Category: Europe

Malaysia is blessed with some of the richest waters in the world, providing home to countless marine species, some of which are getting endangered and can’t be found in other seas. With such a diverse marine ecosystem, there’s no wonder why Malaysia is a top destination for many divers and is visited by both scuba diving enthusiasts and underwater photographers from all over the world. There are many dive sites in this country, and that includes the world-famous island of Borneo. For many diving enthusiasts and underwater photographers, to dive Borneo is to dive into a paradise of beautiful and truly captivating underwater life.

His family soon knew that he had the makings of an artist and, in 1620, when he could hardly have been more than sixteen, and may have been considerably less, he left Leyden University for the studio of a second-rate painter called Jan van Swanenburch. We have no authentic record of his progress in the studio, but it must have been rapid. He must have made friends, painted pictures, and attracted attention. At the end of three years he went to Lastmans studio in Amsterdam, returning thence to Leyden, where he took Gerard Dou as a pupil. A several years later, it is not easy to settle these dates on a satisfactory basis, he went to Amsterdam, and established himself there, because the Dutch capital was very wealthy and held many patrons of the arts, in spite of the seemingly endless war that Holland was waging with Spain.

His art remained true and sincere, he declined to make the smallest concession to what silly sitters called their taste, but he did not really know what to do with the money and commissions that flowed in upon him so freely. The best use he made of changing circumstances was to become engaged to Saskia van Uylenborch, the cousin of his great friend Hendrick van Uylenborch, the art dealer of Amsterdam. Saskia, who was destined to live for centuries, through the genius of her husband, seems to have been born in 1612, and to have become engaged to Rembrandt Van Ryn when she was twenty. The engagement followed very closely upon the patronage of Rembrandt Van Ryn by Prince Frederic Henry, the Stadtholder, who instructed the artist to paint three pictures.

1. Saskia is enshrined in many pictures.
2. She is seen first as a young girl, then as a woman.
3. As a bride, in the picture now at Dresden, she sits upon her husbands knee, while he raises a big glass with his outstretched arm.
4. Her expression here is rather shy, as if she deprecated the situation and realised that it might be misconstrued.
5. This picture gave offence to Rembrandt Van Ryns critics, but some portraits of Saskia remained to be painted.
6. She would seem to have aged rapidly, for after marriage her days were not long in the land.
7. She was only thirty when she died, and looked much older.

In 1638 we find Rembrandt Van Ryn taking an action against one Albert van Loo, who had dared to call Saskia extravagant. It was, of course, still more extravagant of Rembrandt Van Ryn to waste his money on lawyers on account of a case he could not hope to win, but this thought does not seem to have troubled him. He did not reflect that it would set the gossips talking more cruelly than ever. Still full of enthusiasm for life and art, he was equally full of affection for Saskia, whose hope of raising children seemed doomed to disappointment, for in addition to losing the little Rombertus, two daughters, each named Cornelia, had died soon after birth. In 1640 Rembrandt Van Ryns mother died. Her picture remains on record with that of her husband, painted ten years before, and even the biographers of the artist do not suggest that Rembrandt Van Ryn was anything but a good son. A year later the well-beloved Saskia gave birth to the one child who survived the early years, the boy Titus. Then her health failed, and in 1642 she died, after eight years of married life that would seem to have been happy. In this year Rembrandt Van Ryn painted the famous “Night Watch,” a picture representing the company of Francis Banning Cocq, and incidentally a day scene in spite of its popular name. The work succeeded in arousing a storm of indignation, for every sitter wanted to have equal prominence in the canvas.

It may be said that after Saskias death, and the exhibition of this fine work, Rembrandt Van Ryns pleasant years came to an end. He was then somewhere between thirty-six and thirty-eight years old, he had made his mark, and enjoyed a very large measure of recognition, but henceforward, his career was destined to be a very troubled one, full of disappointment, pain, and care. Perhaps it would have been no bad thing for him if he could have gone with Saskia into the outer darkness. The world would have been poorer, but the man himself would have been spared many years that may be even the devoted labours of his studio could not redeem.

Between 1642, when Saskia died, and 1649, it is not easy to follow the progress of his life; we can only state with certainty that his difficulties increased almost as quickly as his work ripened. His connection with Hendrickje Stoffels would seem to have started about 1649, and this woman with whom he lived until her death some thirteen years later, has been abused by many biographers because she was the painters mistress.

He has left to the world some 500 or 600 pictures that are admitted to be genuine, together with the etchings and drawings to which reference has been made. He is to be seen in many galleries in the Old World and the New, for he painted his own portrait more than a score of times. So Rembrandt Van Ryn has been raised in our days to the pinnacle of fame which is his by right; the festival of his tercentenary was acknowledged by the whole civilised world as the natural utterance of joy and pride of our small country in being able to count among its children the great Rembrandt Van Ryn.

Manhattan is the oldest, smallest and most densely-populated of the five boroughs of New York City. A borough is a unique form of government that administers the five fundamental constituent parts of the consolidated city. Technically, under New York State Law, a “borough” is a municipal corporation that is created when a county is merged with the cities, towns, and incorporated villages within it.

The First Theft:

The first documented case of art theft was in 1473, when two panels of altarpiece of the Last Judgment by the Dutch painter Hans Memling were stolen. While the triptych was being transported by ship from the Netherlands to Florence, the ship was attacked by pirates who took it to the Gdansk cathedral in Poland. Nowadays, the piece is shown at the National Museum in Gdansk where it was recently moved from the Basilica of the Assumption. The Most Famous Theft:
The most famous story of art theft involves one of the most famous paintings in the world and one of the most famous artists in history as a suspect. In the night of August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen out of the Louver. Soon after, Pablo Picasso was arrested and questioned by the police, but was released quickly.

It took about two years until the mystery was solved by the Parisian police. It turned out that the 30×21 inch painting was taken by one of the museum employees by the name of Vincenzo Peruggia, who simply carried it hidden under his coat. Nevertheless, Peruggia did not work alone. The crime was carefully conducted by a notorious con man, Eduardo de Valfierno, who was sent by an art faker who intended to make copies and sell them as if they were the original painting.

While Yves Chaudron, the art faker, was busy creating copies for the famous masterpiece, Mona Lisa was still hidden at Peruggias apartment. After two years in which Peruggia did not hear from Chaudron, he tried to make the best out of his stolen good. Eventually, Peruggia was caught by the police while trying to sell the painting to an art dealer from Florence, Italy. The Mona Lisa was returned to the Louver in 1913.

The Biggest Theft in the USA:

The biggest art theft in United States took place at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. On the night of March 18, 1990, a group of thieves wearing police uniforms broke into the museum and took thirteen paintings whose collective value was estimated at around 300 million dollars. The thieves took two paintings and one print by Rembrandt, and works of Vermeer, Manet, Degas, Govaert Flinck, as well as a French and a Chinese artifact.

As of yet, none of the paintings have been found and the case is still unsolved. According to recent rumors, the FBI are investigating the possibility that the Boston Mob along with French art dealers are connected to the crime.

The Scream:

The painting by Edvard Munchs, The Scream, is probably the most sought after painting by art thieves in history. It has been stolen twice and was only recently recovered. In 1994, during the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, The Scream was stolen from an Oslo gallery by two thieves who broke through an open window, set off the alarm and left a note saying: thanks for the poor security.

Three months later, the holders of the painting approached the Norwegian Government with an offer: 1 million dollars ransom for Edvard Munchs The Scream. The Government turned down the offer, but the Norwegian police collaborated with the British Police and the Getty Museum to organize a sting operation that brought back the painting to where it belongs.

Ten years later, The Scream was stolen again from the Munch Museum. This time, the robbers used a gun and took another of Munchs painting with them. While Museum officials waiting for the thieves to request ransom money, rumors claimed that both paintings were burned to conceal evidence. Eventually, the Norwegian police discovered the two paintings on August 31, 2006 but the facts on how they were recovered are not known yet.

Miami is a major city located on Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat Miami Dade County in Florida. Miami. Miami is a major center and leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts and the International trade.

Chinese art, and in particular, Chinese painting is greatly treasured around the globe. Chinese painting can be retraced to as far back as six thousand years ago in the Neolithic Age when the Chinese have started using brushes in their paintings. Chinese art dates back even sooner than that.

According to subject matter, Chinese paintings can be classified as landscapes, character paintings and flower-and-bird paintings. In traditional Chinese painting, Chinese landscape painting embodies a major category, depicting nature, especially mountains and bodies of water. Landscapes have customarily been the choice of the Chinese because they manifest the poetry characteristic in nature. Accordingly, many esteemed paintings are landscapes.

The most popularly known form of Chinese painting is “Water-ink” painting, where water-ink is the medium. Some of the basic things required for the Chinese painting include: paper, brush, ink or ink stick, ink stone, and color.

1. Brush: The Chinese brush is a mandatory tool for Chinese painting. The brush should be sturdy and pliable. Two types of brushes are used. The more delicate brush is created from white sheep hair. This brush should be soaked first, and then dried to prevent curling. The second one is made from fox or deer sable fibers, which are very durable, and is inclined to paint better. The procedure the brush is used depends on the varied features of brush strokes one wants to obtain, such as weight, lightness, gracefulness, ruggedness, firmness, and fullness. Various forms of shades are applied to impart space, texture, or depth.
2. Ink Stick: There are three types of Ink Stick: resin soot, lacquer soot, and tung-oil soot. Of the three, tung-oil soot is the most commonly used. Otherwise, Chinese ink is best if ink stick or ink stone are ineffectual.
3. Paper: The most generally used paper is Xuan paper, which is fabricated of sandalwood bark. This is exceptionally water retentive, so the color or ink disperses the moment the brush stroke is put down. The second most well-known is Mian paper.
4. Color: The most former Chinese paintings used Mo, a type of natural ink, to produce monochromatic representations of nature or day-to-day life. Made of pine soot, mo is combined with water to get unique shades for conveying appropriate layers or color in a painting.

Chinese painting is called shui-mo-hua. Shui-mo is the combination of shui (water) and mo. There are two styles of Chinese painting. They are gong-bi or detailed style, and xie-yi or freehand style. The second is the most common, not only since the objects are depicted with just a few strokes, but likewise because shapes and sprites are drawn by uncomplicated curves and natural ink. Many ancient poets and students used xie-yi paintings to give tongue to their religious anguish.

The I-94 form is nothing but an Arrival and Departure record which mentions a users authorized stay in the USA. Given todays changed climate it becomes essential that your arrival and departure are properly documented in the USA.

Famous artists paintings have earned world wide recognition in different periods of times. Famous painters paintings truly an asset for fine arts. There have been a great number of famous painters in different parts of the world in different periods of times. These include Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Leonardo Da Vinci, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse,Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso,Pierre Auguste Renoir,Henri Rousseau,Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,Vincent Van Gogh,Andy Warhol.

Yo Picasso

1. Famous abstract paintings present the fine art at the highest level.
2. Famous abstract artists have been gratly greatly appreciated for their famous abstract oil paintings.
3. Picasso is one of the most famous abstract painter. Picasso became very famous because he work in multiple styles.
4. Famous paintings of Picasso are Guernica ,Three Musicians,The Three Dancers and Self Portrait: Yo Picasso.
5. Picasso famous paintings have earned him worldwide recognition.

Many famous flower paintings have been created by the outstanding flower painters. Famous Floral Oil Paintings are in wide range of styles. Famous floral fine art paintings are exquisite. Famous landscape paintings are the master pieces of fine art. Famous Landscape painters have created a great number of famous landscape paintings. Famous Landscape art has greatly been admired in all the periods of times. Famous contemporary landscape painters have successfully attained the mastery in the landscape art.

Still life fruit paintings and fruit bowl paintings make the famous fruit paintings. The highly skilled artists have also created the most famous paintings of rotting fruit. The modern famous artists are successful creating the masterpieces of still fruit oil paintings and oil pastel fruit paintings.

Famous still Life art depicts drinking glasses, foodstuffs, pipes, books and so on. Famous Still life paintings are indeed the master pieces of fine art. Woman portrait paintings make the famous portrait paintings. There are also famous portrait paintings of men. Famous portrait paintings of Oscar dela hova have been greatly appreciated. Japanese women portrait paintings are very popular in Japanese culture. In addition to women portrait paintings and portrait paintings of men, there are many famous pet portrait paintings and famous portrait paintings of houses and famous paintings of sports cars.

Famous Islamic paintings of holy places and the famous islamic calligraphy of the holy verses have been truly represent the muslim art. Famous muslim artists have developed mastery of Islamic art calligraphy. The famous Islamic paintings include the paintings of the Holy places such as Khana kaaba, Masjid-e-Nabvi and other famous mosques and shrines. Famous Islamic art is fascinating and has always been appreciated. The famous Islamic art galleries have produced a great number of famous muslim painters and famous muslim calligraphist.

Famous modern galleries have produced the famous contemporary artists who have created many famous contemporary paintings. Famous oil paintings reproduction are also created in these famous galleries.

In addition to above styles, there are many famous paintings of other subjects. These include famous war paintings, famous paintings of jesus, famous figure paintings, religious famous paintings, famous paintings romantic, famous battle paintings, famous military paintings, famous sunset paintings, famous paintings of women, famous paintings of love, famous water paintings, famous acrylic paintings, famous paintings of buildings, famous dance paintings, famous dragon paintings, famous black paintings, famous paintings in the fall, famous paintings of cats, famous paintings of children, famous paintings of friends, famous paintings of christinaity, famous paintings of jesus and famous paintings of humanity. There are also famous native American paintings and famous Spanish paintings.

Caravan holidays are one of the most popular forms of family holidays these days. This is because they are affordable, entertaining, scenic and full of fun and adventure. They are less expensive and more flexible than hotels, and are just perfect for families with children.

Edgar Allan Poe, author of “Annabel Lee” and “The Fall of the House of Usher”, is easily recognized as one of the foremost masters of horror and the macabre. His works have inspired terror and anxiety in many individuals, primarily through the use of heavy psychological tones, as opposed to the gore and blood themes used and abused by writers of his time. Poes collected works easily counts as some of the most frightening material ever written, especially now, in an age where horror movies are relegated to two hours of bloodshed and senseless violence, lacking any true horror and relying solely on shock value to appear “scary.” Poe also stands out as being among the few who can make even the most mundane things seem utterly terrifying, a feat emulated by Stephen King and several Japanese horror authors, but never truly duplicated.

In a completely different vein of horror from his predecessors, and arguably creating a sub-genre of horror through his works, H. P. Lovecraft also stands out. His works, while lacking in humanity, are difficult to see as anything but terrifying, particularly because of the apparent lack of humanity in them. In contrast to writers of previous generations, Lovecraft focused more on the truly monstrous, ignoring the human element that most horror writers tended to insert into their works since the days of the Gothic era. His stories were littered with monsters that knew neither morality nor mercy, seeing humanity as insignificant insects and, in Lovecrafts malignant world of ancient races and Elder Gods, humanity was insignificant. He also brought back something from the Gothic horror era, showing his readers that knowledge, even just a little knowledge, can lead to the most terrifying of discoveries. This is perhaps best exemplified by the so-called “Cthulhu Mythos,” a collection of stories that centered around Lovecrafts anti-mythological beings.

Frankenstein

1. Among the most enduring horror classics in the world is that of Shelleys “Frankenstein,” which combines the elements of horror with the intrinsic questions that plagued morality and philosophy at the time.
2. In some ways, the story is one that puts a new spin on the old ghost story, in that the “ghost” is inevitably caused by the actions of mortal men who meddled in things they were not meant to.
3. The story, aside from being a genuine tale of terror, also took on the role of a lesson in morality and the limits to just how far medical science could go.
4. Prolonging life is one thing, but bringing back the dead is another thing entirely, which is one of the subtle messages of the novel.
5. The underlying question of whether or not Frankensteins creature is the monster, or if it is Frankenstein himself, also contributes to making the story a memorable, chilling tale.

However, very few stories can truly stand up against the pure terror and the subtle anxiety and dread caused by Bram Stokers infamous novel, “Dracula.” The novel is a hallmark of the Gothic horror era, presenting a villain of potentially epic scope in the guise of a remarkable gentleman and nobleman. It deviated from other vampire stories of the time in that the vampire, Dracula, was not monstrous in appearance. He looked every inch a master and nobleman, establishing the “lord of the night” archetype that would be a stock image of vampire characters in literature for centuries to come. It also had all the elements necessary to both frighten readers and keep them coming back for more, marking it as the most enduring horror novel in history.