I thought I'd include movies about artists in Better With Art. I always find them a fun way to learn about the lives of artists (or at least cinema's interpretation of those lives). This one is "Renoir," a French film directed by Gilles Bourdos.
Image: Renoir poster; Renoir portrait of Catherine Hessling.
What's not to love about Egyptian hieroglyphics and figure art? Fascinating characters with animal heads… mysterious drama… even a form of writing that is fun to look at. Egyptian art is remarkable for many reasons. There's always an interesting narrative, and it's almost always done in that elegant Egyptian style – something that lasted throughout the ages.
This is a remarkable woodblock print from Japan in the 1850s. It's one of a lifetime's worth by artist Utagawa Hiroshige (b.1797 – d.1858). Like so many Japanese arts, the level of craft and design here is astounding.
A lot went into making these small prints. They were designed by an artist like Hiroshige, then glued to a wood block and delicately carved away, leaving only the lines at face level. From there additional blocks were made for the colors, and everything printed together by master printers.