Tag: Art

Nightly paintings with Petrus van Schendel

We had already told you about the paintings of romanticism by German painters Caspar David Friedrich (1774–1840) and Philipp Otto Runge (1777–1810). And also the English painter William Turner (1775–1851) had the moonlight in his mind. Here we are looking at the next generation and find the Dutch-Belgian artist Petrus van Schendel (1806–1870), whose speciality were the nightly moonlight sceneries. What distinguished him from his predecessors and colleagues, was that it were precisely those depictions of nightlight, which brought him fame and not an insignificant financial success (which was not a given for many painters). [read more]

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»Moonrise, New Mexico« by Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams (1902–1984) was one of the most influential photographers in the US, who particularly became famous for his magnificent black and white photography of American landscapes and national parks. He is the role model of many photographers  and set standards with his shots. And as chance would have it, one of his most renowned photographs is an image with the rising Moon in New Mexico. [read more]

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Full moon romance with »Lady and the Tramp«

»Lady and the Tramp« made in 1955, belongs to one of the most beautiful and most successful cartoons by Walt Disney. The story of the elegant female dog Lady and the fun-loving vagabond Tramp, shows how love can overcome social boundaries. In reality, this is of course a human issue and not one of our four-legged friends. However – as usual with Disney – it has been staged simply convincingly. And this is how a good acquaintance joins Lady and the Tramp in the nightly scenery: the full moon. [read more]

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The full moon and Paul Klee

Paul Klee (1879–1940) was a German painter and graphic artist, one of the biggest names of the Classic Modern Era, being the time at the beginning and first half of the 20th century, which was expressed in so many different styles and is nowadays regarded as avant-garde of that time. Paul Klee created cubistic, expressionistic and surrealistic paintings. The names of his friends read like the »who’s who« in the art scene: August Macke, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Walter Gropius, Robert Delaunay, Lyonel Feininger, Alexej von Jawlensky, Pablo Picasso … [read more]

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Peter Pan and the full moon

Who does not know the story of Peter Pan, the boy who does not want to grow up. It is already more than 100 years old (premiered as stage play in London in 1904) and has been adapted to countless screen versions. And next to all the imaginative characters, one encounters repeatedly one thing: the full moon. [read more]

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Full moon magic in »Corpse Bride«

Fitting in with today’s full moon and the forthcoming events of Halloween, we dedicate this article to the stop motion movie »Corpse Bride« (2005) by Tim Burton, the master of bizarre and subtle productions. The movie is based on a Russian legend »Corpse Bride« and captures the story of a wedding between two people of varying social backgrounds (Victor & Victoria) or rather differing worlds (Victor & Emily), with the resulting tension. [read more]

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Adam Elsheimer paints the Moon like no one before

More than 400 years ago, the German artist Adam Elsheimer (1578–1610) painted the picture »Flight into Egypt« (1609), where he depicted the well-known biblical scene of the escape of Joseph and Maria with the Christ Child. The special feature of this painting is, that it shows the full moon and night sky with such a richness of detail on a scale not seen before. Scientists – like for example Dr. Christian Sicka of the ›Deutsche Museum‹ Munich – have examined this work and come to the conclusion that this is possibly the first correct astronomical true to life depiction of the night sky in paintings. One can easily recognise the lunar maria on the Moon’s surface and also the Milky Way, moreover a clear graduation of brightness with the individual stars. [read more]

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Ancient Chinese moon poems

Matching to the moon festival, which has just been celebrated in Asia, we are looking to the Far East and are going far back in time to the year 700 A.D. Back then, the Tang Dynasty ruled China, a powerful dynasty that remained in power for almost 300 years. And there were two poets whose names are still well-known today, Li Bai (701–762) and Du Fu (712–770; see fictitious portrait opposite). Both created magnificent works. Li Bai was already a little older and hence a few years ahead, Du Fu had apparently surpassed his idol – this is what is being said amongst scholars. [read more]

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The death of Cyrano in the full moon light

Cyrano de Bergerac (1619–1655) was a French writer, who was less famous for his own pieces [*], but better known through the writings about him by Edmond Rostand (1868–1918) from 1897. The piece was called just like himself »Cyrano de Bergerac« and premiered as stage play in Paris in the same year.
Up until today, it has been staged and filmed many times. The movie that is surely most famous is the one with Gerard Depardieu in the leading role from 1990. All dialogues are versified, which lends everything a historicising but also an intense, poetic effect. [read more]

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The smurfs and the »blue moon«

The end of August 2012 will bring another »blue moon«. This is what you call the second full moon within a month. It happens from time to time, because the lunar cycle is shorter, with its averaging 29.5 days, than the normal calendar month. Just like in August of this year, with a full moon on 02.08. and one on 31.08.2012. We have already described here why this double full moon is called »blue moon«. [read more]

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