{ American Gothic Realized }

I don't know if it's the whole Santa Claus fiction thing, but I'm totally disillustioned to see the 'stars' of Grant Wood's American Gothic not in their traditional painting's garb. But either way I do love seeing the little Iowan house. American vernacular at it's best! {via}

{ Eye Candy: Cats + Classic Works of Art }

Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus

Who doesn't love a good classic work of art? Now infuse it with kitties (or one very cuddly looking orange cat) and I'm lovin' it! Great Artists' Mews does just that and very pompously too... check out this exert: Our name is Zarathustra. We are a cat. According to our assistant (named by ignoramuses as our “owner”) We are the best cat in the world. By the will of the gods, We have been relieved of our animal desires, therefore Our postprandial time  is given to the reflections on lofty matters. We are so gracious in Our enjoyment of repasts. And We are also very very fond of Art. {via}

Salvador Dalí, Dream caused by the Flight of a Bee 
around a Pomegranate a Second before Waking up

{ Eye Candy: Sometimes I Miss Architecture }

Cebra toons is the brain candy of Micheal Frost, partner at Cebra and totes book mark worthy! It's a lil' Steven Holl-ish, but still nice to see a few great concise transformation diagram images, makes me miss architecture and their whole graphic world. Enjoy! {via}

If Famous Architecture Were Priced Like Paintings, a Le Corbusier Would Cost the Same as the Entire American GDP

The top floor of Corbusier’s Villa Stein (one of perhaps the top 500 most important houses of the late 19th/early 20th centuries - i.e. a Van Gogh of houses) is for sale for the same price per sq.ft. (approx $1400) as buildings in the same area of suburban Paris, designed by nobody in particular. Meanwhile, Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet sold for an inflation adjusted price of $136 million yet a poster of similar square footage and style costs around $10.

In other words, a work of art that you can actually live in has zero premium over a commodity item, but one that you can look at has a premium factor of 13 million over a commodity one.

There are 2 possible conclusions: architecture is vastly under valued or painting prices are almost entirely irrational.

Given that the cost of a single floor of the Villa Stein would be almost exactly the same as entire US GDP ($13 trillion) in the former case, and that Le Corbusier’s mediocre paintings sell at a vast premium compared to the buildings he is famous for, it’s the paintings that are too pricey. - davidgalbraith.org