The calculations of Rafael Araujo b. 1957

As you have probably figured out I love art and artists that demonstrate obsessiveness. To me, obsessiveness is a reflection of the passion an artist has for their craft. Rafael Araujo does not consider himself an artist. He merely puts his calculations down on paper. He uses his fathers old drafting board. He was born in 1957 like I was and I had the old drafting board, triangles and compass's my father gave me. So I have a feel for his craft and talent. No computers, drafting.

"Rafael Araujo’s illustrations are bafflingly complex—so complex that you might assume the artist uses a computer to render the exacting angles and three-dimensional illusions. And true, if you were to recreate his intricate mathematical illustrations using software, it probably wouldn’t take you long at all. But the craziest part of all is that Araujo doesn’t use modern technology to create his intricately drawn Calculations series—unless, of course, you count a ruler and protractor.
The Venezuelan artist crafts his illustrations using same skills you and I learned in our 10th grade geometry class. Only instead of stashing those homework assignments deep into the locker of his brain, Araujo uses these concepts to create his da Vinci-esque drawings. In Araujo’s work, butterflies take flight amidst a web of lines and helixes, a shell is born from a conical spiral, and the mathematical complexity of nature begins to make sense.
He says perspective and angles have always come naturally to him. “When I was young I began drawing perspective almost out of the blue,” he recalls. “I loved three-dimensional drawings and liked to find out ways to locate dots in the space.” Before computer-assisted drawing, there were artists like M.C. Escher, who Araujo counts among his biggest influences. “When I first saw M.C. Escher, I was speechless,” he says. “His artwork was so akin to my geometrical taste.”

Working on an old drafting table, Araujo began drawing his own perspective illustrations, eyeballing
the trigonometry to plot dot sequences that would allow him to create curved shapes like double helixes and cones. If you look closely at Araujo’s drawings, you’ll notice each of the main shapes sits within a line-drawn square or rectangle—he began adding this to his works after realizing these scaffolding boxes created a more reliable way to correctly position the dots. “There is naturally a learning curve,” he says. “And as problems are solved, you become more adept and, again, daring.”

As Araujo became more confident in his skills, he began adding ink-drawn butterflies, insects and shells to the canvas and painting them with acrylic in order to add visual complexity to his work. Each illustration takes him upwards of 100 hours, and that’s if he doesn’t mess up. “Painting is very similar to cooking,” he says. “You’ve got to be always careful!”
Even with the added embellishments, his work is restrained and exacting. But that scientific honesty is also what makes his illustrations so visually compelling. Scientists and mathematicians often say there’s a comfort in their work because they know there’s always a right and wrong answer. It’s the same with Araujo’s art.
There’s little gray area to be debated when it comes to angles and lines, and somehow that reliability and predictability translates into something beautiful. “I love Pollock, and enjoy very much casting paint onto a canvas without rules,” he says. “But you’ve got to make it to appear, if not “beautiful,” well done, and that is difficult.” (Courtesy Wired)

All images courtesy 90dg.

"A Young Daughter of the Picts (painted people)". Jacques le Moyne de Morgues, France (1533-1588).

"Originally thought to be one of John White’s drawings from his 16th-century Virginia expedition, this colorful miniature is now attributed to the French artist Jacques Le Moyne. It does not show a North American native as first thought but rather imagines an early inhabitant of the British Isles, a member of the Picts, a group of people who lived in what is now modern-day Scotland during the Late Iron Age and Early Medieval periods. As Lisa Ford from the Yale Center for British Art notes, the image was most likely “intended to remind readers that early natives of the British Isles existed in a savage state similar to natives in the Americas”. Although the "Picts" are often said to have tattooed themselves, there is little actual evidence for this, though their name does seem to stem from the Latin word Picti meaning “painted or tattooed people”. As Ford comments, Le Moyne’s rendering of this young woman in a head-to-toe floral tattoo brings together his “two known subject areas, ethnological drawings and botanicals”. Anyone clued up on their history of botany will notice that Le Moyne includes in his floral design species which were newly introduced to Western Europe at the time, and so rendering the woman in the picture slightly anachronistic".

"Jacques le Moyne de Morgues (c. 1533–1588) was a French artist and member of Jean Ribault's expedition to the New World. His depictions of Native American, colonial life and plants are of extraordinary historical importance. Until well into the 20th century, knowledge of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was extremely limited, and largely confined to the footnotes of inaccessible ethnographic bibliographies, where he figures as the writer and illustrator of a short history of Laudonniere's attempt in 1564-5 to establish a Huguenot settlement in Florida. In 1922, however, Spencer Savage, librarian of the Linnean Society, made a discovery that opened the way to the subsequent definition of Le Moyne as an artistic personality; he recognized that a group of fifty-nine watercolors of plants contained in a small volume, purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1856 solely for its fine sixteenth-century French binding, were in fact by Le Moyne. Savage's publications relating to this discovery prepared the way for subsequent attribution to the artist of other important groups of drawings and watercolors, which form the core of his known oeuvre".

"Le Moyne was born about 1533, in Morgues, some 7 miles east of Châteaudun, in the Loire Valley, France. The first thirty years of his life are undocumented, but it seems reasonable to suppose that he trained as an artist in his native town, which was at the time a notable center both for cartography and for illumination. Le Moyne probably worked at the court of King Charles IX of France, although there is no documentary record to that effect, nor are there any surviving works by the artist dating from before his departure for Florida in 1564.

Le Moyne accompanied the French expedition of Jean Ribault and René Laudonnière in an ill-fated attempt to colonize northern Florida. They arrived at the St. Johns River in 1564, and soon founded Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville. Painting in the Calvinist style, he is mostly known for his artistic depictions of the landscape, flora, fauna, and, most importantly, the inhabitants of the New World. His drawings of the cultures commonly referred to as the Timucua (known through their reproduction by the Dutch publisher Theodor de Bry) are largely regarded as some of the most accessible data about the cultures of the Southeastern Coastal United States; however, many of these depictions and maps are currently being questioned by historians and archaeologists as to their authenticity. During this expedition he became known as a cartographer and an illustrator as he painted landscapes and reliefs of the land they crossed".

"All but a few of Le Moyne's original black and white historical drawings were reportedly destroyed in the Spanish attack on Fort Caroline; many the black and white historical images attributed to him are actually engravings created by the Belgian printer and publisher Theodor de Bry, which are based on recreations Le Moyne produced from memory. These reproductions, distributed by Le Moyne in printed volumes, are some of the earliest images of European colonization in the New World to be circulated. Le Moyne died in London in 1588, and his detailed account of the voyage, Brevis narratio eorum quae in Florida Americai provincia Gallis acciderunt, was published in 1591. A re-edition of his paintings including critical response has been published in 1977 by the British Museum".

"Le Moyne ended his career as a highly regarded botanical artist in Elizabethan London, where his patrons included Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Mary Sidney. The six documented works by the artist in private hands are exquisite gouaches which embody and combine in a most original manner three diverse artistic traditions: the first is that of manuscript illumination in Le Moyne's native France; the second is the recording of exotic and native flora, fauna and cultures, which was the artistic expression of the late sixteenth-century fascination with exploration and scientific investigation; and the third is the purely aesthetic love of flowers and gardens which was so apparent in Elizabethan court culture".
"The most extravagant and exquisitely wrought of all Le Moyne's floral works are the six miniature-like gouaches from the Korner collection. Purchased as the work of an anonymous Netherlandish artist of circa 1600, their authorship was recognized by art historians Dr. Rosy Schilling and Mr. Paul Hutton, by comparison with the drawings by Le Moyne in the British Museum. These are generally similar in conception to the watercolors in the British Museum, and must also date from around 1585".

 Read below for an interesting account of the sale of a recently discovered le Moyne painting.

Circa 1880's French figural bronze of a turkey foot with period thermometer. Incredible, 120+ year old, original surface.

Available for purchase here

Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887) American Architect.

Stumbled across the original drawings for the expansion of the United States Capitol Building 1850-1863 by Thomas Walter. He was actually the 4th architect of the Capitol, but was responsible for adding the wings and the fabulous dome that has become an iconic representation of freedom around the world. Second only to the Statue of Liberty in it's symbolic importance this is Americana at it's best. Enjoy.

 

 Official portrait of Walter by John Neagle (1796-1865)

Antique and vintage seafood advertising tins.

I picked up a real neat Wisconsin piece today. Holland Style Herring, packed by B.A. Griffin Co., Inc. Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The graphics on it are off the charts. The background is a log cabin and the Herring with the star and letter "A" logo is great.  It is available for purchase here, but it made me think of the Oyster tins I used to collect.

The field of old advertising collectables and antiques is huge. If it was made, and sold, in a container of any kind, somebody today collects it. In fact, there is probably an International Club of people that collect the same things. I have tried to stay away from advertising items for a couple reasons. One, there are price guides for almost everything in the advertising field. That being the case, price becomes the issue and I dont want that. The second reason is the amount of reproductions out there, especially of the common, well-known products. So I have just stayed away for the most part.

However, in about 1982 I was doing an antique show in South Bend, Indiana. It was in some cruddy hotel conference room. Another dealer had about 10 antique, one gallon oyster tins for sale. By Sunday afternoon he was tired of looking at them and I was tired of looking at an old split cane, 9 foot salmon rod with three different tips. We traded and I really fell for oyster tins. Here are a few really cool ones. For the most part they came in one gallon size but occasionally quarts and pints are found.

Hans Ledwinka, Paul Jaray, Eric Ubelacker and the Czechoslovakian-built Tatra 77.

If you are a fan of things that are streamlined, you will like the Tatra 77 automobile. It all started when Paul Jaray was working in the engineering department of the company that built the Zeppelin lighter-than-air blimps. Through his tinkering in trying to reduce the drag co-efficient for the blimps, he thought it might be cool to do the same thing with automobiles. Streamlining was the answer and it led to the Czech, transportation, and design masterpiece, the Tatra 77.

"The Tatra Company began manufacturing cars in 1897 in Kopřivnice, Moravia, today's Czech republic, making it the third oldest still existing automobile manufacturer in the world. Under the direction of Hans Ledwinka, the company employed many genius minds of automotive history, including Erich Übelacker and consultant Paul Jaray, who all designed the Tatra 77. Before designing the large luxurious T77, Jaray designed an aerodynamic body for the Tatra 57, a mid-range model. This prototype was not further developed and failed to reach production. Instead, Jaray constructed two prototypes for a concept designated as the Tatra V570, which more closely conformed to his aerodynamic streamlining principles, featuring a beetle-shaped body. 
However, at the time Tatra already had a cheap well selling car in its production range, which was moreover popular due to its continuation of simple and ultra-reliable tradition started by model Tatra 11. Although the management saw the advantages of Jaray's concept, they believed that the new model will be only an additional model with limited production, which meant that it should be aimed at the top of automobile market. The Ledwinka's team subsequently stopped work on V570 and concentrated on designing large luxurious cars. Tatra aimed at making state-of-the-art cars that would be fast, stable, nearly silent, economical and built to the most rigorous engineering standards, as well as reflect modern aerodynamic research.

A number of designers around the world were trying to construct an aerodynamic car at the time, but Tatra was the first one to successfully introduce it into serial production. There were numerous reasons why Tatra designers took such a revolutionary approach to the conception of the new car: First of all it was the aim to reduce drag, mostly air-drag, which increases with the square of speed. A car with a common body shape of the era needed a very powerful engine to reach higher speeds. The Tatra's new body shape was wind tunnel tested. However, the new type of coach building required a change of the whole car's concept.

The requirement of a small front face area limited the car's height, which in turn required the use of a flat floor. That led to putting the engine in the rear of the car, directly above the driven axle. Subsequently there was no more need for a floor tunnel with a drive shaft and exhaust pipes, which contributed to weight loss. As the designers wanted to reduce the rolling resistance, they did their best to produce an engine as light as possible – an air-cooled V8 with a crank case made from elektron, a magnesium alloy. The transmission box was made from elektron as well and it was positioned in front of the rear axle and engine.
The rear position of the engine was favourable for the air cooling, while the oil cooler, battery and spare wheel were positioned in the front of the car. The frameless body was characterized by the central frame member, which was firmly welded to the floor panels and which covered the linkage to the brakes, gears, etc.
The front of the car has basically a rectangular cross section and it is rounded at the front to the height of the floor. The front bumper covers the front rounded fenders, while the lower half of the lights is embedded in the front bonnet. The rear of the car has a continuous dropping form, and it is divided by a vertical fin, which starts at the rear end of the roof and ends almost at the rear end of the car. The rear wheels have aerodynamic covers. The door handles are embedded into the door panels, from which only the door hinges stood out, if also not by much. The car had no rear window, and rear visibility was fairly limited, and only possible through slots on the sheet metal.
The first prototype of 1933 had a split windshield, while other prototypes had a one piece windshield or even one formed by three separate pieces of glass, with one large central piece and two side parts angled sharply and flowing into the sides of the body.

The air was directed to the engine by rectangular ventilation inlets behind the side windows and it left the engine compartment through the rear exit vents. At the time, Tatra registered numerous patents regarding the air flow to the rear engine compartment.
Later the rear part of the body was widened so that both the rear fenders and door hinges were embedded into the bodywork itself. The air now flowed through transversal inlets, which raised above the rear rounded roof. The trailing edge was raised.

The Tatra 77 was a hand-built car with leather interior. Some cars had a glass partition between the front seats and the rear seats. A sliding roof was available.
An interesting feature equipped on a few of the T77 models was the steering wheel in the centre of the dashboard. The front seat passengers were seated on either side of the driver and the seats placed slightly back, as on the modern day McLaren F1. All other T77's had the steering wheel on the right hand side as Czechoslovakia, like various other European countries, drove on the left before WWII".
(text and photos courtesy wiki)

If you by chance find a Tatra 77 in a barn please report it to the International Tatra Registry. They are trying to document how many of these cars are left. It is really quite the academic project.

The pics below are courtesy of Concept Carz and Hemmings

Rare ca.1880's Victorian, sterling silver and mother-of-pearl nursery rhyme baby rattle, whistle and teething toy.

Here is a cool, and rare, old, English-made nursery artifact. Bells, whistles and teething toy. These could be seen on Downton Abbey. Features "Hey Diddle Diddle the Cat and the Fiddle" on one side and Lady Liberty on the other. This is available for sale here