Authors on Art

Mar 1, 2009 Posted by Diane
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"It's all very puzzling if we take it literally."

A quotation that I would like to believe to be applicable to, well, everything, is actually attributed to a very particular topic. The Guardian, an eclectic British blog, has begun a new series of videos titled, “six talks by celebrated authors on their favourite paintings at London’s Courtauld Gallery.” Oh boy, my two favorite worlds have collided; literature and painting! The first of this magnificent series, from which the aforementioned quotation sprouts, features Philip Pullman on A Bar at Folies-Bergère by Edouard Manet, 1882. Not only providing a stylistic critique of his favorite piece, Pullman paints a wonderful image of the context in which the Folies-Bergère was produced, making the video not only more accessible but much more interesting and captivating. Delving not only in to the philosophy of art, aesthetic choices and the impact of contextual events, Pullman dances around topic of essence and the ineffability of reality. Heavy yet interesting; heady yet necessary; intimate moments, as this video makes public, of precise delicacy helps remind that beauty, no matter how elusive, is everywhere in the ordinary. Please keep an eye on this series, and also, please don't take it too literally.




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