Some thoughts.

Dear everyone, I am happy to inform you that my exam season has nearly come to and. Yesterday I had the most difficult exam of my life (so far) and today I was shocked to hear I somehow, who on Earth knows exactly how, managed to get an A. I felt like Martin Scorsese when winning the Oscar, the only thing I wanted to tell the teacher was "would you double-check the 'envelope'?". Anyway, it's over.

And now I would like to share with you some works by a brilliant Hungarian photographer who happens to live and work in Dubai and take pictures for companies like Cartier and magazines like Glamour, not to mention his campaign for Gucci's ENVY (the latter was only available in Hungary and the Czech Republic): Peter Richweisz.

His works are very beautiful, artistic (of course), sometimes futuristic but basically always colourful and extremely interesting. I do not think I should say more. Here are some examples, for the rest, check his homepage.

Hercules.

It's time to express my love for sculptures - again. This time it's Hercules, standing in France's Vaux-le-Vicomte (by André Le Nôtre, with Le Brun and Le Vau).

I could compare 'him' to Michelangelo's David or maybe even to Belvedere Apollo, who knows.*

I find it interesting that Hercules looks different when 'he' is examined from different angles from the back. Above 'he' looks a bit 'tired', may I say, 'elder'...*

but here he looks like a Greek god (after all, he was almost one), very captivating.

And here he is, from afar.*


Image source: Various flickr profiles

Variations. Again.

I don't know why I like it when different artist get inspired by the same theme but I do. Many times, of course, named themes are Biblical since - let's face it - it is the most widely known text on Earth. And the stories are really interesting and thought-wakening as well, whether you're religious or not. This time, it's Jacob's fight with the angel (you can read it in the first book by Moses, chapter 32). If you are interested in this story's mystery, read Geoffrey Hartman's essay (Struggle for the Text, in: Midrash and Literature), it's great and absolutely entertaining (unlike some scientifical or semi-scientifical texts...)!

When it comes to Jacob and the angel, there are basically three ways to represent it. The forst one is depicting the scene as a fight, as seen above (sculpture by Ruth Beloe).
It is also possible to imagine it as a dance:

Delacroix's version (Jacob Wrestling the Angel) is probably the most famous example but Frans Frank's piece is also beautiful:

And this is Gustave Dore's painting, from 1855:

The third way to portray this controversial act is to express some kind of tenderness in the persons (obviously, it can be seen as a dance form as well...). My favourite Jacob and the angel painting (by Rembrandt) shows it perfectly...

... but Jacoib Epstein's scuplture is also beautiful:


PS. I am sorry for not posting more frequently but exams are killing me... Hopefully they'll be over soon.

Vicky. Cristina. Barcelona.

I know, I know: I have some passions I can't stop talking about. One of them is Woody Allen. I like and admire many directors but he is my favourite bacuase basically I've loved everything he has ever made (except for Celebrity) and his personality is just stunning (and now I'm not thinking about his movie characters but his own, real-life personality), and I do not know what part he has in chosing what songs to feature in his movies but I love them a lot too (just remember the scenes in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion when he is sleepwalking or Scoop or using opera in Match Point, and now I could go on and on).

Since Barcelona is one of my two most adored cities in the world, I was extremely happy to hear he was making a film there. And now that it comes to a theatre near me pretty soon (its first screening was in Cannes just a few hours ago), I got more excited.
I don't believe in telling the story of a film before watching it or recomennding someone to do so. Instead, here is a bit of what he had to say to the press in France:
(on whether he has plans to make a movie in Russia now that he makes movies in Europe as well):
"I was planning on being there [in St. Petersburg] for five days, and I was there for about two hours, and I went to the travel agent in town and I said, 'Get me the first reservation out of here. I don't care where it goes'."
What could I say? Typically brilliant. I can absolutely see him saying that.

Separated at birth.

Since I am extra busy preparing for my exams, today's post is going to be about some things I have to learn, some things I find quite similar.
First, there is this rock painting from Tassili n'Ajjer (a mountain range in the Sahara), created thousands of years ago:

Then, some wandjina figures by Australian aboriginals. They are the guardians of water and remember the ancient flood. They are mouthless - if they had a mouth, water would spread out of it. Also, they are creators of Earth and Sky and clouds are usually painted over their heads. Maybe this is the reason why some "experts" say they are aliens...


And a painting many of you know: Munch's The Scream:

I know this figure has a mouth, but still... don't they look like they were separated at birth (by, let's say, a few thousands and hundreds of years)?