34. Classical Crossover, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 34th lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.

I am going to introduce some of the music in the lecture with a brief overview of the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

Please refer to the following link for my previous lectures.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

After finishing the “World Music” series, which I have introduced for 33 weeks until last week, I will start a new music genre from this week.

Today's music genre is “Classical Crossover”. 

It was the 34th lecture of "ACJ Music Academy," held on February 13, 2016. 

It was a warming-up course for entering the 'Opera' lectures, which will be introduced for 10 weeks from next week.

Crossover is applied to works or performers that appear on charts of two or more different music genres.

Classical crossover includes classical music that has become widely popular to the public, or various forms of popular music played by classical artists or performed in classical moods.

It also includes the collaborations of classical musicians and popular music players as well as the fusion music between classical music such as opera or symphony and popular music such as pop, rock or Latin music.

For example, classical crossover includes the collaboration between pop vocals and opera singers, or classical instrumentalists and rock groups.

Although it's actually an old phenomenon in the music area, the name "classical crossover" was created by record companies in the 1980s.

This genre has gained popularity since the 1990s and acquired its own billboard charts.

Classical crossover is a genre that encompasses both classical and popular music, so it's generally aimed at fans for both music types.

Today, I will introduce 3 music as follows:

1. Palladio-Escala

2. Time to Say Goodbye-Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman

3. Victory-Bond

You can listen to all the music from following YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhcZk_Tl0BDwaeOA2603mlfG

Next week, I will lecture 1^st "Opera" course as my 35th lecture.

Thank you.

Korean Blog

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 30. Antonia (1915), Modigliani Institute Korea

How are you?

Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.

The 30th work to introduce for this week is “Antonia (1915)” painted in Paris, France.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 82 x 46 cm, and it is now owned by the Musée de l'Orangerie in Paris, France.

The identity of the model in this work was not exactly known but we can understand the model’s name is "Antonia" because Modigliani indicated the name of the model in the upper left of the work.

In the upper left of this work, Modigliani drew a beige rectangle using the Impasto technique, which paints thickly to give maximum texture and three-dimensional effect.

Then, Modigliani marked the name of the model “Antonia” in black on top of it, and next to the name, he drew a square containing a cross.

In the works painted by Modigliani in 1915, when this work was painted, he frequently wrote the name of the model, such as the portraits of Paul Guillaume and Madame Pompadour.

Also, the women whom Modigliani painted in this period often show common features such as elongated cylindrically-shaped neck, the use of geometric background lines and the face of round contours, and we can assume that these features are inspired by Cubism.

Although Modigliani was not a Cubist painter, this work emphasizes the sculptural feeling of a portrait inspired by Cubism, using mainly two dark colors such as brown color in the model’s hair and background, and black color in the dress.

This work thus shows Modigliani's free interpretive approach to Cubism.

For examples, the nose has different outlines on both sides, and the ears and hair are depicted differently on both sides, which suggests looking at the front and side of the model at the same time.

The green eyes look like they're looking at the viewer, but both eyes were treated as small ovals with no pupils.

The face and neck were also treated in Cubism manners. Overall, the model was extremely simplified in this work.

But her dark dress is in harmony with the black curtain on the left, and the curtains and windows in the background are in harmony with brown, black and dark blue.

The cross-sectional axis of the window is located on the central axis of the face, and the squared cross shape drawn next to the name “Antonia” in the upper left is reflected in the shape of the window to form the background geometrically.

The lines used in the background also make the picture more vibrant and contrast with the curves of the face and neck and the vertical lines of the folded arms.

The elongated form of the frame and the central position of the model, which coincides with the longitudinal axis of the dark window, further emphasize the elongated features of the model.

In this work, when looking at the whole part of the model, only the mouth maintains the natural feeling.

In other words, Modigliani interpreted the canvas frame as a whole and expressed the effect of Cubism on him on the almost entire canvas.

Thank you.

Korean Blog

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 13. HENRI DE TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

Name: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

Born: November 24, 1864; Albi, Tarn, France

Died: September 9, 1901; Château Malromé, Saint-André-du-Bois, France

Nationality: French

Art Movement: Post-Impressionism, Art Nouveau

Field: Painting, printmaking, illustration, drawing

Influenced by: Edgar Degas

Influenced on: Edvard Munch, Amedeo Modigliani, J. C. Leyendecker

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was a French painter, printmaker, caricaturist, and illustrator, whose immersion in the colorful and theatrical life of Paris in the late 19th century allowed him to produce a collection of enticing, elegant, and provocative images of the modern, sometimes decadent, affairs of those times. Toulouse-Lautrec is among the best-known painters of the Post-Impressionist period, with Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin.

FAMOUS WORKS

ALL WORKS LIST (Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec)

RELATED ARTISTS

Edgar Degas

Edvard Munch

Amedeo Modigliani

ALL ARTISTS LIST

Currently, “J art”, an internet mall of “Art Collage JANG” is selling artprints of worldwide famous artists.

In relation with this sale, I will introduce one by one every week, whose artprints are on the sale list, by following categories.

1. Artist’s Bio: Introduce brief bio of selected artist

2. Famous Works: Move to the corresponding artprints in J art by clicking

3. All Works List: Move to all works of selected artist in J art by clicking

4. Related Artists: Move to the works of the artists in J art, who are related to the selected artist.

5. All Artists List: Move to the list of all artists selling artprints in J art

Blog(Korean)

33. World Music: Korea, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 33rd lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.

I am going to introduce some of the music in the lecture with a brief overview of the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

Please refer to the following link for my previous lectures.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

Today, I will end the world music series introduced for about 8 months every Saturday with “Korean Traditional Music” and start another genre of music from next Saturday.

Today’s lecture was the 33^rd lecture of ACJ Music Academy which was held on December 11, 2015.

Korean traditional music is largely divided into Jeongak and Minsogak.

Jeongak is the music which were enjoyed by the upper-class literati of the Joseon society, and Minsogak was the music that the common people enjoyed in their daily lives.

If we look at the form of playing Korean traditional music, instrumental music includes solo, byeongju, ensemble, and vocal music includes solo and byeongchang.

Jeongak is a very peaceful music, which is not sensual music that momentarily stimulates the emotions of the listener. Therefore, it takes some time and effort to get used to the music.

“Aak” is a word that is used similarly to Jeongak. Aak was originally used to refer to music, such as 'Munmyo Jeryeak', which was composed mainly of Daesung Aak from the Song Dynasty during the Goryeo Dynasty. However, after the Japanese colonial period, the court music, and Jeongak which were enjoyed by the upper-class literati, were included in the category of Aak.

In Jeongak, the Jeryeak was used in the rituals in the court and the Pungryu Music was enjoyed by the upper-class literati in their lives. Jeongak also includes Jeongga such as Sijo, Gagok, Gasa, and Gochwiak which was used in the parades of kings and high positions’ officials.

Minsogak is the music of the common people. In Minsogak, there are Pansori, Danga, Seonsori, Jabga and Minyo as vocal music, Sanjo, Shinawi and Pungmulnori as instrumental music and Beompae and Musok Music as religious music.

Korean traditional musical instruments are made of materials from Korea. The materials used to make the Korean traditional musical instruments are eight notes, which are eight kinds of materials such as iron, thread, bamboo, leather, wood, earth, gourd, and stone.

Korean musical instruments can be classified as follows according to the materials which are made and how they are played.

Classification by material

- Iron: Jing, Nabal, Pyeonjong, Teukjong

- Thread: Geomungo, Gayageum, Haegeum, Agaeng

- Bamboo: Daegeum, Sogeum, Piri, Danso, Taepyeongso

- Leather: Janggu, Buk, Sogo

- Wood; Bak, Chuk, Eoh

- Earth: Hun

- Gourd: Saenghwang

- Stone: Pyeon-gyeong, Teuk-gyeong, Nagak

Classification by playing method

- Wind instruments: Daegeum, Piri, Danso, Tungso, Sogeum, Saenab, Nabal, Nagak

- Stringed instruments: Geomungo, Gayageum, Haegeum, Agaeng, Yanggeum

- Percussion instruments: Janggu, Buk, Jing, Kkwaenggwari, Sogo, Bak, Pyeon-gyeong, Teuk-gyeong, Unra

Like many other countries in the world, Korean traditional music is also showing a crossover aspect that is mixed with music from other genres. Due to this trend, we can see a lot of concerts combined with Korean traditional music and various western instruments.

Today, I will introduce 3 music as follows:

1. Jongmyo Jeryeak

2. Sarang-ga (In Pansori Choonhyangga)

3. Daegeum Sanjo

You can listen to all the songs from following YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYhdCgXS7hAUa5H2X6AIOyEqG

Next week, I will lecture "Classical Crossover" as my 34th lecture.

Thank you.

Korean Blog

My new article for Modigliani was published in "UN1K" art magazine in Paris, France

How are you?

Last night I received a very meaningful and happy present from Paris, France.

The present is that my new article for Modigliani was published in the "UN1K." art magazine in Paris, France.

Introducing briefly, the “UN1K.” Magazine is an art magazine located in Paris, France, which publishes articles related to rare and valuable pieces by their inventiveness or their price on the art market, and acquisitions that are the pride of museums or collectors.

It is managed by Alexia Guggémos, a journalist, art critic, and author of "L’Histoire de l’art pour les nullissimes."

After I published my Modigliani’s article in “Art & Museums Magazine” in London, UK last December, I received a request for writing an article for Modigliani from Alexia Guggémos, president of “UN1K”, and then the article, which I prepared and submitted to the “UN1K.” magazine, was published last night.

Also, with this article’s publication, I was honored to report the news of the French art to South Korea or vice versa under the title of Korean Correspondent of “UN1K.”

The theme of Modigliani's article published in the “UN1K.” magazine is about the model's eyes in the portraits painted by Modigliani, which I always wanted to write.

Modigliani portrayed various types of eyes in his own unique style, and with this in mind, I wrote an article, for analyzing the various eye types of the models in the portraits by Modigliani, by time and situation.

The title of the article is “Modigliani, the Secret of Eyes in His Portraits” and is translated into French in “UN1K.”.

You can see my article in the UN1K magazine from the below link.

https://unik-artmag.com/amedeo-modigliani-yeux-oeil-interieur-decryptage/

You can also see my article of original English version from the below link in LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/modigliani-secret-eyes-his-portraits-seungyong-chang/

Today, January 24, 2020, is 100th anniversary day since Modigliani died, and therefore, this article is more meaningful to me.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to “UN1K” magazine and president, Alexia Guggémos, who gave me a very meaningful present.

Thank you.

Korean Blog

The Introduction of the Works by Amedeo Modigliani: 29. The Portrait of Andre Rouveyre (1915), Modigliani Institute Korea

How are you?

Modigliani Institute Korea (MIK) is currently introducing artworks of Amedeo Modigliani one by one every week.

The 29th work to introduce for this week is “The Portrait of Andre Rouveyre (1915)” painted in Paris, France.

This work is a portrait of an expressionist style and an oil painting on canvas with the size of 65 x 42.5 cm.

Andre Rouveyre was an early 20th-century French writer, caricaturist and graphic artist who was born on March 29, 1879 and died on December 18, 1962. He was also the son of Édouard Rouveyre, a Parisian publisher who lived in the Rue des Saints-Pères. At the time, a member of several culturally elite circles, Rouveyre is remembered as a model for paintings by Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani.

In 1896, Rouveyre entered the Beaux-Arts in Paris and became one of Gustave Moreau's last students. Although he left school three years after enrollment, Rouveyre met Henri Matisse and the two became friends in Moreau's atelier. Then the two continued a lifelong friendship including hundreds of letters’ exchange. 

To make a living, Rouveyre also became a cartoonist for the press and worked on numerous periodicals. Rouveyre's own works show a mixture of early Minimalism reminiscent of Matisse with Expressionism, and he died in December 1962 in Barbizon, France.

In this work, Modigliani portrayed Rouveyre's face in an angled style that is different from his typical style.

In 1914, Modigliani abandoned sculpting, to which he devoted almost five years, but when he painted this work in 1915, it seems that he still had a regret about the sculpture. Such regret of him for the sculpting was reflected in the face of Rouveyre in this work. Modigliani also made the model's angled face stand out by using lines to divide the background.

The typical styles of Modigliani are a long neck, an elongated body, and eyes with no pupils. In this work, the model's one eye has a pupil and the other eye is empty, which is one of Modigliani's typical styles. However, the color of the empty eye without a pupil is black, which is the same as that of the background, giving the feeling of seeing the background through the empty eye.

A long neck, one of Modigliani's typical styles, is also expressed in this work.

In general, if Modigliani painted model’s eyes by his unique style, he didn’t express the model’s neck elongated. In other words, Modigliani usually didn’t express his unique styles of the eyes and neck at the same time in a work.

However, this work is characterized by the simultaneous appearance of the eyes without a pupil and a long neck.

Also, in this work, the model's aquiline nose is heavily tilted to the right side as well as the small mouth is to the right. This expression seems to compensate for the rise of the model's left eye and eyebrows over the right eye and eyebrows. It also seems to be Modigliani’s intended attempt to express the stubborn nature of the model.

Finally, Modigliani's another preferred style is also well represented in this work, which treats the colors of the attire and the background equally so that the viewers can concentrate on the model.

Thank you.

Korean Blog

ARTIST OF THE WEEK: 12. EGON SCHIELE

Name: Egon Schiele

Born: June 12, 1890, Tulln an der Donau, Austria

Died: October 31, 1918, Vienna, Austria

Nationality: Austrian

Art Movement: Expressionism

Genre: Nude painting, self-portrait

Field: Painting, drawing

Influenced by: Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Jan Toorop, Edvard Munch, Wassily Kandinsky

Influenced on: Francis Bacon, Julian Schnabel

Friends/Co-workers: Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka

Egon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and the many self-portraits the artist produced, including naked self-portraits. The twisted body shapes and the expressive line that characterize Schiele's paintings and drawings mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism.

FAMOUS WORKS

ALL WORKS LIST (Egon Schiele)

RELATED ARTISTS

Gustav Klimt

Vincent van Gogh

Edvard Munch

Wassily Kandinsky

ALL ARTISTS LIST

Currently, “J art”, an internet mall of “Art Collage JANG” is selling artprints of worldwide famous artists.

In relation with this sale, I will introduce one by one every week, whose artprints are on the sale list, by following categories.

1. Artist’s Bio: Introduce brief bio of selected artist

2. Famous Works: Move to the corresponding artprints in J art by clicking

3. All Works List: Move to all works of selected artist in J art by clicking

4. Related Artists: Move to the works of the artists in J art, who are related to the selected artist.

5. All Artists List: Move to the list of all artists selling artprints in J art

Blog(Korean)

32. World Music: Japan, ACJ Music Academy

How are you?

Following the last week, I am going to start my 32nd lecture.

I had conducted music lectures at Art Collage JANG in Seoul, South Korea every Saturday from March 2015 to December 2017.

I am going to introduce some of the music in the lecture with a brief overview of the lecture by the lecture’s order every Saturday.

Please refer to the following link for my previous lectures.

https://blog.naver.com/csydr/220995605864

The 32nd lecture for today is "World Music: Japan".

This lecture was the 32nd lecture of “ACJ Music Academy”, which was held on 5 December 2015.

Early Japanese music development was made under the influence of China, Korea, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia.

In particular, the facts that many musicians went to Japan from the Korean peninsula in 453 AD and the Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the 7th century were very important events in the history of Japanese music.

Due to such events, the court music "Gagaku" and the Buddhist music "Shomyo" began to develop from this period in Japan.

In the early history of Japan, Gagaku and Shomyo were developed, and the general art genres such as "Noh'' were developed during the period up to 1500, when Japan's shogunate was established.

During this period, samurai and monks had a great influence on Japanese music, and the music of monks who sang with the accompaniment of Biwa, a Japanese lute instrument that came from Central Asia through the Silk Road, was developed.

Since the period from 1500 to 1868 was the period of Japan's Sakoku policy, the musical influence of the outside world was negligible, but the commercial activities of merchants became more active, and "Shamisen'' music, reflecting the sophisticated urban culture, gradually appeared.

During the Edo period, various types of folk songs were developed, mainly singing labor and love, in line with shamisen, drums, and flutes.

Kabuki, one of Japan's three classic plays, appeared in the early 17th century, and was developed into a more lively and friendly pop music form by combining Noh's narrative stories and recitals with shamisen, flute and drums.

Kabuki has become one of Japan's leading traditional arts since the Second World War through the international performances in Europe, Asia and the United States.

Shamisen, one of the traditional Japanese musical instruments, is a string instrument in which Chinese instrument, "Erhu”, of two strings was transformed into three strings after entering Japan through Okinawa.

Shamisen, which means “three flavored strings,” has three lines of different thickness.

It has now become an accompaniment instrument for most of Japan's traditional music and one of the most popular instruments in Japan.

Today, I will introduce 3 music as follows:

1. Hanayagi-Ensemble Nipponia

2. Kabuki

3. Rising-Yoshida Brothers

You can listen to all the songs from following YouTube link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSmshmgJzYheXJaVkepu8Hn96xgoPQLuk

Next week, I will lecture "World Music: Korea" as my 33rd lecture.

Thank you.

Korean Blog