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The Mona Lisa is a half length oil-painted portrait by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It has been described as the best known, most visited, most written about, most sung about and most parodied work of art in the world. The masterpiece has been on display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797. Mona Lisa is the only painting to have her own mailbox at the Louvre because of all the letters that are addressed to her. This painting is painted as oil on wood. The original painting size is 77 x 53 cm (30 x 20 7/8 in) and is owned by the Government of France. In France, it is actually illegal to buy or sell the Mona Lisa. It is the most famous painting in the world, and yet, when viewers manage to see the artwork up close, they are likely to be baffled by the small subdued portrait of an ordinary woman.

Mona Lisa, also known as La Gioconda, is the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. This painting is painted as oil on wood. The original painting size is 77 x 53 cm (30 x 20 7/8 in) and is owned by the Government of France and is on the wall in the Louvre in Paris, France.

This figure of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a visionary, mountainous landscape, is a remarkable instance of Leonardo's sfumato technique of soft, heavily shaded modeling. The Mona Lisa's enigmatic expression, which seems both alluring and aloof, has given the portrait universal fame.

The Mona Lisa's famous smile represents the sitter in the same way that the juniper branches represent Ginevra Benci and the ermine represents Cecilia Gallerani in their portraits, in Washington and Krakow respectively. It is a visual representation of the idea of happiness suggested by the word "gioconda" in Italian. Leonardo made this notion of happiness the central motif of the portrait: it is this notion that makes the work such an ideal. The nature of the landscape also plays a role. The middle distance, on the same level as the sitter's chest, is in warm colors. Men live in this space: there are a winding road and a bridge. This space represents the transition between the space of the sitter and the far distance, where the landscape becomes a wild and uninhabited space of rocks and water which stretches to the horizon, which Leonardo has cleverly drawn at the level of the sitter's eyes.

The painting was among the first portraits to depict the sitter before an imaginary landscape and Leonardo was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective. The enigmatic woman is portrayed seated in what appears to be an open loggia with dark pillar bases on either side. Behind her, a vast landscape recedes to icy mountains. Winding paths and a distant bridge give only the slightest indications of human presence. The sensuous curves of the woman's hair and clothing, created through sfumato, are echoed in the undulating imaginary valleys and rivers behind her. The blurred outlines, graceful figure, dramatic contrasts of light and dark, and overall feeling of calm are characteristic of da Vinci's style. Due to the expressive synthesis that da Vinci achieved between sitter and landscape, it is arguable whether Mona Lisa should be considered as a traditional portrait, for it represents an ideal rather than a real woman. The sense of overall harmony achieved in the painting especially apparent in the sitter's faint smile reflects the idea of a link connecting humanity and nature.

In the Renaissance which brought together all human activities, art meant science, art meant truth to life: Leonardo da Vinci was a great figure because he embodied the epic endeavor of Italian art to conquer universal values: he who combined within himself the fluctuating sensitivity of the artist and the deep wisdom of the scientist, he, the poet and the master.

Credit : Leonardo da vinci

Picture Credit : Google 

Rani-ki-Vav is an underground stepwell located in Patan, Gujarat. Situated on the banks of the river Saraswati, this spectacular stepwell was built in the 11th century AD by Queen Udayamati of the Solanki dynasty in memory of her husband King Bhimdev 1.

A stepwell is a multi-tiered well with water that can be reached by descending a series of steps. Rani-ki-Vav has seven storeys of stairs and hundreds of intricately carved sculptures of Vishnu and other deities adoming its walls. It is over 65m long from the entrance to the well, 20m wide and 27m deep. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2014. Did you know the site, before being unearthed by the Archaeological Survey of India in the 1980s, remained covered in mud and slush because of it being flooded by the river Saraswati for around 800 years?

Step wells of India have always mesmerized tourists from far and wide, for their unique architecture and carvings. Not only does Rani ki vav in Gujarat belong to this class of picturesque landmarks of India, it also has a special historical beginning to it. Read more to explore and quench your thirst about the ancient architecture of India. If you are travelling here for the first time, you might get confused as you won’t see a tall museum or the remains of a ruin because it is built inside an opening in the ground, which makes it special. The east facing well constructed in seven storeys is approximately 64m long, 20m wide & 27m deep. As you go down, you will see over 800 sculptures in the seven galleries, majority of which are devoted to lord Vishnu. It is amongst the finest step wells in India, and one of the most famous legacies of the ancient capital city. Various pillars and walls which are beautifully sculpted in Maru-Gurjara architectural style are a mesmerizing sight. The lowermost level of the well is blocked by stones and silt now but earlier it was used as an escape route to the neighbouring villages. It is one of the largest and the most sumptuous structures of its type. Rani-Ki-Vav is now considered to be the queen among the step wells of India. It is said that the size of the Rani Ki Vav is so huge that the tourists appear as ants climbing an anthill.

Picture Credit : Google 

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of sealing cracks in broken pieces of pottery using gold powder and lacquer. A direct translation of the word means 'golden joinery'. By emphasising the cracks, the need to mend them and renew an object, the 400-year-old technique reflects the larger Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi that tells you to look for beauty in imperfections.

The art may date back to the late 15th century,  when Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa returned a broken Chinese tea bowl to China to have it repaired. The bowl was given back to him held together with unattractive metal staples. At the time, staples were the main method used to fix broken, yet valuable, vessels. Tiny holes were drilled on either side of the broken pieces and then metal staples were bent and used to hold them in place.

The result was practical, but not very attractive. Yoshimasa's experience may have triggered a quest by Japanese craftsmen to find a new type of repair that could make damaged items look new — or even better.

The craft became so beautiful and so revered that collectors developed an appetite for the mended pieces. Some people were accused of purposely breaking prized items just so they could be repaired with the golden art. Some say that an item repaired by kintsugi looks more beautiful than when it was whole. When a ceramic vessel undergoes this mending transformation, its once-smooth surface becomes covered with rivers of colored zigzags and patterns. Because the repairs are done with meticulous skill (and with precious metal), the mended fractures look immaculate and artistic.

Credit : The Hugger 

Picture Credit : Google 

The biggest knitted objects in the world are the 62 self-fashioned Uros Islands in Peru's Lake Titicaca (the world's highest navigable lake at 12,500 feet above sea level).  The most remarkable thing about Lake Titicaca is its floating Islands and the people who live there. Each island is no more than 90 feet wide and is strong enough to hold several hundred people, buildings and boats (balsas). The Uru people collect totora reeds, which grow in the lake, and weave their dense roots together to form sturdy layers called 'khili' (about one to two metres thick). These are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake. The reeds at the bottom of the islands rot away fairly quickly, so new reeds are added to the top constantly, about every three months. If well maintained, an island can last for 30 years.

The houses and boats of the Uro people are built from the same reeds using a similar technique to that of the islands. They also make handcrafted items that they sell to visitors to the floating islands. About every six months they have to lift up and move their houses and buildings so that they can add another layer to the reeds of the floating island. When the Totora is pulled for construction, part of the root is eaten because it’s a rich source of iodine. It is also used for pain relief, tea and to cure a hangover. Fishing and hunting for birds is one of the main ways of getting food on the islands. The Uros also eat the guinea pigs and ducks that they keep on the islands. Waterbirds are also kept on the island but for helping them fish or for their eggs. On the islands, there is a traditional school and a Christian school that are the main sources of education on the islands. As the kids get older and start looking for university they will likely leave the lake and head to the mainland to study in Puno.

The Uro’s way of living is one to marvel at but is also extremely difficult and steadily disappearing. Many still live in the traditional way, hauling reeds into their boats, reconstructing the islands, heading off onto the lake to fish, but many of the young people are leaving and start a different life on the mainland. Daily life here depends mostly around the reeds that grow in the lake, they provide food, housing and transportation.  It is a life of hard work and long days in a harsh climate.

In recent years, tourism has become an important part of the Uro economy. People have opened their homes and welcomed visitors from all over the world. Their unique lifestyle and breathtaking Lake Titicaca make the floating islands a must when passing Puno.

Picture Credit : Google 

Veena Vadini School in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, is India's only 'ambidextrous' school whose 300 students write using both hands together at the same time. These students have a high speed of writing with both hands and can finish a three-hour long exam in one or one and half hours! When a new student joins the school, he/she holds the pen with one hand, and is taught to use the other hand after a month. After that, they are taught to use both hands together. B. P. Sharma, founder and principal of the school, was inspired to start the school after reading about the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, who was ambidextrous.

 Only 1 in 100 people can write with both hands but at the Veena Vadini School in Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, all 300 students are ambidextrous.
Their training starts from class 1 and by class 3, they become comfortable enough to write with both hands.
The students are taught 6 different languages including Roman and Arabic and students of class 8 can easily write 2 different scripts at the same time. BP Sharma, the founder, states that Dr. Rajendra Prasad, India’s first president, who was Ambidextrous, was the inspiration behind the initiative. He also claims that his students take at only 1.5 hours to complete a 3 hour exam.

Credit : Our Time 

Picture Credit : Google 

While most digital artists opt to use Photoshop or other similar digital imaging software, 77-year-old Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi chooses to work with Microsoft Excel to produce his beautiful works of art. His “paintings” are remarkably intricate works that mimic traditional Japanese paintings that offer scenic views of natural landscapes rich with cultural motifs.

The artist says, “I never used Excel at work but I saw other people making pretty graphs and thought, ‘I could probably draw with that.'” He adds, “Graphics software is expensive but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers… And it has more functions and is easier to use than [Microsoft] Paint.”

Horiuchi even dabbled with Microsoft Word, but found it to be too restrictive in its paper sizing. There is far more freedom for the artist to expand on his pieces in Excel. Since his discovery of the program's artistic functions and his ability to utilize the software's capabilities, Horiuchi has gone on to win competitions with his work, most notably taking first prize at the Excel Autoshape Art Contest in 2006.

Having gained worldwide praise over the last few years, Horiuchi has now caught the attention of Great Big Story. The artist invited GBS into his home, offering a behind-the-scenes look at his process. It's hard to believe that these lifelike illustrations were made on Excel spreadsheets, which are typically used to crunch numbers.

Credit : My modern met

Picture Credit : Google 

Sayed Haider was an Indian painter who lived and worked in France from 1950 until his death, while maintaining strong ties with India. Sayed Haider Raza was born in 1922 in the indian state of Madhya Pradesh. He started his career in the 1940s with expressionistic watercolours of his surroundings. In 1950, his life took an unexpected turn, when he won a French Government Scholarship and got the chance to study at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Here, he was exposed to different forms, coloration and composition techniques of the Post-Impressionists and discovered oil painting.

Thereafter, he continued to create landscapes inspired by the works of renowned artists like Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh, and began to use colour as a tool of construction, switching from gouache and watercolour to more tactile oil-based pigments.

After his studies, he travelled across Europe, and continued to live and exhibit his work in Paris. He was later awarded the Prix de la critique in Paris in 1956, becoming the first non-French artist to receive the honour.

As one of the foremost pioneers of Indian modern art, his paintings blended Parisian modernism with the colours of Indian Rajput art. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century painters.

Inspiration and Subject Matter

The most tenacious memory of Raza's childhood was the fear and fascination of Indian forests. He lived near the source of the Narmada river in the centre of the dense forests of Madhya Pradesh. The nights in the forests were hallucinating; sometimes the only humanising influence was the dancing of the Gond tribes. Only the daybreak brought back a sentiment of security and wellbeing. On market day, under the radiant sun, the village was a fairyland of colours. Till his last days, he found these aspects of his life dominate his paintings thematically.

Rooted in his childhood memories over time his landscapes became increasingly abstract.

Progressive Art Movement

He was a co-founder of the Progressive Artists Group (PAG) which was established in 1947, in Bombay. It was a collective of some of the most awe-inspiring Indian artists who diverted from and challenged the conventional artistic sensibilities of the time to espouse a global mindset.

An attempt to break away from the revivalist nationalism endorsed by the Bengal School of Art, the PAG emerged out of the disdain and shock of the brutality that accompanied the partition of India. Its impetus was the creation of an Indian form of modernism that combined pluralism of Indian art history with modern European styles such as post-impressionism. expressionism and cubism.

Apart from Raza the founding members of PAG included F.N. Souza, M.F. Husain, K.H. Ara, S.K. Bakre, and H.A. Gade. Author Mulk Raj Anand praised them as the 'heralds of a new dawn in the world of Indian art.

Innovative Ideation

Raza explored the themes of Prakriti (nature), Kundalini (primal energy), Tribhuj (triangle) and Bindu (circle/dot) through his work.

His most celebrated series was Bindu. Conceptually derived from the Sanskrit word "Shunya", which has a spiritual connotation of being in a supreme state of awareness where everything comes to nothingness.

To him Bindu was the centre of all creation, a source of energy and life.

His best-known works are densely geometric, reminiscent of abstract pioneers like Wassily Kandinsky, inviting viewers into complex spatial and emotional interactions with his canvases.

In Passion: Life and Art of Raza, an autobiographical work he co-authored with Ashok Vajpeyi, the artist elucidates how the idea of Bindu which many would agree is the leit motif in his art was introduced to him by his school headmaster.

In the book he recalls, how worried about the wandering nature of his student, Nand Lal Jharia, the headmaster, summoned him and asked him to forget about everything and just concentrate on the dot he made on the board.

Raza returned to India in 2010 after living in France for six decades. France had an important influence on his painting style, but the object of his art remained closely related to India.

The archetypical Indian spirituality and tradition that Raza brought to his canvas by contrasting different colours spoke of the artist's sincere devotion towards his people and culture. His art was his voice, his vision and his legacy.

Picture Credit : Google