Paintings

John Gully, On the Great Godley Glacier , watercolour. Lakes and sediment now exist in these valleys where glaciers used to flow. Credit: Alexander Turnbull Library, CC BY-SA As the austral summer draws to a close, we are preparing to fly over the Southern Alps to survey glaciers. This annual flight supports the longest scientific study of Aotearoa New Zealand's icescapes—and it shows that all of our glaciers have retreated…

As a young aspiring artist of minimal talent, Adolf Hitler had difficulty drawing human figures, according to the professors who rejected his application to Vienna’s fine arts academy. Google‘s AI model Gemini has its own issues with generating images of people, and, curiously, some of those angriest about its shortcomings have lately offered kinder appraisals of the landscapes painted by a future genocidal dictator. Earlier this month, Google unveiled the newest versions of Gemini, first introduced in December.…

Inkle, the developers behind Overboard, Heaven’s Vault, 80 Days, and Highland Song, have released their next game, The Forever Labyrinth, in collaboration with Google Arts. You can play it right now. Billed as a run-based narrative game, The Forever Labyrinth will have you diving into a variety of paintings. But unlike Super Mario 64 where you then harass the wildlife, you’ll instead solve mysteries. You enter the eponymous labyrinth looking for your friend, Professor Sheldrake, then find yourself trapped in a series of…

The archive of Stuart Sutcliffe, the original bassist with the Beatles, is up for sale, featuring more than 400 paintings and drawings – plus astonishing Beatles ephemera including an unfinished novel about John Lennon.Sutcliffe was a galvanising force in the Beatles, who met John Lennon when the pair were art students in Liverpool – after joining Paul McCartney and George Harrison in skiffle group the Quarrymen, it was Sutcliffe and Lennon who spliced a reference to Beat poets with a nod to Buddy Holly’s band the…

Generative AI image generation has been one of the biggest trends in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). With OpenAI, and Microsoft introducing their AI-powered image generation tools, Google has also announced its Art Selfie 2 which offers the power of generative AI to create “stylized images”. Earlier, this feature simply placed your face in the already created paintings. Now, things have changed totally with Google Art Selfie 2. Yes, it has everything to do with a selfie, plus a lot of AI magic added to it. Know…

Portrait of Ramses II in Nakhtamun tomb, Chief of the Altar in the Ramesseum (tomb TT 341, possibly 20th Dynasty, circa 1100 B.C.). Credit: Martinez et al., CC-BY 4.0A groundbreaking study using portable chemical imaging has revealed hidden alterations in ancient Egyptian paintings, suggesting deeper historical and symbolic layers in these artworks.Portable chemical imaging technology can reveal hidden details in ancient Egyptian paintings, according to a study published recently in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by…

New suggests that Ice Age cave art was partly influenced by pareidolia, a phenomenon where humans see meaningful shapes in random patterns. Focusing on caves in Northern Spain, the study found that many images incorporated natural features of the cave walls, indicating that artists were influenced by both pareidolia and their creativity. The research also explored the role of lighting conditions and advances our understanding of the experiences and influences of Upper Palaeolithic artists. (Artist’s concept)Recent…

Portrait of Ramses II in Nakhtamun tomb, Chief of the Altar in the Ramesseum (tomb TT 341, possibly 20th Dynasty, circa 1100 B.C.). Credit: Martinez et al., CC-BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Portable chemical imaging technology can reveal hidden details in ancient Egyptian paintings, according to a study published July 12, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Philippe Martinez of Sorbonne University,…

Johnny Depp Paintings Sold For A Whopping Amount; Will He Switch His Career? ( Photo Credit – Instagram ) After his controversial trial with ex-wife Amber Heard, Johnny Depp has been exploring all the other art forms. As the actor has taken a few acting jobs in recent times, his songs and paintings have made headlines. Being a true artist, his recent painting, ‘Friends & Heroes’ was an honour of his favourite heroes that he portrayed on canvas. However, as the painting was up for auction, it broke the internet…

Last weekend was quite the whirlwind: Frieze Los Angeles, the British Academy Film Awards and rumors of Kendall Jenner on a secret date with Bad Bunny (gasp). I can handle only so much! I’m Steven Vargas, your L.A. Goes Out host, and as the Script famously put it, “I’m still alive but I’m barely breathing.” While I catch my breath, let’s bring you this week’s top recs from the crew:Weekly Countdown A rendering of a still image from Refik Anadol’s giant LED wall, “Living Paintings Immersive Editions” at…