These are absolutely Dickensian times for my country (and –if you let me tell it– also for me and my family). — On Friday, October the 27th – 2017 at 15:27, the Independence of Catalunya, my homeland, was solemnly declared. Today, four days later, my people and I are living in the República de Catalunya i
One of the best depictions of the ordeals that St. Anthony Abbot went through during his retirement in the desert is an engraving from the very late Middle Ages (ca. 1470-75) by the Alsatian Martin Schöngauer (ca. 1435/50-1491): “St. Antonius von Dämonen gepeinigt” (St. Anthony tormented by demons). As the title says, the work focuses
The plights of Saint Anthony the Great (or Anthony of Egypt or Anthony Abbot) during his extremely long sojourns in the Egyptian desert around the 3rd and 4th centuries, and all the torments supposedly inflicted to him by the Devil, are an often-repeated subject in history of art. After the first narrative by Athanasius of
Llegit aquesta mateixa tarda amb molt d’interès: “The four-Hebrew-letter name of God, which scholars refer to as the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, was probably not pronounced “Jehovah” or “Yahweh,” as some have guessed. The Israelite priests would have read the letters in reverse as Hu/Hi — in other words, the hidden name of God was Hebrew for
At last, after years of laziness and elusion, I have played the PC-game that my sister always recommended me to play: Syberia; both parts. I have to apologize to Ari for not having done this while she was still here, to be able to tell her —with frank enthusiasm— how pleasant and deeply absorbing these
[Duc aquí aquest post en anglès, tal com va ser escrit fa temps per a un altre blog. Demano disculpes a qui no l’entengui bé, però també m’ha fet l’efecte que deuen ser ben pocs, avui dia.] I never liked Salvador Dalí as a person, and moreover, I learned to deeply dislike him when I
Aquest post continua directament d’un anterior sobre aquest artista nord-americà: “Charles Sheeler – ‘Pintògraf’ de fàbriques i maquinària (Part I)” [També els podeu llegir tots dos en anglès al meu blog de WP, INVISIBLE FORMS: “Charles Sheeler – Paintdrawgrapher of factories and machinery (Part I)” i “Charles Sheeler – From Photorealism to Abstraction (Part II)” – Pels
[També podeu llegir aquest post en anglès aquí: “Charles Sheeler – Paintdrawgrapher of factories and machinery (Part I)”] – (Sí, aquesta pintura ressembla una fotografia molt bona (pel 1939) d’unes rodes i bieles de locomotora. Es conserva al Smith College Museum of Art, a Northampton, MA, i és merescudament famosa. Juntament amb altres olis, aquarel·les i
Aquest post és la continuació d’un altre: Pintures d’absència i malenconia (I) – Cadires i finestres de Jim Holland, i no crec que calgui reiterar-ne la introducció, que podeu llegir allí. A banda de les pintures figurant cadires, finestres, i espais interiors deshabitats, Holland s’ha centrat tant o més en les barques; sempre buides, sia varades a la
Un cop d’ull a unes quantes obres escollides de Jim Holland Vull ensenyar aquí, a Catalunya, un altre gran pintor nord-americà -aquest encara ben viu i actiu-, nascut a Schenectady, NY, el 1955. Fa servir tant l’oli com l’aquarel·la, amb un estil realista despullat i molt planer (a vegades, hiperrealista i, al meu entendre, sovint també
Versions en Anglès i en Català Posted by Ari Fontrodona on G+ on 4th Februray 2016, a bit more than a year ago; re-posted on WP, posthumously, by Li Fontrodona -along with some comments (in this same magenta colour – Ari’s post is in dark green). – Yesterday, in a volume of my “Complete Peanuts” collection,
[Versions en Anglès i en Català] – English version: The first time I watched “Rosine” -an oil by the Belgian surrealist painter Paul Delvaux, from 1968- I said to myself “this tall, slim girl with the red hat and the fan looks very much like Ariel”. As a matter of fact, quite a few women
Mirades a l’obra de Paul Delvaux (IV) – Versió Catalana* *[English version is here] (Aquest post és continuació d’uns altres que podeu llegir aquí (1) , aquí (2) i aquí (3)) . 10. Leda i el cigne – Léda et le cigne Essent un gran afeccionat al món clàssic grecollatí, Paul Delvaux no podia deixar de
Romani-Indian bracelets and eyes with stars inside – Em fascina aquesta foto. L’havia vista sencera molts cops amb els colors originals, i ja m’agradava molt. És molt bonica en tots els aspectes i detalls; des dels braçalets d’aram, plata i esmalt -i els cabells lluint encara més-, i les petites arracades, a la pell clara
– I keep on posting my translations into Catalan of poems by this extraordinary American author, who spent most of her intense, even agitated life, secluded at home. Previous posts with a brief biographical introduction, a handful of her poems and my own translations can be found here: Dues versions en Català d’Emily Dickinson, poetessa