Monday 3 December 2012

communism Sci-Fi buildings

the gosprom building in kharkov, ukraine
the chemnitz stadhalle
the house of soviets in kaliningrad
the druzhba sanatorium
the ukrainian institute of scientific and technological research and development






















more photos and credits, theawl.com

Wednesday 21 November 2012

'one of the principal functions of a friend

is to suffer (in a milder and symbolic form) the punishments that we should like, but are unable, to inflict upon our enemies.'

brave new world

Thursday 15 November 2012

Monday 1 October 2012

renoir in the land of the nereid galatea

'i had experimented with impressionism as much as i could and i concluded that i did not know how to draw or paint. in a word, i was in a cul-de-sac.'






















in the year of 1881, renoir came to italy to visit the most famous destinations of art according to delacroix, venice-rome-naples-sicily. the scuderie del castello visconteo in pavia is hosting a selection of the more than five thousand paintings and drawings pierre-auguste renoir made during his life and telling a bit of his appreciation with raphael work (in particular with the triumph of galatea) and the experience he had in these days in italy. 

he says about his trip to italy in a letter to a friend that it was 'something which i should probably have done a long time ago. at least it is clear to me that raphael did not try the impossible, as i do; he did not paint outdoors but rather he studied the sun, because his frescos are filled with it! i on the other hand, by focusing my attention externally, ended up paying too much attention to the small details which in fact obscure the sun instead of exhaling it.'

'i have quite a collection of royal portraits

my suitors usually come in oil. and i've kept them - because I love a good painting'


















































moonage daydreams hats on queen christina

Thursday 27 September 2012

breakfast at brera

i'm not exactly a fan of christian iconography, so medieval art was something really hard to me to enjoy. but this was just one more case of prejudice about something ignored, and now i'm at peace with ten centuries of art history thanks to my profusion of leisure time (but i should confess that lady marchmain can still not be proud of my religious views). after spending hours feeling that the end would never come of this enormous collection of medieval art owned by the pinacoteca di brera in milano, i have found some details of these paintings, i would like to bring it up






















is it a gay couple behind baby jesus? 
-giovanni bellini - madonna col bambino-




















this is a huge painting and behind the main scene it is happening so many more interesting things, like a dog barking at a dromedary, which refuses itself to move (?)   
-gentile and giovanni bellini - la predica di s. marco in una piazza di alessandria-






















pretty doggy I 
-giovanni mansueti - s. marco battezza aniano-






















pretty doggy II 
-veronese - ultima cena-






pretty doggies killing a cat 
-veronese - cena in casa di simone-























pretty doggy III (well, i don't have my dogs with me, right?! and i like dogs!!!!)
-bonifacio veronese - mosè consegnato alla figlia del faraone-























how is this guy still alive? if i were alive with a dagger on my chest, i would probably be doing something more interesting than praying... 
-carlo crivelli - trittico di san domenico-

Tuesday 18 September 2012

schöner gigolo, armer gigolo









delightfully 20's dressed, bowie, dietrich, novak, hemmings, and sydne rome (never heard this name before too, but want to highlight her character as my favorite, cilly - just one more girl spending her life being in love with bowie) are the cast for hemmings' just a gigolo, second film bowie acted for and in a recognizable good performance, to put an end to speculations about his acting skills after the man who fell to earth. so blonde and pretty, still with bad teethes (which for me is his best phase) wearing long coats and military suits. quite sexy. really reasonable to watch it and check how the german gigolo suits bowie and his kind of humor   
  



here an article written by michael watts about these days in berlin