The
SEVEN WONDERS of the ANCIENT WORLD
~ An educational
multi-media presentation in word paintings, music, and pictures...
featuring Contemporary scientific &
historical illustrations with word paintings by
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THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
An educational multi-media presentation in word paintings,
music, and pictures...
About two
centuries before the time of Christ, a man named Antipater of Sidon wrote atravel guide
to the Mediterranean world in which he listed the seven greatest and most wonderful pieces
of art and architecture of his time. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the
name conferred on a group of ancient works of art which had obtained pre- eminence among
the sight- seers of the Alexandrian epoch and later as awe inspiring in size or splendor.
This earliest extant list, was doubtless compiled from the numerous guide books common in
the Ancient Greek world. It was followed by Philo of Byzantium with his own slightly
divergent list of seven wonders. Of the original seven wonders, only one site has
survived to this day - the Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza. Until recently only a few
sketches, coins, and written descriptions survived. Working with the latest
archeological information, eminent scientific and historical illustrator Howard David
Johnson has reconstructed all Seven Wonders to give us a glimpse of a lost world washed
away by the tides of time...
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Semiramis at Babylon were built by Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest character of
Babylonian history to please his wife who had disliked the bareness of her new home.
It is certain that he was a great builder; he restored many temples, put up bridges, and
lined rivers with embankments. The walls he built around the city of Babylon were the
longest, widest, and highest in the ancient world and added by Philo in his list of Seven
Wonders.
The Hanging Gardens were a series of terraces rising along the Euphates river
bank in five tiers of 50 feet each above the next and connected by marble stairways. Each
tier was planted with a profusion of fabulous trees, shrubs, and flowers. The gardens were
watered by fountains fed through pipes from cisterns in the topmost terrace.
Nebuchadnezzar had history's most celebrated gardens developed as an adjunct to his palace;
but the Greeks ascribed them to Semiramis; a legendary queen of Babylon, daughter of the
goddess Derceto.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were dedicated to the
planet Venus
The Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was a gigantic hollow bronze statue of
Apollo It was erected around 292-275
B.C. by Chares of Lindus to overlook the harbor of Rhodes. It required twelve years to
build but stood only fifty-six years until it was overthrown and broken to pieces by an
earthquake in 224 B.C..
The statue stood upward of 105 feet high on an embankment facing
the port (not straddling the entrance to the port as was often thought). The legs of
the statue were filled with masonry to keep the statue from being top heavy. This
and other precautions were unable to save yet another of the ancient wonders from the fury
of earthquakes. It lay broken on the rocks for 896 years until Arab conquerors sold
it as scrap metal in 672 A.D..
The Colossus of Rhodes
was dedicated to the Sun.
The Statue
of Zeus
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia in the
Peloponnesus was a magnificent example of collossal
chryselephantine sculpture. It was made of marble and decorated with ivory and beaten
gold. The flesh parts were of ivory and marble layered on a wood or stone core, the
drapery and other ornaments of gold adorned with precious stones.
The statue of Zeus was
made by Phidias, the most famous sculptor of antiquity, who also made the cryselphantine
statue of Athena which crowned the Acropolis. The Statue of Zeus was completed in
457 B.C. and placed in the great temple in the sacred grove in Olympia. The Emperor
Theodorus I removed it to Constantinople where it was destroyed in a fire in 475 A.D.
The statue
of Zeus was dedicated to the planet Jupiter.
The Temple
of Diana at Ephesus
The Temple of Artemis (or Diana) at Ephesus, chief of the Ionian cities in Asia
Minor, (now called Turkey), was built (circa the fifth-sixth centuries B.C.) by the
architect Chersiphron. Once burned down by Herostratus, it was rebuilt even
grander, it measured 342 feet by 164 feet and had 127 columns over 60 feet
high.
It was in this temple that Paul the Apostle preached
against pagan worship and aroused angry crowds. The Temple was
destroyed by the Goths when they sacked the city in 262 A.D. Fragments of
columns from the original temple are in the British Museum.
The Temple
of Artemis was dedicated to the Moon.
The Mausoleum of Harlicarnassus
When Mausolus, king of Caria (in Asia
Minor), died in 353 B.C. his widow Queen Artemisia was determined to commemorate him with
the costliest possible memorial. She built a great marble tomb at Harlicarnassus.
A
fine pyramid with steps of marble surmounted the rectangular base and on top of the
pyramid was a mighty sculpture of Mausolus driving an eight horse chariot group. The
structure, designed by Pythius and adorned by the sculptures of Scopas and Praxiteles was
eventually destroyed by an earthquake before the fifteenth century.
The Mausoleum of
Harlicarnassus was
dedicated to the planet Mars.
The Pharos (
Lighthouse) of Alexandria
The Pharos at Alexandria was a lighthouse
at the port of the Egyptian city named for Alexander the Great. It was completed
around 300-200 B.C., a skyscraper of the ancient world standing 600 feet high. The
summit was an open place, surrounded by bronze columns, where a fire burned at night, fed
by wood raised thru the central shaft.
The most legendary feature of the Lighthouse
of Alexandria was a gigantic mirror which either reflected the sun's rays or the fire by
night - up to 150 miles out at sea. Erected in the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus on an
inlet off the harbor of Alexandria, this lighthouse was the prototype of all similar
structures built along the coasts of the Roman Empire. The magnificent edifice was
destroyed more than a millennium later by a series of earthquakes.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was dedicated to
the planet Saturn.
The Great Pyramids
At Giza,
Egypt, stands the three famous pyramids, the oldest and largest of which was built by King
Khufu (or Cheops) about 3000 B.C. Situated on the Nile's west bank above Cairo it is
the largest of more than seventy known Egyptian pyramids measuring 755 feet square at the
base and towering more than 481 feet high covering an area of nearly thirteen acres. These
enormous monuments were tombs built to protect the Egyptian monarchs and the treasures
buried with them. An estimated labor force of over one hundred thousand slaves took
more than twenty years to build it. To this day the great pyramids remain the most
costliest monuments a man has ever built to himself. Of all the great works of art
and architecture that comprised the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World only the Pyramids
and the Sphinx are still standing.
The Great Pyramid was dedicated to the planet
Mercury.
Thank you for visiting
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World educational multi-media exhibit by Howard David
Johnson. These photo realistic images are scientifically accurate paintings
based on the latest findings. They are available for free educational downloads for
classroom use. E-mail for permission.
info@howarddavidjohnson.com
Thank
you for Visiting... Your business,
letters, & links are always welcome.
*****
THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION
Early great western civilizations included the
Egyptians and Babylonians.
The ancient city of Babylon (
today's Iraq
) ruled the world in it's day just as Rome did in hers. Called "The Cradle
of Civilization" it was the birthplace of our modern courts and justice system based
upon the legendary "Code of Hammurabi" and boasted as it's showpiece one of the
seven wonders of the ancient world; The Hanging Gardens of Babylon built by
Legendary King Nebucadnezzar ( 605-562 B.C.) for his wife.
Of the original
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, only The Great Pyramids in Egypt
still stand today. Built by The Pharaoh Cheops, ( 2900-2877 B.C.) The
Great Pyramids are the costliest monuments any man has ever built to himself, and
their construction methods remain a mystery to this day.
"Ancient
Metropolis" (left) 2010 digital media. The ancient world
was amazing even compared to our modern cities.
Click on the Icons to
visit the
Educational Galleries of Realistic Art: Including Mythology of
Greece, Rome, Asia, The Celts, The Norsemen, and more...Fairy and Dragon legends, The King
Arthur Legends, The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Paintings of Ancient Egypt and
Babylon, Ancient Mystic Religious texts, War and Civilization from the Ancient Spartans to
World War Two, The World's Great Religions, and Free Art Lessons.
A
portrait of the artist in his painting studio as he is today.
This September 2009
photo was taken by his youngest son Erich
Howard David Johnson is a contemporary visual artist and photographer with a
background in the natural sciences and history. H D Johnson, or David as he is called,
works in a wide variety of media ranging from traditional oils, pastels and others
to today's cutting edge digital media.
After a lifetime of drawing and painting, Johnson's
Traditional Realistic Art was exhibited in the British Museum in London in 1996, ( 3 years
before he got his first computer ) as well as numerous American ones since, such as the
Metropolitan Museum of Art. His illustrations have appeared in every major bookstore and
gameshop chain in America as well as magazines and educational texts around the
world.
Some of David's more prestigious
clients have included the
National Geographic Society, the University of Texas, the University of Cambridge in England,
Paramount Studios, PBS TV, Adobe Photoshop Auto FX, Doubleday, and the
History Book of the Month
Club,
Licenses to print his existing work are
available at surprisingly affordable prices. Realistic Oil Paintings, Colored pencils,
Pastels, Mixed media, and Digital art can also be commissioned for select projects -
Working in a variety of traditional and cutting edge digital media he
offers his customers a variety of options and more than thirty years
of experience.
As
an illustrator David has not only used the computer but has been involved
in the development and marketing of filter imaging software for Adobe Photoshop
[TM].On his existing works license offers start at only $149.00.
Oil Paintings, Colored pencils, Pastels, Mixed media, and Digital art
can also be commissioned for select projects.
:
Ingerii si arta sublim inspirata~
a film by Veveshakti
This Art Gallery has
been honored by more than 25 million Unique Visitors
from the Four
Corners of the Earth
My
Friends from around the world thus far :
England, Canada, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,
Germany, France, Monaco, Andorra, Italy, The Vatican City State, Greece, Macedonia,
Cyprus, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, The Faroe Islands, Greenland,
Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Luxembourg, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Romania,
Spain, The Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova,
Malta, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Sweden, Portugal, Albania, Armenia, Georgia,
Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Gibraltar, Israel, Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Oman, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Liberia, The Republic of Congo,
Rwanda, Kenya, Angola, Ghana, The Ivory Coast, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Nigeria, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, Eritrea, Tanzania, Botswana, Malawi, Senegal, Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa,
Viet Nam, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong,
Macau, Mongolia, Mauritius, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Nuie, New Zealand, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, American Samoa, Australia, Micronesia, Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, The Heard and McDonald Islands, The Philippines, Guam, Palau, Cocos Island, The Kingdom of Tonga, Malaysia, Brunei
Darussalem, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Chagos Islands, The Republic of Maldives, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru,
Aruba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Suriname, Guyana, Aruba, The Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Virgin Islands, The Netherlands Antilles, Panama, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Grenada, Ecuador, Belize, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Dominica, Haiti, Puerto Rico,
Cayman Islands, Anguilla, The Bahamas, Honduras, Mexico,
and my home, The Great Free State of Texas... [USA]
If your home is not listed here please
e-mail us and tell us where you're from..
info@howarddavidjohnson.com
Thank
you for Visiting the
Women
of Mythology art page...
Your business, letters, & links are
always welcome.
All images copyright
1993-2012 Howard David Johnson all rights reserved.
MANY PIECES OF
ORIGINAL ART ON PAPER LIKE THESE ARE AVAILABLE:
Many pieces
are currently available, mostly 11x14-13x16 inch Prismacolor Paintings
(like Helen of Troy) and pencil portraits (like Arriba #2) followed in
number by Acrylic, Prismacolor and pastel mixed media all on #400
Strathmore Bristol Board ranging from $700.00-$1400. 00 USD and Oil
Paintings on canvas ranging from $1999.00 - 10,000.00 USD. Pieces that have never been rendered in oil can be
commissioned in 16x20 inch size on canvas for 50% down and delivered in
under 90 days with signed certificates of authenticity aka legal documents
pledging never to render it in that size and media again to ensure premium
collectability and investment potential.
David can also do a completely new picture designed in digital media (for
more on this visit his digital media page) and when we approve the
photo-montage, he uses it as reference to render it in oil on canvas. No surprises. Existing
Artwork is shipped very well protected and go out to you immediately
via Fed Ex or USPS Express mail upon receipt of payment at our
expense. All new
creations cost a bit more depending on what is involved. All new
creations and rendering photo montages into art on paper are a LOT
of fun with e-mail attachments and digital cameras.
ORIGINAL OIL PAINTINGS ON CANVAS LIKE THIS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE:
Almost
all of Johnson's Mixed Media creations
(above left) displayed in this site are available to be rendered in oil on canvas like the
20x16 oil on canvas Faerie Guardians 2006 (above right). Each design will
only be rendered in oil once at this size and can be delivered in as
little as 90
days.
Sadly, much of the subtlety, vibrance, lustre and impact of an original oil
painting is lost when it is scanned and imported to digital media or even
printed by a master printer. Nothing can compare to an original oil painting
viewed in person in my opinion but the other painting media definitely look good
in print and have
their charms and distinct advantages as well.
In the
distant past, people struggled to build civilizations. Gathering together to form cities,
they pooled their knowledge to advance their technology. To mark their achievements, they
left behind glorious monuments.
Players in
Res Publica must guide these peoples together to form cities, exchange knowledge and build
monuments. The great peoples of antiquity are present, along with their most important
innovations and the seven wonders of the ancient world. Three to five players may compete
to gather the most advances.
Lead the
Babylonians,
Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, or the mysterious Atlantians into a bold
new future. Will you build a new level of civilization or sink into hopeless barbarism?
Find out in Res Publica, the exciting game for players ten
and up from master game designer Reiner Knizia.
Players trade people cards in hopes of
acquiring
enough to build a city. Once a city is built, a player draws technology cards and attempts
to acquire enough to build a monument representing the advance chosen from the seven
wonders of the ancient world. The Player with the most advanced civilization wins.The game comes ready to play
with sixty cards and features eighteen different illustrations, fifteen
new and original works by the artist, and three new variations of old
non-copyrighted works from the public domain.
The original European release version of the game was won by
building a single monument, but the artist said " Wouldn't it be fun if we expanded
it by adding the seven wonders of the ancient world and win the game by building them
all?" This web exhibit shows the card art for the Seven wonders enlarged with word
paintings...
Res Publica is for sale in hobby stores
everywhere or order it by calling 1-800-564-9008 toll free 24 hours a day or order it
on-line from
Avalanche
press.com
*****
Custom Illustration and Gorgeous
Quality High Resolution Printing Masters With Publishing Licenses!
for Commercial use
in
Books
Cards Posters Magazines CDs DVDs Videos & more are available at
reasonable rates.
COMMERCIAL SIZE 300
DPI PRINTING MASTER FILES ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL HIS PAINTINGS,
DRAWINGS AND MONTAGES -
EXTRA SPACE FOR BOOK COVER SIZE AND FORMATTING AVAILABLE
E-MAIL
FOR COURTEOUS & SPEEDY SERVICE
info@howarddavidjohnson.com
Howard David
Johnson works
in a wide variety of media * Oil paintings * Acrylic Paintings * Prismacolor
Paintings * Drawings * Chalk & Oil Pastel Paintings * Photography * and
last but not least: Digital Artistry & Mixed Media * Because
of the use of photography in everything he does, even Johnson's all-oil
paintings can be termed mixed media.*
All paintings, pictures,
& text (c) 2012 Howard David Johnson All Rights Reserved
*****
STYLE and
TECHNIQUE
"Those who are enamoured of
practice without science are like a pilot who goes into a ship without rudder or compass
and never has any certainty where he is going. Practice should always be based upon a
sound knowledge of theory, of which perspective is the guide and gateway, and without it
nothing can be done well in any kind of painting."
Howard David Johnson is a
contemporary visual artist and photographer with a background in
the natural sciences and
history. He works in a wide variety of media ranging from traditional
oils, pastels and
others to cutting edge digital media. He loves mixing media. This site features
examples of
his Realistic Art, including illustration, photography, experimentalism, and fine
art.
The various galleries linked to by the icons
above show many examples of His Realistic Art, and are grouped by theme rather than media.
Since boyhood he has passionately copied the old
masters. Using a strategy employed by J.W. Waterhouse (The old master David
has imitated most) - his wistful and graceful models cannot be
underestimated in their contribution to the stunning beauty and the
potential for lasting appeal of his work.
To create his work, he usually starts with a thematic concept, then working in his Photography studio with live models. He then assembles a variety of elements which are realistic and
original. As a boy he dedicated his life to art in 1960. From 1965- 1999 he used xeroxes and tracings to make his preliminary photo montages. This is patterned after
the manner used by Maxfield Parrish and other 19th century notables. For this he offers no apology as many of
the greatest artists in history employed any and all means of technology at
their disposal such as Camera Obscura or even the evil manufactured tube
paints.
See his article below:
"On Art and Technology: When Seeing is Not Believing"
An essay dealing with mechanical aids to visual art from Camera Obscura
to Computers for more on this.
The digital montage is a natural evolution of
the preliminary photo collage David learned from great Realistic
illustrators like Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell.You'd think by now everything would have been
tried but it hasn't. Exploring new art mediums is just as exciting
today, just as full of freshness and newness as it ever been.
His favourite medium for professional work for many years was colored pencil because of the
high speed and low expense, and people began expressing difficulty in telling his colored
pencil drawing from photographs in the early 1980's. Lately he mostly
draws in colored pencil to relax and for personal works. Recently he has
come to prefer Oil on canvas and digital media because of the
respectability of oils and the flexibility and profitability of digital
media. As a commercial illustrator Johnson has
not only used the computer to create art but has been involved in the development of
computer imaging software for Adobe Photoshop. Working in a realistic style inspired by
classic illustrators David is deeply rooted and grounded in the Greco-Roman artistic
tradition, Feeling that with realistic art, the human form is the ultimate arena for
artistic expression. His lifelong dream came true when his Traditional Realistic Art was
exhibited in the British Museum in London England in 1996. Having
achieved international acclaim as a traditional visual artist he discovered digital media
(Art Numérica) in 1999. Because of his passion
for realistic art he elected to embrace it and joyfully be a part of this
historic era in the visual arts as a 21st century realistic visual artist. Since
1972 when he began his career as a scientific illustrator for the University of Texas he
has earned his living illustrating all kinds of books, magazines, CD covers, and all sorts
of games, greeting cards, calendars, portraits, tapestries, murals and the like with his contemporary
realistic art... David's Realistic Art has appeared in every major
bookstore chain in The United States and has been used in
educational texts and magazines all over the world.
*****
All
paintings, pictures, & text (c) 1993- 2010 Howard David Johnson All rights reserved
Thank You for Visiting the Women
of Mythology art page...
Personal Opinion Essays on Realistic Art
yesterday and today by the artist.
In addition to his mastery of
traditional media, Howard David Johnson now combines drawing, painting,
photography, and digital media with more than thirty years of experience in these fields
to create his Realistic Art Numérica in 21st century paintings and
pictures.
Did you know the Greek word
"Photography" means "Painting with Light"? Today with the advent of
computers it truly lives up to it's name. Due to developments in Art and Technology, a
broader definition of painting is needed than that which is found in common usage.
Announcing Art
Numérica-an exciting merger of traditional visual art and cutting edge
technology... a new art form for the twenty- first century... Art Numérica is not
limited to realistic art but also offers limitless horizons for everything from cartoons
to abstractions.
It is the most dramatic
development in the visual arts since the Renaissance. In the words of Al Jolson in the
movie world's first talking picture" You ain't seen nothin' yet!"
"THE
MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME..."
(A Brief essay
dealing with attitudes toward Traditional Realistic Paintings, Pastels, Colored Pencils
and Art Numérica )
"Painting, in art, the
action of laying colour on a surface, or the representation of objects by this means.
Considered one of the fine arts"
~Encyclopaedia Britannica.
"Painting. noun. 1.) The act
or employment of laying on colors or paints. 2.) The art of forming figures or objects in
colors on canvas or any other surface, or the art of representing to the eye by means of
figures and colors any object; the work of an illustrator or painter. 3.) A picture; a
likeness or resemblance in shape or colors. 4.) Colors laid on. 5.) Delineation that
raises a vivid image in the mind; as in word painting.
~ Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
of the English Language
Snobbism in the arts is nothing new. Some people will tell
you that oils are the only valid medium for realistic paintings. That Colored Pencil,
Digital, and other Realistic Painting and Drawing Media are not valid for
"real" art. Young artists, Don't let them bother you. Their forerunners used to
condemn Pastels before they gained acceptance and called them "crayons" when
Johann Alexander Thiele (1685-1752) invented them. Mercilessly disrespectful
art critics of the time could not stop the Experimentalists no matter how
viciously they
attacked and derided them. "Crayon-painting" as it was called in England was
practiced early on by persecuted pioneers in Switzerland and many other nations. What a
debt we owe to these master artists who refused to knuckle under to the pressure of those
short-sighted critics during those historic and experimental times. It took until 1870
with the founding of the "Societe` Des Pastellistes" in France that respect
came at last to these heroic & immortal visual artists.
In England the liberation of the Pastellists from slight regard and
undeserved disrespect came with the first exhibition of "The Pastel Society" at
the Grosvenor Gallery in 1880. Pastel Painters like Mary Cassat and others from
America and other nations forever silenced the snobs with their masterworks and
gained recognition at long last for Thiele's invention as a valid art medium. I am
persuaded that history will repeat itself. Like Pastels, I believe these wonderful
new colored pencils and even Digital Realistic Art Media will one day
receive the
recognition they deserve as powerful mediums of artistic expression just as pastel
paintings did. What is your definition of art? Have you thought about it?
Mine is: "anything that
makes you feel or think."
Pastel, Acrylics, and Colored Pencils combined
The detail reveals Realistic
art and abstract art combined
Consider
dancing... it can be a little skip in the step or rise to the level of the incomparable
Russian Ballet. Did you know that just the materials alone for a single oil painting cost
up to a thousand dollars these days? Even paying the artist less than minimum wage no one
but the super rich can afford them anymore. Something's got to give. Realistic paintings
in oil have been highly prized for centuries and the appeal and following of realistic art
is undiminished to this day. Oil paintings featuring Abstract Art and Realistic Art are
generally the most treasured form of all the visual art media and with good reason. But
snobbish art critics favoring abstract art have declared that realistic
paintings, or illustrations are not art for a century. With so many
representationalist paintings by so many immortal master artists hanging in the
Louvre, the Hermitage, and the British Museum and others I think the disrespect for
realistic illustrators that dominated the 20th century is academically ridiculous as well
as vain and intolerant, insisting theirs is the only valid opinion. What is your
definition of Art? I believe almost any form of human expression can be raised to the
level of "high art" especially visual art and Realistic illustration...
By my own definition of art, which is: "anything that makes you feel or
think" most abstract paintings are not "real art" tome personally,
because abstract paintings usually neither make me feel or think, usually focusing
obsessively on technique and avoiding any coherent content. I usually draw a complete
blank mentally and emotionally when I look at them. In 1979 the Houston Metropolitan
Museum of Art displayed a triptych of 3 giant paintings they paid fifty thousand
dollars for- three blank white canvasses entitled "untitled". Then there
was "The incredible new artistic Genius" with an I.Q. of 62
...Congo the chimpanzee
with his gala New York art exhibition...an elaborate prank played on the Snobbish American
Art critics about a generation ago by research scientists in the field of primatology.
Imagine how upset they were when he created one of his "ingenious masterpieces"
right before their eyes.
( My Source for this is the Time Life
Science Library volume entitled "The Primates". )
Art education has been almost completely removed from American
Schools as a result of generations of this kind of fabulous nonsense contributing to
America's cultural illiteracy crisis. Now, the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michaelangelo,
and other notables are being removed from school libraries. After generations of
this, most American college graduates today cannot name even one living visual artist,
abstract or realistic.
There is no way that mandating
more math, requiring more reading, or scheduling more science will replace what we have
lost as a culture.
What is your definition of Art?
~HDJ
*****
Note:
Abstract Paintings by Congo the Chimpanzee outsold Warhol and Renoir
by over 25,000 dollars in June 2005 at a London art auction. Born in
1954, Congo created more than 400 drawings and paintings between the
ages of two and four. He died in 1964 of tuberculosis. There is no
precedent for this kind of sale.
The Rebirth of Realism
More thoughts on realistic art
yesterday and today by the artist
Art History
has entered a new era with the birth of Art Numérica, or
digital
art media in the 21st century. Artists never stop exploring with mediums. Artists have
been developing techniques, experimenting with different tools since at least twenty- five
thousand years ago, when the first artist picked up a charred stick and scratched a
picture out on the wall of his cave. You'd think everything would have been tried by now,
but it hasn't. Exploring new mediums this very day is just as exciting, just as full of
freshness and newness as it ever was.
The creation
of Realistic art has been the goal of most artists since the dawn of civilization.
Realistic art was the pride of ancient Greece. The world's greatest museums are full of
realistic art. Realistic art WAS art until the advent of the abstract expressionist
movement in the twentieth century. The coming of the camera in the nineteenth century
changed realistic art forever. Suddenly, realistic art was not the only way to create
realism in portraits and historical records. The work of the realistic artist was suddenly
made into an expensive luxury. The political power of the realistic artist was broken and
they were no longer an indispensable member of society. Hostility to the
creators of realistic art goes back to ancient times and the jealousy of advisers to the
Pharaohs and others who were not able to spend as much time with their rulers as their
portraitists. Although with the aid of photographs, realistic art achieved
levels of excellence undreamed of, the realistic art movement of the late nineteenth
century was short.
None of these people earning their living creating realistic art could
compete with the speed and low cost of photographic portraiture. Determined to
survive, great realistic artists like Pablo Picasso ingeniously turned inward and began to
explore things that could not be photographed in a new school of art, abstract
expressionism. The day of the fine art superstars had arrived. It was now largely just a
hobby to abstract and realistic artists alike. Illustration, because of advances in
printing technology enabled an elite few to earn a living with their realistic art. These
illustrators working in realistic art media were condemned and ridiculed in much the
same way Europe's great symphonic composers were condemned for working in motion pictures
after fleeing the nazis during World War Two. The rift between realistic and abstract art
grew wider and wider. The universities and key media usually sided with the abstract camp
and derided anyone working in any realistic art media declaring boldly that realistic art
was not "real" art.
Immortal giants of realistic art such as
Maxfield Parrish were mistreated their entire lives. They were accused of selling out for
creating beautiful pieces of realistic fine art to earn a living. The attitude that the
true artist must suffer and starve and die in poverty became a rule. There were the
Abstract art superstars, the professional realistic illustrators, and the hobbyists who,
although cut off from gainful employment and social influence still recognized their
artistic gifts as a calling rather than a profession. Early abstract art masters
proved themselves as realistic artists before delving into realms of the intangible. They
had to do this at that time to prove themselves because of the challenges they faced from
the establishment for going against the status quo. In the latter part of the 20th century,
realistic artists like HDJ were challenged to do abstract art to prove themselves as shown
in the example above (Deirdre of the sorrows). Later realistic art training was abandoned
in most schools and things like splattering paint in fits of rage were deemed more
than enough. By the end of the 20th century something as destructive and
ridiculous as
nailing a pack of cigarettes to a shoe was considered fine art but not realistic
paintings. Fashions in art have often been as silly as fashions in ladies hats. As
the century drew to a close, many people had had enough. The realistic revolt was at hand.
The rebirth of realism was fueled by the advent of the digital era. Now, for the first
time in almost two centuries, an artist or illustrator could earn a decent living again
with his realistic art. This is historic. Realistic art is not going to go away, especially now that photography has truly merged with traditional realistic visual art.
Photography comes from the Greek words meaning "painting with light". Now with
the advent of digital media the capability of realistic art has become almost limitless,
truly, "painting with light". The merger of all the world's art forms to realize
the potential of motion pictures has come now to still realistic art media. This website
for example, combines music, prose, poetry, photography and traditional realistic art
media to create an experience beyond merely looking at realistic paintings.
The twenty- first century is already seeing a
new renaissance in the arts because of the world wide web. There has never been anything
like it. Abstract art, computer art, photographic art, and realistic art are continuing to
be separate schools of art but are also blending to create exciting new horizons. Although
Digital art does offer completely new horizons to the artist in the 21st century it does
not mean the end of our time honored art traditions. Instead, it offers additional ways to
keep these traditions and schools of thought fresh and alive.
Art tradition
and etiquette suggest the artists who have been most influential should be mentioned
at exhibits; these original new pieces shown in this exhibit take their
inspiration in part from the paintings of Waterhouse, Alma-Tadema, Church,
Godward, Moreau, Bouguereau, Leighton, Ingres, Moore, Parrish, Rackham
and others. Most of my sources
are changed so much they are impossible to detect, but sometimes I make it
obvious to pay homage. Where
would Walt Disney be without the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson,
Victor Hugo and so many others? Where would Aaron Copeland have been without
American folk music? Thomas Nast's Santa Claus without traditional images of
Father Christmas? Picasso without African art? These are artists
who made names and fortunes through Public Domain appropriation, one and
all. Beethoven did "variations on a theme" with the works of
Mozart for the same reasons I have done mine with Waterhouse and others- to
learn and give homage to the artists who most inspired me.
Thank You for Visiting the
Seven Wonders Art Gallery of Howard David Johnson...
Music by Peter Ilyich
Tchaikovsky ( 1840- 1893) - "Swan Lake"
All paintings, pictures,
& text (c) 1993- 2012 Howard David Johnson All Rights Reserved
*****
All these images &
text are legally copyrighted & were registered with the U.S. Library of Congress
Office of Copyright in 2004-10 by the author, Howard David Johnson All rights reserved
worldwide. Permission for many legal non-commercial uses is freely available by simply
contacting the author or visiting www.howarddavidjohnson.com/permission.htm
