Rendering 4: 'Old master paintings worth £100m given to Britain – with strings attached'

The article ‘Old master paintings worth £100m given to Britain – with strings attached’ was published by Charlotte Higgins in The Guardian on February 19, 2013. It reports at length that All 57 works must remain free to view and never be sold, according to wishes of late owner Sir Denis Mahon. 

   Speaking on the situation, it’s interesting to note that if any attempt is made by the host museum to charge for admission; or any item from their collection is put up for sale, the Art Fund, the charity that is donating them, can take them back. There’s a lot of comments on the conditions attached to the donation of the works, among them paintings by Guercino, Guido Reni and Luca Giordano, are in line with the wishes of the collector who amassed them: art historian Sir Denis Mahon, who died in 2011, aged 100. 

   Analyzing the conditions, it’s necessary to emphasize that they seem especially resonant now, as museums suffer funding cuts and charging for admission is again being reluctantly considered in some quarters. There are also increasing examples of public bodies selling artworks to help plug financial holes – as with the attempt by Tower Hamlets council in London to sell a Henry Moore sculpture that the artist had intended for public display. 

   Giving appraisal of the paintings, it’s necessary to point out that Mahon, heir to the Guinness Mahon banking fortune, built an extraordinary collection of mainly Italian 17th-century paintings, without ever spending more than £2,000 per picture. He left 57 works to the Art Fund with the arrangement that they should be on long-term loan to a selection of British galleries: eight to the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, 25 to the National Gallery in London, 12 to the Ashmolean in Oxford, six to the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge, five to the Birmingham Art Gallery and one to Temple Newsam House in Leeds. 

   It’s an open secret that the final stage of his bequest is now complete, with the formal transference of the 57 works' ownership to the various museums. Though the paintings are already in situ – regular visitors to the National Gallery in London will recognise, for example, Guido Reni's Rape of Europa, with the mythical heroine, clad in saffron and fuchsia, being borne away over the waves on the back of Zeus, disguised as a bull – but they are now accompanied by smart new signs, announcing "new acquisition". There’s a comment from Christopher Brown, the director of the Ashmolean Museum, that there was no more enjoyable and illuminating way of looking at paintings than in his company. Poussin, Carracci, Guercino: he spoke about them as if he knew them. 

   The author draws a conclusion that his public-spirited desire to have his collection end up in the public realm was "completely free of vanity". He was supremely uninterested in having his "name inscribed on a particular room" and was happy that his collection should be dispersed around Britain. I think it’s the right decision to sail the collection, as all of the pictures are to be free to view.

Rendering 3: 'Love Potions: Art and the Heart'

The article ‘Love Potions: Art and the Heart’ was published by Barbara Pollack in ARTnews on February 13, 2013. It discusses and carries a lot of comments on the role of love in the art. 

   Speaking of this issue, it’s necessary to note that from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles to Taylor Swift—just turn on the radio and you can hear anthem upon anthem to love. And it’s an open secret that if you wander into a contemporary art museum, and such evidence of passion is, more often, nowhere in sight. However, there’s every reason to believe that romantic love has been a subject of art throughout time—François Boucher in the Enlightenment, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Auguste Rodin in the 19th century, and Roy Lichtenstein in the 20th—but nowadays most artists are far too cool and ironic or otherwise engaged to wear their hearts on their sleeves. 

   Analyzing the overall reluctance, it’s interesting to emphasize that there are more than a few contemporary artists who tell great love stories, even some who confess to a broken heart. It’s hard to believe, but French artist Sophie Calle’s 2007 tour de force, Take Care of Yourself, now on view at the Pulitzer’s presentation of “The Progress of Love.” Calle’s initial inspiration came from an e-mail sent to her by a boyfriend intent on breaking up with her. It ended with the words, “I would have liked things to have turned out differently. Take care of yourself.” In order to do just that, Calle sent the letter to 107 women from different professions and backgrounds, asking them to interpret the text. The reactions were framed and, in several cases, played on monitors, positioned beside the contributors’ portraits and filling an entire gallery. The article draws the readers’ attention to another painter, who delves into her personal life to explore the themes of heartbreak, loss, and survival - Tracey Emin, who had a 2011 retrospective, titled “Love Is What You Want,” at London’s Hayward Gallery. 

   Giving appraisal of the problem, it’s necessary to point out that certainly these works are a far cry from Picasso’s tender portrait The Lovers (1923), depicting in soft pastel tones a couple gently holding each other. Contemporary depictions of love are actually closer to René Magritte’s Lovers (1928), showing a man and a woman kissing, their heads shrouded in cloths. 

   There’s also mention about Helen Molesworth, chief curator at ICA Boston, who organized “This Will Have Been,” a shift took place in the 1980s, which changed the notions of love and desire for a new generation of artists. 

   The article concludes by saying that another aspect of contemporary life that plays into the idea of love and the way it is enacted in everyday life is globalization. Many of the artists in “The Progress of Love”—an exhibition that takes its name from the famous 18th-century series by Fragonard that decorated the chateau of Madame du Barry, the mistress of Louis XV—question the very notion that love is universal, or that it is expressed the same way throughout the world. 

   As for me, I think that artists are people who love only one “woman" - art. They completely devote themselves to it, and even if painter falls in love, then it’s just an illusion, as it’s his inspiration, his muse. I hope somebody will agree with me, that sometimes (it’s better to say always) people just don't understand the message of the painting, what the artist wanted to convey to us, so we cannot correctly interpret it.

Rendering 2: 'Contemporary wildlife artist Betty Foy Botts depicts nature's divine side'

The article 'Contemporary wildlife artist Betty Foy Botts depicts nature's divine side' was published by Katie Hurst in Charleston City Paper on February 13, 2013. It reports at length about a wildlife artist, who works to express the spirit and soul of each animal she paints. 

   Speaking of Betty Foy Botts, it's interesting to note that when she sits down to paint an animal, she goes on a spiritual journey. She may have an animal in mind, say a deer, but once her brush hits canvas, she doesn't let the typical laws of nature control her. Besides, the animal might be displayed in very un-deer-like shades of blue, yellow, and red, and Botts' broad brush strokes may convey more of the animal's movement than its actual likeness. So in her paintings, we can generally recognize the animal and we can recognize movement. There is a general feeling to believe that there's no doubt in anybody's mind what animal it is, they're just much looser. They're very much inspired by painter's love of the Lord and creation, and so all these animals, to her, take on a real spiritual aspect. They aren't just a painting of an animal. 

   Analyzing her technique, it's necessary to emphasize that it is this abstract element of her work that separates her from the more realistic wildlife painters, many of whom will be participating in this week's Southeastern Wildlife Exposition. It's very likely that using everything from water-based paints and acrylics to stains and crayons, Botts creates her final image through many layers of paint, often on canvas or wood as large as six-by-six feet. Besides, there's every likelihood that on larger paintings, we really get the feeling of the bird taking off in flight or wolves charging at us or a bear in a stream. 

   Giving appraisal of her art, it's interesting to point out that for iinspiration and accuracy's sake, Betty's studio is decorated with deer heads and a collection of animal skulls that she uses to perfect the bone structure of the animals in her paintings. Though she started off focusing solely on deer, in the last several years she's advanced to bears, birds, wildcats, and other creatures. More recently, she's perfected capturing them in their natural settings. It's an open secret that Botts doesn't stick to every aspect of nature. She purposefully uses unnatural colors on many of the animals, letting her indulge her imagination and the spirit of the subject.

   In conclusion that author mentions that the painter uses her depiction of nature to celebrate creation, too, by including a meaningful Bible verse with each painting. She pulls from books of scripture like Psalms and Isaiah to focus viewers on creation, love, peace, grace, and joy. As for me, I think it is a gift, when a man can reflect this or that animal on the canvas so brightly and colorfully, with an accuracy. For this he needs to feel this world, to be aware how the animals feel or how they are built.

'The Moon and Sixpence' by Somerset Maugham (chapter 34 - 58)

Four years later Strickland came to Tahiti, where he found many elements to make his inspiration effective. However, his journey was too difficult.

   About four years ago there was a rebel in Marseilles, and Charles, without money, had to live in the dosshouse where he met Captain Nicholas. Later, when its doors were closed for them, the men had to look for the hospitality of Tough Bill, who gave to stranded mariners food and shelter till he found them a job. But Strickland, painted his portrait, got out of the work, and just waited for ship to Australia and then to Tahiti. All in all Bill drove them out and that time Charles was succeed, as there was a ship followed to Australia. Thus the artist appeared in Tahiti, where married Atta, the indigene, and had two children; he did not care abouth them, as he did not want love - it was weakness. Strickland painted, and when he was satisfied with his passion, he was ready for other things. 

   Several years later the man was ill with leprosy, then he became blind but still worked: he painted the walls. The picture was wonderful and mysterious; tremendous, sensual and passionate; there was something primeval and terrible in it. The artist understood that it was a masterpiece, and as he achieved what he wanted; his life was complete, he died, that's why before he ordered his wife to burn the house. 

'The Moon and Sixpence' by Somerset Maugham (chapter 21 - 32)

For that period of time Mr. Strickland changed greatly and his extreme thinness was striking. He had money neither for food nor dress, but he always found money for canvas ans paint; he did not care how shabby his room and had no need to surround himself by beautiful things. 

   To survive, Charles worked for the first time as a guide, showing Englishmen the sights (but his dress became then so threadbare, that people were afraid of him); then he translated the advertisements of patent medicines; was a house-painter. Meanwhile, the man did not give up his art. Strickland aspired to something but did not know what exactly; he lived in a dream and the reality meant nothing to him. But once Charles had  got a good commission to paint the portrait of a retired plumber fot two hundred francs; since then he dissapeared. 

   On Christmas Time Dirk Stroeve could not accept the fact that Charles would spend the holidays alone, without money sitting in his shabby little room, that's why he decided to invite him. However, Nobody saw Strickland; he was seriously ill. Being an unselfish man, Dirk sheltered him; his wife (though she despised and was afraid of Strickland) and he himself nursed the artist. When his health' state became better, Charles forced out Dirk from his studio, and then from his flat. Besides, Stroeve lost his wife, as she stayed with Strickland. 

'The Moon and Sixpence' by Somerset Maugham (chapter 33 - 42)

A month later the writer met Charles Strickland and Blanche (Dirk's wife); the men played chess and the woman neither said a word, nor showed emothion. Dirk still hoped that his wife, quarrelled with Strickland, would come back to him, but that was just a dream. 

   However, several days later, when they quarrelled and Strickland went away from her, Blanche tried to commit suicide taking oxalic acid. She did not die, they took her to the hospital where she did not want to see anybody, especially her husband and Charles. And two weeks later the woman died and Dirk was restless: he dashed around his flat and, founding her picture painted by Strickland, tried to tear it, but could not. Then the man decided to return to his native land Holland and, inspide of everything, asked Charles to come with him.

   Meanwhile, Charles Strickland did not care much about the woman's death, as he lived only his art and that time wanted to show his pictures to the writer. For six years the artist painted about thirty pictures and sold nothing: they had no singularity, each of them was too difficult for understanding. Nevertheless, Dirk Stroeve thought his pictures ans technique would make a revolution in art. 

'The Moon and Sixpence' by Somerset Maugham (chapter 11 - 20)

Having come to Paris and found Charles, the writer's doubts were dispelled as Mr. Strickland lived in a small room, overcrowded with furniture; everything was dirty and shabby, and, besides, there was no sign of a woman. He expected that his wife would send someone for him, that's why he was so cool, his eyes kept such a smile which made everything foolish, and he just invited his guest for the dinner. However, he burst into a shout of laughter, knowing of his wife's supposition about another woman, as he came there not for that but because he wanted to paint. 

   Charles Strickland hadn't painted before, with the exception of the childhood when he wanted to be a painter. He started painting a year ago and said nothing to his wife. Sometimes, it seemed, the man was looking into the distance, as if he saw something beautiful that stirred up his mind; he was trying to achieve some aim, but did not know what it was. So Charles came to Paris to find something that he could not find in London, he even began going to classes. While he was telling that, there was a real passion in his voice, as he was fully convinced to be a painter. 

   Mrs. Strickland, having known about he husband passion, was amazed, she could not understand the cause of his behavior. And if earlier the woman was ready to return him, that time she gave up, as her husband left her not for a woman but for an idea, and there she would lose. But she did not stop fighting fot her life, as Mrs. Strickland had no penny to her name and that's why she began to learn shorthand and typewriting. Five years later the woman made success of her business: that time she had an office in Chancery Lane. 

   Meanwhile, her friend loved in Paris and made friends with Dirk Stroeve, a painter, and though he had a very delicate feeling for art, he was a bad one. The man knew Charles: once Mr. Strickland came to him to lent money as he was hard up for them - he sold no pictures. 

'The Moon and Sixpence' by Somerset Maugham (chapter 1 - 10)

Everything began when the journalist wrore an article about Charles Strickland, whom everybody thought an unsuccessful artist. However, four years later after his death, writers and painters noticed him as an authentic genius, and his pictures were sold out at a high price. 

   So the writer, being acquainted with the painter, wrote the book about him. His travelling began in London where the man visited the houses of the literary and where almost nobody noticed him, except Rose Waterford. She brought him and Mrs. Strickland together, who later invited the man for the breakfast, she had a great passion for reading and  organized breakfasts for writers. However, her husband Mr. Strickland was a very quiet man and was not interested in literature ar art; he was on the Stock Exchange and was a typical brocker, but a good dull, honest, ordinary man. He was fourty, not good-looking but not ugly, heavy, with large hands and feet; his hair was reddish, cut very short and his eyes were small, blue and grey.

   Once the writer was invited for the dinner, where he met Charles Strickland for the first time; that day they said nothing to each other. The next day the Stricklands went to Norfolk and spent there the whole August. Charles came back to the city in September as he had to give away his partner, and Mrs. Strickland stood in the country. But a month later, when she had to come back, her husband wrote her from Paris that did not want to live with her any more and would not return; he left her, giving no explanations. It was clear that after seventeen years of living together Charles couldn't leave her without any reason, as all her relatives and friends thought him to fell in love with another woman. To make everything clear and try to return her husband, Mrs. Strickland asked the writer to go to Paris on her behalf and describe her situation. And as Charles' temporary residence was known, the man went to France.   

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë (chapter 28 - 36)

For five days Helen was locked in the room and saw nobody, except Hareton, who was a real model of a jailor. That time Catherine became Mrs. Heathcliff, but nobody still took care about her. Moreover, everything that belonged to Cathy became Linton’s property. That’s why, having known about that, Edgar changed his will and if Linton died, the young lady’s fortune couldn’t fall to Heathcliff. Two days later Cathy returned home, she wanted to see her father; he was going to die and not to complain the daughter said that she was happy with the young Heathcliff. After her words and with dilating eyes, he died.

  Several days later Heathcliff came and take his daughter to the Heights, as he wanted to rent out the Grange and wanted his children to be about him. And he take not only her, but also the portrait of the late Catherine, as he still loved her; he even went to her grave and dug it to see her face. When the man re-filled her grave, he felt her presence, her signs.

   While being in Wuthering Heights, Catherine stood at her room for nearly two weeks, but had to get out to the fireplace. Hareton, at first moment, tried to be polite, but the young lady didn’t care much about him. It was six weeks ago; Mrs. Dean finished her story.

   Several years later Mr. Lockwood came back and found Mrs. Dean in the Heights. Besides, he saw a young man, who sitting, read something, and a young lady, who stood behind. They were Hareton Earnshaw and Catherine Heathcliff. Not to disturb them the man went to the kitchen, where he found Mrs. Dean who told him everything.

   From her story the man got to know that about three months ago Mr. Heathcliff died.  Something was wrong with him: he didn’t eat, didn’t sleep and walked somewhere all days. When he was at home everybody saw a strange smile on his face, which frightened and surprised them. He said he saw the ghost of the late Catherine. But one rainy day his body was found in their room, his eyes were widely open, and a wide smile shone on his face. He was buried near Catherine and Edgar Linton.

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë (chapter 22 - 27)

Cathy, frightened from her romance, became sadder, that’s why her father decided that it would be better for her to spend more time in the outside than in the library. Unfortunately, Edgar couldn’t be her companion and Helen had to. One autumn day in damp weather, they went for a walk in the park. When they came to the gate that opened on the road Helen heard the trot of a horse; that was Mr. Heathcliff. He was going to London for about two weeks, and asked Cathy to walk to the Heights as Linton’s state became worse without her.

   That period the young lady and Linton spent together, but happy moment were rare in their meetings, as almost all time the boy was ill or played up, so he behaved himself so selfish. Meanwhile, Mr. Linton understood his enemy’s plan to marry the young people; it was inescapable, as only that way his daughter could return her ancestor’s house. And Mr. Heathcliff himself was so earnest in pursuing his object, that he treated his dying son so tyrannically to embody his plan before it would be defeated by death.

   So for the next seven days Cathy had to go to Linton, though she regretted that every moment that she didn’t spend beside her father’s bed, as Edgar’s state was the evidence of his end. However, Miss Cathy with Helen went to Linton, who received them with a great admiration that time. But the boy, it seemed, feared something exquisitely; his behavior was too strange. Some minutes later all of them saw Heathcliff and his son couldn’t even glanced at him in another state of helpless fear; that’s why he asked Cathy to walk home with him. Helen was against and Heathcliff threatened to pinch his son and make him scream until it moved her charity, so the woman had no objections. And having come to the house, they couldn’t get out.

Heathcliff locked the door and had the key in his hand, when the girl tried to get it out; then she tried her nails, but finding that they made nothing, she applied her teeth. Suddenly the man opened his hand, but Cathy couldn’t pick the key as Heathcliff seized her with one hand and gave her a shower of terrible slaps on both cheeks. Everything was clear that moment: the boy feared to resign fury of his father if he couldn’t get them to the Heights; Catherine and Helen had to spend night there, as in the morning the girl and Linton were to be married.      

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë (chapter 16 - 21)

Mr. Lintion’s loss was too painful for him, as he had no orphan and had to write his estate to his daughter. Grief and his hate to Heathcliff made the man a complete hermit: he spent time sitting in his room; he refused from going anywhere as it was possible to meet his enemy. But Edgar couldn’t be in mourning, as that time Cathy, his daughter, became a light in his life.

   Besides, Edgar had another object: as his sister had died and left the son, she asked in her letter to take care about him and the man couldn’t refuse. Cathy was so happy to see her cousin that spent every minute with him. But there happiness wasn’t so long, as known that his son in the Grange, Heathcliff wanted to return him back to Wuthering Heights and nobody could interfere. Cathy was told that Linton went to his father in London. 

   The girl was sixteen, but she didn’t go out of the gate; Mr. Heathcliff and Wuthering Heights didn’t exist for her. One morning Miss Cathy with Helen went for a walk, she wanted to see the nests of the grouse and on her way Mr. Heathcliff met her; he asked them to go to the Heights. The man had only one aim of encouraging the girl to go with him: the young people could fall in love and get married.

   Having come to the estate and seen Hindley, the girl had only one desire to come there every day and sometimes bring her father. Heathcliff, knowing his enemy’s hate and attitude to such a situation, convinced the girl not to tell her father anything. However, the next day the truth came out. Catherine wanted to hear good reasons for every restraint, that’s why Edgar had to tell her almost the whole life story. However, the young lady found the way out and began to write letters to her cousin. Nobody noticed that, except Helen, who burned all letters, received from Heathcliff’s son. Besides, she told Edgar about that and he wrote to Linton that neither he nor Catherine could correspond with each other.  

Film Review

'Frida' (2002)

Director: Julie Taymor

Cast: Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo, Alfred Molina as Diego Rivera, Geoffrey Rush as Leon Trotsky, Mía Maestro as Cristina Kahlo, Edward Norton as Nelson Rockefeller, Roger Rees as Guillermo Kahlo, Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Matilde Kahlo.

Synopsis: There were two great accidents in her density: that bus, after which her life was turned into a sheer torment, and the husband, being unfaithful to her in spite of everything. Of course, failures and pain overshadowed her life, but they not so much destroyed the faith in art, as made it indestructible.

Review: Frida (Salma Hayek) was a Mexican painter; however, not all at once she came to that profession. At the age of 18 she was seriously injured in the accident, after which the young woman spent in bed for a year. During that period Frida began to draw, mainly self-portraits, describing her feelings and life. Her vocation threw her and the artist and Communist Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina) together, who was unfaithful to her, but she loved him so much that forgave everything. But after he slept with her sister (Mía Maestro), they parted and Frida went to Paris, which became a sensation of the thematic exhibition of the Mexican art. A few years later, the woman’s health became much worse; she couldn't walk, but continued painting. And after her first exhibition in Mexico was held, she died of pneumonia.

The film contains several problems, the main one of which is the role of art in the human life, as it evoked the main character to life, prompted her to defend their ideals. The portraits revealed to us the artist’s inner world: the inward conflicts, emotions, fears, disappointments, turbulent relationships. Only by means of the paintings and the portraits she was able to express loneliness and pain, which could not be put into words.

Separately I’d like to emphasize the actors’ performances, as the success of the documentary film depends on their acting skills. Therefore, I must say that Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina coped with this task perfectly. Everything - their speech, expressions, and the slightest movements - showed how the actors got into their characters’ densities. And I really like Salma Hayek’ acting, I have seen movies with her participation, but "Frida" became her masterpiece. In addition, costumes played not the less important role. In the picture there was a combination of colours, which at first sight seems to be impossible: an aggressive, in some moments shocking, but very harmonious.

After watching, on the one hand, I still have some unpleasant aftertaste, emptiness - I'm impressed with the main character’s tragic life. But on the other hand, the painter cannot not to evoke a feeling of respect and admiration. However, I think the main moment in the documentary film (apart from the life of the main character) plays the director’s ability to present this biography. "Frida" is a perfect combination of a dramatic life story and irreproachable work of Julie Taymor, and as a result it is impossible to put my admiration into words.

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë (chapter 8 - 15)

After Mrs. Earnshaw’s death her husband was desperate, but he neither prayed nor cried, he only found comfort in card games. Heathcliff became possessed: he watched for Hindley’s degradation with pleasure and wished revenge; he changed greatly: acquired a slouching gait, ignoble look; his naturally reserved disposition became manic unsociability, and he received pleasure, exciting the aversion of his acquaintance. Cathy, from the opposite, became a haughty, headstrong creature. 

   Once when Mr. Hindley was absent, Catherine received the guests, Isabella and Edgar Linton. The last one’s aim of coming was proposal, which Miss Cathy accepted. There was only one problem: the young lady loved Heathcliff, but to married him meant to degrade. After that nobody saw the young man.

Year later Catherine became Mrs. Linton and moved to Thrushcross Grange. Everybody indulged her, as Edgar was afraid of ruffling her humor. However, everything changed with a Heathcliff’s appearance. The man lived in Wuthering Heights, he was its owner that time, as Mr. Hindley lost all his money in card games and to return them he pledged the estate, but lost it either. He became a frequent guest in the Grange, as Isabella Linton showed sympathy toward a new acquaintance. That became the pretence of bitter enemies' fight, the eyewitness of which was Catherine and who then had no breath for speaking, she stretched herself out stiff, turned up her eyes, her cheeks became blanched and livid. She had a brain fever, besides, the lady was pregnant and that make the situation more complicated. Every time when she saw Heathcliff (he still came to see his friend and Isabella), she began raving. At the same time Edgar tried to put his sister off flirting with that man or he would broke all bonds of between herself and him. That conversation, Cathy’s mortal state didn’t influence the young lady, as she ran off with Heathcliff. 

   That time Mrs. Linton lost her mind and several days later, when nobody closed their eyes, she gave birth to their daughter, Catherine Linton, and not coming to her sense she died. 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Heathcliff knew better her husband and understood that he was like the evil. He bit her only for her presence, she couldn’t bear that no more and a year later ran away in London. There Isabella gave birth to Hindly, their son; ten years later the woman died. The boy moved to Thrushcross Grange to his uncle, but Heathcliff had another plan about his son.

Rendering 1: 'A deep look at Fischl's painting process'

The article ‘A deep look at Fischl’s painting process’ was published by Kenneth Baker in San Francisco Chronicle on January 30, 2013. It reports about Fischl’s art and his painting process.

   Speaking of his paintings, it’s necessary to note that "The Pictures Generation" at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is the show that was organized by the Met's photography department, which might have considered Fischl too much a painter. It’s important to note that at the same time it is an anxiety over the collapse of conventions and institutions, the blurring of gender and other pegs of identity and opportunism supplanting idealism, all roiled by tidal waves of mediated images.

   Analyzing the situation, it’s necessary to emphasize that the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia originated the Fischl show, where superficial affinities between Fischl's art and Bay Area Figurative painting may explain its presentation.  And giving appraisal of the situation, it’s necessary to point out the fact that Fischl always put painting foremost, and he rose to prominence among such painters like Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince. However, he had gone to the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia (a school known as a hotbed of socially critical conceptual art), where his work was frequently linked with that of David Salle, who also traced his paintings to photographic sources.

   However, there is every reason to believe that "Dive Deep" will surprise some visitors, as it includes so many of the photographs Fischl has taken to germinate drawings, paintings and prints. Besides, it’s very likely that the selection of works usefully traces the passage of a female beach bather at St. Tropez from photographs through various studies into graphics and painting. Speaking of ‘Dive Deep’, it’s interesting to note that not only paintings, but also the small bronze sculptures also will surprise viewers, as Fischl's art is the tension in it between the fabrication of an image and its use to fabricate intrigue. So the he exhibition tells people almost more than they care to know about Fischl's working process, because sometimes it involves so many stages that the climactic work seems an awfully small payoff. But the 6-by-9-foot painting of novelist Richard Price and family, ‘Untitled’, shows Fischl's hand at its most relaxed; he evokes daylight, demeanor and an uneasy family dynamic with striking economy and credibility.

   There’s still one question: why to paint these images when the camera and computer already accomplish so much. And here necessary to note that the answer is simple, as passing these frozen and sometimes scrambled figments through Fischl’s own hand and nervous system will extract from them a human truth otherwise unavailable or felt only in authentically.

   In conclusion the author suggests that the most ambitious projects represented in the show is "The Bed, The Chair, The Sitter," that involves Fischl hiring models to improvise scenes and poses in a chosen environment to generate a sort of storyboard without fixed narrative. After all there’s another question:  why Fischl requires such elaborate stagecraft to let his hand go.

   Everything I can say is that art is the expression of the world’s vision of the artist, the image of his spiritual world on canvas, so for the average man, delved not so deeply into the world of art, it is difficult to understand the meaning of this or that work. You need to be a connoisseur of art to appreciate the artist’s work. 

'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë (chapter 1 - 7)

Mr. Lockwood rented an estate called Thrushcross Grange, the place fixed on a situation so far removed from the society. Its owner was Mr. Heathcliff, who lived in the neighborhood in Wuthering Heights. Mr. Heathcliff was a dark-skinned gypsy, but a gentleman in dress and manners, rather slovenly with his negligence, at the same time the man had a handsome figure and was rather gloomy. The man showed neither feelings nor mutual kindness.

   So when Mr. Lockwood appeared in that house, it seemed, nobody welcomed the man (guests were so rare there that nobody knew how to receive them), as he stood alone in the company of three grim shaggy sheep-dogs, who kept their eyes on him. And when the man began winking and making faces at them, it took an unexpected turn as all of the dogs attacked him. Only after that event Mr. Heathcliff and his servant Joseph appeared with vexatious phlegm. 

   The next day the guest came again, though the owner wished no repetition of his intrusion. However, Mr. Heathcliff was absent that time and there were three of them – a young woman, Joseph and a young man. Mr. Lockwood knew the servant, but not the rest of them and when he tried to understand who was who, nothing good came out of that. The first one was slender, she had an elegant little face, small features; in her eyes the man saw only desperation. She was Mr. Heathcliff's daughter-in-law. As for the young man, the guest couldn't understand whether he was a servant or not, as his speech and dress were rude, his thick brown curls were rough and uncultivated, his whiskers covered his cheeks, and his hands were embrowned like those of a common worker. Only one thing was clear – that man wasn't the owner's son.

   Meanwhile the weather became worse, dark night came down permanently and nothing could bee seen outside. That's why Mr. Lockwood had to stay, but nobody took care about that, and he was left to himself. Having found the room, the guest saw several books and the writing on the ledge: it was a repeated name, like Catherine Earnshaw, Catherine Heathcliff and Catherine Linton. All those books were an unknown Catherine's diaries, the whole life stories were written there. While reading them, the man fall asleep: he heard as the fir repeated its teasing sound and to stop it Mr. Lockwood stretched his arm out the window and his fingers closed on the fingers of a cold little hand. It belonged to a ghost of a young woman, who repeated all the time to let her in, as she had wandered there for about twenty years. The man tried to free his hands and when he did it he suddenly woke up yelling. After that Mr. Lockwood didn't return there, but when he came to Thrushcross Grange he asked Mrs. Dean (the housekeeper) tell him everything about the Heights and its residents. The woman herself came there from the Heights when her mistress was married; when she died Mrs Dean stood there as the housekeeper. 

   That young woman, her maiden name was Catherine Linton, Heathcliff's son's wife, but he died and she became a widow. Hareton Earnshaw, living with Heathcliff, was the late Mr. Earnshaw son.

   Originally, Mr. Hindley Earnshaw with his family lived in Wuthering Heights. Once went to Liverpool, promised to bring presents to his children (Cathy and Hindley, and Helen who played with them and at the same time helped about the house), but instead of them the man brought a boy, whom he called Heathcliff. Neither Miss Cathy nor her brother and Helen liked the boy; however, the man took to him strangely. Heathcliff pained rarely; he told precious little and generally the truth, that's why Hindley lost his allies (Cathy and Helen), as both of them were too fond of the boy, especially Catherine. 

   After Heathcliff's appearance a trouble time began, but Mr. Earnshaw thought his son was the reason, Hindley, that's why he sent him to college. Unfortunately, nothing changed, as the man's strength was failing and three years later died. His son came to his funeral and brought the wife with him. Year later she gave him a boy, whom they called Hareton Earnshaw and died. Young Earnshaw didn't care much about his son, Helen did; he didn't care how Cathy and Heathcliff behaved, as he still hated the boy. As a result both of them grew up as savages.

   Once the ran to watch how the Lintons passed their days in Thrushcross Grange. They were standing on the basement and making faces to young Edgar and Isabella Linton, when the master's dog seized Cathy's ankle. Heathcliff could run away, while the Lintons kept the girl for treatment. Having known about that, Hindley didn't rip out the boy but prohibited to speak with Miss Cathy or he would be sent from the house.

   For five weeks that Catherine spent at Thrushcross Grange, she changed greatly, as she became a real young lady. Meanwhile, Heathcliff became rude and dirty as a savage: he wore the same dress for about three months, his hair were thick and uncultivated, his face and hands were dirty. And when Miss Cathy saw her old friend, she squeezed and kissed him, but looking at his appearance, she ridiculed him for his untidiness. That held away them from each other.