Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and loosely based on the 1978 children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett.
It was written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller in their directorial debuts, and features the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt, and Neil Patrick Harris. It is centered around an aspiring inventor named Flint Lockwood who develops, following a series of failed experiments, a machine that can convert water into food. After the machine gains sentience and begins to develop food storms, Flint must destroy the machine in order to save the world.
The film premiered in Los Angeles on September 12, 2009, and was released in the United States six days later on September 18 by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. It earned over $243 million worldwide on a budget of $100 million at the box office. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its colorful visuals, humor, characterizations, and voice acting, while the simple character designs and plot were said to be unfitting. The film has since been expanded into a franchise, with a sequel, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2", released on September 27, 2013, as well as an animated television series based on the film that premiered on Cartoon Network on February 20, 2017, with none of the original cast returning.
Plot.
Aspiring scientist Flint Lockwood lives with Tim, his widowed father, and his pet monkey, Steve, in Swallow Falls, an island in the Atlantic Ocean with an economy based on sardines. Due to sardines being considered "really gross" by the rest of the world, Swallow Falls' economy has fallen into decline, forcing the citizens to subsist on a mainly sardine-based diet. Flint invents the "Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator" (FLDSMDFR), a device which transforms water into food, in an effort to expand the town's diet, much to the chagrin of Flint's father, who intends for Flint to one day take over the family-owned fishing shop.
Flint's attempt to plug the device in knocks out his house's power, so he connects the FLDSMDFR to a local substation, overloading it and sending it rocketing across town, demolishing a sardine-themed amusement park meant to revitalize the town in the process before it disappears into the sky. The chaos earns Flint the ire of the town, along with that of Samantha Sparks, an amateur field reporter, and the disappointment of his father. Soon after, however, cheeseburgers begin raining from the sky, and Flint realizes the FLDSMDFR is functioning successfully in the stratosphere, using the condensation from clouds to create food-based weather systems.
The town rejoices in their new food choices and Swallow Falls is renamed Chewandswallow and becomes a "food tourism" destination, making Flint a local celebrity. Flint and Sam grow closer after she reveals that she was teased as a child for her glasses and her fascination with meteorology. However, Flint notices the food has begun to "over-mutate", gradually becoming bigger and more unstable. He attempts to warn Mayor Shelbourne that the FLDSMDFR may be malfunctioning, but Shelbourne ignores his warnings. After a tornado made up of spaghetti and meatballs threatens the town, Flint attempts to turn the FLDSMDFR off, but the control device is mistakenly destroyed by Shelbourne while he is trying to stop Flint, causing the device to go rogue and creating a massive "food storm" across the planet.
Flint places the kill code in a USB flash drive and builds a flying car to reach and destroy the FLDSMDFR, accompanied by Sam, her cameraman Manny, Steve, and the town's former mascot Brent. Upon reaching the FLDSMDFR, they discover it has surrounded itself with a giant meatball for protection. Reaching the interior, the flash drive containing the code is lost, and Brent is eaten by one of the giant animated roast chickens. Flint calls his dad, Tim, and tells him to go to his lab, get on his computer to email the kill code to his cell phone. Brent survives after he is eaten by the chickens and he is no longer Baby Brent. Sam's peanut allergy is triggered by a piece of peanut brittle, and Flint tells her to return to the car while he carries on alone. The two profess their love for each other and Flint selflessly cuts the rope and plummets down. Sam and Brent, now wearing one of the roast chickens as makeshift armor, make it back to the car to get allergy medication.
In the tunnel, Flint connects his phone with the kill code sent by Tim to the FLDSMDFR but discovers Tim sent the wrong file. He uses his Spray-On Shoes formula on the machine, causing it to overload and destroy the meatball, ending the food storm. Flint, having survived the explosion, reunites with Sam and Tim, the latter of whom finally shows appreciation for his son's inventions.
Production.
Devlopment.
On May 9, 2003, a year after establishment, Sony Pictures Animation announced its first animated slate, including "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", a film adaptation of the book of the same name. The Brizzi brothers were brought to direct the film, with Wayne Rice adapting the screenplay. In 2006, it was reported that the film had been helmed by new directors and writers, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
Story and script.
After a year working on the script, they were fired for story issues and replaced with new writers, who after a year were also fired. Lord and Miller were then re-hired in 2006. The two completely redid the script, this time with the creative input of their crew. The new draft had the protagonist as a failed inventor who wanted to prove himself to his town. The two were almost fired again after Amy Pascal, then-head of Sony Pictures, criticized the film for a lack of story. Although the film succeeded on the comedic front in the animatic stage, Pascal cited the lack of an anchoring relationship in the film as a failure in the story telling. Unable to create new characters and environments to suit the new story demands, the two elevated the character of the tackle shop extra to be the protagonist's father, thereby creating the relationship Pascal had requested. The pair's experience on "Cloudy" taught them two valuable lessons: the power of creative collaboration and the importance of emotion in a story.
Casting.
On September 18, 2008, Variety announced that Bill Hader and Anna Faris had signed on to voice the two lead characters, with James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Andy Samberg, Neil Patrick Harris, Bobb'e J. Thompson, Benjamin Bratt, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, and Will Forte also in the voice cast. Lord and Miller said later that year that it would be a homage to, and a parody of, disaster films such as "Twister", "Armageddon", "The Core", and "The Day After Tomorrow". "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is the second film after "Monster House" that was made using the animation rendering software Arnold.
Music.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the soundtrack to the film of the same name, released under Sony Pictures Entertainment on September 15, 2009. The music of the film and this album are both credited to be composed and produced by American composer Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo.
Release.
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" premiered on September 12, 2009, at the Mann Village Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The film had its wide release on September 18, 2009, along with a digitally re-mastered release to IMAX 3D theatres.
Home media.
The film was released on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, and PSP UMD on January 5, 2010 in the United States and Canada. A 3D Blu-ray was released on June 22, 2010. It was the first 3D Blu-ray sold individually in the United States.
Art book.
In August 2009, Insight Editions published a companion book to the film called "The Art and Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".
Reception.
Critical response.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a "Certified Fresh" rating of 86% based on 142 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10. The consensus statement reads, "Quirky humor, plucky characters and solid slapstick make this family comedy a frenetically tasty time at the movies." On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100, based on 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Ernest Hardy of "LA Weekly" stated the film "is smart, insightful on a host of relationship dynamics, and filled with fast-paced action". Hardy also applauded the 3-D effects which "are wonderful, full of witty sight gags that play out both center-screen and on the periphery". Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film a mixed review stating that "Crazy doesn't always equal funny, and the gigantism of this 3-D offering's second half puts a damper on your enjoyment. But look: This film wasn't made for you, or me. It was made for dangerously, easily distracted 9-year-olds." Kyle Smith of the "New York Post" gave the film two stars stating that the animated film "greatly expands on the kids' book on which it's based in a clever and engaging first half. But the second half leaves a foul aftertaste."
Box office.
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" earned a total of $243 million on a reported budget of $100 million. Of the gross, 51%, or $124,870,275, came from the domestic market, while the rest, $118,135,851, from other territories. For the film's marketing, Sony spent $43.3 million in the United States, and $26 million in other countries. The film earned $8,137,358 on its opening Friday, and ranked #1 at the box office with a total of $30.3 million for the first weekend. On its second weekend, it remained at #1 with a decrease of only 17%. It currently holds the record for third-largest opening weekend in the month of September. Documents from the Sony Pictures hack revealed the film turned a profit of $6 million.
Expanded franchise.
Sequel.
A sequel, titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2", was released on September 27, 2013. Directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn, and it is based on an original idea, where Flint and his friends must again save the world from his food machine, which survived the explosion in the prequel. This time, the machine gains the ability to produce living food beasts. Most of the main cast reprised their roles, but Earl the town cop was voiced by Terry Crews since Mr. T declined to return. New cast also includes Kristen Schaal as orangutan Barb, and Will Forte in his new role of Chester V.
Television series.
On October 9, 2014, DHX Media announced that it will develop and produce a television series based on the film franchise, titled "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series". The series will be traditionally animated and will consist of twenty-six 22-minute episodes. It will take place before the first film, showing Flint Lockwood as a high school student who dreams of becoming a serious scientist. In his adventures, he will be joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club, Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent as a baby wear model, and mayor Shelbourne. DHX Media will handle the global television and non-US home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony will distribute home entertainment in the US. Commissioned by Teletoon in Canada, the series will air on Cartoon Network in the United States, and on the Boomerang channel in other territories. None of the original cast returned for the show and are replaced by Canadian voice actors.


Jimmy Vee

James Vee (born 3 February 1959) is a Scottish actor, puppeteer and stunt performer. He is best known for playing a number of "Doctor Who" monsters and aliens including Bannakaffalatta in the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned", as well as the Graske in the "Doctor Who" spin-off series "The Sarah Jane Adventures". He is also well known as the actor for R2-D2 in "", replacing the late Kenny Baker, who died in 2016.
Career.
Vee started his career as a stunt double/performer for various small actors and extras in films such as "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".
Vee also starred as Cheeky the dwarf in the King's Theatre, Glasgow adaptation of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves".
Vee originally auditioned for R2-D2 in ', although filming clashed with "Pan" at the time and Vee was not used. In November 2015, he was cast as R2-D2 in ', succeeding Kenny Baker before his death in August 2016.
Personal life.
He is a dwarf, standing tall, the same height as Kenny Baker, who originally played R2-D2.He was born James Ross Vance at Bangour Hospital West Lothian and was educated At Benhar Primary School , Eastfield. Lanarkshire


In a Better World

In a Better World (, "The Revenge") is a 2010 Danish drama thriller film written by Anders Thomas Jensen and directed by Susanne Bier. The film stars Mikael Persbrandt, Trine Dyrholm, and Ulrich Thomsen in a story which takes place in small-town Denmark and a refugee camp in Africa.
A Danish majority production with co-producers in Sweden, "In a Better World" won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film as well as the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. The film also won European Film Awards for Best Director, in addition to receiving nominations for Best Film. Persbrandt also was nominated for Best Actor.
Plot.
Anton (Mikael Persbrandt) is a Swedish doctor who commutes between his home in Denmark and his work in a Sudanese refugee camp. In Sudan, he often treats female patients who are the victims of a sadistic warlord. Anton is married to Marianne (Trine Dyrholm), but they are separated, and struggling with the possibility of divorce over an affair that Anton had with another woman. They have two young sons, the older one being 12-year-old Elias (Markus Rygaard).
Christian (William Jøhnk Juels Nielsen), who has just moved from London with his father, Claus (Ulrich Thomsen), is a new boy at Elias' school. Christian's mother recently died from cancer, and Christian blames his father for lying to him that she would get well, and that, in a late stage of her disease, he "wanted" her to die. Elias is bullied at school, until he is defended by Christian, who assaults the main bully and threatens him with a knife. Christian gives Elias the knife, and both boys lie to the police, and their parents, about the incident.
When Anton separates his younger son from another child, while they are fighting at a playground, the father of the other child, a mechanic, tells Anton not to touch his child and slaps Anton in the face. Anton later visits the mechanic at his work, accompanied by his children and Christian, to discuss the matter, and to show the children that he is not afraid of the man. The boorish and xenophobic mechanic insults Anton's nationality and slaps him several more times, but Anton does not flinch from the blows.
Later, in Sudan, the psychopathic warlord comes to Anton's hospital for treatment of his wounded leg. To the horror of his staff and others, and acting at the expense of his own moral convictions, Anton treats the man. He does demand, however, that no weapons, and only two of his guards, be allowed inside the hospital. The warlord's leg seems to slowly heal and Anton barely tolerates his presence in the camp, but after the warlord shows contempt for one of his victims, Anton drags him away from the clinic, allowing him to be beaten to death by local people.
In Denmark, Christian and Elias decide to make a bomb to destroy the mechanic's car, on a Sunday morning so that no passers-by might be hurt. With the fuse already burning, they see two joggers approaching (a mother and her young daughter), and Elias leaves his protected position to warn them. He is knocked unconscious, but saves the joggers from harm. Christian is questioned by the police and then released, with the incident being addressed as an extreme case of vandalism. He goes to the hospital to visit Elias, but Marianne does not let him see the boy, instead telling him that he has killed her son. Christian, believing that Elias is dead, climbs to the roof of a silo, contemplating suicide, but is rescued by Anton. Christian is relieved that Elias is doing well, and he is now allowed to visit him.
Christian is reconciled with his father, and Anton and Marianne have sex, apparently resuming their marriage.
Production.
The idea for the film originated when Bier and screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen had discussions about the perception of Denmark as a very harmonious society. They then wanted to write a story where dramatic turns of events would disrupt the image of a place perceived as blissful. The development of the narrative started with the character that would be played by Mikael Persbrandt, and the idea of an idealist who becomes the victim of an assault. The two writers had no specific actors in mind while developing the story but rewrote details when the leads had been cast.
The film was produced by Denmark's Zentropa in co-production with DR2 and Sweden's Memfis Film, Sveriges Television, Trollhättan Film and Film i Väst. It received seven million Danish kroner from the Danish Film Institute as well as funding from the Swedish Film Institute, the pan-Nordic Nordisk Film- & TV-Fond and the European Union's MEDIA Programme. Filming started at the end of August 2009 and took place on Funen and in Kenya.
Themes.
Director Susanne Bier said: "Our experiment in this film is about looking at how little it really takes before a child – or an adult – thinks something is deeply unjust. It really doesn't take much, and I find that profoundly interesting. And scary."
Reception.
Critical response.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 78% out of 122 professional critics gave the film a positive review, and an average rating of 7.11/10, with the site consensus stating that ""In a Better World" is a sumptuous melodrama that tackles some rather difficult existential and human themes." On Metacritic the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."
Kim Skotte called the film a "powerful and captivating drama" in "Politiken". Out of the four collaborations between Jensen and Bier, he considered "In a Better World" to be the one most similar to Jensen's solo films and compared the combination of biblical themes and high entertainment value to Jensen's 2005 film "Adam's Apples". Skotte also praised the acting performances: "Mighty Mikael Persbrandt shows that he is Scandinavia's most charismatic actor right now. Trine Dyrholm's scenes are fewer, but in a split second she can dramatise the canvas to make the throat lace itself. Also Ulrich Thomsen is good as grief-stricken single father. With her successful directing of the two boys Markus Rygaard and William Jøhnk Nielsen, Bier adds a new chapter to her already extensive resumé of top tuned skills."
Peter Nielsen of "Dagbladet Information" called "In a Better World" "in all ways a successful film", and although there "is no doubt that Susanne Bier can tell a good story", he was not entirely convinced: "She can seduce, and she can push the completely correct emotional buttons, so that mothers' as well as fathers' hearts are struck, but she doesn't earnestly drill her probe into the meat."
Roger Ebert rated the film 2½ stars out of 4, writing that while he admired Bier's previous films "Things We Lost in the Fire" and both the Danish and American versions of "Brothers", he felt that "here her method is too foregrounded. The African events in particular don't fit organically into the rest of the film, playing more like a contrived contrast." However, he also remarked, "The story of the boys works well (they're both good actors), and their fathers are well-drawn and seen with sympathy ... There are two strong stories here, in Africa and Denmark. Either could have made a film. Intercut in this way, they seem too much like self-conscious parables. No doubt the film's noble intentions appealed to the academy voters, but this seems to me the weakest of this year's five nominees."
Accolades.
On 19 January 2011, it made the shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film and on 25 January, it was selected as one of the final five nominees and won as the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. The film also won for Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Golden Globe Awards. Additionally, it won:


Blind artists

Blind artists are people who are physically unable to see normally, yet work in the visual arts. This seeming contradiction is overcome when one understands that only around 10% of all people with blindness can see absolutely nothing at all. As such most blind people can in fact perceive some level of light and form, and it is by applying this limited vision that many blind artists create intelligible art. Also, a blind person may once have been fully sighted and yet simply lost part of their vision through injury or illness. Blind artists are able to offer insight into the study of blindness and the ways in which art can be perceived by the blind, in order to better improve art education for the visually impaired.
Education.
Art education was an integral part of many of the earliest institutions for the blind, with the motivation for their curriculum being largely religious. For instance, industrial art education was introduced into the earliest English and Scottish asylums by their Protestant Christian founders from 1791. This curriculum was believed to provide religious enlightenment, and allow asylum residents to work their way to heaven. What can be referred to as fine art education for students who were blind or visually impaired was first recorded in Vienna by the educationalist Johann Wilhelm Klein. Klein trained people who were blind to carve crucifixes which, he believed, would prevent his students falling prey to what he felt was sexual deviance.
However, despite these early forms of art education, there was no widespread fine art education in schools for the blind until the latter years of the twentieth century, and even when it was introduced many felt people who were blind could not draw or paint only sculpt or mold. Subsequently, there were many instances of the exclusion of students who were blind or visually impaired in the early years of the twenty first century.
Despite little inclusion of formal art education in schools for the blind, there were courses, tours and exhibitions on the fine arts for people who were blind or visually impaired from the early years of the twentieth century. Although, like art education in schools for the blind, these courses were not widespread until the latter years of the twentieth century. However, through the work of individuals such as the Austrian teacher Viktor Lowenfeld, Professor John Kennedy from University of Toronto, Rebecca Maginnis from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Barry Ginley from the Victoria & Albert Museum and organisations such as Art Beyond Sight, BlindArt and Blind with Camera since the latter years of the twentieth century, there has been a significant uptake of fine art education by museums. This education has included well established courses and tours, verbal imaging, audio tours and audio description. Notable examples of museum inclusion can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection, and the Museum of Modern Art.
More recently there have been regional and national initiatives to create a Community of Practice for museum professionals, designed to help these professionals share their expertise and experience in the field. An example of such an initiative is the Sensing Culture Community of Practice, founded in 2018.
There are a number of publications that promote or discuss blind education programs, seek to show how art can be constructive for the blind and those with visual impairments, and show the ways in which people who are blind or visually impaired can be taught to create art.
Elisabeth Salzhauer Axel’s book "Art beyond sight: a resource guide to art, creativity, and visual impairment" covers a variety of different subjects like the meanings of making art, art theory and verbal description. The book gives different suggestions about how the blind can actually go about making art; there is an example of one woman who is not completely blind but severely impaired who, when sculpting something, finds it easier to close her eyes and feel the material and the shape rather than trying to see it with her imperfect vision, much like a completely blind person would. The book emphasizes the importance of touch and feeling when creating art without sight.
The book, "Drawing and the Blind: Perceptions to Touch", by John Kennedy, focuses on the ways in which the blind, both young and old, can perceive pictures and 3D objects. According to Kennedy, visually impaired people are able to feel a 3D object and then create a drawing of the object that can be easily recognized by a sighted individual. Kennedy likens the drawings of the average blind-since-birth person to those of a sighted child. He notices that blind children are much more willing to attempt to draw than blind adults who have no prior experience. Kennedy discusses the fact that the blind can perceive a drawing made of raised lines, as well as 3D objects that have shape and form.
The book, "Arts Culture and Blindness", by Simon Hayhoe, presents a social study of arts students who are visually impaired and blind in situ, their understanding and practice of the visual arts and their reaction to the attitudes of their teachers, past and present. It analyses the topic of the culture of education, the effects of this culture on blindness and the visual arts and introduces an inclusive model of studying blindness and visual arts. In researching the material for Arts, Culture, and Blindness, Simon Hayhoe collaborated with internationally renown charities in the area of blindness, galleries, exhibitions and art, such as Art Education for the Blind, New York and BlindArt, London.
The book, "Blind Visitor Experiences at Art Museums", by Simon Hayhoe, examines the question, Why would a person who is blind want to visit an art museum, even when he or she cannot touch the exhibits? The book features a study at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and presents case studies of visitors who are blind and visually impaired, teachers at the museum and blind artists, such as Esref Armagan. Through this study, the book examines philosophies of exclusion and access, and argues there is an extra dimension to understanding the visual arts by people who are blind or visually impaired. This dimension can, "act as a bridge between the awareness of art works through perception, and an understanding of their contents beyond perceptual knowledge. This bridge between awareness and non-verbal knowledge is described as an ambience that is provided by the environment and context of knowing art works. This ambience is felt in museums, galleries and monuments, and is made possible by the visitor’s proximity to art works."
Blind or visually impaired artists work in a variety of different media, and are by no means limited to only one type of art. The website for the Blind Artist’s Society contains a page where blind artists can display their work, and some types of work include nature/ landscape painting, physical models, wood carvings, portraits, abstract paintings, watercolor paintings, and drawings. Many are able to create realistic artwork through the use of light/shadows and perspective in their work.
Textile Needle Arts such as machine sewing, hand sewing, braided rugs, needle felting, knitting and crochet are other mediums a visually impaired artist may use. Experienced Needle Artists who have recently lost vision can continue to pursue their textile art/craft using a few adaptive blind techniques.
Contributions to the study of visual impairments.
The ways in which the visually impaired are able to create art are giving new insights into the study of sight loss. For example, Ann Roughton is a landscape artist suffering from Macular Degeneration. Her paintings not only include what she can see with her partial vision, but her work also includes the grey haze that she sees in the center in her vision as a result of her Macular Degeneration. In doing so, she is literally painting sight, giving a new perspective on sight loss.
Organizations.
There are many organizations around the world that offer assistance to the blind. There are also some that offer assistance and support specifically for blind artists.
One example of these organizations in the United States is the Blind Artists Society, a support group for visually impaired amateur artists. Founded in 2007, the organization is funded by the Retina Research Foundation and seeks to provide an environment where artists can gather to display and sell their art, communicate with other artists and receive support. The organization also organizes periodic exhibitions of the work of blind artists.
List of professional blind artists.
Visual artists:


Artemis and the Stag

Artemis and the Stag is an early Roman Imperial or Hellenistic bronze sculpture of the ancient Greek goddess Artemis. In June 2007 the Albright-Knox Art Gallery placed the statue into auction; it fetched $28.6 million, the highest sale price of any sculpture at the time.
Description.
The statue depicts Artemis, the Greek goddess of hunting and wild animals amongst other things. She stands on a simple plinth in a pose that suggests she has just released an arrow from her bow. At some point in its history, the bow was separated from the sculpture and was lost. The goddess's hair is wavy and parted, gathered at the back in a chignon. She wears a short chiton that folds at the waist and billows outwards and is partly covered by a himation. On her feet are laced sandals, and a stag stands alongside her. It is thought that the original sculpture may have included a jumping dog to the right of the goddess.
Artemis stands at 36 1/4 inches atop a base of 12 1/2 inches. The stag is 16 3/4 inches. The sculpture is made of bronze and is believed to have been made some time between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD. It was originally excavated in the 1920s from a construction site in Rome and has since changed hands several times before finding a home at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.
The sculpture has been described as "one of the most beautiful works of art surviving from the classical era". It is highly regarded for its excellent state of preservation, despite the missing bow, and its fine detail, particularly in the face of Artemis.
Deaccessioning from the Albright-Knox Gallery.
In November 2006, the Albright-Knox Gallery announced its intention to deaccession "Artemis and the Stag" from its collection. The statue was much-beloved by the public and had been part of the permanent collection since 1953. Director Louis Grachos defined "Artemis and the Stag" along with about 200 other works of art from the museum's permanent collection as falling outside the institution's historical "core mission" of "acquiring and exhibiting art of the present." The decision to deaccession was made by a vote of the museum's Board of Directors, was voted on and ratified by the entire membership (at a meeting forced by opponents of the sale), and followed the guidelines of the American Alliance of Museums, according to Albright-Knox officials. Nevertheless, announcement of the sale set off a firestorm of dissent.
The controversial decision to sell was made in secret, and was not revealed to the public until the items had been packed and crated and were already at Sotheby's, the auction house which brokered the deal. Lauren Gioia, daughter of prominent Albright-Knox board member Robert Gioia, was employed at the auction house at the time of the sale, a conflict of interest that was not disclosed when the sale was announced. The judge who threw out a lawsuit seeking to block the sale, Diane Devlin, had been appointed city court judge by former Buffalo Mayor Anthony Masiello. The auction house was represented in the deaccession suit by Terrence M. Connors, an attorney who was Masiello's chief of staff at the time Devlin was appointed to the court.
The sale also raised questions about how museums can remain vital when they are situated in economically declining regions and have limited means for raising funds for operations and acquisitions.
Auction.
The sculpture was auctioned at Sotheby's New York by Hugh Hildesley on 7 June 2007. Estimated to reach between $5 and $7 million, "Artemis and the Stag" broke records when it was sold for $28.6 million. It became the most valuable sculpture ever sold at auction, breaking the 2005 record of $27.4 million for Constantin Brâncuși's "Bird in Space". The sale price has since been surpassed by several modern works, but the only other sculpture from antiquity to fetch a higher price is the Guennol Lioness. The winning bidder remained anonymous, employing art dealer Giuseppe Eskenazi to complete the auction.
In January 2008 the sculpture was initially lent to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for six months, and it remains on display there as of October 2019.


Theyre Lee-Elliott

Theyre Lee-Elliott (28 May 1903 – 24 December 1988) was an English artist who created notable Art Deco logos such as the Speedbird and painted the ballet and religious art.
He was born David Lee Theyre Elliott in 1903 in Lewes. He was educated at Winchester and Magdalene College, Cambridge where he read theology but was a high jump champion, won a Blue for lawn tennis and represented England at table tennis.
He graduated in 1925 and then spent two years at the Central School of Art and Design followed by the Slade School of Fine Art. He then worked as a commercial artist and his work on book-jackets included "Dodsworth", "A Farewell to Arms" and Eric Linklater's "Juan in America". He was a pioneer of informational posters which presented statistics in graphical form and created notable Art Deco logos including Imperial Airways' Speedbird and the Post Office's symbols for air mail and the telephone. The Speedbird was designed in 1932 and its appearance was influenced by the "avant-garde" work of Edward McKnight Kauffer, echoing Kauffer's angular bird forms in his 1918 poster for the "Daily Herald". Other clients during this period included the tailor Austin Reed.
He also worked on the scenery at Sadler's Wells Theatre and painted the ballet dancers there. His work there made him friends with the dancers and musical community. The paintings were exhibited at the theatre then San Francisco and Hollywood and were published as "Paintings of the Ballet" in 1947. In October of that year, he witnessed the marriage of conductor Constant Lambert and artist Isabel Delmer.
After an illness in the 1950s, he produced religious art such as "The Agony" and a selection was exhibited in Paris in 1965. His final years were spent in Chelsea, where he lived for most of his life.


Turtles Forever

Turtles Forever (also known as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever or TMNT: Turtles Forever) is a 2009 American television film produced by 4Kids Entertainment. A crossover film featuring three different incarnations of the Ninja Turtles fighting together, it was produced in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and in order to honor their anniversary special, and serves as the series finale to the 2003 series.
An edited version of the movie was released on July 11, 2009 worldwide on TV. The film was then released on July 29 in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. In other countries, the film aired on The CW as part of their Saturday morning The CW4Kids lineup on November 21, as part of a 25th anniversary celebration which featured a top-10 episode countdown preceding the film's television premiere. In the United States, an uncut version aired from October 31 to November 14 in a form where three weekly 26 minute episodes were shown in a half-hour slot per week.
The uncut version of the film later appeared on the CW4Kids's website on November 16, 2009, which includes 8 minutes of footage cut from the original version that aired on TV. The edited version was released on non-anamorphic widescreen DVD on November 21 from Nickelodeon/Paramount Home Entertainment. The uncut anamorphic widescreen version was later released in 2011 on DVD in the PAL DVD regions (2 and 4). There are currently no plans for an American release of the uncut anamorphic version on home media. On August 24, 2010, Nickelodeon aired the movie on its channel for the first time, then aired it again on five days later.
Plot.
The Ninja Turtles and their master Splinter are startled to watch a video broadcast of the Turtles fighting the Purple Dragons on TV. The Turtles set out to break into the Purple Dragons' HQ to get to the bottom of these doppelgängers, to discover that their "imposters" are actually alternate versions of themselves. They escape together, but the 2003 Turtles find the 1987 team too difficult to control, until they summon Splinter, in whose presence the 1987-Turtles explain that they landed here after fighting the 1987 Shredder and Krang over mutagen in the Technodrome. During the battle, the dimensional teleporter malfunctioned, sending them all to the 2003 dimension. Checking recent tremor reports, the Turtles find the Technodrome, only to have to battle an army of Foot-Bots led by Bebop and Rocksteady.
When the 1987-Shredder sees the two Turtle teams, he hypothesizes the possible existence of another Shredder in this dimension. After escaping the Turtles, Shredder and Krang locate Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder, on an icy asteroid where he is banished. After Ch'rell is thawed out, he proves too insane to work with and is retained for vivisection. However, his adopted daughter Karai, who had been monitoring his exile, breaks into the Technodrome and frees him, declaring the Technodrome technology property of the Foot Clan.
While tracking the Technodrome, the Turtles and Splinter are attacked by Hun and the Purple Dragons, who want their mutagen. In the course of the fight, Hun accidentally becomes exposed to the substance and turns into a mutant turtle. He wanders until coming upon the Technodrome, now under the control of The Utrom Shredder, who takes Hun back into his service.
Ch'rell and Karai begin upgrading the Technodrome and the Foot-Bots with Utrom science, and use their supply of mutagen to make a mutant army out of the Foot clan. Using the trans-dimensional portal, Utrom Shredder learns there are many parallel universes filled with Ninja Turtles. Hun, Bebop and Rocksteady are dispatched alongside an army of Utrom Foot-Bots to capture the Turtles, breaking into their lair and it begins crumbling, forcing the Turtles to use their own dimensional portal projector to escape into the 1987 universe. Splinter is captured by Hun to serve as bait, and Utrom Shredder decides to launch an all-out assault on the 2003 universe to lure the Turtles out of hiding.
After a brief stint in the 1987 universe, the Turtles are able to return to the 2003 universe with anti-Technodrome gear and infiltrate the Technodrome. Captured by Utrom Shredder, the Turtles learn from him they are not the only versions in the multiverse; because any of their alternate versions would pose a hindrance to Ch'rell‘s plan to rule all of reality. Ch'rell intends to kill the Ninja Turtles of the source dimension, creating a domino effect that will erase every other team of Ninja Turtles in the multiverse. All eight are scanned for shared DNA and are about to be obliterated as the Technodrome vanishes to the source dimension (dubbed "Turtle Prime"); however, Karai has gotten doubts about her father's plan and secretly teleports the Turtles to safety, where they are joined by Casey Jones and April O'Neil. Unfortunately, Ch'rell has already infiltrated the source dimension and is now demolishing it; this causes a chain reaction that begins to literally erase everything in the 2003 universe. Needing to upgrade their portal device, the Turtles break into Purple Dragon HQ, where Hun is waiting for them to take revenge on them. However, when he sees the world vanishing, Hun surrenders the upgrade tech just before he's erased.
Despite April and Casey being erased as well, the Turtles just manage to escape the 2003 universe, and are teleported to Turtle Prime. They quickly encounter their 1984 counterparts, and after some explanation, the twelve Turtles team up to stop the destruction wrought by Utrom Shredder, joined by Splinter, Karai, '87 Shredder and Krang. During the scuffle, Ch'rell's exo-suit grows giant size and proceeds to finish off his enemies. During the scuffle, the exo-suit is knocked into the energy the Technodrome is firing and receives damage. Everyone tries knocking him into the beam before Rocksteady accidentally trips on and unplugs the power cable for the Technodrome's main beam cannon. Utrom Shredder seizes and begins crushing the Prime Turtles, causing Turtle Prime and all his enemies to start being erased. Even though Karai warns him that all of reality, including Ch'rell himself, will vanish, Utrom Shredder continues to crush the Prime Turtles due to being too insane to care until 1987-Donatello tosses explosive throwing stars at his leg, causing him to release the Prime Turtles and thus halting Turtle Prime's demise. Bebop then plugs the Technodrome's beam back in, thus inadvertently vaporizing Ch'rell into nothingness.
With their foe defeated, the Turtles watch as Turtle Prime and the 2003 reality restore themselves. Even if Utrom Shredder is defeated, 2003 Splinter and Karai note that Ch'rell always returns no matter how he is defeated, but the 2003 characters decide they'll be there to stop him whenever he may rise again. The 1987 characters board the Technodrome and return to their homeworld, while the 2003 characters use the portal projector to return to theirs. The Prime Turtles decide to go get some pizza to eat, as somewhere else, in the real world, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman put the finishing touches on the first issue of "Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", and go out themselves to get pizza, expressing the hope that the book will sell.
Production.
Casting and music.
None of the original voice cast from the 1987 cartoon series reprised their roles nor was the original soundtrack / score from the show used in this special. In the actors' case, since 4Kids Productions reside in New York City while the majority of the original cast reside in California, hiring them would be expensive and time-consuming as most of them either retired or refuse to work on projects unsanctioned by SAG-AFTRA, which was not used in most of their properties. For the score, most of the music from the series is owned by Lionsgate and would require a license fee to be used in the show. For a cost-effective solution, the special used many of the productions' frequent talents and used their in-score team to make a soundtrack reminiscent of the original series.
Reception.
"Turtles Forever" received universal acclaim from fans and critics, for being a major improvement to the 2003 series, a proper conclusion, improved animation, and an interesting premise. It received an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.8 rating on IMDb.
Edited scenes.
The edited version of the movie (which was used for some TV airings and the Region 1 DVD release) removed several additional scenes which remain intact in the "uncut" version of the movie. Some of those key scenes include:


Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede

The Windmill of Wijk bij Duurstede (c. 1670) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum, on loan to the Rijksmuseum.
The painting shows Wijk bij Duurstede, a riverside town about 20 kilometers from Utrecht, with a dominating cylindrical windmill, harmonised by the lines of river bank and sails, and the contrasts between light and shadow working together with the intensified concentration of mass and space. The attention to detail is remarkable. Art historian Seymour Slive reports that both from an aeronautical engineering and a hydrological viewpoint the finest levels of details are correct, in the windmill's sails and the river's waves respectively.
It is not known for certain when Ruisdael painted the "Windmill". The painting is not dated, as very few of his works are after 1653. Dating subsequent work has therefore been largely detective work and speculation. It is assumed that it was painted in 1670.
Unlike many other Ruisdaels the "Windmill" seems to have remained in Dutch hands. It was acquired by Adriaan van der Hoop at an unknown date, and bequeathed by him to the young Amsterdam Museum in 1854. Since 30 June 1885 it has been lent to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Its enduring popularity is evidenced by card sales in the Rijksmuseum, with the "Windmill" ranking third after Rembrandt's "Night Watch" and Vermeer's "View of Delft".
Ruisdael's windmill no longer stands, although its foundations can still be seen. Another windmill located a few hundred meters further is often confused with Ruisdael's. This confusion was created when Hofstede de Groot in 1911 wrote about the painting:
Other versions.
This scene is very similar to other panorama paintings Ruisdael made of other (unidentified) windmills and these often served as inspiration for later painters of landscape, such as John Constable.


The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence (Titian)

The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence is a 1558 painting by Titian, now in the church of I Gesuiti in Venice. It so impressed Philip II of Spain that he commissioned a second version in 1567 for the basilica at El Escorial.


Karen Wheeler

Karen Sue Wheeler (born 1955 in Winfield, Kansas) is an American artist who was born with a neurodegenerative condition called spinal muscular atrophy which causes muscle wasting. She uses a technique called "layering" that resembles colored pencil. Each painting that she produces takes from 150–500 hours to complete.
Childhood.
Wheeler was born in 1955 in Winfield, Kansas, and is the middle of three children. Her parents were told she would not live beyond a year old. Wheeler says that she started creating art when she was 5, because she was unable to play outside.
College.
Wheeler attended Santa Ana College before transferring to California State University, Fullerton, where she received a master's degree in Art in 1981 with a 4.0 grade point average.
Career.
Wheeler has developed a sling-like device that she wears on her arm to assist her with wielding her tools, rather a brush, pencil or pen. She uses a small brush and very little pigment that creates a dry-brush effect called "layering" that resembles colored pencil. Each painting that she produces takes from 150–500 hours to complete.
Wheeler served on the Board of Directors of Very Special Arts California from 1985 to 1992, and currently serves as an honorary board member. She was selected as Disabled Professional Woman of the Year by the Pilot Club of Southeast Los Angeles in 1990, and has been a Board member of the (Las) Vegas Artists Guild since 2003, serving two terms as President and was the Director of Vegas Artists Guild, and in charge of Shows until September 2012.
In April 2012, Wheeler with business partner, William Schnell co-created GoHitYourself.com. They created the site to educate persons with disabilities on how to better their situations and to illuminate these situations for the able-bodied person. In 2014, Wheeler and Schnell rebranded and merged GoHitYourself.com with Wheeler's personal site where her amazing art is now profiled alongside her stories about living with a disability. The rebranded site is located at KarenWheeler.com.
Works.
Wheeler's early works are watercolor, but she has also used oil paints, acrylics, pencils and ink. Her subject matter varies but she is known to hide a rose in most of her pieces which symbolizes herself.


Madonna and Child with Two Musician Angels

The Madonna and Child with Two Musician Angels is an oil on panel painting by Correggio, now in the Uffizi in Florence. Some date it to 1514-15 but it is more commonly dated to 1515–16.
History.
On the back of the painting is a 16th-century monogram from the grand-ducal gallery in Florence, showing the identification number 2523, which does not feature in any of the lists of the gallery's holdings at that time. Though it cannot be clearly traced in any 17th-century inventories, it was probably one of the works taken to Düsseldorf by Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici in 1691 on her marriage to John William, Elector Palatine and which (after John William's death in 1717) were brought back to Florence. The first official mention places the work in the inventory of the Gallerie fiorentine in 1798, in the Sala dei Maestri Italiani, where it remained until the mid-19th century. Many copies were commissioned from the 18th century onwards, attesting to its popularity. It was then attributed to Titian, but Giovanni Morelli reattributed it as an early work by a young Correggio - this became the dominant attribution, supported by "the minute technical execution and the clear and shining colours".


Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment

Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment is a drawing of c. 1500–1501 by Michelangelo, now in the Louvre Museum. It is in black chalk, with pen and ink and white highlighting, on pink prepared (coloured) paper, and measures 26.6 cm x 15.1 cm. It is a figure study made in preparation for his painting "The Entombment", and is Michelangelo's only surviving study that was probably drawn from a nude female model. It also may be the earliest extant European drawing of a nude female model.
The figure in the drawing relates to a woman seated in the lower left foreground of the painting. Included in the study are narrative details such as the nails of the cross, held in her left hand, and the crown of thorns in her right. Although the drawing's attribution has been doubted, it is now accepted as authentic. The elaboration of the plaited hair suggests that the drawing was made from life using a young girl as the model. The drawing was made in three stages: first it was lightly laid down in black chalk, then gone over with pen and light bistre, and finally drawn over completely with a finer pen and darker ink. Lateral strokes were placed at the bottom to indicate the ground plane, and touches of white body color were added to details of the figure. Rare for a drawing by Michelangelo is the pink ground, in this case achieved by rubbing crushed red chalk onto the paper.
Because the use of nude female models was controversial, relatively few such drawings were made before the 17th century, when academic life classes were established. Before that boys or young men, typically studio apprentices, were used as models for figures of both sexes, as is sometimes rather apparent. Exceptions from the Italian Renaissance include Raphael, who made nude drawings, apparently of his mistress, and Lorenzo Lotto, who recorded in his account book having used women of ill repute as life models. In Florence, Michelangelo and Raphael initiated the practice of making preparatory studies of the nude prior to painting the figure fully clothed, in order to better understand the underlying structure of the body.


Pomian coat of arms

Pomian - is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
History.
On the shield is the black head of a bison on a yellow field, with a sword driven into the head so that both the top and the bottom of the sword are visible. Above the helmet on the crown is an arm in armor with a bare hand holding a sword.
The origin of this coat-of-arms can be traced back to 1279, when Hebda, brother of Jaranda, performed public deeds of merit to atone for the sins of his murdered brother. One of his brave acts was the killing of a bison that had been plaguing the village of Lubania. During the reign of Walter II, King of Poland, the bison head was placed on the shield and the arm with a sword was placed above the crown and was named Pomian. This is a communal coat-of-arms and is shared by other Great Polish Families.
Blazon.
The Pomian coat of arms, being borne by multiple families, as with most Polish armorial bearings, has multiple variations to the basic design. The design as shown in the example image on this page may be blazoned as follows:"Arms: Or, a buffalo's head caboshed, sable, pierced with a sword, proper. Mantling: Sable, doubled Or. Crest: Out of a ducal coronet, an arm embowed in armor holding in its hand a sword, proper."
Notable bearers.
Notable bearers of this coat of arms include:


Coast Scene, Isles of Shoals

Coast Scene, Isles of Shoals is a 1901 painting by Childe Hassam which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Done in oil on canvas in luminous colours, the painting depicts the remote Isles of Shoals off the rocky shoreline of New England, a favorite haunt of Childe Hassam at the end of the 19th century and where he painted a series of similar coastal scenes.
The painting is accompanied at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by "Surf, Isles of Shoals", a similar work by Hassam.
The work is currently (2018) not on view.


Eaten Alive!

Eaten Alive! () is a 1980 Italian horror film directed by Umberto Lenzi. The film is about a young woman (Janet Agren) who is searching for her sister after her abduction by a cult in the jungles of New Guinea.
Synopsis.
A woman named Sheila is searching for her sister, who has disappeared in the jungles of New Guinea. Sheila (Janet Agren) joins up with Mark (Robert Kerman), and they both encounter many perils while searching for Sheila's sister, Diana (Paola Senatore). Diana has joined a cult run by a man called Jonas (Ivan Rassimov). Jonas physically and sexually abuses his followers and local people alike. In one scene, he rapes Sheila with a dildo covered in snake blood, and decapitates a native. In another, a native widow named Mowara (Me Me Lai) is ritualistically raped after her late husband's body is burned on a pyre. A group, consisting of Mowara, Mark, Sheila and Diana escapes into the jungle, where Diana and Mowara are caught by a group of cannibals, with Diana raped and then both slowly cut up and eaten before being hacked to death, while Mark and Sheila helplessly watch from the cover of the bushes. They quickly escape back to New York when helicopters sent by the authorities come looking for them. Back in the village, the rest of the cult commits ritual suicide, leaving one young female survivor for the authorities to find.
Production.
"Eaten Alive!" was part of the cannibal boom and filmed before the release of "Cannibal Holocaust". The film uses a more traditional adventure film narrative opposed to the mondo film style of previous cannibal films. The film uses footage taken from other cannibal films, including "Man from the Deep River" (1972), "Last Cannibal World" (1977) and "The Mountain of the Cannibal God" (1978).
Release.
The film was released in Italy on March 20, 1980. It was released under the alternative title "Doomed to Die" in the United States.
Reception.
From contemporary reviews, the "Monthly Film Bulletin" noted that the plotting and staging of the film as "chaotic" while finding that the film was "brightened by occasional moments of unintended hilarity, as when the drugged ambrosia is ritually consumed to the accompaniment of a robust chorus of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic""
From retreospective reviews, the assistant professor Danny Shipka of Louisiana State University described the film as Lenzi capitalizing on public interest in cult leader Jim Jones and referring to it as a "ridiculous film". Online film database AllMovie gave the film a one and a half star out of five rating, noting that the film includes "Stone Age cannibals, a Jim Jones-type cult, hired assassins, and gratuitous animal slaughters thrown onscreen every five minutes just to keep the viewer awake." The review also commented on the themes of the film, stating that "Both of the leading characters are given a backstory of having exploited blacks in their Alabama cotton mill, only to lose all their ill-gotten money and – in one case – pay the ultimate price, as one underclass avenges another half a world away. In more talented hands, there could have been a real statement made with this film. As it turns out, the only statement most viewers are likely to come away with is "yuck."


Jules Jacques Veyrassat

Jules Jacques Veyrassat (12 April 1828, Paris – 2 July 1893, Paris) was a French painter and engraver; associated with the Barbizon school. Most of his works feature animals.
Biography.
He studied in Paris with Henri Lehmann and exhibited his first works at the Salon in 1848. He began to work as an engraver in the 1860s, after becoming associated with the and studying with Pierre Édouard Frère. It was, in fact, Frère and Charles-François Daubigny who encouraged him to take up that art.
Between 1866 and 1869, he was presented with several awards for his engravings. Later, he collaborated with the British art critic, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, on two of his books devoted to the topic: "Chapters on Animals" (1874), with Karl Bodmer, and the third edition of "Etching and Etchers" (1880), which featured the works of many notable artists, such as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Jozef Israëls and Alphonse Legros. He also produced engravings for a series of albums published by Alfred Cadart.
He was named a Knight in the Legion of Honor in 1878.
He was also associated with the Barbizon school, two of whose members, Charles Jacque and Jean-François Millet, had an influence on his style. As a result, his landscapes all depict some aspect of life in rural France. It would appear that he never travelled to any other countries.
He died in Paris and was interred at the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise.
His works may be seen at museums throughout France, as well as at the Manchester Art Gallery, the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts and the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.


Kaspar Schleibner

Kaspar Schleibner (23 February 1863, Hallstadt - 27 January 1931, Munich) was a German church painter.
Life and work.
He was the son of a Master shoemaker. After taking drawing lessons at a local secondary school, he went to Bamberg in 1875, to study decorative painting. In 1880, he moved to Munich, became an assistant in the technical drawing school, and made efforts to enter the Academy of Fine Arts. He was accepted there in 1882. His instructors included , Wilhelm Lindenschmit and Gabriel von Hackl.
In 1895 and 1904, he made study trips to Rome. There, he was influenced by Ludovico Seitz, the Director of the Vatican Galleries. Upon returning from his second trip, he was named a Professor of Art. His style was based largely upon later works by the Nazarene movement.
In 1915, he painted the "Bayerischen Feldmesse" (Bavarian Field Mass), which was reproduced and distributed widely during World War I, as a communion souvenir. Another work that was reproduced was a painting of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, created for the altar at the Basilica of St. Ann, Altötting.


Strangerland

Strangerland is a 2015 Australian-Irish drama suspense film directed by Kim Farrant in her directorial debut, and written by Michael Kinirons and Fiona Seres. The film stars Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, and Hugo Weaving. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2015
and in a limited release in cinemas and through video on demand on 10 July 2015 by Alchemy. It was a box office bomb, grossing $1 million against a $10 million budget.
Plot.
Catherine and Matthew Parker move with their children Lily and Tom to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari. Although the family is unhappy with the move, Matthew and Tom blame Lily for forcing them to leave the larger town of Coonaburra. When he can't sleep, Tom sometimes walks around the neighbourhood at night, an activity his parents discourage. One night, Matthew sees Tom leave the house, followed by Lily. Half asleep, he says nothing and goes back to sleep. Next morning Catherine oversleeps, and when she cannot find the kids, calls Matthew at work. He reassures her that they must have gone to school before she woke up. When the school calls to report that Tom and Lily have not been attending, she once again becomes worried, as a dust storm is forecast to hit the town. Matthew discourages her from contacting anyone, as he does not wish the family's business to once again become public knowledge. Against his wishes, Catherine contacts several people and finally the police.
While taking their report, Detective David Rae finds that Lily has once before been reported missing. Catherine and Matthew reluctantly reveal that she merely disappeared for a few days, they panicked and reported, but she soon turned up at a friend's house. After further investigation, Rae learns that one of Lily's Coonaburra teachers, Neil McPherson, had sex with her. When Matthew found out, he beat up McPherson, earning a restraining order. The Parkers admit to Rae that they were forced to leave Coonaburra to escape the attention. Catherine becomes frustrated with Matthew's focus on his job as a pharmacist, though he insists that he has no choice, since the community needs his services. Rae's queries in town reveal that Lily had indeed multiple sexual relationships despite being underage (she's fifteen). When Catherine finds Lily's diary she reluctantly reads it. It's irate/angsty with hyper-sexualised imagery and includes pictures and poetry about several people: McPherson, the Parker's mentally handicapped handyman Burtie, and a local youth nicknamed Slug. It also describes her parents' marriage as a sham, which causes Catherine to cry. Catherine hands the diary to Rae with the proviso that he not reveal it to Matthew.
Matthew drives to Coonaburra and questions/threatens McPherson. Coreen, Rae's girlfriend and Burtie's sister, becomes annoyed when Rae won't share details of the case with her. She's also jealous, fearing Rae is attracted to Catherine. Rae secretly shreds the evidence from the diary that connects Burtie to Lily and discourages Burtie from telling him anything incriminating. Rae arrests Slug, but without any evidence of an actual crime, must release him. When the kids remain missing, the town organises a search party. Matthew refuses to participate, further angering Catherine. Rae suggests to Catherine that her children could have run away for a reason closer to home. Catherine confronts Matthew with Lily's sexual history and asks if he ever molested her. Incredulous, he denies it and asks why she would even ask; she cites his apparent reluctance to help find the kids. Knowing now that Burtie had a sexual relationship with Lily, Matthew beats up Burtie and searches his house. Coreen demands Rae arrest Matthew, and when she accuses him of taking the Parkers' side, Rae reveals Burtie's connection.
Burtie visits the Parkers and asks to speak with Matthew. Catherine invites him in, but he leaves when she attempts to seduce him in Lily's clothes. When Matthew drives into the desert alone, in the opposite direction of search, he finds Tom dehydrated and delirious. Tom initially refuses to speak, so Catherine yells at him; Tom eventually tells Matthew that he saw Lily get into a car. Catherine listens as locals discuss Lily's disappearance and likely death, and becomes distraught when she receives prank calls that call Lily "a whore". Desperate, she visits Rae, and when she fails to seduce him, wanders into the desert night, alone. Unsure why she's hated or has done wrong, she despairs. Next morning, traumatised and stripped naked, she reappears in town; gathering all to gawp. Matthew rescues her, then tenderly bathes her. In bed together, as they hold each other, Catherine admits that she hid the diary from Matthew, and Matthew reveals he saw the kids leave that night. He admits he did not stop them because, angry with Lily, he wanted to punish her. Catherine hugs Tom and walks onto the porch, where she and Matthew console each other. While holding Lily's diary, Matthew cries and says that he wishes he could take back that one moment.
Two passages of Lily's poetry, in her voice, over aerial imagery of the vast outstretching 'Outback' - Lily's fate is left uncertain...
Production.
On 20 October 2013, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce, and Hugo Weaving joined the cast of the thriller film. Screen Australia announced it would finance the film. Macdara Kelleher and Naomi Wench were announced as producers, and Kim Farrant was announced as director, with a script by Fiona Seres and Michael Kinirons. The other cast members announced included Lisa Flanagan, Martin Dingle Wall, Meyne Wyatt and Nicholas Hamilton. On 13 March 2014, Joseph Fiennes joined the film, replacing Pearce. On 27 March 2014, it was announced that Maddison Brown had landed a lead role in the film to debut her acting career, which Worldview Entertainment would finance.
Filming.
On 27 March 2014, it was announced that the shooting of the film was set to start in the last week of March in Sydney. The filming was also set to take place in Canowindra and Broken Hill in New South Wales, and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Shooting began on 31 March 2014.
Release.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2015. Shortly after the premiere, Alchemy acquired distribution rights to the film. The film went on to screen at the Belgrade Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival. The film will be released in the United States on 10 July 2015 in a limited release and through video on demand.
Reception.
Marketing.
An image and a new synopsis was revealed on 5 May 2014. On 3 June 2015, the official poster was released.
Critical.
"Strangerland" was met with mixed to negative reviews, earning a 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 68 critics with a weighted average score of 5.17/10. The site's consensus: ""Strangerland" has a marvelous cast, but their efforts aren't enough to overcome the story's blandly predictable melodrama.". Metacritic reports a normalized score of 42 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Brad Wheeler of "Globe and Mail" gave a positive review, calling it "Eerie and unpredictable, "Strangerland" holds attention, even if traditional suspense tricks are avoided like they were dingos at the daycare." Matthew Lickona of "San Diego Reader" commented "Director Kim Farrant goes for a feeling that's as harsh, unforgiving, and wild as the land she lets the camera linger on, and it's the right idea when handling the potential melodrama of the material." Staci Layne Wilson of "AtHomeInHollywood.com" stated that the film is "presented through a prism of womanly wantonness juxtaposed with a mother's pain and fear." Joe McGovern of "Entertainment Weekly" complimented Nicole Kidman, saying "her best performances have often been as grieving moms ("Dead Calm", "The Others", "Rabbit Hole") and here she provides the flaccid movie's sole flash of daring and unpredictability."
Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave a negative review, saying the film "runs out of gas, leaving us with a couple of final "Forget You" (shall we say) moments. Thanks. Thanks for nothing."


Atlantic Rim (film)

Atlantic Rim (also known as Attack from Beneath, Attack from the Atlantic Rim and From the Sea) is a low budget 2013 American science fiction monster film produced by The Asylum and directed by Jared Cohn. Shot in Pensacola, Florida, the film stars Graham Greene, David Chokachi, Treach, and Jackie Moore.
The film was released direct-to-DVD on June 24, 2013 in the United Kingdom, and on July 9 in the United States. In the tradition of The Asylum's catalog, "Atlantic Rim" is a cheap mockbuster of the Warner Bros./Legendary Pictures film "Pacific Rim". On October 5, 2017, it was announced that a sequel had wrapped filming. The film, entitled "Resurrection", was released in March 2018.
Plot.
Following the mysterious disappearance of an oil rig and a reconnaissance mini-submarine in the Gulf of Mexico, scientist Dr. Margaret Adams initiates the Armada Program, which consists of giant robots designed for deep sea rescue. The three robots — piloted by Red, Tracy and Jim — dive nearly 800 fathoms to the sea bed, where they not only discover the mangled remains of the oil rig, but encounter the monster that brought it down. Red pursues the monster, against orders from Admiral Hadley, prompting the Admiral to order every naval fleet on the East Coast to converge on the oil rig's site. Red emerges on a beach to warn the bystanders to leave the area; he is suddenly attacked from behind by the monster as their fight takes its toll on the city. An F-18 Hornet piloted by Spitfire assists Red in taking the monster down. Red, however, is arrested for disobeying a direct order. He is locked in solitary confinement until he is briefly released by Adm. Hadley and later given a medal of honor for his heroic actions, before serving the rest of his confinement.
Later, Adm. Hadley is informed by Sheldon Geise of a top-secret sonar program that discovered the monsters, which are hundreds of millions of years old and lay their eggs on a mixture of crude oil and saltwater. Two eggs have been discovered, one of which hatched into the monster that Red and Spitfire killed. Adm. Hadley orders a search for the other egg, but he is too late, as it has already hatched, with the second monster, much bigger than the first, feeding on the corpse of the first monster and destroying a whole naval fleet before wreaking havoc on the city. As the monster attacks the naval base, Tracy and Jim scramble to spring Red out of solitary before they are picked up by Lt. Wexler. Meanwhile, Geise informs Adm. Hadley that the President has authorized a nuclear strike on the monster, but Adm. Hadley defies that decision and orders everyone to evacuate the base. The monster retreats after a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit drops a payload on it. Adm. Hadley is later informed that another egg has hatched off the Atlantic Coast.
Dr. Adams gives the trio special "halo" headbands that neurally link them to their robots, increasing their reflexes by using their direct body movements instead of joysticks. The system's downside is the pilot feeling pain for every damage the robot takes. After a crash course on the new system, the trio fly their robots to New York City to battle the monster. Following numerous refusals by Adm. Hadley to launch a nuclear strike, Geise orders the "USS Virginia" to launch a warhead. Red intercepts the missile and jams its frequency, saving the city from a nuclear holocaust. In retaliation, Geise threatens to shut down the robots, but is quickly subdued by Lt. Wexler, despite shooting the Admiral in the arm. During the battle, Tracy loses consciousness when her neural level goes critical. Jim takes Tracy to safety while Red grabs the warhead and the monster before flying them to the atmosphere. He then kicks the monster to deep space, detonating the warhead in the process and sending him crashing back to Earth. The trio and Adm. Hadley celebrate by heading to the local bar for some tequila shots.
Production.
"Atlantic Rim" was originally planned to be shot at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, but The Asylum were denied permission to film at the base after a high-ranking official read the script and disagreed with the portrayal of the soldiers. As a result, the production team relocated to a private helicopter airport that served as a stand-in for at least seven locations for the film. The film's script underwent at least nine rewrites during production due to weather conditions and the last-minute relocation.
Reception.
Dave Pace of "Fangoria" gave the film two out of four stars, calling it "a testament to why there aren't many live action giant robot vs. monster movies. It's a very difficult thing to do right and keep the audience on your side. "ATLANTIC RIM" manages to be enjoyable as a bit of a goof and works on the 'so bad it's good' level." "Dread Central" gave the film three out of five stars, describing it as "the ultimate monster movie about booze-hounding broskis in battle bots saving New York City from a crazy-eyed giant sea beast that frequently appears to be merely a lost animal, confused and irritated that these metal men won't stop hitting it."
On review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score for the film is a single-digit 9% positive, with 100+ reviews.
Appearance on MST3K.
It is one of six films featured in Season 12 of "Mystery Science Theater 3000", and is the only 21st century film riffed on the show.


Manimala Chitrakar

Manimala Chitrakar is a patua artist from West Bengal.
Biography.
Manimala belongs to a traditional community of chitrakars (itinerant scroll painters) from West Bengal. She was born in the village of Naya in the family of Dukhushyam Chitrakar, a renowned patua artist himself. As a child she used to accompany her grandfather as he went looking for patrons and clients in the villages, and so was exposed to the art-form from a very young age.
In an interview from 2005, Manimala elaborated on how the art form has significantly influenced her life:"If I hadn't learned this craft I could not have gone to the United States. I tell all of the young people of Naya to learn this skill if they want to travel and earn a living. My abilities have allowed me to develop a broader sense of the world - my life has not been restricted to the confines of Naya." She is a mother of six children and continues to live in her ancestral village.
Style.
Earlier works of Manimala deal primarily with mythological themes, but have an inherent rawness in the handling of the subjects. The wrath of gods against illicit sexual unions, men and women in various stages of nakedness as they are subjected to hell's torturous routines, fearsome demons and large slithering snakes crowd her canvas.
Over time, her artistic oeuvre expanded to include more colors, iconographic variations and themes. From pressing social issues of the world at large to belief systems that hold her social fabric together - she has explored a large variety of subject matter in a career spanning more than a decade.


Luigi Morgari

Luigi Morgari (1 January(?) 1857 in Turin – 1 January(?) 1935 in Turin) was an Italian painter, primarily of frescoes on religious themes.
Biography.
He was born to a family of artists. His first studies were with his father Paolo Emilio, then he was a student of Enrico Gamba and Andrea Gastaldi at the Accademia Albertina. For many years, he worked with his father and uncle, Rodolfo, also a well-known painter, to create decorative works, mostly of a religious nature, which was the principal activity of the Morgari family.
He was primarily a fresco painter. His numerous works may be found at the sanctuaries in Bussana and Rho, Alessandria Cathedral, the Church of the Archangel Michael in Olevano di Lomellina, the palazzo of the Quartana family in Genoa and the Church of Saint Syrus in Lomazzo.
In 1919, he completed a large project at the Church of the Trinity in Pandino; including a cycle of frescoes dedicated to Saint Bassianus of Lodi, with side panels of Saint Eurosia and Our Lady of the Rosary.
Some of his best-known works, however, are among his last. These include frescoes in the Parochial Church of Cortazzone, featuring a vault with Saint Secundus of Asti riding a horse, created from 1922 to 1923; and a large cycle at the Basilica di San Nicolò in Lecco, dating from 1925 to 1928. He also painted the walls and counter-façade of the church of Santi Donato e Carpoforo, Novedrate.
His sister, Beatrice (1858-1936), was also a well-known painter.


Locke (film)

Locke is a 2013 psychological drama film written and directed by Steven Knight. The film stars Tom Hardy in the title role, the only character seen on screen, as he carries on a number of speakerphone conversations with characters voiced by Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Ben Daniels, Tom Holland and Bill Milner.
The film premiered at the 70th Venice Film Festival on 2 September 2013. The film had a limited release in the United Kingdom beginning on 18 April 2014, and grossed $5 million worldwide. "Locke" received critical acclaim, particularly for Hardy's performance, which won him the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor.
Plot.
The evening before he must supervise a large concrete pour in Birmingham (the largest non-nuclear facility, non-military concrete pour in European history), construction foreman Ivan Locke learns that Bethan, a colleague from a job in Croydon with whom he had a one-night stand seven months before (which resulted in her becoming pregnant), has gone into premature labour. Despite his job responsibilities and although his wife and sons are eagerly awaiting his arrival home to watch an important football match, Locke decides to drive to London to be with Bethan during childbirth. Locke never forgave his father for abandoning him as a child, and he is determined not to make the same mistake, even though he has no relationship with, nor any particular feelings for, Bethan.
Over the course of the one and a half-hour drive from Birmingham to London, Locke holds a total of 36 phone calls with: his boss Gareth; his backup colleague Donal; Katrina, wife of 15 years, to confess his infidelity; his sons, Eddie and Sean, who call him separately with updates on the match and (eventually) the worrisome breakdown of their mother; St Mary's maternity unit medical personnel, Sister Margaret then Halil Gullu, who are working with Bethan through some troubling complications; the council head, Cassidy, and local police authority, PC Davids, required for the road closures needed to allow the 225+ concrete trucks to properly access the site; and with Bethan to reassure her during her labour. During these calls, he is fired from his job, banned from his house by his wife, and asked by his older son to please return home. He coaches his assistant Donal through preparing the pour despite some major setbacks, and has imaginary conversations with his dead father, whom he envisions (unseen onscreen) as a passenger in the car; he berates his father for abandoning Locke's family, and vows he will not repeat that mistake. When he is close to the hospital, Bethan calls to share the cooing of the baby, having had a successful birth.
Production.
Almost the entire film takes place within a BMW X5, which was pulled down the M6 motorway on a low flatbed trailer for most of the shoot. Shooting took place over eight nights, with the crew only taking breaks to change the three cameras' memory cards. Ivan Locke is the only character to appear onscreen; the others are heard on the vehicle's speakerphone, with their parts also recorded in real time (Locke's vehicle and road noise included) as they called from a conference room that served as the multiple "locations" of the various characters.
Release.
"Locke" was shown out of competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival as well as the Spotlight program in the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
It was released on 18 April 2014 in the United Kingdom, where it earned $1,434,082. On 25 April 2014 it opened in the United States and earned $1,375,769. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD on 12 August 2014.
Reception.
Rotten Tomatoes reports that 90% of 217 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 7.7/10. The critical consensus states: "A one-man show set in a confined location, Locke demands a powerful performance – and gets it from a never-more-compelling Tom Hardy." The film has a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Olly Richards of "Empire" awarded the film 4/5 stars and said: "There are films to see on huge screens, but this is one that almost cries out for a small cinema, surrounded by total blackness. It's a daring experiment brilliantly executed, with Tom Hardy giving one of the best performances of his career".
In his book "How to Watch a Movie" (2015), David Thomson singles out this film and says: "No film I've seen in recent years is more eloquent on where we are now, and on how alone we feel. There is little left but to watch and listen."
For his performance, Hardy won the Best Actor Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.


Untermyer Fountain

The Untermyer Fountain is a memorial fountain with a bronze cast of Walter Schott's sculpture "Three Dancing Maidens". It is located in the Conservatory Garden of Central Park in New York City.
Description and history.
The "Untermyer Fountain" features a bronze cast of Walter Schott's "Three Dancing Maidens", completed in Germany prior to 1910. Named after American lawyer and civic leader Samuel Untermyer, the fountain was donated to the park by his children, Irwin Untermyer, Alvin Untermyer, and Irene Richter, following his death in 1940.
Originally, the sculpture was located at his estate "Greystone" in Yonkers, New York, part of which is now owned by the City of Yonkers and known as Untermyer Park. The fountain was installed in Central Park in 1947 and is most easily accessed from the North Garden entrance at 106th Street and Fifth Avenue or the main entrance at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue.
"Three Dancing Maidens" depicts three young women, holding hands in a circle, "whose dresses cling to their wet bodies as if they were perpetually in the fountain's spray". The fountain includes three jets: two on the oval pool's sides and a larger one in the center of the sculpture. The sculpture sits on a limestone base.
Reception.
The fountain has been included in guidebooks and walking tours of Central Park.


La Laguna Estigia

La Laguna Estigia (The River Styx or The Styx), also known simply as Laguna Estigia, is an 1887 Greco-Roman painting by Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo. It is a companion-piece for Hidalgo’s other painting entitled "La barca de Aqueronte". Like the "La barca de Aqueronte", the "La Laguna Estigia" is based on Dante's "Inferno", the painter pursuing the theme leading towards a “darker” and “more somber interpretation” of it.
The painting was a silver medalist during the 1887 Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid, Spain.
References.
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The Coca-Cola Kid

The Coca−Cola Kid is an Australian romantic comedy film, released in 1985. It was directed by Dušan Makavejev and starred Eric Roberts and Greta Scacchi. The film is based on the short stories "The Americans, Baby", and "The Electrical Experience" by Frank Moorhouse, who wrote the screenplay. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.
Plot.
Becker, a hotshot American marketing executive (played by Roberts) from The Coca-Cola Company, visits their Australian operations in Sydney and tries to figure out why a tiny corner of Australia (the fictional town of Anderson Valley) has so far resisted all of Coke's products. He literally bumps into the secretary (played by Scacchi) who is assigned to help him.
Eventually Becker discovers that a local producer of soft drinks run by an old eccentric has been successfully fending off the American brand name products. The executive vows an all out marketing war with the eccentric but eventually comes to reconsider his role as a cog in Coca-Cola's giant corporate machinery. Along the way there are humorous subplots involving the office manager's violent ex-husband, Becker's attempt to find the 'Australian sound', and an odd waiter who is under the mistaken belief that Becker is a secret agent.
Production.
David Stratton gave a copy of Frank Moorhouse's book "The Americans, Baby" to Dusan Makavejev when he attended the Sydney Film Festival in 1975 with "Sweet Movie". Production of the movie was difficult in part because of Makavejev's work methods, which were different from the way films were normally made in Australia. Denny Lawrence came on board the film as a consultant.
"The Coca-Cola Kid" was shot on location in Sydney–various city landmarks can be seen briefly throughout the film.
Box office.
"The Coca-Cola Kid" grossed $36,365 at the box office in Australia.
Home media.
"The Coca-Cola Kid" was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in May 2009. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, and an interview with Greta Scacchi and David Roe titled "The Real Thing".
MGM Home Entertainment released the Region 1 DVD in the United States on April 16, 2002.


Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Quirinus

Madonna and Child with Saints Francis and Quirinus is a 94.5 by 111.5 cm fragment of a fresco by Correggio, dating to around 1505 and now held in the Galleria Estense in Modena. Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena ordered that the fresco be transferred from the church of Santa Maria della Misericordia in Correggio to the Galleria Estense - it was then thought to be a work by Allegri. It was then recorded as having been moved to the church on a fragment of wall from another building - that other building was probably the new collegiata di San Quirino, given the presence of Quirinus of Neuss, holding a mitre and a model of the town of Correggio. It also shows saint Francis.


Medici lions

The Medici lions are a pair of marble sculptures of lions: one of which is Roman, dating to the 2nd century AD, and the other a 16th-century pendant. Both were by 1598 placed at the Villa Medici, Rome. Since 1789 they have been displayed at the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The sculptures depict standing male lions with a sphere or ball under one paw, looking to the side.
Copies of the Medici lions have been made and publicly installed in over 30 other locations, and smaller versions made in a variety of media; Medici lion has become the term for the type.
A similar Roman lion sculpture, of the 1st century AD, is known as the Albani lion, and is now in the Louvre. Here, the stone used for the ball is different from the basalt body. Both may derive from a Hellenistic original.
History.
A pair of lions were required by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, who had acquired the Villa Medici in 1576, to serve as majestic ornaments for the villa's garden staircase, the Loggia dei leoni. The first lion originates from a 2nd-century marble that was first mentioned in 1594, by the sculptor Flaminio Vacca, by which time it was already in the collection of Ferdinando; Vacca reported that it had been found in the via Prenestina, outside Porta San Lorenzo. According to Vacca, the lion had been a relief, which was carved free of its background and reworked by "Giovanni Sciarano" or Giovanni di Scherano Fancelli, of whom little is now known.
The second was made and signed by Vacca, also in marble, as a pendant to the ancient sculpture at a date variously reported as between 1594 and 1598 or between 1570 and 1590. The pair were in place at the Loggia dei Leoni in 1598 The pendant was made from a capital that had come from the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
The Villa Medici was inherited by the house of Lorraine in 1737, and in 1787 the lions were moved to Florence, and since 1789 they flank the steps to the Loggia dei Lanzi at the Piazza della Signoria.
The sculptures were replaced by copies at the Villa Medici when Napoleon relocated the French Academy in Rome to the villa in 1803. These copies were made by the French sculptor Augustin Pajou.
Copies.
The original Medici lions (1598) have since 1789 stood in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Piazza della Signoria, Florence. There is a smaller bronze left-looking sculpture attributed to Italian sculptor Pietro da Barga and the same period. Later copies or replicas include (ordered by first year):
Russia and Ukraine.
Versions in Saint Petersburg, Russia include:
Versions in southern Russia and later Ukraine include:
In popular culture.
Downsized copies of the Medici lions are on display in the garden of the Corleone family estate in "The Godfather" (1972).


Saint Mary of Egypt (Ribera)

Saint Mary of Egypt is a 1641 painting of the 4th century ascetic saint Mary of Egypt by José de Ribera, now in the Musée Fabre in Montpellier, which acquired it in 1837.


Dillon Memorial

The Dillon Memorial is a historic structure located in LeClaire Park, near downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1983 and on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties in 1993. It is commonly referred to as the Dillon Fountain.
History.
The structure memorializes John Forrest Dillon who was a Davenport attorney, an Iowa Supreme Court Justice and a judge on the United States Circuit Court. A bequest after his death on May 6, 1914, specified the construction and location of the fountain. The memorial anchors the south end of Main Street and faces the Civil War Monument twelve blocks to the north on top of the bluff. It was also meant to be a focal point and dramatic terminus for the street, which connects LeClaire Park with Vander Veer Park in central Davenport.
Like the Civil War Monument, Main Street surrounded the Dillon Memorial. When the memorial was constructed from 1918 to 1919 there were no other structures on the south side of River Drive. The memorial was part of a major riverfront development program by the Levee Improvement Commission along with Union Station and the W.D. Petersen Memorial Music Pavilion. It was at this time that the name of Riverfront Park was changed to LeClaire Park. In 1922 the Municipal Natatorium was built on the west side of the street from the memorial, and a year later the Lend-A-Hand Club was built to the east. The Lend-a-Hand building was also listed on the NRHP. In the late 20th century the memorial returned to its original state when the other two structures were torn down. Main Street was then closed south of River Drive and the area was incorporated into LeClaire Park in 1997. At that time the brick plaza was built around the fountain.
Architecture.
The Davenport Levee Improvement Commission sponsored a design competition for the memorial. New York artists Franklin and Arthur Ware won the competition and designed the memorial in association with Paul Schultz. The Dillon Memorial is a Neoclassical structure built in concrete. The style is typical of monuments and public buildings that were built at the time. It also reflected Arthur Ware's training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.
The monument is an upright, fluted column surrounded by a circular basin, which functions as a fountain. A lantern sits on top of a platform capital. Bas-relief panels of lion heads and garland swags decorate the base of the column. There is also a bas-relief likeness of Judge Dillon on the column.


Statue of Oliver Cromwell, Westminster

A statue of Oliver Cromwell stands outside the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in Westminster, London. Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland between 1653 and 1658. Directly opposite the statue, in the wall of St Margaret's Church, on the other side of the road, is a bust of Charles I, which is often unnoticed.
The statue was designed by Hamo Thornycroft and erected in 1899. It has divided opinion, both before its erection and since, due to Cromwell's opposition to the monarchy and his role in the conquest of Ireland.
The statue is one of five public statues of Cromwell in the United Kingdom and is Grade II listed for its architectural merit.
Description.
The statue was sculpted by Hamo Thornycroft and features Cromwell standing holding a sword and a bible. The bible is marked "Holy Bible 1641", and while the main statue of Cromwell is marked "Hamo Thornycroft 1897", the lion on the base is marked "1899".
History.
Following the fire which destroyed parts of the Palace of Westminster in the 19th century, the question whether or not Oliver Cromwell should have a statue in the reconstruction of the Palace was debated in the pages of "The Times", and "Punch" magazine satirised the issue. The question was raised once more in the House of Commons in 1856, with John George Phillimore saying "any man who could object to a statue of Cromwell must be imbued with bigotry and party spirit in the highest degree". It was raised several more times over the following years by supporters of a statue.
The government publicly proposed a statue of Cromwell for the first time in 1895, which immediately resulted in members of the public questioning the decision due to the divided opinions about Cromwell. The proposal ended in a parliamentary debate and vote, in which the Government narrowly avoided defeat when the Unionists sided with them while the majority of the Conservatives and the Irish National Party voted against the measure because of Cromwell's history in Ireland. The decision was condemned by newspapers in Ireland. Following further opposition from the Irish National Party, the proposal was withdrawn on 17 July 1895. Herbert Gladstone, First Commissioner of Works, approved the statue with the funding coming from an anonymous private donor. In 1899 his successor Aretas Akers-Douglas confirmed the statue's proposed location as the sunken garden next to Westminster Hall. The statue, cast in bronze by Singer of Frome, was unveiled on 31 October 1899, followed by a speech on Cromwell by former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, who was later revealed as the anonymous donor who paid for the statue, and whose wife was the sole heir to the Rothschild's family fortune.
In 2004, a group of Members of Parliament including Tony Banks proposed a motion that the statue should be removed and melted down. The move was not supported, and other MPs suggested that the statue should be moved somewhere else.
Restoration work took place in August 2008, removing dirt and a coat of black wax which had been previously applied to the bronzework. This changed the colour of the statue from black to a more natural brown, and potassium sulphide was applied in order to even out the colour of both Cromwell and the lion. It was coated in a clear wax in order to ensure that the natural finish remained. The conservation work was completed in time for the 350th anniversary of Cromwell's death on 3 September 2008.


Stormy Sea (Emil Nolde)

Stormy Sea, by Emil Nolde, date 1930, is a landscape painting done with watercolor on 34x 45 cm paper. This piece has very organic lines and there are many spots of bright colors, in particular blues and oranges. There are two boats on the horizon and a steam boat off to the right side which is a nod to modernism and industrialization. The bright fiery orange on the horizon gives a sense of drama to the piece and the white color in the foreground shows the crests of the moving waves. The waves juxtaposed against the fiery horizon animate the painting, and the colors help to depict the tumultuous waves. The orange light in the sky imbues energy and excitement against the dark blue waters.
The painting is now in the collection of the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, Germany.
Nolde's technique.
Nolde elevated watercolor far above the level of a specialized technique and achieved works of breathtaking and ephemeral beauty which stand unique in the history of twentieth-century art. His use of color conveys movement and emotion, and the mysterious quality of painting is typical of the Die Brücke style. Watercolor is a medium that Nolde liked because he could translate his ideas and concepts to creation faster than oil painting which requires that it is drawn out and planned before it is put on canvas.
Nolde said about his paintings, “To the annoyance of art historians I shall destroy all lists that give information about the dates of my pictures.” His wife, Ada Nolde, kept a precise catalog of his oil paintings but not of his watercolors.
Nolde's reception.
His work was denounced by Hitler in World War II as Degenerate Art. Hitler condemned modern art and especially art by Jewish artists to be degenerate.
Emil Nolde was heavily censored even though he was a German citizen. During this time many of his works were removed from exhibitions at German museums and he was heavily censored by the Nazi party during the 1930s and 1940s.
Nolde’s landscapes are not mere pictures of mood or reflections of the changing atmosphere of a year or of a day, but are truly ‘landscapes of the soul’, the free and direct expression of artistic and human experience. He expresses true feeling and emotion with the fluidity and bright colors present in his watercolors. Nolde was able to create work faster through watercolor and he could go straight from concept to creation immediately unlike with oil painting which he had to plan out. Watercolor was Nolde’s primary medium from the 1930s until his death, and he used it to create the beautiful painting "Stormy Sea".