John – Page 715 – { feuilleton }

Entomologia

A Royal Family (Goliath Beetle) (2003) by Joianne Bittle.

More insect art. Entomologia is a group exhibition of art incorporating and inspired by insects, on view at Observatory, Brooklyn, NY, from February 26th to April 4th, 2010. There are fourteen artists involved but not all of them have websites showing the work one might expect to see there, unfortunately. The gallery will also host a series of events tied to the exhibition; more details here. Among the contributors is photographer Brian Riley whose chiaroscuro studies of male nudes have featured here previously.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Jewel beetle
• How many leaf beetles can dance on the head of a pin?
• The art of Jo Whaley
• Endangered insects postage stamps
• Brian Riley

Ode to the Classics

In which photographer Mikel Marton works variations on Wilhelm von Gloeden’s nude studies of the boys of Taormina, Sicily. “Classic” has a double meaning here since Von Gloeden’s photographs are now considered classic works of early homoerotica (Oscar Wilde was an enthusiast) as well as borrowing their props and poses from Classical antiquity. The very attractive model in the new shots is one Barry K and Mikel also posts some pictures by Sascha Schneider whose deeply strange and mystical illustrations have featured here in the past.

Previously on { feuilleton }
• Uranian inspirations
• Forbidden Colours
• Mikel Marton
• The art of Sascha Schneider, 1870–1927
• Toxicboy
• Evolution of an icon

Les Papillons, métamorphoses terrestres des peuples de l’air

Illustrations by Pierre Amédée Varin (1818–1883) of the butterfly people from Les Papillons, métamorphoses terrestres des peuples de l’air (1862), a book by Eugène Nus and Antony Méray. These are from an Amédée Varin set at Flickr which also features some of Varin’s vegetable beings. Butterfly people have been turning up in my own work recently but you’ll have to wait to see those.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive

Previously on { feuilleton }
• The art of Yannis Tsarouchis, 1910–1989
• Butterfly women
• Saint-Aubin’s Butterfly People

Jugend Magazine revisited

It was just over a year ago that I was wishing there was some way to see whole issues of Jugend magazine, the German periodical launched in 1896 whose Art Nouveau style gave its name to the movement in Germany, Jugendstil. Yesterday’s search for Heinrich Vogeler artwork turned up that very thing, scanned editions of Jugend at the University of Heidelberg’s digital archive. Whole numbers from 1896 to 1925! I am aghast. As well as the scanned pages being very high quality you can download the bound collections as PDFs, each one totalling over 400 pages. Leafing through pages of old magazines in a foreign language doesn’t sound very stimulating if you can’t read German but Jugend was a very visual publication. Each issue is crammed with a variety of drawings in styles which range from black-and-white Art Nouveau motifs and quasi-Symbolist illustration to humorous drawings and cartoons. Each issue also featured a large drawing or painting on a fold-out spread.

Continue reading “Jugend Magazine revisited”

Heinrich Vogeler’s illustrated Wilde

The Fisherman and his Soul.

It’s always satisfying when a search intended to satisfy curiosity turns up more than you expect. The subject in this case was German artist Heinrich Vogeler (1872–1942) and the surprise was finding these illustrations for a German collection of Oscar Wilde stories lurking in the archives of the Visual Telling of Stories site. The stock of imagery there is substantial and wide-ranging but the search facility stopped working a while ago and has now been removed so you either have to hit things at random or hope for happy accidents such as this. Vogeler’s volume dates from 1911 and while his draughtsmanship isn’t as assured as some of his contemporaries there’s enough going on to make me want to see more of his illustration work.

The Young King.

Elsewhere on { feuilleton }
• The illustrators archive
• The Oscar Wilde archive