01 Contemporary Interpretations, Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion, with footnotes #7

Laurence Winram, United Kingdom

Nude - Mihaela as Cerynitis II

Photography: Color on Paper.

Size: 23.4 H x 16.5 W x 0 in

Private collection

In Greek mythology, the Ceryneian Hind (Greek: Ελαφος Κερυνῖτις Elaphos Kerynitis), also called Cerynitis or the Golden Hind, was an enormous hind, who lived in Keryneia, Greece. It was sacred to Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt, animals and unmarried women. It had golden antlers like a stag and hooves of bronze or brass, and it was said that it could outrun an arrow in flight. The capture of the hind was the third labour of Heracles.

Laurence Winram.  Now based in Edinburgh, Scotland. My main current ongoing project is Mythoslogos - The ancient Greeks made sense of their world not only by logic but by myth too. They saw it was necessary to view things in these opposite ways in order to have a balanced understanding of their lives. I feel we have moved out of that balance, unconsciously letting go of that mythic element to our lives. As a result we've lost touch with our own personal vision and creativity. We let a dogmatic scientific perspective rule everything, from our dreams to our notions of the spiritual. So in this series I try to reflect on this, creating images that sometimes imagine a world where logic has been usurped by the mythic, or images that mock our need to analyse and break down those parts of our life that we should truly respond to more intuitively. Recently I've been exploring studio nude photography. I'm not interested in glamour in these images, I'm much more drawn to echoing the beauty of the female form within the context of the framing of the shot to create an abstract graphic quality. I Also use creative lighting often with projectors to enhance this. Please view my personal work website or contact me if you would like to see more, or if you wish to purchase images you don't see here. More on Laurence Winram

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

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01 Contemporary Interpretations, Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion, with footnotes #4

Brian Smyth, Italy

A study for Andromeda

Oil on linen

Size: 20 H x 16 W x 1 in

Private collection

"I worked the painting from quick pencil sketches and photographs, as it was too difficult for the model to hold the pose over the duration of the painting process. I chose to add a more painterly, abstract background to the figure, to contrast with the more classical rendering of the model. I painted the painting oil on linen".

Andromeda is the daughter of the Aethiopian king Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia's hubris leads her to boast that Andromeda is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage Aethiopia as divine punishment. Andromeda is stripped and chained naked to a rock as a sacrifice to sate the monster, but is saved from death by Perseus.

As a subject, Andromeda has been popular in art since classical times; it is one of several Greek myths of a Greek hero's rescue of the intended victim of an archaic hieros gamos, giving rise to the "princess and dragon" motif. From the Renaissance, interest revived in the original story, typically as derived from Ovid's account. More on Andromeda

Brian Smyth: "I was born in Cork City, in Ireland. I began my art studies at the Crawford College of Art and design. I studied there for four years and graduated. Starting the year I left college with a sell out exhibition in the Lavit gallery in Cork. In the following years, I continued to develop and fine tune my art practice, while participating in many exhibitions, both solo and group shows. I had solo exhibitions in Dublin, London,  and in Edinburgh at the Leith gallery. At the start of 2012 I decided to enrol at the Angel Academy in Florence, in order to learn more comprehensively the skills of drawing and painting, from life. I studied there for three years and upon graduation I was asked to stay on and become a senior art instructor there, specialising in drawing and painting from the live model. I worked there for three and a half years, teaching many students the techniques and principles of life drawing and painting. I decided to leave Angel Academy, to return to the world of painting full time. I continue to live in Florence where I periodically run workshops in portraiture and figure painting. I also give workshops in academic painting in Ireland. More on Brian Smyth

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.

01 Classic Works of Art, Marine Paintings of Mermaids, with Footnotes, 5d

A mermaid is a marine creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. The first stories appeared in ancient Assyria. Mermaids can be benevolent or beneficent.

Gustave Wertheimer,  (Austrian, 1847–1904)

A nude woman on ship/ The enchanted sleeper

Oil on canvas

101.5 x 82.5 cm. (40 x 32.5 in.)

Private collection

Gustav Wertheimer (born January 28, 1847 in Vienna , † August 24, 1902 in Paris ) was an Austrian genre and portrait painter.

Wertheimer began his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Joseph von Führich . Since May 10, 1870 he studied in the technical painting class of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Wilhelm von Diez .  After graduation, he worked in Munich. At the Vienna World Fair in 1873 he presented for the first time a larger work: Nero during the fire in Rome . This had previously been presented at the Vienna Kunstsalon. In 1881 he moved Wertheimer to Paris,  where he remained until his death.

In Paris, Wertheimer experienced his greatest successes. His participation in art exhibitions in Amsterdam ,  London , New Orleans and Paris earned him numerous medals and prizes. He also received honorary awards at the Paris World's Fair in 1889 and 1900. More on Gustav Wertheimer

Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, and The Canals of Venice

Images are copyright of their respective owners, assignees or others. Some Images may be subject to copyright

I don't own any of these images - credit is always given when due unless it is unknown to me. if I post your images without your permission, please tell me.

I do not sell art, art prints, framed posters or reproductions. Ads are shown only to compensate the hosting expenses.

If you enjoyed this post, please share with friends and family.

Thank you for visiting my blog and also for liking its posts and pages.