Lai Afong – one of the most prolific Chinese photographers of his era
Lai Afong (黎芳 or 賴阿芳, c. 1838 or 1839 – 1890) is considered to be a pre-eminent nineteenth-century Chinese photographer and the founder of the most successful photographic studio in the late Qing Dynasty.Lai Afong's subjects ranged from portraits and social life pictures to cityscapes and landscapes. His photographic compositions showcase the technical and aesthetic influence of traditional Chinese painting- guóhuà.Lai Afong was the most successful of his generation of Chinese photographers in appealing to both a Chinese and foreign cosmopolitan clientele. He advertised in English-language newspapers – offering a "Larger and complete collection of Views than any other Establishment
The Armenian vordan karmir – sought-after crimson carmine pigment
The Armenian cochineal (Porphyrophora hamelii), also known as the Ararat cochineal or Ararat scale, is a scale insect indigenous to the Ararat plain and Araks River valley in the Armenian Highlands. It was formerly used to produce an eponymous crimson carmine dyestuff known in Armenia as "vordan karmir" (Armenian: որդան կարմիր, literally "worm's red").It is possible that Armenian cochineal dye was in use as early as 714 BCE when the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II was recorded as seizing red textiles as spoils of war from the kingdoms of Urartu (the geographic predecessor of Armenia) and Kilhu.During the Middle Ages, the
The Mexican chocolate jar inspired by Chinese porcelain
The chocolate jar, made in Mexico and housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, resembles Chinese blue-and-white porcelain samples. Called "Talavera poblana," this style of tin-glazed earthenware has been made in the central Mexican town of Puebla since the 16th century. This chocolate jar would have been used to store valuable commodities like cacao beans.The name "Talavera poblana" refers to the majolica-producing city of Talavera de la Reina in Spain. Talavera emulated the designs of fashionable imported Chinese ceramics, present in cosmopolitan Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries and transmitted to Mexico during the colonial period.The blue-and-white ornamentation features
Shaping the image of Mother Armenia: Mher Abeghian
The People's Artist of Armenian SSR Mher Abeghian (1909-1994) was born in Vagharshapat, nowadays Etchmiadzin. He received his artistic education in Yerevan, Moscow, and Leningrad. Abeghian expressed his emotions, thoughts, and ideas in the landscape, portraiture, still life, and genre art genres. The epic spirit and bright saturation of light and colors were peculiar to his artworks. Abeghian's signature style developed from traditions of national painting. He experimented with various techniques, such as charcoal, pen point, sanguine, etchings, and oil painting. However, linocut was his preferable graphic technique. His works in this printing technique are distinctive for mastery of their performance,
The cultural gem of the Silk Road: Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, China
Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, the Mogao Caves southeast of the Dunhuang oasis, Gansu Province, comprise the largest, most richly endowed, and most extended used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world.Four hundred ninety-two caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. Cave 302 of the Sui dynasty contains one of the oldest and most vivid scenes of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road, depicting a camel pulling a cart typical of trade missions of that period.As evidence of the evolution of Buddhist art in the northwest
