Yaggy's Geographical Study: A Treasure from 1887It's hard to even describe the publication of Levi Walter Yaggy's Geographical Study as a book. It was rather a collection of geographical maps and scientific illustrations that ranged from two to four feet wide, plus a guide to teaching from them, inside an ornate wooden box. The box also contained an attached relief map of the United States made of plaster and papier-mâché. The illustrations are gorgeous and varied. Some are landscapes, while others chart the stars in the sky, and still others are cutaways and illustrations of the underground or the deep sea. Some have different layers that could be adjusted or removed to show different aspects of some earth science concept.
Swifties Make the Most of a Weekend in ViennaTaylor Swift had to cancel three concerts in Vienna after a terrorism threat. It's one of those things that just happens, and there's not much that can be done about it. Vienna was nevertheless full of Taylor Swift fans who had come from thousands of miles away and booked hotels for the event. But what does this have to do with art? The art museums of Vienna collaborated on a plan to make all those out-of-town guests feel appreciated. Ten different museums decided to waive their entrance fees in a goodwill gesture for the weekend. The Albertina saw more than 20,000 Swifties between August 8 and August 11, about ten times the number of visitors they normally see. And all those young women getting a dose of art appreciation had a good time.
Amedeo Capelli's Whimsical Hand-Carved Automata Automata is where art meets engineering meets toys. Italian sculptor Amedeo Capelli carves every piece of his wooden automata toys, from the character sculptures to the gears that make them move. The scenes are simple, from hair blowing in the wind to a ghost watering flowers on a grave, but each character feels like they are alive. The automata in this video are laid out in fairly chronological order, so you can see how Capelli's figures grew in realism and complexity over time. The movements are simple (even though it's not simple to make them that at all), but it's the whimsical characters that make these so alluring. Even the monsters are cute! I believe I have found my favorite. I another video, Capelli shows us how he makes these.
The Official Poster of the Olympic GamesWhen you see Olympic medalists at their awards ceremonies, you'll see them receive their medals, plus a long, skinny box as a gift. Inside is the official poster for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, created by Parisian illustrator Ugo Gattoni. Gattoni spent 2,000 hours over four months drawing the poster, which is an aerial view of the venues in Paris, with plenty of Olympic symbolism tucked into the details.
Adrienne Lee's Painted Sky TextilesLovely landscapes can be rendered in paint on canvas, but Chicago-based artist Adrienne Lee does it with a loom and yarn. The result has extra depth and texture that makes it come aline. Lee thinks like an artist when selecting the perfect image to recreate, in choosing the different fibers for the different elements, and planning the vibrant colors. Then she thinks like an engineering when weaving the work line by line, pixel by pixel. The landscapes may be real places, or may be a combination of places as she designs her reference photos, or may be entirely a fantasy.
After Krakatoa Exploded, the Sunsets Were InspiringThe Indonesian volcano Krakatoa underwent a series of four explosive eruptions in August of 1883. The force of the third explosion was so great that the shockwave went around the world three and a half times! More than 36,000 people were killed in the explosions or the tsunamis they caused. The volcano threw tons of dust and debris into the atmosphere, which made for spectacular sunsets featuring colors not normally seen in the sky over the next several years.German artist and naturalist Professor Dr. Pechuël-Loesche recorded some of those sunsets in watercolor. Nine of his paintings were converted to chromolithographs and published in an 1888 German book about the atmospheric effects of the eruption. See all nine of those chromolithographs and an explanation of how the colors formed at Flashbak. -via Design You Trust ​
An Olympic Icon Becomes an Art InstallationOne of the most enduring images of the Olympic games ever was that of American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising their fists on the winner's podium in Mexico City in 1968. More than 50 years later, that iconic image is resurrected as an art installation by conceptual artist Glenn Kaino. The work, titled Bridge, was made in collaboration with Tommie Smith himself, who allowed his arm to be cast and discussed with Kaino how it would be presented.Bridge consists of 500 casts of Smith's arm and fist, painted gold and suspended from the ceiling. From a distance, it really looks like a bridge. You need to get close to realize that it is, indeed, an arm, and a famous arm at that. Smith is now 80, but his arm is still strong. Bridge is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. Read about Kaino and Smith's collaboration at Smithsonian.(Image credit: Lucia RM Martino and Tucker Garrison/Smithsonian American Art Museum)
The Creepy Beauty of Piñatas of Earthly DelightsThe piñata you pick up for a child's birthday party will be bright and colorful, but made as cheaply as possible because its purpose is to be destroyed. It's a fun game in which everyone gets a prize, but who ever thought of the piñata as an art medium? ​Roberto Benavidez, that's who. He switched from metal casting to making piñatas, a wide swing to the more accessible paper-based sculpture. Benavidez' most notable series of piñatas is based on the works of Hieronymus Bosch, titled Piñatas of Earthly Delights. The fantastical creatures he sculpts from the details of Bosch's classic paintings range from adorable to puzzling to creepy, and illustrate the themes of religion and sin. Each feather or scale is hand-crafted. No one would dream of whacking these piñatas! The Hieronymus Bosch figures are but a small portion of Benavidez's art piñatas. Check out more at his website or at Instagram. -via Boing Boing 
Bolster Your Summer Reading List with New Novels About the Art WorldArt soothes and replenishes the soul. Those who actually make a living creating, curating, researching, or selling art are envied by those of us who just admire and revel in art. Those creative people make wonderful book characters, too. If you enjoy art in all its facets, there is a trend of art in fiction that will make your summer reading all that more enjoyable. New novels include stories about an artist who runs away from her everyday life, an investigation into Van Gogh's missing final self-portrait, a murder mystery involving a famous muse, a mafia art heist, and making art in isolation during the pandemic. Get a preview of eight new novels involving the art world at ArtNet.
Dogs in Art: A 2,000 Year HistoryMan's best friend is often also his muse. And why not? They are part of our everyday lives, they sit still when trained to, and they come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. But aside from all that, dogs are emotive, loyal, and pure in spirit. A mosaic in Pompeii, shown above, warned visitors of the presence of a dog in the home. Tile lasts longer than a dog, so we assume the residents would always have a dog. The tiles have lasted two millennia so far. And artists have been documenting those wonderful dogs ever since. They are included in royal portraits, street scenes, and highlighted as the main subject in many paintings and sculptures.
Thomas Dambo is Trolling YouDanish recycling artist Thomas Dambo builds trolls. Not the kind that want to start an internet argument, but the classic forest trolls from folklore, in very large sizes. And he makes them out of recycled trash! Dambo has used tons of discarded material, the things we toss out without thinking of the environmental impact, to install projects in 20 countries. He also holds classes and workshops to teach others how to make art out of the things the modern world disposes of. The result is a friend in the forest to lure you out into nature. Check out Dambo's projects in Austin, Chicago, and several locations in Washington State, like Vashon Island, Issaquah, and Bainbridge Island. You'll find more on his trollmapand at Instagram.  -via Metafilter ​
Decoding the Colors of a Vermeer MasterpieceEvery picture tells a story, but great works of art that are hundreds of years old may have lost a few details that are worth finding. Paint colors degrade over time, especially the natural pigments used by Johannes Vermeer and other Dutch masters. How do we know the original intent of the artist when their paintings don't look the same as when they were new? Frederik Vanmeert works at the nexus of art and science. As a chemist at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, he gets up close and personal with the nation's greatest works of art to analyze their composition at the molecular level. Vermeer in particular left us with little insight into his intentions when creating his paintings, since he didn't write about them, and gave few clues to his goals. Deciphering the original look of a pigment that used 300 years ago is a puzzle to Vanmeert, but it comes with controversy. Does the appearance of a painting in the past matter? Does the intentions of the artist matter? One thing Vanmeert has found is that pigments were very important to Vermeeer. The various types of white paint made all the difference in his portrayal of shadows in his works. Read about Vanmeert's work and what we've learned about Vermeer's paintings at The Walrus. -via Damn Interesting​
Justin Timberlake's Mug Shot is Now an Art PrintOn June 18, Justin Timberlake was arrested for drunk driving, and the celebrity's mug shot understandably went viral. But it's more than a meme now. Robert M Lohman said "When I first saw this image of Timberlake, I said, ‘this is iconic.’ I felt a calling to develop it.” And he did, in collaboration with photographer Mary Godfrey. They created a limited-edition series of prints of the mugshot using inkjet on canvas in the style of Andy Warhol. The artwork is called Tuesday Night Out. Lohman says the prints have been selling like crazy. They are going for $520 through the Romany Kramoris Gallery in Sag Harbor, New York while they last. Lohman is sure that Warhol would have approved of the project. (Image credit: Romany Kramoris Gallery)
Highlights from the MauritshuisThe Mauritshuis is an art museum in The Hague, Netherlands, known as a repository of Dutch Golden Age paintings. Its priceless collection includes works by Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Hans Holbein the Younger, among others. The building was erected between 1636 and 1641 as a private home. The first art was displayed there in 1774, and in 1820, it was bought by the Dutch government to house the royal art collection. Since 1995, it has been operated by a private foundation. If you have dreamed of seeing the works of the Dutch Masters as they are today, but you can't get away to the Hague, take a short tour in this video from travel videographer Jason Jose. -via Nag on the Lake​
Creative Jeans Designs by BokunouYour fly is open! Except that it's actually closed.Bokunou, a Japanese conceptual artist, makes inventive jeans designs that provoke surprised reactions. For example, the fly looks open revealing the underpants, but that's just an illusion.
The National Portrait Gallery Gets a Photograph of Dolley MadisonThe earliest known photograph of an American president is a daguerreotype of John Quincy Adams taken in 1843, eight years after he left office and quite soon after Louis Daguerre introduced his photographic process in 1839. That photograph resides in the National Portrait Gallery, a part of the Smithsonian Institution. The gallery recently purchased another rare find, the oldest known photograph of a First Lady. Dolley Madison was the wife of James Madison, the fourth US president. James Madison left office in 1817 and died in 1836. In 1846, Mrs. Madison sat for a photograph, also a daguerreotype. The photo was lost for decades and then discovered by family members among the possessions of a deceased person. The anonymous family sold the photograph through Sotheby's, which estimated it would fetch $50,000 to $70,000. The bidding went up and up until the Smithsonian paid $456,000 so that the earliest photograph of a First Lady could be saved and displayed in the USA's archives. Read the story of this photograph at Smithsonian.(Image credit: Sotheby's)
A Stolen Rubens Painting is Going HomePeter Pail Rubens painted the picture above, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, in 1621. It's actually just a study for a series of 39 paintings of Biblical subjects that were a commissioned project, but were all destroyed in 1718 in a fire. There were five such studies, the only remains of the series in existence. Right after World War II, the five paintings were being moved from Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, Germany, to keep them from the Soviets, and three were stolen in the process. They were sold to unknown persons, and St. Gregory of Nazianzus ended up in a New York museum that had no idea it had been stolen until a few years ago, when they decided to sell it.There is no word on how much the museum paid for the painting decades ago or how much it would be worth on the open market, but an original Rubens would be very expensive. How does an owner of a masterpiece handle finding out their museum bought stolen goods? The Buffalo AKG Art Museum negotiated a return of St. Gregory of Nazianzus to Germany. The museum will receive renumeration, but the amount has been not been disclosed. It is said to be fair compensation, but not market price. Read the story of a stolen artwork going home to Friedenstein Castle after almost 80 years at Smithsonian.(Image credit: Peter Paul Rubens) 
Intriguing Fan Theories About Famous ArtworksThe greatest paintings of the greatest artists get looked at over and over. If you love the Mona Lisa, you'll want to drink in every detail. When we don't know the entire story behind the painting, those details can become oh-so important clues. Even when we know a lot about the artist and his subjects, those details can give us a new spin, an interpretation, or fan theory, about the motivation behind the masterpiece. Van Gogh painted The Starry Night while he was in a mental asylum. What does the image tell us about his state of mind? Is there any real evidence that Leonardo da Vinci painted his own face into the Mona Lisa? Could there be a political statement in Caspar David Friedrich's painting Das Eismeer (The Sea of Ice)? And once you get into the details of The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, you may find yourself going down a rabbit hole. Read up on eight modern interpretations of famous artworks that are the result of noticing details and digging into the history behind them at Mental Floss.
How to Draw an Elephant with ScissorsWhen you introduce a child to art, and to the creative process of making their own art, they may have a love for art for the rest of their life. But a child can reach a point where they think they'll never be good at it. That's when encouragement is most crucial. Giving a little leg-up so that a beginning artist can produce something wonderful is an ego-boost like no other. Miri Leshem-Pelly writes and illustrates children's books, with an emphasis on sparking curiosity and creativity. Here, she teaches us the easy way to make a great-looking elephant.
Rebuilding Warsaw with the Help of an 18th Century Landscape ArtistDuring World War II, the Warsaw Uprising saw the Polish resistance kill 20,000 Nazi soldiers. Although the resistance and civilians suffered even higher losses, the Nazis retaliated by reducing the city's historic center to rubble. After the war, some considered moving the Polish capital elsewhere instead of rebuilding. But Varsovians wanted their city back, and rebuilt those buildings, using much of the rubble reclaimed from the destruction. They used the art of Italian landscape artist Bernardo Bellotto as a guide. Bellotto had been the court painter of Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski for 16 years beginning in 1768. He spent 16 years painting the city of Warsaw from all angles. Bellato's 22 street scenes documented 18th-century Warsaw survived the war and helped make downtown Warsaw what it is today -a UNESCO Heritage site. The new Warsaw isn't exactly as it was before due to several factors, including the influence of the Soviet Union. But without Bellotto's paintings from two centuries earlier, it might not be there at all. Read how the city's documentation in art became crucial for its reconstruction at the Guardian.-via Messy Nessy Chic ​(Image credit: Bernardo Bellotto) 
Photographer Stripped of Award For Submitting a Real Photo in the AI CategoryThe 1839 Color Photography Contest recognizes exceptional photography in a variety of classes. Recently they added a category for photographs generated by artificial intelligence, the only category that doesn't require a camera. Miles Astray submitted the image above, titled F L A M I N G O N E into the AI category. The picture of a flamingo with its head tucked won the the People’s Vote Award, and also was awarded third place in its category. Astray's awards were rescinded after he revealed that the image was a photograph he took with a camera! None of the judges, nor the voting public, could tell the difference. Astray said he submitted the photo because he had seen AI images win in competitions that were for photographs taken by photographers. While his awards were stripped, the publicity Astray got for his stunt was far more than the actual winners received. And that was the point, to make a statement about how AI cannot replace human art. Read about this kerfluffle in the world of photography at PetaPixel.
Jacques Monneraud's Unique Pots and VasesOh look, how cute! A teapot made of corrugated cardboard! But looks can be deceiving. these pots are an illusion by French ceramics artist Jacques Monneraud. Believe it or not, these pots are all ceramic, they are just fashioned to resemble cardboard held together with Scotch tape.
Van Gogh's Starry Night in Breakfast CerealHere at the Neatorama blogging network, we’re huge fans of artist Adam Hillman. He is noted for composing extraordinarily accurate mosaics using often everyday objects.His most recent work shared on Instagram is this mosaic of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic Starry Night perfectly rendered with breakfast cereal. I’ll assume that he dyed the puffs. But given Hillman’s talent and diligence, it’s also possible he actually located appropriately colored cereals.
How Gilbert Stuart Fought for His Commercial Art Rights in Colonial AmericaArtists have to make a living, and when a commercial artist creates something lucrative, their creative property rights will be rightfully and vigorously enforced. Photographer Lynn Goldsmith licensed an image of Prince for Andy Warhol to make several screen prints. The art was the work of both Goldsmith and Warhol, and she was paid. But further use of the art based on her photograph was not covered, and Goldsmith successfully sued Warhol's estate for allowing the art to be reprinted without permission. But Goldsmith was far from the first artist to sue over the sale of derivative works based on her commercial creativity. One of the more notorious cases involved portrait artist Gilbert Stuart, who painted President George Washington several times. He did not see Washington as a muse; rather, the Founding Father was Stuart's opportunity to make money by selling copies and engravings of his portraits. He was not happy when some who bought his paintings, both in England and in China, turned around and reproduced his work for their own profit. Read about Stuart's battle over his artistic property at Smithsonian.
Loving Boyfriend Makes His Girlfriend a Pillow Decorated with His Own Chest Hair​Reilly Fitzsimmons is an artist in the Boston area who makes extraordinary crafts, often as gifts for his girlfriend. They include this romantic throw pillow which he decorated with his own chest hair. It's a beautiful expression of the courtly love traditions of a bygone era. Young people, take note: this is how you woo a woman.
The Birth of Waffle HouseMatt Dawson is a pop culture artist from Louisiana who has a deep and abiding love for that most Southern of institutions—Waffle House. In the past, he painted an image of Waffle House inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. This painting shows the birth of Tammy, the archetypical Waffle House employee rising from a waffle iron like Venus on a clamshell in Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus.Who is Tammy? She is not a specific person but the embodiment of Waffle House goodness just as Venus is the quintessence of feminine beauty. Still: please remain clothed while at your local Waffle House.
High Fashion Inspired by Iconic ArtworksJames Lucas posted a Twitter thread that shows how fashion, namely women's dresses, have long been inspired by famous artworks. The image above shows us the Palladium Dress by Gianfranco Ferré, inspired by a Roman Column. Almost all of the rest are fashioned after paintings.
Making or Appreciating Art Can Make You Live LongerArt is a "fundamental human experience," and has benefits beyond the obvious. New research shows that the practice of making some kind of art, whether it's drawing, painting, or even marking in a coloring book, can lead to many health benefits. Art can even make you live longer! And you don't even have to be creative, or create art. Just seeing and appreciating art by others gives those benefits as well. Some studies show that art can help with chronic pain, obesity, dementia, Parkinson's disease, depression, and other conditions. Art stimulates both our neurological and physiological systems. It builds connections between the neurons in our brains. It reduces the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone. CNN talked to two authors about the latest research on how art affects our health. They tell us how to make art a part of our daily lives and give us tips on better appreciating the art we experience for our health. -via Damn Interesting (Image credit: Talmoryair) 
The Serenity of the Cherry Blossom PavilionCome, sit a while, and marvel at the Cherry Blossom Pavilion in Taichung City, Taiwan. Its organic form evokes cherry blossoms even when the cherry trees around it are not in bloom. This installation from the design studio MARC FORNES / THEVERYMANY is made of aluminum panels that had to be precision cut in patterns generated by computer to create the complicated yet serene shape. The pavilion provides shade, seating, and inspiration to all who visit. Outside, the precise color shading mimics the beauty of cherry blossoms, and inside the structure, the organic curves and intricate joining of the panels are just stunning. See plenty of pictures of this work of art, inside and out, at designboom.(Image credit: YHLAA/Yi-Hsien Lee)
Artistic Toilet Seats by Bailey Hikawa​Bailey Hikawais an artist in Los Angeles who specializes in fanciful yet also practical household objects. She’s most famous for her line of luxuriously quirky cell phone cases which are comically absurd sculptures. Most recently, she made a scene on the internet and the art world by offering translucent plastic toilet seats with embedded objects, such as hair.