Category Page

The unique charm of bridges in traditional Japanese art

Bridges in Japanese art have a unique charm that stems from the traditional values and ideas held by the Japanese. Amongst them: the adoration of beauty; love for nature and its changing aspects; the transcience of life; social accord; and harmony with the universe. Looking at the following works of art, one feels a certain tranquility, the kind that comes from knowing one’s place in the larger scheme of things.

A serving of art to celebrate U.S. Thanksgiving Day

Marine Café Blog is happy to greet its American readers a cordial Thanksgiving Day. In celebration of this event, which is observed every fourth Thursday of November in the United States, I’d like to share the following works of art from the 19th century. I hope that this limited selection will open for all the blog’s readers a window to American history and culture.

Love, sex and the seafarer: ‘The human element’ in art

I have always objected to the use of the term “the human element” to refer to seafarers. It not only sounds as cold as the periodic table of elements invented by the Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. More important, it objectifies seafarers and detracts from their humanity. The following works of art show just how human they are — no less driven by love and libido than the maritime bureaucrats and pedants who label them “the human element”.

A delightful serving of Claude Monet’s marine drawings

Marine Café Blog spotlights the marine drawings of Claude Monet in celebration of his 182nd birth anniversary.

Monet, a leading light of French Impressionism, was born in Paris on 14 November 1840. His countless oil paintings continue to bedazzle the world long after he passed away on 5 December 1926. Unfortunately, they have also diverted attention away from an important part of Monet’s creative output: his drawings.

Precious few: Lighthouses in the art of Claude Monet

In his 60-year career, French Impressionist master Claude Monet produced an astonishing number of paintings depicting the sea, beaches, boats, rivers and harbours. Rarely did he paint lighthouses. As far as I could ascertain, lighthouses figure in only four of his works. In three of them, the lighthouse is not even the main subject of the painting. This makes such artworks by Monet more precious.

Christopher Columbus is alive and kicking in art

The man in whose memory Columbus Day (12th of October) is observed every year, Christopher Columbus (Italian Cristoforo Colombo), had a dark side. As the editors of of Encyclopaedia Britannica have pointed out, “Columbus’s men pillaged villages to support themselves and enslaved large numbers of indigenous people for labor, sex, and sale in Europe.” (Columbus Day and Its Discontents). Despite this, it cannot be denied that the voyages of this Italian explorer and navigator were, in more ways than one, a turning point in history.

10 sensational marine paintings by Russian artists

Russia has been so vilified in the Western press that some people might forget that it is a great civilisation. The Russians gave the world Doestoevsky, Rachmaninoff and Mendeleev. Their contributions to the world of art have been no less significant. Ivan Aivazovsky stands tall in the pantheon of marine painters. In 2019, his seascape ‘Sunset over Ischia’ was auctioned off by Christies for £491,000 ($635,000).

Pin It on Pinterest