Richard Burlet and the new Art Nouveau

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art, art criticism, art nouveau, artist Richard Burlet, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, Gustav Klimt, Gustav Klimt The Kiss, painting, postromanticism, Richard Burlet, Richard Burlet and the new Art Nouveau, Richard Burlet art nouveau, RIchard Burlet artist, Richard Burlet paintings, Romanticism and Postromanticism, Symbolism, the art nouveau movement

Richard Burlet the new Art Nouveau

In 1899, the controversial Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, also associated with the Art Nouveau movement, displayed his starkly sexualized painting, Nuda Verita, with a famous quotation from Friedrich von Schiller: “If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad.” By the end of his life, a period which is referred to as his “Golden Phase” because of the gold leaf the artist incorporated into his later paintings, Klimt had attained a level of international success that certainly pleased countless viewers.

The Kiss Gustav Klimt

The Kiss (1907-08) became one of the most famous paintings in the world and remains a favorite among art lovers. But, in its origins, neither Klimt nor the Art Nouveau movement aimed to please many. Art nouveau, which means quite literally “new art” in French, was an international movement at the turn of the nineteenth century in art, design, interior décor, jewelry and architecture. The artists associated with this movement attempted to bridge the gap between art and nature by incorporating into their works, in a stylized fashion, the motifs we commonly find in nature: leaves, flowers and winding vines. The most famous artists associated with this tradition—Gustav Klimt, Alphonse Mucha, Antoni Gaudi and Louis Comfort Tiffany—each left his unique signature fingerprint upon this increasingly popular art movement.

Richard Burlet the new Art Nouveau

There are certain art movements that never go out of style: Art Nouveau can be counted among them. Highly stylized yet in harmony with nature; ornamental yet profoundly philosophical; sexually daring and controversial yet utterly refined, Art Nouveau continues to please and surprise many, even if–to return to Klimt’s citation of Schiller–that is not its main objective.

Richard Burlet the new Art Nouveau

Richard Burlet is one of the most striking and appealing contemporary artists invigorating for our times the Art Nouveau tradition that I have encountered. French of origin, Burlet was influenced by French and Viennese art, particularly—and not surprisingly, if we glance at his work—by the paintings of Gustav Klimt. He studied at the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts for a few years, then began his career as a painter. Burlet’s paintings incorporate gold and silver leafs, oriental designs and vibrant colors.  His striking portraits are as beautiful and iconic as they are individuated.

Richard Burlet the new Art Nouveau

Although Burlet’s style is certainly inspired by the Art Nouveau moment, each portrait is different, expressing a unique personality that seems to flow from—and blend into–the carefully chosen ornamental details.  The largely artificial aesthetic distinctions between art and design; depth and surface; background and foreground; originality and imitation are put to the test—and, ultimately, rendered meaningless—by Richard Burlet’s breathtakingly beautiful art, much as they were by Klimt, his inspiration and precursor.   You can view some of Burlet’s paintings in art galleries around the world as well as online, on the following website:

Richard Burlet the new art nouveau

http://www.acquisitionsoffineart.com/Home/Richard_Burlet.html

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com

http://www.amazon.com/Romanticism-Postromanticism-Claudia-Moscovici/dp/0739116754

Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: The Imaginative Photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik

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aesthetic philosophy, Andrew Shushvalyuk, Andrew Shushvalyuk photography, androgyny, art criticism, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, contemporary photography, digital art, digital photography, fantasy, Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary: The Imaginative Photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik, fine art, fineartebooks, fineartebooks.com, Iren Lesik, postromantic art, Romanticism and Postromanticism, Surrealism, Surrealist photography, The Imaginative Photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik, the photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik

Somewhere on the boundary between fantasy, science fiction, and surrealism, you will find the imaginative photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik. Their images are narrative in style. Each of them tells us a story: but we have to use our imagination, to help co-create the plot. Crossing the line between reality and imagination, this fantastic photography helps us see the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik’s images tend to play with the notion of gender. They often feature a young couple, juxtaposed or intermingled in images that seem right out of fairy tales or science fiction scenes. The maiden in distress; the meeting of two lovers from completely separate realms and ways of life; the desolate yet majestic tower: the motifs of fantasy and fairy tale  are seamlessly integrated with contemporary elements of our every-day lives to create a fresh and original digital photography.

Yet the emotions these images evoke are far from other-worldly. They’re relevant and touching precisely because they’re the normal emotions we all feel:  longing, love, grief, sadness, hope. Transposed unto a different realm–the objects of our dreams or visions–these photographs gain depth without losing their relevance. We can still relate to them–and apply them to our ordinary lives–even though we see them as part of a completely different world, the realm of fantasy.

On their website, http://anshulesik.com/, Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik describe the manner in which they create: “We take pictures, travel, work with magazines, make up unusual designs. We’re constantly seeking and experimenting; always on the move… Art, of course, has to be relevant. We want to create such a deep meaning for each picture that it will not lose its relevance for many years…. In the ordinary, we find the extraordinary.”

Playing with gender stereotypes yet also androgynous, fantasy-based yet also real; theatrical yet not over-the-top; expressive yet open-ended to many interpretations; emotional yet understated; poetic yet mythical: to my mind, the imaginative photography of Andrew Shushvalyuk and Iren Lesik represents the best of contemporary digital photography. Those who have not seen it yet can take a look at the treasure of images on their website: http://anshulesik.com/

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com

http://www.amazon.com/Romanticism-Postromanticism-Claudia-Moscovici/dp/0739116754