Contemporary Fresco Gazette

europaconcorsi - 6/30/08
Painting for Eternity. The Tombs of Paestum

With its three large Doric temples, Paestum became a well-known site early on thanks to engravings by Piranesi (1777/78) and Goethe's impressive descriptions in his Italienische Reise (1787). However, many people are unaware that Paestum contains one of the greatest treasure troves of ancient fresco paintings: During excavations in the 1960s, around 200 richly painted tombs from the Lucanian period (4th century B.C.) were discovered. The Martin-Gropius-Bau dedicates an exhibition to these rare examples of ancient tomb art. Around 45 painted tomb slabs of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum will be shown at the exhibition in Berlin, including seven complete tombs.

http://europaconcorsi.com/events/66677
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Idaho Statesman - 06/29/08
How are things going at the Capitol?

Thousands of square feet of wall space in the Capitol are covered with distemper. More familiar as canine affliction, distemper is also a decorative technique dating back to ancient Egypt. Some call it "the poor man's fresco." Rich men had the real thing, like da Vinci's "Last Supper," where the artist mixed pigment with water, or egg on plaster

http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/428370.html
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David Hockney made a mural at the bottom of the pool of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel that graced the guests as they were enjoying the wonderful outdoor climate, swimming, and gazing out at the water. The mural became known throughout the town and many tourists would come to the hotel just to see the enormous pattern of blue gestural curves that had a strong visual impact from any vantage point. There was always a possibility to catch a glimpse of a Hollywood "A- lister" enjoying the comfortable environment along with the guests.

Over time, the paint has been deteriorated by the chemicals of the water and the constant contact of the guests rubbing up against the floor and walls. The vibrant blue marks went from being the focal point of the view to being minor stains at the bottom of the pool. They just made the pool look dirty and took away from the vibrancy of the water.

The artists of iLia Anossov Design (iLAdesigns.com) have become the saviors of many historical murals all around Los Angeles. Amongst other high profile projects they have worked on an extensive restoration project on the Park Plaza Hotel. The Park Plaza had come to a point where the murals painted directly on plaster (a form of secco fresco) were falling apart and the highly detailed designs were not even visible. The decorations were not only losing their beauty, they were actually fading away completely affecting the overall impression of the hotel.

Biola mural said to be offensive to some
By Sandra T. Molina, Staff Writer

ART: Students walk past the 40-foot-tall mural of Jesus at Biola University in La Mirada on Thursday May 15, 2008. The planned refurbishing of a 40-foot mural of Jesus, called "The Word" has reignited a controversy on campus. Some say it should be allowed to fade away out of existence, while others say the artwork should be preserved. (Staff Photo by Keith Durflinger)

LA MIRADA - In the 18 years since a prominent Los Angeles muralist painted it, the 40-foot depiction of Jesus Christ on a Biola University building has sparked controversy.

Students of color say they are offended by Jesus being portrayed as white.
The latest round in the controversy began earlier this month when university officials began considering to refurbish the mural, titled "The Word."
Biola officials decided Thursday to delay a decision on restoring the mural for a year.

"I met with the president (Barry Corey), and we decided to put the matter on hold to extend discussions throughout the Biola community," said Provost Gary Miller.

full article at: http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_9289873

This is not the first time that this odd controversy about this mural has taken place, I call it odd simply for the luck of the better word, I is hard to be serious imagining Jesus in wide pants and "lapty" holding on to balalaika being all that Russian as I, as Russian born should desire him to be...

10 years ago this controversy resolved in the following

Thousands of artists received funds through the Works Progress Administration and other New Deal programs during the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of the artists became household names--Dorothea Lange, Edward Weston, and Cameron Booth, to name a few. Many others did not, but their work became part of the fabric of American culture in the form of post-office murals and handicrafts. By the People, For the People: New Deal Art at the Weisman offers up the full spectrum of work from this era.

Strother Martin Monument 1972, artist Kent Twitchell
photo by Ruth Wallach

Reading through some of the blogs responding to the LA Times story I see that there is still some misunderstanding about the graffiti issue. I only oppose spray paint when it is used to cover over murals or other public art. That is called vandalism and that alone is the reason "we cannot coexist" as I was correctly quoted as saying in the Times. It is the reason LA is no longer the mural capital. Once there were 2 - 3 thousand murals here and every one has been destroyed by spray paint. Either they were painted out because the vandalism became such a blight or they are still out there covered with spray paint and therefore just waiting to be coated over with beige paint.

Spray paint on murals has caused a slow redefinition of the exterior mural,
once an oasis in Los Angeles. Now many people see murals as ugly when actually it is the vandalism that is ugly. I'm not against artists who use spray paint in their work. I used it myself during 1962-63, but every muralist I know is demoralized by all of their works being destroyed by the stuff.

-Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson spearheads settlement vindicating artists' rights

Pasadena, CA - Renowned artist and muralist Kent Twitchell, faculty member of the Fresco School, has settled his lawsuit against the U.S. Government and 12 other defendants for painting over his 70-foot tall landmark mural of Ed Ruscha, an important Los Angeles-based Pop artist. The settlement amount $1.1 million is believed to be the largest settlement ever under the seldom-invoked Federal Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) or the California Art Preservation Act (CAPA). VARA and CAPA forbid desecration, alteration, or destruction of certain public works of art without prior notice to the artist to allow for removal. The U.S. Government is contributing $250,000 to the settlement amount. William Brutocao, with the intellectual property law firm Sheldon Mak Rose & Anderson PC, served as Mr. Twitchell's lead trial attorney in this complex and legally-challenging case.

'This settlement sets an important precedent which will benefit other artists,' said Mr. Twitchell. 'This resolution makes it clear that when it comes to public art, you have to respect the artist's rights, or incur significant liability.' Both an artist and muralist, Mr. Twitchell is recognized for his larger-than-life realist mural portraits, often of celebrities and artists.

In it's essence, fresco or fresco painting is an - application of natural mineral pigments to a surface on which a following chemical reaction takes place:

Ca(OH)2(s) + CO2(g) ----> CaCO3(s) + H2O(l)

Calcium Hydrate (burned lime stone or marble mixed with water) combined with carbon dioxide resulting in the formation of Calcium Carbonate - lime stone, marble. It is like "Painting with molten Marble".

A 1930s mural at SDSU, hidden for decades under ceiling tiles, is restored

Mallios hopes to parlay the momentum of this mural's successful restoration into a fundraising campaign for the other mural. It's an egg-tempera fresco that depicts each stage of the local tuna industry, and features Portuguese fishermen in Point Loma, women on an assembly line processing the fish, and Asian merchants preparing to sell the cans.

Full Article
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Medieval times in California

A beautiful fresco of the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth is painted above the hand-carved altar.

There is the Great Hall, frescoed with medieval scenes and headed by a massive five centuries old hand-carved fireplace brought from Europe. Above the fireplace is a fresco of an imposing baron holding his coat-of-arms.

Full Article

B'nai Tikvah to sell paintings by famed local artist
New Jersey Jewish News - Whippany,NJ,USA

He worked in collaboration with a student of renowned artist Diego Rivera to create the frescoes for the San Francisco Jewish Community Center and the
University of California Medical School.

Full Article at:

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Special crane sought for Lahore Forts preservation in Pakistan
Unique Pakistan - Karachi,Sindh,Pakista

It is embellished with panels of tile mosaics and fresco paintings. The decorations are between the two cornices which are divided into a double row of arched recesses of different sizes. The fresco paintings are carried out in the arched recesses, while the spandrels are tastefully decorated with tile
mosaics, depicting men, fairies, elephants, lions, dragons, scenes of animal fights, men playing polo, and numerous other games. The human figures on the
wall give an insight into the fashion sense of that time, from royalty down to the servants and gladiators.

Full Article at:
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The Tassili n' Ajjer [Algeria]: birthplace of ancient Egypt?
Journal3 - Oran, Algeria

He wrote a series of books, the best known of which is "The Search for the Tassili Frescoes. The Rock paintings of the Sahara." It is a popular account of the hardships he encountered in trying to discover and make drawings of

the rock paintings that were scattered on the rock faces in the various corners of the Tassili. Lhote himself built on the work of Lieutenant Brenans, who was one of the first to venture deep into the canyons of the Tassili

during a police operation in the 1930s. As the first European to enter that area, he noticed strange figures that were drawn on the cliffs. He saw elephants walking along with their trunks raised, rhinoceros with ugly looking

horns on their snouts, giraffes with necks stretched out as if they were eating at the tops of the bushes. Today, the area is a desolate desert. What these paintings depicted was an era long gone, when the Sahara was a fertile savannah, teeming with wildlife... and humans.

Full Article at:

Fading Heritage: Frescoes of the famous painter fall in oblivion
ArmeniaNow.com - Yerevan, Armenia

The center was ruined during the earthquake and only the wall decorated with the painting has survived. Ordinary people have built some metal covering to protect the painting from rain and sun but the construction is not effective.

Full Article at:

Critics log: 20 turning points in art
AZ Central.com - AZ,USA
Second, Giotto's interior frescoes for the Arena Chapel in Padua, for waking up to the idea that painting not only could, but should try to capture...
Abbey of Strahov
Catholic Online - Bakersfield,CA,USA
These beautiful frescos are the work of the Prague artist Georg WilhelmNeuherz (d. 1743). The Chapel of St. Norbert has the saint's relics in a casketof...
[SACRED SITES] The story of Akdamar
Today's Zaman - Istanbul,Turkey
... frescos that depict religious scenes. The cycle of Nicholas at
the church represents a significant step in the development of Byzantine wall
painting...
Great man, small reputation ... Taschen's new large format ...
Guardian Unlimited - UK
Michelangelo is still one of the world's top famous artists; queues still snake around the Vatican to see his frescoes; even a show of his drawings can draw...