijl has influenced art, architecture, and product design. But the impact of De Stijl is particularly apparent in contemporary design - more specifically, in digital design.

In 1917, Dutch painter Theo van Doesburg founded the magazine De Stijl. Even though the magazine never sold more than 300 copies, its impact on the art movement within the Netherlands was considerable. Their approach was to achieve maximum simplicity and abstraction in painting, product design, and architecture.

10 Secrets Of The Louvre

image credit

For many people all over the world, a visit to the Louvre is a major bucket list item during a trip to Paris. The most-visited museum in the world is also one of the largest and one of the richest in artistic treasures.

The museum employs 2,290 staff members, including 65 curators and 145 conservationists.
The Louvre even has its own squad of 48 firefighters on call 24 hours a day.

19 Stunning Staircases Transformed By Artists Around The World

image credit: Steve Boland

Street art is best known as murals that cover entire walls - and sometimes even the buildings themselves. When painted, public stair art is a stunning and unexpected canvas for portraits, geometric patterns, and intricate mosaics. Here are 18 of the most stunning steps from around the world.

Picasso's Self-Portraits From 15 Years Old To 90 Year Old

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. He is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of assemblage, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.

Picasso was exceptionally prolific throughout his lifetime. The total number of artworks he produced has been estimated at 50,000. Of those thousands of paintings were a number of self-portraits through the years that often reflected the various periods of his artistic career.

15 Interesting Facts About 'American Gothic' You Might Not Know

image credit

No American artwork has been parodied more than Grant Wood's American Gothic. The story behind the painting is that he was driving around the town of Eldon Iowa and saw an old farmhouse that had a fancy window in it, and he thought it was a bit silly to have a fancy window on such a plain house. So he paid his sister and his dentist to pose as a farmer and his daughter.

While this deceptively simple portrait has clearly captured the imagination of the nation, the story behind its creation and rise to fame makes it all the more compelling.

The Gibbs Farm: A Wonderland Of Sculptures

image credit

Gibbs Farm is an open-air sculpture park located in Kaipara Harbour, north of Auckland, New Zealand. It contains the largest collection of large-scale outdoor sculptures in New Zealand.

It is the private art collection of New Zealand businessman Alan Gibbs, however, it is open to the public on select days throughout the year, usually once per month, on a bookings-essential basis.

16th-Century Miniature Boxwood Carvings

image credit

Only 135 of these tiny carvings are known to exist and all of them are dated to a very short time frame, between 1500 and 1530 either in Flanders or the Netherlands. Yet during that time wood artists have created some of the most incredible miniatures ever, the making of which still puzzles the researchers untill this day.

Micro-CT scans and advanced 3D Analysis Software helped to uncover just how detailed these tiny altars are. The inner layers are pieced together, hiding the joints so well, that only a microscope or an X-ray can detect them.

15 Beautiful Bonsai Forests

image credit: Bart

Bonsai is a Japanese art form using trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years.

All around the world you will find Bonsai enthusiasts and gardens and museums dedicated to the traditional art form. Here you will find 15 beautiful examples of Bonsai forests.

A Collection Of Art Nouveau Doors From Around The World

image credit: Steve Cadman

Art Nouveau is an international style of art and architecture that was most popular between 1890 and 1910. It was inspired by natural forms and structures, particularly the curved lines of plants and flowers. Here's a selection of the most gorgeous Art Nouveau doors that reflect the subtle elegance of this style.

Albrecht Dürer's The Rhinoceros: The Most Influential Animal Picture Ever?

image credit

Albrecht Dürer had a showman's instincts for killer subject matter. When history's greatest print-maker decided to create an image of the rhinoceros that had visited Lisbon in 1515, it became one of the most influential animal pictures ever.

Fairy Doors Of Ann Arbor

image credit

Fairies have invaded the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan. That's what long-time resident Jonathan B. Wright, a graphic designer, wants you to believe. It all started in 1993 when Jonathan Wright was renovating their 100-year-old family home, and on a whim, decided to install a tiny door in the house to entertain his kids.

The door opened into a tiny room with an equally tiny staircase and railing leading up to a second door. The children's delighted response prompted him to build more.

10 Amazing Artistic Works Lost To History

image credit

Throughout history, the written word has been preserved on walls, scrolls, tablets, and anything else that might be etched or painted. While many great works have survived, far more have been lost throughout history. As historians piece together what we have, what we have lost becomes clearer.

Where Rococo Meets Space Age: Treasure Hunting At Italy's Premier Antiques Fair

While most people haven't heard of Mercanteinfiera, Italy's biggest antiques fair, aspirational designers and tony antiques dealers certainly have. The sprawling pavilions are filled with visual treats, often museum-quality.

Apothecary jars, Sicilian folk-art horse carts, Vatican pottery, a reliquary holding supposed pieces of Christ's cross, statues salvaged from old palaces, toy theaters from Victorian England, and a talking French doll from 1895, just to name a few.

(thanks Lisa)

Las Pozas: Surreal Concrete Sculpture Garden In The Jungle Of Mexico

image credit

Stairs spiral up to the sky in strange configurations, going nowhere, in a tangle of surrealist sculptural structures in a Mexican jungle. Why is this series of concrete wonders hidden within the lush vegetation of Xilitlha, and who put it there?

The answer lies within the mind of Edward James, a 20th century art collector described. Built more than 2,000 feet above sea level, Las Pozas was named for the natural pools and waterfalls that characterize the site.

9 Amazing Statues You Can Only See Underwater

image credit

The vast oceans contain many natural wonders, but they are also home to some astounding additions made by humans. Across the world statues have been sunk into the oceans for a variety of reasons - as memorials, to offer protection to a fragile marine environment, or simply as art.

Colored with algae and populated by coral, some of the statues have become tourist destinations in their own right.

How The Mona Lisa Became So Overrated

image credit

Why did the Mona Lisa become the most famous painting in the world while other pieces fail to excite the world's coffee mug makers? Her fame can seem as enigmatic as her legendary smile. But there is a logical case for just how Mona became... Mona. And the story involves one surprisingly influential critic and a theft.

(via Nag on the Lake)

The Seven Noses Of Soho

image credit: John O'Shea

Attached to the walls of various buildings around the Soho neighborhood, in one of the inner boroughs of London, are several plaster casts of human noses of various sizes. The noses were set up by artist Rick Buckley in 1997 as a form of protest against the rising use of surveillance cameras across the streets of London.

Rick Buckley decided to install plaster of Paris and polymer casts of his own nose at various structures across London, right under the noses of 'the liberty threatening CCTV Cameras.'

The Real Bob Ross: The Meticulous Artist Behind Those Happy Trees

image credit YouTube

Bob Ross (1942-1995) was an American painter, art instructor, and television host. He was best known as the creator and host of The Joy of Painting, an instructional television program that aired from 1983 to 1994 on PBS in the United States, and also aired in Canada, Latin America and Europe.