#Moravian-German art

[pastedpast]

I enjoyed reading this essay, 'Fraktur Folk Art (ca. 1750–1820)', by Sasha Archibald from the Public Domain Review (great website). It's a genre of art and era of history I've written about on this blog before (ADD LINK).

The southeastern corner of what is now Pennsylvania was once home to entire towns of religious dissidents. All had been persecuted in Europe, and sought freedom in the colonies. There were clusters of Mennonites, Moravians, Lutherans, and various other German-Protestant sects, some obscure and eccentric. Residents of the Ephrata Cloister, for instance, practiced extreme calorie restriction, sleep deprivation, and celibacy. Another group followed the sixteenth-century teachings of Caspar Schwenckfeld von Ossig, a bearded, deaf ornithologist who split ways with Martin Luther over the meaning of the sacrament. These motley religious communities had significant theological differences, but shared a great deal as well — they were farmers who spoke German, prized religious tolerance, and practiced the same distinctive artform: fraktur.

Fraktur is named after the font — heavy, angular, old-timey — which is usually called “blackletter” in the United States. Fraktur was ubiquitous in eighteenth-century Germany, and it remained so long after other European countries switched to the more readable Roman. (Fraktur is now associated with the Nazis, who used it extensively in propaganda, going so far as to outfit government offices with Fraktur typewriters.) How did the name of a font become the name of an art form? Fraktur art existed at the edges of text, as a decorative accessory of writing. It embellished fraktur script. In Pennsylvania and beyond, baptismal records, land deeds, certificates of accomplishment, bookplates, birth registries, and sometimes valentines were lettered in German-language fraktur, and decorated with the hearts, vines, and tulips that came to be characteristic of fraktur art.

Fraktur has its origins in folk art traditions from Alsace, Switzerland, and the Rhineland, but in America it became more colorful, elaborate, and freehand, and far more apt to dominate the script it sought to embellish. The genre’s golden age was the period between 1790 and 1830 — a time when the American religious context was still strong, but the European influence less stultifying. The forms are highly stylized. Hearts, flowers, angels, and various birds are repeated over and over, to soothing effect. The palette favors bold primary colors, traditionally made of inks concocted from berries, iron oxide, and apple juice. The composition is orderly. The tidy leaves of the tidy vines are perfectly equidistant, and the flowers pared down to floral symbols. The goldfinch that appears in many fraktur images is drawn in such a specific way it’s still known by its German name: distelfink. Symmetry reigns, and when it doesn’t, the composition is otherwise balanced. One of the most common fraktur motifs is the “three-heart design” wherein a large heart is complemented by two smaller hearts on either side of its apex — in fraktur, even the most curvaceous of shapes assumes the rootedness of a square.

Fraktur scholars and aficionados can distinguish Ephrata Cloister fraktur from Schwenkfeld fraktur from Mennonite fraktur. They can also identify the work of certain artists by sight —whether by name, or, for those who left their work unsigned, by epithet: the Nine Hearts artist or the Stoney Creek artist. But to simply appreciate the form, no expertise is necessary. Fraktur is straightforward and earnest. There is no irony and no secret code. Its pleasures are the homey kind. To contemporary eyes, the imagery signals feminine domesticity, but it wasn’t always so. Nearly all fraktur artists were men, and the papers they embellished were civic and religious documents. It is true, however, that fraktur was designed for private, domestic pleasures. It was not an artform of display or exhibition, but of personal devotion. Some of the most beautiful examples of fraktur are bookplates, hidden most of the time.

[lionofchaeronea]

Still Life with Cheese and Cherries, Georg Flegel, 1635

#art #art history #Georg Flegel #still life #baroque #Baroque art #German Baroque #German art #Moravian-German art #17th century art #Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

[mybeingthere]

Drawing of a schoolmaster, attributed to Conrad Gilbert (1734–1812), Berks County, Pa., ca. 1800. Watercolor and ink on laid paper, 4¼ x 2¾ inches. Courtesy of Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. Gift of Patrick Bell and Edwin Hild in memory of Pastor Frederick S. Weiser (2012.36.1).

A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans And The Art Of Everyday Life"

The Pennsylvania Germans have long been renowned for their tremendously diverse, colorful, and often whimsical folk art. Also known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, they descend from the approximately 80,000 German-speaking people who had immigrated to Pennsylvania by 1775 and who made up about 40 percent of the population in the southeastern part of the state by 1790. About 90 percent of these German-speaking immigrants were from the Palatinate region of southwest Germany and belonged to the Lutheran or Reformed Church. The remaining 10 percent consisted of sectarian groups, including the Amish and Mennonites, largely from the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland; Schwenkfelders, from Silesia (part of modern-day Poland); and Moravians, primarily from Bohemia and Moravia. Most Pennsylvania Germans inhabited the counties of Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, and York, but a sizeable number lived in Philadelphia. In 1800, people of German heritage vied with those of English ancestry as the largest ethnic group in the city, with both populations estimated at 32 to 35 percent of the total 68,000 residents."

Continue reading 

https://www.incollect.com/.../a-colorful-folk...

[mishinashen]

Self-Portrait by Alphonse Mucha, 1899

Alfons Maria Mucha (Czech: 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, and designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.

In the second part of his career, at the age of 43, he returned to his homeland of Bohemia-Moravia region in Austria and devoted himself to painting a series of twenty monumental canvases known as The Slav Epic, depicting the history of all the Slavic peoples of the world, which he painted between 1912 and 1926. In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the independence of Czechoslovakia, he presented the series to the Czech nation. He considered it his most important work. It is now on display in Prague.

Alphonse Mucha was born on 24 July 1860 in the small town of Ivančice in southern Moravia, then a province of the Austrian Empire (currently a region of the Czech Republic). His family had a very modest income; his father Ondřej was a court usher, and his mother Amálie was a miller's daughter. Ondřej had six children, all with names starting with A. Alphonse was his first child with Amálie, followed by Anna and Anděla.

Alphonse showed an early talent for drawing; a local merchant impressed by his work provided him with paper for free, though it was considered a luxury. In the preschool period, he drew exclusively with his left hand. He also had a talent for music: he was an alto singer and violin player

After completing volksschule, he wanted to continue with his studies, but his family was not able to fund them, as they were already funding the studies of his three step-siblings] His music teacher sent him to Pavel Křížkovský, choirmaster of St Thomas's Abbey in Brno, to be admitted to the choir and to have his studies funded by the monastery. Křížovský was impressed by his talent, but he was not able to admit and fund him, as he had just admitted another talented young musician, Leoš Janáček.

Křížovský sent him to a choirmaster of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, who admitted him as a chorister and funded his studies at the gymnasium in Brno, where he received his secondary school education. After his voice broke, he gave up his chorister position, but played as a violinist during masses.

He became devoutly religious, and wrote later, "For me, the notions of painting, going to church, and music are so closely knit that often I cannot decide whether I like church for its music, or music for its place in the mystery which it accompanies." He grew up in an environment of intense Czech nationalism in all the arts, from music to literature and painting. He designed flyers and posters for patriotic rallies.

His singing abilities allowed him to continue his musical education at the Gymnázium Brno in the Moravian capital of Brno, but his true ambition was to become an artist. He found some employment designing theatrical scenery and other decorations. In 1878 he applied without success to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, but was rejected and advised to "find a different career". In 1880, at the age of 19, he traveled to Vienna, the political and cultural capital of the Empire, and found employment as an apprentice scenery painter for a company which made sets for Vienna theaters. While in Vienna, he discovered the museums, churches, palaces and especially theaters, for which he received free tickets from his employer. He also discovered Hans Makart, a very prominent academic painter, who created murals for many of the palaces and government buildings in Vienna, and was a master of portraits and historical paintings in grand format. His style turned Mucha in that artistic direction and influenced his later work. He also began experimenting with photography, which became an important tool in his later work.

To his misfortune, a terrible fire in 1881 destroyed the Ringtheater, the major client of his firm. Later in 1881, almost without funds, he took a train as far north as his money would take him. He arrived in Mikulov in southern Moravia, and began making portraits, decorative art and lettering for tombstones. His work was appreciated, and he was commissioned by Count Eduard Khuen Belasi, a local landlord and nobleman, to paint a series of murals for his residence at Emmahof Castle, and then at his ancestral home in the Tyrol, Gandegg Castle. The paintings at Emmahof were destroyed by fire in 1948, but his early versions in small format exist (now on display at the museum in Brno). He showed his skill at mythological themes, the female form, and lush vegetal decoration. Belasi, who was also an amateur painter, took Mucha on expeditions to see art in Venice, Florence and Milan, and introduced him to many artists, including the famous Bavarian romantic painter, Wilhelm Kray, who lived in Munich.

Count Belasi decided to bring Mucha to Munich for formal training, and paid his tuition fees and living expenses at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. He moved there in September 1885. It is not clear how Mucha actually studied at the Munich Academy; there is no record of his being enrolled as a student there. However, he did become friends with a number of notable Slavic artists there, including the Czechs Karel Vítězslav Mašek and Ludek Marold and the Russian Leonid Pasternak, father of the famous poet and novelist Boris Pasternak. He founded a Czech students' club, and contributed political illustrations to nationalist publications in Prague. In 1886 he received a notable commission for a painting of the Czech patron saints Cyril and Methodius, from a group of Czech emigrants, including some of his relatives, who had founded a Roman Catholic church in the town of Pisek, North Dakota. He was very happy with the artistic environment of Munich: he wrote to friends, "Here I am in my new element, painting. I cross all sorts of currents, but without effort, and even with joy. Here, for the first time, I can find the objectives to reach which used to seem inaccessible." However, he found he could not remain forever in Munich; the Bavarian authorities imposed increasing restrictions upon foreign students and residents. Count Belasi suggested that he travel either to Rome or to Paris. With Belasi's financial support, he decided in 1887 to move to Paris.

Mucha moved to Paris in 1888 where he enrolled in the Académie Julian[18] and the following year, 1889, Académie Colarossi. The two schools taught a wide variety of different styles. His first professors at the Academie Julien were Jules Lefebvre who specialized in female nudes and allegorical paintings, and Jean-Paul Laurens, whose specialties were historical and religious paintings in a realistic and dramatic style. At the end of 1889, as he approached the age of thirty, his patron, Count Belasi, decided that Mucha had received enough education and ended his subsidies.

When he arrived in Paris, Mucha found shelter with the help of the large Slavic community. He lived in a boarding house called the Crémerie at 13 rue de la Grande Chaumière, whose owner, Charlotte Caron, was famous for sheltering struggling artists; when needed she accepted paintings or drawings in place of rent. Mucha decided to follow the path of another Czech painter he knew from Munich, Ludek Marold, who had made a successful career as an illustrator for magazines. In 1890 and 1891, he began providing illustrations for the weekly magazine La Vie populaire, which published novels in weekly segments. His illustration for a novel by Guy de Maupassant, called The Useless Beauty, was on the cover of 22 May 1890 edition. He also made illustrations for Le Petit Français Illustré, which published stories for young people in both magazine and book form. For this magazine he provided dramatic scenes of battles and other historic events, including a cover illustration of a scene from the Franco-Prussian War which was on 23 January 1892 edition.

His illustrations began to give him a regular income. He was able to buy a harmonium to continue his musical interests, and his first camera, which used glass-plate negatives. He took pictures of himself and his friends, and also regularly used it to compose his drawings. He became friends with Paul Gauguin, and shared a studio with him for a time when Gauguin returned from Tahiti in the summer of 1893. In late autumn 1894 he also became friends with the playwright August Strindberg, with whom he had a common interest in philosophy and mysticism.

His magazine illustrations led to book illustration; he was commissioned to provide illustrations for Scenes and Episodes of German History by historian Charles Seignobos. Four of his illustrations, including one depicting the death of Frederic Barbarossa, were chosen for display at the 1894 Paris Salon of Artists. He received a medal of honor, his first official recognition.

Mucha added another important client in the early 1890s; the Central Library of Fine Arts, which specialized in the publication of books about art, architecture and the decorative arts. It later launched a new magazine in 1897 called Art et Decoration, which played an early and important role in publicizing the Art Nouveau style. He continued to publish illustrations for his other clients, including illustrating a children's book of poetry by Eugène Manuel, and illustrations for a magazine of the theater arts, called La Costume au théâtre.

#czech art #art noveau

[aic-european]

The Nativity, Master of the Historia Friderici et Maximiliani, 1507, Art Institute of Chicago: European Painting and Sculpture

Once thought to be by the young Albrecht Altdorfer, this painting is instead the work of a painter named after a winged altarpiece in the town of Pulkau, near the Austrian and Moravian border. Though the artist takes his name from the Pulkau altarpiece, he was probably active in Vienna. Like other loosely associated South German and Austrian artists of the early 16th century, who are now grouped together as the Danube School, the Master of Pulkau used exuberant natural forms to give a heightened emotional quality to his work. In this altarpiece wing, the swirling vegetation, excited angels, and oversized Virgin and animals direct the viewer’s attention to the vulnerable Christ Child, who is the focus of adoration. Wilson L. Mead Fund Size: 44 5/8 × 29 3/16 in. (111.4 × 74.1 cm) Painted surface: 43 5/8 × 28 5/16 in. (110.8 × 73.5 cm) Medium: Oil on panel

https://www.artic.edu/artworks/15496/

#artinstituteofchicago #europeanart #masterofthehistoriafridericietmaximiliani #museumarchive

[brentemersonarizona]

Reasons to Visit Winston Salem, North Carolina

Many tourists to Winston-Salem don’t get that this city in the United States dates back to the 1700s when Moravians, Protestants whose language is German, originated the city. Winston-Salem is also well-known for Salem College which the Moravians also created in 1772, and is truly the hoariest college for women in the whole of the nation. Winston Salem is a traditionally and culturally significant part of the country says Brent Emerson North Carolina.

Aside from its honored history, Winston-Salem is also famed for its magnificence, being situated in between the misty Blue Ridge Mountains and the glittering Atlantic Ocean. The city has about 400,000 populaces, but it is still crowded full of parks, museums, restaurants, breweries, and art galleries, so if you decide to visit you will not be short of actions to relish in this picturesque corner of the United States.

Here are a few reasons why you should visit Wintson Salem once in life:

West End Historic District – The West End Historic District in Winston-Salem is the place to come for anybody who wants to know about the historical and ethnic implications of this city. It is full of edifices that date back as far as the 1800s, and have been conserved for all to perceive in the present-day emphasis Brent Emerson North Carolina.

This city has 500 buildings to travel, including houses belonging to numerous of the creators of Winston-Salem like the Poindexter House and the Zevely House. Winston Salem stretches over 230 acres, but you can stroll around certain areas on foot and take in the striking period construction that comprises Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, and Classic Revival style.

Black Mountain Chocolate Factory – Are you a chocolate lover? If yes, then you must travel to the Black Mountain Chocolate Factory which is conveniently situated in the downtown area of Winston-Salem. This chocolate factory is open to the civic who can adore a self-guided trip here. Moreover, you can join a trip with a friendly guide who will elucidate to you how the factory came to be. And you can also get to know the process of making the chocolate highlights Brent Emerson

Old Salem Museum and Gardens – The Old Salem Museums and Garden were first reinstated by resident volunteers starting way back in the 1950s. This custom has endured over the years and a diversity of momentous buildings and gardens have been conserved so that tourists can continue to adore them to this day. The museums and gardens are established within the Historic District and you can trip, consume, and even shop here as you cram all about the cultural importance of Winston-Salem.

Children’s Museum of Winston Salem – For younger tourists to Winston-Salem, deliberate a tour to the Children’s Museum of Winston-Salem where you will discover a range of appealing exhibitions aimed at young minds. These demonstrations are interactive and edifying and there is an enthusiasm to emerging key skills like literacy, coordination, and societal consciousness says Brent Emerson North Carolina. To that end, tourists can guess amusing galleries with events such as drawing, edifice, reading, and canvas obtainable, and there are play spaces through the museum where children can burn off some vigor.

Originally Posted: https://brentemersonarizona.wordpress.com/2021/06/18/reasons-to-visit-winston-salem-north-carolina/

#travel

[jacobwalkerjacob]

A Czech painter: Alphonse Mucha

On December 26th, 1894, French stage entertainer Sarah Bernhardt required another commercial for her play Gismonda, and she required it quickly. Bernhardt was associated with rising Czech painter Alphonse Mucha, one of only a handful few originators in Paris not on holiday at that point. Inside seven days, Mucha delivered a banner for her that is currently viewed as a foundation of the Art Nouveau development.

 Brought into the world in a little Moravian town in the present-day Czech Republic, Mucha's youth was set apart by viciousness and a cholera pestilence. Mucha's advantage in workmanship outgrew these injuries and was developed affected by the Catholic Church. He would proceed to consider craftsmanship in Vienna and Munich before arriving in Paris, the city that would permit his vocation to take off. Big size posters are the identity of the Mucha’s successful career. Explore the similar kind of other works in the auction houses in auctiondaily. Two Lithographs of this artist were presented in the auction by Sworders.

 Making the Gismonda banner was a critical second in his life and the prospering Art Nouveau development. After it was delivered, it caused absolutely a sensation in Paris. Crowd individuals and ordinary individuals were taking the banners from the roads to sell and appreciate. "I anticipate notoriety for you," Bernhardt told Mucha in the repercussions. Her forecast before long demonstrated precision. Mucha kept on making banners for Bernhardt's exhibitions for the following six years, prompting exceptional business achievement.

 Mucha's works of art and banners followed steady topics, many showing glorified ladies encompassed by blossoms, whirling designs, and expound ensembles. His work compared the art and style of high craftsmanship with the normal, ordinary banner that could be effectively printed and disseminated. Mucha's initial advancements additionally made an enduring relationship with Art Nouveau. "Mucha is super-natural. Regardless of whether the name isn't comfortable to you when you [see the craftsmanship you will] perceive his work," said Poster House exhibition hall chief Julia Knight in 2019.

 Accessible in the forthcoming Sworders deal is a couple of Mucha lithographs made at the tallness of his Parisian ubiquity. Tête Byzantine Brunette and Tête Byzantine Blonde, both imprinted in 1897, are offered along with a gauge of GBP 5,000 to 8,000 (USD 6,544 to $10,470). The brunette figure, appeared in profile, faces the watchers correct. In her hair are jeweled trimmings that attract the eye to her streaming twists. The blondie subject faces the other way and wears a more mathematical hairpiece.

 Because of Mucha's nearby relationship with the feel of Art Nouveau, his work keeps on performing at sell-off today. In a 2015 deal, an 1896 banner he made for Sarah Bernhardt sold for $13,750 with Hindman. This cost finished well over the high gauge of $5,000. Mucha additionally made various coordinating works all through his vocation, regularly utilizing pictures of ladies to investigate craftsmanship and the seasons. One bunch of four banners addressing the dreams of Poetry, Dance, Painting, and Music sold for $70,000 with Poster Auctions International in 2012, an outcome steady with a large number of his other banner sets.

 Among Mucha's lesser-realized works are the political canvases finished close to the furthest limit of his profession. Although reprimanded for being more "blustering and kitschy and nationalistic" than his Art Nouveau banners, The Slav Epic arrangement and different pieces are viewed as major social commitments in the Czech Republic. A form of The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, the most celebrated board in the Slav Epic arrangement, acquired one of the craftsman's most noteworthy figures at a 2006 Christie's deal. The 1920 piece sold at a mallet cost of $1,472,000.

 Mucha felt unequivocal about his political exercises. Notwithstanding, his frank works and craftsmanships attracted the consideration of the German Gestapo in 1939, prompting Mucha's capture and addressing. Mucha kicked the bucket soon after his delivery. Despite this troublesome end, he set up a creative inheritance that is inseparably bound to the symbolism and accounts of Art Nouveau.

 Media Source: Auctiondaily

[revclts]

a time will come when i will not take another character, but it is not this day. beneath the cut you’ll find a detailed synopsis of mikhail novak.

*law and order noise*

I. ━━ GENERAL.

name : mikhail novak.

age : twenty-seven.

country of origin : moravia.

current  country : the margraviate of moravia.

former title / s : lord of moravia, commander of the moravian army.

current title / s : margrave ( king ), commander of the moravian army.

date of birth : november 7th, 1505.

astrological sign : scorpio.

II. ━━ PERSONAL.

sexual orientation : demisexual.

romantic orientation : demiromantic.

personality type : entj, the commander.

languages spoken : czech, russian, polish, german, french, spanish, portuguese, latin, english.

moral alignment : chaotic good.

habits : rolling his eyes, narrowing his gaze, cocking his head, lifting a brow, folding his arms.

sins : lust  /  greed  /  gluttony  /  sloth  /  pride  /  envy  / wrath

III. ━━ TRAITS & PERSONALITY.

cowardly     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●      brave

energetic    ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○     lethargic

forgiving     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●     vengeful

charitable    ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○     selfish

authentic     ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○      deceitful

chaste     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○      lustful

humble    ○ ○ ● ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○     boastful

naive     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●      experienced

cautious     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●      daring

restrained     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●     bold

trusting     ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ●     suspicious

IV. ━━ PHYSICALITY.

hair color : dark brown, appears black.

eye color : hazel.

height : 6′3.

weight : 196 lbs.

build : lean, hard muscle, fit.

scars & birthmarks : scar through left brow, lattice scars across his back, various nicks from his time at war.

V. ━━ BIOGRAPHY.

mikhail novak was born at the peak of winter’s freeze amidst raging war, and its victory was accompanied by a king’s bloodstained hands; a young father offering his newborn son to an independent country.

despite not being the eldest son he was favored and the primary focus of his father, holding an affinity for war where his elder brother preferred to scheme through political gain. 

mikhail proved to be a son that fathers should both hope to have and covet. he inhaled the art of war, and exhaled conquering victories. he was a dauntless, unbowed being, strategic and lethal.

his mother, just as much of a warrior as his father, would unfittingly perish during the birth of twin boys ( only one survived ). the whole of moravia would mourn this loss, and would soon after be swept into the great war.

fourteen at the time of the war’s arrival, mikhail would ride to war alongside his father and command a portion of the moravian army, where he would prove that, despite his youthful age, he’d never once been a child.

at eighteen, a betrayal detonated fatal catastrophe. his elder brother, having made a deal with their adversaries, sold moravia’s war plans in hopes of both mikhail and their father’s demise, hoping the result would land him the position of margrave.

unbeknownst to mikhail and his father, their strategies for the following battle had been carefully studied as well as countered, resulting in the mortal defeat of mikhail’s father. despite witnessing the slaying of his father and his army vastly outnumbered, mikhail overcame the odds, rallied his troops, and returned to moravia with a bittersweet victory.

with his elder brother as margrave, moravia suffered greatly. with the pursuit of nothing but personal gain, and mikhail off fighting a war, the country experienced a time of tyranny by an oppressive authoritarian.

it’s during the torture of adversaries that mikhail learns that his brother is a blood traitor. armed with the pact signed by his brother, mikhail returned to moravia for vengeance.

an ultimatum is proposed towards his elder brother: step down or be brought down. his brother, drunk on power he did not know how to wield, was an unskilled craven who loathed the sight of blood; nor held education in the art of war. yet, he swung a blade he’d never drawn before. brother was pitted against brother, and the end of the margrave was swift despite what his wrongdoing’s deserved.

the fall of the former margrave was not questioned; moravia elated by the man’s death and their rightful ruler taking the crown. despite rumors circling that it was mikhail who murdered him, there are only few who know the truth, and know the reasons behind it were not due to the want of power.

moravia, now holding a leader with the fortitude to see them through, recovers from destitution and continues to honor its alliances throughout the remainder of the great war.

at one point, mikhail spends roughly a year as a pow as the result of sacrificing himself for a portion of his men including his royal guard, a man who’d become his unexpected confidante. it was not negotiations which freed him but his own plotted escape, where he not only liberated himself but various allied troops.

now, with the treaty proposed, mikhail plans to maintain his country’s independence as well as wishes to start anew, and allow a war-torn moravia to flourish as it had done during his father’s reign.

VI.      ━━  CHARACTER RELATIONS.

lady of moravia

younger sister, info tba.

lord of moravia

younger brother, info tba.

cristóvão barboza

royal guard, twenty-nine.

matthew daddario, twenty-seven, moravia. ––– i believe that is mikhail novak, the margrave of moravia. they are twenty-seven years old and are known to be very + capable & + disciplined, though they can also be very - caustic & - critical. they feel impassive about the end of the great war.

#imperialrp:intro #♚ — && OOC . #icb i am here with tragedy number five #harry potter vc: imperial is my home

[mediocrelanguagelearner]

Why Learn Czech? Why Study Czech and Slovak Culture?

I found this great article about the reasons to study Czech for different kinds of people

FOR THE SLAVIST:

Since Russian language and literature are usually the Slavist's main field, another language and culture is generally required. Outside the East Slavic group, Czech is an excellent choice. One of the two most significant West Slavic languages, Czech has the advantage of a simple orthography using three diacritical marks, and a simple stress rule (stress is always on the first syllable).

Bohemia - The Czech lands are the birthplace of the first Slavic literary language, Old Church Slavic, formed by Constantine and Methodius in the 9th century. Later, in the 19th century, Slavic Studies was conceived as a discipline in Bohemia, the site of the first Slavic Congress. Finally, in the 20th century Prague became the site of the development of one of the most important linguistic, literary and semiotic schools in the world, the internationally based Prague Linguistic Circle. Since many important works can be read only in Czech, study of the language can greatly benefit the Slavist in his or her research.

FOR THE LINGUIST:

Czech is of importance because of a considerable German lexical element, which has interesting stylistic functions, especially in the spoken language. For historical reasons, Czech has a well-developed diglossic system, where a spoken and a written variant are kept separate by the speaker and are also used in an intertwined way for stylistic purposes. The extremely rich and original linguistic tradition is exemplified in the well-known Prague School of Linguistics and Semiotics, a monumental movement of thought in the 20th century influencing linguistic thinking all over the world.

FOR THE STUDENT OF LITERATURE:

Many American readers know of one of the greatest satires of all times, Hašek's Good Soldier Švejk, others know Čapek's philosophical relativist novels, his artistic detective stories or his science fiction. (The word "robot" was created by Čapek from an old Czech word for heavy work, "robota"). But not many people are aware that these two authors are but a fraction of a rich and unique literary culture, especially rich in poetry (Nobel laureate Jaroslav Seifert is a significant, but again a small fraction of it). Bohemia and Slovakia have produced a great pléiade of outstanding poets, such as Mácha, Vrchlický, Neruda, Král', Holan, Halas, Nezval, and many others, as well as the writers Kundera, Škvorecký, Vaculík, Hrabal. Others still rest in darkness for the Western world. It is also barely known that Czechs produced their own avant-garde movement, poetism, a unique synthesis of constructivism, dadaism and cubism; these were all transformed into a qualitatively different, playful movement with its own theory and interdisciplinary applications (one creator of this movement was Jaroslav Seifert). Jan Mukařovský's theory of literature is only now making its full impact on Western theory.

The social and cultural milieu of Bohemia produced such important German language authors as Franz Kafka, Franz Werfel and Rainer Maria Rilke; writers such as Werfel, Rilke, Max Brod, and E. E. Kisch wrote in Prague between the First and Second World Wars.

Czechoslovakia also produced a remarkable new wave of cinema, concerned with realistic, understated insight into life, as well as poetic surrealist films. Names like Forman, Jireš, Němec, Kádár, Chytilová, Passer, have gained world renown ever since the 1960s.

FOR THE HISTORIAN

Today's Czech Republic lies on the border of East and West. The earliest state of the region, the Great Moravian Empire of the 9th century, saw two important developments: the democratic concept of the linguistic accessibility of religion and culture (unheard of in Western Europe at the time), and the birth of the first Slavic literary language, Old Church Slavic. Later, Bohemia posed the first successful challenge to the outdated practices of the Catholic Church as the first carrier of the Protestant idea in Europe; it was the home of the early encyclopedist Comenius, who reformed the outdated scholastic education so effectively that he is to this day known as the "teacher of the nations." His ideas even now serve as the basis of modern pedagogy. This great humanist also shares the fate common to the Czech people--he is one of the first of hundreds of thousands of Czechs, Moravians, and Slovaks who for historical reasons and reasons of conscience or profession were forced to emigrate. The wealth of Western cultures owes much to such exiles.

Many important historical events — the Thirty Years' War, the First and Second World Wars — had their inceptions or took decisive turns precisely on the territory of this early industrialized country on the crossroads of the East and West.

FOR THE STUDENT OF FOLKLORE, THEATER, FILM, VISUAL ARTS, OR MUSIC:

The Czech lands are a place of important developments in modern semiotic theory, not only of literature and linguistics, but also in visual arts, music, theater, film and folklore.

FOR THE STUDENT OF ART:

During many culturally and artistically rich periods, Bohemia was at the heart of Western Culture. It played the role of catalyst, ready more than any other nation to absorb foreign influences, but also to creatively transform them into something unique. Thus during the Gothic period, Bohemia created the so-called "beautiful style", and much more recently, during the European avant-garde, poetism. Some modern painters (Toyen, Šíma, Štyrský, Muzika, Kotík, Zrzavý, Tichý) not only achieved broad renown, but anticipated new art forms. Those forms included artificialism, mental countryside painting, and magic realism. The application of modern forms to content and value concerns had taken place in Czechoslovakia as early as the 1940s - earlier than in other countries. Only a few Czech painters have achieved worldwide acclaim, like Kupka or Mucha, who created a unique Art Nouveau style ("le style Mucha"). Much translation work remains to be done in bringing so many exquisite artists to the attention and awareness of the North American public.

FOR THE STUDENT OF MUSIC:

Czechs are said to be a "nation of musicians." Already in the 17th and 18th centuries there was such a surplus of excellent musicians that they emigrated in large numbers to Western Europe. There, they formed important new directions in music, especially in Germany (for example, the Mannheim School, where they contributed to the development of the modern sonata form). The 19th century composers Smetana and Dvořák are well known; however, a great musical tradition preceded those composers, one that enriched the musical world with such forms as pastorella and melodrama. The modern composer Janáček, the pioneer of onomatopoetic music, has only recently been discovered by the Western world. The tremendous musical creativity of both Janáček and Martinů finds its source in the remarkable themes of Czech and Moravian folk songs. Other great neglected modern composers are Josef Suk (father of the famous violinist) and the Slovaks Ján Ciker and Eugen Suchoň.

FOR THE STUDENT OF JEWISH CULTURE AND HISTORY:

Bohemia, and Prague in particular, were the seat of a richly developed Jewish culture. The Gothic-Jewish quarter of Prague with its beautiful synagogues is the oldest preserved in Europe and embodies the continuity that this Jewish community enjoyed. It is not by chance that during the Second World War Hitler chose Prague for his "Museum of the Extinguished Race"; thus an invaluable collection of Jewish materials and objects was formed and is preserved to this day in the Jewish Museum there. One of the greatest Jewish writers of our time, Franz Kafka, grew up and wrote in Prague, in the center of this special mixture of intercultural relationships.

FOR THE STUDENT OF ECONOMICS OR POLITICAL SCIENCE:

Bohemia and Slovakia offer highly interesting and important resources for the study of political science. They are countries that historically and culturally belong primarily to the West; however, until recently they found themselves under the domination of the Eastern Soviet Empire. Czechoslovakia had its own communist tradition, conceived originally independently of Russia, and an extremely well-developed democratic tradition, being the only democracy in Central Europe between the wars. Because of these elements and because of Czechoslovakia's unfortunate and prolonged experience with totalitarian regimes, both the underground Czechoslovak and émigré literatures played an important if little-recognized role in the fate of the modern world. Today, as members of the EU, the Czech Republic and Slovakia offer examples of economic transition and business opportunity.

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[mybeingthere]

Rare watercolor fraktur- Religious text with center medallion, David Kriebel (1787-1848) Probably Gwynned Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, dated 1804.

A Colorful Folk: Pennsylvania Germans And The Art Of Everyday Life"

The Pennsylvania Germans have long been renowned for their tremendously diverse, colorful, and often whimsical folk art. Also known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, they descend from the approximately 80,000 German-speaking people who had immigrated to Pennsylvania by 1775 and who made up about 40 percent of the population in the southeastern part of the state by 1790. About 90 percent of these German-speaking immigrants were from the Palatinate region of southwest Germany and belonged to the Lutheran or Reformed Church. The remaining 10 percent consisted of sectarian groups, including the Amish and Mennonites, largely from the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland; Schwenkfelders, from Silesia (part of modern-day Poland); and Moravians, primarily from Bohemia and Moravia. Most Pennsylvania Germans inhabited the counties of Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, and York, but a sizeable number lived in Philadelphia. In 1800, people of German heritage vied with those of English ancestry as the largest ethnic group in the city, with both populations estimated at 32 to 35 percent of the total 68,000 residents."

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[larrysmiththings]

Artist to Know: Alphonse Mucha - Auction Daily

Sworders Presents Signed Lithograph Pair from Art Nouveau Poster Artist

On December 26th, 1894, French stage entertainer Sarah Bernhardt required another promotion for her play Gismonda, and she required it quick. Bernhardt was associated with rising Czech craftsman Alphonse Mucha, one of only a handful not many architects in Paris not on an extended get-away at that point. Inside seven days, Mucha created a banner for her that is currently viewed as a foundation of the Art Nouveau development.

Profoundly adapted banners would turn into the brand name of Mucha's long and fruitful profession. Two lithograph prints from the craftsman will come to sell on September eighth, 2020, at 10:00 AM WEST (5:00 AM EDT) with Sworders. Discover more about Alphonse Mucha's life and heritage before the internet offering starts.

Conceived in a little Moravian town in the present-day Czech Republic, Mucha's youth was set apart by savagery and a cholera pandemic. Mucha's enthusiasm for workmanship became out of these injuries and was developed affected by the Catholic Church. He would proceed to examine craftsmanship in Vienna and Munich before arriving in Paris, the city that would permit his vocation to take off.

Making the Gismonda banner was a key second in his life and in the blossoming Art Nouveau development. After it was delivered, it caused completely a sensation in Paris. Crowd individuals and regular individuals were taking the banners from the boulevards to sell and respect. "I foresee distinction for you," Bernhardt told Mucha in the outcome. Her forecast before long demonstrated precise. Mucha kept on making banners for Bernhardt's exhibitions for the following six years, prompting remarkable business achievement.

Mucha's compositions and banners followed predictable topics, many demonstrating glorified ladies encompassed by blossoms, twirling designs, and expand outfits. His work compared the art and style of high workmanship with the normal, regular banner that could be handily printed and dispersed. Mucha's initial advancements additionally made an enduring relationship with Art Nouveau. "Mucha is super-recognizable. Regardless of whether the name isn't comfortable to you, when you [see the workmanship you will] perceive his work," said Poster House historical center chief Julia Knight in 2019.

Accessible in the up and coming Sworders deal is a couple of Mucha lithographs made at the stature of his Parisian prevalence. Tête Byzantine Brunette and Tête Byzantine Blonde, both imprinted in 1897, are offered along with a gauge of GBP 5,000 to 8,000 (USD 6,544 to $10,470). The brunette figure, appeared in profile, faces the watcher's correct. In her hair are jeweled adornments that attract the eye to her streaming twists. The blondie subject faces the other way and wears a more mathematical hairpiece.

Due to Mucha’s close association with the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, his work continues to perform at auction today. In a 2015 sale, an 1896 poster he made for Sarah Bernhardt sold for $13,750 with Hindman. This price ended well above the high estimate of $5,000. Mucha also created numerous matching works throughout his career, often using images of women to explore art and the seasons. One set of four posters representing the muses of Poetry, Dance, Painting, and Music sold for $70,000 with Poster Auctions International in 2012, a result consistent with many of his other poster sets.

Among Mucha’s lesser-known works are the political paintings completed near the end of his career. Though criticized for being more “bombastic and kitschy and nationalistic” than his Art Nouveau posters, The Slav Epic series and other pieces are considered major cultural contributions in the Czech Republic. A version of The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, the most famous panel in the Slav Epic series, brought in one of the artist’s highest figures at a 2006 Christie’s sale. The 1920 piece sold for a hammer price of $1,472,000.

Mucha felt strongly about his political activities. However, his outspoken writings and artworks drew the attention of the German Gestapo in 1939, leading to Mucha’s arrest and questioning. Mucha died shortly after his release. Despite this difficult end, he established an artistic legacy that is inextricably bound to the imagery and stories of Art Nouveau.

Sworders will present the set of two Mucha prints in the upcoming Arts & Crafts and Art Deco sale, held live online on September 8th, 2020. Bidding will start at 10:00 AM WEST (5:00 AM EDT).

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