Diego Velazquez

Diego Velazquez was born in Spain in 1599. When he was eleven he told his parents that he wanted to be a painter. He immediately became apprenticed to a religious painter, Pacheco, in Seville. Pacheco was impressed by Velazquez’s talent and hoped the boy would grow up to be a religious painter like him. Velazquez wasn’t interested in painting for churches, though. He loved to paint pictures of the people of Seville. He was especially good at painting scenes in taverns and kitchens. The picture shown below, An Old Woman Frying Eggs, is a good example of this.
When Velazquez was nineteen, he married Pacheco’s daughter, they moved into a house together, and Velazquez opened his own studio. After eight years of study, he was now a master painter.

In order to earn enough money to support his wife and young daughter, Velazquez began to create religious paintings for the church. He used real models from Seville as the basis of his paintings. Because of this, the people in his paintings looked alive. Velazquez never stopped painting the subjects he loved, though. He wandered through Seville, collecting ideas for paintings.

In 1623, Velazquez moved to Madrid. Soon after, he became “Painter to the King.” His portraits were adored by the royalty but other painters were jealous of Velazquez’s position. Below is one of Velazquez's early portraits of King Philip IV.
Velazquez enjoyed his position as “Painter to the King” but he longed for more freedom. He was able to take a trip to Italy to study the work of the Italian masters but he was rushed back to Spain when a prince was born.

Velazquez had to be available all the time to paint for the King. He even went with the King to battlefields. On the King’s second trip to the battle front, the Prince became ill and died. The Queen had died just before the trip and the King was extremely saddened. The King was forced to marry again because he had to have another son. Who would take over the Spanish throne?

The King’s new marriage gave Velazquez a reason to go back to Italy: the whole palace needed to be redecorated and Velazquez was put in charge of decorating it. He couldn’t paint enough to decorate an entire palace so he bought paintings by some of the Italian masters.
Velazquez loved his time away from the palace. He created many paintings and he loved the freedom of choosing his own subjects. While was in Rome, he even painted a portrait of the Pope (above).

In 1659, Velazquez was awarded the highest honor: the cross of Santiago. This meant that Velazquez was now a noble. He died only a year later.

Shown above is one of Velazquez's most famous paintings, The Maids of Honour.

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Jusepe de Ribera

Jusepe de Ribera (also known as Jose de Ribera) was born in Spain in 1591. His parents wanted him to go to school so he could work an intellectual job but Ribera wanted to paint. He worked as an apprentice for awhile and learned his art. By 1611 he had moved to Italy.

Ribera lived in Rome until about 1616. There, he studied the work of great painters of the time. This was the end of the Renaissance and there were great painters everywhere.

Finally, Ribera moved to the Kingdom of Naples. Today, Naples is a port city on the south-western coast of Italy. In Ribera’s time, Naples and the towns around it made up the Kingdom of Naples and was ruled by Spain. Ribera made an impression on the Spanish Viceroy, or ruler, of the Kingdom of Naples, and the man bought some of Ribera’s paintings.

In 1647 and 1648, when Ribera was sick and the people of Naples were rebelling against Spanish rule, the Viceroy even let Ribera stay at the palace. Ribera died in 1652.


Ribera’s paintings were extremely realistic. He wanted to paint the world the way it really was and that included the bad things. He especially liked to paint people in pain. Ribera was very good at showing pain of the faces of his subjects. Look at the painting above, The Deliverance of St. Peter.
In his early paintings, Ribera used a strong contrast between light and dark to create murky looking paintings. The painting above, Jerome Hears the Trumpet, is one example. Around 1630, Ribera moved away from this. He began to create paintings that seemed to glow with dim light. An example of this is Saint Francis of Assisi, shown below.
Check back tomorrow for another Spanish painter.

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Kandinsky Geometry

I have already written about Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian, abstract artist. For a class I’m taking, I have been working on a geometry lesson using one of his paintings. I thought some of you might find it useful. In my opinion, any time you can incorporate art into math or reading—or any subject—it’s a good thing.

The purpose of the activity is for kids to learn to measure diameter, radius, and circumference of a circle. This activity is good for 3rd and 4th graders.

Materials Needed:

Kandinsky’s Circles in a Circle
Ruler
Pencil
Yarn

Focus first on the inside of the large, black circle.

Diameter is the measurement of the length across a circle. To find the diameter, use a ruler to measure straight across the circle. This line should cut the circle exactly in half.

Radius is the measurement from any point on the edge of the circle to the center. It would not be easy to guess the exact middle of the circle so, to find radius, divide the diameter in half. If you don’t yet know how to divide, try using a paper ruler that you can fold. Find the diameter and then fold the ruler so the diameter is split in two equal parts. The fold will tell you the radius.

Circumference is the measure around the circle. To find circumference, use a piece of yarn to find the length around the outside edge of the circle. Then, use your ruler to measure the yarn.

Repeat these steps until you are a master of measuring diameter, radius, and circumference.

A related project can be found here.

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Swim Stay!!

I am excited to announce that some people who are very close to me have started a business. The company, Liquid Lanai Concepts, LLC, is a small, family business which has put out a useful, well-constructed, inexpensive product.

This great product allows you to use your backyard pool for exercise. It's called the Swim Stay. This product is not meant for children but is a fantastic workout tool for adults with pools. Swimming is one of the best exercises you can do. It allows you to work your entire body and it doesn't strain your joints and bones the way running does... but you know all that.

Please check out their new website and, if you think the product will benefit you, purchase a Swim Stay of your own.

Santiago Calatrava

And finally, a modern Spanish architect…

Santiago Calatrava was born in Spain in 1951 and is still alive and working. He is a sculptor, architect, and structural engineer.
Calatrava began his career designing bridges and train stations (like the one shown above). He is currently working on a design for a station at the former site of the World Trade Center. The station will remind viewers of a hand releasing a bird.

Calatrava is also working on a building that, when finished, will be the tallest building in North America. It is called the Chicago Spire and was inspired by campfire smoke twisting into the air. To me, it looks like a twisty rocket ship.
He has designed many modern-looking buildings that have been constructed throughout the world. I really love the Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden (shown above). If you are from the Milwaukee area you will certainly have see the Milwaukee Art Museum (below).
In Valencia, Spain you will find the City of Arts and Sciences. The city includes five massive and gorgeous buildings designed by Calatrava. The Hemispheric is especially beautiful. It looks like an oyster with a giant pearl. Also check out the pictures of the Palace of Arts and the Museum of Science.

Each of Calatrava’s designs is so different from the others but you can see that they came from the same mind.

To the Americans: Happy 4th of July! To everyone else: Enjoy your weekend!

I will be posting later today about something that is not related to art but that you may be interested in. Be sure to check back.

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