Renaissance Florence is legendary. Dominating the global art scene of the late middle ages from the 14th century, its extensive legacy is still evident everywhere in the old section of modern-day Florence. But as they say, “all good things must end” and by the early 16th century, Venice had surpassed Florence as the center of…
I saw Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper during a visit to Milan in 2008. I had to buy a ticket—the last one available during our stay in the city—for the chance to spend 15 minutes with it. Located in the refectory of Santa Maria della Grazie, the painting has been kept under controlled conditions to…
Revolution in art is never boring. In fifteenth-century Italy, art innovated and flourished as it had never done before. Its aim? The rebirth of classical learning and culture of ancient Rome and Greece. In other words a renaissance (naissance is French for birth). The Renaissance art style continued to evolve, eventually leading to Mannerism. Catholic…
in Paris, but exhausted or stressed out? Taking in too many museums and monuments all at once? You have a number of choices for flaking out. Sitting in cafes and nursing an espresso (or expresse as they call it here) is what most people choose to do. Some stretch out or doze off in the…
How do you imagine Paris? For the artist in many of us, it is a Bohemian Paris we conjure up and even yearn for. But is Bohemian Paris merely an illusion? What is a Bohemian, anyway? In the popular view, she is someone unconventional, carefree, and usually involved in the arts. A free spirit who…
Undulating forms are beautiful, sensuous, and seductive. You often find them in nature—in the curve of a woman’s body, the outline of a camel’s neck and hump, the motif on a sidewalk mosaic, etc. They appeal to an aesthetic sense in all of us. Artists have been aware of this appeal for a long time.…
I brought home five pounds of carrots yesterday. Organic carrots. I assume that since plants get much of their life out of the soil, roots absorb more of whatever the earth possesses. More than leaves, for instance. So—organic. To reduce the bad stuff (I hope). But I could be wrong. So, what do I do…
Today is the anniversary of the massacre of civilians in the small town of Guernica. On this day, April 26, 1937, Spanish cubist Pablo Picasso, who was living in Paris, worked on a painting with a familiar theme, the autobiographic subject of a painter and his model. The painting was commissioned by Spain’s Republican government…
October 2012. I stood in the Bibliothèque Polonaise on the Ile Saint Louis in Paris, looking at the works of Andrzej Kreütz-Majewski. Captivated. Unsettled. His images haunted me and I had to find out more about him. An operatic and theatrical scenery designer, and professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, Kreütz-Majewski was…
Bugs in your mug? In your Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccino maybe? Or your pink tequila? Picture these squashed creatures in your drink: Humongous yuk factor, right? But it’s not really these bugs you’ll see. It’s the color they impart. One thing you can reassure yourself about—it’s natural, not one of those chemical dyes with toxic components…
Milan. We like it. Quite a lot. Some guide books tell you Milan isn’t really Italy and many tours exclude it from their itineraries. Maybe, they mean it’s not the Italy they have romanticized. Nor Italy of the renaissance or baroque periods. But Milan is Italy as: • Grand gestures; • Innovation and design; •…
Green peppercorns. If you’ve ever used this ingredient, you probably got it out of a bottle. Soaked in brine. Its taste and aroma irreversibly altered by the long salty bath. I never knew the taste of fresh green peppercorns until I came across them in Paris. Not at one of the supermarchés nor the food…
