Art Nouveau in Saint Petersburg

Being a big fan of Art Nouveau it wouldn't be possible for me not to post about all these beautiful buildings in St. Peter's built in this style. Also here is a great gallery of the Leningrad snaps from 1980es (that's how the city was called back then).





images above by Olga & Arek




images from the Hermitage by Olga & Arek

Tree Art

Finally the time has come to post about the last tree I painted as a part of the contemporary art tree project I invented and already previously posted about several times.

Images by Olga

The last tree is one of the trees I like best not only because of the concept and colour but also because of what it represents - Pop Art - one of my favourite contemporary art styles. I'm sure Pop Art is one of the most known movements, so I'm not going to go much into the details about it. I can only say that what I like about it is its kitschiness and irony, connection to adverts, comic books and popular mass culture - all the very visual forms of expression!

I also thought it would make sense to put all the rest of the trees already mentioned before together in the same post. So here they come one by one:

Cubism tree from Out Of My Tree post:

Image by Olga

Art Nouveau tree from Art Nouveau Triumphs! post:

Image by Olga

Suprematism tree from Tree time post:

Image by Olga

Futurism tree from Trick or... Tree? post:

Image by Olga

Post-Impressionism tree from Has Anyone Seen A Tree Here?.. post:

Image by Olga

Dada tree from Art Nouveau Triumphs! post:


Image by Olga

Expressionism tree from Has Anyone Seen A Tree Here?.. post:

Image by Olga

Abstract Art tree from Out Of My Tree post:


Image by Olga

Impressionism tree from Trick or... Tree? post:

Image by Olga

Constructivism tree from Tree time post:

Image by Olga

Although I actually painted the trees a while ago I enjoyed the whole process very much as I learned really a huge deal about the mentioned (and not!) movements of contemporary art and I was quite pleased with the results. Definitely with time I discovered (also with some bloggers' help :)) some mistakes I made representing each style - so there are lessons learned and things to work on! I'm very curious about your thoughts and feedback about the trees. Which one is your favourite and which do you like least?

My Great British Adventure

Image by Olga

I am finally back from the UK, where I spent last week - mostly for work. I didn't have much time to explore everything I wanted to in Tiverton, Exeter and London where I was as a part of my trip, but still there is a couple of interesting things to share and come back in memories to :)

Image by Olga

This is Millennium bridge, which links St Paul's Cathedral and Tate Modern, located on the opposite sides of the Thames. The picture looks almost unreal, but I didn't modify it in any way. I was very impressed by Tate Modern - I think it is definitely a must-see in London, and it is totally worth devoting a whole post to!

Image by Google

The pace of life in London is notably very high and I'm not too sure if I would quite enjoy to live that way, still it was an interesting experience although I found myself in too much hurry to find decent places to eat and was using 'faster options' :(..

Image by Olga

I must admit though that I quite liked the Art Nouveau sign of this pizza chain:

Image by Olga

Even with such fast pace environment the city made me stop not once to enjoy some unexpected little things - and here are at least some of them:

Image by Olga

And so my days in London flew by...

Images by Olga

British countryside as always impressed me with its picturesque sights and well trimmed gardens, but again I discovered something I didn't know existed - the beautiful Exe Valley:

Images by Google

I also was quite liked the thatched houses of Tiverton and its surroundings.

Image by Google

P.S. My last day in the UK turned out to be a day of worst luck ever. I missed my plane due to transportation problems in London - seems everything including underground, trains and buses service was against me that day. Then I had a very hard time to find a hotel for the night and after I found what seemed to be the last remaining room in London I couldn't connect my laptop to the internet to buy a new plane ticket. So it is good to be finally home!

Metropolitain

Image by Google

If someone asks me what it is in Paris that is very typical and different from other cities - I would say it is metro. Metropolitain is the symbol of the city, notable for its station architecture, influenced by Art Nouveau.

Image by Google

The first line opened on July 19, 1900, during the Exposition Universelle world's fair and now Paris is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow metro.

Image by Google

The Métro's original art nouveau entrances are iconic symbols of Paris, and 83 survive. Designed by Hector Guimard in a style that caused some surprise and controversy in 1900, there are two main variants:

* The most elaborate feature glass canopies. Two still exist, at Porte Dauphine:

Image by Google

and Abbesses :

Image by Google

* The rest have a cast-iron balustrade decorated in plant-like motifs, accompanied by a "Métropolitain" sign supported by two orange globes atop ornate cast-iron supports in the form of plant stems.

Image by Google

Image by Arek

Image by Google

Image by Arek

Later stations and redecorations have brought increasingly simple styles to Métro entrances.

* Classical stone balustrades were chosen for certain early stations in prestigious locations (Franklin D Roosevelt, République)

Image by Google

*Simpler metal balustrades accompany a "Métro" sign crowned by a spherical lamp in other early stations (Saint-Placide).

Image by Irene Suchocki

*Minimalist stainless-steel balustrades (Havre — Caumartin) appeared from the 1970s and signposts with just an "M" have been the norm since the war (Olympiades, opened 2007).

Image by Google

A handful of station entrances have entirely original architecture (Saint-Lazare), and a number are integrated into residential or standalone buildings (Pelleport). But I like so much more the old art nouveau stations - so exquisite, unique and modernist!

Art Nouveau Triumphs!

As promised I'm adding more images of my trees today. As previously mentioned I drew each of them trying to reflect and represent one particular style of modern art. Today's first tree is actually my favourite one :), because it is an Art Nouveau tree, and for me Art Nouveau is something really outstanding and exquisite.

Image by Olga

I found this beautiful collage of Art Nouveau posters and couldn't help adding it to this post:

Image via Google

And here are some images of Art Nouveau decor and furniture, there is a whole section devoted to this in Musée d'Orsay in Paris, so if you like it - this is definitely something for you:

Images by Olga

My second tree for today is a Dada tree.

Image by Olga

Dada - although slightly less known in comparison to previously mentioned Cubism, Abstract Art and Art Nouveau - is a very important movement, because it gave birth or rather developed into Collage and Photomontage. 'Dada Triumphs' is a classic dadaist work by Raoul Hausmann:

Image via Google

More trees to come next week, stay tuned! ;)