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Showing posts with the label Elbe river

Feature Post.

The Slave Market and the Theatre of European Anxiety

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Author Brian Hawkeswood.                                                                                                   Nach unten scrollen für die deutsche Übersetzung https://artelbestudio.blogspot.com/2025/04/orientalist-beautiful-form-of-realism.html When Jean-Léon Gérôme exhibited The Slave Market in 1871, Europe was not an innocent observer of slavery. The Atlantic system had only recently been dismantled in parts of the Western world; Brazil would abolish slavery in 1888. European empires were expanding across Africa and the Middle East. Racial hierarchies were being codified in pseudo-scientific language. Anthropology, colonial administration, and academic painting shared an overlapping visual culture.         ...

A Riverside Reflection: Bellotto, Summer Rain, and the Shadows of Patronage

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  Author - Brian Hawkeswood.                                                   Nach unten scrollen für die deutsche Übersetzung I visited friends yesterday evening, just across the river from Pirna , on the quiet north bank of the Elbe . They insist that it isn’t Pirna at all, but the countryside — though the view from their garden, framed by trees and shrubs carefully manicured , suggests otherwise. The skyline of the town is laid out before them like a painting: the soft ochres of Baroque façades, the noble presence of St. Marien rising gently into the fading light. One sees Pirna more clearly from across the river, perhaps — like certain truths that emerge only when observed from a slight distance. "Life drawing room at the Vienna academy"  1787 Martin Ferdinand Quadal . I rode my bicycle there, weaving through the damp fragrance of the evening air...