Fine Art

This article discusses the relationships between interactive installations and ethics by describing a perspective that emphasizes the function of an artwork rather than its medium or genre. The text proposes that aesthetic judgements function as mechanisms for promoting specific concepts, people and social institutions, and that these promotions occur with or without a person’s awareness.

"Belgian artist James Ensor was one of extreme individualism.  His work was both deeply personal, and socially radical, and he employed biting humor and satire to create overtly anti-establishmentarian imagery.  While he explored a vast number of motifs in his prolific career as a painter, printmaker and draftsman, his most radical works garnered the greatest attention.  His known tendencies toward anarchist and socialist thought led him to be involved with the progressive radical group “Les XX,” a group of twenty painters, which emerged in 1883 as a leading avant-garde group in Belgium at the time (Pfeiffer 21).  Ensor suffered a great deal of rejection from the group during its ten-year existence, and Ensor ultimately formed the perspective that even this radical group was not avant-garde enough for him (Pfeiffer 21).  Elsewhere he also encountered harsh responses by critics and the art community.  The artist is characterized by his role as a brash outsider, and his independence spawned a number of powerful depictions of social chaos and tyranny through a means of projecting the real injustices he saw in the world around him through an imaginative lens."

Written for the Haystack Mountain School of Craft monograph series, this strategic meander sorts through various examples that affirm and defy the categories we use to organize art, craft, and design. Underlying concerns include the scope of referential histories, and the ability to shift our thinking in subtle ways.

For over fifty years, this poet/artist has written but never published his poetry. After much hesitation, he now brings forth this first selection, a fifth of the corpus. It reflects a multicultural heritage, and the richness that diversity of experience across the globe brings. There is frequently a close relationship between writings, especially particular resonance between this poetry, and his occasional art. Certain themes in poetry or prose are picked up, cited or visualized in the paintings. Allusions to scripture or spiritual references also occur. This is an extract - the full book can be purchased from this online seller: http://www.books.ie/no-man-s-land-selected-poetry-art .

This paper takes Patrick Heron’s assertion as to the abstract nature of painting as a starting point for a phenomenological investigation into the way in which abstract works comport themselves. How do abstract paintings attain meaningfulness, and along which communicative channels is meaning attainable? Perhaps in opposition to Picasso’s denial of the possibility of abstract art, and affirmation of the vitality of figurative painting (and restatement of: ‘the power of the object’), Heron presented an alternative idea; declaring all painting to be, in effect, of the abstract. In positing an abstract primacy to one’s experience of the world in painting – Heron’s thesis, I will argue, opens more doors than it closes. In support of his hypothesis, Heron drew together the terms: ‘space’, ‘colour’ and ‘form’ – the bedrock of countless claims regarding abstraction’s truth – and invoked an: ‘abstract reality’, which painting (including that which is usually taken to be figurative painting) is seen to embody.

The relationship of abstract painting to the world has proven to be a problematic one. To revisit it is to wrestle with the notion of resemblance, and therefore to speculate as to how it is that one thing is able to point to another. In this work I will examine the degree to which abstraction – as idea – is compatible with an understanding of the serviceability of pictures, and, in so doing, shed light on the extent to which pictures might operate within painting as both language and something else. Central to this is a consideration of the limits of that which is deemed communicable; the method of comprehending abstract painting’s truth(s); what it is that the spectator is able to bring to the table; and how this bringing to can be woven into a fuller conception of abstract painting’s particular operability…from which colour, form and space might be made sense of. I will position abstract painting as an involvement: a form of engagement from which the spectator might come to better understand an engagement with form.

Following the thread of the Feminist New Materialists, in “I Live in this Dress” the author, a visual art performer, examines the workings of materiality and identity within her own practice. The process of three recent works, Point Out, Touch On and Red We (all 2017) includes the design and construction of a sculptural wearable and techniques of traditional garment making—fabric draping, sewing and embroidery—to reveal a co-embodiment and shared authorship between artist and garment, woman and dress. This deep commitment to the material underpins a shift in selfness toward a collective identity, or alterself. Insomuch as the making makes the performance, the author suggests, the making makes the performer.

My new book from Thames & Hudson. Published in early 2019. Currently translated into Korean, Chinese, Turkish, and Russian.....

'Seven Keys to Modern Art' is intended for anyone interested in modern and contemporary art. This means it is a resource for all who visit art galleries and museums and who want to dig a little deeper. It could also be useful for specialists – students of art history and fine art or even the professional artist, for example. I have discovered that it is enlightening to approach one’s own practice according to the Seven Keys presented here, because it can help achieve some  sceptical distance, without closing down creative options.

20 works are discussed according to the same 'seven keys'. These are the conventional modes of existence of each work, from the point of view of interpretation. Before each of these keys there is a short introductory overview outlining why a specific work is important, then the Seven Keys are presented in an order that seems appropriate for the work under discussion. Afterwards, there are two further categories, Further Viewing and Further Reading, to help exploration.  The seven keys converge on the same object – a single work of art – but they choose to see different things. On occasion, they are also clearly incompatible, in that the point of view promoted in one is ignored, contradicted or even denigrated in another. Inevitably, some of the keys will be more enlightening than others in relation to the specific character of the work they discuss, and this is reflected in the different running orders in which the keys are presented. But this order is fairly arbitrary, and the keys could be arranged in other ways.

The paper deals with the concepts of fragmentation and reconstruction in the field of portraiture. Taking a portrait as a large fragment of information, we look into ways in which it can be optimised and reduced such that it remains valid but becomes more efficient. The paper commences by exploring the concept of the fragment from various facets, including historically, especially from the modernist point of view, and goes forth to investigate various techniques from practices both adjunct and outside of the field of art in order to inform the portraiture process itself on how information can be collected, optimised and presented to the viewer.

Ritenuta una delle opere più alte mai collocate su un altare romagnolo nel Cinquecento, la pala di Lugo
di Girolamo Marchesi eseguita nel 1528 per la chiesa dei padri conventuali di San Francesco, sarà
elemento centrale dell’incontro tenuto da Raffaella Zama per l’Università per Adulti di Lugo in
collaborazione con il Liceo “G. Ricci Curbastro”.
L’autrice di studi già confluiti in una monografia sull’artista, ripercorrerà in effetti la storia di due
distinti dipinti realizzati per la medesima chiesa e traccerà le vicende che portarono alla perdita
dell’uno e alle infinite peregrinazioni dell’altro.
Sarà occasione per approfondire la singolare figura di Girolamo Marchesi, tale da confondere la critica
e convincerla che la sua produzione fosse il frutto dell’attività di due distinti artisti. Complice una
virata stilistica rapidissima avvenuta nel segno di Raffaello.
Nell’anno che celebra il cinquecentenario della morte di Raffaello, sarà l’occasione per conoscere un
esempio di precoce assimilazione dei testi figurativi del ‘divin pittore’ ed osservare come la
contaminazione nei territori periferici avvenisse per mano di autori locali, ma che locali non erano
affatto.

*See Archaeopress website for download. This is due to copyright restrictions on one of the illustrations. Errata sheet uploaded on Academia for consultation with volume (updated on an ongoing basis). *

In this article, we explore the role that art and artists have had in the history in the discipline, in particular, the history of Underlsös Museum and The Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art. In particular, we focus on the links of Gudnitz with the artistic world; in both  ne art and academia; as well as how those viewing prehistoric images from the perspective of, or interest in, art, are a signi cant research group. Art seems to have the quality of bringing people together around the art, irrespective of the fact that the detail of their views may di er very widely. Whilst it would be easy to pigeon-hole the trend as part of the wider phenomena of art versus religion, this is not su cient to explain the phenomenon. The artistic perspective on art can, and does, cut across both  elds. Those with an artistic perspective are not art historians, moreover, they are better characterised a group that share a common interest and appreciation for the art, that forms a common start and entry point to the material.

The relationships between art, artists and Underslös Museum are a case in point. This article explores some of these relationships. Here, in new research specifically undertaken for this volume, we explore the links with, and in between, in particular, Fred Gudnitz, P.V. Glob, Asger Jorn and Gutorm Gjessing – all prominent  figures in their respective  fields.

Undergraduate thesis discussing Swedish folklore, Swedish folk art, and the author's relationship to those in creating artwork, with a focus on gender, disability, and otherness.

Paper created for the purpose of an art degree and focuses on the creation of art, rather than pure research.

Edición crítica del ensayo sobre la belleza publicado por Luis Juan Guerrero en 1954, seguido de las conferencias "Escenas de la vida estética" (1949), "Torso de la vida estética actual" (1949) y "Panorama de la estética clásico-romántica alemana" (1934). El estudio preliminar contextualiza estos trabajos poniéndolos en relación con los desarrollos filosóficos de Estética operatoria en sus tres direcciones (1956, 1967) y discute las tesis del filósofo argentino sobre la autonomía y la funcionalidad del arte en el siglo XX. El volumen se completa con un "Apéndice" con los programas completos de los cursos que Guerrero impartió en la Universidad Nacional de La Plata sobre la génesis y el desarrollo de la estética del romanticismo y del idealismo alemanes en 1933 y 1934.

This book is a collection of one hundred and twenty-three statements and thoughts from across twenty-one years. In them the author reflects on aspects of his artistic journey, offering a personal account of the importance of memory, intention and place, and of a material and temporal understanding of both the practice and object of painting. The statements themselves fall, for the most part, into two categories. More than a quarter have been used as exhibition materials, appearing in catalogues, on websites, gallery notice boards or in publication. The rest come as studio jottings; as private observations penned in notebooks. Collectively, these thoughts serve to explain, extend or parallel the author’s work as a painter. The book contains a foreword by Dr Michael Belshaw. In it he considers the notion and particularity of the artist statement itself, the broader trajectory of thinking in respect of several consistent themes, approached and revised over the course of the writings – including representation, surface, subject, process and narrative – and distinctions between public and private utterances. In addition, the work contains an introduction by the author and a glossary of terms.

Students sometimes enter higher education unprepared. This guide presents actionable strategies for reading, writing, studying, building relationships, and meeting instructors' expectations so that students are able to avoid the pitfalls that commonly prevent academic success.

ABSTRAK Visual Thief merupakan sebuah artbook (disebut Art Book) kumpulan kolase karya Resatio Adi Putra, hanya dicetak sejumlah 200 eksemplar. Beberapa karya didalamnya pernah diikutsertakan dalam pameran, serta terlibat dalam beberapa projek tertentu. Resatio Adi Putra menyatakan bahwa karyanya bergenre surealis, selain kemunculan objek rubah sebagai pengganti konsep pencurian yang diusung Resatio dalam Visual Thief, kecenderungan Resatio memakai objek perempuan dalam karyanya memungkinkan munculnya sebuah metafora. Menggunakan teori surealisme yang dikemukakan oleh Andre Breton. Analisis karya Resatio dalam Visual Thief, dari detail setiap objek hingga fragmentasi yang tersusun menjadi berbagai macam komposisi menampakan beberapa ciri surealisme yaitu munculnya kejanggalan, penampakan mimpi, mengandung erotisme serta teror, namun karyanya tidak dapat sepenuhnya dikatakan bergenre surealis (less surrealism), karena ada salah satu unsur yang tidak muncul yaitu otomatisme, yang mensejajarkan fragmen dari dorongan alam nirsadar. Kata Kunci: Visual Thief, Resatio Adi Putra, kolase, surealisme ABSTRACT Visual Thief is the artbook collection of collage art works (called Art Book) of Resatio Adi Putra printed in only 200 copies. Some of the art works from this collection were part of exhibitions are were involved in certain projects. Resatio Adi Putra claimed that his works can be identified as surrealism, in addition to displaying a fox as an object with the potential existing symbolism that indicates the thief as the holder of collection, Resatio's tendency of using woman as object in Visual Thief enables his works to produce a strong sense of metaphors. Includes the theory of surrealism introduced by Andre Breton. The analysis of Resatio's Visual Thief, including the detail of each object and composing fragmentations into various forms of composition, have managed to project identifiable characteristics of surrealism, namely the emerge of flaws, the appearance of dream, as well as dose eroticism and terror. However, it may be argued that Resatio's works do not represent a pure surrealism type of art, as they lack one essential aspect namely automatism, which aligns the fragments of unconsciousness encouragement.

In 2017, I was invited by ASCUS Art & Science, a public- access research laboratory for artists and scientists based in Edinburgh, to become artist-in-residence at the Society for Applied Microbiology (SfAM) Annual Conference at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, as part of the ASCUS Artists are Present programme. The aim of the residency was to research the work of SfAM through the conference, leading to the development of a commissioned work for SfAM’s headquarters in London.

An autobiographical essay on typography. The text is progressively set in each typeface it discusses, as it explains the typefaces I have used throughout my life leading up to the production of a set of print works about the anecdotal histories of certain typefaces. The essay also begins to speculate on future series of works using other typologies and design histories. On the way, it discusses the authorship of Wikipedia content, the languages of certain Native American peoples, Marcel(s) Proust and Duchamp, the writing of fiction, Rayner Heppenstall, the RAL paint colour coding system, and the Battle of Magenta...

Len Shelley, 1964 to 2010 was an artist who lived and worked in Hastings in the South of England. He created three dimensional artistic masterpieces out of dead animals and rubbish, mostly found on Hastings Beach. His style was completely his own and his creations were sometimes funny and sometimes sad but always deeply meaningful

Who Goes There? by Fotis Kapetopoulos shows
us that arts audiences want to see more diversity,
including diversity in who they are sitting next to
at performances. It follows a survey of audiences
at three key Australian arts companies: Carnivale
Multicultural Arts Festival NSW, para//elo
contemporary performance group, and the
kultour network.
There is a thirst in Australia for multiculturalism
and diversity and a long-term effort is needed
in both arts management and marketing to fuel
this thirst. The vast range of products presented
to consumers means that all businesses, including
those whose business is the arts, struggle with
maintaining customer loyalty and that branding
has less impact in the competitive marketplace.
Analysis of the three arts organisations in this
report reveal that their programs attract similar
audiences. The competition for audiences is
therefore not amongst arts organisations and arts
product, but with other forms of entertainment,
a shrinking arts economy.
It is not surprising that children of non-English
speaking background migrant audiences have
a strong desire to see multicultural performances
incorporating authentic traditions and other
contemporary popular art forms. Interestingly
though, all respondents surveyed in this report
indicated that they want to see more authentic
and contemporary culturally diverse programming.
Arts organisations need to create a diverse
offering and make the arts experience one that
is more reflective of society. The more creative
we are with presenting arts and culture, the more
consumers want to try different experiences.
In order for the arts and audiences to reflect the
world in which we live and continue to evolve,
there must be a concerted and highly developed
plan to incorporate multiculturalism in ‘broad
strokes’ with the arts and to target ethnic
communities that are presently not represented.
The three focus organisations surveyed have met
with varying degrees of success because of their
varying efforts to create and promote diversity.
Kapetopoulos rightly observes that traditional
marketing has changed in response to changes in
our society, work, careers, lack of time, and family
dynamics. The present efforts for promoting
diversity are in their infancy in Australia, and
Kapetopoulos argues that without a fundamental,
institutional change in values, culture and
philosophy it will not grow or become longlasting.
He offers strategies based on research
for developing a significant impact in this area.
Long-term success will only improve as the efforts
become organic and consistent.

Mid-20th Century American artist Oscar Howe’s (1915-1983)art  paradoxically contains 21st Century insights due to his anomalistic legacy in painted symbolic scenes based on his Native American cultural mythology. The myth he followed most was that of the Tohokmu (spider web); this Tohokmu could inform internet usage for the present and future users and programmers.

Text:
Cours Elementaire- Unseen Influence: Romain-Julien and 19th C. Drawing Pedagogy
By: E. Daniel Fogel  ©2014

Illustration:
“Cours Elementaire Profile Study, copy after Romain-Julien”
Charcoal on paper 18" x 24”
By: E. Daniel Fogel  ©2013


Bernard Romain-Julien, A 19th century French lithographer produced a suite of educational drawing plates for artists.  His influence on mid 19th century and early 20th century painting, printmaking and illustration seems profound and largely unknown today.  Artists on both sides of the Atlantic utilized the drawing course; its content was widely known within artistic circles of the day. The aesthetics of visual representation promoted by Julien can be documented in the artwork of numerous artists from this time. As seen here with Winslow Homer.  http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004661273/

Julien teaches artists to communicate directly with viewers. He describes form and crafts line in a dynamic, yet predictable manner that simultaneously creates illusion, while maintaining the integrity of mark and surface. His rendition of light, and description of textures allow an immediate connection between onlooker and the subject.  The concepts and techniques displayed in the lithographs of Bernard Romain-Julien represent a milestone in drawing achievement. His prints are designed for student artists to decode and interpret. By and large these lessons have stood the test of time and deserve a raised awareness of their importance. When evaluated critically in the context of the college classroom, these images are still relevant in today's art foundation curriculum as an instructional unit on classical standards in drawing and printmaking. Hypothetically, the use of these training materials can lead artists to creative synthesis, thereby furthering visual and educational inquiry.

Publication Date: 2014

The Original techniques and processes of Kerala Mural Art Painting as Explained by KK Warrier. The original techniques are detailed in an ancient text called "Chitrasutram" which is part of 'Vishnudharmottara Puranam'. These original techniques have rarely been recorded and yet are great sources of knowledge and wisdom in the areas of Art, Culture, History, and even Science.

Knitting as process and product are significant parts of my fine art practice. For this research proposal I aim to find out how and why I can use knitting as a research method as part of a practice-based methodology.
   
I’ve identified key aspects of my knitting practice as a framework for my research. Unfortunately, there seems to be little scholarly writing specifically about knitting, so I’ve also researched the work of other artists who use similarly gendered and stereotyped textiles processes, like embroidery, weaving and crochet. I’ve considered knitting as a verb and as a noun, discussed my findings using critical theory and reflected it back to my own practice.

I’ve found out more about arts-based research (Gray and Malins, 2016; Leavy, 2015), researched other fine art and craft sources using books, journals, websites and videos and by visiting exhibitions and analysing my own knitting practice. I’ve also used relevant theories from a range of disciplines including psychology, psychotherapy, feminism, occupational therapy, neurology, anthropology, philosophy, fashion, art criticism and art history.

My preliminary findings show that there are many ways that I can use knitting as a research method. Realising the significance of my role now as research-practitioner as well as thinker, maker, connector and performer has been critical. Knitting in private enables me to reflect deeply, knitting in public has strong relational elements. Exploring these aspects and the construction, materials and contexts of knitting more thoroughly during my MA, I look forward to ‘knitting together’ a unique, rigorous and transparent practice-led research methodology using knitting as a research method, triangulating with other, more conventional methods.

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A great American psychologist summarizes one of the most difficult of subjects--the nature of dreaming--after decades of lifting matters out of the morass of Freudianism. The result nonetheless is a thin gruel that misses the main thing about dreams: their unworldly imaginative power. But he is not the only one. Who defends the psyche in modern science? Who knows what it is, where it resides, and how it controls the brain? The true theory of dreaming will emerge only by facing and answering these questions, which can be said to have baffled ancient, medieval, and modern investigators alike. At present materialism stands confused, pathetically benighted in its own shadow.

Readers are now advised that a new approach to the true theory of dreaming, as well as the first mechanistic explanation of Night Terrors in scientific history, is contained in the reviewer's illustrated essay on this page called 'The Last Day.' Both this late 2017 review and the new 2020 essay concern the same foundational ideas within idealism and can be said to blend smoothly together to produce an increasingly coherent view of the phenomenology as well as the fundamental nature of dreaming, the achievement of which depends on isolating and identifying the cosmic generator of dreams.

See also 'Sartre on Dreaming' (2022) and 'On the Materialization of Being' (2022) for deeper insights into the nature of dreaming according to idealism and in the context of the embodiment of the psyche, which reaches far deeper inwardly than the farthest galaxies are from the Solar System.

Everyone asks the same two questions: ‘Have you actually met Banksy?’ and ‘Does he know you are writing this book?’ Answer to the first: ‘Possibly; but how would I know?’ Answer to the second: ‘Probably, but why do you think it’s important?’ These and other frequently asked questions – and my cryptic responses – reveal several things about us and Banksy: first, our continuing fascination with this most secretive of public artists; secondly, a begrudging respect at times bordering on genuine affection for his role as a spokesman on contemporary matters; and thirdly, the British fascination with the ‘whodunnit’, who exactly is this person about whom so much is apparently known but who chooses anonymity and absence over visibility and instant recognition. Banksy’s absence throws down a blatant challenge to our cult of instant celebrity. His is the missing face from the weekly glossy gossip mags; a global ‘name’ who simply refuses to reveal himself; the empty seat on the ubiquitous chat show…

Brian Christopher DuPree - How to Paint with Watercolor?

In general, how to paint with watercolor is quite a striking subject, something that many would like to try (especially after seeing the beautiful works that many great watercolorists achieve).
If to this we add the general perception that it is a medium that does not require difficult-to-obtain materials and with which we have already had at least some approach (at least in childhood), it definitely seems a good starting point to get involved with art. However, it takes a little research in cyberspace to realize the main problem that beginners face: they really don't know where to start.
That is why here painter Brian Christopher DuPree will undertake the task of addressing this issue. He will talk about the process, techniques and even a little about how you can create your own watercolors. Also, if you want to know more about the history of watercolor, we recommend this publication.

How to paint with watercolor: the basics

As Brian Christopher DuPree mentioned at the beginning, watercolor is one of the favorite means of artistic expression, both for many professionals and for all kinds of art enthusiasts. To practice it, you only need a brush, water and colors to start. It is also useful to know a little about the wide range of creative possibilities that this medium allows us. In fact, one can easily improvise and even use household items to achieve certain effects and textures.

The materials
The first thing we need to have on hand to paint with watercolors is our supplies, which are fortunately actually quite simple to get for beginners. Thus, we recommend that to start you have:

Any set of watercolor paints
How basic or professional is something that will depend on you, however, we can tell you that at least to start experiencing a medium quality it is recommended due to the quality of the pigment. Having good quality colors has advantages such as that they are more durable, apart from that they fade and / or yellow much less over time. There are sets of different grades: infant, student and artist / professional. For a beginner, undergraduate ones are a good option.

If you buy your pigments in a tube, you do not need to get many because to start testing your skills when painting with watercolor you do not need too many colors.
If you want to start in a more traditional way and make your own watercolor pills, buying pigments and binder (also called "watercolor solution") is a good option. To make your tablets, you just have to mix the binder and pigment in equal parts and let your tablet dry in a container.

Paper
This is said to be the natural support of watercolor. We can find it in different thicknesses or "weights". It should be noted that the larger the size of our work, the greater the thickness must be.
Additionally, in terms of texture there are three types that we can use:
• Hot pressing. Smooth surface, ideal for detailed drawings.
• Cold pressed. Semi rough. It is the most adaptable since it admits delicate brushstrokes, but also large and smooth washes.
• The rough or rough paper. Of the three, it is the roughest in texture and is also the cheapest. It is not highly recommended for small details.
These types of paper are available in sheets or blocks / notebooks, but there are many more varieties.

Brushes
There are many types, but for painting with watercolor, we can tell you that those with good quality synthetic hair are very suitable, as are those with soft natural hair. As for the size, some recommend 8 to start and that they be round. To learn more about this, visit our post about brush types and their uses.

Adhesive tape or rubber cement / masking liquid
Its use is the same: cover the paper so that the watercolor pigment cannot penetrate certain areas. Rubber cement paints on paper and has more flexibility, and on the other hand, masking tape is easier to apply, although it works better when working with straight, rigid lines. The masker has the only disadvantage that in the long run, where it was on the paper will yellow.
Other materials you can use when experimenting with watercolor are:
• Table salt
• Sewing needle
• Ethyl alcohol
• Plastic for wrapping
These materials may seem a bit strange, but they serve to achieve different effects when painting with watercolor that we will see later.

This essay argues that art performs a critical role in our society. It follows a thread of history to show the relationship of art to social change and politics. It identifies two opposing philosophical perspectives on expression of consciousness: materiality (expression without words) on the one hand; and conceptuality (word-logic/rationalism) on the other – to propose that art functions as a philosophy without words.
To re-state: art is an expression of consciousness that does not use words or word-logic for expression, communication, reflection, analysis and argument.
Instead, art uses empathy which functions through materiality of the body and the world, to achieve expressions of consciousness such as communication, reflection, analysis and argument.
We arrive at a sense of art (and culture) as offering an alternative way of expressing and reflecting on consciousness (the meaning of life), hence: an alternative value system to rationalism’s word-logic, which is currently stalled in the conceptual cul-de-sac of postmodernism’s ‘capitalist realism’.

Salvador Dali’s work is particularly useful for the application of psychoanalytical theories because ‘It was only after the writings of Freud revealed to him the symbolic world of the unconscious as a buried reality did he give full rein to his bent for dark inexplicable fantasy… He came to regard the dark wonder world of dreams and hallucinations as the only subject matter worthy of artistic treatment’ (Powel, 1992; 273). This idealisation of the unreal is reflected in his painting “Metamorphosis of Narcissus”.

Though much is known about historical bottegas, the studios of the Old Masters which employed select, talented artists as studio assistants under mentorship, contemporary concepts of the artist's studio have expanded immensely. As the word 'studio' gains more meaning in the contemporary art world, distinctions may become blurred or severe between this creative space and the 'artwork', which is often left to speak for itself. 'The idea', intangibility, and the 'cerebral' pervade much of the exciting discourse in contemporary art, but at times prove troublesome as they evade both the production and modes of valuation of the finished work. The objective of this paper is to illuminate the correlation between artists' exposure of their studio processes and the intrinsic and economic values (the artists' 'success') ultimately ascribed to their work. Case studies of three established artists, Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Beltracchi, and Jeff Koons, each with different methodologies, demonstrate a broad range of approaches in which artists open up the studio as a means to achieve individual and economic goals. Study of each artist includes analysis of the logistics of his physical studio, his creative methodology or ideologies, and definite examples of an occasion in which exposure of his studio or creative process has related to the artist's successful career in the 'art world' and market. The ability to ascribe both subjective and economic value is the foremost decisive tool in the art market, especially for emerging collectors interested in taking risks and acquiring challenging pieces. The studio thus becomes paramount; it serves as both a creative space and as a market tool for collectors and artists alike.
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The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.