Visual Arts

Introduction.

I will mainly concentrate on painting and architecture and some sculpture ,all in so far it made a deep impression on me  and within the context of history and evolution of human consciousness.

Paintings

My first encounter with art was Leonardo da Vinci, still don't know how, around the age of 13-14.
It was a book about his life and his artwork and inventions.
My main admiration were his Madonnas, the Last Supper and his pictures of leaves and landscape.
And Istarted to paint his pictures and his self portrait.

Around that time I was invited to visit a large Rembrandt Exhibition in Amsterdam, but it was packed. However it did make an impression on me. But I remember I bought a bible  and took all his pictures out and through the bible away and I still have the pictures. We still have he Head of Christ (Tobias) hanging in our house for the last forty years and never get board with it.
Later when I was an adult I liked the Flemish painters (van  Dijk etc),Vermeer, Bruegel, Turner, van Gogh and the other impressionist, and from the modern painters Kandinsky, Chagall and some others.

Then also the Russian icons and for example the paintings from Repin.

Only much later during my phase of landscape interests I discovered the thread how paintings show the evolution of human consciousness and the way we see landscape.

Since being here is France and my interest in Romanesque and European history interested in frescos and illuminated  manuscripts.

Now I am interested in expressionism and fauvism

Architecture

As such architecture did not interest me since fairly late in my life, although I hated modern archtitecture (60-ies)

Only later became I interested in megalithic and Celtic monuments and Chartres , but even more the Romanesque architecture. Including old Russian architecture.

Sculpture

Never been very fascinated with sculpture, although Michelangelo's David and the Pieta made a strong impression.

However when we moved to France is discovered the Romanesque sculptures, although I had seen them in Chartres before, and they really fascinate me in many ways; their "childlessness" (small bodies) their mysteries symbolism /iconography and their expression of feeling.

 But  I love the statues of Maillol especially his standing ones.

Film

When I was young I enjoyed Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy of course, who not?

Generally I am not a film enthusiast but some films made a deep impression.

Dr Zhivago at the time I was interested in Russian Culture. 

My favourite film is Urga by Nikita Mikhailkov,  I  lost count how many times I have seen it and still discover new things in it. There was another Russian film about a Hunter and an Russian officer played out around the border of Mongolia.

Then the films by Tarkovsky have something very special,but difficult to understand.