The Embarkation for Cythera

The Embarkation for Cythera ("L'embarquement pour Cythère") is a painting by the French painter Jean-Antoine Watteau. It is also known as Voyage to Cythera and Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera. Watteau submitted this work to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture as his reception piece in 1717. The painting is now in the Louvre in Paris. A second version of the work, sometimes called Pilgrimage to Cythera to distinguish it, was painted by Watteau about 1718 or 1719 and is in the Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin.
Subject.
The painting portrays a "fête galante"; an amorous celebration or party enjoyed by the aristocracy of France after the death of Louis XIV, which is generally seen as a period of dissipation and pleasure, and peace, after the sombre last years of the previous reign.
The work celebrates love, with many cupids flying around the couples and pushing them closer together, as well as the statue of Venus (the goddess of sexual love). There are three pairs of lovers in the foreground. While the couple on the right by the statue are still engaged in their passionate tryst, another couple rises to follow a third pair down the hill, although the woman of the third pair glances back fondly at the goddess’s sacred grove. At the foot of the hill, several more happy couples are preparing to board the golden boat at the left. With its light and wispy brushstrokes, the hazy landscape in the background does not give to any clues about the season, or whether it is dawn or dusk.
It has often been noted that, despite the title, the people on the island seem to be leaving rather than arriving, especially since they have already paired up. Many art historians have come up with a variety of interpretations of the allegory of the voyage to the island of love. Watteau himself purposely did not give an answer.
In the ancient world, Cythera, one of the Greek islands, was thought to be the birthplace of Venus, goddess of love. Thus, the island became sacred to the goddess and love. However, the subject of Cythera may have been inspired by certain 17th century operas or an illustration of a minor play. In Florent Carton Dancourt's "Les Trois Cousines" (The Three Cousins), a girl dressed as a pilgrim steps out from the chorus line and invites the audience to join her on a voyage to the island, where everyone will meet their ideal partner.
History.
It was around 1717 that Watteau painted his first, more literal version of the theme, which nonetheless bears a compositional similarity to the Louvre painting. This work is now in the Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt-am-Main.
When Watteau was accepted as a member of the Academy in 1714, he was expected to present the customary reception piece. Although he was given unusual freedom in choosing a subject for his painting, his failure to submit a work brought several reprimands. Meanwhile, Watteau worked on numerous private commissions that his rising reputation brought him. Finally, in January 1717, the Academy called Watteau to task, and in August of that year he presented his painting, which had been painted quickly in the preceding eight months. Once submitted, the painting caused the Academy to invent a new classification for it, since the subject was so striking and new. This resulted in the fête galantes (elegant fêtes or outdoor entertainments), a genre subsequently practiced by imitators of Watteau, such as Jean-Baptiste Pater and Nicolas Lancret. While the creation of the new category acknowledged Watteau as the originator of the genre, it also prevented him being recognised as history painter, the highest class of painter, and the only one from which the academy's professors were drawn. Charles-Antoine Coypel, the son of its then director, later said: "The charming paintings of this gracious painter would be a bad guide for whoever wished to paint the Acts of the Apostles."
Popularity.
In years after Watteau’s death, his art fell out of fashion. During the French Revolution, some eighty years after the work was painted, his depictions of lavishly set pastoral escapades were associated with the old days of the monarchy and a frivolous aristocracy. This particular piece, which had entered the collection of the Louvre in 1795, was used by art students for target practice; an account by Pierre Bergeret (1782–1863) describes the drawing students throwing bread pellets at it. In the early 19th century the curator at the Louvre was forced to place it in storage until 1816 in order to protect the painting from angry protesters. It was not until the 1830s that Watteau and the Rococo returned into fashion.
Derivative works.
In 1904 Claude Debussy wrote a piece for solo piano titled "L'Isle Joyeuse", which may have been inspired by the painting; the colorful and brilliant piano writing depicts the ecstasy of the lovers. Four decades later, Debussy's compatriot Francis Poulenc wrote a lively piece for two pianos which took the name of the painting for its title, "L'Embarquement pour Cythere".
On screen.
""Les secrets de la fête galante. Le pèlerinage à l'île de Cythère", film by Alain Jaubert from "Palettes" series (1995).


Child of Sorrow (film)

Child of Sorrow (; subtitled "The Ruins") is a 1956 Philippine crime film directed by Lamberto V. Avellana. The film was selected as the Philippine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 29th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The film won the Best Film Award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival.


Loonie

The loonie (), formally the Canadian one-dollar coin, is a gold-coloured coin of the Canadian dollar that was introduced in 1987 and is produced by the Royal Canadian Mint at its facility in Winnipeg. The most prevalent versions of the coin show a common loon, a bird found throughout Canada, on the reverse and Queen Elizabeth II, the nation's head of state, on the obverse. Various commemorative and specimen-set editions of the coin with special designs replacing the loon on the reverse have been minted over the years.
The coin's outline is an 11-sided Reuleaux polygon. Its diameter of 26.5 mm and its 11-sidedness matched that of the already-circulating Susan B. Anthony dollar in the United States, and its thickness of 1.95 mm was a close match to the latter's 2.0 mm. Its gold colour differed from the silver-coloured Anthony dollar; however, the succeeding Sacagawea and Presidential dollars matched the loonie's overall hue. Other coins using a non-circular curve of constant width include the 7-sided British twenty pence and fifty pence coins (the latter of which has similar size and value to the loonie, but is silver in colour).
After its introduction, the coin became a metonym for the Canadian dollar: media often discuss the rate at which the "loonie" is trading against other currencies. The nickname "loonie" became so widely recognized that in 2006, the Royal Canadian Mint secured the rights to it. When the Canadian two-dollar coin was introduced in 1996, it was in turn nicknamed the "toonie" (a portmanteau of "two" and "loonie").
Background.
Canada first minted a silver dollar coin in 1935 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of George V's reign as king. The voyageur dollar, so named because it featured an Indigenous person and a French voyageur paddling a canoe on the reverse, was minted in silver until 1967, after which it was composed primarily of nickel. The coins did not see wide circulation, mainly due to their size and weight; the nickel version weighed and was in diameter, and was itself smaller than the silver version.
By 1982, the Royal Canadian Mint had begun work on a new composition for the dollar coin that it hoped would lead to increased circulation. At the same time, vending machine operators and transit systems were lobbying the Government of Canada to replace the dollar banknotes with more widely circulating coins. A Commons committee recommended in 1985 that the dollar bill be eliminated despite a lack of evidence that Canadians would support the move. The government argued that it would save between $175 million and $250 million over 20 years by switching from bills that had a lifespan of less than a year to coins that would last two decades.
Introduction.
The government announced on March 25, 1986, that the new dollar coin would be launched the following year as a replacement for the dollar bill, which would be phased out. It was expected to cost $31.8 million to produce the first 300 million coins, but through seigniorage (the difference between the cost of production and the coin's value), expected to make up to $40 million a year on the coins. From the proceeds, a total of $60 million over five years was dedicated toward funding the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
The failure of the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin in the United States had been considered and it was believed Americans refused to support the coin due to its similarity to their quarter coin and its lack of aesthetic appeal. In announcing the new Canadian dollar coin, the government stated it would be the same overall size as the Susan B. Anthony coin – slightly larger than a quarter – to allow for compatibility with American manufactured vending machines, but would be eleven-sided and gold-coloured.
It was planned that the coin would continue using the "voyageur" theme of its predecessor, but the master dies that had been struck in Ottawa were lost in transit en route to the Mint's facility at Winnipeg. A Commons committee struck to investigate the loss discovered that the Mint had no documented procedures for transport of master dies and that it had shipped them via a local courier in a bid to save $43.50. It was also found to be the third time that the Mint had lost master dies within five years. An internal review by the Royal Canadian Mint argued that while a policy existed to ship the obverse and reverse dies separately, the new coin dies were packaged separately but were part of the same shipment. The Mint also disagreed with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's contention that the dies were simply lost in transit, believing instead that they were stolen. The dies were never recovered.
Fearing the possibility of counterfeiting, the government approved a new design for the reverse, replacing the "voyageur" with a Robert-Ralph Carmichael design of a common loon floating in water. The coin was immediately nicknamed the "loonie" across English Canada, and became known as a "huard", French for "loon", in Quebec. The loonie entered circulation on June 30, 1987, as 40 million coins were introduced into major cities across the country. Over 800 million loonies had been struck by the coin's 20th anniversary.
After a 21-month period in which the loonie and $1 note were produced concurrently with each other, the Bank of Canada ceased production of the dollar banknote. The final dollar bills were printed on June 30, 1989. Initial support for the coin was mixed, but withdrawing the banknote forced acceptance of the coin.
The loonie has subsequently gained iconic status within Canada, and is now regarded as a national symbol. The term "loonie" has since become synonymous with the Canadian dollar itself. The town of Echo Bay, Ontario, home of Robert-Ralph Carmichael, erected a large loonie monument in his honour in 1992 along the highway, similar to Sudbury's 'Big Nickel'.
Lucky loonie.
Officials for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics invited the National Hockey League's ice making consultant, Dan Craig, to oversee the city's E Center arena, where the ice hockey tournament was being held. Craig invited a couple of members from the ice crew in his hometown of Edmonton to assist. One of them, Trent Evans, secretly placed a loonie at centre ice. He originally placed a dime, but added the loonie after the smaller coin quickly vanished as the ice surface was built up. He placed the coins after realizing there was no target at centre ice for referees to aim for when dropping the puck for a faceoff. A thin yellow dot was painted on the ice surface over the coins, though the loonie was faintly visible to those who knew to look for it.
Keeping the coin a secret, Evans told only a few people of its placement and swore them to secrecy. Among those told were the players of the men's and women's teams. Both Canadian teams went on to win gold medals. Several members of the women's team kissed the spot where the coin was buried following their victory. After the men won their final, the coin was dug up and given to Wayne Gretzky, the team's executive-director, who revealed the existence of the "lucky loonie" at a post-game press conference.
The lucky loonie quickly became a piece of Canadian lore. The original lucky loonie was donated to the Hockey Hall of Fame, and Canadians have subsequently hidden loonies at several international competitions. Loonies were buried in the foundations of facilities built for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
Capitalizing on the tradition, the Royal Canadian Mint has released a commemorative edition "lucky loonie" for each Olympic Games since 2004.
Composition.
The weight of the coin was originally specified as 108 grains, equivalent to 6.998 grams. The coin's diameter is 26.5mm.
When introduced, loonie coins were made of aureate, a bronze-electroplated nickel combination. Beginning in 2007, some loonie blanks also began to be produced with a cyanide-free brass plating process. In the spring of 2012, the composition switched to multi-ply brass-plated steel. As a result, the weight dropped from 7.00 to 6.27 grams. This has resulted in the 2012 loonie not being accepted in some vending machines. The Toronto Parking Authority estimates that at about $345 per machine, it will cost about $1 million to upgrade almost 3,000 machines to accept the new coins. The Mint states that multi-ply plated steel technology, already used in Canada's smaller coinage, produces an electromagnetic signature that is harder to counterfeit than that for regular alloy coins; also, using steel provides cost savings and avoids fluctuations in price or supply of nickel.
On April 10, 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint announced design changes to the loonie and toonie, which include new security features.
Commemorative editions.
Alongside the regular minting of the loonie with the standard image of the common loon on the coin's reverse, the Royal Canadian Mint has also released commemorative editions of the one-dollar coin for a variety of occasions. These coins have a circulation-grade finish and have been made available to the public in five-coin packs and in 25-coin rolls in addition to being released directly into circulation.
Terry Fox loonie.
The Terry Fox Loonie was unveiled in 2005 and designed by Senior Engraver Stanley Witten. The coin depicts the Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist Terry Fox.
Following his design of the 2005 Terry Fox loonie, Witten told the Ottawa Citizen that "while sculpting the design, I wanted to capture Terry fighting the elements, running against the wind, towering over wind-bent trees on a lonely stretch of Canadian wilderness."
Specimen set editions.
In 1997, 2002, and each year since 2004, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued a one-dollar coin that depicts a different and unique image of a bird on the coin's reverse. These special loonies have limited mintages and are available only in the six-coin specimen sets.
References.
Footnotes
Bibliography


Richard Ansdell

Richard Ansdell (11 May 1815 – 20 April 1885) was a British painter of animals and genre scenes.
Life.
Ansdell was born in Liverpool (then in Lancashire), the son of Thomas Griffiths Ansdell, a freeman who worked at the port, and Anne Jackson. His father died young and Richard was educated at The Liverpool Blue Coat school for orphans. He had a natural talent for art from an early age, and after leaving school worked for a portrait painter in Chatham in Kent, and also spent time as a sign painter in the Netherlands.
He first exhibited at the Liverpool Academy in 1835, becoming a student there the following year. His animal and rural subjects proved to be popular and he soon attracted wealthy patrons. His first exhibition at the Royal Academy, London, was in 1840, with two paintings called "Grouse shooting" and "A Galloway farm". This was followed, in 1841 by "The Earl of Sefton and party returning from hunting", in 1842 "The death of Sir William Lambton at the Battle of Marston Moor", in 1843 "The Death" and in 1844 "Mary Queen of Scots returning from the chase to Stirling Castle". He went on to exhibit pictures every year at the Academy until 1885 (149 canvases in all). In 1846 he exhibited his first picture, "A Drover's Halt" at the British Institution, London, and went on to show 30 canvases there.
In June 1841, he married Maria Romer - the couple went on to have 11 children. In 1847 the family left Liverpool to live in Kensington in London.
In 1850, Ansdell started collaborating on pictures with Thomas Creswick, who specialised in landscapes (e.g.:"The South Downs", "England's day in the country" etc.). He also worked with William Powell Frith ("The Keeper's daughter") and John Phillip, with whom he travelled to Spain in 1856 and painted a series of Spanish subjects - "The Water Carrier", "The Road to Seville", "The Spanish shepherd" etc. He returned to Spain alone the following year to paint more pictures there.
In 1855, Andsell was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition for his works, "The Wolf Slyer" and "Taming the Drove". He also won the "Heywood medal" three times for his work at the Manchester Royal Institution. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA) in 1861 and a Royal Academician (RA) in 1870.
During part of his career he kept a "summer house" at Lytham St Annes, in the borough of Fylde, where a district, Ansdell, is named after him. He is the only English artist to have been honoured in this way.
Ansdell died at "Collingwood Tower" at Farnborough in Hampshire on 20 April 1885. He was buried at Brookwood Cemetery.
Works.
Ansdell's best known works include "Stag at Bay" (1846), "The Combat" (1847), and "Battle of the Standard" (1848) - depicting the capture of the French flag at Waterloo by Sergeant Ewart of the Scots Greys.
Ansdell's subject matter was compared to that of Edwin Landseer, though critical opinion was that, though popular, his works lacked the latter's emotional impact. His reputation was as a hardworking but occasionally over-proud artist; for instance, he received no royal commissions after refusing to paint Queen Victoria's dogs unless they were brought to his studio.
Many of his works are under the guardianship of Fylde Borough Council, having been donated to the former Lytham St Annes Corporation in the 1930s. A selection of these paintings is periodically exhibited at the Fylde Gallery above Booths supermarket in Lytham where "The Herd Lassie" is on long-term loan. There are further Ansdell paintings hanging in non-public rooms at Fylde Borough Council Town Hall that can be viewed by prior arrangement or on heritage open days in September.
In October 2017 a large painting by Ansdell of a Friesian cow was featured on BBC One's "Antiques Roadshow" and was valued, by art expert Rupert Maas, as being worth between 15,000 and £20,000.
The largest public collections of Ansdell's paintings in Britain are in Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery, the Lytham St Annes Art Collection, and Preston's Harris Museum.


Moose in the City

Moose in the City was a public art display in the year 2000 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada organized by the municipal government, which placed 326 life-sized moose sculptures throughout the city and decorated by local artists.
Conception.
McDonald's Canada founder and senior chairman George Cohon conceived of moose statues being placed across Toronto in June 1999, after seeing Chicago's Cows on Parade. After suggesting the idea to Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman, he was named chairman of the campaign. Anti-globalization activist Naomi Klein was quick to criticize Cohon's involvement: "Mr. Cohon is an expert in transforming cityscapes with iconic plastic monuments."
There was no cost to the city to run the campaign.
Corporations paid $6000 for the statues, with a standard $1000 fee going to the artists. A July article stated the fee was $6500. The fee included materials; one artist exceeded their payment by $140. Artists were given coupons for Benjamin Moore paint.
During the project, he was given "hundreds of little moose things from everybody and anybody." They were at least considered, if not collected by the city, as were a large collection of personal papers.
Fibreglass Fabricators Moose Productions Inc. created the plastic and foam moose. Business owner Mark Selkirk would run for Etobicoke—Lakeshore riding in the 2003 municipal election. Moose keychains, when squeezed, would say "I love Toronto" in Mel Lastman's voice.
Woodbridge clothing company Legacy Sportswear had a contract to provide Moose in the City memorabilia.
The Toronto bid for the 2008 Olympic Games included a stop at the CN Tower, complete with moose.
CBC commentator Rex Murphy labelled Lastman the "Moose "R" Us Mayor". On announcing in 2003 that he would not seek another term as mayor, columnists about Lastman fixated on his "moose crusade", and stated that he was the "go-to guy on the moose file."
Display.
Vandalism and theft.
Antlers were separate but attached to the moose sculptures. As a result, many were stolen throughout the exhibit, each weighing 2.5 kilograms. As of 22 June, 43.5 of 115 missing antlers were "unaccounted for", and three entire moose were missing. Once vandalism of the moose started, the city started a hotline for moose abuse tips, with messages checked every night.
Steven Dengler, who worked in a Bay Street office, and 12 other lawyers and "techies" launched AntlerWatch.com, a site using digital cameras to record the state of the moose, and act as a centralized, email-based crime reporting service, much like Crime Stoppers. At the time, only 14 moose were in the downtown, with 85 more just revealed. Half of the moose being watched by the site were vandalized or spray-painted by the start of June. The group aimed to have realtime monitoring of moose on webcam, and to form a cooperative agreement with the city on moose protection. Daljit Sing Birak of Brampton was arrested by Toronto police in June, when caught with four antlers, after a 911 call to report the crime in progress. The man was charged with mischief under $5,000; if convicted, he faced a maximum penalty of five years in jail.
One letter to the editor suggested that, without antlers, the moose looked like donkeys. Another letter writer suggested it was either a "frustrated naturalist" correcting the bull moose, who have no antlers during the summer, developing them partway through August, or perhaps feminists, angry there were no cows. Endorsing the moose mutilation, globalization critic Naomi Klein dubbed Antler Watch "a group of corporate vigilantes. She suggested that "Mel was bang on about one thing. The moose have become a blank slate onto which this city projects its creativity. Only it turns out that most of that creativity involves some form of moose mutilation."
One guest columnist claimed "squads of municipal employees apparently work throughout the day to ensure that they are clean and unharmed by vandals." One letter writer described the repair process of moose. Tuesday nights, new antlers would be installed, and painted by Wednesday night. They would be gone by the next Monday. Notices were posted around the moose, asking for information, and video camera pointed towards the moose from nearby buildings. By 29 May, the moose was entirely removed from the spot.
In an August interview, Cohon commented "I don't like to talk about all the vandalism. I never expected people would damage them. It's unfortunate, but it's sort of a thing of the past. It seems to be over now."
Outside of Toronto.
Lost Moose, one of the statues sponsored by BMW, was moved to Whitby to avoid the vandalism in Toronto, stationed at the entrance of Iroquois Park. During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Aline Chretien officially opened a bar on Cockle Bay Wharf, to try and shake "Canada's reputation as a slightly dull—if clean and safe—place." Featured was vodka-based "moose juice", and Lastman was expected to appear. A few moose from the Moose in the City program were displayed in Darling Harbour, just west of the downtown, at "Moose Lodge". One eventually made its way to Bermuda. One of the Moose, the Tourist moose, ended up at 1405 Denison Street outside an industrial building in Markham, Ontario.
Related events.
On 7 September, the United Way held a Running of the Moose event where the sculptures were raced up and down Bay Street, raising $39,600. Initial publicity had mentioned that they hoped to raise $50,000. The mayor credited his wife, Marilyn, with the idea of the event. "When she told me about it, I couldn't control myself! I said, 'Marilyn! This is the greatest idea ever! It's phenomenal!" Cohon and Lastman were dressed as matadors at the event, and the moose in the race were solid red, yellow, green, blue, or purple, not the actual ones on display.
In August, a moose calling event was held near Yonge and Bloor Streets, with judges including a two-time world champion, and contestants including George Smitherman. The Toronto Santa Claus Parade included a variety of new floats in 2000, including one based on Moose in the city. Cavalcade of Lights in Nathan Phillips Square included a special Holiday Moose on the Square, presented by Labatt Blue.
Reception.
A "Toronto Star" poll in July found only 53.5% liked the moose. After a few months, the public received the moose with more openness. An Ipsos-Reid poll for the "Globe and Mail" and CFRB asked agreement to the statement "I like the 'moose in the city' campaign and think something similar should be repeated next year' drew 57% yes response, 39% no, and 4% "don't know". In comparison, only 54% felt Lastman's performance handling amalgamation was worth an A or B grade.
Commercial influence.
In response to suggestions the moose were no more than corporate billboards, Cohon noted no more than 10 have logos on them; Christopher Hume questioned the validity of that assertion. Supporting sponsors like Coca-Cola were allowed "enhanced corporate identity." Participants had to follow rules on the amount of corporate presence each moose could have, rules found too restrictive by the National Hockey League and NHLPA, which did not participate. Hume noted irony in the fact that, during the Art Gallery of Ontario launch of the moose in March, Lastman touted "what exposure ... five months of advertising for your business."
As an emblem of Lastman.
On Lastman's announcement that he would run again in 2000, criticism returned. "Instead of going from photo op to photo op unveiling moose, he's going to have to take on the real concerns," stated John Nunziata, then an independent MP. When endorsing Tooker Gomberg for mayor, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Region 5 highlighted what they felt was Lastman's choice of moose over the homeless.
"He never stops talking about the moose, as though they were the highlight of his first three years in office." "Globe" columnist John Barber saw Toronto's attitude towards the moose as a sign of their complacency, while a "Star" guest writer suggested that the city has become "a place that cares more about spectacle and cheap visual thrills than it does about its citizens." Lastman's priorities were scorned even by an underfunded candidate, Enza Anderson.
Auction and legacy.
By October, city officials were considering what they'd present the next year, with unicorns, air hockey tables, and UFOs on their list. In 2011, there was a similar snowman project, benefiting Starlight Children's Foundation Canada.
Expectations for the auction were to raise $25,000 on some moose.


The Enchanted Square

The Enchanted Square was a Noveltoon cartoon, produced in 1946 by Famous Studios and released on May 9, 1947. It marks the third appearance of Raggedy Ann in a cartoon. The cartoon was directed by Seymour Kneitel, with story and scenics by Shane Miller, co-story and animation direction by Orestes Calpini, character animation by Calpini and Al Eugster, and music arrangement by Winston Sharples.
Plot.
It is Halloween and Officer Patrick Flanagan finds a discarded Raggedy Ann and decides that it will make a good present for Billie, the blind daughter of the pretty Mrs. Davis whom Flanagan fancies. When Billie receives Raggedy Ann she is very thankful but she wishes she could see Ann. Raggedy Ann tells her that she can see her through her imagination. Billie imagines a fantastic voyage where she and Ann travel through a carnivalesque land based on the real world but run by Mr. Giuseppe the calliope player.


Dragon Gate (San Francisco)

The Dragon Gate ("Chinatown Gate" on some maps) is a south-facing gate at the intersection of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, marking a southern entrance to San Francisco's Chinatown, in the U.S. state of California. Built in 1969 as a gift from the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the style of a traditional Chinese pailou, it became one of the most photographed locations in Chinatown, along with the older Sing Fat and Sing Chong buildings (at Grant and California).
History.
In 1953, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce sponsored a bilingual essay contest on how to improve Chinatown business, in the wake of an U.S. embargo on mainland China imports after the People's Republic of China entered the Korean conflict. The winner of the English division, Charles L. Leong, suggested in his essay, among many things, the erection of an authentic archway to Chinatown at Bush and Grant. A later report from 1963 proposing general plans for the downtown area noted that "north of Bush Street, Grant Avenue, to the casual observer and the visitor, is Chinatown", establishing the site's suitability.
In 1956, the Chinatown Improvement Committee, appointed by Mayor George Christopher, made the archway its top priority, but further progress was stalled; an early effort to build a gate which started in 1958 was suspended in 1961 after funds and materials ran short, then abandoned in 1962. The gate was redesigned in 1963 by Lun Chan, Worley Wong, Morton Rader, and Piero Patri as part of a more ambitious plan to link Chinatown and North Beach via a pedestrian mall and bridge.
In 1967 Mayor John F. Shelley, Mayor Christopher's successor, also championed the project and sponsored a design competition. This contest to design a gateway was won by a team of three Chinese-Americans, landscape architects Melvin H. Lee (design concept), Joseph Yee, along with architect Clayton Lee, who were inspired by Chinese village architecture of ceremonial gates. There were twenty entrants in the contest, judged by a jury of five. Materials for the gateway, viz., 120 artisanal ochre tiles, were donated by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1969.
Although the gateway was largely completed by April 1969, it was not dedicated until October 18, 1970; Mayor Joseph Alioto, Mayor Shelly's successor, and Vice-President Yen Chia-kan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) attended the ceremony.
The Dragon Gate, with its inscription by Sun Yat-sen, has been described as embodying "the ROC government['s] symbolic claim on Chinatown", before the People's Republic of China gained more influence in Chinatown following Nixon's 1972 visit to China and further normalization of US-China relations.
Design.
Like most Chinese ceremonial gates, the Chinatown Gateway has three portals facing south. The two smaller west and east (pedestrian) portals flank the larger central (automotive) portal, and the structure is supported on stone columns rising from the sidewalks on either side of Grant. The stone columns adhere to standards for Chinese gateways; in contrast, most 'Chinese' gateways constructed in the United States use wooden support columns. Each portal is covered with green tiles, leading north along Grant Avenue into Chinatown.
Three shallow steps lead up to each pedestrian portal. Each pedestrian portal features a stone Chinese guardian lion on the side away from the street. By tradition, the lion pair consists of one male and one female. The male lion, at the west portal, stands with his right fore paw atop a pearl or stone, symbolically guarding the structure or empire. The female lion, at the east portal, stands with her left fore paw atop a juvenile lion, symbolically guarding the occupants within. There are also fish and dragons atop the gate; the fish symbolize prosperity, while the dragons symbolize power and fertility. Between the dragons is a ball, symbolizing the earth.
There are four Chinese characters above each portal. Each sign is read from right to left. The central portal sign reads (a motto attributed to Dr. Sun Yat-sen); the east portal sign reads ; and the west reads .


Coat of arms of Yukon

The coat of arms of Yukon is the heraldic symbol representing the Canadian territory of Yukon. The arms was commissioned by the federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and designed by well-known heraldry expert Alan Beddoe in the early 1950s. It was officially approved by Queen Elizabeth II in 1956.
The lower part of the shield represents Yukon's mountains, with the gold disks (called "bezants," a medieval gold coin) representing the territory's mineral resources and its birth in the Klondike Gold Rush. The two white wavy lines represents the territory's rivers.
In chief, the red cross represents England, the roundel (circular shield) surmounting it is in a pattern called "vair," a type of heraldic fur (literally squirrel fur), and representing the territory's wealth of fur-bearing animals.
The crest is an Alaskan Malamute dog standing on a mound of snow.
Blazon.
Shield: "Azure, on a pallet wavy Argent, a like pallet of the field, issuant from base two piles reversed Gules, fimbriated also Argent, each charged with two bezants in pale, on a chief Argent a cross Gules, surmounted of a roundel vair."
Crest: "On a wreath Or and Gules, standing on a mound of snow Proper, an Alaskan Malamute statant Proper."


Eric Cullen

Eric Robertson Cullen (12 July 1965 – 16 August 1996) was a Scottish actor, who was famous for his role as Wee Burney in BBC's "Rab C. Nesbitt". Cullen was born with achondroplasia - a type of dwarfism.
Early life.
He was born to a single mother and was adopted by a family from Hamilton. He was diagnosed with achondroplasia at the age of seven.
Acting career.
Cullen began acting when he was at school. He started to find roles appearing in several theatre groups before appearing in several Scottish TV programmes in the 1980s, particularly "A Kick Up the Eighties". Cullen eventually found lasting fame playing the youngest son, Wee Burney, in the first three series of "Rab C. Nesbitt". However, he left the programme in December 1993; owing to personal problems and citing ill health.
Victim of abuse.
Cullen was sexually abused by a violent paedophile ring from the age of thirteen, and since his condition meant that he looked much younger than he was, this abuse continued into his twenties. Once he became a successful actor, his abusers returned to extort money with menaces. As a result, he developed clinical depression.
Child campaigner.
Cullen was arrested in 1993 for possession of child pornography, and the subsequent police investigation and press coverage left him suffering acute clinical depression when he "finally cracked under a load which had become unbearable". In 1995, Cullen was convicted of child pornography offences, and his own history of being sexually abused since the age of 13 was revealed. His nine-month prison sentence was reduced to three years' probation on appeal. As soon as his prison sentence had been quashed on appeal, he began to be offered acting parts again, but he was still too ill with severe post traumatic stress disorder to resume work.
Once the court case was out of the way Cullen dedicated himself to campaigning against child pornography, and to trying to bring his abusers to justice. Of the three men he named as his principal abusers one, Francis Currens, was jailed during Cullen's lifetime; one, Cullen's uncle Jack Williams, was jailed after his death (both of them for sexual offences including the repeated rape of young boys); and as of summer 2006 one, whom Cullen named as the ringleader, has never been prosecuted.
Death.
Only a day or two before his fatal heart attack, which followed on from surgery for a twisted bowel, he had been asked to take up the role of Wee Burney again. He was however in two minds as to whether to resume his acting career or become a Clinical Psychologist specialising in the treatment of abuse victims; he already had a BA in psychology, and had been accepted to begin a more advanced course in Forensic Psychology that autumn.


The Triumph of the Church (Rubens)

The Triumph of the Church or The Triumph of the Church over Fury, Discord and Hatred is a c.1625 painting by Peter Paul Rubens, now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.
History.
It forms part of a series of allegorical paintings praising the sacrament of the Eucharist, the Catholic faith and the Counter Reformation and attacking heresy and the Protestant Reformation. They were first conceived as modellos for monumental tapestries to be displayed during major festivals such as Corpus Christi at the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The paintings took from 1622 to 1625 and were commissioned by Isabel Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II of Spain and governor of the Spanish Netherlands, which was not only Rubens' homeland but also included the Brussels tapestry factories. The tapestries after the paintings were produced between 1627 and 1632 in these factories and in the studio of Jan II Raes, before being sent to the Spanish court. Some of the tapisteries show Rubens introduced changes in his final drawings
The other subjects in the cycle were "The Triumph of Divine Love", "The Meeting between Abraham and Melchizedek", "The Victory of Virtue over Heresy", "The Victory of the Eucharist over Idolatry" and "The Defenders of the Eucharist". They were mainly on allegorical themes with strong propagandistic and doctrinal subtext, along with some on Old Testament episodes. "The Triumph of the Church" was probably one of the central works in the cycle and the resulting tapestry was probably the biggest in the set with the most complex themes and composition.


Jeff Orlowski

Jeff Orlowski is an American filmmaker. He is best known for both directing and producing the Emmy Award-winning documentary "Chasing Ice" (2012) and "Chasing Coral" (2017).
Life and career.
Born and raised in Staten Island, New York, Orlowski attended Stuyvesant High School where he served as editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, "The Spectator".
At the age of 18, Orlowski moved to California to study anthropology at Stanford University. In his senior year at Stanford, he joined environmental photographer James Balog's Extreme Ice Survey, a time-lapse photography project monitoring glacier retreat around the world. Hired first as the team's videographer, he eventually went on to direct the documentary "Chasing Ice" based on Balog's work.
The feature-length documentary received international acclaim, screening on all seven continents and capturing more than 40 awards from film festivals around the world. "Chasing Ice" also received a 2014 Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming; the Sundance Film Festival Excellence in Cinematography Award for U.S. Documentary; an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song "Before My Time;" and a 2016 Doc Impact Award honoring documentary films that have made the greatest impact on society.
In 2009, Orlowski founded Exposure Labs, a production company geared toward socially relevant filmmaking. In 2015, he produced the film "Frame by Frame," which premiered at South by Southwest and tells the story of four Afghan photojournalists working to build a free press following decades of war and an oppressive Taliban regime.
In January 2016, Orlowski received the inaugural Sundance Institute | Discovery Impact Fellowship for environmental filmmaking.
In 2017, Orlowski released "Chasing Coral", a feature-length film on the rapid changes occurring to the world's coral reefs. The film won a 2018 Peabody Award.
In 2020, Orlowski directed "The Social Dilemma" in collaboration with the Center for Humane Technology about the damaging societal impact of social media.
Chasing Ice.
"Chasing Ice" is a 2012 documentary chronicling environmental photographer James Balog's quest to capture images, through the Extreme Ice Survey, a long-term photography project monitoring 24 of the world's glaciers through 43 time-lapse cameras, that will help tell the story of the changes in Earth's climate brought on by global warming.
The documentary includes scenes from a glacier calving event that took place at Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland, lasting 75 minutes, the longest such event ever captured on film according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Huffington Post called the documentary "one of the most beautiful and important films ever made" and Roger Ebert wrote: "At a time when warnings of global warming were being dismissed by broadcast blabbermouths as "junk science," the science here is based on actual observation of the results as they happen. When opponents of the theory of evolution say (incorrectly) that no one has ever seen evolution happening, scientists are seeing climate change happening right now — and with alarming speed. Here is a film for skeptics who say "we don’t have enough information."


Coat of arms of Bern

The coat of arms of Bern, along with the associated flag and heraldic colours, are used both by the Swiss city of Bern and by the canton of the same name. They were also used by the former district of Bern until its abolition in 2009.
The coat of arms of Bern is on a red field a yellow diagonal band charged with a black bear with a red tongue, claws and manhood walking upwards toward the hoist. The heraldic blazon reads: "Gules, on a bend or, a bear passant sable, langued, armed and vilené of the field." The flag of Bern is square and depicts the coat of arms. The heraldic colours of Bern are red and black.
Heraldic beast.
The heraldic beast of Bern is the bear. It has long served as namesake, emblem, mascot and — at times — personification of Bern. The founding legend has it that Duke Berthold V of Zähringen vowed to choose as namesake the first animal his hunt met in the wood that was to be chopped down for the new city. Then, as Konrad Justinger's chronicle puts it:
The bear motif is in evidence as early as 1224 (on city seals), and has remained in use ever since. Today the city of Bern still has bears featured directly outside its "Altstadt" in the Bärengraben.
Coat of arms.
As Justinger's chronicle reveals, Bern's original coat of arms was an upright black bear on a white shield (which is, incidentally, the coat of arms of Berlin). In the 13th century, the coat of arms changed to the one in use today. The modern coat of arms is already recognisable in Alsatian mercenary songs of 1375 reported by Justinger. The change, according to the chroniclers, was linked to the Battle of the Schosshalde in 1289 against the troops of Duke Rudolf II of Austria, son of Emperor Rudolf II von Habsburg. According to Justinger, a Bernese salvaged a part of the ensign as the fortunes of war turned against Bern, and Tschudi recounts:
The chronicler Stumpf then adds that the diagonal band changed from silver to gold to celebrate the eventual Bernese victory over the House of Habsburg.
As long as Bern still considered itself (at least formally) to be part of the Holy Roman Empire, subject to the Emperor, this was reflected in its coat of arms. The imperial eagle was placed above the Bernese shield, constituting a compound coat of arms known as the "Bern-Rych", or "Berne-Empire". Eventually, Bern formally gained the full sovereignty it had long since "de facto" possessed with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, but it was not until 1700 that the eagle was replaced with the Republic's trefoil crown that signified ultimate temporal power. This crown is still used by the canton, which places it on top of the coat of arms on its official documents. The city of Bern uses a mural crown on top of its coat of arms, while the district uses no crown.
Other flags of Bern.
The war flag of the Ancien Régime, depicting a white cross on black and red flammé, is sometimes flown in lieu of or alongside the state flag.
In vertical flags, the state colours red and black are sometimes used. Yellow is not counted among the state colours.
Adaptations.
A flag for the Bernese Oberland, designed by B. v. Rodt, was accepted as official by the Bernese Executive Council in 1953. It consists of a black eagle in a gold field (in reference to the region's old status as reichsfrei) over two fields in the cantonal colours of red and black. As opposed to most other Swiss flags, which are quadratic, the flag's format is specified as "an upright oblong in the proportions of 23 to 26".
The city of New Bern, North Carolina uses almost the same flag, except that its bear does not have a red manhood.
References.
Literature.
"Most of this article has been adapted from:" Pascal Ladner, "Siegel und Heraldik", in: Rainer C. Schwinges (ed.), "Berns mutige Zeit: Das 13. und 14. Jahrhundert neu entdeckt", Bern, Schulverlag blmv AG und Stämpfli Verlag AG, Bern 2003, and , p. 244-245.


Rhinoceros (film)

Rhinoceros is a 1974 American comedy film based on the play "Rhinocéros" by Eugène Ionesco. The film was produced by Ely Landau for the American Film Theatre, which presented thirteen film adaptations of plays in the United States from 1973 to 1975.
Plot.
The residents of a large town are inexplicably turning into rhinoceroses. Stanley (Gene Wilder), a mild-mannered office clerk, watches the bizarre transformations from a bemused distance. But soon the strange occurrences invade his personal space, as his neighbor and best friend John (Zero Mostel) and his girlfriend Daisy (Karen Black) become part of the human-into-rhinoceros metamorphosis that is taking place. Eventually, Stanley realizes he will be the only human left.
Production.
In adapting Ionesco’s play, several changes were made to the original text. The setting was switched from France to a then-contemporary United States, complete with a photograph of President Richard Nixon that was comically venerated, and the lead characters Bérenger and Jean were renamed Stanley and John. A new music score by Galt MacDermot was created for the film and a dream sequence was added to the story.
Tom O'Horgan, a theater director best known for his staging of the original Broadway production of the musical "Hair", directed "Rhinoceros". Zero Mostel, who starred in the 1961 Broadway production of the play, recreated his role as the man who turns into a Rhinoceros. Mostel created a minor brouhaha during the production when he refused to smash any props during the rehearsal of his transformation scene – the actor claimed he had an aversion to destroying property.
Although O'Horgan considered using a live animal to dramatize the transformation, no rhinoceros is ever seen on camera during the film – shadows and POV camera angles are used to suggest the presence of the animals.
Mostel and Wilder had appeared together in "The Producers" (1968).
Reception.
"Rhinoceros" was poorly received when it had its theatrical release as part of the American Film Theatre series. Jay Cocks, reviewing "Rhinoceros" for "Time" magazine, faulted it for its “upbeat, frantic vulgarization” of the Ionesco text, arguing that O’Horgan “removed not only the politics but the resonance as well. What remains is a squeaky sermon on the virtues of nonconformity.”
Vincent Canby, writing in "The New York Times", dismissed the film as “an unreliable mouthpiece in an unreliable metaphor so grossly overdirected by Tom O'Horgan that you might get the idea Mr. O'Horgan thought he was making a movie for an audience made up entirely of rhinoceroses instead of people.”


Dazzling Mirage

Dazzling Mirage is a 2014 Nigerian drama film, produced and directed by Tunde Kelani; it stars Kemi "Lala" Akindoju, Kunle Afolayan, Bimbo Manuel, Yomi Fash Lanso, Taiwo Ajai-Lycett and Seun Akindele. It also features special appearances from Adewale Ayuba, Sean Tizzle, Tunde Babalola and Steve Sodiya. The film is an adaptation of a novel of the same name by Olayinka Abimbola Egbokhare, adapted to screen by Ade Solanke. It tells the story of a young sickle-cell patient and the various social and emotional challenges she is faced with.
Production.
It was announced in March 2012, just after the theatrical release of "Maami", that Kelani would be adapting Olayinka Abimbola's "Dazzling Mirage" to the big screen. As of January 2013, the adaptation was confirmed to have commenced. Kelani believes the film to be his way of contributing towards public awareness of genotype-related issues like Sickle-Cell Anaemia, hoping young couples would pay attention to its importance. He states: "all of us are connected directly or indirectly to the sufferers of this ailment" "I have also had personal relationships with sufferers of this ailment and I consider it my responsibility to bring their story to fore." Kemi Akindoju had her screen test on 12 June 2013 and principal photography commenced on 18 September 2013.
Release.
A promotional poster of "Dazzling Mirage" was unveiled on 24 June 2013; Onset pictures were also constantly released to the public during the course of filming. The first trailer for the film was released to the public on 1 December 2013 and a second trailer was released on 14 February 2014. The first official poster, together with a third trailer was released on 18 June 2014, ahead of the 2014 World Sickle-cell Awareness Day. The film screened at the Nollywood Film Festival in New Zealand; it premiered on 7 November 2014 at the Muson Centre, Lagos, and was generally released theatrically on 20 February 2015.
Accolades.
"Dazzling Mirage" has been nominated in the "Best Costume Design" category at the 2015 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.


Timer (film)

Timer (stylized as TiMER) is a 2009 science fiction romantic comedy film written and directed by Jac Schaeffer. The plot concerns a device that counts down to the moment a person meets their soulmate.
Plot.
The concept of TiMER is that a wrist implant is available that counts down to the day when the user will meet his or her soulmate.
Oona, a Los Angeles orthodontist, has a blank timer, meaning her soulmate is not equipped with one. Searching for her soulmate, Oona brings her latest timerless boyfriend to get a timer installed, but the timers do not match and they part ways.
Oona's stepsister and roommate, Steph, has a TiMER indicating that she will not meet her soulmate for over 15 years. Steph's lifestyle includes one-night stands with men whose timers are about to expire, and she encourages Oona toward similar behavior.
Oona gravitates toward Mikey, a young grocery store clerk who encourages her to live in the present. Mikey’s TiMER only has a few months left. Steph meets Dan, a newcomer to Los Angeles, and invites him to her bar intending to introduce him to Oona, who does not show up because she is with Mikey. Steph and Dan flirt. Dan confesses that his wife died; he does not have a TiMER because he believes she was "his one".
When Mikey meets Steph and the sisters argue, Mikey reveals that his TiMER was fake: a programmable sticker. Oona is angry but realizes she was more herself with him because of it. With Oona's 30th birthday approaching, she feels pressure from her mother to find her soulmate. Steph and Oona decide to have their TiMERs removed claiming that they are moving on and the results no longer matter.
Steph has hers removed and is visibly relieved. During Oona's turn, her countdown abruptly starts, signifying that her soulmate has gotten a TiMER. It indicates that she will meet her soulmate the next day. Steph encourages her to remove it anyway, but a conflicted Oona decides to keep it. An angry Steph leaves Oona to think it over.
The next day is Oona and Steph's birthday, and their parents throw them a party, inviting Mikey and Dan. Steph and Oona, still fighting, arrive separately. Oona looks for Steph, but sees Dan. Her TiMER goes off, because Dan purchased a TiMER: being with Steph made him not want to be alone. Mikey runs off before Oona can talk to him, and Oona finds Steph and Dan arguing. The sisters fight and Oona leaves.
The next day, Oona visits Mikey and shows him she had her TiMER removed and says she does not care about the results. Mikey is grateful for the gesture, but insists that the results matter and they say goodbye. The next morning Steph reconciles with Oona. Oona goes for a run at the track later than she usually does, and runs into Dan practicing with his relay team, learning they use the same track, but at different times. They part with the promise of meeting again.
Reception.
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 64% based on 14 reviews.
Neil Genzlinger of the New York Times wrote: "Some of Ms. Schaeffer's plot twists are easy to guess, but everyone's enjoyable to watch.


Skydance Bridge

The Skydance Bridge (oftentimes called the Skydance Pedestrian Bridge or Scissortail Bridge) is a pedestrian bridge and public artwork in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States.
History and design.
On May 15, 2002, the United States Department of Transportation approved a plan for the Oklahoma City Crosstown realignment. Included in the plan was the requirement that the city build a pedestrian bridge to cross Interstate 40. In 2008, Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett announced a design competition for the bridge. Architects Hans and Torrey Butzer conceived of the bridge as being inspired by the Scissortail Flycatcher, Oklahoma’s state bird. The double-winged structure would be a sculptural landmark and provide support to a pedestrian deck that connects two portions of Oklahoma City’s Scissortail Park. The concept was developed into the competition-winning design by Hans Butzer, Stan Carroll, Ken Fitzsimmons, Jeremy Gardner, Bret Johnston, Laurent Massenat, Chris Ramseyer, and David Wanzer in collaboration with MKEC Inc.
The location of the bridge was chosen as part of the "Core to Shore" initiative, which was intended to connect the core of downtown Oklahoma City to the shore of the Oklahoma River. An urban park was in the early stages of planning in the same area as part of the MAPS 3 project; the bridge connects the park's upper and lower portions.
The city allocated a budget of $6.8 million. The cost was originally estimated to be around $5.2 million, but unexpected problems pushed the estimate to $12.8 million. To lower costs, part of the bridge was redesigned, including the elimination of large cables originally intended to stretch from the top of the bird design to the base of the bridge. Construction was originally expected to run from March to November 2011, but due to the cost issues construction did not begin until August 2011. It was constructed at the same time as the new Interstate 40.
The Manhattan Road & Bridge Company built the 380-feet long, 192-feet tall, 20-feet wide bridge. The bird sculpture was completed in December 2011, and construction was finished in April 2012. The bridge officially opened on April 23, 2012 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony which included appearances by design architects and public officials. The design includes fully programmable energy efficient LED lights that illuminate the bridge from dusk to dawn.
In June 2019, city leaders approved a $840,000 repair project on the bridge to replace the wood deck, which had reached its lifespan. It was replaced with a composite fiberglass deck and underwent construction from summer 2019 through summer 2020.
Reception.
In 2012, the structure was named one of the 50 best public art projects in the United States by the Americans for the Arts' "Public Art Network Year in Review".


Parnassus (Mantegna)

The Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is housed in the Musée du Louvre of Paris.
History.
The "Parnassus" was the first picture painted by Mantegna for Isabella d'Este's "studiolo" (cabinet) in the Ducal Palace of Mantua. The shipping of the paint used by Mantegna for the work is documented in 1497; there is also a letter to Isabella (who was at Ferrara) informing her that once back she would find the work completed.
The theme was suggested by the court poet Paride da Ceresara. After Mantegna's death in 1506, the work was partially repainted to update it to the oil technique which had become predominant. The intervention was due perhaps to Lorenzo Leonbruno, and regarded the heads of the Muses, of Apollo, Venus and the landscape.
Together with the other paintings in the "studiolo", it was given to Cardinal Richelieu by Duke Charles I of Mantua in 1627, entering the royal collections with Louis XIV of France. Later it became part of the Louvre Museum.
Description.
The traditional interpretation of the work is based on a late 15th-century poem by Battista Fiera, which identified it as a representation of Mount Parnassus, culminating in the allegory of Isabella as Venus and Francesco II Gonzaga as Mars.
The two gods are shown on a natural arch of rocks in front a symbolic bed; in the background the vegetation has many fruits in the right part (the male one) and only one in the left (female) part, symbolizing the fecundation. The posture of Venus derives from the ancient sculpture. They are accompanied by Anteros (the heavenly love), opposed to the carnal one. The latter is still holding the arch, and has a blowpipe which aims at the genitals of Vulcan, Venus' husband, portrayed in his workshop in a grotto. Behind him is the grape, perhaps a symbol of the drunk's intemperance.
In a clearing under the arch is Apollo playing a lyre. Nine Muses are dancing, in an allegory of universal harmony. The touch of Pegasus's hoof (right) can generate the spring which fed the falls of Mount Helicon, which can be seen in the background. The Muses danced traditionally in wood of this mount, and thus the traditional naming of Mount Parnassus is wrong.
Near Pegasus is Mercury, with his traditional winged hat, caduceus (the winged staff with entwined snakes), and messenger shoes. He is present to protect the two adulterers.


A Rough Draft

A Rough Draft () is a 2018 Russian fantasy film directed by Sergey Mokritskiy, based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Sergei Lukyanenko and starring Nikita Volkov, Yulia Peresild and Yevgeny Tsyganov. It was released in Russia on May 25, 2018.
Plot.
A young resident of Moscow, Kirill is a talented designer of computer games. One day, he is completely erased from the memory of everyone he knew and loved. Kirill learns that he is chosen for an important and mysterious mission. His purpose is to become a customs officer between parallel worlds, of which there are dozens in the universe.
Kirill learns to open the portals to a variety of parallel worlds which represent alternative versions of Moscow: a steampunk Imperial Russia, a post-apocalyptic tropic resort world, a dystopian Gulag world, and a highly advanced utopian world. Over time, Kirill learns that our Earth is a rough draft, a setting for social experiments secretly staged by the government of the utopian world, in order to avoid our mistakes. Learning this, Kirill rebels against his supervisors.
Critical reception.
Although the film was one of the most anticipated Russian releases of 2018, it received generally negative reviews from professional critics, receiving 32% on KinoPoisk. The majority of criticism was focused on CGI, acting and an incomprehensible storyline. Critics also panned the film for its changes from the novel. Observer of Kommersant Mikhail Trofimenkov in his review notes that by multiplying the fantasy worlds above the necessary number, the authors doomed the film to madness of entropy. Equally helpless, in the opinion of the author, is the actor's work. Critic Alexey Lytovchenko (Rossiyskaya Gazeta) wrote that in some places it is impossible to differentiate the characters and understand their motives.
"А Rough Draft" underperformed in the box office.


The Late Bloomer

The Late Bloomer is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by Kevin Pollak and written by Gary Rosen, Joe Nussbaum, Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove, and Kyle Cooper & Austyn Jeffs. The film stars Johnny Simmons, Maria Bello, Brittany Snow, Jane Lynch, J. K. Simmons, Kumail Nanjiani, Beck Bennett, and Paul Wesley, and is based on journalist Ken Baker's autobiography "Man Made: A Memoir of My Body", in which he detailed experiencing puberty for the first time at age 27.
The film received its world premiere at the San Diego Film Festival, where it won Best Comedy. It opened with both a limited release theatrically and through video on demand on October 7, 2016, released by Momentum Pictures. The film received generally negative reviews.
Plot.
Dr. Peter Newmans (Johnny Simmons) is a 27-year-old sex therapist who lives a quiet life alone, silently crushing on his pretty neighbour, Michelle (Brittany Snow). He is known for being a very non-sexual person, and has written a book about how sex is not a necessity. Michelle breaks up with her workaholic boyfriend, and Peter takes the opportunity to comfort her. In her vulnerability, Michelle kisses Peter. All of the sudden he gets a really bad headache and has to leave. Around that time he had been getting a few really bad migraines but it’s not revealed until later on what the actual cause is.
The next morning, he is persuaded by his friends (Kumail Nanjiani and Beck Bennett) to join them at their weekend basketball game, where he is hit in the groin and falls to the ground. He attends an emergency room, where his friends say he may have hit his head, so the doctor orders a head CT scan, followed by an MRI. During his initial physical examination, the doctor has noticed Peter's under-developed testicles, and becomes increasingly concerned. It is discovered that Peter has a long-term benign brain tumor pressed against his pituitary gland, which has caused prolactin to be released into his system while suppressing his testosterone production. This means that he has never transitioned to puberty. Elated to learn that he is not a "freak", Peter insists that a procedure be undertaken immediately to remove the tumor. After a successful excision, he stays with his parents (J. K. Simmons and Maria Bello) to recover. A little later, he wakes with his first erection, signalling his transition into puberty.
With the onset of puberty, Peter experiences some of its less welcome side-effects, including mood swings, strong sexual desires, voice changes, and severe acne. After Michelle leaves for a cooking retreat with Bobby Flay, his symptoms become progressively more severe. During a FaceTime call with her, he lashes out because of his unfamiliar feelings of jealousy.
After Michelle returns, she agrees to a date with Peter, but he blows it by behaving like a jerk. He becomes depressed and tries to receive oral sex from one of his patients, but is caught and subsequently fired by his boss (Jane Lynch). He is forced to come to terms with his situation, and has a heart-to-heart with his father over what it means to "be a man". Reflecting on his anti-sex book, Peter concludes that a person should have all the (consensual) sex possible, and society should cease to sex-shame individuals because "it's awesome". Peter eventually manages to apologize to Michelle, and they live happily ever after.
Production.
Alcon Entertainment acquired the film rights to the journalist Ken Baker's autobiographical book "Man Made: A Memoir of My Body" in 2008, with a script set to be written by Gary Rosen. The film would be based on the true story of Baker, who went through his puberty in three weeks at the age of 27. The delaying of his puberty and normal development was caused by a benign tumor in his brain. The film's titling as "The Late Bloomer" was first announced in January 2010, as Alcon was developing the film. At the time, Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson were attached as producers, and the studio was re-imagining the idea into a comedy by hiring Joe Nussbaum to write a new draft of the script.
In October 2012, it was announced that the film was to be directed by Randall Einhorn and would star Elijah Wood. The script had been written by Nussbaum, and rewritten by Paul A. Kaplan & Mark Torgove. The film was set to be produced by Jesse Israel of Ineffable Pictures and Brent Emery of Coup d'Etat Films, with financing by Dignity Film Finance.
In May 2015, it was announced that the film would now be directed by Kevin Pollak, making his narrative debut. Raphael Kryszek and Israel would produce the film for Ineffable, along with Heidi Jo Markel for Eclectic. In August 2015, a new cast was announced, including Johnny Simmons in the lead role of sex therapist Dr. Peter Newmans, whose experiences mirror those of Baker in real life. Jane Lynch would play Caroline, head of the office where he works, Maria Bello and J. K. Simmons his parents, Brittany Snow the woman he pursues, and Beck Bennett, Kumail Nanjiani, and Blake Cooper his friends. Other cast members include Paul Wesley, Ken Marino, Illeana Douglas, Charlotte McKinney, Vanessa Ragland, and Lenora Crichlow. The latest draft of the film was revealed to have been written by Kyle Cooper and Austyn Jeffs, and Conor Charles was announced as co-producer.
Filming.
Principal photography on the film began in late August 2015 in Los Angeles, and wrapped in Bulgaria on September 5, 2015.
Release and reception.
In April 2016, Momentum Pictures acquired U.S distribution rights to the film. It had its world premiere at the San Diego Film Festival on September 30, 2016, where it won Best Comedy. It was released in a theatrical limited release and through video on demand on October 7, 2016.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 20% based on 10 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."
"The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that while Johnny Simmons fits his role perfectly, and secondary actors such as J.K. Simmons, Jane Lynch, Laraine Newman, Illeana Douglas, Maria Bello and Brian Doyle-Murray, have fun in their stereotypical scenes, J.K. Simmons and Maria Bello in particular seem overqualified for their roles.


Charles Shirreff (painter)

Charles Shirreff (–1829) was a deaf Scottish painter, specializing in portrait miniatures.
Early life and education.
Charles Shirreff was born in either 1749 or 1750. His last name has, at times, been spelled as Sherrif, Sherriff, or Shirref. His father, Alexander Shirreff, was a wealthy wine merchant of South Leith in Edinburgh.
At the age of three or four, Shirreff became deaf and mute. In 1760, his father approached Thomas Braidwood, owner of a school of mathematics in Edinburgh, seeking an education for the boy, then ten years old, in the hope that he could be taught to write. Charles became Braidwood's first deaf student; soon afterward, Braidwood founded Braidwood's Academy for the Deaf and Dumb, the first school of its kind in Britain.
At the age of 18, in August 1769, Shirreff left Braidwood's Academy to study art in London at the Royal Academy Schools. He graduated in 1772 with a silver medal, and took up a career as a miniaturist.
Professional career.
In addition to painting portrait miniatures, Shirreff also produced pastels in his early years. Shirreff successfully exhibited oil paintings, pastels, and pencil drawings at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1771, and at the Free Society of Artists from 1770 until 1773.
Shirreff worked in London after graduating from the Royal Academy, building up a clientele that was mainly theatrical. He befriended Caleb Whitefoord, a well-connected Scottish merchant, diplomat, and political satirist who moved in London's wealthiest elite circles, where Shirreff developed advantageous associations with portraitists Sir Joshua Reynolds, George Dance the younger, and Richard Cosway.
After Shirreff's father had been financially ruined in the Crisis of 1772 by the failure of banking house Neal, James, Fordyce and Down, Shirreff supported the family with his work. He applied to go to India in 1778, stating in his application to the East India Company that he had no speech but was able to make himself understood by signs. He requested that he be accompanied by his father and his sister Mary to act as interpreters. However, his original plan to visit India was abandoned and he remained in England for two more decades.
Shirreff reportedly taught miniature painting in London to students that included, in 1786–1788, Scottish miniaturist Archibald Robertson.
Shirreff lived and worked in Bath either from 1791 to 1795, or from to 1800. His sitters included actress Sarah Siddons, who wrote of him as more successful in her portrait than any miniature painter she had sat to. During that period, he had clients for portraits in common with two other deaf miniaturists in Bath, Sampson Towgood Roch and Richard Crosse.
In 1795, he renewed his application to go to India, and left England in the "Lord Hawkesbury", which reached Madras in January 1797. He painted in Madras for some years before moving to Calcutta, where he worked on his "Illustrations of Signs". In 1807, he announced it was nearly completed and would be available to subscribers as soon as possible. This work has never been traced and is presumed lost in passage from India.
He returned from India in 1808 or 1809, and again took up residence in London, where he continued to work.
Shirreff's date of death, often given as or 1831, has been contested. More recent biographies give an earlier year of death, based on 1829 probate records showing that Shirreff must have died prior to 5 November 1829, when his will was proved in court.
Personal life.
On 11 January 1810, Shirreff married Mary Ann Brown, the sister of a fellow artist, at St George's, Hanover Square. The couple lived in London, in Fitzroy Square and later in Connaught Square, until his death.


Michael Healy (artist)

Michael Healy (14 November 1873 – 22 September 1941) was an Irish stained glass artist, one of a small number which included Wilhelmina Geddes, Evie Hone, and Harry Clarke, who achieved international recognition for their work in this medium in the first half of the 20th century. He also achieved some distinction as an illustrator and cartoonist early on in his artistic career, and as an ongoing recorder (in rapid pencil and watercolour impressions) of Dublin street characters going about their daily business. Healy also occasionally painted in oil, both portraits and landscapes, exhibiting a small number of the latter during his lifetime.
Early life and education.
Michael Healy was born in a tenement in Dublin's inner city and according to his friend of later years, C.P. Curran, "there was nothing in his parentage to turn him towards the arts, but nonetheless the child spent all his pennies on pencils and sat apart incessantly drawing" and by fourteen he was out in the world earning his livelihood. The first record of Healy attending the Dublin Metropolitan School of Art (now National College of Art and Design) occurs in 1892 when he was eighteen years old. Around this time he felt he had a religious vocation which led him to present himself as a postulant lay-brother at the Dominican noviciate in Tallaght, Dublin, but he left after about two years. In 1895 he reenrolled in the DMSA and remained a student (part-time) for three years. According to Curran, Healy's peers were struck by his capacity for drawing and he considered a career in book illustration. In 1897 he secured a job as an illustrator on a new Dominican publication, "The Irish Rosary", and subsequently due to the good offices of the editor, Fr Stephen Glendon, he ended up travelling to Florence where he attended the Life School of the Accademia di Belle Arti for eighteen months, an experience that was to have a profound influence on his artistic development.
In the spring of 1901 Healy returned to Ireland and was appointed art master at Newbridge College, County Kildare, where he found time to paint some portraits, though by the end of 1902 he had resigned. As C.P. Curran noted, "I think he lived through some difficult days at this period before he welcomed Miss Sarah Purser's invitation to join An Túr Gloine." It was not until January 1903 with the official opening of An Túr Gloine that Healy's career really got underway; he was then in his thirtieth year and was about to discover his true vocation as an artist in stained glass.
In addition to Sarah Purser, the other artists at the fledgling studio were London-born Alfred E. Child (who also acted as manager) and Catherine O'Brien. Artists who subsequently joined An Túr Gloine included Beatrice Elvery, Ethel Rhind, Hubert McGoldrick, Wilhelmina Geddes, and Evie Hone. Michael Healy worked full-time at the studio from its establishment until his death in 1941 without interruption.
Stained glass career.
The official start of Michael Healy's stained glass career coincided with the opening of An Túr Gloine in January 1903, and for the first two years he executed, or assisted in the execution of, a total of thirteen stained glass windows; in the case of the majority of these he assisted in the painting (often working alongside Catherine O'Brien) of windows which had been designed by Sarah Purser, Alfred E. Child, or Beatrice Elvery. The first two windows designed and painted entirely by Healy, "Simeon" (1904) and "St John" (1904), demonstrate his finely honed drawing ability and his natural affinity for the craft that would ensure he would soon eclipse his teacher (Alfred E. Child) and his peers. By 1906 Healy had all but ceased to assist in the painting of windows by other artists at the studio and between that year and 1909 he designed fourteen windows himself. Initially he was only assigned small single-light windows but by 1907 he was entrusted with two small rose windows for the side chapels of St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea, County Galway (where his "Simeon" had already been installed, and which would ultimately become a showcase for some of his finest work), and by 1908 five of his six windows were two-light commissions. In 1909, having proved his worth, Healy was assigned a large four-light window for the Church of Ireland, Rathmines, Dublin. This significant window, which features three saints he had already painted in stained glass, can be seen as the culmination of his first six years as a maturing stained glass artist.
Between 1910 and 1914 Healy executed fifteen works in stained glass, including two sets of door panels. Healy's first window of this period, the massive five-light "Convention of Drum Ceat" for the Cathedral of St Eunan and St Columba, Letterkenny, County Donegal, with its increased employment of the "aiding" technique and heightened palette, signals a new departure in Healy's stained glass oeuvre. His finest two windows of the period, both of which are two-lights and were executed in 1914, are "St Helena and Constantine" (also for Letterkenny Cathedral) and "St Patrick blessing Saints Eithne and Fidelma", for the Catholic Church, Donnybrook, Dublin. Between 1915 and 1917 Healy executed eleven stained glass windows, all of which, with one exception, are of modest proportions. Particularly noteworthy is his "Christ with St Thomas" (1915) for the Catholic Church, Mayfield, Cork, which seems to capture a moment of suspended animation rarely seen in stained glass. Echoing his earlier representation of "St Patrick" (1914), Healy depicted Ireland's patron saint in sparkling golden vestments twice again in single-light windows destined for the Catholic Church, Ballyporeen, County Tipperary, (1916), and the Catholic Church, Glenariff, County Antrim (1917). Undoubtedly his finest work of this period is his impressive three-light for the chapel of Clongowes Wood College, County Kildare, which depicts three incidents (all nocturnal scenes) from St Joseph's life which occurred around the time of Christ's birth.
It was only on the conclusion of the First World War that war memorials windows were commissioned from An Túr Gloine in significant numbers. Two artists at the studio appear to have specialised in this genre: Michael Healy and Alfred E. Child. The war memorial boom continued unabated into the 1920s and only began to subside post 1921. Between 1918 and 1921 Healy designed twelve windows, and six of these were war memorials. Probably the finest of these was for the Church of Ireland, Castlecomer, County Kilkenny. The commissions entrusted to Healy during the years 1922 to 1924 were diverse, and the calibre of design varied from the pedestrian to the sheer brilliant. The first pair of windows for the Catholic Church, Timahoe, County Laois, are disappointing, though they were immediately followed by two more stunning single-lights (for the Catholic Church at Bridge-a-Crin, County Louth, and the Church of St James and St Catherine, Dublin). Aside from small panels for Fr Glendon, Healy also painted three single-light windows which had been designed by Wilhelmina Geddes for Bardsea, near Ulverston, Lancashire.
The years 1925 to 1927 were particularly productive for Healy: twelve stained glass windows, part involvement in an important commission for Singapore (for Eu Tong Sen), and a small though prestigious presentation panel bound for the distinguished architect Ragnar Östberg in Stockholm. Significantly, one-third of the windows that Healy executed in this period were overseas commissions, and this was largely brought about by a burgeoning awareness and appreciation of Irish stained glass abroad, particularly in the USA. Five windows from this period were designed for the chapel of the Convent of Mercy, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, and after it closed they were acquired by the National Gallery of Ireland where they are displayed in a specially designed room dedicated to Irish stained glass.
In spite of all the applause and congratulatory comment generated by An Túr Gloine's Silver Jubilee celebration, 1928 transpired to be a singularly disappointing year in terms of Healy's output. Two major commissions came to the studios, both of which were entrusted to Healy, and both of which did not proceed beyond the sketch design stage. Aside from completing his "St Teresa" window for the chapel at Newton Country Day School, Massachusetts, Healy is not recorded as having executed any stained glass windows this year. Between 1929 and 1930 he executed six windows, not including an heraldic work and several small panels. Two were destined for a chapel in Karori, New Zealand, and his most iconographically complex window, "St Victor", was also executed during this period.
Healy's stained glass output in 1932 comprised two windows, a set of nine emblems for plain-glazed windows, and a few panels. One noteworthy commission came from the writer C. S. Lewis for a window to commemorate his parents in the Church of Ireland, Dundela, Belfast, County Antrim. Also, in May of that year Healy was assigned to oversee the production of an enormous American commission which occupied the entire studio staff for over a year which came via the renowned Boston-based stained glass artist, Charles Connick, for the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (Manhattan). Aside from the American window, Healy only completed one single-light in 1931, the sumptuous "Our Lady Queen of Heaven" for St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea which pushed the "aciding" technique to new frontiers. Dominating the first half of the 1930s was his largest work, the majestic four-light depicting "St Augustine and St Monica" (1934–35) for John's Lane Church, (the Augustinian Priory) on Thomas Street, Dublin. In 1934 he began his fifth and final work for his friend Fr Stephen Glendon, by then posted to the Dominican Priory, Galway. A third apse window for the Church of Ireland at Billy, County Antrim, (near Bushmills), and a fifth nave window for St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea were completed by Healy in 1935.
Between 1936 and 1941, the year of Healy's death, he executed nine windows and a few small panels. Some of these, particularly the larger works, are difficult to date precisely and appear to have been executed over a number of years, in a few cases over a span as great as four years. Aside from his two overseas commissions, one destined for Karori, New Zealand, and the other for the chapel of Brophy College Preparatory, Phoenix, Arizona, Healy's output during this period comprises three distinct sets: a pair of three-lights, the "Ascension" and "Last Judgement" for St Brendan's Cathedral, Loughrea; a pair of two-lights for Blackrock College Chapel; and a trio of two-lights for Clongowes Wood College chapel. All nine of these windows number among the finest he executed in a stained glass career that spanned thirty-nine years, however the two that stand out are those for Loughrea Cathedral which are stunning in terms of technique and dramatic interpretation.
The vast majority of Healy's windows can still be viewed in the churches for which they were commissioned. Files on all windows designed or painted by Healy, along with 35mm slides taken in situ, can be found in National Irish Visual Arts Library, located in National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Additionally, an extract of his diary for 1916 which deals with the period of the Easter Rising and contains his first-hand observations and references the windows he was working on at the time is in the collection of the National Irish Visual Arts Library, Dublin.


Nalini Malani

Nalini Malani (born 1946) is a contemporary Indian artist. In her early career, she primarily worked in the realms of painting and drawing. Since the 1990s her work expanded to other forms of media like video, film and projected animation. Her works are characterised by the expansion of the pictorial surface into surrounding space culminating in a layered visual narrative that takes the form of ephemeral wall drawings, shadow play, installations, multi projection works and theatre. She adheres to the vision of the artist as a social activist. Her artworks are often politically motivated and focus on themes of displacement, conflict, transnational politics, critical examination of gender roles and the ramifications of globalisation and consumerism. Throughout the course of her artistic career, she has strived to give voice to the stories of those marginalised by history with a focus on human and universal aspects of conflict and the relationship between the exploiter and the exploited. Literature has been a recurrent source of inspiration and reference for Malani. Her work has been featured in several international museums including Stedelijk Museum and the MoMA Museum of Modern Art. She lives and works in Mumbai.
Early life and education.
Born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan) in 1946, Malani's family sought refuge in India during the Partition of India. They moved to Kolkata, shortly before partition and relocated to Mumbai in 1958. Her family's experience of leaving behind their home and becoming refugees deeply informs Malani's artworks.
Malani studied Fine Arts in Mumbai and obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts from Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in 1969. During this period, she had a studio in the Bhulabhai Memorial Institute, Bombay, where artists, musicians, dancers and theater persons worked individually and collectively. It was here that she had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with artists from allied forms of artistic practice like theatre. She received a scholarship from the French Government to study fine arts in Paris from 1970-72. She was also a recipient of the Art Fellowship from the Government of India from 1984-89.
Career.
After her graduation, she spent a few years working with photography and film. The themes she explored during this period dealt with the turbulent time that India was experiencing politically and socially, as well the deepening literacy of moving image by its population. In the initial part of her career, Malani mostly focussed on paintings - acrylic on canvas & watercolour on paper. She produced a realistic socially based portrayal of Contemporary India. She continued to explore techniques such as the reverse painting method (taught to her in the late-80s by Bhupen Khakhar), which she would recurrently use in her future work. She was disappointed with the lack of acknowledgement that women artists had to face in India and resolved to bring them together for a group show to promote the sense of solidarity. In 1985, she curated the first exhibition of Indian female artists, in Delhi. This led to a series of travelling exhibitions that were taken to public spaces as an attempt to go beyond the elitist atmosphere of the art gallery.
The sectarian violence that hit India in the early 1990s after the demolition of Babri Masjid triggered a sudden shift in her artwork. The renewed religious conflict that had proven to be recurring (bringing back memories of the Partition) pushed her artistic endeavours past the boundaries of the surface and into space. Her earlier foray into performance art and her keen interest in Literature brought new dimensions to her art. She is often counted amongst the earliest to transition from traditional painting to new media work. Multimedia served as the perfect platform for staging her multilayered narratives on conflicts, gender issues and feminism. Her career, which has spanned more than five decades shows a gradual movement towards new media and international collaboration.
In 2013, she became the first Asian woman to receive the Arts & Culture Fukuoka Prize for her "consistent focus on such daring contemporary and universal themes as religious conflict, war, oppression of women and environmental destruction." Malani is represented by Galerie Lelong, Paris and New York. Besides this, she has also served various artist residencies in India, Singapore, the US, Japan and Italy.
Works.
As an artist Malani has always sought to provoke dialogue by going beyond legitimised boundaries and exceeding the conventional narratives. For two-dimensional works, she uses both oil paintings and watercolors. Her other inspirations are her visions from the realm of memory, myth and desire. The rapid brush style evokes dreams and fantasies. Malani's video and installation work allowed her to shift from strictly real space to a combination of real space and virtual space, moving away from strictly object-based work. Her video work often references divisions, gender, and cyborgs. Malani roots her identity as female and as Indian, and her work might be understood as a way for her identity to confront the rest of the world. She often references Greek and Hindu mythology in her work. The characters of 'destroyed women' like Medea, Cassandra and Sita feature often in her narrative. Her multifaceted oeuvre can be broadly classified under two categories; Her experiments with visual media and the moving image like "Utopia" (1969-1976), "Mother India" (2005), "In Search of Vanished Blood" (2012); Her ephemeral and in-situ works such as "City of Desires" (1992), "Medea as Mutant" (1993/2014), "The Tables have turned" (2008). Although her work talks of violence and conflict, her main intent is collective catharsis.
Selected art works.
"City of Desires" (1992).
For her 1992 path-breaking installation "City of Desires," at the Chemould Gallery in Mumbai, she drew directly on the walls. The resulting work was ephemeral and site-specific, speaking against Hindu Fundamentalism that was on the rise.
"Remembering Toba Tek Singh" (1998).
Malani's video installation "Remembering Toba Tek Singh" is a multi-layered and complex video installation with visual, audio, and interactive components, re-examining the history of India and Pakistan during the Partition of India. The work is based on the short story "Toba Tek Singh" by Saadat Hasan Manto. includes archival footage of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, equating the Partition of India with destructive violence.
"Hamletmachine" (2000).
In this video installation (based on a play by Müller), the artist analogically compares India to Hamlet, "never quite knowing which way to go, how to decide, and therefore making wrong decisions." The videos plays consists of four projections - three on walls and the fourth on a bed of salts on the floor. The last projection is a reference to Gandhi's salt march of 1930. The crux of the series of projections was a critique on Hindu Nationalism.
"Unity in Diversity" (2003).
Malani's 2003 video play, "Unity in Diversity", is based on the renowned 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma's "Galaxy of Musicians", with the overt theme of nationalistic unity displayed through the garb of eleven musicians from different parts of India seemingly playing in harmony. Malani makes a statement on this idealised version of unity by incorporating later histories of violence into that image.
"Mother India" (2005).
The video installation was inspired by an essay by the sociologist Veena Das titled "Language and Body: Transactions in the Construction of Pain". It is a synchronised five screen wall-to-wall projection combines archival footage with poetic and painterly image to tell the story of how Indian Nationalism was built using the bodies of women as metaphors for the nation. The work speaks of women as "mutant, de-gendered and violated beyond imagination." The Partition of India and the Gujarat Riots of 2002 are the central events that are referenced in this installation, as there was a sharp increase in the violation of women in these periods.
"In Search of Vanished Blood" (2012).
This installation which was first produced for the 13th edition of Documenta consists of five larger rotating Mylar cylinders (metaphorically referring to Buddhist prayer wheels)reverse painted with images of soldiers, animals, gods and guns. The shadow play caused by this rotation tells the story of senseless bloodshed especially narrating the story of India since the partition and highlighting the plight of the dispossessed/tribal communities whose lives are drastically affected by developmental decisions made by the government.


The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise

The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise is an 1873 oil painting by French artist Camille Pissarro, located in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, which is in Indianapolis, Indiana. It depicts the river Oise near the market town of Pontoise.
Description.
Painted in the early days of Impressionism, this rural landscape uses gently luminous colors and loose brushwork to capture the atmospheric conditions of a silvery-grey, overcast day. While the surface texture is sensuous, the firm compositional network, Pissarro's hallmark, locks the road, river, field, and sky together tightly. Encroaching on the French landscape are clear signs of industrialization: factory, smokestack, railroad, and barge.
Historical information.
As a politically engaged artist, Pissarro had fled to London during the Franco-Prussian War. He settled in Pontoise in 1872, after it was safe to return. It was his period of purest Impressionism. He painted a series of paintings along the Oise in 1873. Factories along the bank played a prominent role, a blatant intrusion of modernity into a landscape contemporaries were still depicting as unspoiled nature. This particular image downplays the factory compared to others in the sequence, relegating it to the background, but it is still a significant part of this humdrum section of riverbank on a grey, cloudy day. The variety of treatments he afforded the factory seems to say less about his feelings about that structure in particular than about the purpose of modern painting, which had a duty to incorporate contrasting elements that had traditionally been kept separate.
Acquisition.
"The Banks of the Oise near Pontoise" was purchased with the James E. Roberts Fund by the Herron School of Art in 1940, then remained with the IMA during the split. It currently hangs in the Norb & Ruth Schaefer, Sr. and Norb & Carolyn Schaefer Jr. Gallery and has the accession number 40.252.


Louis Van Kuyck

Jean Louis Van Kuyck (4 August 1821, Antwerp - 3 July 1871, Antwerp) was a Belgian genre painter. Many of his works featured animals; primarily horses.
Biography.
His father, Antoine Van Kuyck, was a coppersmith; originally from Oosterhout. He was trained as a watchmaker, but worked at that trade for only a short time, before deciding to become a painter. The reason for his decision is unknown. In pursuit of this goal, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where he studied with Gustaaf Wappers. His first paintings were historical and genre scenes.
At the Antwerp Salon of 1843, he exhibited a scene depicting "Fransken", a character from the short story, "Hoe men schilder wordt" (How one Becomes a Painter), by Hendrik Conscience. Three years later, he presented "Henri IV bij de molenaar Michaud" (Henry IV with the Miller, Michaud), a "fait-divers" (scene from daily life, with historical figures or events), which was a popular style of genre painting at the time. In 1849, he presented "Wijn, liefde en tabak" (Wine, Love and Tobacco).
In the 1850s, he narrowed his themes to animal painting; predominantly horses with stables. This would eventually come to dominate his oeuvre.
An unusual incident was crucial to promoting his career. In 1852, Queen Victoria was sailing back to England, following a state visit with King Leopold I of Belgium. Her ship encountered a storm, and was forced to anchor on the Western Scheldt, near Terneuzen. When the storm had subsided a bit, the Royal party went to shore in a dinghy where, among other things, they toured a local farm. She was apparently impressed, or thought it was "quaint", and ordered a painting of the farm. That commission went to Van Kuyck. This story is attested to by the Queen's own diaries.
In 1871 his son, Frans, was stricken with typhus. Louis contracted the disease while caring for him, and died. Frans survived, and also became a well known painter.


Panoramic view of the Amstel looking toward Amsterdam

Panoramic view of the Amstel looking toward Amsterdam is a 17th-century oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
The painting is catalogue number 10 in the 1911 catalogue raisonné by art historian Hofstede de Groot. He wrote "The river fills much of the right-hand side of the picture. In the centre is a road with several figures; on the river are a raft of timber and a small vessel, from which a gun is being fired. On the left are three windmills, houses, and a bleaching-ground. The town, with its many churches and public buildings, extends in the background. One may distinguish the Westerkerk, the town-hall, the Zuiderkerk, and Oude Kerk, as well as the great synagogue. The blockhouses are not shown." The painting is catalogue number 3 in Seymour Slive's 2001 catalogue raisonné of Ruisdael. It is object number 74 in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum.
Its dimensions are 52.1 cm x 66.1 cm. It is signed in the lower left. Based on the presence of certain buildings Slive estimated that the undated painting was made between 1671 and 1681. Ruisdael lived in Amsterdam at that time.
The drawing that served as a preliminary study for this painting, and a similar one that is in the Philips-de Jongh Collection, is at Leipzig.


Frederick William Keyl

Frederick William Keyl (originally Friedrich Wilhelm Keyl; 17 September 1823 – 5 December 1871), born in Germany, was an animal painter in England; he received many commissions for paintings from Queen Victoria.
Life.
Keyl was born in Frankfurt am Main, son of a wine merchant, and showed at an early age an interest in drawing animals. He studied at the Städelsches Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt under Jakob Becker, and later was a pupil of Eugène Verboeckhoven in Brussels.
From 1847 he lived permanently in England, and was naturalized in 1858. He was the only pupil of Edwin Landseer, and through him Keyl was introduced to Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort. He obtained many commissions from the royal family, producing oil paintings, watercolours and sketches, and painting photographs; a notable commission was to paint Looty, the Queen's Pekingese. Apart from royal patronage, work included book illustrations, and plates for the "Illustrated London News".
Keyl was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Art and the British Institution, though he was by nature averse to exhibiting his pictures.
In 1852 he married Sara Constance Woodlin, a niece of the painter C. R. Leslie. They had nine children, of whom three died in infancy. Keyl died at his home in St John's Wood, London, probably of consumption, on 5 December 1871, and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery.


The Grey Dance

The Grey Dance is a painting by Väinö Kunnas, from 1928.
Description.
The painting has dimensions 63.5 x 57 centimeters.
It is in the collection of the Ateneum, Helsinki.
Analysis.
The painting is a still life with two dummies with articulated joints posed as dancing.


David J. Steinberg

David Joseph Steinberg (February 12, 1965 – March 16, 2010) was an American actor best known for his role of Meegosh in the 1988 Ron Howard film "Willow".
Steinberg was born in Los Angeles and stood 3'1" (0,93 m) tall. His adoptive parents also had dwarfism. Steinberg was raised in Queens, New York, where he excelled in comedy in school as a way to overcome shyness over his short stature.
He first began acting on stage while studying at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. He switched to professional theater after college. His theater credits included performances notable theater companies including the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, the Center Stage in Baltimore and the New York Shakespeare Festival. He also starred in a Grammy-nominated national touring production of "The Wizard of Oz" (as a Munchkin) and Baz Luhrmann's production of "La bohème" in Los Angeles and New York City.
While Steinberg was best known as Meegosh in "Willow", his other film credits included roles in "The Hebrew Hammer" and "Love & Sex". His television appearances included a guest spot on the 2007 "Ugly Betty" episode, "Giving Up the Ghost", as well as roles on "Zoey 101", "Charmed", "The Equalizer", "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd".
Steinberg moved to Los Angeles in 2004. He died by suicide on March 16, 2010, in Valencia, California, aged 45. The Los Angeles County Coroner determined Steinberg's death as hanging. His interment was at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in Plantation, Florida.