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Laura Keene, born Mary Frances Moss, was a British and American stage actress and theater manager.
Mary made her London debut in 1851 as Laura Keene, joining the Madame Vestris Theater Company, where she soon became well known in comedies and feuds. In 1852, Keene arrived in New York City, where she performed with the troupe of James W. Wallack, a year later at the Charles Street Theater, and in 1854 in San Francisco. Here she had already begun staging her own productions.
In 1855, Keene returned to New York to play at the Metropolitan Theater, which she renamed the Laura Keene Variety Theater, and built her own theater. Within eight years she was a major theater producer and director at her theater. Laura Keene's productions were an enduring success, attended by distinguished audiences and fans. But once during her performance there was a tragedy that shook the whole country.
April 14, 1865 at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. was a performance of Laura Keene's company "Our American Cousin", where President Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln were present. Actor John Wilkes Booth shot and mortally wounded President Lincoln, then fled the theater. Laura Keene snuck to the presidential box and placed the mortally wounded president's head in her lap. The blood-stained cuff was later donated to the National Museum of American History. Laura Keene welled up Booth and later identified him under questioning.
Joan Miró, a celebrated Spanish artist, was a master in painting, sculpture, and ceramics, renowned for his unique style that blurred the lines between Surrealism, Fauvism, and Expressionism. Born in Barcelona to a family of a goldsmith and a watchmaker, Miró grew up immersed in the rich cultural heritage of the Barri Gòtic neighborhood. His artistic journey began with drawing classes at the age of seven and continued at the prestigious La Llotja art academy. Despite an initial venture into the business world, Miró's passion for art prevailed, leading him to abandon his clerical career after a nervous breakdown.
Miró's work is noted for its exploration of the subconscious, often depicting a childlike perspective. This approach was both a critique of traditional painting methods and a means of expressing Catalan pride. His art, challenging to categorize, often featured symbolic elements and nationalistic qualities. One of his notable early works, "The Farm," reflects a transition to a more individual style, blending elements of his Catalan roots with broader artistic influences. This piece, later purchased by Ernest Hemingway, encapsulated the essence of Spain in its imagery.
In Paris, Miró joined the Surrealist movement in 1924, where his work began to reflect the influence of automatism, emphasizing spontaneous, automatic, or subconscious creation. He experimented with various mediums, including painting-poetry and collage, and even ventured into set and costume design for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
During World War II, Miró remained in Spain, and his work from this period, including the 22 Constellations series, reflected an interest in the night, music, and stars. His forms became increasingly abstracted, and he experimented with various techniques, often incorporating primary colors and evocative titles.
Miró's career spanned several decades, during which he continually evolved his style and explored new mediums. His contributions to art were recognized with numerous awards and retrospectives, including a major career retrospective at MoMA in 1941 and the Spanish Gold Medal for Fine Arts in 1980. Among his last major works was a tapestry for the World Trade Center in New York City, created in 1974.
For art collectors and enthusiasts, Joan Miró remains a figure of immense interest, not only for his distinct style and contributions to Surrealism but also for his ability to blend poetic imagery with political commentary. To stay updated on new product sales and auction events related to Joan Miró, sign up for our updates and immerse yourself in the world of this extraordinary artist.
Ismaël Boulliau (Boulliaud), also known as Ismael Bullialdus, was a French astronomer and mathematician who followed the teachings of Copernicus.
Boulliau worked as a librarian for many years and had the opportunity to study the scientific works of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler, and as a result became a strong supporter of the heliocentric system of the world. Boulliau was also intimately acquainted with Huygens, Gassendi, Pascal and other prominent scientists of the time, and he translated many works from Greek into Latin.
Boulliau's main astronomical work, published in 1645, was Astronomia philolaica (Astronomy of Philolaus, named after the ancient Greek Pythagorean philosopher Philolaus, who promoted the idea of the motion of the Earth). In it, he supported Kepler's first law that the planets move on ellipses, and provided new evidence for this. Isaac Newton, in Book III of The Mathematical Beginnings of Natural Philosophy, relies on measurements of the magnitudes of planetary orbits determined from observations by Kepler and Boulliau.
Boulliau was also interested in history, theology, classical studies, and philology. He was active in the Republic of Letters, an intellectual community whose members exchanged ideas.
Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy, a French painter, is celebrated for his pivotal role in the Surrealist movement. Born in Paris in 1900, Tanguy's distinctive style is characterized by his meticulous and fantastical landscapes. These dream-like sceneries, populated with abstract shapes and organic forms, evoke a sense of otherworldly mystery and have captivated the imagination of art enthusiasts and collectors alike.
Tanguy's journey into the world of art was somewhat unconventional. Initially drawn to the merchant navy and later to the army, it wasn't until a pivotal encounter with the works of Giorgio de Chirico that Tanguy decided to pursue painting. Despite his lack of formal training, he quickly became a prominent figure in the Surrealist movement, contributing significantly to its ethos and aesthetic. His paintings are renowned for their unique blend of precision and spontaneity, combining elements of the natural world with abstract forms to create enigmatic landscapes that defy conventional interpretation.
Among Tanguy's most notable works are those housed in prestigious institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Tate Modern in London. These pieces serve as a testament to his enduring influence on the world of art and culture. Tanguy's ability to transcend the boundaries of reality and imagination has made his work particularly appealing to collectors and experts in art and antiques, who seek to understand the depths of Surrealism through his visionary eye.
For enthusiasts of Raymond Georges Yves Tanguy's art, staying informed about upcoming sales and auction events is crucial. By signing up for updates, collectors can ensure they never miss an opportunity to acquire a piece of this iconic artist's legacy. This subscription is not only a gateway to exclusive information on new product sales but also a direct line to the heart of the art and antiques world, where the surreal becomes tangible, and the legacy of a master painter continues to inspire.
Otto Brunfels (also Brunsfels, Braunfels) was a German theologian, botanist and physician.
After studying theology and philosophy at the University of Mainz, Brunfels went to a Cartesian monastery near Strasbourg and later became interested in botany there. 1524 he opened a school in Strasbourg. In 1530, Brunfels began studying medicine at the University of Basel and two years later became city physician in Bern, where he remained for the rest of his life.
In addition to theological works, Brunfels published works on education, Arabic, pharmacy, and botany. His Herbarium Vivae Icones (1530 and 1536) and Contrafayt Kreüterbuch (1532-1537) contain woodcuts of German plants with their German common names. The 135 original woodcuts are detailed, accurate, and realistic depictions of living plants by the German artist and engraver Hans Weiditz. Brunfels' work contributed to the shift away from medieval outdated herbalism to the establishment of botany as a modern science. Carl Linnaeus considered Brunfels one of the founders of modern botany.
Jonathan Swift was a British-Irish writer, essayist, philosopher, and author of the world-famous satirical novel Gulliver's Travels.
Swift also wrote numerous works, including The Tale of the Barrel (1704), An Argument Against the Abolition of Christianity (1712), and A Modest Proposal (1729). Almost all of Swift's satirical works were published anonymously, giving the author wide latitude in expressing his talent as a satirist.
Swift was a clergyman, made a career in London, became the chief pamphleteer and political writer of the Tories and headed the Tory journal "The Inspector", and then returned to Ireland, where he created his major life's work.
The four-part novel Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift's greatest satire, was first published in 1726 and has since been reprinted hundreds of times in many languages around the world. The author describes in an engaging style the different races and societies that Gulliver encounters on his travels to ridicule the many errors, follies, weaknesses and vices to which people and society at large are subject. The author's boundless imagination, bitter irony, keen intellect and brilliant language give this work a world-class scope.