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Farrukh Beg, 1615
A Sufi Sage, The Personification of Melancholia
The Sufi sage was painted near the end of Farrukh Beg’s long career. Its an autobiographical image of an old man lost in thought, eyes downcast and faced away from the bloom of nature behind him. The work was inspired by a game of continental ‘telephone,’ Farrukh interpreting an engraving by Dutch artist Raphael Sadeler, who worked from Maarten de Vos’s Dolor, which was inspired in part by Dürer’s Melancholia. read more
A Sufi Sage, The Personification of Melancholia, Farrukh Beg
The Etruscans, 400BCE
Chimera of Arezzo
This is an undeniably modern interpretation. The chimera, like most beasts of antiquity, was the bad guy. Child of the giant serpent Typhon and the half woman half snake Echidna (you know her from the Starbucks logo) the Chimera was an abominable thing, unnatural combination of lion and goat, with the head of a snake for a tail. Her brothers and sisters live in legend. read more
Chimera of Arezzo, The Etruscans
Toyen
What's in a name?
Names are assigned to us before we are aware of their meaning, and we grow into them as much as they come to reflect us. In Japan artists often changed names after milestones in their lives, but in the west, once you've been given a name, you're usually stuck with it—a rigidity that makes claiming a new name even more powerful magic. read more
Toyen, The Artists
Sascha Schneider, 1904
Hypnosis
To Sascha Schneider the male body was perfection, and the world its antagonist. Schneider worked in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during the development of Freikörperkultur, free body culture, also called the Health and Hygiene movement. Freikörperkultur aimed to counteract the restraint and stress of industrialization with a restorative mix of open air nudity, exercise, and healthy diet. read more
Hypnosis, Sascha Schneider
Born on March 7
Piet Mondrian, The ArtistsPortrait of Piet Mondrian

Piet Mondrian

There is no God, only Truth

1872 – 1944
Nicéphore Niépce, The ArtistsPortrait of Nicéphore Niépce

Nicéphore Niépce

The inventor of Photography

1765 – 1833

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