Hidden below the streets of New York City are the long lost subway stations of old. Too small to accommodate the hoards that now travel the system daily, too small for the modern trains and too classy for a no-pants subway ride. This beautifully ornate station below City Hall was built in 1904 and operated until 1945 when it was closed to the public. Few have seen it in person. [Read more...]
Built with almost no regard for the hills that dominate its landscape, San Francisco’s grid like street layout and near vertical roads are unique in the world of cities. The “City by the Bay” really started growing after the California gold rush started booming in the late 1840′s, so by the time the gorgeous map featured here was made in 1912, the city looked remarkably like it does today. What was missing were many of the attractions the city is now best known for: noticeably absent is Pier 39 and the very crooked section of Lombard Street. Also yet to be built: the Golden Gate Bridge. [Read more...]
These images may appear to be traditional Chinese prints, including the beautiful calligraphy and stamp work that decorates such classic works… but in fact, they are all photographs. The serenely peaceful craft of Don Hong-Oai, a Chinese born artist who immigrated twice and never left behind the stunning aesthetic of his homeland. [Read more...]
You don’t get much more trippy than the far-out movie posters of Eastern Europe in the 60′s and 70′s. From Poland, Andre de Krayewski created as many as a dozen posters a year for both famous imported films and domestic creations, all with his signature art deco meets pop art style. Other artists like Jacek Neugebauer and Maciej Zbikowski helped further the style, using more bold contrasting colors and a heavy dose of symbolism. Most of the posters loosely (and I mean very loosely) interpreted the story of the film advertised, relying instead on the catchy artwork to draw in viewers. [Read more...]
A new art exhibit opening at the London Transport Museum shows us that the use of data visualization (presenting information in visual form) is not a new concept. Running from January 6 through March 18, 2012, Painting by Numbers – Making Sense of Statistics will display a collection of 20 posters by artists such as Charles Shepard, Alfred Leete, and Heinz Zinram created as far back as the 1920s to commend public transport in London and/or too assure travelers that their hard-earned money would be put to good use, rendering valuable services to them, when they opted to use the London Underground. [Read more...]
It might sound like heresy to say that a great painter such as van Gogh had a limited ability to see colors… but a recent exploration by Kazunori Asada and some color vision deficient friends turned up some very interesting new insights. Asada, who has previously written on tools to assist people with color vision deficiencies, was invited to speak at an event for the Hokkaido Color Universal Design Organization (HCUDO). As a way to educate the public about the great diversity of color vision found in our world, the organizers had set up a “Color Vision Experience Room.” Inside, observers were treated to walls of van Gogh paintings illuminated by lights with an optical filter which provided a modified spectrum of light. [Read more...]
Stanley Kubrick is best known for his directing credits — Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, etc. — but it was his early ability with the camera that originally propelled him into the art of capturing images. His talent was immense even at 17. In 1945, he sold a photograph of a sad news vendor reacting to the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Look magazine for $25, and a couple months later became the youngest photographer ever hired by the magazine. Kubrick’s career as a photojournalist gives us another look into the man who directed some of the greatest movies ever put onto film. A keen eye for light and shadow drape his subjects under a veil that is strictly characteristic of Kubrick and his control over the camera [Read more...]
Apparently, back in the 1930s, there were high expectations for our current fashion trends. Pathetone Weekly, the British cinemagazine, ran semi-news blurbs featuring obscure topics that aired from 1930 to 1941. This episode in particular was quite amusing, as it displayed concept clothing created by American fashion designers detailing what they believed clothing would look like in the year 2000. The ideas ranged from women wearing cantilever heels and electric belts to men wearing telephones on their chest and pockets to give “candies to cuties.” [Read more...]
Long before the panic that arose after the 1938 broadcast of War of the Worlds by Orson Wells, there was another alien hoax that gripped the world. Purported to be the findings of British astronomer Sir John Herschel, perhaps the best known astronomer of the time, the New York Sun, in a blatant use of yellow journalism, started publishing six stories in 1836 reporting the “discovery of life on the moon.” Most likely authored by Richard E. Locke in an ultimately successful attempt to boost the newspapers readership, the extravagant stories where full of alien flora and fauna, including bat winged men, nude moon maidens with luna-moth wings, unicorn moon bison and bipedal tailless beavers. In the articles it was proposed that an expedition be made to the moon using hydrogen filled balloons lifting ship like gondolas beneath, which later returned to earth under large umbrellas. [Read more...]
The fantastic artwork of Frank R. Paul has had an undeniable influence on the world of Science Fiction. All the way back in 1926 his art was featured on the cover of the first issue of Amazing Stories, the first magazine dedicated to the genre. His bright, even garishly colored works featured fantastical monsters, aliens, imaginative spaceships and architecture… and a limited priority to draw human faces… all in a time when most of the American population didn’t even have a telephone. Later he would illustrate the very first cover of the iconic Marvel Comics, featuring none other than the Human Torch. [Read more...]
