"The 50 Paintings" Project

Painting # 30

Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci

This painting is over 530 years old.. almost  6 feet high and hangs in the Louvre in Paris.

Leonardo took  three years to finish this one.

Then 9 years later he made another version of the same painting which hangs in National Gallery London. 

It is believed his assistants also worked on the second version.

It shows Mary in blue kneeling on the ground with her right hand around St.John the Baptist who holds out his hands in prayer to Christ ,the child.

In return Christ blesses him. 

There is an Angel who sits beside Christ and it is one of the most beautiful portrait of an angel by any artist. 

Michaelangelo and Raphael had Leonardo's works as reference but Leonardo has much less access to already existing works. So it is beautiful to see how at many places it is his imagination that he uses to take a human figure and convert it into something divine.

"The 50 Paintings" Project

Painting # 29

"When will you marry " by Paul Gauguin

 

125 years ago , Paul Gauguin , a French artist painted this 40 inches by 30 inches frame.

He went to Tahiti island for the first time hoping to find an Eden Garden like paradise where he could create beautiful art...

but he was disappointed to see the after effects of European colonisation that had stripped the island of its original culture.

Nevertheless he painted beautiful pictures of the Tahitian men, women and children...

Thats what a good artist does...

He discovers beauty where it is not and goes on to give it life on his canvas.

But the main reason it attracted my attention was ....of course the beautiful color scheme, 

.....the white flower behind the girls ear which signifies that she seeks to get married...

Well this painting is the most expensive painting ever sold!

It has been sold in 2015 by a Swiss foundation to the sister of Qatar's ruling Emir!

Price ?

USD 300 million dollars

(I just multiplied it with the current rate and it comes to an absurd amount..

19,80,00,00,000  (Sorry I have run out of space :) )

Like......what !

 

The 50 Paintings Project

Painting # 28

  We have been free for 71 years now and that's certainly  something to celebrate.

In this Oil painting "Freedom at my door" I have added an Indian Flag as a tribute to all those to whom we owe our freedom .

...A lit candle near the door  - to show us the right way to handle the freedom we have received .

 

  But will that be enough ?... I think to myself.

Maybe one needs to strive towards other types freedom as well......like

freedom from a need of others' approval all the time

freedom from straying towards negativity at slightest provocation

freedom from faking what we are not for social acceptance

freedom from  anger, jealousy and negative thoughts...

 

 Bharat Mata by Abanindranath Tagore

 

Abanindranath Tagore was the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore who painted this visualization of the Bharat Mata in 1905

becoming the  first painter to depict Indian Nation as a Mother.  

She is shown holding in her four hands the Vedas , Rice , Mala and a white cloth.

It helped create a nationalistic feeling among the Indians during India's independence struggle and encouraged them to participate in the Swadeshi movement. 

Then I also came across this Mural painted in 1952 by Beohar Ram Manohar Sinha . 

It depicts the Quit India Movement .

 

 Though the work is not comparable to the Murals of Rennaisance like Leonardo Da Vinci's "The Last Supper"...

(But we do have some exquisite ancient  murals in the  Ajanta Caves...)

Happy Independence day and may each one of you

 

Follow Your dream, 

Be Yourself

& 

Choose Your Own Freedom ! 

Love..

The 50 Paintings Project

Painting # 27

Brother and Sister by Emile Munier

 Emile Munier , a french artist painted this portrait of brother and sister  about 143 years back .

He died at the age of 55 years but by the time he had painted numerous beautiful paintings depicting human relations. In most of his paintings he used  own children as models.

Here's another one where the sister is asking her brother for  "one  more sweet , please"

 

So this Rakshabandhan here are some adorable brothers and sisters wishing you a great day of beautiful sibling moments ! 

Dexter and DD

  Bart and Lisa Simpson

Charlie and Lola

Have a great day !