The Art Monk - The Blog of Sandro Sebastian

 The majority of my influences as an artist are definitely the greats of the past, whether they are European masters of Renaissance and Baroque, or an ancient empire of thinkers like the Egyptians or African sculptors. The arts in the west definitely take a sharp turn South after Picasso and Matisse, let's admit. Even if it might not be polite to say that, it's also not polite to make mediocre works of art and aggressively promote them in order to normalize your particular brand of ignorance, lowering the cultural standard, so you don't have to put in as much effort with your own work, even if it is all the rage these days.  So I guess we're even.     But this guy was an exception to the rule. Someone who decided that using influences like Ingres and Albrecht Duhrer are appropriate for a modern day artist. You don't have to follow the trend if the trend is overrated. He thought for himself with his figures, never yielding to the generic, one size fits all, are-you-s

 While I've yet to delve into the larger expanded work, Vasari's lengthy description of the painters, sculptures and architects of the Renaissance, it was generous of someone out there to do a "highlight reel" of the major superstars in a condensed version for those of us art history nerds.      Consider this a "best of" compilation of Renaissance thinkers, or a "greatest hits" album. Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael are all given excerpts in this book, (which is not terribly long, about 160 pages,) that give glowing reviews of their work by Vasari himself. It was very inspiring to be reminded of the impact that one individual can have on the flow of history, and  how there are enough people in that contemporary society that understand the impact that some individuals will have on future generations and therefore deserve to be written down. Vasari is a total badass for being that guy who gave us the term "Renaissance."        He saw a b