April 2007
Volume 1, Number 4

Inside this issue...

Artist Of The Month: Raphael
Art In The News 
Outside The Lines
Segmation News

Artist Of The Month: Raphael 

while still very young, Raphael was apprenticed to Pietro Perugino, one of the first Italian artists to use oil paints in a significant manner. Raphael’s early works, in which static figures are painted in rich, bold colors offset by pale, shimmering landscapes, certainly reflect Perugino’s style.

In 1504 Raphael started visiting Florence in order to study the works of established masters such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolommeo. From them he learned anatomy, perspective and the use of light and shade. Fra Bartolomeo persuaded him to adopt a bolder, more monumental style of painting. The paintings produced during those four years are known as the Florentine period and vary greatly in nature and scale. He painted numerous idealized portraits of Madonnas and large-scale religious works.

In 1508, when Raphael was only 25 years old, Pope Julius II commissioned him to produce a series of frescoes for four state rooms of the Vatican Palace, known as the Stanze. The most famous of these works is The School of Athens, depicting the philosophers of the Ancient World. In this fresco he pays homage to his contemporaries by interspersing the figures of Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Bramante as philosophers debating with Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.

In 1514, Pope Leo X, the successor of Julius II, appointed Raphael chief architect of Saint Peter’s Basilica and a year later made him Superintendent of Antiquities in the Rome area. Under the patronage of Leo X, Raphael was commissioned to design ten tapestries for the Sistine Chapel depicting scenes from the lives of the Apostles. The drawings, or cartoons, for these tapestries are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

By this time, Raphael was considered to be the most important painter and architect in Rome. Among the magnificent altarpieces he produced during those years is the famous Sistine Madonna, where the Virgin and Child appear surrounded by radiant clouds above two delightful cherubs whose appeal has survived the ages. He also produced some of his finest portraits. The style he used for the portrait of the aged Pope Julius II is credited with revolutionizing the art of portrait painting.

Raphael never married, but the love of his life was a beauty known as La Fornarina – the baker’s daughter, whom he painted in a sensual pose.

You can find a great collection of Raphael patterns to use with SegPlayPC ™ here: http://www.segmation.com/SegPlayPCPatterns.asp#RAF. 

Art In The News

Warhol’s “Lemon Marilyn”: Bought For $250 – Expected To Sell At $15 Million

A US collector who bought an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe in 1962 for $250 is putting the painting on sale. According to a Reuters report, the iconic pop-art portrait is expected to fetch over $15 million in an auction at Christie's, New York to be held in May.

"Lemon Marilyn" was one of 13 portraits the celebrity-obsessed Andy Warhol made of Marilyn after she committed suicide in August, 1962. "Orange Marilyn", another painting in the series, was sold for $16.3 million in 2006.

The identity of the current owner has not been revealed.

Source: Reuters

Stranger Than A Spielberg Movie – Stolen Rockwell Turns Up In The Director’s Collection.

A Norman Rockwell painting stolen over 30 years ago turned up in Steven Spielberg’s private collection, according to a report by the Associated Press. The FBI announced that Spielberg bought the painting legally.

Rockwell’s “Russian Schoolroom” was stolen from a gallery in St. Louis, Missouri in a late-night burglary in 1973. The Oscar-winning filmmaker purchased the painting in 1989 from a legitimate dealer, not knowing that it was stolen.

The oil-on-canvas painting shows children in a classroom with a bust of communist leader Vladimir Lenin. An FBI agent and an art expert confirmed its authenticity. FBI estimates value the painting at $700,000.

Source: Washington Post

Outside The Lines

He Said What? Famous Quotes About Art

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973)

You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
Scott Adams (1957 - ), 'The Dilbert Principle'

Any fool can paint a picture, but it takes a wise man to be able to sell it.
Samuel Butler (1835 - 1902)

We're currently working on a SegPlay version for Windows Mobile devices (including some phones, and hand held devices. For more information on our progress, visit our SegPlayMobile™ page. Please let us know if you'd be interested in helping to test this product.

Our SegPlayPC pattern collection is growing!! We've added some great new pattern sets in the last few weeks including "USA State Flags", "Motorcycles"and "Pierre-Auguste Renoir - French Impressionist" .

We're always looking for more appealing art pieces for our SegPlay™ online paint by number collection. If you are an aspiring artist and am interested in setting up a free personal category on SegPlay to showcase some of your work in our fun paint by number world (like Michelle Vauk and Stan Levine recently did), drop us an email submit@segmation.com.

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-Mark & Beth

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