Naufrágios

Agnolo Bronzino, Ritratto dell'ammiraglio Andrea Doria come Nettuno. Conservato nella Pinacoteca di Brera a Milano. 1540-1550 ca.


Andrea Doria at dawn

You never master the sea...

the classical age

likeness and unlikeness

Qi Baishi (Ch'i Pai Shih) is one of the greatest Chinese painters. Chinese tradition places essences, character, and spirit above the simple faithfulness to appearances. Qi Baishi's paintings well represent the Chinese tradition, but in an innovative form and style. Though the art of Qi Baishi was originated from nature, which one can learn from his paintings of animals, insects, and flowers, he painted them in a way nobody else had achieved before. He once said, "The excellence of a painting lies in its being alike, yet unlike. Too much likeness flatters the vulgar taste; too much unlikeness deceives the world." Qi Baishi had developed his style over his life-long learning, studying, and innovation. His paintings were not matured until his late life.

He was born in Xiangtan, Hunan Province, on Jan. 1, 1864. His birthday was in 1863 based on the Chinese lunar calendar. His family was poor like most Chinese families and they lived on the cultivation of rice on a small piece of land. At seven, he learned about 300 Chinese characters his grandfather was able to teach. He only had one year formal education when he was eight years old. The tuition for the one year was paid using his mother's saving.

a Terra e a Água

Rubens, Union of Earth and Water ( 1618)

Queridos líderes

"Los políticos han desaparecido de escena, dejando el espacio político-mediático ocupado casi exclusivamente por los líderes. Parece como si los partidos tuvieran ahora un solo responsable, un solo jefe. Y lo que cuenta es su imagen (más que su discurso, su visión política o sus argumentos). En una palabra, el tiempo se ha detenido, el futuro ha desaparecido como dimensión fundamental de la motivación, es decir, de la esperanza y de la adhesión a un programa. Los portugueses viven la política sin verdadero compromiso, porque lo real ha quedado obliterado de la discusión de los problemas de los que depende su vida.

Un factor impera en medio de esta atonía general: la imagen del líder. Ahora bien, no se trata de una imagen que debiera caracterizar las capacidades de liderazgo de un político, sino del conjunto de sus rasgos psicológicos o caricaturescos: la nueva bonhomía de Sócrates (que parece ahora un "portugués suave", que escucha y respeta a los demás, que hace concesiones y comprende el malestar de ciertas clases de portugueses; en contraste con la imagen de "animal feroz" como él mismo se autocaracterizaba antes), el peinado o los errores de dicción de Manuela Ferreira Leite, la forma de vestir de Portas (CDS, derecha conservadora), las gafas de Louçã (BE)."

José Gil, ontem no El País

bendita ilusión

Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una fontana fluía
dentro de mi corazón.
Di, ¿por qué acequia escondida,
agua, vienes hasta mí,
manantial de nueva vida
de donde nunca bebí?
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que una colmena tenía
dentro de mi corazón;
y las doradas abejas
iban fabricando en él,
con las amarguras viejas,
blanca cera y dulce miel.
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que un ardiente sol lucía
dentro de mi corazón.
Era ardiente porque daba
calores de rojo hogar,
y era sol porque alumbraba
y porque hacía llorar.
Anoche cuando dormía
soñé, ¡bendita ilusión!,
que era Dios lo que tenía
dentro de mi corazón.

Cupidity

Bronzino, Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time, c. 1545
Oil on panel, 5 ft 1 in x 4 ft 8 3/4 in
(London, National Gallery of Art)



Lara Schnitger
Cupidity (After Bronzino)
2009
Mixed media
208.3 x 228.5 cm


Cupidity, a word for our time

Great leaders

There's local and general elections here in Portugal next Sunday.
All big parties have for the general and even for the local elections, outdoors and activities all based in personalities and persons, I think this is happening in all World...I don't know why we don't trust teams anymore and have to individualize politics everywhere, in democracies as in ditactorships...
I don't like this and I think it's not healthy.





Vão ocorrer brevemente eleições locais e nacionais aqui em Portugal, todos os grandes partidos centram as campanhas, quer locais, quer nacionais na figura de líderes, não sei como chegámos aqui e acho que isto não acontece só em Portugal mas em todo o Mundo, nas democracias, como nas ditaduras...
Não gosto e não acho que seja saudável...

borzoi

Robert Wyatt

If you can take a look at this...

O pôr do sol, por acidente

Outono Tropical for Roberto Bolaño

Summer's end

It was the best of weekends, to end this Summer...me and Leah went for walks, my wonderful neighbours let me pick fruit from their trees, offered us ripe tomatoes and even let me help them harvesting the grapes...