Carl Spitzweg

Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 - September 23, 1885) was a German romanticist painter and poet. He is considered to be one of the most important representatives of the Biedermeier era.

He was born in Unterpfaffenhofen as the second of three sons of Franziska and Simon Spitzweg. His father, a wealthy merchant, had Carl trained as a pharmacist. He attained his qualification from the University of Munich, but while recovering from an illness he also took up painting. Spitzweg was self-taught as an artist, and began by copying the works of Flemish masters. He contributed his first work to satiric magazines. Upon receiving an inheritance in 1833, he was able to dedicate himself to painting.

Later, Spitzweg visited European art centers, studying the works of various artists and refining his technique and style; he visited Prague, Venice, Paris, London, and Belgium. His later paintings and drawings are often humorous genre works. Many of his paintings depict sharply characterized eccentrics, for example The Bookworm (1850) and The Hypochondriac (c. 1865, in the Neue Pinakothek, Munich).

His paintings were the inspiration to the musical comedy Das kleine Hofkonzert by Edmund Nick.

Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Spitzweg

Winged Disk and the Tree of Life

Winged Disk and the Tree of Life
Wednesday, November 19, 2003

The owner of this seal can be identified from the cuneiform inscription which translates: 'Seal of Mushezib-Ninurta, governor, son of Ninurta-eresh, ditto, son of Samanuha-shar-ilani, ditto.' Samanuha-shar-ilani was ruler of Shadikanni (Arban in eastern Syria), in 883 BC, and an Assyrian vassal - subject to the firm control of Assyria, and enjoying the wealth and security that such political domination provided.

During this period, seal designs were often cut on hard stones using cutting-wheels and drills. The image is similar to two wall reliefs from the throne room of King Ashurnasirpal II (reigned 883-859 BC) at Nimrud. The king, shown in mirror image, is protected by guardian genii sprinkling holy water from a bucket using what may be a fir cone or sponge. A stylized tree stands in the centre, symbolizing nature and the land of Assyria. Above is a god in the winged disc.

Length: 4.9 cm
Diameter: 1.7 cm

Found by H.C. Rawlinson and acquired by The British Museum around 1852

D. Collon, First impressions: cylinder seals in the Ancient Near East (London, The British Museum Press, 1987), pp. 76-7, fig. 341

A.H. Layard, Discoveries in the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon (London, J. Murray, 1853), p. 603

Found Here: http://ancientx.com/nm/anmviewer.asp?a=20&z=1

neckface

Neck Face is a graffiti artist born in 1984 in Stockton, California. He is known for his frightening drawing style.

Neck Face originally worked in Stockton and Lodi, California, where he attended Bear Creek High School and Tokay High School. Neck Face gained a great deal of notice through his affixing stickers emblazoned with his art to public objects throughout Stockton and Lodi. Later he evolved into other graffiti techniques and also spread his work to San Francisco, California, where his name can still be seen on many newspaper stands and walls throughout the city. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and was based in Brooklyn, New York City for two years before dropping out.^{[citation needed]} In 2005 he relocated his studio to California, and now splits his time between California, New York, Australia, and Spain.^{[citation needed]}

His most famous public art piece once appropriated the sign on an abandoned storefront of the store "My Old Lady" in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood; he painted under that "...Loves Neckface". Recent renovations to the storefront, however, have removed the sign.

In addition to appearing across billboards and buildings in the United States, Neckface's work can be seen internationally in places such as Sydney and Melbourne, Australia and Tokyo, Japan.

[edit] Commercial Projects

As a skateboarder himself, neckface is the art director at Baker Skateboards, and rumored to be the art director of Andrew Reynolds brainchild Deathwish skateboards, Neck Face has collaborated with a series of skateboard and related brands by designing decorations for their products. The most notable among these brands are: Vans, Stüssy, and most recently Altamont Apparel.

Neck Face graffiti can be seen in the video game EA Skate.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Neckface

• Gallery works for New Image Art
• Fotolog Neck Face
• RobotsWillKill Graffiti Galleries: Neck Face
• BBC article on Neck Face from May 2005
• The San Francisco Bay Guardian interview
• SWINDLE Magazine Interview
• Citynoise article

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_Face"

Categories: 1984 births | Living people | American graffiti artists

Found Here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neckface

Image:Hodogaya_on_the_Tokaido.jpg

another from Hokusai, Katsushika（葛飾北斎)

found here