Shooting the last two days in Florence, where republican politics, relatively free markets and innovative business, relaxed religion, and humanistic philosophy laid the groundwork for the explosion of artistic creativity in the 1400s — Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Ghirlandaio, Leonardo, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, and the list goes on. Awesome. Visual delights everywhere, a strong sense of living […]
Artistic Genius — Florence, Italy Read More »
Shooting yesterday at Claude Monet’s magnificent house and grounds at Giverny, about an hour west of Paris along the Seine. It was there that he painted his beloved waterlilies. Monet left his world-class mark in two fields — painting and gardening. At Giverny he lived his final decades of a long life, after a hard-fought
Artistic Genius — Monet’s Giverny Read More »
Shooting in Paris today, all over the place. The rule for street parking in Paris is: Whatever you can get way with. Success, I’m happy to report. Aside from some great locations, an accomplishment was my costume change in the car in the touristy Pigalle area without getting arrested for indecent exposure. (Though Pigalle’s shops
Artistic Genius — Impressionists in Paris Read More »
Filming today in Haarlem, primarily in connection with Pieter Saenredam’s renditions of the interior of the Bavokerk, and in Amsterdam for its importance to art in the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. Here is Rembrandt’s house in Amsterdam, in which he lived and worked, along with his apprentices, from the 1630s until the
Artistic Genius — Haarlem and Amsterdam Read More »
We are currently working on a new documentary with the working title Artistic Genius: When It Flourishes. The question I take up is why art flourishes so awesomely in some places and times — classical Athens, Renaissance Florence, the Dutch Golden Age, nineteenth-century Paris — but is stagnant in others. Some of our production team
Artistic Genius documentary — Europe locations Read More »
Today I walked past a well-groomed old man driving an awesome Jaguar convertible. Jaguars are my favorite sports car, and I felt a twinge of envy. Later at a fast food restaurant, an energetic teenager before me in line was counting out his coins, unsure if he had enough to pay for a cold drink.
A thought about real wealth Read More »
At the author’s request, I’ve removed this poem, which was originally published in the 1990s.
Joanne Lowery, “Brush” Read More »
In the Renaissance, there was a lively debate among artists and critics over which art form was the best. Cases were made for and against painting, sculpture, poetry, and music. To my mind, the debate is philosophically silly, but it is a fun and instructive exercise to compare the strengths and limitations of each art
The best art form — architecture version Read More »