Inspiration – Latitude Post

Labels Are Meaningless

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Nicholas Peart

labeling-people photo

Alt right, hard left, SJW, influencer, gender neutral, trans gender, queer, vegan, hipster, bi-polar, activist, eco-fundamentalist, post-modernist, hippy, rocker, mod, socialist, capitalist, liberal, radical, anarchist, feminist

Please.

Give me a break.

I don’t know what any of these labels mean.

They mean nothing to me.

Would you like to know what does interest me?

I am interested in who you are as a person.

I am interested in what you have to say.

I am not interested in your identity.

I am interested in the true and authentic substance of you.

I am interested in your heart.

I am interested in your mind.

And I am interested in your soul.

By Nicholas Peart

Photo source: harikalymnios.com

The Plato’s Cave Of Identity

Posted on December 3, 2019 by Nicholas Peart

identity image

It is so easy for one to become trapped and stand too close to the picture. In this instance one becomes myopic to their greater surroundings. When I think of identity I think of a tangled red tape maze of labelling and a neglect or disconnection to a more meaningful unifying permanency.

An important question one must ask is, ‘Who Am I?’.

Do I define myself by my race, social class, nationality, politics, culture or subculture, my external looks, fashion style etc ?

Or do I transcend any of these superficial identities and connect more with my heart, mind and soul?

In a more universal context, identity has no currency or power. The matter and energy in the universe is bereft of any labels or boxed confinement. It is that and nothing else.

For example, when I refer to myself as an artist, I am already putting myself in a box by creating an identity. I would severely limit and sell myself short if I were to solely think of myself as an artist. With my paintings, I strive to transcend identity. The inspiration for my paintings derives from what I like to refer to as ‘the eternal source’. By this I mean an eternal spirit or consciousness, which is permanent and will outlive me. I find it a challenging task to explain this in words, hence why I create the paintings I create. Through my paintings, I project and get closer to this eternal source much more than I would through words.

I believe focusing on identity creates a great deal of unnecessary anxiety, stress and friction. We become like spread-out and jagged fragments of broken glass; sterile and running on empty. We become our own worst enemies.

When we drop identity, the concept of something such as likes and dislikes melts away. We become more in tune, connected and empathic to our greater surroundings. We become more, dare I say, enlightened.

By Nicholas Peart

Image source: Pixabay

My Favourite Paintings In The Louvre

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Nicholas Peart

The Louvre *

The Louvre museum in Paris has one of the most impressive collections of paintings by European Old Masters in the world. Perhaps the only museum to really rival it in this field is the Prado in Madrid (the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York are a few close contenders). But not only does it house an impressive collection of paintings and sculptures from that age, it also has a substantial collection of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Islamic and other World artefacts through the ages.

In this post I am listing my favourite paintings from the enormous collection of paintings on display by Old French, Italian, Flemish and Spanish Masters

Nicolas Poussin (1594 – 1665) – Saint John Baptising The People (1634-5)

Many art writers and historians argue that Poussin was the first great French painter who changed the face of art in France and blazed a trail for all French artists who came after him. The art scene in France during his time was very staid (yet in a state of transition finally moving away from the traditional apprenticeship methods of working) and for this reason he spent most of his life in Rome. The American author Micheal Kimmelman goes as far as saying that Poussin was, ”the springboard for the greatest French artists from David to Matisse”

Claude Lorrain (1600 or 1604/5 – 1682) – Port With Capitol (1636)

Claude was another great French painter who like Poussin spent most of his life in Italy. He was also a prominent landscape painter. As can be seen in the port painting, the landscape was the dominant subject. At the time, making the landscape the dominant feature of a painting as opposed to actual figures/subjects was seen as groundbreaking. Claude’s paintings were an enourmous influence on the dramatic abstract-like landscape paintings of the revolutionary British painter J.M.W.Turner.

Adolphe-Joseph Monticelli (1824 – 1886) – The Diner

Monticelli was a very individual painter with his own unique style. What is even more amazing is how ahead of his time he was regarding his unusual style. Like the other great French painter, Eugene Delacroix (whose oil sketches Monticelli highly admired), he predated the Impressionists by many years.

Herman Naiwincx (1623-1670) – Baptism Of The Ethiopian Eunuch

Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps (1803-1860) – A Begger Counting His Money (1833)

Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) – The Hay Trussers (1850-51)

Millet was a huge influence on Vincent Van Gogh and this painting, as well as being a landmark work of art, perfectly encapsulates what Van Gogh first set out to achieve when he established himself as an artist. Van Gogh had a strong desire to paint the rural folk and their way of life as can be seen in his early paintings such as The Potato Eaters and many of his early sketches.

Jules Dupré (1811-1889) – Sunset After A Storm (1851)

Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) – Pietà (1837)

This is a gem of a painting by the great French painter Eugene Delacroix. What is amazing about this painting is, stylistically, how loose and free it is and one could argue that it is a strong example of proto-Impressionism since it predates the movement by four decades (give or take a few years). Furthermore, Delacroix was an enormous influence on that generation of artists. In fact many argue that he planted the seed for the Impressionist movement.

Jaques-Louis David (1748-1825) – Death Of Maret (1794)

This painting is of the murdered leader of the French Revolution, Jean-Paul Marat, and is one of the most iconic images of its time.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) – Rinaldo In The Gardens Of Armida

Cimabue (1240-1302) – The Madonna And Child In Majesty Surrounded By Angels

Cimabue was a revolutionary artist. Arguably the first of the major early Italian Renaissance artists and the first artist to break away from the traditional Italo-Byzantine style art of the time. The above painting is one of his series of famous Maestà paintings.

Giotto di Bondone (1266/67 – 1337) – The Crucifixion

Giotto was a student of Cimabue and along with him a major artist of the early Italian Renaissance movement.

Lo Spagna (d. 1529) – St Jerome In The Desert (1531)

Antonio Campi (1522-87) – The Mystery Of The Passion Of Christ

Bartholomé Esteban Murillo (1617-82) – The Young Begger (1645-50)

This painting, for me, is striking for it’s gritty realism and social context. It was painted towards the end of Spain’s Siglo d’Oro (Golden Age) around the middle part of the 17th century when Spain had an enormous global empire. But what is clear is that, as evident by the acute poverty in the painting, it wasn’t a Golden Age for everyone. Much of Spain’s wealth accumulated from its former colonies was squandered on wars and in spite of its global clout at the time, the Spanish Crown filed for bankruptcy several times.

By Nicholas Peart

26th October 2016

*image source: symmetrymagazine.org