Fire and Ice

Please click over to Picture This at Big Think to read "Fire and Ice," some thoughts on art history and the history of climate change both natural and man-made. J. M. W. Turner's Chichester Canal (above, from 1828) plays a starring role in a tale that begins in 1816—the “Year Without a Summer.”

A Kiss to Build a Dream on

For the first Art Poll By Bob of 2009 I asked, “Which of the following wintry works is the most chill to you?” You frostily replied that Pieter Brueghel the Elder's Hunters in the Snow (1565) was the chillingest, with 19 supporters, just edging out Caspar David Friedrich's The Sea of Ice (1823-1825), which received 16 votes. Andy Goldsworthy's Icicle Star (1980s) matched the late Andrew Wyeth's First Snow, Study for Groundhog Day (1959) with 10 votes. John Henry Twachtman's Winter Harmony (1890-1900) with 4 votes and Hiroshige's Mountains and Rivers on the Kiso Road (1857), Claude Monet's Snow at Argenteuil (1875), and Vincent van Gogh's Landscape with Snow (1888) with 2 votes each rounded out the field. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold and voted.

For February’s Art Poll By Bob, I’m heating things up. Love is in the air, so in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m asking, “Which of these famous kisses gets you in the mood?”:

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, The First Kiss (1873)

Constantin Brancusi, The Kiss (1908)

Marc Chagall, The Birthday (1915)

Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (1907-1908)

Roy Lichtenstein, Kiss V (1965)

Edvard Munch, The Kiss (1892)

Auguste Rodin, The Kiss (1889)

Franz von Stuck, The Kiss of the Sphinx (1895)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, In Bed: The Kiss (1892)

None of these smooches may reach the top 5 all time, like the kiss at the end of The Princess Bride (top of post), but they come close. Grab your sweetie, pucker up, and vote!

Just Chilling

Like a long holiday hangover, December’s Art Poll By Bob had to eventually come to an end. When I asked the following: “Which of the following Christmas stamps from around the world says ‘Christmas’ the most to you?” Strong to the finish were... the Finnish! With 16 votes, Finland's stamps featuring familiar characters by Finnish children’s book illustrator Julia Vuori and fancy “Frosty Night,” believed to be the world's first transparent stamp (designed by Nina Rintala), carried the day. Canada followed with 10 votes, Australia and England with 8, Spain with 6, the United States with 5, Ireland with 4, and Gilbraltar garnered a solid sole vote. Thanks to everyone who voted.

For the first Art Poll By Bob of 2009 I’m getting seasonal. Let me first begin by saying that winter is my least favorite season. I hate ice and snow. I hate shoveling it, driving in it, walking in it, you name it in it. (I’m not even a fan of Vanilla Ice [above], if you can believe it.) I agree that it can be beautiful to look at, but the thought of having to contend with it personally brings out the Scrooge in me. Putting personal prejudice aside, I ask, “Which of the following wintry works is the most chill to you?”:

Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Hunters in the Snow (1565).

Caspar David Friedrich. The Sea of Ice (1823-1825).

Andy Goldsworthy. Icicle Star (1980s).

Hiroshige. Mountains and Rivers on the Kiso Road (1857).

Claude Monet. Snow at Argenteuil (1875).

John Henry Twachtman. Winter Harmony (1890-1900).

Andrew Wyeth. First Snow, Study for Groundhog Day (1959).

Vincent van Gogh. Landscape with Snow (1888).

Grab a hot chocolate, sit by the fire, and pick the most chilling one of the bunch!