The Art Of French Opera

French opera is the traditional opera of France and was spread from Italy. It was Cardinal Mazarin a reagent of King Louis XIV who presented the first opera named “La Finta Pazza” in the year 1645. This inspired King Louis XIV and he was the one behind the flourishing of opera in France. The father of French opera was Jean-Baptiste Lully; he presented “Cadmus et Hermione” in the king’s court. After seeing that performance, the king’s interest increased even more. This encouraged Lully to make “Tragedie En Musique”, also known as tragedies en musique, along with Philippe Quinault. It was the tragic story of Corneille and Racine and it was a dance musical with choral writing. Lully was famous for composing music for plays meant for court as well as many other theaters. Cadmus et Hermione was the first French opera of Lully in Paris.

This pair was also known for altering the complex and detailed Baroque plot. They made a five-act structure instead. Before the performance praises were sung for King Louis XIV this was inspired from Italy who sung allegorical prologue instead. It then started with an aria which was followed by recitative and a short aria which was elaborately modeled keeping the French taste in mind and was appreciated many times. It then ended with divertissement. It was the most important factor as it involved lots of singing, dancing, and lots of entertainment which was the main attraction for the audience. In the mid of eighteenth century “opera Comique” another opera genre caught the fancy of the people in which dialogues and arias music were used. Huge efforts were put in to make the performance a success and especially to win the heart of the king. The stage was set with lots of details and special effects known as machinery in which Olivet did the choreography and Quinault wrote the phrases.

Lully had acquired the whole market by befriending the king. It was only after his death that the other composers got a chance to show their talents. Marc-Antoine Charpentier was one such opera composer who wrote and presented his first “Tragedie en mMusique”, “Medee” in the year 1693. As he had some Italian connection this disappointed Lully’s fans and hence it received a mixed reaction. Andre Campra and Marin Marais also made their attempts at Tragedie en Musique. Campra later created a new type of opera known as opera ballet. It had more dance and musical element in it. A lot of comedy was also included with a light storyline. This was different from what Lully used to compose and it proved to be a good change for the audience with it’s over whelming response. This gave the idea of involving comedy completely into the performance. This was done by Mouret who used this style in his work Les amours de Ragonde.

Another composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau became a very important part of the history of French opera after Lully. His first work Hippolyte et Aricie was at the age of fifty. He used a lot of experimentation which created a stir in the audience. Although Campra appreciated it most of the fans of Lully were shocked. This created a clear line of separation between the audiences. This made Rameau to follow the existing rules. But this time he was opposed by the Italian counterparts who called him old-fashioned. This was when Rameau created a new opera genre known as opera Comique. Theater De I’Opera-Comique worked on this idea and became very famous in the eighteenth century. Even in the twentieth century composers such as Reynaldo Hahn and Andre Messager wrote many works in opera Comique.

Even to this day the French Opera is alive and popular in many quarters of the country.

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Collecting Impressionist Cityscapes

I have been looking for impressionist cityscapes in various mediums to decorate my home. I prefer to hang art that was created in the last fifteen years. There are so many great artists to choose from.

I have decided that I want to have three impressionist cityscapes painted in acrylic. I will be buying one called Stormy Desert that was painted by an artist named JoanAnn. The piece is painted on a 40” X 30” canvas and has flowering cactus plants in the foreground.

The next impressionist cityscape painting I plan to buy is called Tuscan Waterfall. The piece is a triptych and is on three gallery wrapped canvases. The artist lives in Tennessee and supports herself with her art.

The last acrylic impressionist cityscape that I plan to buy is called Autumn Dream. Autumn is my favorite time of year and the painting captures every color of autumn. The artist painted the sides, so there is no need to have it framed. I can’t wait to see this hanging in my home.

I have found only two impressionist cityscapes that I liked in the Gouache medium. The first was from an artist named Joe Wojdakowski and the subject is an area located in Wells, Maine. I’m not sure why I am so drawn to this particular impressionist cityscape, but I am and plan to buy it.

The other Gouache impressionist cityscape that I plan to buy features Big Ben in London. The artist is an Englishman named Alasdair Rennie. The scene is rainy and I like it a lot. It reminds me of my time in London when I was a child.

The first oil impressionist cityscape painting I bought was called Koi Pond Reflections. I’ve seen this artist’s work before and I always really like it. The painting was completed using brush and knife. The painting has not arrived, yet, because the paint is very thick and needs to complete the drying process undisturbed. I cannot wait to get it!

I really like having various styles of impressionist cityscape paintings. I don’t just like variety in the mediums; I like variety in styles and influences. I really fell in love with an oil impressionist cityscape painting called En Sendero that was originally purchased in Oaxaca, Mexico. I purchased the painting for just over three thousand dollars.

The oil impressionist cityscape painting of Paris that I want was painted by a well recognized painter Radik Atoyan. He is Armenian and signed the painting in his Armenian language. He has a unique way of using color that just makes his painting look special.

I have also been interested in watercolor impressionist cityscape paintings. There is an original painting that depicts an urban rainy night that I think would be perfect for me. The painting just makes me feel good to look into.

I made a purchase not long ago that was painted by an Israeli artist named Yosef Kosssonogi. The use of color in this watercolor impressionist cityscape is so vivid. I could not wait to hang it on my wall. After the shipment arrived with the painting, my brother came right over with a level to hang it.

I found a painting that reminded me of a vacation I took to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The impressionist cityscape painting was created by Adam Maeroff and I think that it is the perfect painting to complete my collection.

Futurism - Collecting Paintings

A 20th century art movement with its’ roots in Italian and Russian beginnings, Futurism is said to have largely began with the writing of a 1907 essay on music by the Italian composer Ferruccio Busoni, and explored every medium of art to convey its’ meanings. The Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was the first to produce an article in which was summed up the major principles that became the Manifesto of Futurism in 1909. It included the passionate loathing of ideas from the past, and with that enmity of political and artistic traditions, espoused a love for speed and technology.

The philosophy of Futurism regarded the car, the plane, and the industrial town as legendary of the technological triumph of mankind over nature. With Marinetti at the helm, a few artists of the time introduced the tenets of the philosophy to the visual arts, and represented the movement in its’ first phase in 1910. The Russian Futurists were fascinated with dynamism and the restlessness of modern urban life, purposefully seeking to provoke controversy and attract attention to their works through insulting reviews of the static art of the past, and the circle of Russian Futurists were predominantly literary as opposed to being overtly artistic.

Cubo-Futurism was a school of Russian Futurism formulated in 1913, and many of the works incorporated Cubism’s usage of angular forms combined with the Futurist predisposition for dynamism. The Futurist painter Kazimir Malevich was the artist to develop the style, but dismissed it for the inception of the artistic style known as Suprematism, that focused upon the fundamental geometric shapes as a form of non-objective art. Suprematism grew around Malevich, with most prominent works being produced between 1915 and 1918, but the movement had halted for the most part by 1934 in Stalinist Russia.

Though at one point, those Russian poets and artists that considered themselves Futurists had collaborated on works such a Futurist opera, but the Russian movement broke down from persecution for their belief in free thought with the start of the Stalinist age. Italian Futurists were strongly linked with the early fascists in the hope for modernizing the society and economy in the 1920s through to the 1930s, and Marinetti founded the Futurist Political Party in early 1918, which was later absorbed into Benito Mussolini’s National Fascist Party.

As tensions grew within the various artistic faces that considered themselves Futurists, many Futurists became associated with fascism which later translated into Futurist architecture being born, and interesting examples of this style can be found today even though many Futurist architects were at odds in the fascist taste for Roman imperial patterns. Futurism has even influenced many other 20th century art movements such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Art Deco styles. Futurism as a movement is considered extinct for the most part with the death of Marinetti in 1944.

As Futurism gave way to the actual future of things, the ideals of the artistic movement have remained significant in Western culture through the expressions of the commercial cinema and culture, and can even be as an influence in modern Japanese anime and cinema. The Cyberpunk genre of films and books owe much to the Futurist tenets, and the movement has even spawned Neo-Futurism, a style of theatre at utilizes on Futurism’s focuses to create a new form of theatre. Much of Futurism’s inspiration came from the previous movement of Cubism, that involved such famed artists as Pablo Picasso and Paul Cezanne, and created much of the basis for Futurism through its’ philosophy.

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The Beijing Opera

During the 18th-19th century Peking opera or more commonly known as Beijing Opera flourished in the Qing Dynasty. It had attained such levels that it was specifically being performed in the royal court and later was made accessible to public. Native to the Anhui and Hubei province this art later became the cultural jewel of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. Over the period of time its fame crossed the Great Wall of China and spread to countries like Taiwan, Japan and America.

The movements of the dancers are very graceful. Dialogues, music, song, dance and combat are used to the fullest extent to depict the storyline which majorly revolves around Chinese age old folklore and history. The Beijing opera performers wear bright colored outfits to be the center of attraction on sparingly decorated stage. The dialect used in dialogue delivery is archaic dialect. Since it has a great historical value the actors really worked hard in order to respect and carry on the tradition. The training was started at a very tender age which lasted for seven years on permission from the parents. The student was expected to pay back to the teacher by the future performances. Daily routine consisted of early rise followed by training in acting, acrobatics, and combat. The senior students perform in the evening theaters. Upon committing a mistake the whole bunch of students were punished with bamboo cane but training became milder during the 1900s. These schools were shut down during the Japanese invasio n in 1931 but again reestablished in 1952. The renowned schools popular in this art are the Ma Lianliang school, the Qi Lintong school and the Cheng Yanqiu school. The repository of this opera includes about one thousand and four hundred works.

The Four Anhui Troupes was responsible for the birth of Beijing opera in the late 1700s. They were joined by the Hubei tropes in the early 1800s and came to its complete form in mid 1800s. This form of art is actually a mixture of various dance forms and music with a unique twist. There are four leading characters in Beijing opera. The Sheng is the male lead role with subtype Laosheng, old and wise version, Xiaosheng, the younger version and Wusheng, the warrior version. This character is gentle and sophisticated and the costumes worn by them are more subtle. The Laosheng character is further categorized as Guan Gong, God of War and Zhao Kuang-yin, the first emperor of the Song Dynasty. Xiaosheng sings in a loud and shrill voice.

In the later years, the male actors began painting their faces. These characters were known as Jing. They were usually supporting characters and were forceful so they had to have a heavy voice and exaggerated expression. Dan is the female lead and is divided into five types. Laodan was played by aged ladies, Wudan was played by middle aged women depicting married women, Daomadan were brave female warriors, Qingyi were righteous women and Huadan were young and innocent girls. The role Qingyi and Huadan together is known as Huashan.

The male clown role was known as Chou. It was a minor role to add some humor to serious scenes. The character of Chou hardly got a chance to sing when compared to the Kunqu opera which was its inspiration. On the whole this art form cut down on the voice and singing .Acrobatics came to its full form in Beijing opera. So actors who couldn’t sing much but knew acrobatics well were easily taken into the performing troupe.

The drama was being accompanied with music. The two different styles of music being played are Xipi, created by the Anhui tropes and Erhuang, created by the Hubei tropes. Based on this music, the earliest name of Beijing opera was Pihuang which changed according to geographical location and time. The melodies can be classified as arias, fixed and percussion. It was known as Guoju in Taiwan.

The Anhui troupe gained name and fame after forming Beijing opera and were invited to various kingdoms to perform. Empress Dowager Cixi encouraged this art and became a great admirer of it. The performing troupes consisted of only males at first as the Qianlong Emperor had banned female actors. But in the 1870s, a former Beijing opera performer, Li Maoer started a female troupe, which persuaded others to take the lead and finally the ban was lifted in 1912.

Love Of Modern Oil Paintings

I have been buying modern oil paintings for a show in my gallery. I have found many nice pieces. I found a painting called Village in winter in a private collection in Illinois. The artist was Fern Isabel Coppedge and she was an American. I liked the piece because of the snowy scene. It reminded me of my childhood.

While on a buying trip, I found Clouds Over Buckingham. This was a really nice modern oil painting that was in a private collection in Pennsylvania. I have seen work by this artist before and it always resells very well.

Buying modern oil paintings has taken me to various places across the United States. I especially liked Main Line, Pennsylvania. That is where I acquired Leaning Silo. The artist of Leaning Silo was Arthur Meltzer. I had been previously unfamiliar with him.

I enjoyed my trip to Long Island City. I was buying modern oil paintings and found one from a French artist named Georges Antoine Rochegrosse that I really liked. This painting was painted around 1900 and it was full of flowers. I really liked it and think it will do well in the show.

I find that I can buy modern oil paintings very efficiently on the internet. I found an art dealer in the United Kingdom that finds me some very nice items to show. Recently, he sent me a painting of a nude beauty by British artist Allan Douglas Davidson.

The modern oil painting depicted a young Bohemian woman wearing only flowers in her hair. She also has large gold earrings. She is posed against a dark background which highlights the perfection of her creamy skin.

The still life I recently acquired was so amazingly real looking. This was one of the most beautiful modern oil paintings that I’ve found. The detail was exceptional and the representation of the blooming rose was breathtaking.

I was so lucky when I found an original Max Ernst modern oil painting. The title of the piece I found was Arizona Desert. I really think it will do well in my show and I didn’t even pay half of what I think it is really worth. It will make a great addition to someone’s collection.

I found a modern oil painting by the Spanish artist Grifoll that I liked. I’m not sure how well this painting of a clown will sell, but I liked it and I think that there is bound to be someone who just can’t live without it.

I just adore paintings that depict Paris. I don’t even care about the period or the style. I was able to find a really nice modern oil painting by Edouard Cortes for my show. The painting depicts flower vendors and a horse carriage. I almost feel like I’m in turn of the century Paris when I look into it for a long time.

There are a lot of modern oil paintings that depict roses. I plan to have a grouping of several at my show. I was able to buy a painting by Theresa Bernstein called Roses that she painted in the 1940s. She lived to be 111 years old and that is pretty amazing.

A popular theme among modern oil paintings is nautical. I really do not like nautical paintings and don’t want them in my show. I have had several friends implore me to change my mind. I keep being told that I can’t possibly have a show of modern oil paintings that does not include a ship.

I had an assistant bring in a modern oil painting that had an interesting history. It was more because of the history of the painting that I decided to hang it than because of its content. The ship scene was really not to my liking, but I bought it anyway.

I have been looking for an antique street scene painted by Bettylane Resnik. I saw a modern oil painting by her in an art catalog that depicted a really colorful street scene. I can’t seem to find the current owner, but I’m trying. I think that it would complete my show.

About Synchromism Paintings

Synchromism paintings feature harmoniously balanced colors and a feeling of movement. It is believed that synchromist paintings evoke similar feelings and sensations as music. This is a basic tenet of the synchromism art movement. As such, these paintings make wonderfully pleasing additions to any modern art collection.

Founded in 1912 by Morgan Russell and Stanton MacDonald-Wright, synchromism was an art movement based no the idea that sound and color are phenomena that are similar in the way that the individual experiences and perceives them. Movement as well as organization of color into ‘color scales’ are the ways in which synchromism pieces correlate to musical art forms.

A basic tenet of synchromism is that color can be arranged or orchestrated in much the same way that notes of a symphony are arranged by composers. This harmonious arrangement of colors and shapes produces experiential results similar to that of listening to well balanced orchestral compositions.

Artists of the synchromism art movement believed that by painting in color scales could evoke sensations that were very musical in nature. Typically, synchromism pieces feature a strong rhythmic form or forms that then advance toward complexity in form and hue, moving in a particular direction.

In many cases, such explosion of color using color scales pours out in a radial pattern. It is most common for synchromism art works to have some sort of central vortex that bursts outward with color, into complex color harmonies.

The first painting to be dubbed a synchromism work, was Morgan Russell’s ‘Synchromy in Green’ which was exhibited in Paris at the Paris Salon des Independants in the year 1913. That same year, the first exhibition featuring primarily synchromist works by MacDonald-Wright and Russell was held in Munich, Germany. Following the synchromist exhibition in Munich, there were exhibits in both Paris and New York.

These first synchromist pieces were some of the first non-objective abstract paintings found in American art. These later became better known under the label of ‘avante-garde’. In this way, synchromism was the first American avant garde art movement that gained attention internationally.

Synchromism has been compared and contrasted to Orphism. Orphism refers to paintings that relate to the Greek god Orpheus, the symbol of song, the arts and the lyre. Though Orphism is rooted in cubism, this movement moved toward a lyrical abstraction that was more pure, in the sense that this form of painting was about synthesizing a sensation of bright colors.

Though there is little doubt that Orphism was an influence to later Synchromism, Synchromists would argue that it is an entirely unique art form. As Stanton MacDonald-Wright said, “synchromism has nothing to do with orphism and anybody who has read the first catalogue of synchromism … would realize that we poked fun at orphism.”

Several other American painters have been known to experiment with synchromism. Whether synchromism was a branch of orphism or its own unique art form, there is little doubt that the harmonious use of color and movement based composition inspired many artists and art forms. Among these artists were Andrew Dasburg, Thomas Hart Benton and Patrick Henry Bruce.

Though the majority of Thomas Hart Benton’s works centered on regionalism and murals, there was also a strong flair of synchromism. Benton’s interest and incorporation of synchromism was due mainly from having studied with synchromism artists such as Stanton MacDonald-Wright and Diego Rivera.

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