Conference focuses on Christianity and art May 2, 2008
Historically, many of us would associate religious art with the Middle Ages and the Age of Enlightenment. Recently, however, a new style of religious art is becoming more popular in our 21st century culture ... The first speaker was Sandra Bowden, a painter who has had much of her artwork displayed in numerous museums such as the Vatican Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City and the Haifa Museum. (Middlebury College -- The Campus, VT)
MOA Curators Acquire New Art Apr 11, 2008
Curators oversee American art, religious art, photography, contemporary art and Southwestern art. Part of their responsibilities, alongside putting together exhibitions, is looking for a variety of paintings that will fit into each collection. (The Daily Universe, UT)
Don’t censor religious art Apr 10, 2008
Don t censor religious art : La Crosse Tribune. Story. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Web watcher: Banning religion from art? Bad idea Apr 6, 2008
While the teacher cannot require students to create religious art, at the same time, she cannot allow some who are. creating satanic religious art and disallow others for creating Christian religious art. (La Crosse Tribune, WI)
Light from heaven: Stained glass vivid medium for telling Christianity's story Mar 23, 2008
University of Montana art professor Rafael Chacon said architects continue to debate the merits of religious art being worked into windows rather than wall paintings. Is Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling a better creation than Notre Dame's rose window. (Missoulian, MT)
Teaching vs. Preaching Mar 9, 2008
In class recently, the students made mandalas, a type of religious art practiced by some Eastern religions. Rather than traditional materials such as sand, the students used bird seed and peanut butter spread on cardboard. (Logan Herald Journal, UT)
Del Kathryn Barton wins Archibald Mar 7, 2008
It is not Barton's first Archibald entry; she participated last year, and has also had works exhibited in the Helen Lempiere Travelling Art Scholarship, the Blake Prize for Religious Art and the Sulman Prize. Winner of this year's Sulman Prize was Rodney Pople for his work Stage Fright. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Tarun Vijay: The Third Eye Mar 6, 2008
It is indeed as Capra concluded: "Hundreds of years ago, Indian artists created visual images of dancing Shiva in a beautiful series of bronzes. In our time, physicists have used the most advanced technology to portray the patterns of the cosmic dance. The metaphor of the cosmic dance thus unifies ancient mythology, religious art and modern physics.". Foreigners adore the significance of our Shiva, but what about Indians and the duty that this knowledge bestows upon us. (India Times, India)
Postal Service Previews 2008 Stamps Dec 28, 2007
It presents one of the most common figural groups in religious art. Botticelli's beautifully rendered figures capture the tender relationship between mother and child and at the same time suggest Mary's foreknowledge of Christ's fate. (PR Newswire)
Christmas, naturally Dec 15, 2007
Thirty years ago, he began to collect religious art, which now covers nearly every vertical and horizontal surface. He has nearly 400 Madonnas, 85 icons and dozens of religious paintings and prints, ranging in style from Renaissance to Surrealism (Dali). (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA)
Antiquities: The Hottest Investment Dec 13, 2007
The 5,000 year-old piece of Mesopotamian religious art presumably of Inanna, goddess of sex and war was sold at auction by Sotheby's New York last week for a record-shattering $57. 2 million. (Time.com)
Statues depict bedrock beliefs Dec 8, 2007
Because of the perennial church-state disagreements about religious signs/symbols in the public square, many commentators argue that the church should sponsor its own religious art for public viewing, Sadie recently wrote parishioners. I agree. (Charleston Gazette, WV -- News)
Brick-Gothic in Lbeck, Germany Nov 12, 2007
It houses religious art from the Middle Ages to the present with the works from the 15th and 16th centuries particularly impressive. Close to the Rathaus and Holstentor is the Petrikirche. (Suite101.com)
MRA accepts major gift from entertainment impresario Bob Romeo Nov 7, 2007
Bob Romeo, Crescent, has made a major donation to the Museum of Religious Arts near Logan ... The Museum of Religious Arts will use the donation to pay off existing loans ... "I wanted to do this in their honor." The Museum of Religious Art was overjoyed when they were informed of Romeo's plan to make a donation. (Missouri Valley Times News, IA)
Britney channels idol with religious art Oct 31, 2007
Britney channels Madonna with religious art - Access Hollywood - MSNBC.com ... Britney channels Madonna with religious art. (MSNBC -- News)
Rio de Janeiro Oct 26, 2007
Brazil's Catholic churches have long been repositories of some of the world's finest religious art ... Although no complete figures are available, police and cultural officials report a large increase in recent years in the pilfering of Brazil's religious artifacts and objects d'art ... "It is getting worse as the market heats up and demands more pieces. There is a market for religious art and it has been growing since the 1940s. Now it is the hot trend.". (Time.com)
Goodnight Siena Oct 24, 2007
It bears about the same relationship as such a pastiche would to the great medieval religious art of Duccio: that is to say, none of any interest. At least the religious art expresses something and, at its best, in Matteo di Giovanni's Ascanio Altarpiece - reassembled here from scattered pieces - it is lovely, although to call this "one of the great visionary works of the Quattrocento" is another of the catalogue's massive inflations of a weak currency. (Guardian Unlimited)
Pohsarang: The Lourdes of East Java Sep 7, 2007
" These are 15 sets of gold-colored statues on a long walk through the landscaped gardens showing the traditional story of Jesus' progress from condemnation through crucifixion to ascension. Curiously it's the final empty cave with no statues that has the most emotional impact, not the figures in frozen poses at the other 14 locations. Each figure cost Rp 5 million (US $560) and the artists were all Muslim, according to Jacobus. Five of his 16 staff are Muslims and Muslims run many of the food... (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
Australian anger at religious art Sep 1, 2007
The two pieces have gone on display at the National Art School in Sydney after being entered for the prestigious Blake Prize for Religious Art. Australian Prime Minister John Howard called them "gratuitously offensive". (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Osama bin Christ insulting to Jesus and Mary Aug 31, 2007
THE Blake Prize for religious art has "probably outlived its usefulness", the Catholic Archbishop Cardinal George Pell said. Controversy shrouded the prize this week when Osama bin Laden and Jesus Christ occupied flip sides of a holographic portrait chosen to hang in the Blake exhibition at the National Art School in Darlinghurst. (NEWS.com.au)
Pell pans tedious insult in art prize Aug 31, 2007
CARDINAL George Pell has questioned the value of the prestigious Blake Prize for Religious Art after seeing pictures oftwo apparently blasphemous entries. The Fourth Secret of Fatima by Luke Sullivan shows Jesus Christ's mother, Mary, wearing a burka. (The Australian)
Virgin Mary in burqa 'not offensive' Aug 30, 2007
The artworks were entries into the Blake Prize for religious art. But Australian Federation of Islamic Councils president Ikebal Patel said the statue was "not at all offensive", because both the Virgin Mary and Jesus were revered figures in Islam. (Sydney Morning Herald)
Artist defends 'Osama bin Christ' against Howard Aug 30, 2007
Bracks' work and a statue of the Virgin Mary wearing an Islamic burqa by Sydney artist Luke Sullivan have been entered into Australia's top religious art competition, the Blake Prize. Both Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd have criticised their inclusion. (NEWS.com.au)
The biblical worldof Luis Bunuel Aug 28, 2007
That is why outsiders often produce the most profoundly religious art - Faust by the "great heathen" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe comes to mind. On the surface, The Milky Way is surreal. (Asia Times Online)
Dont call them idols Aug 18, 2007
As far back as 600 A.D., after the Bishop of Marseilles destroyed all the religious images in his churches, Pope Gregory the Great wrote the bishop a letter giving the papal OK to religious art. It is one thing to worship a painting, and quite another to learn from a scene represented in a painting what ought to be worshipped, Gregory wrote. (Charleston Gazette, WV -- News)
Once wary of pop culture and high art, evangelicals seek greater role as 'creators of culture' Jul 28, 2007
"That doesn't necessarily mean overtly religious art, but rather art informed by faith. Fujimura, for example, shares more with abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock than with Thomas Kinkade, a self-described devout Christian whose brushwork of idyllic landscapes, crosses and churches are big sellers.As a result, Fujimura - whose work has been displayed at museums in Tokyo and Washington, D.C. - gets questions from his fellow believers dubious about abstract and modern art."The Bible is full of... (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)
CAIR Director Condemns Church Vandalism As A Hate Crime Jun 27, 2007
" Leigh supported a failed proposal two years ago to add the Muslim holiday Eid Al-Fitr to the Hillsborough County school district calendar. Leigh also supports the release of former University of South Florida Professor Sami Al-Arian, who is awaiting deportation and remains imprisoned on federal contempt charges for refusing to testify about Palestinian charities. Leigh, who also is president of the Florida Council of Churches, said his church tries to help any group it views as persecuted.... (Tampa Bay Online, FL -- News)
Notes of loss in passing of New Skete founder Jun 15, 2007
The two temples on the grounds are replete with intricate wood carvings and iconography, religious art with gold-leafed halos and auras that seem to glow even in the dark. Skete was the name of an Egyptian monastery formed in the 4th century that proved a successful experiment in simplicity and spiritual dedication and coexisted peacefully with the other religions of that region. (Albany Times Union)
* Damien Hirst beats Jeff Koons, hands down Jun 14, 2007
Though what they add to the hardly deficient tradition of religious art isnt clear and not in any degree spiritual. Life and death, in Hirsts art, happen to the body, not the soul. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
Best Museums in Toulouse, France May 25, 2007
Another Toulouse museum with a bizarrely random selection of artefacts, this 18th century hotel has been transformed into an exhibition space, and it covers everything from religious art and rare clocks to glasswork and medieval weaponry. Other highlights of Toulouse include its aerospace industry the Clement Ader and JJ Lagardere Airbus factories on the outskirts of town host tours of the plants and the pedestrianised Place du Capitole, which houses one of France s most important theatres. (Suite101.com)
Quito's Plaza de San Francisco May 20, 2007
" To the right of the monastery's main entrance, a door opens onto the Museo Franciscano, which houses one of the city's many collections of religious art. On a tour of the museum, one begins the visual journey into the haunting world of the Escuela Quitea (Quito School of Art), a renowned body of Catholic religious art produced by indigenous sculptors and painters during the 17th and 18th centuries. The Escuela Quitea is best known for its astounding realism, its often horrifying morbidity... (San Francisco Chronicle -- Travel)
One woman's path to Zion May 17, 2007
Still, cardboard, hand-held fans with Scripture readings and religious art are available in boxes at the entrances a throwback to tradition worth preserving even in the era of air conditioning. From the pulpit of the new church, the pastor, the Rev. Harris T. Travis, looks out at the faces of his congregation, a dwindling few of whom can trace their ancestry back to those founding slaves. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Museum of Religious Arts founder passes away May 8, 2007
Paul and Helen Lovell collectected religious art and staturary. Paul W. Lovell, 87, Logan, longtime Harrison County farmer, businessman and entrepreneur, as well as founder of the Museum of Religious Arts near Logan, died Apr ... Lovell and his wife, Helen, had the vision to found the Museum of Religious Arts following an experience they had in Minnesota in which a church they had attended for years during summer visits, had remodeled and all of the religious art and statuary they had so admired... (Missouri Valley Times News, IA)
Eastern divinities are realigning the planets Apr 29, 2007
No sooner had it finished cataloguing the estate of one-time Double Bay dentist Dr Paul Otto Taubert earlier this year, including some 90 items of Chinese, Tibetan and Indian religious art, than another monastery-full came in the door including more than 30 bronzes and carvings. Catalogued separately to the Taubert collection, this cast of worthies includes items deaccessioned from the New England Regional Art Museum and a few provenanced to Sydney dealer Cito Cessna, who as well as being an... (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Awash with color: Escondido artist's open house offers a brush with nature Apr 13, 2007
"They took us through the Impressionist paintings on the way to the religious art," she said. "And there was a Mary Cassatt painting of a little girl seated in a chair, with her feet that don't reach the ground ("Little Girl in a Big Blue Armchair"). I just loved that picture. And I love the little dog (in it).". (North County Times)
Entr'acte: Artistic transcendence, and its counterpart Apr 13, 2007
Such musings may look out of place in an age of creative industries, celebrity worship and crass entertainment, yet they seemed pertinent over Easter, the moment in the Christian calendar that has inspired the most sublime religious art over the centuries. They were also prompted by an unusual production of Bach's "St. John Passion" at the Th. (International Herald Tribune -- Arts)
Passage to India Apr 11, 2007
"A remarkable example is an early religious art work that shows the early importance of yoga and meditation to the country, Ball said. One seal is emblazoned with the image of a figure in full lotus position, his finger tips pressed together in each hand. Ball said it's thought to be a precursor to Shiva, a chief Hindu god.Because Buddhism grew out of Hinduism, art from the two religions exchange deities and imagery."Art overall is a societal mirror and that's so very clear in India," Ball said.... (Carroll County Times)
Modernism's odd man out Apr 9, 2007
An intensely spiritual man, he devoted himself to revitalizing and extending the tradition of religious art, a mission that placed him at odds with the unfolding story of modernism. A religious man in an increasingly secular age, he was modernism's odd man out. (Globe and Mail)
Caravaggios in one's attic Mar 29, 2007
If the Boy is sensual, The Calling is compelling as only Caravaggio's religious art can be. I like the fact that, ultimately, their authorship can never be resolved: it's perverse and shadowy, like him. (Guardian Unlimited)
Festivals in Cusco, Peru Mar 21, 2007
However, Cusco is in itself a terrific city to visit, with many sights to see, fun bars and restaurants, and collections of Inca and Spanish religious art in museums and churches. There are many festivals held right Cusco that are fun to watch. (Suite101.com)
* American man promotes Ilan County's religious art Mar 17, 2007
American man promotes Ilan County's religious art ... US-born Joe Papenfuff's love of temples and religious art was instilled in him from a young age ... Now living with his wife in Ilan, Papenfuff is working to promote Ilan County as a tourist destination for its abundance of temples and religious art. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Pope blesses some of that old-time religion Mar 14, 2007
All future priests should study religious art, along with Latin texts. Priests should be attentive to their gestures, movement and even the colour of their vestments. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Australia)
PANAMA PANORAMA Mar 6, 2007
The elegant National Theater is here, as are several handsome churches (including the Iglesia San Jos; with its eye-popping gold altar) and great museums covering religious art and the history of the country and canal. And you can stroll on the waterfront promenade and buy a colorful cloth mola from Kuna Indians straight from the pages of National Geographic. (New York Post -- Entertainment)
Art Designer Builds Second Career with Sacred Stained Glass Feb 25, 2007
- Corky Normart is a king of religious art ... Sixteen San Joaquin Valley churches and chapels, including some at hospitals and retirement homes, display Normart's religious art, making him a local artist with a big impact on the faith community ... After a long career as an art designer in advertising, Normart, 77, has developed a second career with his religious art. (The Ledger)
This week we want to know all about ... Feb 18, 2007
Religious art is back in fashion. At least 1,000 people have flocked to a steel and bronze sculpture of Jesus amid rumours that 'sparks' have been seen shooting from its eyes. (Guardian Unlimited -- UK)
Bohemia in the Big D Feb 18, 2007
One exit north, on the manicured, Georgian-style Southern Methodist University campus, I found the world's largest collection of Spanish art outside Spain at the Meadows Museum (5900 Bishop Blvd., 214 768-2516; ): 15th and 16th century religious art, portraiture and works by Goya, Picasso and Mir. Eats: Knox-Henderson is full of local spots that won't break the bank or make you feel like you're slumming it. (Los Angeles Times)
Full Story... Feb 17, 2007
Feb. 17, 2007 - Corky Normart is a king of religious art ... Sixteen San Joaquin Valley churches and chapels, including some at hospitals and retirement homes, display Normart's religious art, making him a local artist with a big impact on the faith community ... After a long career as an art designer in advertising, Normart, 77, has developed a second career with his religious art. (Appeal Democrat, CA)
Old religious works have a redeeming value, owner says Feb 17, 2007
Tom Smart, Deseret Morning NewsAnthony's Antiques, located on the northeast corner of 200 South and 400 East, contains religious art, including sculptures, paintings and stained glass windows ... While most of the religious art focuses on Christianity a Russian Orthodox calendar featuring 985 individual saints, an Eastern Orthodox icon of Madonna along with large paintings and hand-carved cabinetwork featuring Bible scenes he does have at least one piece of interest to Muslim collectors, he... (Deseret News)
Windows of the world Feb 11, 2007
Corky Normart is king of religious art in the central San Joaquin Valley ... Sixteen Valley churches and chapels, including some at hospitals and retirement homes, display Normart's religious art, making him a local artist with a big impact on the faith community ... "He's been a local icon for artists, and not just his stained glass, but for his creativity."After a long career as an art designer in advertising, Normart, 77, has developed a second career with his religious art. (Fresno Bee -- Lifestyle)
London exhibition Jan 31, 2007
Even religious art was frequently sensual as well as solemn. The case for 18th-century France is that the death of Louis XIV in 1715 set in motion a social revolution marked initially by licentiousness and then by intellectual liberation and philosophical inquiry. (International Herald Tribune)
A closer look at Zoook Jan 4, 2007
Zook says he admires the way 18th century Venetian painter Giovanni Tiepolo rendered the figure in so many interesting ways, and was one of the first painters to put an ethereal feeling back into over-wrought religious art. He is drawn to contemporary painter Richard Schmid who follows the tradition of Spanish master Joaquin Sorolla. (Big Bear Grizzly, CA)
New Orleans resolution Dec 30, 2006
Two highlights are the Church of the Immaculate Conception, where soft light filters through massive stained-glass windows to illuminate spectacular religious art, and Gallier Hall, whose facade echoes a giant Greek temple facing Lafayette Square. The Warehouse District and Magazine Street, once home to giant cotton balers and printing plants, is beginning to reclaim its artists, galleries and antiques auctioneers. (MSNBC -- Travel)
RELIGIOUS ART: MADONNA AND CHILD Dec 24, 2006
Dec. 24, 2006 Copyright. Las Vegas Review-Journal. (Las Vegas Review-Journal -- Life)
Art thieves threaten to erase Mexico's past Nov 24, 2006
In the last few years the looting of colonial-era religious art from churches around Mexico has become so common it barely counts as news. The loss of lesser pieces receives no press attention at all. (Guardian Unlimited -- World)
Goddess: Divine Energy Nov 14, 2006
An outstanding exhibition shows the power and complexity of Hindu and Buddhist religious art. Parvati nursing her son Ganesha. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Artist John Coburn dies Nov 8, 2006
He won the Blake Prize for Religious Art twice in his career. Mr Coburn told the ABC's Arts Today program in 2000 that religion was a part of his art. (ABC News Online, Australia)
Women honoring women Nov 7, 2006
She enjoys religious art and is working on a piece that depicts what she believes Eve looked like. "I feel really lucky that finally at 40 I've figured out what I want to do with my life," Olsen said. (Pensacola News Journal)
Scrolling Through History Nov 5, 2006
Religious art and manuscripts from the world's oldest continuously practicing Christian monastery, St. Catherine's near Mount Sinai in Egypt, will go on view Nov. 14 at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. "Holy Image, Hallowed Ground: Icons From Sinai" will feature 43 religious icons, six manuscripts and four liturgical objects from the monastery, established in the 6th century. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Travel)
Mexican churches Nov 1, 2006
These church robberies are newer, arising as the taste for colonial religious art has grown in the international art market. Every country in the region has experienced thefts, but the scale is larger in Mexico because of the country's wealth of colonial art. (International Herald Tribune -- Travel)
Marvelous diversity - the art of Samuel Bookatz Oct 27, 2006
In 2003, Bookatz donated the Jerusalem series, a 20-piece collection of paintings and drawings, to The Temple-Tifereth Israel's Museum of Religious Art. For the next three weeks, Clevelanders will have the opportunity to see selected works from Bookatz's private collection at Dick Kleinman Fine Art Gallery. (Cleveland Jewish News, OH)
Religious right wields clout Oct 9, 2006
"A USAID panel dismissed Lin's complaint in July. He has filed an appeal.The panel endorsed Shovlain's right to display the crucifix, quoting from a 1997 federal regulation that a federal employee may display religious art as long as it does not create the impression that the government is ``favoring or disfavoring a particular religion.". Fighting back on pledge A centerpiece of the religious right's agenda for USAID is a law passed by Congress and signed by Bush in 2003 that requires any... (Boston Globe)
Flying Doctors reward volunteers with beach time Sep 12, 2006
Inside are a massive altar of carved wood and an impressive sampling of religious art from the 17th century. Saturday morning, we opened the clinic again and saw patients until noon, when it was time to head for Punta San Francisquito. (Scripps Howard News Wire)
'Hermitage Dwellers' is a work of art and heart Sep 8, 2006
After the Revolution of 1917 , icon curator Alexandra risked her life protecting religious art from being destroyed by the Soviets. Olga, the head of museum maintenance, kept watch on the Hermitage's roof during the Nazi bombardment of St. Petersburg, then called Leningrad. (Boston Globe -- Living)
McClain Auctions to raise funds for St. Francis Healthcare Sep 6, 2006
"Collectors of rare Hawaiiana and religious art will be especially pleased with the collection," said foundation president Eugene Tiwanak. "Since the beginning of their healthcare ministry in Hawaii in 1883, Blessed Marianne Cope and the Sisters of St. Francis believed that the arts could help heal the body and spirit of patients. These art pieces have helped create a soothing, healing environment for our patients and their families.". (Pacific Business News, HI)
When amateurs turn into artists Sep 3, 2006
Herald journalists Lenny Ann Low and Jenny Tabakoff created an artwork from 13 knitted dolls and entered it in the Blake Prize for Religious Art ... Dozens of colleagues, friends and family members were consulted: "We're going to make an artwork using the knitted dolls for the Blake Prize for religious art." Most smiled and said: "Good luck." ... Our Last Supper was one of 360 entries to the 2006 Blake Prize for Religious Art. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
