Her conservative politics were as ironclad as her swept-back hair. Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, was almost never seen without pearls and a power suit. She died Monday at age 87.
Her resolute image was immortalized by Philadelphia portrait painter, Nelson Shanks.
Shanks has looked long and deeply into the faces of some of the most important people of the 20th century, including Pope John Paul II, President Ronald Reagan, and Princess Diana.
The portraitist, who opened an art school in Philadelphia’s North Chinatown called Studio Incamminati, was hired to paint Thatcher’s portrait, twice. Once in 1994, and again in 1998. Each occasion required her to sit still for more than 40 hours.
It all started when Roberta and Richard Huber discovered Spanish colonial art at a small museum in Buenos Aires. They were hooked by the beauty of the paintings and sculptures — and their revelations of a rich, complex history that spoke of power, religion and global commerce.
Spain and Portugal ruled most of the world as far back as the 16th century. The far-reaching influence of this imperial dominance can be traced through Iberian art works on exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Journeys to New Worlds,” based on the Hubers’ collection, runs through May 19.
Full story from NewsWorks
A city’s skyline is like a signature. It’s how the world knows it, and how the city knows itself.
A series of illustrations by Yoni Alter shows stylized skylines comprising landmarks in a colorful array.
There’s no Philadelphia — but check out Pittsburgh! Can you pick out the Fort Pitt Bridge, the 10th Street Bridge, PPG Place, Highmark Place, Gulf Tower, Cathedral of Learning, Allegheny County Courthouse, and the Point State park fountain?
Iñaki Aliste Lizarralde, a Spanish interior designer, has hand-drawn a series of floor plans for popular television character residences.
Can you guess whose house this is?
Not to be confused with wit’ da Ack-a-mee grocery store chain prevalent in these parts, a very different sort fo ACME supplied provisions for WIl E. Coyote’s more hare-brained schemes to catch that elusive Roadrunner.
Rob Loukotka, an enterprising artist in Chicago, created a poster featuring sketches of all 126 ACME products ever “produced” — anvils, complicated explosives, a tornado kit, a rocket-powered pogo stick, everything.
Thankfully, his Kickstarter campaign to produce and sell the poster was a complete success. The world needs more ACME posters.
This series from photographer Thierry Cohen shows what some cities might look like at night without any lights on.
Kinda reminds me that we on planet Earth are a part of this huge thing called outer space.
Famed architect Furness also fascinated with the human facade
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia is the repository of working drawings by the great 19th-century architect Frank Furness.
Currently it has something more whimsical on exhibition. Bulging eyes. Prolonged noses. Mouths twisted in grotesque grimaces.
“He had a great way of looking at your face and finding the couple distinctive features about your cheeks, forehead, or nose, and stretching them to the point where you are recognizable but making you look — frankly — ghastly,” said Michael Lewis, a professor of art history at Williams College.
Lewis curated “Face and Form: The Art and Caricature of Frank Furness,” a selection of drawings from Furness’ personal sketchbooks, most of which are privately held by his descendants and have never been seen publicly.
Throughout his long career as an architect, Furness constantly drew funny faces for his own amusement, often at the expense of friends, clients, and relatives who were the subjects of the drawings. The quick but deftly accomplished illustrations hang beside examples of his architectural work to show that an exaggerated chin and comically sloped forehead are echoed in the bold, expressive elements of his buildings.
More
Yes. Definitely.
However, Super Mario Bros. is not among the first inductees. :-(
pbsarts:
awesome.
hyperallergic:
One Up! MoMA Acquires Its First Classic Video Games as Art
Hyperallergic has learned that through a quiet acquisition process undertaken over the past year led by architecture and design curator Paola Antonelli, the Museum of Modern Art has brought 14 video games into its collection as a “new category” of artwork.
