Heidelberg University in Germany has solved the long asked question “who is the Mona Lisa?”
In margin notes of a book by Cicero, Florentine city official Agostino Vespucci, a friend of Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa was identifiend as Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the wife of a wealthy silk merchant.
More from The New York Times and ABC News.

[Read more →]

I’ve noticed for quite some time that most media web sites and newspapers do not have an Arts section. The closest you find is Entertainment. The meaning of these two is of course very different, not because art can’t be entertaining, it can be. But art often has more purpose to it […]

[Read more →]

I have all kinds of crazy dreams. I’ve had one of them for a long time, and I’ve never told anyone about it until now. Even for me it’s a nutty one. My secret dream was to be the first artist in space.
I had such a strong desire for this, I think, […]

[Read more →]

When you paint images not with spray cans or pigment, but instead by cleaning dirt and pollution from public places in artistic patterns - painting the image by removing dirt - this is reverse graffiti. This defaces no surface, and in fact starts to clean what a city should have cleaned to begin with. […]

[Read more →]

John Hodgeman appears to discuss art authentication.

[Read more →]

This post is part of Blog Action Day.
(Outside the norm, today’s post has intermixed store links to more easily show environmentally friendly art tools and materials.)
Art is still mostly a hand made thing. As most things hand-made, materials of the craft used to be natural - wood, clay, marble and natural pigments. But […]

[Read more →]

Since the New York Times opened its complete archive on the web (previously it was only available as a web subscription), many people have been scouring the site for interesting history.
The first mention of Picasso comes on May 19, 1912, with this:
…it is to be regretted that this unquestionably talented artist, who is practically unknown […]

[Read more →]

Beautiful street art in Moscow and Brazil (not sure where). From Funny Picture Crazy.
Brasilian street art
and
Moscow street art

[Read more →]

I went to an afternoon of flat track roller derby, and even though it’s a sport, I could care less who won or lost. A lot of us were there to be entertained. Roller derby is dramatic and theatrical. Lots of players and whole teams have strong characters (whether real or mythical), […]

[Read more →]

5 Pointz has been mentioned in lots of places this year, but that’s ok, it’s good people hear about it.
5 Pointz is a graffiti museum and legal painting space in Queens. The building is a many story warehouse covered on all sides, ground to roof, with art by graffiti artists. Artists live in […]

[Read more →]