My Favorite Artworks in Palazzo Ducale, Venezia (Doge Palace, Venice)

The vast compound of Palazzo Ducale, Venezia (Doge Palace, Venice) is a trove of architectural and art treasures scattered around within and without the highly decorated walls of the palace, therefore it took me some concentration to choose my two favorites.

My first choice was a painting by Titian, depicting the giant Saint Christopher carrying baby Jesus on his back, across a river before the child revealed himself as Christ.  The composition was powerfully dynamic, with the Saint startlingly sinewy and serious, a personification of reliability and steadfastness.  The Child, airy, playful and full of vitality, in the lighter moment of his eventful and tragic life.  The coloration was neither flashy nor rich - time might have robbed some of its tonal splendor but the muted palette gave gravitas to the painting and a sense of timelessness.


San Christopher by Titian

My second favorite artwork in the palace was a relief on the outer wall, titled "The Drunkenness of Noah".  This relief cleverly utilized the confined space about a portal, positioning Noah, barely covered of his nakedness with a cloth, on one side of the portal, turning corner from the main plane, upon which carved all his three sons, who were divided into two groups, separated by the pointed arch, with his "good sons" Shem and Japheth nearing Noah, holding the garment to cover him, while his bad son "Ham" stood far away from the rest, with a clear sense of the banishment of him, whose descendents were cursed by Noah for Ham's supposed insensitivity to his father's privacy.

A very strange story out of bible, rendered with great economy, clarify and pathos. 


The Drunkenness of Noah on the 'Vine Angle' above the 1st Capital on Palazzo Ducale

My Favorite Museum Collection Series
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List of My Favorite Artworks in the Museums I've Visited

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"Golden Ages" Opening at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley

Last night, the "Golden Ages" exhibition opened at Expressions Gallery, Berkeley. It was a show dedicated to acknowledging the artwork of artists 50 years or older, and showcasing some younger artists who capture the beauty of the Golden Years in their works.

I had two paintings included in the show, representing the later group of artists: Fruition and Century's Greeting.

Below are some pictures and a video compilation from the opening:



















Here, these quail eggs were my little contribution to the reception:




Other Related posts on Art · 文化 · Kunst:
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- Oil Painting "Upstream" Goes to Seattle
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- City Art Gallery Holiday Show Opening Reception

Group Exhibitions in Seattle, Berkeley and San Diego & a Publication

Last year was a fruitful year for me - two more paintings published by Pomona Valley Review, and I participated group shows at two galleries in Berkeley, and for the first time, in Evergreen Association of Fine Arts Gallery in Seattle, which just concluded last week.






The painting went to Seattle was a 2008 painting, Upstream, depicting struggling yet determined fish in stream.

 

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Just before the year end, I got accepted into two group shows in Expressions Gallery, Berkeley and The Studio Door in San Diego - another city conquered.

My portraits of old women, Century's Greeting and Fruition will be exhibited at Expressions Gallery, 2035 Ashby Ave. Berkeley, California, 94703:
January 17, 2015 - April 10, 2015.  Opening night: January 17, 6-9 pm.

 


The painting to be shipped to San Diego is another animal painting, Crow, depicting a lone crow in a desolate urban space, and the show is aptly titled "The Crow Show: A Tribute to Raven".

The Studio Door
Exhibition Dates: February 2 - 27, 2015 Mission Valley Reception: February 5, 2015 6:00 - 9:00 PM Ray Street Reception: February 6, 2015 6:00 - 9:00 PM

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My lucky abstract painting, July Meteors, has just be published by an online literary journal, Shark Reef, based in San Juan Islands of Washington State, after it made an appearance at an exhibition/auction, Collect!, in Berkeley Art Center last year.  Another piece published by Shark Reef, is a drawing, Ink Drawing Night City 3.

 

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Finally, one of my three paintings included in the last Expressions Gallery show, Changes, was chosen by Berkeley Planning and Development Development (2120 Milvia St) for the gallery's Off-site Shows: February 6 - July 31, 2015, and the display is open to view from Monday to Thursday, 9 AM - 4 PM.


One Fine Day

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Book Review "Kristin Lavransdatter" by Sigrid Undset

Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The main characters were so stubborn that I wanted to pick up the thick volume to beat on their thick heads; yet, the stories took place in medieval Norway were quite compelling and some of the secondary characters were quite amazing and warmhearted that they counterbalanced the rather selfish main characters, therefore, rendered the sprawling book quite readable.

I've never encountered a book that I disliked the characters so much, yet I rated the book rather highly, due to the sharp observations, the measured way of storytelling and the purity of the language.

Highly recommended though I'm giving my copy away.

View all my reviews

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Andy Goldsworthy's Stone River in a Lush Setting

The unique artist Andy Goldsworthy's installation Stone River (2001) on Stanford University campus was an amazing creation, which was, according to the University's website, "a wall-like serpentine sculpture set in about three acres of land to the northeast of the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. It is about 3 1/2 feet high and about 4 feet wide at its base. It is made of more than 6,500 stones, including about 700 triangular coping stones weighing between 20 and 50 pounds each that top the sculpture. Each coping stone was individually shaped at a different angle to fit the wall precisely. The total weight of the piece is about 128 tons."

I have several chances to admire this giant before, always in dry seasons, and that serpentine stone wall together with the the withered meadow it sat on, generated an overwhelmingly desolate and barren atmosphere, which was deeply moving and impressive.

Last December, when I visited it again, immediately after many days' of heavy rains, and I was utterly delighted by the experience of another kind - the refreshingly green and lush meadow contrasted dramatically with the now moss-coated, though still yellow-hued stone wall, and the meandering installation left a strong impression of being a living and breathing creature, vital and larger than life.  A marvel.
































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