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I personally enjoy the darker and sketchy style of Junji’s work. I also love the details of closer and more impactful panels in his manga; such as Uzumaki.

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For centuries, angels have graced works of art with their ethereal presence. Appearing as ancient statues and adorning modern murals, these winged figures have become a fixture in art history spanning time, cultures, and a variety of mediums.

While our contemporary idea of what an angel looks like emerged in the 4th century, the existence of angel-like figures in art can be traced back thousands of years. Here, we explore the heavenly history of these divine beings, beginning with the earlier entities that inspired them.

Angelic Precursors

Assyria

In ancient Assyrian culture, a lamassu was a protective deity. Also commonly known as a "winged bull," this hybrid figure comprises the head of a human, the body of a bovine or lion, and large, feathered wings.

Because of both its role as a protector and the beauty of its mythological appearance, this god was often the subject of Assyrian art. Most famously, pairs of sculpted lamassu were placed at palace entrances, with the earliest examples dating as far back as the 10th century BCE.

Ancient Greece

In Greece, two flight-ready figures inspired angels in art: Eros and Nike. In mythology, Eros (later known as the Roman equivalent, Cupid) is the son of Aphrodite and the god of love. Art from the Classical period (510 BCE-323 BCE) depicts Eros as an adolescent with prominent wings.

During the Hellenistic period (323 BCE-31 CE), the popularity of marble sculptures soared. Many artists used this medium to craft statues of the gods, with the Winged Victory of Samothrace among the more famous examples.

Created to commemorate a sea battle in the early second century BCE, this 18-foot sculpture portrays Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. The skillfully carved figure is celebrated for its realistic stance, flowing drapery, and, of course, its colossal wings.

Angels in Art History

Rome

The earliest artistic interpretation of an angel was found in the Catacomb of Priscilla, a quarry used for Christian burials in the 3rd century.

In one of the catacomb's chambers, a collection of wall paintings illustrates scenes from the Old and New Testaments. In addition to the Binding of Isaac and images of the Madonna and Child, these frescoes tell the story of the Annunciation -a biblical event in which angel Gabriel announced Mary would bear the son of God.

Though believed to be Gabriel, this figure did not have wings. In fact, it wasn't until the following century that artists would associate the familiar forelimbs with angels.

Byzantium

The first known work of art showing angels with wings dates back to the 4th century. Adorning what is known as the Prince's Sarcophagus, a marble coffin found near Turkey, these relief carvings are the first of many winged angels found in Byzantine art.

For the next few centuries, angels would pop up as the subject of gilded mosaics, panel paintings, and other Roman Catholic icons.

The Middle Ages

Medieval artists adopted the Byzantine interpretation of angels, incorporating them into their gold-ground paintings. Often, these flying subjects can be seen floating in the background of scenes starring seated holy figures, like the Virgin Mary and Jesus in Madonna and Child with Angels by Pietro di Domenico da Montepulciano.

Similarly, the divine messengers often appeared in illuminated manuscripts, featuring as both decorative elements and the stories' main subjects.

The Italian Renaissance

During the Early Renaissance, artists continued to incorporate angels in their paintings. Unlike medieval portrayals, however, these figures began to look less ethereal and more earthly-an evolution that hinted toward the High Renaissance artists' eventual interest in naturalism. An early example that demonstrates this shift is Madonna With Child and Two Angels by Fra Filippo Lippi.

Northern Renaissance artists like Jan Van Eyck also reimagined the angels' wings themselves, replacing their ivory or golden feathers with striking rainbow gradients.

Neoclassicism

Inspired by the realism of the Renaissance, Neoclassical artists painted naturalistic angels. Rendered as both Cupid-esque cherubs and beautiful female figures, these angels evoked the down-to-earth quality of earlier Renaissance models.

Unlike the latter, however, Neoclassical angels were not strictly found in biblical depictions; they also featured in mythological iconography and allegorical scenes inspired by Classical art, like William Bouguereau's well-known Birth of Venus.

Modernism

In the 20th century, artists continued looking to the high heavens for inspiration. Jewish modernist Marc Chagall regularly incorporated angels into his work, citing his lifelong interest in the Old Testament as his muse. "I have been fascinated by the Bible since I was very young," he said. "It always seemed to me, and it still does, that the Bible is the greatest source of poetry that has ever existed. Since that time, I have been seeking to express this philosophy in life and art."

Contemporary Art

Finally, contemporary artists continue to create angelic works of art-though their individual interpretations may vary from the traditional ideal. From Keith Haring's expressive line drawings to Anselm Kiefer's neo-expressionist Angel series, these pieces and projects prove the everlasting power and inspiration of the celestial subject.

"I think a great deal about religion because science provides no answers," Kiefer once said about his fascination with heavenly subject matter. Inspired by the ancient writings of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, the artist based his own angelic masterpieces on the philosopher's spiritual texts, some of which denote a "celestial hierarchy" that classifies angels into different levels between heaven and earth.

This article has been edited and updated.

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Exploring the Heavenly History of Angels in Art

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For centuries, angels have graced works of art with their ethereal presence. The existence of angel-like figures in art can be traced back thousands of years. Here, we explore heavenly history of these divine beings, by looking at sculptures and paintings of angels.

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Press Release

KERRY JAMES MARSHALL
Black Romantic
May 22 - July 3, 2008

Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to present Black Romantic, Kerry James Marshall's first solo show at the gallery in several years.Marshall sums up the exhibition by stating "It's all about love!". Embracing sentimentality and notions of romance and love in black popular art he gives in to representational impulses that rarely satisfy perceived critical weaknesses in the genre.

Taking his show title from Thelma Golden's 2002 exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem in which Golden explored populist notions of "Black Art" and the uncritical realm of image making, Marshall uses Black Romantic as a point of departure to continue his exploration of representation of the black figure in pictorial space.Employing numerous genres of painting, ranging from seascapes to classical artist self-portraits, and referencing the frivolity, sentimentality, and excesses emblematic of the Rococo, Marshall investigates the critical pretentions of the fine art establishment in which he participates. As Golden's exhibition posited, there is a sense that artworks produced by "Black Artists" fall outside of this domain.

Marshall also presents a mixed media sculptural installation adorned with hundreds of portrait medallions of black men and women. Some are recognizable personalities, but the majority of them are anonymous.Appearing to float as if adrift on a black sea, they exist as a network of relations, known and unknown, forgotten and ignored, a representation of the extended black ancestral family.

Kerry James Marshall has exhibited his works in many important group exhibitions, including the 2007 and 1997 editions of Documenta, the 2003 Venice Biennale, the 1999/2000 Carnegie International, and the 1997 Whitney Biennial.His solo exhibitions include shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Baltic, Newcastle on Tyne, UK; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York; and the Wexner Center, Columbus, Ohio.Among the many honors he has received are a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship, and a Wexner Center Residency Award. Most recently he was awarded a Skowhegan Medal for Painting. Marshall's work is represented in major private and museum collections throughout the world including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

For further information or press photography please contact the gallery at info@jackshainman.com.

KERRY JAMES MARSHALL/DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR/September 10 - October 12, 2013

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Black Romantic " Exhibitions " Jack Shainman Gallery

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Jack Shainman Gallery has been dedicated from its inception to championing artists who have achieved mastery of their creative disciplines and are among the most compelling and influential contributors to culture today.

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A famous example of art-historical painting, Hans Holbein the Younger's double portrait, The Ambassadors, shows two friends amid an array of detailed artifacts from art and science. Within this celebration of human accomplishment, hiding in plain sight, is a distorted skull-a mememto mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death.

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"I am overwhelmed by white figure representations every time I go to a museum. It is almost universally understood that these images are the foundation of art in the western world."

- Kerry James Marshall

Marshall replaces the skull from Hans Holbein the Younger's painting, The Ambassadors, made in 1533, with a Disney-esque image of a young blonde woman. As a parallel for the skull in The Ambassadors, which reminds us that death lurks in the midst of human vitality, this distorted head is a reminder of dominant notions of beauty within the buzzing activity of the Black beauty parlor.

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This 17th-century painting is a triple portrait whose main subjects-the Spanish King and Queen-appear dimly reflected in a mirror. More clearly represented is the artist at work, half-hidden behind a canvas. Next to him, the young princess becomes the central figure. This painting's unusual point of view questions the role of the viewer and who is looking at whom. In School of Beauty, School of Culture, Kerry James Marshall inserts the flash of his camera in the mirror behind the woman posing for the picture, to similar effect.

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This is a poster for a Chris Ofili exhibition at the Tate Britain in 2010. Winner of the Turner Prize, Ofili is an acclaimed Black contemporary artist whose paintings combine the sacred with the profane, the historical with pop culture. Marshall is creating a Black iconography by including his contemporary.

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"If you look around the museum you notice there's an absence of Black figures. I don't expect those people to have made pictures of me because I wasn't part of that culture and I wasn't part of that history. . . . I have to be able to project my self image in such a way as I can guarantee myself a place on these walls."

- Kerry James Marshall

An autographed poster of singer Lauryn Hill.

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The Black Is Beautiful movement began in the 1960s. It rejected the social and historical idealization of white beauty, and turned the negative perceptions of Blackness into a celebratory one.

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According to the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, "the three Pan-African colors on the flag represent: red: the blood that unites all people of Black African ancestry, and shed for liberation; black: black people whose existence as a nation, though not a nation-state, is affirmed by the existence of the flag; and green: the abundant natural wealth of Africa."

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School of Beauty, School of Culture - Figuring History

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A famous example of art-historical painting, Hans Holbein the Younger's double portrait, The Ambassadors, shows two friends amid an array of detailed artifacts from art and science. Within this celebration of human accomplishment, hiding in plain sight, is a distorted skull-a mememto mori, a reminder of the inevitability of death.

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Is Consumerism Depicted in Art a Relevant Critique of Contemporary Society and Culture? | Widewalls

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Join us in an attempt to find out whether the artistic critique of consumerism is powerful enough to fight it, as well as institutions behind it?

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All artworks dated 1978 and before: © James Rosenquist Foundation / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All artworks dated 1979 and after: © James Rosenquist, Inc. / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Used by permission. All rights res…

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby - Artworks & Biography | David Zwirner

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Njideka Akunyili Crosby was born in Enugu, Nigeria, in 1983 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Learn more about Njideka Akunyili Crosby's artwork here.

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Aliza Nisenbaum, Patricia and I Boogie on Broadway, 2019

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Aliza Nisenbaum Patricia and I Boogie on Broadway, 2019 Oil on linen Dimensions: 77 x 63 inches (195.6 x 160 cm)

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View a selection of artworks by Marcel Dzama, whose work visualizes a universe of childhood fantasies and otherworldly fairy tales.

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In Amy Cutler's creations, folklore, fairy tales, and personal iconography all vie for attention-and presence on the page.

No question about it, Amy Cutler is an artistic mixologist. The inspirations for her drawings and gouache-on-paper works encompass anxieties about global warming, Persian dynastic stories, a favored pair of shoes, and deceased family members. An idea can come from just about anywhere, arising most often when the artist is simply sketching. "I always draw first, and then the detail develops on its own," she says.

This almost subconscious way of arriving at visual narrative is a process that, for Cutler, goes way back. "In childhood, I thought drawing was a bit like voodoo-I could work out my struggles and take control of certain situations," she says. "It was also therapeutic, helping me get through my parents' divorce. ... And if there was a person I didn't like, I could draw them as a dead mouse, a bit of secret revenge."

Nowadays, not much has changed for Cutler, minus the rodent payback. Her studio routine consistently involves drawing and making thumbnail sketches before selecting and fine-tuning a final composition. She makes a habit of reviewing retired sketchbooks filled with years-old drawings, which often provide her with new inspiration.

Say Ahhh

In Molar Migration, for instance, Cutler began with an image that she had drawn years before: a human head opened up like a medicine chest to reveal all the busy inner workings of the mind.

In one chamber, a hot tub represents a sort of "spa" of the psyche and the figure's pursuit of calm. Further down, a bronco bucking on the tongue could be impeding communication or just the opposite-representing the chaos that is left in the wake of being too free with one's opinions.

Certainly there's no end to the interpretations, which is in keeping with Cutler's aim to use her work not to explain what is going on in her life but to articulate themes she wants to explore through metaphor. Still, Cutler puts a lot out there.

"I get loose with my private things, but the more personal I am, the more response I get," she says. Despite the personal cornerstones that ground Cutler's work, there is a lot that steers the drawings and paintings away from reality.

Females First

For one, Cutler's artistic world is almost exclusively female, and the women who occupy it are like an unfamiliar tribe whose rituals are carried out with great seriousness, no matter the absurdity of their tasks. In Embargo, dowager-esque females with fancy updo's outfitted in what look like 19th-century day dresses are turned into prows of ships-quite a contrast to the comely figureheads that usually adorn sea vessels.

Other paintings feature Cutler's figures braiding copious amounts of hair, performing military maneuvers in inner-tubes, and fording bodies of water on the backs of elephants. In Tiger Mending -Cutler's "greatest hit," which was exhibited in the Whitney Biennial in 2004-the figures play Florence Nightingale to the big sleeping cats, sewing up their wounds with neat stitches.

From these peculiar and somewhat arduous activities, one might ascribe Herculean stamina or fearlessness to these painted ladies, but in Cutler's mind they aren't so powerful. Instead, she sees them simply as everyday women. The tasks they perform are less physical challenges and more about the nature of being consumed by a duty or a situation and the resulting tension that comes from it. No matter the task at hand, all of the figures face their conditions with stern aplomb, seemingly unmoved by any obstacle they face.

A Singular Focus

Although they are most often presented in groups, Cutler's figures rarely seem to notice one another. Through this dynamic, Cutler explores the nature of collective separatism, or as she puts it, "how you can be in a room and working toward one thing together, yet that same thing creates solitude for the individual. I actually picture myself looking the same way they do while I am painting-concentrated in this time-consuming task, getting serious and withdrawn."

Precision Tools

Most of Cutler's finished works are done in gouache, but her style is largely based on line and can be considered drawing as much as painting. Her mark-making instruments are not far removed from traditional drawing tools-the brush most often in her hand is a 6/0, which has a head the width of a toothpick. It allows her to achieve meticulous detail in the many costumes, textiles, and objects that fill her images.

She can't do much with it besides draw lines, but the artist says she would never consider trading in her brush for an actual pen. "I do draw and use a lot of linework, but there is something about line made with a brush-it undulates and you can't get it with anything else," she says. "I don't use any painterly techniques. It is not about how the paint sits on the surface. I am actually trying to hide that so that it's more about the image."

Cutler uses gouache because of the intensity of the colors available and the fact that the pigment dries matte, an excellent way to mask surface quality. "It's something about the way the light is absorbed and not reflected," she says, although she is also aware of the limits of the medium. "Once you cover the tooth of the paper, it's saturated, and beyond that it will be pasty and gloppy, without the crisp lines I want."

Anatomical Incorrectness

In situations where Cutler is drawing objects or animals she isn't entirely familiar with, she'll consult simple plastic toys or watch nature videos. "For anatomy, I just work it out in a sketchbook," she says. "I never use a reference when I am working. I'd rather it be awkward and wrong than stiff. That just sticks out. And the slowness of going back and forth when you are looking at something just doesn't work for me."

Cutler tends to start with the faces of her figures after loosely drawing a preparatory sketch on her watercolor paper, which she pins to the wall to work on. She usually has four or so pieces going simultaneously and will often go back and forth among them rather than completing them one at a time. "If I finish one from beginning to end, I suffocate and kill it," she says.

As she works, Cutler remains open to modifying her images, as she did with the painting Gorge, which depicts women in elaborate costumes transformed into the craggy peaks of mountaintops. Their vantage points allow them to see everything around them, but they are immobilized, unable to move or change their situation.

As she worked on the piece, Cutler thought the image had interesting psychological undertones and engaging visual elements, but she could tell it wasn't quite done. "It was so boring," she says. It wasn't until she was looking on Flickr and came across a photo of prayer flags that Gorge was ready to be completed. "At the time, the meaning of the flags-that every time the wind blows and the flags wave it is believed that they are sending prayers-really touched me," says the artist, whose stepfather was then struggling with cancer. "I thought to myself, I need Tibetan prayer flags! And I attacked the piece with all these primary colors, and that is what finished it for me. They saved me, because it was other- wise a dead painting."

Face Time

Recently, Cutler has been on a different track, creating works of portraiture that started out simply as a lark, an experiment to use up a slick-surfaced Japanese paper that a friend had given her. "I thought it was just going to be this running practice of doing things for myself," she says. But her latest series, "Brood," features more than a dozen painted headshots of grimacing, frowning, and a few outright scowling ladies. They are bedecked with hats and jewelry, lace collars and folded bibs, their clothing enriched with the patterns that Cutler so loves to create.

Cutler did not play to the vanity of her figures, painting in detail their crepey, crackled, and sagging skin. But in her hands these signs of age are made abstractly beautiful, and viewers sink into the works through these passages of intricate line and color.

The far-fetched scenes Cutler is known for are nowhere to be found-a departure the artist welcomed. "When you become known for something, it becomes frustrating," she says. She spent a year exclusively creating these portraits, but she has since come back to familiar territory.

"I did miss creating full stories, so I am back to narratives, although I can't talk about them," she says with a laugh. "It's a magic romance that I can't expose." What she is willing to reveal is how she is preparing for her next steps in the studio. "Looking at my old drawings- that is a constant," she says. "They're just pencil sketches in a sketchbook, but they are a reservoir to me. I look back and find one that lets me see where I wanted to go next all along."

About the Artist

Amy Cutler received her B.F.A. from The Cooper Union, in New York City, in 1997. She participated in the 2004 Whitney Biennial and has held solo exhibitions at the Indianapolis Museum of Art; the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, in Kansas City, Missouri; and the Weatherspoon Art Museum, in Greensboro, North Carolina, among other venues. Her work is found in public collections worldwide, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, in Madrid; the Hammer Museum, in Los Angeles; and The Museum of Modern Art, in New York City. Cutler lives and works in New York.

Embark on your own explorations of gouache with top watermedia techniques that are just a click away: Watermedia Foundation 2: Gouache Streaming Video.

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Amy Cutler Is an Artisitic Mixologist Who Puts It All Out There

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No question about it, Amy Cutler is an artistic mixologist. The inspirations for her drawings and gouache-on-paper works encompass anxieties about global warming, Persian dynastic stories, a favored pair of shoes, and deceased family members. An idea can come from just about anywhere, arising most often when the artist is simply sketching.

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The art of love: 14 works that make our hearts beat faster | Christie's

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To celebrate Valentine's Day, fourteen Christie's specialists pick an artwork or object that they think represents real love | Christie's'

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Beauty Spots is a series of work by visual artists Teresa Christiansen that reflects on the circular act of photographing a landscape.

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Odilon Redon - The Complete Works - page 2 - odilon-redon.org

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The complete works of Odilon Redon - page 2. Large resolution images, rating, ecard, download possibility.

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Uses collage, pills, and layers of resins to create psychadelic large scale work

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Chicano artists and activists blended cultural and visual traditions to create modern Day of the Dead celebrations in the U.S.

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Home | The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation

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Visit the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Guggenheim Museum in NYC, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore the famed art collection and special exhibitions.

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James Ensor lived in the XIX – XX cent., a remarkable figure of Belgian Symbolism and Expressionism. Find more works of this artist at Wikiart.org – best visual art database.