colour etching with aquatint
Giovanni Battista Piranesi was an 18th-century Italian painter, engraver, architect, and archaeologist who represented Neoclassicism and Romanticism. He was famous for creating a lot of original etchings with images of antique architecture monuments.
Giovanni Piranesi created hundreds of drawings and drafts in which he depicted the reconstructed ruins of ancient Roman buildings. His works are still used as teaching aids in the education of architectural students in many prestigious European universities. Piranesi periodically printed voluminous books with dozens of his own engravings depicting modified ancient architectural masterpieces - "graphic fantasies". His works were in demand among professional architects, who borrowed Piranesi's original ideas for their designs.
The peak of Piranesi's career came in the 1760s when, in recognition of his merits, he became an honorary member of the Guild of St. Luke and received from the Pope the title of Knight of the Golden Spur.
More than 700 of the master's original etchings have survived, printed in scholarly works.
Robert Milton Ernest Rauschenberg was an American artist renowned for his pioneering work that blurred the boundaries between painting and sculpture, thereby anticipating the Pop art movement. From his early days at the Art Students League of New York to his experiments at Black Mountain College, Rauschenberg's career was marked by innovation and collaboration. His "Neo-Dadaist" approach, shared with contemporaries like Jasper Johns, questioned traditional distinctions between art objects and everyday items, drawing inspiration from Marcel Duchamp's Dadaist principles.
Rauschenberg's most notable works, such as "Erased de Kooning Drawing" and his "Combines," utilized found materials and images to create new art forms that challenged viewers' perceptions. His use of non-traditional materials like twine, soil, and even taxidermied animals, alongside traditional canvas and paint, set new precedents for what could be considered art. His groundbreaking silkscreen paintings incorporated found images, further cementing his role in the evolution toward Pop art.
The artist's work is represented in major museums and galleries worldwide, reflecting his significant impact on contemporary art. His pieces like "Canyon" and "Monogram" are celebrated for their innovative integration of sculpture and painting, while "Signs" captures the tumultuous spirit of the 1960s through its collage of cultural figures and events, housed in institutions like the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, and The Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
For collectors and experts in art and antiques, Rauschenberg's oeuvre represents a critical junction in the history of modern art, where the lines between different media and disciplines were explored and often erased. His legacy is not just in the objects he created but in his bold reimagining of the art-making process itself, encouraging a dialogue between art and life that continues to inspire artists today.
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Thomas Schütte is a German contemporary artist. He sculpts, creates architectural designs, and draws. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
Ernst Wilhelm Nay was a German painter and graphic designer of classical modernism. He is considered one of the most important painters of German post-war art.
