Finding and developing your art style

The most asked question through all my years of teaching art is: how do I develop my own art style? With some it becomes an almost obsessive struggle to find their own unique style ASAP – because then they might stand a change of achieving success in the art world – at least that is what is widely believed. This type of obsession kills your passion for art and will lead to disappointment and failure!

I think the origin of this believe is strongly influenced by the stereotypical depictions of the struggling artist that suddenly have a creative “Eureka!” moment that leads to the artist developing a revolutionising new personal style and then attaining instant lasting fame. Sadly this is a skewed depiction of most roads to success for the artist. This stereotype has led many talented artists to give up on their passion for art because the pressure to develop their own style handicapped them into not developing at all. It is like a young greenhouse plant that is not fully sprouted hanging its little head because it is not blooming or bearing fruit – instead of pushing its energy into growing strong roots it is focusing all its energy into non-existing flowers and fruits.

Maybe the quest to find your own style is also your stumbling block in developing your art talent. Just like the plant you first need to focus your energy on developing strong roots that can sustain you when you reach your full potential to keep blossoming wonderfully! Remember when you started out learning to write? Everyone in the class was diligently practicing to form the letter “a” on paper with lines and lines of the same letter repeating until it came to resemble the example of the teacher as closely as possible. Eventually the letter becomes a word and the word became sentences and paragraphs. And while everybody learned to write the exact same script by the end of their schooling everybody had developed their own uniquely recognizable handwriting…thus, the developing of an own style happened spontaneously! So why are we clinging to the idea that developing your own art style can only happen if we constantly chase it using willpower and determination? Let go of this entangling concept that are like a weed suffocating your art-plants growth.

For your art-plant to grow you need to practice art every day – without the unrealistic goals (e.g. that every piece must be a masterpiece) –art thrive when it’s created while enjoying in the creative process. The joy or passion of the creative process is like the sunlight for your art – giving you energy to keep going! And the added benefit is that with every art product you create you develop your technique and skill within the medium you’re using – so even if it is not a masterpiece – you are still growing! Remember, don’t compete with other artists – each has their own journey to blossom – and some blossom sooner than others, but each flower has its own beauty!

A plant also needs food – especially pot plants that need to be given extra food in summer and less in winter, depending on the type of plant – similarly your art-plant needs feeding. Finding inspiration by looking at other artist work is great but, not every hour of every day – that is the same as over feeding your pot plant! Just a little bit to inspire you to try a new technique or medium or explore a new idea. So remember that sometime less is more – too much of a good thing becomes harmful because it leads us to feel overwhelmed and frustrated while a little bit would have energized us to go out and explore all those new ideas! Also, most times we just see the successful artworks on social media, not the hundred trials and errors that that artist went through to produce a successful piece. We forget that most often people do not show their failures nor their real struggles – some will add a little glimpse of their struggle but that is mostly to give the viewers and potential buyers something to relate with them and to give their art an interesting memorable story – thus a marketing tool, not the real fight. I suggest you limit your time and the frequency you look at other artists work, just set a time that keeps you energized and inspired!

A plant also needs water, of course, to grow. We can link the watering of the plant to the people encouraging you in your art journey – family, friends, mentors and teachers. I encourage my students to share their work – find a platform on social media that are encouraging and have constructive advice – not critique, because we are often critical enough of our own work but don’t know how to correct the little mistakes we see in our work. But we can become blind for problems if we never have critique. Critique from somebody else, especially another artist whose opinion we value, is also necessary – this can be compared to storms ravaging the plant. Storm lead to reflection and regrowth – changing the direction of growing or encouraging new possibilities for growth we haven’t previously considered. If the storm was particularly damaging we might need to replant and prune the plant. In terms of art, this sometimes mean you have to take a step back and reevaluate you art process: deciding which aspects of your art process and product works and which don’t and what changes are needed to continue developing. Sometimes making a complete U-turn in your approach to your art, for example Piet Mondrian embracing geometric shapes by disregarding any natural form in order to make his artwork more universal like mathematics – this leading to him developing his own style! The developing of his own style was not his goal, but the natural result in his quest to make sense of the world and making art understandable to everybody who has learned the specific meaning of the geometric forms and their color.

Piet Mondrian, Spring Sun (Lentezon): Castle Ruin: Brederode, c. late 1909 – early 1910, oil on masonite, 62 × 72 cm, Dallas Museum of Art.

Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40205551

Piet Mondrian, Evening; Red Tree (Avond; De rode boom), 1908–1910, oil on canvas, 70 × 99 cm, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

By Piet Mondrian - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37629457

Piet Mondrian, Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow, 1930, Kunsthaus Zürich

By Piet Mondrian - [1], Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37642803

Let’s look at a few other famous artists’ journey to develop their own recognizable style:

Frida Kahlo – she started painting after a dreadful bus accident that left her bedridden for 3 months at the age of 18. Initially she painted herself since it was the only model she had available to work from – they had installed a mirror above her bed for her to look at while she painted her self-portrait exploring questions of identity and existence. Later in her career she continues using self-portraits as a means to explore her internal struggle and her surroundings, including Mexican flowers and animals, while seeking answers to who she is and where she belongs. Her art was not an obsessive search to develop her own style but rather a manner in which she could overcome her personal fight for survival and health. Today she is remembered for her honest depictions and struggles of being a woman with a career.

Frida Kahlo, “Self Portrait in a Velvet Dress”, 1926 by Frida Kahlo. Courtesy of www.FridaKahlo.org

Frida Kahlo, “Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird” (1940), Harry Ransom Center

By Frida Kahlo - Lloyd, Brigitte Gastel. &quot;Portrait of the Artists&quot;. artroots.com., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3518151

Frida Kahlo, “Without Hope”, 1945 by Frida Kahlo
Courtesy of www.FridaKahlo.org

Vincent van Gogh – his first artworks document the hardship of the miners where he was a missionary. The works show this hardship using impure color and emphasizes the harshness of the living circumstances of these people with many wrinkles and dark clothes eating in a small dark one-room house with only a single light that does not give enough light by which to eat – suggesting the powerless and hopeless state of the inhabitants that are desperate to survive. With his desire to express himself through his art we find that he starts using more and more color – and after meeting the Impressionists – the color and short brushstrokes become the characteristics we associate with his art today. He also found inspiration in Japanese woodcut prints that he used to explore composition with, basing many of his paintings on Japanese compositions. He never stopped learning and exploring art, but he always made it his own! Today he is recognized as one of the most famous artist of all time. Not because he focused al his energy on developing his own style but rather striving to become better at communicating his ideas through painting that ultimately led to him developing his own style!

Vincent van Gogh, “The Potato Eaters”, 1885. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=334091

Vincent van Gogh, “Red Vineyard”, November 1888. Pushkin Museum, Moscow. Sold to Anna Boch, 1890 (The only painting Vincent van Gogh is certainly known to have sold during his lifetime.)
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=334091

Vincent van Gogh, “Road with Cypress and Star”, May 1890, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo
By Vincent van Gogh – Own work in the Kröller-Müller Museum, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2702442

I hope this article helps you overcome your struggle to develop a unique style and get you going out to make art! I believe that everybody that takes care of their art-plant will in time flower beautifully. Enjoy every moment of the creative journey!

A Few tips for starting a new art project

“Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.” ~ Paul Klee

In order to find wonder in the ordinary an artist must study their subject matter, some artist achieve this by doing countless quick sketches of the object, for example Leonardo da Vinci. So before an artist start creating their master piece, they first have to look around them and truly see – the shapes, textures, values and colours of an object. Their creativity and freedom of expression comes into play in how the artist arranges the chosen objects; what is place next to the object and subtle changes to the object to translate into new meaning.

Da Vinci, “Galloping rider and other studies”

Da Vinci, “Group of riders in the battle of Anghiari”

Da Vinci, “Study of the Madonna and Child with a cat”

Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria Della Neve – by Leonardo da Vinci

Picasso said, “There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.”

Thus, the artist starts from the known and by process of elimination removes the unnecessary details that might distract from the final message; the same way that a director will remove the background noise so that the argument of the main characters can be clearly heard.

Looking for reference material on the internet can initially be overwhelming and one can easily get side-tracked by all the images and new ideas to the extent that none of the creative ideas comes to be fully executed. For me, it helps to limit myself with say using only the first three images for my reference material. Starting to work immediately with my preparation drawings I can see if I need a different angle of the object or need to add an object to my composition. Just remember that in art – less is sometimes more!

ERROR: Signal lost/Bad reception – types of readings.

Previously we discussed the deconstructions of symbols and signs in a picture to gain the meaning of the picture. The meaning of a picture may change in different situations and over time as demonstrated with the analysis of “Beauty and the beast”. The next question we need to ask: is the receiver/viewer – the person who is looking at the picture and analysing the picture – always neutral in his/her approach to the deconstruction of the picture?

For example, if one is looking at a mobile phone advertisement, we can have 3 views or readings of the advertisement, namely 1) the viewer loves the brand phone because s/he has previous positive experience with the brand; 2) the viewer despises the brand because they had a bad experience with similar products; and 3) the viewer does not care one way or the other because they just bought a new mobile phone or does not use a mobile phone at all.

Understanding that visual communication can be received differently may help the communicator choose different symbols to ensure that misunderstandings are less frequent or avoided, but it may also be used specifically to extract a reaction from the viewer – e.g. starting an argument or illustrating conflicting views in order to get the viewer to respond and communicate back. For example, Nando’s advertisement campaigns generally seek to engage the viewer by enraging the viewer with discriminating statements or social taboos.

The same can be found in artworks – some images want to encourage the viewer to follow the rules and feel kinship to their land, for example German art made during the world war; while contemporary artworks provoke the public by questioning the leaders actions (think about artworks relating to USA and their presidential campaign), and still others evoke little response from the viewer beyond the momentary enjoyment of the painting.

Beauty in the eye of the beholder

A visual deconstruction of Beauty and the Beast 2017 poster…

In order to deconstruct a picture we must first “read” (describe) what we see. Looking at Fig 1: you first notice the girl with the rose (Belle) that is lighter than the image of the beast and the castle in the background; beneath the two main figures you see the different characters surrounding the gate and a girl with candelabra exploring inside a building.

To determine the meaning we can now use the following questions to start our deconstruction: 1) will the meaning of the image change if the artist used different colours or elements? 2) Will the message remain the same if some of the codes (symbols/detail e.g. the rose) are removed or substituted with something else? 3) Will the message stay the same if we rearrange the symbols, e.g. switch Belle with the beast? 4) Will the meaning of the picture stay the same over time? 5) In what period are it set and how does it impact the meaning of the codes? 6) Are the picture universal or cultural specific? 7) What is the message of the picture?

After answering the above questions we may also determine what type of reading this is – in other words who are the specified receiver? Are the receivers interested in the message? Is the message received positively, or not? And why? Will different receivers interpret the message differently? Does the age of the receiver impact his/her ability to decode the message? What about the gender of the receiver? Thinking about these questions, did the meaning of the picture change?

Now let us answer the questions:
1) The overall colour scheme in Fig 1 is blue; changing the colour will definitely change our reading of the message since colour convey very specific meanings and help determine the overall mood of the image. In this case we may determine that the blue creates the mood suggesting coldness, isolation and lack of love. This cold blue is also used to contrast with the yellow of Belle’s dress and the warm light on her face suggesting that she has the ability to love. That is further emphasized by her holding the red rose – universally accepted symbol for love. But red can also symbolize aggression and the subtle use of Gustav’s red coat illustrates his aggressive nature. Using mostly primary colour scheme gives the picture a sense of stability.

2) Changing one code can change the whole message, for example, changing the rose to a white lily will suggest the girl’s innocence and perhaps give her the appearance of being aloof. Changing Gustav’s coat to orange for instance will change the meaning from aggressive hunter to flamboyant generous gentleman. And what if we just remove some “unnecessary” elements like the teapot, cup and the clock? Well then the film advertised here may be an altogether different story about a girl in love that is stalked by a beast with the hunter being her rescuer and hero.

3) If we rearrange the elements in the picture the meaning will change, e.g. if Belle is looking at the beast, then the receiver may feel he/she does not need to go to the movie since it is already obvious that Belle loves the beast. You may wonder why they decided on this option in Fig 2. in this example, none of the other characters is shown leaving the viewer to wonder if they start out happy or end happy?

4) Since these codes are arranged very specifically and with defined meanings the message will probably stay the same, since it is unlikely the meaning of the rose for example will change.

5) The hairstyles and fashion in the picture gives the clues as to the period within which it is set, namely French Rococo – an age known for frivolous romantic notions. The playful nature of some of the characters like the candelabra and clock comes to mind here. Thus the use of this particular period faintly hints at the playfulness of these characters and the underlying love theme of the movie.

6) Set within a very westernize setting the universal themes of the story makes it accessible to most audiences. The story itself can be found in different cultures around the world. A few examples of Vintage illustrations of Beauty and the Beast:

7) Belle brings light (enlightenment because she reads a lot she is not as narrow-minded as the rest of the town’s people and are therefor able to see past the exterior of the beast to the man he has become) into the dark castle and even darker heart of the beast – the girl with the candelabra exploring the dark building. Belle with the rose but turned away from the beast – she has the compassion to love the beast, but she must still come to terms with her feelings before she can give the rose and her love to him. The beast is in shadows turned towards his castle – his only refuge. The surrounding characters is placed almost like a clock indirectly suggesting time and their individual roles played in the story.

Next time – types of readings (deconstructions) of visual messages.

A picture says a thousand words – An Introduction to Visual Communication

We all know the saying that “a picture says a thousand words” but what does it really mean?

Well nonverbal communication makes up more than 70% of our communication spectrum, leaving only a small part to verbal communication. Nonverbal communication in other words is all forms of communication without sound, including body language, text messages and pictures. When speaking to somebody it is the nonverbal signals that ensure that the message is correctly interpreted by giving the receiver of the message context and emphasis through movement of the hands for example that points to where the communicator wants to go.

Nonverbal communication is a language just as must as the spoken language, although it seems to be more universal it is still cultural specific in certain situations. For example, when you ask directions to a place hand signals pointing in the correct direction can transcend spoken language barriers but a symbol of a specific animal might have very different meanings in different context and cultures – a bull in South Africa can symbolize the rugby team but elsewhere be a religious icon.

It becomes even more complicated when one starts to put symbols together to form a message since the meaning of a single symbol may change when in juxtaposition with another symbol. To ensure that the message is clear nonverbal communicators must be very certain of the symbols meaning before using it in an advertisement or painting. Since the Middle Ages the use of pattern books gave strict rules and defined meanings to symbols that may be used in religious paintings, for example a white lily signified purity.

Working Title/Artist: Birth of Virgin Leaf
Department: Medieval Art
Culture/Period/Location:
HB/TOA Date Code:
Working Date: c. 1375
photographed by mma 1993, transperency #1A
scanned by film and media 8-20-01 (jn)

Example 1. Manuscript Illumination with the Birth of the Virgin, Don Silvestro de’ Gherarducci, Florence, ca. 1375 (Tempera, ink, and gold on parchment).

In this example the message of the picture is clearly the purity of the Virgin since her birth – being untouched by sin.

Next time…a deconstruction of a painting in order to examine the nonverbal codes that gives meaning to the message.

A Question of Identity, Ownership and Patriotism

Headlines in the news today read “whites had no claim to land in South Africa” – statements like these take away one group of the rainbow nations rights to belong to South Africa. Is it any wonder then that the artist, which is to represent SA at the 57th Venice Biennale, Candice Breitz, chooses to live and work abroad?

“Becoming series”, Candice Breitz, 2003.

Candice Breitz, born 1972 in Johannesburg, studied Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg). After graduating, in 1993, she moved to America – where she continued her studies, receiving her Master’s degree in Art History at the University of Chicago and her doctoral at Columbia University (New York).
Currently she is a Professor of Fine Art at the Braunschweig University of Art (Berlin).

Although she has an impressive repertoire of exhibitions and publications one have to wonder if she is indeed the best candidate to represent South Africa today? She has lived longer abroad than in South Africa. Could they not find ANY suitable candidate that lives and works in South Africa to represent our art at the Biennale?

During 1994-8, her work focused on questions about gender and identity in South Africa. Examples of her early work includes “The Ghost series” (1994-6) and “Rainbow series” in which she questions commodity and gender.

"Ghost series", Candice Breitz, 1994-6. — “Ghost series”, Candice Breitz, 1994-6.

She also created series in which she question commodities, trademarks and the art market (art as commodity), e.g. “My Twin” and “Painting by Numbers”. (1997).

In works that are more recent her art consist of video art. In “Working class hero” (2006) she explores modern peoples disillusion with believe systems and societies values as accepted status quo that needs to be re-evaluated.

"Working class hero (A portrait of John Lennon), Candice Breitz, 2006. — “Working class hero (A portrait of John Lennon), Candice Breitz, 2006.

Her art is most definitely Conceptual Artworks but very little of her South African identity can still be found in her thinking and creative process. In the current climate where many South African’s find themselves living abroad – perhaps she is the best choice, after all, to represent all those displaced South Africans since they can better relate with her way of thinking!

I, for one, am looking forward to seeing the artworks created for the Biennale! Make us proud!

Olieverf en Akriel – Opsommende piktogramme

Die piktogramme verduidelik kortliks die ontstaan, bestandele en eienskappe van beide olie- en akrielverf.

piktogram-v-olie-01

piktogram-v-akriel-01

Wat is Waterverf en Gouache?

Die volgende piktogramme dui die eienskappe van waterverf en gouache aan. Dit gee ‘n kort opsomming van bestandele van die twee tipes watermediums. Hoop dit maak dit bietjie makliker om te verstaan. Kontak my gerus indien u nog vrae het! Lekker krabbel met die watermediums! 🙂

Volgende keer ondersoek ons die verskille tussen olie en akrielverf.

South African Art: Captured Prey – Defenceless Victims of Art

With August being Women’s Month in South Africa it is a great opportunity to look at one of South Africa’s famous female artist – Diane Victor.

The Lion who loved the Lady, Diane Victor

The parable of the selfie and the self-perpetuating problem, Diane Victor

Migrant Labour (Flying Horse), Diane Victor

Diane Victor is a graphic visual artist that is always looking to push the boundaries with her experimental art. The beauty of her mark making holds your attention even if the depicted image pushes you away – you as viewer are caught looking again and again, making you her captured prey as defenceless as the victims she depicts.

Diane Victor was born in Witbank, South Africa. She received her BA Fine Arts degree at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, majoring in Printmaking, in 1986. Graduating with distinction, she continued to win various awards, including the Volkskas Atelier Award in 1988 that included a ten-month stay in Paris.

Since 1990 to 2014, she has been a part-time lecturer at various South African institutions including the University of Pretoria, Wits Technicon, Pretoria Technicon and Open Window Academy to name a few, teaching printmaking and drawing.

Using etching, charcoal, lino, lithography and embossing to create satirical commentary on contemporary life, she prefers to use figures as signifiers, especially her own self-portrait. With her complex narratives, she explores not only South African issues but also the global crisis of war, corruption and violence in all aspects of life, both public and private.

Disasters of Peace - Blind Justice — Disasters of Peace – Blind Justice

Disasters of Peace - Glass Houses and Fence Sitters — Disasters of Peace – Glass Houses and Fence Sitters

Disasters of Peace - Made to Measure — Disasters of Peace – Made to Measure

Disasters of Peace - All for the right price, Diane Victor — Disasters of Peace – All for the right price, Diane Victor

Above images are part of a series called “Disasters of Peace” done in 2001 by Diane Victor with strong social comments.

Image: Diane Victor, “Straightdress”, 2002, Etching and Embossing (Flicr share). The image of a straight dress refers back to Victorian times and women’s place in society – not only their expected role but also their confinement and inability to defend themselves against domestic abuse. Even though women no longer wear straight dresses domestic abuse have not ceased to exist.

Image: Diane Victor, “The Undertaker”, 2014/15, one colour lithography. Here she explores her personal battle with genetic kidney disorder. The crocodile signifies the decease pulling her down – drowning her like a crocodile its prey.

Image: Diane Victor, “A Hyena Skin of Doctors”, 2014/15, Two color lithography.

Employing the Book Advantage, Diane Victor

Image: Diane Victor, “Employing the Book Advantage” 2014/15, Two-colour lithography. Book Advantage refers to lawyers and recent trails.

Image: Diane Victor, “The Usher (Self-portrait with goat)”, 2014/15, Single colour lithography. In typical Victor style, she questions our relationship with animals, death and sacrifice.

These images are but a small light on Diane Victor’s vast spectrum of work, but I trust that you will go explore her repertoire for yourself. She is really an inspired artist that does not treat softly but shocks her viewers into self-questioning and action. Her action to defend the powerless is to draw and make society take note of the corruption and violence – so easily forgotten when you are not the victim. Let’s take up her call to action – let us start drawing!

The glittering beacons of Light in the Dark Ages.

The Art of Byzantine.

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Byzantine Art can be divided into three distinct periods: Early Byzantine started around 300 to 750 AD, the Middle Byzantine period around 850 to 1204; and the Late Byzantine period lasted from 1261 to 1453. Most of the art produced during this time was related to the Christian Church. The Church commissioned most of the artworks, thereby dictating the norm for what was acceptable or taboo. From the very started of Early Christian Art, the question would remain whether an image was acceptable or not and at what point do an image become an idol? The artists of the times solution, that was deemed acceptable by the Church, was to focus less on the physical realm and more on the spiritual realm. Artist started to abandon Classical conventions like shading, perspective, illusions of any kind related to the natural world and any individual characteristics in their illustrations of the Biblical figures. Still not fully satisfied with the artist solutions, this question would eventual lead to the Iconoclast at the end of the Early Byzantine period.
During the Iconoclast, some scholars like Augustine, argued that all illustrations was lies and therefor was intolerable since it promoted the use of lies in the Church that was supposed to preach Truth. By 800 AD, the Iconoclast ended, when the scholars of the Church decided that images may be used to educate the illiterate mass, but the style and appearance was strictly prescribed to become almost abstract with no natural illusion of space and rather two-dimensional depictions of people, animals and objects that just barely resemble the physical objects. With these restrictions, the Church no longer had to worry about idolatry.

The Early Byzantine period started in 330 AD, when the first Christian ruler, Constantine, took over Rome. He moved the main city from Rome to the “new Rome” that was to become known as Constantinople (today Istanbul, Turkey) – an important trade city during ancient times with its own harbour. During his reign, the Christian religion becomes the official religion in Constantinople. This facilitated the dissemination of the new religion to the distant corners of the Empire, as far as Egypt. During this period, numerous Churches were built, including the Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey) and the Basilica of San Vitale (Ravenna, Italy). Many of these Churches also had monasteries were literate monks spend much of their time copying manuscripts that is known as Illuminati. An important further development by the monks was the Codex – bounded manuscripts – that replaced the ancient scrolls.
Most of the church buildings include a dome and glittering mosaics that narrate the Bible to the illiterate masses. The use of gold inside the church buildings along with candelabra and the few window openings manipulated the natural light to brighten the dark building – creating a mood that subdue people into a spiritual realm and ensuring that people understand that God is the Light in the dark world.

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Middle Byzantine period follows the Iconoclast, with renewed enthusiasm to building churches that are smaller in scale than the Hagia Sophia is but also includes domes and richly decorated interiors. Frescoes and mosaics are used to decorate the ceilings and domes of the churches. It is the illustrations inside the curves that create the most drama within the narrative. This use of the physical space and juxtaposing images to work together demonstrate a thorough knowledge, understanding and excellent planning of arranging images to create the narrative.
The floor plans of these churches are increasingly based on a centralised cross-inside-a-square. A plan that was to become synonymous with the Byzantine Art. Later the exterior of these churches are also adorned, a beautiful example of this is, Hosios Loukas Monastery, Greece.

During the Middle Byzantine period, the Christian religion spreads to the Slavic nations. Russia accepts the Orthodox Christianity during the 10th century leading to new inspiration in the art – beautiful iconography paintings of saints.
The supreme authority of the Pope from the Latin Church of Western Europe would eventually lead to the crumbling of the Byzantine Empire. The small remnant of the Byzantine Empire in Nicaea was all that remained of the once magnificent and strong kingdom.

Fresco from Hosios Loukas monastery in Boeotia, Greece.

(Images from Wikipedia)

The Late Byzantine period can be found in two separate Realms: one includes Constantinople with provinces in the north and central parts of Greece and south to Peloponnesus; and the other at Trebizond in the east. These Realms finally ended in the mid-15th century when the Turks invaded them, Trebizond was the last to fall in 1460.
During the final years of the Byzantine Empire, even though they were desperately holding on defending on all sides and with extremely limited funds their art flourished. New buildings were erected, old ones restored and newly decorated with monumental scale narratives, iconography and church adornments. One of these buildings that was restore and enlarged was the Hagia Sophia. Other example is the Choro Cloister in Constantinople, here they used more economical mediums, replaced expensive metals with cheaper ones and used glass or coloured stones instead of precious minerals.
Even after the fall of the Byzantine Empire, their standards for beauty would persistently influence the Latin Western Empire’s ideal of art. The new masters of Constantinople, Islam, also continued to inspire the West.

Miniature 38 from the Constantine Manasses Chronicle, 14 century: Construction of Hagia Sophia during the reign of emperor Justinian.

Ceiling decorations in Hagia Sofia: Original Christian fresco of the church are still visible through the Muslim (aniconic) decoration.

Hagia Sophia,remains of the older basilica, built under emperor Theodosius II; Istanbul, Turkey

Images of the remains of the basilica that was constructed during the reign of emperor Theodosius II and stood from 415 C.E. – 532 C.E. Remains are exhibited next to the current Hagia Sophia.

Images of the remains of the basilica that was constructed during the reign of emperor Theodosius II and stood from 415 AD. – 532 AD. Remains are exhibited next to the current Hagia Sophia.

mages of the remains of the Byzantine basilica that was constructed during the reign of emperor Theodosius II and stood from 415 C.E. – 532 C.E

The “Marble Door” inside the Hagia Sophia. It was used by the participants in synods, they entered and left the meeting chamber through this door.

Hagia Sophia ; inside view : western upper gallery; Istanbul, Turkey

The Virgin and Child (Theotokos) mosaic, in the apse of Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)

The Empress Zoe mosaics (11th-century) in Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey) Christ Pantocrator is seated in the middle. On his right side stands emperor Constantine IX Monomachos; on his left side, empress Zoe.

The Comnenus mosaics (12th-century) in Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey) The Virgin Mary is standing in the middle, holding the Child Christ on her lap. On her right side stands emperor John II Comnenus ; on her left side, empress Irene.

Imperial Gate mosaics in the former basilica Hagia Sophia of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) The emperor Leo VI the Wise is bowing down before Christ Pantocrator. In medallions: on the left of Christ, the Archangel Gabriel; on his right, Mary.

Southwestern entrance mosaic of the former basilica Hagia Sophia of Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey) The Virgin Mary is standing in the middle, holding the Child Christ on her lap. On her right side stands emperor Justinian I, offering a model of the Hagia Sophia. On her left, emperor Constantine I, presenting a model of the city

Portrait of Saint John Chrysostom of Antioch (Hagios Ioannis Chrysostomos). An early Byzantine mosaic from the Cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (modern Istanbul). The mosaic is approximately 1,000 years old.

Jesus Christ – detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

The mihrab located in the apse where the altar used to stand, pointing towards Mecca

(Images from Wikipedia)

And so the lights dim… until next time keep making art to light the way!

A view Byzantine inspired class warm-ups: