Lithuania - View of Vilnius

A view of Vilnius (engraved by Frans Hogenberg, ca. 1535 - 1590) from the book Civitates Orbis Terrarum, published in Cologne in 1581, by Georg Braun (1541 - 1622).

Sent by Loreta, a postcrosser from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Chile - Roberto Matta : Attouchement, 1955

Roberto Matta : Attouchement, 1955

Sent by my great pal Hernán from Santiago, Chile.

This is from Wikipedia : Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art.

Born in Santiago, he initially studied architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago, but became disillusioned with this occupation and left for Paris in 1933. His travels in Europe and the USA led him to meet artists such as Arshile Gorky, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, André Breton, and Le Corbusier. Matta was of Spanish, Basque and French descent.

It was Breton who provided the major spur to the Chilean's direction in art, encouraging his work and introducing him to the leading members of the Paris Surrealist movement. Matta produced illustrations and articles for Surrealist journals such as Minotaure. During this period he was introduced to the work of many prominent contemporary European artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp.
 

China - The Spirit of Xue Daqing Jingshen (学大庆精神)

Designer: Ha Qiongwen (哈琼文)
1965, June
Study the spirit of Xue Daqing jingshen (学大庆精神)
Publisher: Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe (上海人民美术出版社)
Size: 77x50.5 cm.
Call number: BG E13/950 (Landsberger collection)

Sent by zhoubingchen, a postcrosser from China.

The Daqing oilfield, in the cold north-east of China, becomes the national example for industrial development. Workers obtain a high production, inspired by Mao Zedong's thoughts (see the book in the coat pocket). "Iron Man" Wang Jinxi, the drill operator pictured here, becomes a model in his own right.(Source)

Singapore - Singacat

Singacat by Sakchai Pengprakon.

Sent by Madeline, a postcrosser from Singapore.

Ukraine - Lviv

Lviv - A multicultural city.

Sent by Daria, a postcrosser from Kiev, Ukraine.

This is from Wikipedia : Lviv (Ukrainian: Львів L’viv, IPA: [lʲwiu̯]; Polish: Lwów, pronounced [lvuf]; Russian: Львов, L'vov; German: Lemberg; Latin: Leopolis; see also other names) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following Holocaust and Polish population transfers (1944–1946). The historical heart of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived World War II and ensuing Soviet presence largely unscathed. The city has many industries and institutions of higher education such as the Lviv University and the Lviv Polytechnic. Lviv is also a home to many world-class cultural institutions, including a philharmonic orchestra and the famous Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet. The historic city centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Lviv celebrated its 750th anniversary with a son et lumière in the city centre in September 2006.

Lviv was founded in 1256 in Red Ruthenia by King Danylo Halytskyi of the Ruthenian principality of Halych-Volhynia, and named in honour of his son, Lev. Together with the rest of Red Ruthenia, Lviv was captured by the Kingdom of Poland in 1349 during the reign of Polish king Casimir III the Great. Lviv belonged to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland 1349–1772, the Austrian Empire 1772–1918 and the Second Polish Republic 1918–1939. With the Invasion of Poland at the outbreak of the second World War, the city of Lviv with adjacent land were annexed and incorporated into the Soviet Union, becoming part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1939 to 1941. Between July 1941 and July 1944 Lviv was under German occupation and was located in the General Government. In July 1944 it was captured by the Soviet Red Army and the Polish Home Army. According to the agreements of the Yalta Conference, Lviv was again integrated into the Ukrainian SSR. Most of the Poles living in Lviv were resettled into Polish territories annexed from Germany.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the city remained a part of the now independent Ukraine, for which it currently serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast, and is designated as its own raion (district) within that oblast.

On 12 June 2009 the Ukrainian magazine Focus assessed Lviv as the best Ukrainian city to live in. Its more Western European flavor lends it the nickname the "Little Paris of Ukraine".

The city is expecting a sharp increase in the number of foreign visitors next summer for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, and as a result a major new airport terminal is being built. Lviv is one of 8 Polish and Ukrainian cities that is co-hosting the group stages of the tournament.

Japan - "Ukiyoe"

"Ukiyoe" or "Ukiyo-e"

Sent by Yukari, a postcrosser from Japan.

This is from Wikipedia : Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, literally "pictures of the floating world"?) (Japanese pronunciation: [ukijo.e] or [ukijoꜜe]) is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.

Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as "floating world" in English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki, courtesans, geisha) divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane, everyday world; "pictures of the floating world", i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves.

The contemporary novelist Asai Ryōi, in his Ukiyo monogatari (浮世物語, "Tales of the Floating World", c. 1661?), provides some insight into the concept of the floating world:

... Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms and the maple leaves; singing songs, drinking wine, diverting ourselves in just floating, floating; ... refusing to be disheartened, like a gourd floating along with the river current: this is what we call the floating world...

The art form rose to great popularity in the metropolitan culture of Edo (Tokyo) during the second half of the 17th century, originating with the single-color works of Hishikawa Moronobu in the 1670s. At first, only India ink was used, then some prints were manually colored with a brush, but in the 18th century Suzuki Harunobu developed the technique of polychrome printing to produce nishiki-e.

Ukiyo-e were affordable because they could be mass-produced. They were mainly meant for townsmen, who were generally not wealthy enough to afford an original painting. The original subject of ukiyo-e was city life, in particular activities and scenes from the entertainment district. Beautiful courtesans, bulky sumo wrestlers and popular actors would be portrayed while engaged in appealing activities. Later on landscapes also became popular. Political subjects, and individuals above the lowest strata of society (courtesans, wrestlers and actors) were not sanctioned in these prints and very rarely appeared. Sex was not a sanctioned subject either, but continually appeared in ukiyo-e prints. Artists and publishers were sometimes punished for creating these sexually explicit shunga.

Netherlands - Johannes Vermeer

Johannes Vermeer's Masterpieces : The Milkmaid (c. 1658), Street in Delft (c. 1657-8) and Girl With a Pearl Earring (c. 1665).

Sent by Bertie, a postcrosser from the Netherlands.

This is from Wikipedia : Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer (Dutch pronunciation: [joˈhɑnəs jɑn ʋərˈmeːr]; baptized in Delft on 31 October 1632 as Joannis, and buried in the same city under the name Jan on 15 December 1675) was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime. He seems never to have been particularly wealthy, leaving his wife and children in debt at his death, perhaps because he produced relatively few paintings.

Vermeer worked slowly and with great care, using bright colours and sometimes expensive pigments, with a preference for cornflower blue and yellow. He is particularly renowned for his masterly treatment and use of light in his work.

Vermeer painted mostly domestic interior scenes. As Koning points out: "Almost all his paintings are apparently set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people, mostly women".

Recognized during his lifetime in Delft and The Hague, his modest celebrity gave way to obscurity after his death; he was barely mentioned in Arnold Houbraken's major source book on 17th century Dutch painting (Grand Theatre of Dutch Painters and Women Artists), and was thus omitted from subsequent surveys of Dutch art for nearly two centuries. In the 19th century Vermeer was rediscovered by Gustav Friedrich Waagen and Théophile Thoré-Bürger, who published an essay attributing sixty-six pictures to him, although only thirty-four paintings are universally attributed to him today. Since that time Vermeer's reputation has grown, and he is now acknowledged as one of the greatest painters of the Dutch Golden Age.

"With Cockle-Shell" by Anna Bulkina

Anna Bulkina
"With cockle-shell", 70 x 80 cm, oil on canvas.

Sent by Christyna, a postcrosser from Ukraine.

Chile - Barrio La Matriz de Valparaiso

CHILE
Valparaiso
Barrio La Matriz

Sent by my good friend Hernán from Santiago de Chile. 'Terima kasih' for the beautiful stamps.

"Winter Window"

"Winter Window".

Sent by Ludmila, a postcrosser from Western Siberia in Russia.

Japan - Kompira Autumn Festival

Kompira Autumn Festival.

Sent by Chika, a postcrosser from Japan.

Bass

Bass
65.0 x 50.5 cm.

Sent by Tracy, a postcrosser from China.

Juhannustaika

Aino-Maija Metsola 2007 :
"Juhannustaika".

Sent by Ilkka, a postcrosser from Vaasa, Finland.

Malaysia - Johor - Masjid Jamek Muar

Masid Jamek Muar; 2004; Acrylic; 105cm x 90cm; Artist - Muhammad Alif @ Hud Hassan.

Sent by Aameea from Johor Bahru, Johor.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF MASJID JAMEK MUAR (IN BAHASA MELAYU)

Malaysia - Johor - Potrait of Sultan Abu Bakar

The portrait of Sultan Abu Bakar (1886).

Sent by Aameea from Johor Bahru, Johor.

This is from Wikipedia : Sultan Sir Abu Bakar ibni Daing Ibrahim (3 February 1833 – 4 June 1895) (Jawi:المرحوم سلطان سير ابو بكر ابن المرحوم تماڠڬوڠ دايڠ إبراهيم سري مهاراج جوهر) was the 21st Sultan of Johor.[6][fn 2] He was also informally known as "The Father of Modern Johor", as many historians accredited Johor's development in the 19th century to Abu Bakar's leadership. He initiated policies and provided aids to ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs to stimulate the development of the state's agricultural economy which was founded by Chinese migrants from Southern China in the 1840s. He also took charge of the development of Johor's infrastructure, administrative system, military and civil service, all of which were modelled closely along Western lines.

Abu Bakar was noted for his diplomatic skills, and both the British and Malay rulers had approached him for advice in making important decisions. He was also an avid traveller, and became the first Malay ruler to travel to Europe during his first visit to England in 1866. In particular, Abu Bakar became a lifetime friend of Queen Victoria in his later years. Abu Bakar's friendship with Queen Victoria played an important role in shaping Johor's relationships with Britain, and was the only state by the end of the 19th century in the Peninsular Malaya to maintain autonomy in its internal affairs as the British Colonial Government pushed for greater control over the Malay states by placing a British Resident in the states. He was also an Anglophile, and many of his personal habits and decisions were aligned to European ideas and tastes.

Abu Bakar became the sovereign ruler of Johor when his father, Temenggong Daing Ibrahim died in 1862. Six years later, Abu Bakar changed his legal state title of "Temenggong" to "Maharaja". In 1885, Abu Bakar sought legal recognition from Britain for another change in his legal state title of "Maharaja" to a regnal title of "Sultan", and was proclaimed the following year. In all, Abu Bakar's reign lasted for thirty-two years until his death in 1895.

Russia - The Hermitage Museum

St. Petersburg. The Hermitage.
Balthasar van der Ast (1593/94 - 1657)
STILL LIFE WITH FRUIT. 1620s.
Oil on panel. 75 x 104 cm.

Sent by Tatiana, a postcrosser from St. Petersburg, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : The State Hermitage (Russian: Государственный Эрмитаж) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. One of the largest[2] and oldest museums of the world, it was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great and open to the public since 1852. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly 3 million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building are also part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since 1990, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky.

Out of six buildings of the main museum complex, four, namely the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage and New Hermitage, are partially open to the public. The other two are Hermitage Theatre and the Reserve House. The entrance ticket for foreign tourists costs several times as much as the fee paid by Russian citizens. However, the entrance is free of charge the first Thursday of every month for all visitors and daily for students and children. The museum is closed on Mondays. Entrance is in the Winter Palace from Palace Embankment or the Courtyard.

Desire and Gratification (The Appeasing)

Desire and Gratification (The Appeasing), 1893
Jan Toorop (Dutch, 1858 - 1928)
Oil on canvas, 30 x 35-1/2 in.
Musée d'Orsay, Paris, RF 36166.

Sent by Sarah, a postcrosser from Massachusetts, USA.

This is from Wikipedia : Jean Theodoor Toorop (20 December 1858 – 3 March 1928), better known as Jan Toorop, was an Indo (Javanese Dutch) painter, whose works straddle the space between the Symbolist painters and Art Nouveau.

Jean Theodoor Toorop was born on 20 December 1858 in Purworejo, Java, Dutch East Indies. In 1872, he moved with his family to the Netherlands, where he studied in Delft and Amsterdam. In 1880 he became a student at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. From 1882 to 1886 he lived in Brussels, where he joined Les XX (Les Vingts), a group of artists centred around James Ensor. Toorop worked in various different styles during these years, such as Realism, Impressionism Neo-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

After his marriage to an English woman, Annie Hall, in 1886, Toorop alternated his time between The Hague, England and Brussels, and after 1890 also the Dutch seaside town of Katwijk aan Zee. During this period he developed his own unique Symbolist style, with dynamic, unpredictable lines based on Javanese motifs, highly stylised willowy figures, and curvilinear designs.

Thereafter he turned to Art Nouveau styles, in which a similar play of lines is used for decorative purposes, without any apparent symbolic meaning. In 1905 he converted to Catholicism and began producing religious works. He also created book illustrations, posters, and stained glass designs.

Throughout his life Toorop also produced portraits, in sketch format and as paintings, which in style range from highly realistic to impressionistic.

Toorop died on 3 March 1928 in The Hague, Netherlands. His daughter Charley Toorop (1891–1955) was also a painter, as was his grandson Edgar Fernhout.

Netherlands - A Painting by Shunyam

A painting by Shunyam, a Dutch artist.

Sent by Mirjam, a postcrosser from the Netherlands.

Saxophone by Michael Creese

Saxophone by Michael Cresse.

Sent by Amanda, a WiP partner from Florida, USA.

"De Speech"

"De Speech"

Sent by nisnoopy3 from Malaysia.