Nude Paintings

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Helios and Rhodes

Frederic Leighton 1830 - 1896

The Titan Helios, the personification of the sun in Greek mythology, embraces his wife Rhodes, a nymph and the goddess of the island Rhodes,.

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Danae 1907

Gustav Klimt 1862 - 1918

Danae was a popular subject for artists in the early 1900′s. She was a symbol of devine love and transcendence. 

In Greek mythology Danae was the daughter of King Acrisius of Argos. Lacking a male child Acrisius consulted the Oracle of Delphi. The oracle told him that Danae’s child would be male and would slay him

Acrisius locked Danae in a tower to stop her from ever conceiving a child. However, Zeus desired her so he came to her as a shower of gold and filled her womb. A son Perseus was born. 

In this painting we can see the shower of gold between her legs and the aroused look on Danae’s face. Her purple vale is a sign of her imperial lineage ( purple being a color of royalty)

You can buy a reproduction on Amazon hear. 

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Bi Han Xuan Di Ecological Museum

This weekend we went to Bi Han Xuan Di Ecological Museum ( 碧涵軒帝雉生態館 ). After a lengthy adventure to get a scooter we were off to the bird sanctuary. Photography is not allowed inside so all the pictures are sourced from online

It was a very interesting place with a variety of birds. There were chickens, peacock, and pheasants of different varieties. 

The highlight of the place was the Argus ( a type of pheasant) and was the focus of the tour. Often times translated out to phoenix these birds are under threat in their native range of Southern China and Vietnam. The owner told me that in their breeding program they have about a 90% success rate. 

They had both Creased Argus 

and Great Argus 

Argus feathers can grow very long on the male birds 

I think that the tour use to include more but we went during the off season and they are doing construction to expand. 

admission is 200 NTD (6.50 USD) and you should make a reservation to come ahead of time. The staff do not speak English so it is a good idea to bring a Chinese speaking friend if you do not know Chinese.

Click hear for more information  and their website 

After this we went back to Su’ao, where we had rented the scooter. 

Suao is a lovely town on the ocean. You can make it a day trip from elsewhere in Yilan County or even Hualien. There is a beach, a coral museum and cold springs. Their is also an active shopping area around the port that is selling fish and fish products. 

Click hear to find hotels

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An update on what I am up too

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Macau

So I spent last weekend in Macau. I found cheep plane tickets and a nice room on Agoda (Yes I am affiliated with them)

Macau is a special administrative region of China. In plain English they have their own set of rules and laws. 

Why? 

Well because like Hong Kong it was a colony of another country until very recently. The Portuguese left Macau in 1999, after 400 years . 

Macau is made up of four areas

Macau Peninsula: This is where I stayed; it is connected to the mainland of China. 

Taipa: Island to the south of the Peninsula, the airport is hear, as are some interesting historical sites.

Cotai: a strip of reclaimed land where the largest casinos are. It connects what use to be the separate islands of Taipa and Coloane. 

Coloane: I did not travel hear, it is the southern most part of Macau

(Venetian and Parisian in Macau) 

Macau is best known for its gambling.  Sometimes called the Los Angeles of the East their are massive casinos along with older smaller ones. I only went to one casino. It had a lot of Chinese style games that I had no idea how to play. Roulette was the first game i knew and recognized so red hear I come 

(Hotel and Casino Lisboa)

A local told me that the casino I was gambling in had a bird cage shape for Fung Shui reasons, to keep the gamblers money inside of it. 

(Ruins of St. Paul’s. This church burned three times before they gave up on it)

Having been an intersection of European and Asian trade Macau has a lot of history behind it. Their were old streets and village areas left over from when it was a Portuguese colony

(St. Joseph’s church, part of St. Joseph’s seminary)

The Jesuits were very active in Macau. They used Macau as a base for many of their operations in East Asia. St. Joseph’s was both a church and a seminary (a college where they teach young men to be priests)

(Panorama of a park in Taipa)

Prostitution is legal in Macau, like most places the lady boys are the most aggressive prostitutes. 

On a more interesting note their is a lot of interesting parks and gardens in Macau. Their was a very neat one in Taipa with lots of bonsai trees. 

(Bonsai Trees)

There was also some great hills to climb, in Taipa. I have heard the same about Coloane

(Roundabout next to the casino)

I had a lovely time in Macau, its an easy place to walk around. In fact i walked back to the airport to get my plane back to Taiwan. 

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What I did last weekend.

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La Maja Desnuda

Francisco Goya  1746 - 1828 

Goya made two paintings like this. One clothed and this one nude. The clothing in the other one allows us to identify the girl as being a majo , Spanish lower class who distinguished themselves with elaborate outfits,. This is one of the earliest western paintings to depict women pubic hair without negative connotations. He unashamed, brazen stare at the viewer was considered lewd at the time. 

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At Low Tide 1914

Sir Edward Poynter 1836 - 1919

Poynter was a active English painter who was president of the Royal Academy of arts at one point. 

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What is going on with this Tumbler

I never get to update this blog as often as I like. I try to do a few at a time and put them in the queue. 

Unfortunately bills don’t pay themselves and I have other side projects going on now. Between photography and starting an Etsy store I have less time. I am giving up on this blog, but it will be on the back burner. Their are some longer posts I would like to write ( origins of Japanese Hentai in Wood block prints for example) but I can’t find time to research and write them. 

If you want (AKA I would really appreciate it) check out:

My Etsy

My Photography

My Tumbler about them

Yes I decided to end this post in a shameless self plug. 

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The Birth of Venus 1486

Sandro Botticelli  1445 - 1510

This famous Renaissance painting shows the birth of Venus. As Hesiod tells us in Theogony she was born when Saturn castrated his father Uranus and his blood fell into the sea. After that Venus was born from the foam of the sea. In Roman Mythology Venus was the Goddess of Love, Sex, and fertility just like her Greek counterpart Aphrodite. However, Venus was also the goddess of victory and prostitution. 

According to Plato and his flowers she was both an earthly god who inspired physical love, but also intellectual love. By looking at physical beauty we are better able to understand intellectual beauty. 

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The Siren  1864

Edward Poynter  1836 - 1919

Edward Poynter was an English painter well known for his historical paintings and was most likely a Freemason. 

Sirens are figures from Greek mythology. Sirens looked like beautiful women. The Sirens used their beauty and magical music to lure sailors to their deaths.  

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Les nymphes de danse

Paul Emile Chabas   1869 - 1937

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Now you can get it on cellphone cases and more!

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Great American Nude #92  1967

Tom Wesselmann 1931 - 2004

Tom Wesselmann was an american artist who is identified with the Pop art movement. Wesselmann personally did not like being classified this way.  It was this series “Great American Nude” that gained him the attention of art critics. 

Great American Nude primary involved reds, whites, blues, and other patriotic colors and images. Wesselmann says the inspiration for this series came from a dream about red, white and blue. 

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Study of a kneeling nude girl 

Attributed to Michelangelo 1475 - 1564

Their is debate over if this study was done by Michelangelo. The Louvre attributes it to be a study for the unfinished work “The Entombment”. Michelangelo stopped working on “The Entombment” to work on one of his most famous sculptures “David”. 

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Venus and the Lute player

Titan 1488 -  1576

Hear we see Venus (Roman goddess of love, sex, futility and desire) listening to a lute player. In Titan’s latter works seeing Venus with a musician was a common subject of his paintings. In a way these paintings address the question of if we primarily perceive beauty trough sight or hearing. ( a debate that some philosophers have had)

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Bathing in cold water 1799

Utamaro 1753 - 1806

Utamaro is one of the most highly acclaimed wood block print artists of the Ukiyo-e style. His work was very popular in Europe and he had an influence on European Impressionists.  Utamaro was well know for producing Bijin-ga (beautiful person) prints. 

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So I sat their trying to explain this to my girlfriend. Turns out all she knew about Ceaser was from Shakespeare.

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After the bath 1775

Bundi Painting was a school of Indian miniature painting from the 17th to the 19th century. Hear we have a miniature of a woman that had just taken a bath. 

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Vision

Attributed to Carolus-Duran 1883

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Now on stickers and coffee cups