Kandarya Mahadeva

The Kendarya Mahadeva (Lord of Lords) temple, located in Khajuraho, is a beautifully designed structure that exemplifies the northern Hindu style of temple architecture. Unlike the southern temples, the northern style is much more tightly compact and in many cases more of a single structure rather than multiple structures combined to create a single complex. The design of Kendarya Mahadeva temple is an elongated double crucifix and rests on a single platform. The spires are of a design meant to resemble that of the peaks of the Himalayas, home of the Gods. Like many other temples Kendarya Mahadeva temple was originally whitewashed to further resemble the snowy peaks of the mountains but over time has weathered away to reveal the base sandstone that the temple consists of.

  The lines contained in the design of the spires is used to point upwards towards the Heavens. The compact design combined with the repetitive patterns create a sense of energy within the structure which is further strengthened by the arching spire walls. Although the northern temples are much smaller than most of the southern design, Kandarya Mahadeva appears to be much larger than it is because of its high platform and cluster of spires. The steps lead visitors into a large sanctuary containing a Shiva Lingam. The Shiva Lingam is a stone that represents the infinite nature of Shiva and is utilized for prayer and worship within the temple.  

(Image from hartjeff12, Flickr. Source of factual information Art Beyond the West second edition by Kampen O'Riley)

Rajarajeshvara Temple

The Rajarajeshvara Temple or Brihadesvara temple as know by many, is a Hindu temple located at Thanjavur (Tanjore) India which was created for the Hindu deity Shiva around 1000 CE. This magnificient structure was created during the Chola dynasty which at that time was under the rule of Rajaraja I, who ruled c. 985-1014 and was known as the "king of kings." The political conditions of this rule are evident throughout the fortifications surrounding the temple including a moat that encompasses the temple as well as Rajaraja's capital city Thanjavur.

During the Chola dynasty the Rajarajeshvara temple was known to house many scultures of bronz and copper which were to be used during ritual processions. One of this temples many memorable features is the steep thirteen-leveled pyramidal vimana which is topped with a gold-pleated finial. Local legend says that a massive 4.5 mile long ramp was created to roll the top piece into place. This temple is said to represent one of the high points of the southern Indian style with its temple construction.

Image courtesy of Ryan (ryPix) from www.Flickr.com

Source of factual information found from Art Beyond the West Second Edition by Micheal Kampen O'Riley

Kailasanatha Temple

Kailasanatha Temple in Ellora, India is an enormous stone structure carved into the cliff side during the Rashtrakuta dynasty. The towering cliffs surround an excavated area nearly the size of a football field. Excavation of the volcanic rock began in 757 and took 100 years to finish. Kailasanatha Temple was dedicated to Shiva as the Lord of Kailasa. The temple is actually a series of caves that have been carved very ornately into several shrines.
Although the temple was originally white washed to symbolize Shiva's snow-covered mountain, all of the natural stone is currently exposed. As one approaches the temple, they are greeted by a series of columns with intricately sculpted statues lining the bottom of the structure. On the top of the temple there is a set of three rings stacked on top of one another. Perched upon these rings are four bull statues that appear to be surrounding some sort of box. To me it seems like they are guarding the structure for Shiva.
(Image from Flickr, Source of factual information Art Beyond the West Second Edition by Michael Kampen O'Riley)

Franz Kline

Franz Kline, who is best known for his work in black and white, was one of many abstract expressionists of his time, exhibiting in the Eagan Gallery in 1950. He was largely effected by artists such as Jackson Pollock through their works and through his friendship with Willem de Kooning. Later in his career, he managed to incorporate color as effectively as his forte, black and white.

Up until sometime in 1949, Kline's sketches for his paintings were rather small, measuring in inches. He drew on more than just small pads however, choosing to draw on what was on hand. Some of such were: napkins, the backs of bills, or menus. After a fated visit to one of his friends who was utilizing a Bell-Opticon to enlarge small sketches, Franz forever changed. He began drawing on canvas that measured in feet instead. This reflected in his works, as he began to paint increasingly larger scale.

Franz Kooning had to retire in the winter of 1961-62 due to a recurrent illness, which later claimed his life the following May. He was 51 when he passed.

Information from: Franz Kline Memorial Exhibition published by the Washington Gallery of Modern Art.

Image from: www.flickr.com from Nather Bowers' photostream

Willem de Kooning

Saturday Night (1956), Oil on Canvas, 68 3/4 x 79"

Willem de Kooning (born April 24, 1904) once started out as a "commercial" artist. He studied in night classes while apprenticing to other commercial artists. In 1926 he became one of many stowaways to travel to the United States, a year later finding himself in Manhattan. During his time here he was inspired by other artists of his time: Arshille Gorky, Franz Kline and, somewhat noticeable in his later work, Jackson Pollack.

His early influences were reflecting European and Mexican Art. However, it wasn't until the early 1930's when he began to explore Abstract Art and started to use simple geometric shapes to convey his voice on canvas. His most controversial art was his pieces of women in the 1950's. de Kooning began to paint exclusively of in later in his career, making abstract forms of the female body. His geometric shapes, painting abstract yet concrete at the same time. His women have ghastly appearances, which suggest sexuality, but at the same time is exploding with color and runaway lines that it can hardly stand for anything. Crowds were intrigued, but also furious at suggesting that women could ever be shown in such a manner.

(above) Seated Woman (1952),

Pencil, Pastel and Oil on two sheets of paper,

12 1/8 x 9 1/2"

Due to his diagnoses of Alzheimzer Disease in 1980, his work began few and far in between, being seen with less substance than his earlier work. As time drew on, de Kooning's work became less active, yet more lucrative at the same time, his earlier pieces selling for millions. He died March 19, 1997, leaving his works of Abstract Expressionism to the masses, to refer to it as how they wanted it to be.

"Whatever an artist's personal feelings are, as soon as an artist fills a certain area on the canvas or circumscribes it, he becomes historical. He acts from or upon other artists"-Willem de Kooning

Sources: 1. http://www.biography.com/articles/Willem-de-Kooning-9270057?part=2 2. http://www.willem-de-kooning.com/ 3. (Quote) http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/willem_de_kooning.html Images: 1. (Saturday Night) http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collection/explore/artwork/847 Copyright: The Willem de Kooning Foundation/Artist Right Society (ARS), New York 2.(Seated Woman) http://moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=33413 Copyright: The Willem de Kooning Foundation/ Arist Right Society (ARS), New York

Mark Rothko

A Mark Rothko painting is usually identified as a large abstract painting with two or more hovering fields of color against a colored ground. However, he did not develop this signature style until much later in his career. Mark Rothko was born Marcus Rothkowitz in Dvinsk, Russia on September 25, 1903. His family imigrated to the United States when he was 10 years old where they settled in Portland Oregon. Rothko attended Yale in 1921 with intentions to become an engineer or an attorney; however, in the fall of 1923 he gave up his studies and moved to New York City. Once in New York he attended art classes at the Art Students League. In the 1930s Rothko painted mostly street scenes and interiors with figures. Many of these scenes were of the New York subway. The figures in these paintings are usually faceless and flat. Soon Rothko left out the figures all together. He said, "It was with the utmost reluctance that i found the figure could not serve my purposes.....But a time came when none of us could us the figure without mutilating it." By the late 1940s asymmetrically arranged patches of color had become the basis of his paintings. In 1950 Rothko had reduced the number of floating rectangles to two, three, or four and aligned them vertically against a colored ground, arriving at his signature style. The colors were applied in thin washes giving his work new luminosity. While moving toward abstraction Rothko said, "We favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth" Rothkos work bgan to darken by the late 1950s, and on February 25, 1970 Rothko committed suicide after being physically ill and suffering from depression.

source http://www.nga.gov/

image http://www.flicker.com/

Barnett Newman, an Abstract Expressionist

Barnett Newman is known as one of the major figures of abstract expressionism, especially as a color field painter, next to his friends Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. Abstract expressionists were determined to prove that American artwork was not second rate compared to what Europeans, especially the French, were creating. As a collective, the abstract expressionists generally worked on large scale works, and rather than paint traditional imagery or traditional content, their paintings were more individualized, drawing from their own feeling and existence, matter, and human spirit.

Throughout the 1930’s Barnett Newman did a number of works that could be described as an expressionist style, but he eventually destroyed all of them. His first surviving artwork was made in 1945, three years prior to his first art exhibition. Up until this point Newman had studied Philosophy at the College of New York, and worked as a writer, critic, and exhibition organizer. Throughout the 1940’s Newman worked in a very surrealist style, characterized by multi-tonal vibrant monochromatic color separated by thin vertical lines he called “zips.” The zips are used as devices to divide the color, but rather than divide the canvas into separate large paintings, they actually lend unity and structure to the composition as a whole. Later in his life Newman used hard edged areas of flat color, which can be viewed as a source of inspiration for later minimalist works.

Photo By Willy Gobetz

The large size of Newman’s paintings is very indicative of his art philosophy. For Newman, he wanted people to view the art and get a sense of the scale, and to also understand that there is a mystery and a metaphysical fact held within the painting. Newman stated with regards to this concept that he and his colleges “favor the simple expression of the complex thought. We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal. We wish to reassert the picture plane. We are for flat forms because they destroy illusion and reveal truth.” He hoped that his paintings would give his viewers the feeling of their own totality, separateness, and individuality, but at the same time express their connection to all others.

"Barnett Newman." Absolute Astronomy. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2011.

"Barnett Newman and Frank Stella; Art and the Sublime." The Free Library. N.p., 2008. Web. 3 Apr 2011.

"Chronology of the Artist’s Life." The Barnett Newman Foundation. N.p., 2005. Web. 3 Apr 2011.