The Mona Lisa is one of the few works of art that everyone knows by name. It’s a celebrity in its own right, a legend, a cultural touchstone that connects us across the centuries. But just as important as the original is, the replicas and their reinterpretations have become a phenomenon all their own. These artworks have brought levity, political statements, and all kinds of artistic reimaginings to this important piece of work. Famous Let’s look through the history of the painting itself, the rise of replicas, and then find out where you can get some of the best and recent inspirations of the Mona Lisa today at RtistiQ. History of the Mona Lisa Painted somewhere around 1503 to 1506 CE by High Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci, the Mona Lisa is a portrait of Italian noblewoman Lisa del Giocondo. Of the many works attributed to da Vinci, it is one of the few that has never been in doubt. And while we are confident that the Mona Lisa is a real da Vinci, there is evidence that other copies were made by the master. Sketches of the painting include columns on either side of Lisa, but the canvas of the original has never been trimmed, and analysis of the underpainting reveals there were never any columns on the original. It was long called the Palace of Fontainebleau its home before moving to the Palace of Versailles by Louis XIV. It was then moved to the Louvre after the French Revolution before taking a brief detour in the bedroom of none other than Napoleon. At the time of writing, it can still be found at the Louvre. Why the Mona Lisa Is Popular Courtesy of Wikimedia While it was appreciated through the centuries since its creation, it wasn’t until the 20th century that the painting really became popular. It all began with its theft from the Louvre on August 21st, 1911. The popular French poet Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested for the crime, and he accused the great Pablo Picasso, who had to be brought in for questioning by the police. But it turned out to be Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian nationalist who believed the painting should belong to Italy. The scandal led to the Mona Lisa becoming the world’s most famous painting, thanks to the enormous amount of media coverage it received. Mona Lisa Replicas There’s no wonder, then, that so many great artists have tried their hand at creating a replica of the famous painting all their own. Even the great Raphael sketched the painting after seeing it. Some of the best artists of any given time have made replicas. A few examples give us an idea of how popular making these replicas has been. Eugène Bataille painted a version with the noblewoman smoking a pipe in 1883 (called Le Rire, or The Laugh, pictured above). Andy Warhol even took a shot in 1963, reproducing the image using a silkscreen process in 1963. More recently, Banksy has stenciled two versions of the Mona Lisa, one holding a rocket launcher (called Mona Lisa Mujaheddin) and one where she is mooning the viewer. The Mona Lisa Hekking One of the most famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) is about to go on sale in Paris. Auction house Christie’s is set to put this notorious replica on sale, where it is expected to get around €300,000 (or $365,645). Called the Mona Lisa Hekking — named for the previous owner Raymond Hekking who purchased the work in the 1950’s and died in 1977 — the painting was claimed by the owner to be the true original, casting doubt on the veracity of the Mona Lisa for the first time in almost five centuries. RtistiQ’s Mona Lisa Inspirations RtistiQ’s collection contains a raw umber tone inspiration of the Mona Lisa by the artsit Rajasekharan Parameswaran. Painted in 2017, this Monalisa inspiration captures the famous painting in a striking palette, drained of color but pulsing with detail and character. It’s an entirely new view of the classic. The painting stands a bit larger than the original, presenting an impressive presence in any room. The artist, incidentally, holds two Guinness World Records. The first came in 2008 for the world’s largest easel painting, 56.5' tall and 31' wide and holds a 25’ by 50’ portrait of the communist leader EMS Namboodiripad (famously known as EMS). The second came in 2010 for the largest Burr puzzle. His work includes portraiture and art direction for film. And his Mona Lisa reveals a profound understanding of the portrait as a form for expression. You can buy this Mona Lisa in umber tone painting today on art.rtistiq.com and own an amazing piece in the long history of artists reimagining the world’s most famous painting. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

17 Jun 2021

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Art collectors are buying more work online than ever before. Obviously, a major factor over the last year has been the pandemic. The push for contactless purchasing drove online art buys through the roof, but that is an extreme spike that matches a growing trend. So while the pandemic kicked things into high gear, the market was already trending towards more online art purchases year after year. We now live in an art market dominated by online sales. While things open up, this will likely drop a bit, but there is no question that going forward, online art buying is a major factor. So you might be wondering, then, why do art collectors buy online? Especially in non-pandemic conditions? Well, it turns out there are a lot of really good reasons people buy art online. We’ll examine the most important below. Availability Availability is, more than any other factor, the most important reason that art collectors are going online to look for their next purchase. Think about it: if you want to buy art in person, it needs to be available within traveling distance. If not, you might need to hire an art advisor or art dealer to find and procure the work for you. If you don’t have the money to hire a specialist to find and buy art for you, then you might have to actually travel yourself to find what’s available. But if you don’t have the resources to buy art through an advisor or dealer, what are the chances you can go jet setting around to different art markets looking for your next favorite painting? Of course, it can be incredibly fulfilling to find art by going to local art fairs and galleries. But the reality is that no matter how great of an art market you live in — whether it's New York City, Los Angeles, London, or anywhere else — there is more work available online than in your area. To make matters even more compelling for online art sales, many emerging artists are only available online. And as technology like NFTs push more artwork into the purely digital realm, further increasing the availability gap between online and offline. Convenience Something that many online platforms have leveraged to disrupt their given industry is ease of use. In the art market, it’s no different. The fact is, you can scroll through hundreds and even thousands of artworks in an afternoon from the comfort of your home. Once you find exactly what you are looking for, you can then put in your payment information and delivery instructions (for most of us, that’s already preloaded in our browser) and then be done with the transaction. That process is so simple and direct compared to many forms of art buying. Like every other sector of the economy, online sellers have found convenience to be their silver bullet. And that silver bullet is especially effective in an often confusing and sometimes hard to navigate market like art. Things Can Be Clearer Speaking of the confusion in the art market, another major benefit of buying online is the clarity of terms. When working with art dealers and art advisors, prices are not always fixed. Buying art isn’t like buying furniture or clothes. Terms can sometimes be in flux. If there are multiple interested buyers, you might find yourself in an impromptu blind auction. But when work is posted for sale online, everything is usually laid out crystal clear. This allows the buyer to know exactly what to expect and just how much it will really cost. That clarity can be very attractive to art collectors, especially when they do not have an enormous amount of time and money to devote to buying. Price Despite our desire to patronize local businesses, we all have to admit that we buy many things online on price alone. Art works the same way. The fact is, art is often less expensive online. Even when buying from an online gallery with retail markup, the lack of overhead often means lower prices than as offered at physical Art Galleries or Art Fairs. Online Galleries and Marketplaces offer a much more lower markup for their services, which makes more of the artworks affordable to your price point. With better prices, clear terms, greater convenience, and unbeatable availability — online art buying is becoming a favorite option among many art collectors. While the online space will never fully replace the joy of visiting a gallery or local art fair, it will continue to grow as a part of the art market. Why wait? Shop online today on www.rtistiq.com. Enjoy 7 Day Delivery & 14 Day Return policy for all users.

RtistiQ

06 Jun 2021

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Online sales is the fastest-growing part of the art market. And if you are reading this article, chances are you are curious to join in the excitement. It makes sense to buy art online, after all, we buy everything online now. From toaster ovens to holiday decorations to books, we’ve become accustomed to ordering things we want on the internet and then waiting for that exciting moment when the delivery hits our doorstep. But before you dive in and start buying art online, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. Below, we’ll cover the five essential tips for buying art online. Then, you’ll be ready to fill your home with beautiful work! 1. Choose a Space If you are looking to buy a fine art print or painting, you likely already have a space in mind. Maybe you want it to go over the fireplace in the den or fit on the wall in your kitchen. If the room in question has a sleek, modern appeal, an exaggerated landscape might not be what you are looking for. Just think about the colors and the style. You don’t want to hang your new masterpiece only to find that it clashes with your sofa! Knowing where the art will go leads into the next point. 2. Get the Size Right When it comes to art buying, size matters. That means you need to pull out the tape measure from your junk drawer and write down the dimensions of the space on your wall you are looking to cover. Now, the painting you buy doesn’t have to fit these dimensions exactly, but it does need to have enough room. On the flip side, you don’t want to go too small, that can end up looking awkward. If you are looking to buy art for a wall that is wide open, you won’t have to limit yourself too much to the dimensions. But you will still want to make sure that the painting can hold its own in the space. Some of the online galleries such as RtistiQ, also offer IOS and Android mobile Apps, which feature Augemented Reality as a functionality to project and preview the Artwork of choice on your wall directly to both see the fitment as well as how it would look alongside the aesthetics presented by the room. (Note: Remember the orientation of a work of art when checking it’s dimensions. This might seem too obvious to mention, but people have purchased artwork only to find that it fits the space — but only if you turn it sideways!) 3. Set a Budget, No Really Once you have a clear idea of the size and style, you need to set a budget. Maybe this goes without saying, but you need to be realistic about what you can afford. On the other hand, you also need to be realistic about what you can get for your money. Don’t sell yourself short, but don’t overextend yourself. Artwork range from as low as 50 dollars from the relatively unknown Artists to hundreds of thousands from the more established artists. Yes it is the reality that people have started to trust online platforms selling quailty artworks to spend more hundred thousand for buying artwork online. Online Art galleries offer specific periods to check the Artwork and accept returns on a fully refundable manner. Check out these beautiful affordable artworks on RtistiQ at less than thousand dollars, which do not pinch your pockets. 4. Take the Time to Research (And Ask Questions) When you hear the word “research,” your eyes might start to glaze over. You might feel a yawn coming on. Is it time for a nap? But the good news about researching art is that it is a lot of fun. It means you get to look at many great paintings and reflect on what you like about them and how they would fit in your home or office. Regularly doing this will give you a better idea of the styles you like, the prices you can expect, and the work available in your budget. While you are researching, feel free to reach out to artists you like and online stores. Ask questions! But you can get stuck in the research mode forever. At some point, you need to make a decision. And that leads us to our next point. 5. Buy What You Love Now you’ve narrowed down your decision. You know where you want your work of art to go, roughly the size it needs to be, the style you like, maybe even the artist you want to buy from. You have your eye set on a few options that all fit into your budget. All you need to do is buy one. And when you are buying art, you should always end up going with the one you love. If you don’t know what that means, you might not have found it yet. It’s the one that calls out to you, that just has to be yours. This is a work of art that you will share your living or workspace with for years. It’s important that you go with the one that your heart really desires. If you do listen to your heart, you’ll find the perfect painting or fine art print waiting at your doorstep. Additional References Check out these additional Articles on how to choose artworks for the specific space of interest Choosing Art for Different Rooms - Gives an snap-shot view about how to choose works for different parts of your home Choosing Art for Living Room - Give a more comprehensive view about selecting the right works for your living room based on the Aesthetics and personality you would like to present. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

28 May 2021

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At this point, we have seen so many artworks sell for unbelievable prices that we have trouble keeping up. Of course, when a true masterpiece like Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi sells for $450.3 million we can try to understand. That’s several large fortunes put together, but it’s a world-historic treasure. Remember earlier this year when somebody spent $69 million on a JPG file? That can be a lot harder to justify, and we will delve into the specifics of this deal in a separate article. We might just chalk this up to the eccentricities of extreme wealth. These are centimillionaires and billionaires who have so much wealth that they lose touch with reality. But that doesn’t quite explain it, does it? That answer is more of a shrug than an insight. So why do people spend so much money on art? What’s the psychology underlying this phenomenon? And what are the real factors at play? Let’s examine it in-depth below: Cultural and Aesthetic Significance: Art has always reflected human creativity, history, and culture. Owning a significant artwork allows individuals to immerse themselves in the rich tapestry of artistic expression throughout the ages. Collectors appreciate the aesthetic beauty, craftsmanship, and unique perspectives conveyed by artists, and they are driven by a desire to preserve and enjoy these cultural treasures. By owning valuable pieces, they contribute to safeguarding artistic heritage for future generations. Art as an Investment: One of the most important things to understand when you see the big time price tags is that art retains value very well. A major art purchase is more like buying a house than buying a car. A car will almost never increase in value over time, especially as you add miles to the odometer. But a house, depending on how you treat it and the changes in the neighborhood over time, can easily increase in value. That means when you move out of a house, you can make a profit when you resell. When people spend millions on art, they are usually thinking of it as an investment. They might genuinely love the work of art and enjoy having it on their walls for years to come, but they expect to be able to recoup the cost later on down the road. And, with a bit of luck, they might make a lot of money on it. And for people with vast amounts of wealth, they need to park their money somewhere. Having money sitting around in a bank account isn’t able to create value. But buying art can lead to a profit in the long run — and it’s a much more pleasurable way to invest your money than stocks, real estate, or other more traditional means. So it’s important to remember that when someone spends millions on a work of art, it’s more like parking their money in artwork for a period of time. Reputation, Status and Prestige: Art ownership has been associated with status, prestige, and social recognition for centuries. Let’s face it, being the winning bidder at a Christie’s auction can set you apart as a leading collector in the art world. Being a major player is a part of what drives many rich people to spend their wealth on big ticket items. Whether you have an amazing yacht, a fantastic getaway mansion in the mountains, or a world class collection of 18th century European paintings — it’s a way of garnering prestige and cultivating a luxurious lifestyle. Acquiring high-value artworks allows individuals to display their refined taste and discernment in the art world. These investments become symbols of wealth and sophistication, elevating the collector's reputation within elite circles. Art collections often serve as a tangible representation of personal success and cultural refinement, positioning collectors as influential patrons of the arts. Big time art buyers can even influence general tastes and become sought after presences at major auctions and art events. It’s a form of status symbol and belonging to a group. Emotional Connection and Personal Enjoyment: Art possesses a unique ability to evoke deep emotions and captivate our imagination. Collectors often develop profound connections with specific artists or works, drawn to the narrative, symbolism, or technical brilliance that resonates with them. Acquiring a unique piece allows individuals to experience a sense of fulfilment, joy, and intellectual stimulation in their daily lives, creating an endless source of inspiration and pleasure. Support for Artists and Art Institutions: By investing millions in art, collectors also play a vital role in supporting artists and art institutions. These acquisitions give artists the resources and recognition they need to continue their creative endeavours. Galleries, museums, and auction houses benefit from the patronage of collectors, enabling them to curate exhibitions, promote artistic talent, and preserve cultural heritage. Many of the Museums and Art Galleries are predominantly supported by donations from the elites who have been generous in keeping the cultural heritages intact. What Is the Value of Art? The last reason gets at the heart of how virtually endless supplies of money reveals the true relative value of items. If you don’t have a lot of money, you’re going to spend most or all of it on the essentials: rent, groceries, the electric bill, gasoline, etc. Just getting by eats up most people’s money. But if you have a lot of money, those needs become a much smaller amount of your budget. Yes, rich people might spend more on food, but spending ten times as much on buying fancy groceries is nothing if you are in the ultra-rich category. This excess wealth can be spent on many things. Luxury travel, palatial homes, Rolex watches, and all the other trappings of high society. But some rich people love art. And that’s where things get interesting. How much is a painting really worth? Most of us could never afford to spend thousands, let alone millions, on art. We have a hard enough time covering the car payment and paying for our kids to take music lessons. But the rich do have the means to spend huge sums on anything they want. And the high prices of art reveal that people are willing to spend a lot on art because it’s worth it to them. The emotional power of a painting, the historic importance of a sculpture, the hypnotic allure of a fine art photograph. When you don’t have to worry about everyday expenses, these joys reveal their full value. And as art lovers, can we really disagree? Conclusion The decision to spend millions on art represents a complex interplay of cultural appreciation, personal enjoyment, social status, and investment potential. Collectors are driven by a deep passion for art, the desire to surround themselves with beauty, and the opportunity to contribute to the art world's vibrant ecosystem. Whether it is the emotional connection with a particular artwork, the pursuit of prestige, or the potential for financial gains, investing in art allows individuals to weave themselves into the fabric of artistic history while creating a legacy that transcends time. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

16 May 2021

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There is a long connection between artwork depicting the beauty and bounty of the natural world and movements to protect the environment. Where there is one, there is the other. Artists are able to highlight the special bond we have to planet Earth. With the majority of humans now living in urban environments, and many of us spending much of our time inside or engaged in digital spaces, our link to the Earth can feel diminished. But great art can wake us up and bring us back to an awareness of the importance of our environment and the dire situation many ecosystems are facing today. In Southeast Asia, the situation appears to be in the eleventh hour. Massive habitat loss over the past three decades has led to many species facing extinction, and the last century has seen horrific atrocities committed to the very landscape through the use of defoliants — a form of chemical warfare that kills trees and plants by removing the leaves. But artists are now coming to the rescue, using their talent to raise awareness and improve discourse on this critical issue. And so for Earth Day, let’s look at one organization that is leading the way to help artists create the work that will inspire a new generation of people to save the planet. The PARDICOLOR Creative Arts Fund Wildlife Asia launched the PARDICOLOR Creative Arts Fund in April 2020. The fund provides Southeast Asian artists with vital financial support to promote artwork that highlightswildlife, biodiversity, the environment, and society. PARDICOLOR works with artists in a variety of mediums, from painting and drawing to sculpture, film, and beyond. The key for the fund is to find artists that bring viewers closer to the environmental issues that define out times. So far, they’ve assisted nine artists and art collectives from the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, and Thailand. The fund encourages many approaches to their mission, including: works that promote the scientific understanding of ecosystems, highlight conservation work or lesser known and endangered species, art collaborations with researchers, work that speaks to a particular issue like poaching or climate change, and more. For instance, the series More Than Meets the Eye by Singapore-based photographer Jasvic Lye magnifies the intricate textures of creatures that live in Singapore. The images are luminescent and deeply felt. A close up photograph of a eurasian wild pig’s eye expresses the depth of inner experience in the animal. Another piece shows the exquisite finery of the oriental dollarbird’s feathers. The entire series gives us an intimacy with these creatures that are so often disregarded. Appropriately enough, entries for the fund’s 2021 round of grants open on April 22nd and will close on July 31st. This year, PARDICOLOR is generating a series of small grants that focus on three special themes. Art of Darkness Art of Darkness celebrates the nocturnal wildlife and environment in Southeast Asia. While seldom seen by humans, this fascinating realm of the night is just as important to protect. A Million Textures In this broad theme, artists are encouraged to engage with the patterns and colors found in the diverse natural world of Southeast Asia. PARDICOLOR encourages a breadth of interpretation, even including bioacoustics and “feeling” as different kinds of natural textures. Imagining Super Landscapes In Imagining Super Landscapes, artists are tasked with conjuring up a vision of a future Southeast Asia where cities, forests, and all the living beings in both might live in balance. It is a fun, speculative theme that gives artists a chance to advocate for solutions. Art and the Environment Nonprofits like PARDICOLOR remind us of how important artists can be in communicating issues to the public. And as the environmental crisis is the defining issue of our age, it’s essential that we have artwork that engages this issue. Art can inspire us, inform us, and call us to action. It can be the spark that creates the next fight to protect an endangered species, that stops the destruction of a local ecosystem, or even turns the tide against climate change. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

24 Apr 2021

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Abstract art has roots across many cultures, and the contemporary art scene is now filled with many artists working in the abstract from every region on Earth. Hence, the understanding of abstract art can vary among individuals with different backgrounds. Below, we’ve assembled 10 of the most exciting abstract artists from Southeast Asia. These artists represent a wide variety of aesthetic approaches and span multiple generations. What is clear from these artists is that Southeast Asia continues to produce some of the most exciting voices in the world of abstract art. No survey of the field is complete without their work. Vietnam 1. Ha Manh Thang (b. 1980) Cry For A Flag #2 (2020) [SOURCE] Ha Manh Thang is a Vietnamese artist who is working at the forefront of his culture. As tidal shifts continue to occur since Doi Moi — a series of reforms set forth in 1986 that have brought Western corporations and values into the country — he discusses these ongoing changes on the canvas. His abstract works are as much studies in texture as in color, using the paint to build forms that cast shadows and reach out from the surface. While his figurative pieces are often satirical confrontations with society, these newest experimentations give his work a more universal tone. Ha Manh Thang received a degree from Hanoi Fine Arts University in 2004, going on to participate in several notable regional and international exhibitions. He currently lives in Hanoi. 2. Tulip Duong (b. 1966) My Window (2018) [SOURCE] Tulip Duong revels in the fast paced, the things in the world that are coming into being. Her abstract art borders on representation, though it never quite coheres into a full image. Instead, the pieces hang in that liminal space just before fully materializing. Working from her Hanoi studio, Tulip Duong has shown work around the world, touching on global issues while still maintaining Vietnamese characteristics in her compositions. This riveting connection is held together by her singular voice. The centrality of her viewpoint runs throughout her oeuvre, even as her paintings continue to explore new horizons. Since 2000, Tulip Duong’s work has appeared in several group and solo shows, as well as publications. 3. Tran Tuan (b. 1961) Spring (2012) [SOURCE] Vietnamese artist Tran Tuan’s career covers many different forms and approaches, but all of his work stands out as vivid, colorful and energetic studies. These paintings are alive with bold, heavy brushstrokes stitched together in unexpected ways. His abstract work takes a maximalist approach, every inch of his canvases are alive and urgent. He manages these brilliant palettes through an almost athletic vigor. The overwhelming images deliver the viewer over to a world entirely its own, one built out of dazzling color and intricate brushwork. Tran Tuan’s work appears in private collections throughout Europe, North America and Australia. He received his degree from Fine Art University of Hanoi in 1990. Indonesia 4. Christine Ay Tjoe (b. 1973) Large Space of Shoots #2 (2020) [SOURCE] Chrstine Ay Tjoe is an Indonesian artist who restlessly seeks out the depths of the human condition. Her work spans many mediums, including: intaglio prints, textiles, painting, drawing, sculpture and large-scale installations. Her abstract paintings carry on the mission of her entire career, evoking the power — and darkness — in subjective experience. These works are splashes of complex forms on white canvas, both cryptic and beautiful. While an initial glance might only find confusion, a closer look reveals intricate control and detail work. These are intricately crafted pieces, with forms that seem to arise spontaneously out of the amorphous composition. Christine Ay Tjoe works in Bandung, her hometown. Her work has appeared around the world. 5. Erizal As (b. 1979) Formless Existence (2019) [SOURCE] Erizal As creates rhythmic, almost musical abstract works. His muscular brushstrokes and use of heavy layers of paint create crowded canvases that deliver up an excessive bounty. In all that excess is patterning akin to syncopation, a tension between the expectation of the viewer and where the art ultimately takes them. His work deals in real subject matter, but it handles scenes and portraiture in an entirely abstract way. This approach delivers an experience very rare in abstract painting, again testing expectations. His work often takes on themes like authenticity, or the lack of it, often with a critical eye toward society and power. Erizal As received his education at the Indonesian Institute of Fine Art. His selected group and solo exhibitions have appeared across Southeast Asia. 6. Rinaldi Syam (b. 1976) Landscape Color (2019) [SOURCE] Rinaldi Syam is a painter and sculptor working out of Indonesia. His abstract paintings are filled with sumptuous forms in a kind of collage, quilted together in rough edged regions. The soft texture draws the eye in, and the complex composition keeps the viewer there to decode what they have found. His work sometimes moves from the abstract to the surreal, but always with hallucinatory grandeur and a deeply felt sense of beauty. While his canvas sometimes overflows with detail, there is a gentleness to his technique, always rendering forms with reverence. That care and tenderness seeps out when looking at his paintings, a calming force that quietsthe space. Rinaldi Syam lives and works in Yogyakarta. His work has won several awards in both Indonesia and Japan. Thailand: 7. Nim Kruasaeng (b. 1974) [SOURCE] Nim Kruasaeng’s paintings are simple, elegant observations. Their presence is unassuming and yet captivating. They gradually make their way through to the viewer, never demanding attention but always earning it — the way you lean in when someone whispers. The pieces often rely on rhythm and a palette of only two or three colors. Her ability to get the most out of these pared down elements reveals the mastery of the artist and her guiding obsessions: the relation between bodies in space, the pleasure of a perfect line, the ability to say more with suggestion than direct description. It is through thesegrounding ideas that her delicate and meditative work flows. Nim Kruaseng is a self-taught artist who found recognition in the 1990’s from peers in the Thai art scene. She currently lives and works in both Bangkok and Pattaya. 8. Udomsak Krisanamis (b. 1966) Your Disco Needs You (2001) [SOURCE] Udomsak Krisanamis has built a career out of conceptually rigorous paintings that continue to develop a single line of thought. Through the integration of mixed-media on his canvas — including cellophane, noodles, newspaper, among other items — he builds pieces that combine strict formalism with exploration at the borders of these self-imposedlimits. The diversity born out of this single project is sweeping, though always anchored by his trademark style. The longer one takes in his work, the more one gets into the headspace of its creator. It is a journey into an uncompromising artistic vision that continues to remake the world. Udomsak Krisanamis currently lives and works in Bangkok. He received his education at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok and the Art Institute of Chicago. His solo and group exhibitions have shown internationally. Singapore: 9. Genevieve Chua (b. 1984) EdgeControl #21, More True Than False (2017) [SOURCE] Genevieve Chua makes abstract work that seeks to evoke natural forms while always inserting visual reference from technological artifacts like the glitch. She aggressively explores beyond the expected presentation of painting, pushing the uneasy mix of the natural and the digital even further. Her work often breaks out of the traditional canvas, exploring unique objects to introduce abstract painting. She incorporates shaped canvases that come together to produce a kind of deconstructed canvas for her to explore. She also integrates printing methods to ground her painting, like screen prints and giclée prints. Genevieve Chua received her education at the Royal College of Art in London. Her solo exhibitions have spanned Asia, with group exhibitions around the world. 10. Jamie Tan (b. 1990) IntoxicatedCalls (2018) [SOURCE] Jamie Tan takes color field into the next century with a unique take on the genre that is informed as much by the structure of computer displays as the career of Rothko. Rather than taking off into highly conceptual detours, his work keeps returning to color. The paintings use a sophisticated understanding of that single tool and continue to reimagine how to present it. The clean lines and interlaced patterns of color strips that define Jamie Tan’s work produce energy and movement through their interaction. But these pieces are not just practices in color theory. They also serve as a link in the discussion begun by color field painters from the century past with the current visual landscape of contemporary society. Jamie Tan earned a degree in Fine Arts from Lasalle College of the Arts in 2017. His first solo show debuted in 2019 Inspired by the artists? Shop abstract art on RtistiQ Art Marketplace. Enjoy 7 Day Delivery & 14 Day Return policy for all users today. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

13 Apr 2021

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Technological development in the last few decades has surpassed our expectations. AI (Artificial Intelligence) has always been a common fantasy for a long time, however just 20 years ago, we could not have imagined smartphones! We don’t even notice some technology anymore while smart watches, streaming platforms, driverless cars, online banking etc. have become a reality. Add to this a mix of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), today’s world is unrecognizable from the pre-2000s era. Ecommerce is an apposite representation of rapidly changing technology over the past 4 decades, although the reason for popularity remains the same. When Michael Aldrich invented ecommerce (called ‘teleshopping’ then) in 1979, his motivation was to find an alternative to the boring weekly task of grocery shopping. Today, when we use AR to try furniture from IKEA in our living rooms, it is the same principle – avoid a tedious trip to the store. Although many people use AR, VR interchangeably, yet these terms are significantly different from each other. Virtual Reality, in simple terms, is interacting with a fabricated environment in a digital mode, through a special electronic device like special goggles, gloves etc. VR is a simulated experience which can be completely different from the real world. For example, when you play a video game through VR, you use a headset and it may seem to you that you are interacting with the gaming world, although you would be moving around in the physical space in the real world. Your digital avatar would mimic your real moves of walking, turning around, jumping, running, punching, kicking etc. Thus, VR gives you an enhanced gaming experience and it seems like the virtual world becomes your reality for a certain time. Augmented Reality, on the other hand, is a digital experience of the real world enhanced by computer-generated media. So, AR is integration of digital media with real world to provide the user an interactive and enhanced experience. For example, when you buy artwork at RtistiQ, you would be able to use our app to virtually place the art in your house and see how it would for into your home. Ikea also provides a similar experience to its users where they can see how a piece of furniture would look in an area in their homes before they make a decision to buy it. The game Pokemon Go is one of the poplar examples of AR, which gave such a different experience to the user that around 550 million people download it within three months of its launch. Mixed Reality, as you can guess, is a combination of VR and AR. In MR, real-world and digital world objects interact in real time to provide you a superior experience. MR basically overlays images or videos onto a screen showing reality, through a headset or smart glasses. MR has great potential in the areas of education, medicine etc. For example, students in a medical college can experience a surgery with the use of MR to get an almost first-hand like experience. In this digital era, where you are not only comfortable shopping online, but also prefer it to going out for a traditional shopping experience especially since covid-19 struck our lives, the retail industry has been quick to adopt modern technologies to attract potential customers. Augmented Reality is one technology that has significantly impacted our online shopping experience and it is only beginning to gain momentum. Retailers are using AR not only to change the way customers shop by creating a more engaged experience, but also to drive sales and maximize their Return on Investment (RoI). As a customer, Augmented Reality is helpful to you by creating a delightful experience when you shop, and helping you make decisions effectively and quickly. There are many examples where the retail industry uses AR. Home Depot and IKEA use AR to show a customer how a piece of furniture would fit in their space not only look wise but also space wise. So you don’t have to worry about taking measurements when you go furniture shopping, simply click a picture of your space and let AR provide you recommendations forfurniture that would fit into that space. Similarly, Sephora provides a customer the option to see themselves with selected beauty products applied to their faces, hence making it so much easier for customers to choose their products. Amazon and L’Oreal teamed up to provide a similar experience, which is currently limited to only lipsticks. However, we can be sure that Amazon has entered the race for providing ‘customer delight’ to its shoppers, hence soon we will be able to try many more things before buying on Amazon. Nike has been providing a superior shopping experience to their customers by allowing them to virtually try shoes that would fit their size. These apps use AR to measure the feet size of customers so they can buy the right products and hence, reduce the need for returns. Show brand Airwalk went a step further using geolocation and AR to create “pop-up” shops where you can try and shop for shoes. When they adopted this technology, it led to $5 million in earned media in 2018! Apparel brands like Gap and Burberry have also embraced AR for providing virtual “fitting rooms” so the customers can try an outfit before buying it. In the Covid-19 era when people are either unable to or unwilling to go out, art galleries and museums also started using AR to provide virtual tours for their patrons. You can not only visit these art galleries using AR and see their artwork on display, you can also see the art from up close, from different angles, and do multiple visits, from the comfort of your own home. RtistiQ provides you a similar experience where you can interact with the artwork that you intend to buy. Then, you can see how these would look in your home before making a final decision. As a customer, AR is very useful to you and has perhaps completely disrupted the way you are used to shopping, but in quite a brilliant way! Author: Manisha Bhati

RtistiQ

29 Mar 2021

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Most expensive Western artwork ever sold in Asia Jean-Michel Basquiat's Warrior (1982) is making the headlines these days after becoming the most expensive Western work of art to be sold at auction in Asia. Offered during a single-lot auction at Christie's in Hong Kong, the painting has sold for $41.7m (fees included), according to The Art Newspaper. The American collector selling it, bought the painting in 2012 at Sotheby's London for £5.5m (fees included). A great investment one might argue. This comes as no surprise since Basquiat is no stranger to the art market records, according to Art Basel’s Art Market Report, he is in the top 5 highest selling artists at auction in 2020. Warrior (1982) Basquiat's Warrior, depicted full-length and brandishing a sword, is considered semi-autobiographical and dates to the artist's most innovative and desirable period. It has been exhibited at Akira Ikeda Gallery, Tokyo, in 1983, and was included in the 2019 exhibition Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in New York City. As well, it had appeared at auction twice before being acquired be the current seller: selling at Sotheby's in 2005 and 2007 for $1.8m and $5.6m respectively. Who was Basquiat? Jean-Michel Basquiat was born in 1960s New York, to Haitian and Puerto Rican parents. Having a troubled childhood Basquiat spent most of his time exploring the city, first established his name through graffiti art under the tag SAMO©. Getting involved with drugs and living on the streets, he became highly involved in the party scene and regularly attended punk-art spaces as a DJ. Nevertheless, Basquiat was not the juvenile delinquent stereotype. With a passion for jazz and poetry, Basquiat became involved in the cultural Renaissance that was burgeoning in New York in the 1980’s. He soon began painting and drawing, incorporating graffiti art and poetry on his canvases. This quickly sparked his fame, with his first exhibition in 1982 being completely sold out and his fame skyrocketed when he made friends with Keith Haring and Andy Warhol and started dating Madonna. Despite having a very short life and career, he died of a drug overdose at the age of 27 (in 1988), his legacy lives on through prolific body of work. Basquiat’s legacy Basquiat absorbed an incredibly wide range of influences, which he fused together to create a new visual language blending painting, punk, graffiti, primitivism and poetry. Having never studied it, Basquiat said he learnt about art “by looking at it”. His art seems outside art chronology, he is like one of the Beat Poets of Painting. Nevertheless, the critics has found a spot for him into the narrative of art history and is often described as a Neo-Expressionist painter. Basquiat’s work is hugely influential and remains especially relevant today given the social and political climates across the world. He explores his mixed African, Latin, and American heritage through a visual vocabulary of personally resonant signs, symbols, and figures. Much of his works are commentaries on racial and social inequalities. Basquiat remains the King of the 80s’ New York culture. Image Courtesy: Warrior (1982) by Jean-Michel Basquiat Courtesy of Christie's Author: Floarea Bänziger

RtistiQ

26 Mar 2021

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Pablo Picasso is believed to have said that good artists borrow and great artists steal. Some artists maybe have taken these words a little too seriously. We’ve collected five famous painters that were the center of major forgery scandals. 1. Michelangelo Michelangelo’s Pieta (1499) — not the work he faked Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons This is not the story of a forger mocking the great Michelangelo, but the great Michelangelo mocking someone else. In the late 15th century, Michelangelo was a young artist looking to make his way in the world. He studied under Lorenzo de Medici, who quickly discovered that this young man had incredible talent. Unfortunately, art buyers at the time were obsessed with artwork from the classical world, and that gave Michelangelo an idea. He created a sculpture and artificially aged it. His work was so successful he sold it to an Italian Cardinal. The Cardinal eventually realized what happened, but instead of ruining Michelangelo’s name and career, his ability to copy the classical world solidified his reputation as a great new artist. 2. Johannes Vermeer Han van Meegeren’s The Men at Emmaus (1937) — sold as a Vermeer painting Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Vermeer is one of the true masters of painting. His work continues to stun people based on its tenderness and craft, which made the revelation that many of his pieces were by a master forger explosive. Han van Meegeren was a Dutch painter who, in the first half of the 20th century, became one of the greatest art forgers of all time. It began with him wanting to become a legitimate artist, but he struggled to make a name for himself. So he studied Vermeer’s paintings until he was able to make work that resembled the master. Van Meegeren obsessively learned how to parrot Vermeer’s style and quick-age the materials. Many experts thought there were likely many Vermeer paintings that had yet to be discovered, so van Meegeren created original work that he claimed were lost Vermeers. He sold today’s equivalent of $60 million worth of art to collectors under the master’s name. Some of these sales were even to Vermeer specialists. He was caught after World War II, when Dutch authorities arrested him under charges of treason for selling a Vermeer painting to the Nazi Hermann Göring. To prove what he sold was a forgery, he painted in the Vermeer style in front of police. 3. Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci’s (attributed) La Bella Principessa — a possible fake Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons In 2008, Peter Silverman came forward with a major announcement. A new work by Leonardo da Vinci had been discovered. The work, so the story went, was discovered in a friend’s drawer in Paris (actually Silerman purchased it at auction). La Bella Principessa has many art historians and experts claiming it is a fake, while still others claim it is the real thing. 4. Frida Kahlo Guillermo Kahlo’s Portrait of Frida Kahlo (1932) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons While most forgery scandals focus on one painting or a handful, this scandal rocked an entire collection. The Noyolas gathered an enormous collection of Frida Kahlo artwork, and they were set to publish a book in 2009 detailing the paintings, personal effects, and correspondence of the famous artist. The book sparked outrage, with many in the art world coming out to claim that the collection was a fraud. While the Noyolas contend that the claims of forgeries are bunk, the problems in the provenance and outright discrepancies keep mounting. Many claim that all 1200 items are fraudulent. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a thorough analysis that has satisfied both sides of the debate, and so it continues. If most or all of the collection proves definitively to be a forgery, it will stand as one of the biggest ever. 5. Henri Matisse Photo of John Myatt, one of the most prolific art forgers in history Courtesy of Web Art Academy John Myatt was a recently divorced artist in the 1980’s looking for a little extra dough. He put out an ad in Private Eye magazine offering to sell fakes, and soon his work fell into the hands of one John Drewe. Drewe was able to resell Myatt’s work, including forgeries of Henri Mattisse, to the likes of Sotheby’s and Christie’s. By the time Scotland Yard caught up with Myatt in 1995, the duo had sold around 200 fakes. Author: Jonathan M Clark

RtistiQ

20 Mar 2021

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One question that has haunted an artist since time immemorial is that “How can I protect the integrity and credibility of my artwork so that it’s value keeps on appreciating?” Be it Da Vinci or Donatello or Raja Ravi Varma, all of them would have gone through these thoughts in various phases of their lives. As the human brain evolved, everything evolved and developed along with it. Over a period of time different art styles evolved all over the world and along with it evolved the ways and hacks to steal and infringe or forge those art styles. Even when the law and enforcement bodies came out with laws and other tactics to reduce the art thieves’ ability to take advantage of the artists, the con artists also evolved their different ingenious ways to work around the system. Art Thefts and Forgeries are the dark side of the beautiful world of aesthetics that a common person sees. What a layman relishes in galleries and museums or online platforms is just the tip of the iceberg, if one goes deep into the world of art one will see the other side of it as well. Art thefts and forgeries are run by parallel underground black markets where the dealers who are in a number of occasions themselves are art connoisseurs and curators. It is a highly sophisticated and well-run business. So much so that most of the government law enforcement agencies all around the world have their respective white-collar crimes divisions which run their investigations on a large scale. If one would like to have an experience of how this whole world runs one should definitely watch a series called White Collar, in which a white-collar crimes officer of the FBI teams up with a con artist to nab the bad guys. We have earliest records of art theft and forgeries as early as the Medieval Period or what the Europeans call the Middle Ages. It is very difficult to say the exact year and place where the first theft or infringement took place but it is in literature of these periods from around the world that points at these unfortunate acts. Back in the early days, artists who were very well versed in their crafts used to take certain measures to protect the integrity of their works. Like it is common knowledge that most of the painters used to mark their paintings with what you can call a mark of originality or a painter’s coded symbol of sorts through which the most exquisite buyers found out whether this is an original work or a forgery. There are also references of well-known artists auctioning their works in known, trustworthy circles to make sure that they control the movements of their master pieces. There are some really innovative methods which were used in the earlier times but we only got to know about them with the development of technology. Like, a lot of sculptors in Europe used to hide a coded message in the form of paper scrolls inside their sculptures, the buyers were the only told where inside the sculpture is the scroll hidden and they would check it by knocking that area which was hollow so it made a different kind of sound. It is through the X-Ray that the museums today found out that these sculptures had a scroll hidden in them. All this validates the fact that the artists in the earlier years were aware and weary of art thieves and tried to use a lot of techniques to tackle them. Now let us fast forward to the 21st century. The art world has grown and evolved a lot in all the aspects like artists coming up with new techniques and innovations, new laws and checks have come up with regard to the originality and exchange and ownership of art and along with this as a part and parcel the black market has also evolved and adapted to the changes. In this world of digitization and e-commerce there have been a lot of advantages to the artists who adapted to the tech savvy world. But along with the goods, evils are not far behind, as even the black market adapted to the tech savvy millennial way of life. In this age of digitization, the artists have been able to make their websites and use various online platforms to reach out to the whole world. Now a customer sitting in the US can buy an art work of an Indian who works from a small village in Srikalahasti. But however, along with these advantages, there are also the drawbacks of art thieves and forgers having access to the works of these artists. To tackle these new world problems, the various e commerce platforms and governing bodies have come up with some new age solutions. The most common thing that all the artists these days do is patenting and copywriting their works. This is the least one can do. But along with this, there are some other hacks that the online platforms and artists do like posting either a cropped or a low resolution image of their work online. This way even if an illegal art dealer does get his/her hands on the photo, he/she will not be able to expand it and get a good resolution image to forge or infringe. Along with this, it is usually recommended by the cyber-crimes units all over the world to watermark the photo of the artwork especially through the tiling method. This way even if someone tries to infringe the work and remove the watermark that person can be apprehended by the authorities. Along with all these systems in place to protect artworks, the online e commerce platforms like RtistiQ have used latest technologies to add an additional layer of security for their artworks. They use hacks like NFC Tags, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence to maintain a digital footprint of their work along with its provenance that an artist can get notified every time his or her artwork is bought and who bought it. This also helps in avoiding the middlemen who are basically the reason why these thefts happen. It is a reality of the art world that along with all the glamour it also has the darker side attached to it and that is every artist’s biggest nightmare. But as time is evolving new innovations are being made to tackle these issues. One can only hope that the situation gets better. Author: Kush Dhebar

RtistiQ

15 Mar 2021

5 min to read

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