Frankenstein ca. 1910

Here we have the first film version of Mary Shelly's famous book "Frankenstein" made by Edison studios in 1910. The movie is only 13 minutes long and a fortunate survivor of the silent movie age. I myself particularly liked the birth of the monster scene.

A Fool There Was

This is one of only six films preserved of the legendary silent film star Theda Bara. Of the silent film era Theda Bara was one of the eras most important stars including Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin.

Here is the 1915 film starring the original Vamp,which at that time stood for Vampire. Hollywood's first sex symbol Theda Bara's "A Fool There Was".

Woman with Fan ca.1919

I do love Amedeo Modigliani's work but particularly this one which was painted by the artist in 1919. The painting is one of ten portraits Modigliani did of the lovely Lunia Czechowska with this one being done only a year before his early death in January of 1920.

The painting along with four others was stolen from the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris on March 20 2010. The single thief stole paintings by Braque, Picasso, Modigliani and Léger, which were cut from their frames.

A Missing Van Gogh

The oil on canvas painting was painted by Vincent Van Gogh in August 1888 and known as Still Life: Vase with Oleanders. The location of the painting is unknown and may have been stolen in 1944. The painting was the property of Bernheim-Jeune gallery in Paris, a gallery owned by a French Jewish family and later confiscated by the Nazi's.

The painting was among artworks hidden by the family during world war II at Château de Rastignac. On March 30, 1944 as retribution towards the french underground the chateau was emptied by the Nazi's of five truckloads of objects and the chateau set on fire. Whether destroyed in the fire or stolen the painting has not resurfaced.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Stolen Rembrandt

At two in the morning on September 4, 1972 three men entered the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts through a skylight. The men then bound and gagged the museums guards and proceeded to rob the museum of 18 painting as well as jewelry and figurines.

Of the loot the most important piece was a million dollar Rembrandt from 1654 called "Landscape with cottages". Nearly forty years later the art including the Rembrandt has never been seen again.

Graffiti in the Necropolis

This is an article with lots of pictures of a necropolis in the southern Galilee in Israel at a site known as Beit She'arim. The 30 excavated tombs contain many graffiti which a team is on a mission to record all the known graffiti at the site.

The article is interesting and make sure you see the photographs.

Raphael: Madonna of the Pinks

After having posted the da Vinci and Botticelli versions of this subject I had to post the  "Madonna of the Pinks" by the great Renaissance master Raphael.

Wedding of Charles I of Austria and Princess Zita, Ca. 1911

The Gardner's Stolen Rembrandt

This is the prolific Rembrandt's only seascape "Christ in a storm on the sea of Galilee". The painting was created in 1633 and today belongs to the Isabella Gardner Museum of Boston though the painting was stolen during a robbery of the museum on March 18, 1990.

The two robbers dressed up as police officers and stole 13 works of art including a number of Rembrandt's as well as "The Concert" by Vermeer. Today the museum displays the empty frames in the place where the paintings used to be.

There is up to a $5 million reward for the return of the art.

Please contact the museums Director of security
Anthony Amore, Director of Security, 617 278 5114, aamoreisgm.org

Madonna of the Book

Here we have the "Madonna of the book" by Sandro Botticelli painted by the Renaissance master in ca. 1483 ce. Botticelli is among the artists who was responsible for some of the paintings within the Sistine chapel.

Botticelli was a prolific painter with perhaps his most famous painting being "The birth of Venus" painted in ca. 1486, However Botticelli might not be everyone's favorite painter besides a few portraits the bulk of the body of his work is on religious subjects.

I placed this painting here because of the da Vinci which proceeds it is the same subject matter by two of the greatest Renaissance artists

Another Disputed Leonardo

The little baby looks to me like something from the hobbit though the painting is quite lovely and the disquieting baby fits well into the serene arms of it's mother. The painting has a date of 1490 ad., and is called Madonna Litta, it currently hangs in Russia's Hermitage museum.

It's attribution to Leonardo da Vinci is based on a sketch of the Madonna's head by Leonardo in the Louvre. There is some thought that the painting was started by Leonardo but finished by one of his students hence the awkward looking baby.

The Lady in the Louvre

From the school of Leonardo

La Belle Ferronnière, Real or Not

Here we have "La Belle Ferronnière" accredited to have been painted by the great Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519). The sitter is believed to be Lucrezia Crivelli, a mistress of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan.

Ninety years ago the painting was put up for sale inspiring a newspaper reporter to ask leading art critic Sir Joseph Duveen for his opinion of the painting to which Sir Duveen replied that the portrait was surely a fake!.

Sir Duveen was sued by the paintings owner for slander and lost having to make $60 000 in reparations to the owners.

The lovely painting has since undergone a number of tests, some of which show that the materials used in its creation are completely appropriate to da Vinci and that the painting had been done before 1750.

Lady with an Ermine by Leonardo Da Vinci ca. 1489-90

Okay so my readers will notice on this page two previous posts of beautiful ladies by Leonardo Da Vinci so I could not resist this beautiful lady who is believed to be Cecilia Gallerani and at the time was one of the mistresses of the Duke of Milan who happened to be Leonardo's employer.

She has left her owners the Polish Princes Czartoryski Foundation, Poland and is currently housed in an exhibition in the royal palace in Madrid. She is one of three surviving female portraits by Leonardo the other two you will find in the posts below.

Canada's Sad History

During world war II Japanese Canadian's were removed from their homes in Vancouver and around the province and placed in internment camps in the interior of British Columbia . The internment camps were set up after the 7th of December 1941 attack on Pearl harbour in a paranoid atmosphere which believed that the Japanese in British Columbia would attack Canada in collusion with the attack on Pearl harbour.

Prime minister Mackenzie King ordered that all Japanese property be seized and held in a trust but in 1943 the trust was liquidated by the government. Prime minister King also ordered that Japanese Canadians be  removed and detained in camps in the interior. Of the 22000 Japanese Canadian's detained 14000 were born in Canada. 

It took till 1988 before an apology was given by then Prime minister Brian Mulroney and all those who had been deported back to Japan had their Canadian citizenship's restored.