Monday, April 14, 2014

Industrial Revolution


The Industrial Revolution which also began in Britain during the 18th century and it was spread too much in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries.

Also the advent of mechanized mass production heralded the transformation of Europe and its countries and also the North America. England was the place filled with series of events which changed the world.



THE BEGINNINGS OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

The reason why Industrial Revolution started in Britain is because it had the advantage to be a united country which is also stable in internal political situations, free from internal customs duties and with well-established banking and insurance facilities.
In the 18th century Britain become as a dominant international trading power. Many merchants had accumulated large sums of capital. England was the first country to pass from an agricultural to industrial economy and this period is consequently known as the Industrial Revolution.
The mainspring of the change was the discovery of a new source of power—steam.  At first this was used in mining and then it was taken to textiles factories, and finally it was applied to transport when the Railway Age opened in 1832.
As I am doing this, I thought to myself how can I imagine England in the middle  of the eighteenth century. I would imagine a picture, a landscape without railways and very few roads or canals. There were no coals mines in South Wales and Yorkshire. There were no big factories or mills or blast furnaces. Infect the chief fuel used at this time was still wood and charcoal. This was some expensive to employ in such industries as existed.
Thanks to the genius George Stephenson, the steam engine entered on its final triumph.
George Stephenson

Steam Engine by George Stephenson 

The Stockton-Darlington railway was opened in 1823. During the next decade railway lines were laid down with feverish energy and within two years it was invested a lot of money in contraction.


The Stockton-Darlington Railway

Now the English  landscape changed and the Industrial Revolution, as it is generally understood, was over and a new age dawned in which  England become the richest and the most powerful nation of the world.


THE INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGINES

The production of cheap cast iron stimulated the invention of various kinds of machinery. By far the most important was the discovery of James Watt of a steam engine which could employed for pumping coal-mines. Steam engines were soon in demand for all mining districts in England and orders came from different countries, such as France, Russia and Germany. 
In my research I discovered that in the early days of railways there were many claims that a horse and carriage were faster than a train. One such claim was put to the test and in 1830 the horse and carriage won, though it was not long before speed of the trains increased

Later, Britain became vitally in other matters as in other powers, so as to provide markets and raw materials. The Development of the new technologies that depended on raw materials found mostly in remote places, example the motor car depended on oil and rubber, and copper imported from Africa and South America.
 It is the one of the great turning points in the history of civilization.

In my research about the Industrial Revolution I found such interesting buildings which were built by ordinary people. During the Industrial Revolution iron was used to make engines, boats trains and bridges.
Interested that the first bridges were logs, slabs of stone or intertwined vines of ropes across narrow streams. The Romans were the first great bridge builders. The sane types of bridges were built in Europe until the end of the 18th century, when iron and steel construction began. Infect the world’s first iron bridge was build at Coalbrookdale in England in 1779.

The Coalbrookdale Bridge

THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION


In addition the Agricultural Revolution produce huge of profits for some farmers, so new schemes were to be financed at very low rates of interest. 

Farmers
The English farming was also undergoing a great change in this period. The smaller farms were unable to compete with improved but more costly methods of agriculture which required capital. Villagers, who had made use of common lands, lost their rights which they had held by custom from time to time. Gradually an army of unemployed was created and they naturally turned to the new industries that were in need of unskilled labor.
In addition the new mass of consumption of sugar,tea,coffee,cocoa and fruit led at the development of tropical plantations economies.


EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN IN WORKHOUSES

People in that era who had no money or couldn't work were sent to live in places called workhouses. These locations were like almost like prisons. Once you are in a workhouse this means that you have to work very long hours. It means to that it was hard to get out again. The sad thing was that families were split up hardly ever allowed to see each other.

It is strange and bitter irony that a period which vastly increased the wealth of this country should also have in testified the poverty of so many people. And because labor was plentiful it was cheap, and although prices rose steeply wages were virtually at starvation level.

Another sequel was the creation of workhouses, a large proportion of the inmate’s not which were children, they were taught a trade and then sent to the mills of Lancashire. There, were entirely defenseless and compelled to work long hours under strictly conditions.

Children Working in Workhouses 

WORKING IN THE MINES

The life of these people was not easy and they also believed that life can smile to them. In fact more than 6,500 coal mines in the United States, were small operations. More than 195,000 persons are employed directly in the coal industry.
Early coal mines were dark and dreadful places where men and boys worked long hours pick and shovel in damp, dusty cramped quarters. Woman and children were sometimes used to pull the heavy coal carts.



THE BEGINNING OF MASS PRODUCTION

Before the 1800 and the introduction of steam power in the English manufacturing, a factory ordinarily was defined as a commercial establishment under the absentee ownership and in charge of an agent. The beginning of the factory system largely replaced the cottage system in which workers made goods in their own tools although the materials were supplied by the merchant from whom the work was done.
The success of the modern factory was build on mass production
That means that the production of goods in large quantities.
So, with the coming of the industrial revolution, however things changes in their appearance. Inventors were active in the Textile industry. Weaving and spinning were handicrafts largely carried out in the homes of individual workers on a small scale. In the 18th century, a series of English inventions revolutionized spinning and weaving techniques. This made England the leader of the textile industry.   


During the centuries before written records primitive man invented the basic devices and such techniques that assured the future. These inventions include such things such as tools, weapons and traps. Also include the wheel, the raft, pottery, the marked stick for measuring and the ways of making fire and smelting copper and iron.
 Also without iron and steel the way of life of civilized people would be entirely different. These metals are used in thousands of ways. They serve everybody in homes, public, automobiles,    trains, ships, machinery, mines, farm equipment and also bridges and buildings.
In fact the unknown inventors who helped create the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and other famous ancient lands invented improved tools.



THE MACHINE AGE

The invention of the steam engine started in the 18th century in England. This century designed for spinning, thread and weaving textiles. This opened the modern era of invention. The 19th century brought a steady stream of devices and processes that are today granted.

There is a saying that says “Necessity is the mother of invention”
This is often true because when there is a need of something new, or for an improvement of an existing device or process inventors in many parts of the world will begin working to fill that need. As a result of this , history has many instances of several men independently inventing different inventions.;


Inventors

Until the 20th century, most inventions were the work of individual inventors. Along the time as the technology become more complex, invention become more and more a group of effort financed by the government or such foundations.

FAMOUS INVENTORS

In fact the first  important  invention was John Kay’s  flying shuttle(1733) a device for moving the shuttle across the loom by a set of cords, instead of by hand. This made weaving so much faster that a yarn shortage soon developed.

John Kay
   The Flying Shuttle
Several inventors designed the spinning machines to replace the spinning wheel.
The inventor James Hargreaves invented the hand operated spinning jenny. He invented this about 1764. His invention was able to  spin a number of fine-but weak- yarns at the same time.

 James Hargreaves

 Spinning Jenny 

Reference...
- D.A Girling 1983, New Age Encyclopedia, Seventh Edition in Thirty Volume, Bay Books, Sydeny London.

- Walter Miller, ma, Litt, LL.D formely Deanof Gradate School and Professes of classical Languages and Archaeology University of Missouri, Walter Eckart, The universal World Reference Encyclopedia. 

- DE New Standard Encyclopedia Volume 4

- Virtue's, New Age Treasury, Volume1, A Pagent of History, London

- Usborne Publishing Ltd 2000, The USBORNE Internet- Linked Science Encyclopedia.  





Saturday, April 5, 2014

Cubism and Abstract

4th April 2014

Cubism was a revolution in the first half of the 20th Century that occurred in the practice of art. another word for Cubism is called Non-Objective Art.


Early Cubism
It was an important movement at the beginning of the 20th Century that was originated by two famous artists of that time that are Pablo Picasso (1881-1971) and the Frenchman George Braque (1882-1963)... Who are they..... ?? 


Pablo Picasso (1881-1971)

He was born in Malaga,Spain 1881, but he lived most of his life in France. he started to learn drawing from his father, Don Hosei, that was an art teacher. he wanted Pablo to discover the world of art to improve Picasso's natural talent. in 1900 Picasso left Spain and moved to the world of art (Paris), during this time Pablo painted several works that are important works such as; The Old Guitarist (1903) from his Blue Period (1901-04) and the Softer Description of Circus People from his Rose Period (1905-07). Cubism was being developed. A part from painting Picasso was a sculpture too. These sculptures was mainly made from founded objects that most of them were rubbish,that were imaginatively transformed. Most of Pablo Picasso's work and style were based on the famous works by Velasquez, Rembrandt and Manet.


George Braque (1882-1963)

This artist was a colleague of Pablo Picasso, together the founded the world of Cubism and Abstract. Braque was obsessed by the two formal elements that he used in his painting that are Shape and Form, by ignoring traditional perspective. Even in his painting he used a technique called Passague'. This technique is done by using a simple palette, mainly with natural colors, ignoring the positive an negative spaces and create a movement with shadows that moves like this.. Light ans Dark... and keeps repeating the same way. a good example of this technique is shown in the painting that he did called The Chateau De La Roche-Guyan (1909). Together Braque and Picasso developed the Cubist movement not only painting shape and form but also painting figures in an Abstract way and eve creating a collage. Basiclly these two artist started the era of Modern Art.

They were the main artist of Cubism and Abstract, that together started to breakdown objects into their Geometrical Shapes. In their work the main subjects were taken from the Cafe in Paris that consists Still Life and Portraits.
The Cubist were also inspired by the recently discoveries of the African Negro Masks, that were used by African people. A painting that Picasso produce with this inspiration of the African Masks is called; Les Desmoiselles D' Avignan (1907). In this painting Faces are painted into a simple, masks- like forms.

Les Desmoiselles D' Avignan , 1907

Late Cubism
Between 1909 an 1913 Pablo Picasso and George Braque were still working together. Eventually their paintings started to develop in their techniques by producing abstract paintings. at that time these were done by using color and line. Abstract started to be developed while artists began to add real words by cutting and adding pieces of newspaper on their canvas to create an abstract work ( collage). Even they were lating actual textures such as; wood, metal, plastic and even fabrics. Brighter colors were used on their canvas, that was known as synthetic cubism. At that time important artists were being influenced from Pablo Picasso and George Braque's work.

Artists that were influenced in that time......

Robert Delauny ( 1885-1941)
Juan Gris (1887-1927)
Fernand Leger (1881-1955)

 Cubism and Abstract Before World War 2

In 1910, there was a great emphasis on color and form rather then a subject. Many different artists from many different countries that moved towards Cubism and Abstract Art. A famous artist from Russia Vassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) introduced Abstract trough Expressionism. This artist was a member from an independent group  that gave German Expressionist further that was called Der Bloue Reiter ( The Blue Rider ), that was formed in Munich in 1911.
Der Bloue Reiter ( The Blue Rider ) Group Munich 1911
Piet Mandrian (1872-1944) was another artist from Holland that developed through Cubism and abstracting forms. A painting that this artist produced is called; Combination With Red, Yellow and Blue.

Combination With Red, Yellow and Blue, Pier 1921
In this painting Mondrian used his artistic vocabulary to combine horizontal and vertical lines and a palette of, Black, White, Grey and the use of the Primary Colors.



Reference.....
- Ian Crofton 1990, The Guinness Encyclopedia, Gunness Publishing Ltd,1990, The Visual Arts, Cubism and Abstraction

- Alastair Sooke, Modern Masters - Pablo Picasso. [video online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrY1vpwPhU [Accessed on Dec 7, 2013]

- The Forger's Masterclass, Ep 06 George Braque, [ video online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rejhieJL4CQ [ Accessed on April 22, 2012]

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Impressionism

06/03/2014

The name of this movement was taken from a Painting called the Impression of Sun Rise that was done by an artist that was a key figure in that period called Cloude Monet in 1874

Impression Of Sun Rise, Claude Manet, 1874
The seeds of this art movement was launched in 1874 by a group called The Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Print makers etc.... Cloude Monet was one of the other members that were in this group, together they organised an exhibition that was held at the studio of the photographer Nadar. During this exhibition 39 artists exhibited their work.

Nadar, First Photographer Who Shot An Aerial
View From His Own Parachute 

Nadar's Photography Studio 

Artists That Exhibited In The Nadar's Studio In 1874

- Claude Monet (1840-1926)
- Auguste Ronier (1841-1919)
- Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
- Berth Morisot (1841-95)
- Camille Pissarro (1831-1903)
- Alfred Sisley (1839-99)

In all there were 18 exhibitions of the Anonymous Society Group, that were held between 1874 and 1886.

Impressionism is Characterized by its interest in the effect of the light and proportion. A good example of this effect is shown in the painting that Alfred Sisley did called The Flooding At Port Marly. In this painting the artist is showing the reflection of the building in the water and how the light is hitting with all around the surrounding.
  
The Flooding At Port Marly, Alfred Sisley
Another example of this effect is the painting by Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral 1890. he did this painting of this Cathedral more then ones by using the different tones of shades and color in different time of day.


The Roune Cathedral, Monet,1890




Reference.....
- Ian Crofton 1990, The Guinness Encyclopedia, Gunness Publishing Ltd,1990, The Visual Arts, Cubism and Abstraction

- HEILBRUNN TIMELINE OF ART HISTORY, Impressionism: Art and Modernity [online] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/imml/hd_imml.htm.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Exhibition- 'Xebgha Nies' Different People



By: Debbie Caruana Dingli
      Andrew Diacono
      Marisa Attard
      Steve Bonello
      Moira Zahra

      Mark Scicluna 
      Paul Scerri
      Saviour Baldaccino
      Kenneth Zammit Tabone 

Another exhibition that I visited was healed in the Saint Cavallier Lower Gallery that was hosted by many artists that presented their work, that has a mixture of many materials such as: Pencil drawing with Indian ink, Ceramic works, Oil on canvas, and Rielifs.



Saviour Baldacchino

This is a collection that Saviour Baldacchino presented in this exhibition that have a significant subject of Religion. They are all aspects from our Religion. the one that most amazed me is the Last Dinner. In this painting the artist used warm colors to present the sense of sadness, and he used several face expressions to create a movement.

  

Andrew Diacono

This is another artist that his work is inspired from the classic style, because of the style that he use to work. In this exhibition Diacono presented structures of men in different poses and actions and even he presented paintings on wood with different media. A structure that I liked is the Man On Penny Farthing, that is done with mixed materials. This is ax example that shows clearly that Diacono looked at the Classic Style.




 Mark Scicluna

the inspiration behind this collection that scicluna did for this exhibition, is inspired from the Maltese Subject. This is clearly shown in two works that he produced. Starting from the first one 'Cerva Maltija' (Top Corner Left) he used the Maltese plant that is called 'Bajtra tax- Xewk', to create something on her hair as an adornment (Head Piece) .

The second work that the artist is showing the Maltese Subject is at the bottom-middle that is inspired from the Fat Lady 'l- Mara l- Hoxna' that we find in the Maltese Temples such as: Hagar Qim and Imnajdra.


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Exhibition: Eccentricks

Emmanuel Bonnici Exhibition....







While seeing this exhibition that was held at the Saint James Cavalier with a range of a good digital work design I noticed that most of the work that were exhibited were influenced from the Maltese Culture by transforming it into something that is functional and used in everyday life.











(F) lush





#An interesting structure that he produced from one of his designs is called the (F) lush that he was influenced from the Maltese Traditional Boat called the 'Luzzu', but he transformed it into a Lavatory. When seeing a 'Luzzu' from the front and this piece of art that the artist did, one can notice the study that he did by using the same shapes and movement to create this piece of art.

(F) lush From The Inside








For me the most interesting and amazing part of this piece of art is the inside structure how it looks and how it is built. Emmanuel here is showing us that he used the same methods and techniques that are used in the 'Luzzu'








(F) lush, Concepts or Designs
With each piece of art, Emmanuel is presenting Concepts or Designs of the particular piece of art by using Digital Media.




Hugo Clocks
Another piece of art the the artist Emmanuel did is called Hugo. This is a collection of three clocks that are inspired from the Maltese Traditional Clocks. Mainly the Maltese Clocks have that Bombastic colors such as; Reds, Gold and, Black... all combined in one clock. when looking at them one can notice that the artist haven't look at the colors that the Maltese Clocks have but he looked at the shapes that they are made of. Again he included something that he noting to do with Maltese Clocks. he included the top part of the Guitar to develop more the Maltese traditional clocks into something more artistic way.
   

Quintet, Digital Drawing
I think that music is something important to Emmanuel. This is clearly shown in another Digital Media concepts or designs collection called Quintet. Apart from combining the Guitar with a Traditional Maltese Clocks he also used parts of  a Trumpet and manipulate and combined them with objects. In this digital media concepts and designs he used the architecture element.




Another piece of art that is inspired from the Maltese 'Karettun' that was used in Malta fro transport and to carry things. Emmanuel Bonnici changed it's function into a Rocking Chair by using all the thing that the Maltese 'Karettun' have.

  

Emmanuel in this exhibition included a Telephone box that one can find this in England. he used this to show something that is popular with the people and to show movement in an artistic way. 


Saturday, March 1, 2014

The Victorian Art


28/02/2014

The Pre- Raphaelites Brotherhood were rebellions against the Victorian Art Period. The Victorians knew that life was changing so they recorded periods in that time so people from different generations will see how the Victorians lived. Queen Victoria had ruled over 64 Years as a Queen, 1837-1901

Queen Victoria, 64 Years as a Queen, 1837-1901
In the 19th Century Britain was on the move. During this time many developments was done such as towns were getting more and more bigger, and even new machines were being developed. But many people were living like animals in the streets.

Luke Fildes is an artist that wanted to show different kind of emotion and how people were living during these times. The painting Applicants For Admission To a Casual Ward is a painting that Fildes saw on a winter night in the streets of London. This painting is forcing the viewer to look at the poor, but in the Victorian times the poor people were noting. Luke Fildes wanted to show that people like these were only good to work in the the work house.


Luke Fildes, Applicants For Admission To a Casual Ward, oil on canvas,
571mm x 940mm, Tate Collection, After 1908
When artists wanted to sell their work to Rich people the sense of the painting was in a happy way so the client would be more happy and satisfied with the piece of art that he bought. A news paper engraving by Herbert Van Herkamer is showing old women suffering during work in the Victorian times, but when the artist had the opportunity to sell this type of painting, he gave a sense of happiness in the painting by making the old women look happy, with a smile on there faces, a vase of flowers and a cup of tea.

The Engraving on the Newspapers, Westminster Union, Herbert Van Herkamer


Herbert Van Herkamer, A Scene in the Westminster Union.
Reference....
- Jeremy Paxman 2004, The Victorians,2009 EO1, Painting The Towns. [video online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmP9KL7o9A [Accessed on: Jan 5 2011]