| Tuesday, December 16, 2008 |
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| Kandinsky's 'Blue' |
SpotlightRussian painter Wassily Kandinsky was born on this date in 1866. One of the first abstract artists, Kandinsky was a co-founder of the Blaue Reiter group and taught at Germany's Bauhaus School. Trained in law, Kandinsky only began to paint when he was 30 years old, at that time beginning his studies at Munich's Academy of Fine Arts. He became a well-regarded art theorist, and wrote of the enormous influence music and pure color have on art.
Question of the DayWhere did Wassily Kandinsky gather inspiration from?
Kadinsky was fascinated and stimulated by color as a child. The fascination with color continued as he grew, although he made no attempt to study art. In 1889, he travelled to the Vologda region north of Moscow. In "Looks on the Past" he relates that the houses and churches were decorated with such shimmering colors that, upon entering them, he had the impression that he was moving into a painting. The experience and his study of the folk art in the region, in particular the use of bright colors on a dark background, were reflected in many of his early works...
Word of the daydendrite crystal
A crystal dendrite is a crystal that develops with a typical multi-branching tree-like form. Dendritic crystal growth is very common and illustrated by snowflake formation and frost patterns on a window. Dendritic crystallization forms a natural fractal pattern....
Schoolkids are commonly taught that the Eskimos of Alaska have dozens of words for snow. As it turns out, English has plenty, too.
Today's History
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| The Millau Viaduct |
- Boston Tea Party: American colonists dressed as natives threw over 300 chests of tea from British ships into Boston Harbor, protesting taxes and the Tea Act; the British response was the Intolerable Acts (1773)
- Battle of the Bulge: German attack began in the Ardennes region of southern Belgium in WWII (1944)
- Millau Viaduct: the tallest vehicular bridge in the world, located in southern France, was opened to traffic (2004)
Today's Birthdays
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| Catherine of Aragon |
- Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536): first of Henry VIII's six wives
- Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): composer of nine symphonies and the "Moonlight" Sonata
- Jane Austen (1775-1817): author, Pride and Prejudice; also, writers George Santayana (1863-1952), Noel Coward (1899-1973), V.S. Pritchett (1900-1997), Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) & Philip K. Dick (1928-1982)
- Margaret Mead (1901-1978): culture anthropologist
- Liv Ullmann (70): actor, best known for her roles in Ingmar Bergman films; also, actors Ben Cross (61), Alison LaPlaca (49), Sam Robards and Jon Tenney (both 47), Benjamin Bratt (45) and Hallee Hirsh (21)
- Steven Bochco (65): TV producer, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue
