Paolo Soleri in Arizona

Artist/architect Paolo Soleri studied at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West and with the famous architect himself, although Soleri's designs took on a more amorphic and almost insect-like look about them. The photos were taken by me at a retrospective of the artist at The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in 2018.

This work is a dam design for Mesa, AZ. It really resembles what you imagine a dissected ant hill might look like. Soleri founded two schools/art residences around Phoenix which are both still functioning, Cosanti  and Arcosanti.

Soleri and his students started making bronze bells as a source of income and an artistic outlet. The bells can still be purchased at Cosanti.

Architectural model for Arcosanti, Mayer, AZ

Last Judgment

The Last Judgment, 1536-1541 by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.

Michelangelo and the Vatican butted heads over the nudity in this colossal fresco of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse. All of the souls are being judged and either ascending to heaven or falling down into hell. Some of the figures are coming to grips with their fates based on how they lived they lives.

Flora and Fauna

Allegory of Spring by Guiseppe Arcimboldo, 1563, The Louvre, Paris.

Arcimboldo created some of the most fascinating paintings of the 16th century. He began his career making stained glass windows and eventually worked for royalty where he created portraits made of fruits, vegetables, flowers, leaves and even books.

Spring, detail

More Greek Sculpture

Laocoon and his Sons (or Laocoon Group), Greek Hellenistic (most likely 42 -20 BC), Vatican Museums, Rome.

Laocoon warning about the Trojan Horse earned him the wrath Poseidon who sent serpents to attack him and his sons. Michelangelo was influenced by this work and the contortions of the body of Laocoon can be seen in many of his works, especially something like the Dying Slave.

Dying Slave

, 1513-16 by Michelangelo, Louvre, Paris.

Lady of Mystery

Mona Lisa, 1503/06 by Leonardo da Vinci, Musee de Louvre, Paris.

The mystery surrounding one of the most famous paintings in the world stems from the unknown identity of the sitter and the fact that the artist is one of the most famous artists of the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo used a painting technique he created called sfumato.

Unexpected News

The Annunciation, c.1441-3 by Fra Angelico, Museo di San Marco, Florence.

Calm pervades the scene as Mary is informed by the Archangel Gabriel that she is carrying the child of God. St. Peter the Martyr (the patron saint of the inquisitive) looks on as she receives the news. Fra Angelico, a Dominican Monk, was known for his palette of pastels and serene depictions.

Commissioned by Cosimo de’Medici.